#no positive change will ever come to a world which doesn't think positive change can happen
Text
Leon Goretzka for Sports Illustrated Deutschland
-> In this Sports Illustrated interview, Leon discusses not being called up to the national team, his character, and handling high pressure situations. The new Adidas Bodycare brand ambassador also discusses his hopes for the future.
On the pitch you show strength, off the pitch you are known for your social commitment. How is it that you are so present and outspoken?
That has envolved over the course of my life, but the sense of justice has always been within me. The only thing that has changed over the course of my career is that I now have a much greater reach and more people hear my opinions.
How difficult is it to fight against adversity? Can something like this be trained or is it something you’re born with?
You have to learn to deal with it. Then you can take a clear stance—or you can just leave it be. Everyone has to decide that for themselves. But I can cope with resistance, even though some of the things that come at me these days are extreme.
How do you deal with pressure and disappointment?
Pressure is something very positive for me. I really like it. It probably helps me in my job too. When it mattered most, I was able to deliver top performances. I like a bit of pre-match jitters. That's why I'm not afraid of pressure. Disappointments are also part of it. You learn that very early on, especially in football. Losing games starts in training. But that’s why you play in a team; that's the beauty of team sports—that you can support each other. Like at FC Bayern this season, which wasn't quite as successful as we had expected and were used to. These are experiences that you can take with you and mature from.
Did it hurt you a lot not to be called up for the national team?
It was an extreme disappointment for me because I didn’t expect it. Afterwards, I gave myself a day to come to terms with the situation. The day after that, I looked at how I could rectify it. The best way to do that is to perform at your best and accept this new role.
How hopeful are you that you will be at Euro 2024?
Very.
What is your emotional world like? Do you always allow all feelings—even the negative ones?
Everyone has to find out for themselves how they deal with feelings. My recommendation would be to talk about them, but I don't always manage that either. I like to work things out on my own and let the process mature within me. I can draw strength from that.
How do you strike a balance between self-criticism and self-confidence?
Self-criticism and self-confidence are mutually dependent. Telling yourself that you are the best has nothing to do with self-confidence. You are strongest when you also know your weaknesses.
As a leader, do you always have to live up to the sometimes very high expectations?
Yes, that's the job of a footballer. We live in a fast-paced, day-to-day business. You're only ever as good as you were in the last game. In my career in club football, I've won all the major titles that you can win with a big club like FC Bayern. Nevertheless, this season I have experienced what it means to be criticized as a leader. It reminds you that you are obliged to perform week in, week out.
How do you build yourself back up again when things aren't going your way? Do you train even more then?
I don't make my training dependent on situations that I experience week after week. I have long-term training plans. But of course, the motivation to correct things when they go poorly is always there.
What role do negative fan opinions play? Should they be ignored?
You have to accept these things. Everyone has their own opinion. Of course, it would be nice if things were a bit more civilized, but unfortunately that's not the case. This doesn't just apply to football; it can happen to anyone on social media. It's extremely disappointing. We should think about how this can be regulated. I'm lucky that things don't bother me too much. But there are certainly many users who unfortunately don't get on so well with it.
The football business can be very tough. What do you wish for the future of football, especially for the players?
I don't know if I should give an honest answer to that.
We’re asking for one.
If I'm completely honest, we should stop trying to generate clicks at the expense of the players—both on social media and in reports.
Can football help people and society feel more positive?
The 2006 World Cup showed how football can galvanize our country. Germany's enthusiasm and interest in football are certainly back. As players, we can influence this huge potential if the German national team performs well.
You are an ambassador for Adidas Bodycare. What does "well-being" mean to you?
For me, "well-being" means that I have an awareness of my body. For the balance between strain and relief, but also for regeneration. Ultimately, it’s also about work-life balance.
#my idol for a reason <3#I love how honest he is#what you see is exactly what you get with him#Leon was dropping absolute gems in this interview#‘telling yourself you’re the best has nothing to do with self-confidence’ is such a based thing to say#common Leon w#sorry if the translation isn’t perfect#I did my best#leon goretzka#fc bayern#fc bayern munich#fc bayern münchen#die mannschaft#dfb team#german nt#germany nt#footballer quotes#interviews
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
as a jew, seeing what all of these israeli leaders have said is sickening. as a jew, anti-palestinian rhetoric is sickening. as a jew, zionism is sickening.
how dare my people -- a people who've been massacred, ethnically cleansed, dehumanized, forcibly removed, and discriminated on religious grounds for their entire existence -- do the same to another people? how dare we turn our backs on them, when they suffer like we have?
i understand that so much of us have been fed zionist propaganda our entire lives; the same happened to me. i understand the desire for a homeland where we don't have to fear antisemitism at every turn; i want that too. but it doesn't take much thought to understand that a homeland for us, which actively oppresses and kills another people, is antithetical to what we want.
if you, as a member of an oppressed group, believe that your freedom and safety can only exist when you oppress another group, you are acting no better than the people who oppressed you. such a belief is horrible, and cynical, and wrong.
as a jew, i want jewish people to be happy and safe and connected to our heritage; as a jew, i also want other peoples to be happy and safe and connected to their heritage.
don't call the palestinians "amalek". you are turning us into amalek.
doesn't the torah tell us to have empathy for those beaten down by the world? doesn't the torah tell us to make the world a better place? doesn't the torah tell us to free people of their shackles and help them escape oppression?
i have so many israeli aunts and uncles and cousins; i fear for their safety. of course, my parents do as well. i'm worried that this fear, in addition to anything they were led to believe earlier in life, is placing my parents even deeper in the zionist camp. but it doesn't have to be this way! my relatives' safety does not rely on the continued oppression of gaza!
it is easy to be uninformed, to be swayed by propaganda, to blindly hope that israel was founded in good faith -- but we can't lie to ourselves. a world steeped in senseless hatred (which we are now promoting!) could never be a home for us. none of us are free, liberated, equal, until all of us are.
as a jew, to other jews, i implore that we stand with our palestinian siblings. i want us all to be happy and safe. i want us all to live in harmony -- in the holy land and around the world. that is what we all deserve. <3
#melonposting#i apologize for not reblogging/posting much stuff about israel/palestine until now#i kept having this fear that my mom would see and get angry at me#but what do i care? i want both jews and palestinians to be happy#oh yeah. and i keep hearing the argument that 'jews living in the holy land before israel was established weren't treated well'#i don't know if that's true or not... but does it matter?#like of course antisemitism is horrible. but that can be dealt with#forcibly taking over their land is not the answer#like if israel were never a thing and people saw that jews living in the holy land didn't have rights#they'd do something about it!#and if you think they wouldn't (which is a fair thing to think)... well then you should do something about it!!!#don't solve oppression with more oppression you idiot!!!!!#no positive change will ever come to a world which doesn't think positive change can happen#and oppression is not positive change.#and it also pains me how so much of zionist rhetoric feeds off of post-holocaust fear#and i get it. i get that in the mid 20th century we were so scared and angry after the holocaust#and that we desperately wanted a safe haven#i will never not empathize with that fear and rage because it's justified#but that is no excuse to oppress another group of people. there are other ways to be safe and happy i promise#just stop hurting each other... please... you're not helping anyone...#palestine#israel#zionism
62 notes
·
View notes
Text
Honestly? So much of Sonic Prime happens the way it does because Sonic is unabashedly, wholeheartedly neurodivergent, and I wanna talk about that in detail for several reasons
I think most people assume he has ADHD, and while I agree, I think they tend to leave it at "he's hyperactive and impulsive" when there's actually a lot more going on there.
For example, he lacks a filter. He says exactly what he's thinking, all the time, regardless of who's listening. I wouldn't be surprised if he does it as a type of vocal stim, considering that he talks to himself as much as he does to other people. Maybe he dislikes the way silence feels on his ears, too?
Something I noticed was that when Thorn gets on his case for this, asking if he ever stops talking, the way he says "eh, not really" sounds... almost resigned?
He could have easily said it in a more jokey way, but his tone (and the wide camera shot) gives me the impression that this isn't a trait of his that he feels especially positive about.
It's not cool or funny to him, at least not in this instance; it's just something he does, which further proves to me that it's more of an unconscious stim than anything else.
On the topic of the jungle world though, it also shows us a couple instances of him not being able to read others' intentions very well. Prim lies to him about knowing what the Prism shard is, and Thorn uses him to get to said shard - and despite how hostile they are, he takes both of them at their word.
He only realizes Thorn's intentions after she hits him across the clearing - not for the first time that day, mind you - and Sonic berates himself a little for not seeing this coming.
But it's not like this is the only time he has difficulty understanding intent; just look at his interactions with Shadow.
This is not the behavior of someone who understands why Shadow's picking a fight with him. He doesn't understand the implications of "you literally shook the world" because he doesn't know about the Weirder aspects of the explosion. In his mind, he just messed up a mountain.
Though I think his attitude implies another thing about his dynamic with Shadow that might explain why he was so quick to dismiss what he was talking about, which is. I don't think Sonic usually understands why they fight??
Shadow is a person of few words and Sonic has a hard time picking up on subtleties, that's a recipe for miscommunication already. And if Sonic's already predisposed to thinking that Shadow fights him Just Because, then of course he didn't take this particular instance seriously.
Though going back to "he only registered the physical effect of the explosion," Sonic is actually pretty consistent with understanding things that are tangible a lot better than anything else. Case in point: that One Palm Tree
His first reaction to seeing it presented as a gift is that it must be a trick. because he doesn't see the tangible point of the tree, and isn't enough of a symbolism guy to see the sentimental point of it, either.
Don't get me wrong, he is being insensitive here, but I don't think it's on purpose in any way. Look at his body language and expressions:
Even as he's getting on their case for being too sentimental, he's not unhappy or uncomfortable with them. He's just completely failing to recognize that this was supposed to be a big deal for them, so he's treating it way more casually than is appropriate.
Which is like. a classic social flub for neurodivergent folks
(Quick side note - this specific "huh" that he makes as Tails is flying away before Sonic realizes he's upset is a whole mood. I don't know how to explain it but this is Exactly what it feels like when you can sorta tell something's not clicking but you don't know what yet)
(Look at him. brain static)
I could go on with the detailed explanations but some of that would just be me repeating past posts I've made, so I'll leave it at "he is clearly not handling change well either" and link back to an example.
So anyway, this is what I meant when I said that so much of the show is impacted by Sonic being neurodivergent. It affects how we hear his thoughts as viewers, it affects his ability to understand and connect with his friends, it's why he dismisses Shadow, it's why he impulsively smashes the Paradox Prism, the list goes on.
And he's not stupid because of any of these traits, either. None of what I've described has to do with intelligence, but I've seen "Sonic is too dumb" as a reason to criticize the show, and that's just not what's happening here.
If anything, I'm actually really impressed with how well the writers have managed to portray a more nuanced take on what a character with ADHD would look like. Because he's not just being hyperactive and chatty, you can tell it affects how he perceives things too.
Which is a much bigger part of the overall experience, and it's really cool to see in a cartoon like this - and in the lovable main character, to boot! Who cherishes his friends despite his struggles to understand them! Why is it so good!
In conclusion Sonic is the ADHD king we both needed and deserved, thanks for coming to my TED talk
#sonic the hedgehog#sonic prime#sonic prime spoilers#analysis#meta#He might also have autism because there's a lot of overlap there#I mostly just went with ADHD because it seems to be the consensus#and it takes too long to specify that it could be either or both in the main post
7K notes
·
View notes
Text
i think it's hard to understand the level of betrayal crowley must have felt, which leads to a lot of assumptions around him easily forgiving aziraphale or not being angry; so let's put ourselves into his position.
imagine: your partner, your best friend, the one person in the world that you love more than anyone else, asks you to change how you look, how you talk, who you are—so you can follow them back to an abusive household that threw you out and told you to never come back.
and they tell you that happy and excited and it's not even a question, it's a "by the way, we're doing that, isn't that great?"
you try to tell them no, it's not, i don't want to go back there, i like who i am now. they hurt me and scarred me for life, and they will do it again.
the person you loves, the person you thought loves you, looks at you and says "but you're bad. don't you want to be good? they can make you good."
come with me, you say. that house doesn't want us, we can have our own, we can build our own home. just the two of us, we don't need them, we're fine the way we are.
"i can change them" they say, as if you didn't try. as if you didn't try to change them first. as if that wasn't the reason they threw you to the wolves.
fuck it, you say. you confess your love anyway because they must know, right? they need to know. "don't leave me" you beg, plead, pray.
"oh," they respond, smiling. "nothing lasts forever."
you try to walk away, they stop you, they make it worse, make it clear they don't understand you like you thought. do they love you or the version of you they created in their head? you can't tell anymore.
"we could have been us," you say. we could have been happy.
you kiss them because you have to, because you will be damned twice over if you lose them without kissing them, because your patience snaps and you think you might die if you don't kiss them right now.
it doesn't change anything. "i forgive you"—for being me? for loving you? for refusing to tear myself apart? for kissing you? it's not like it matters. they're gone. you watch them leave.
would you immediately forgive them if they showed up on your doorstep? or would you be heartbroken and angry? you miss them, you still love them, but FUCK YOU. fuck you for demanding that of me. fuck you for everything you said. FUCK YOU FOR LEAVING.
six thousand years. six thousand years.
it would already be hard to forgive a person you have loved for two years or ten, and it gets worse the longer you know them. six thousand fucking years and aziraphale did that. we know why he did. we know how their story will end, but crowley doesn't.
all crowley has is aziraphale's speech and his face disappearing behind elevator doors. all crowley has is you're the bad guys and come with me and nothing lasts forever and i need you and i forgive you.
love alone does not and cannot fix that. aziraphale took six thousand years of trust and set them on fire with a smile on his face, and i understand the urge to try and find an explanation where he doesn't do that. where everything is secretly fine.
but there isn't.
aziraphale needs to rebuild that trust, he needs to earn it again. and mot importantly, he needs to understand why his words and actions broke it in the first place. but even then—even if crowley is the kindest possible version of himself and aziraphale does everything right—even then crowley would have every single right to say i don't forgive you. i love you and i understand you, we can be together, but i cannot forgive you for that and we both have to live with that now.
they will get their happy ending, i do truly believe that, but it might not be the fairy tale happily ever after you imagine and that's okay. it still counts. it's still good.
let crowley be angry and let them find their way back to each other, even if that path does not include forgiveness.
#alex talks good omens#good omens#ineffable husbands#crowley#aziraphale#good omens season 2#go2#aziracrow#crowley x aziraphale#ineffable divorce#the final fifteen
553 notes
·
View notes
Text
Was thinking about how Hob and Dream could both be insufferable in some way because, in fairness, Hob comes across as someone who could make friends with bread if left in a room with it long enough.
Then I had a thought:
What if Hob Gadling is just super fucking insufferable to other immortals?
See, Dream is... difficult for mortals to get because he's got his whole eldritch thing going on. But while he's not particularly popular with them, I imagine other immortals at least get and respect his whole deal. Like, he's the Dreamlord. Of course he's weird. But they understand the laws and principles he's referring to at least when he's being weird. He seems to at least have a pleasant relationship with the Faerie Court. It's mortals who can't really connect with Dream and find him exasperating as a result.
Whereas Hob gets along great with mortals, just swell. He's Just A Guy who happens to live forever and people get along with him. But immortals? We don't really see it much but immortals positively loathe this guy.
Dream's reaction to the whole, "I've made up my mind, I've decided not to die!"? Hob tossed out in 1389? That's the teeth-grinding level of irritation Hob engenders in every immortal he comes across (before they have centuries to get to know him) and it is exactly why Death just had to make this man immortal because it would be hilarious.
Why doesn't Hob hang out with other immortals besides Dream? Because the minute he opens his mouth about how great life is and how he's never had even a moment's doubt about how much he wants to live, every immortal in the room starts to make the gagging motion.
You're an immortal just trying to have a bit of a kvetch about Kids These Days and how much times have changed and how it was better in your day, and there's Hob fucking Gadling again ready to throw down about how amazing antibiotics and automobiles and the latest iPhone number whatever are and like, sure, but you were just trying to say back in your day things were better, right? Not objectively maybe but you're just trying to indulge in a bit of immortal nostalgia and Hob fucking Gadling is not having any of it and is ready to argue you into the dirt about it.
You're immortal but haven't quite kept up on today's slang? Hob Gadling will absolutely call you out and he's a teacher now so he's going to be super nice about it but you know he's judging you for saying groovy unironically and thinks you should get with the times already.
You're a vampire living off centuries of generational wealth? Hob keeps talking about how you should get a job and get out of the spooky mansion more, and maybe you wouldn't feel so much existential angst. You like your existential angst!
Hob doesn't have a single ounce of patience for immortals who want to wax poetic about wishing they were mortal again. Diseases, he says, have you ever had diseases? Like even a cold? It sucks. It really fucking sucks. The Plague? The fucking worst. You don't need to be mortal to get involved in mortal life, Hob fucking Gadling keeps pointing out at the monthly eldritch coffee meetups. You can just live as a mortal and share in their problems and enjoy the fact you don't have to deal with the shit parts like getting sick. Completely missing the point of the futile lamentation of regretting one's lost mortality is something you enjoy.
Hob harshes the vibe of every single immortal out there. They are so goddamn sick of him. There's a reason he has no apparent immortal friends or connections to the supernatural world despite (in the comics) seeming to have met other immortals and having the occasional supernatural encounter that he immediately brushes off as dull when compared to what the normal, every day world has to offer.
No other immortal can fucking figure out what Dream of the Endless sees in this guy, and how he can stand to talk to him even once a century without storming off (which, in fairness, Dream has done on 2/7 occasions). Dream, not otherwise known for his patience, is seen as a saint in the eldritch community for even spending as much time as he has over the course of 600+ years with Hob fucking Gadling.
2K notes
·
View notes
Text
viktor doesn't... pay that much attention to appearances, his or anyone else's. not when it doesn't matter. sure, there's the 'wearing what they see as respectable clothes so they take you seriously' and the 'not going to the dinner table covered in oil stains', but beyond that? he doesn't really care, to be honest.
yes, he's aware that some people put a lot more thought into the way they look, and into what other people think about the way they look. he knows that's a thing. it just happens to be a thing he chooses not to personally get invonved in.
well, it had been.
he honestly hadn't even thought about it much, before. it had just been one of those things that other people did, one of those things he had never really understood. you know, one of those things that made him feel like maybe the rest of the world had had some secret meeting without him where they decided that yes, these are the rules, and no, we won't explain them, you just have to know.
one of those things.
and he had been fine not thinking about it! truly, he had been blissfully unaware of what the current beauty standards were and which traits were seen as good or bad on which year -
and then he'd met you, by some miracle. you know, viktor doesn't meet that many new people, these days, so it does genuinely feel like a miracle when you just... stumble into his life one day. and without even thinking about it, automatically, viktor's brain files you away as beautiful, and he treats that as a passing fact, the same way he treats the color of your eyes. it's just a categorizing trait; this person just is beautiful.
and then, later, when he learns that apparently not everyone thinks that, his brain disagrees, severly. like - are they blind? is this a joke? it's a bad joke, if so, and then he's mad for you.
because he remembers that, ah, right. some people are weird about appearances. they have their menial rules about it that change by the decade.
he's still mad for you, but mentally he's ended that argument with well they're all idiots. because clearly you are an awesome, incredible, beautiful human being and this shouldn't be an argument in the first place.
he tells you this, and then his heart breaks a little when you seem so used to hearing the opposite. when you seem to have accepted what those idiots were saying because you'd just...heard it so often.
when you seem to not-quite-believe that he could really see you as beautiful. that he could really, actually want you. like that.
and it's - it drives him up the wall that this is even a thing. that the negative things you've heard outweigh the positive ones, and apparently by a landslide. that he can't make you see yourself the way he sees you.
because, truly, he thinks you're so beautiful. like, are you kidding? viktor's been skin and bone his whole life, and you're so...soft. he knows it way before he ever touches you; he can see it, and he has a well enough functioning imagination. and he's been thinking about it a lot, lately. what you'd feel like under his fingers. against his body. he has theories about this.
he can tell you're soft, and warm, and sometimes when the sunlight hits you he genuinely thinks you look like you could be straight out of one of those expensive oil paintings people paid a lot of money to see just a glimpse of.
and - yes, okay, maybe some of this was just his hormones talking, but come on. he couldn't not want to touch you. that was just one of those facts of life - the sun rose every morning, and whenever viktor saw you, he had the urge to touch you. to be close to you. to prove to you how much he adored you.
and then when you let him? that - that felt like a miracle. truly and honestly. because - viktor had never considered himself to be especially lucky, just, like, in life in general, but this?
he had to have won some sort of cosmic lottery. to first be lucky enough to meet you and then to be able to do this. to get so close. to touch you like this, to see you like this. it is nothing short of a privilege and he takes it, happily and greedily. and he makes it his personal mission to let you know exactly what he thought about you, and exactly how little you should care about anyone else's opinion. except your own, of course, but only on those days your mind was being kind to you.
so he makes sure you know that he absolutely worships you. okay? you are his personal deity, and he is devoted. he lets you know, any way he knows how, and any opportunity he gets. given half a chance, he will be praising you, telling how gorgeous you are and how lucky he is to have you. telling you how good you look, how good you feel, how good you make him feel. he isn't shy - he tells you, in enough detail to make your cheeks heat up.
and when you're alone, and you have all the time in the world? he shows you, and he doesn't hold back. and then he reminds you, again and again and again.
and you know viktor isn't a liar. he doesn't care about things like this enough to lie about them. so when he tells you that he loves the way you look, the way you feel, the way you are, you believe him.
#scribbles#we're here for the body positivity ok#and i truly honestly believe that viktor would adore having a partner who's like. soft around the edges#viktor arcane x reader#viktor x reader#this is gender neutral but i made the reader have some traits that like. hint at them being soft and maybe plus size#or maybe some other type of Looking that some people don't know how to appreciate#yes i made viktor autistic here cheers
589 notes
·
View notes
Text
So this OTW Election drama is getting out of hand...
I see a lot of panic and fearmongering, and I think some facts need to be stated to help put things into perspective.
The OTW, which operates AO3, has yearly elections for the Board of Directors. This is position which is occupied by SEVEN PEOPLE total. You can see the members of the current board here: https://www.transformativeworks.org/board-directors/
The entire Board of Directors works together to oversee the OTW as a whole. They cannot and also do not oversee the details of day-to-day operations, such as your tags being wrangled, or keeping track of donations, or responding to support tickets, or keeping the servers working, etc. (https://elections.transformativeworks.org/what-the-board-does/)
Therefore, ONE person being elected to the Board will not be able to completely shift the direction and goals of the OTW as a whole. You would need a 4 person majority at the very least, and the maximum number of seats up for election in any year is usually 3.
The requirements for running for the Board are fairly simple: 9 months in the previous year as a volunteer (everyone in the OTW, including Board members, are volunteers), not being in the Elections committee, being a legal adult, and being a paying member (basically the same as being a voter in the election). More info: https://elections.transformativeworks.org/becoming-candidate/
There is no nomination process or any sort of internal popularity contest at play here. Any views being expressed by a candidate therefore doesn't mean anything about the OTW's culture internally as a whole.
There is a period of time before the election where all eligible voters get emails at the same email address they will send the ballots to, with instructions to a mock-up page of the ballot so that people can work out technical issues if needed. People who need accommodations for any reason are also able to request them during this period weeks before the election. So asking for a "tech testing" period before the election happens is... pointless. It's already there!
Asking for more "screening" of candidates is reasonable on the surface, but the truth is, it could be ripe for abuse by people in charge of the process. Sure, perhaps the people who put these rules into place won't use the process badly, but who's to say nobody will ever be tempted to do so? It could lead to a Board and Elections Committee that works together to keep new ideas and changes in the OTW from ever coming to fruition. Just imagine the Board of Directors we hate in movies: old white men in suits who never want anything to change, and only let in people who are just like them. Also -- the reason we have elections AT ALL is so everyone gets a voice in how the OTW will run.
This isn't like the US Election (or British, or wherever you are) where your vote is one drop in an ocean of millions. The OTW and AO3 are actually not that big in the wider world, and that means each vote counts more. Also, the ranked voting system means peoples' votes can count towards their second- or third-favourite candidate, or so on. It's not all or nothing here!
I know a lot of people are worried seeing what seems like anti views coming from "within" the OTW itself, but it is still one person out of hundreds. People are always going to have varying opinions; the GOOD thing is that people are voting against opinions that they don't agree with. That means the voting process is working.
There is a conversation to be had, perhaps, about changing some policies and requirements for candidates and members future elections. But right now? Breathe.
There is no risk of the AO3 censoring and banning fic overnight, even if you personally cannot vote this year. After all, the candidates weren't revealed until after everyone donated, and we know antis would never give AO3 their money.
(And for the conspiracists out there: ballot-stuffing is not 100% impossible, but EXTREMELY UNLIKELY. You would need to have paid 10$ donations for HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of fake people (which is $$$$) months in advance and also set up hundreds/thousands of email accounts for all these fake people, or for real people with nefarious aims. The reason we know the moon landing wasn't faked is because that many people could not have realistically kept a secret for that long. We would have heard whispers about it. The same applies here. This entire debacle came out of left field over the course of a few days!
And all that work, for ONE member who can't unilaterally change anything? Please.)
#just leave candidates you don't like off your ballot#ao3#otw#fanfic#fanfiction#fandom#elections#archive of our own#psa#signal boost
5K notes
·
View notes
Text
Why & How Katara is the Strongest Waterbender
The ATLA fandom is funny. Because if there's one member of the Gaang whose skills are continuously doubted, it's Katara's.
No one hesitates in saying that Toph is the strongest Earthbender in the world. Aang has always been maintained as a natural prodigy. Sokka's strategic intelligence and cleverness are never in question. Most people are positive that Zuko would have beaten Azula if she hadn't targeted Katara and hail him as a swords master.
But for some reason, it's always Katara whose proficiency is either called into question or severely downplayed.
Some are skeptical about the legitimacy of her becoming a master in a short time. Others are certain that her victories are due to plot manipulation. Both of these arguments that ATLA is a kids' show which pushed it into giving her the win.
(Funny how ATLA is the greatest piece of media ever read until it comes to anything pertaining Katara's character lmao)
So I wanted to take a minute to talk about the progression of her waterbending skills and how she became Master Katara.
Pre North Pole
The first time we really see Katara practice waterbending is in The Waterbending Scroll when she decides to show Aang her limited very skill set. She noticeably has a difficult time with her bending, whereas he seems to pick it up rather quickly.
As we know, Katara has never met another waterbender before. She has no idea what their bending is supposed to look or feel like. And that's reflected in the moves she shows Aang.
I want to draw attention to Katara's stance here. She's stiff, even a little awkward. She's standing where more like an Earthbender. We see this repeated when she's practicing the Water Whip.
Even later when she does perform the Water Whip correctly, there are still traces of this.
You know how Iroh learned to redirect lightning watching Waterbenders? Well, my assumption (at this point I'm 80% sure it's meant to canon) is that Katara learned most of her bending by watching Aang and the Earthbenders they met around the world.
It makes sense, right? They would have been the closest thing to Waterbenders she could have learned from. She even asked Aang to teach her in the first episode. So the start of her bending began with incorporating the forms of Air and Earth.
And we see the results of that in her fight with Pakku.
Fighting Pakku
Katara's fight with Pakku is a great demonstration of his visually. He's a master, so he's already proficient at "push and pull." Katara is not. She's done it before, but it's not her go-to style when she's fighting. And we can see it in this fight.
Again, her stance is firm. She either blocks his attacks or bats them away. She doesn't reinforce and redirect them like he does hers. She isn't fighting like a Waterbender, she's fighting like an Earthbender.
Not to say this is a bad thing. Pakku himself even admits that she's good even though they both know she can't beat him.
Why am I bringing this up? Because one thing about Katara that's overlooked is her adaptability. When she didn't have a waterbending teacher, she made do with observing Earthbenders. She picked up Pakku's teachings even better than Aang had. And going forward from here it really begins to shine in her bending.
She completely dominates Pakku's other students and Zuko (twice). Why? What makes her so special compared to men who have been training their whole lives?
Because water is the element of change. By being so proficient in adapting (not just in her bending, but openly embracing different things and experiences and people), Katara unknowingly embraced the mentality of her element.
(It's actually a funny twist of fate because you could make the point that the North held its other Waterbenders back by being so bound to and unflinching in their traditions. It would explain why none of Pakku's students even stood a chance against her)
If you think about it, you could draw parallel to Yue explaining the history of Waterbending to Katara to the Sun Warriors explaining fire as an element to Zuko. In both cases, you can see that they're able to see and understand their element in a new light. Although it's more of a realization moment for Katara as she already knew about pushing and pulling and it's more of a lesson for Zuko who was taught something completely different.
Katara vs Azula (Round 1)
You know how I said people attribute her wins due to plot manipulation because ATLA is a kids' show? Well it seems like Katara vs Azula is the scene they focus on the most for that.
But let's be real, this isn't a fluke. The show purposely draws attention to Katara prowess and skills during this fight.
Azula is someone who's always in control. She's someone who goes into fights with full confidence. But she is completely thrown off by Katara's abilities here.
And this is something that persists throughout the entire fight. Katara completely overpowers her. At no point during the fight did Azula have the upper hand against her.
And remember, this is Azula's fight. She's the one who imprisoned Katara and Zuko. She's the one who attacked Katara and Aang to begin with. Sure, she was probably counting on her manipulation of Zuko working and him backing her, but there was no guarantee that he would be able to get away from Aang long enough to help her.
And right after this, Aang really struggles against Azula. He doesn't own the fight nearly as well as Katara does.
So, we know it isn't a fluke. The creators intentionally made Katara outclass Azula here. She's canonically the superior bender between the two of them. And that's not a small feat by any means. Azula at this time is one of the best Firebenders alive, probably fourth (after Ozai, Iroh, and Jeong Jeong (she could possibly be above Jeong Jeong)).
So what was the reason for this? Why was Katara able to outclass Azula so effortlessly?
Well here's where Katara's mastery of the meaning of her element comes into play again. She understands and excels in the concept behind water. Always changing, always adapting. She embraces water to its fullest capabilities (which also includes incorporating other elements into it; water would actually be the best element to do this with). The entire fight, she's switching stances and forms and keeping Azula on the evade. Whatever Azula throws back is dealt with without an issue.
And as we know, Azula (and most Firebenders) misunderstand fire as an element. She uses it solely as a destructive force, but it's also energy, life, and passion. This is also part of the reason Zuko lost so easily in the Northern Water Tribe; he also had the same issue. Katara's proficiency in water as not just a weapon, but an element, gave her the advantage over Azula she needed.
Katara vs Hama
A debate that comes up a lot is who's the better bender between Katara and Amon. To that I have always said Amon was taught Bloodbending, Katara just did it.
Let me reiterate: NO ONE TAUGHT KATARA BLOODBENDING. Hama explained the concept to her, yes, but never actually taught her. In fact, she did not expect her to pick it up without guidance. In her own words, "You should've learned the technique before you turned against me."
This was a technique that took Hama decades to learn. Tarrlok and Noatak were trained relentlessly. And Katara just... Did it. No guidance and no build up. This supports that Katara's adaptability and versatility in her bending is unmatched. She's able to comprehend and perform advance concepts with no training or teaching.
Now that we got that out of the way, this fight is so comprable to Katara vs Pakku. This is the second time she's fought a master and we can see how much she's improved. So much so that she doesn't even struggle against Hama.
At this point, she's mastered "push and pull." She's able to take everything Hama throws at her and send it right back with little to no effort.
But she takes it a step further.
Instead of redirecting, Katara completely stops Hama's onslaught. This undoubtedly is something she picked up from Earthbenders. It certainly isn't a Waterbending technique, yet somehow she made it into an effective move.
Look at Hama's face. She's completely thrown off by this. This was not something she ever expected out of any Waterbender. She was completely unprepared for Katara to be able to outmatch and overpower her.
Katara completely surpassed her, solidified by using the technique she invented against her.
I was going to talk about Katara and Azula's second fight, but there isn't much to add there. I already compared the difference in their skills talking about the first fight, and the Agni Kai is an escalation of that. The outcome of the Agni Kai was already decided and confirmed in the catacombs.
And that my friends is how and why Katara is the best Waterbender in the world
#master katara#katara of the southern watertribe#katara analysis#give my girl her due respect#katara is the greatest waterbender in the world#no i won't be taking criticism#argue with the wall#katara deserved better
124 notes
·
View notes
Note
A national boyfriend day fic with Gun & Goo? >///< (Separate if that's ok!)
Ever so slightly late. Just a touch! To all my other requests, sorry for some reason my brain wants to work backwards 🫠
Happy National Boyfriend Day! Goo Kim, Gun Park
Goo Kim
"No, why did you put that?" Goo whines and you erase your last couple words.
"Say I'm the best instead. Put that down." He scans over your caption, leaning closer to the screen with each passing second before reeling back and jabbing a particularly offensive part with his finger.
"There's a typo there cupcake!" You quickly correct it. "And are you using that picture? That suit was last season. Here, let me send you a better photo of me."
Goo starts to tap away on his own phone. You hear the tell tale ping of a message sent, and he slings a smarmy grin your way too.
With a sigh, you change the picture and redo the entire caption so it finally, finally passes his royal highness's scrutiny.
It's live. Thank fuck for that-
"Sweetheart~" Goo sings songs, elongating the vowels and you feel a headache come on, "Did you get me a present too?"
You want to snap of fucking course you did. He's been dropping hints for the last couple of months. Getting more obvious with each passing day, until he just came right out and demanded the specific item.
Which you would have gotten for him of your own accord, but this fool has no patience and no subtlety.
Thinking of the packaged box in tasteful gold wrapping, well tasteful by Goo Kim's standard anyway, you point wordlessly to the walk-in closet and he scampers off with glee.
You suppose you can't complain, after all it is his credit card you used.
.
.
Gun Park
"Happy National Boyfriend Day," you say somewhat shy, handing over an envelope.
Neither of you are big on celebrating these silly little made up holidays. Actual birthdays, anniversaries you are both more attentive to.
At least you are, then Gun took your lead after the first time he missed a particular occasion of something or another and you didn't speak to him for days.
He has learned his lesson since.
It didn't take much to make you happy, anyhow. And each time he remembered a date, your eyes lit up - that was even before giving you a gift and taking you out. So how could he deny you such simple pleasures?
"Thanks," he responds, a little stiff and taking the item from your hands. Because he definitely doesn't care for National Boyfriend's Day and thought you didn't either.
"Open it," you encourage with an excited smile, and he follows your instructions obediently.
Inside the envelope is a card. Printed on high quality cardstock. Dark and matte and heavy, with a simple heart design on the front.
"You can read it!"
And Gun does.
He's never been one to be affected, positively or negatively, by media. By prose or poems or songs. Words are frivolous, especially for a man who lives by action and violence.
But as he reads over your tidy, neat writing. Recalling your favourite memories together, your love for him, the future you see together.
Gun can't help but be touched.
Feel his eyes soften and a small smile tug at his lips. Want to pull you into his arms and hold you and cradle you like you're the most precious thing in his world.
"Thank you," He tells you again, and this time he means it.
#lookism#lookism x reader#lookism fic#gun park#gun park x reader#park jonggun x reader#goo kim#goo kim x reader#kim joongoo x reader#wannaeatramyeon
244 notes
·
View notes
Text
i do think that the abolitionists who cling to the "it's simple, just kick abusers/assaulters/rapists/murderers out of the community" line are just... usually people who have never had the experience of someone they deeply, deeply care for, someone they have committed their life to, committing serious and egregious harm. (that, or they have, and like anti-abortion folks who get abortions for themselves when push comes to shove, they come up with narratives about how their situation was the most singular and special situation in the entire world, and nothing else like that could ever happen to anyone else.)
but like... when you run into that situation IRL, you generally find it's not ever as simple as kicking someone out, or rolling up with your crew and beating them until they promise to move somewhere else. they have complex relationships within the community, some of which aren't going to be willing to cut them off entirely no matter what they did. family relationships--regardless of biology, "family" in the broader sense of "chosen bonds of unconditional love and lifelong commitment"--are notably often capable of weathering severe strain, and that can include shit like "you're still my sister even if you murdered someone."
and people who commit harm IRL have complex and multifaceted reasons for committing that harm, some of which can be systemic in nature. this isn't to say that the harm doesn't exist, or that their actions are excused or justified by those reasons, but when you have an intimate relationship with someone and are privy to the complexities of the situation, those reasons do often materially complicate situations beyond just "beat the villain up and save the victims." if the serious harm someone is enacting is materially pressured by systemic factors, it's incredibly unlikely that it will change or stop if they're forced to move cities and cut off from their former relationships. in fact, when we're talking about abuse and trauma that's partially enacted due to material systemic pressure, it's more likely that someone will become even more unstable and volatile when forced to rebuild their life, and continue to enact even worse harm due to their decreased supports and increased vulnerability.
like... we're all damn well aware that when we, as abolitionists, talk about this shit, we're not talking about jeff bezos. we're not even talking about joe smith two neighborhoods over with a six-figure salaried position and a 401k that he started in the 70s. we're talking about the people in our abolitionist communities, who are victim to generational poverty, who are usually disabled, trans, nonwhite. we're people who don't have the option to just find a new job and start over in a new city one day. and we're people who exist at the nexus of intense, violent societal pressures pushing us to harm one another, to use what little hierarchical power we can get against each other, to commit real and lasting violent harm. that shit is complex in reality. that shit isn't addressed by a pithy "kill your local rapist" patch or a tweet questioning why anyone's still talking to [insert transfem who abused someone here].
and like. it's hard! it's upsetting and difficult and miserable to get into the weeds of "why did someone do what awful thing they did and how do we actually materially reduce the likelihood of that happening." because the answers usually don't involve forcing them to move or forcing everyone who speaks to them to cut them off or beating them, in reality, and even though those answers feel good and feel like real solutions, they're not only unrealistic, they also usually actually make future harm of the same kind more likely. and it's hard to wrap our heads around the fact that people will continue to hurt each other in profoundly horrific ways until we learn to dismantle the systems enabling that harm and heal the dysfunction within individuals that makes them feel like that harm was justifiable and necessary. that sucks. but in the end, i think it's the only... realistic way forward? because the ~just kick em out~ ~just kill em~ line is so, so ungrounded in reality.
273 notes
·
View notes
Text
Usopp's constant negativity and anxiety are something useful and "positive" at the end of the day (eg: fight against Perona) because he doesn't necessarily need to change his views, he just needs to trust himself and his abilities more and he just uses what he has at the moment which is, you know, negativity. It is not something positive but it does keep him safe from danger and he will end up being proud of himself and stronger than he could ever imagine, but that doesn't mean he'll stop being negative. It's just another personality trait a lot of people have, and Usopp using it for his advantage is something great, I feel. He takes pride in being like that. He's loud and shameless about it.
Unlike Sanji, who dwells on his negativity on his own. Quietly. And lets it consume him without having any power over it. His self-sabotaging and self-sacrificing behavior often comes from a place of giving up out of fear of others getting hurt to save him because that's pretty much his core fear. Being a burden/Not being able to save the people he cares about from himself and his past. It's not something the manga shows that much in comparison to Usopp's negativity, but Sanji's pessimistic views are pretty much one of the reasons why WCI happens and why he puts himself in the worst situation in Wano.
And I think (this is why I'm writing all of this) that they're perfect for each other because Usopp could show him that being afraid and negative isn't something so bad. After all, at least Usopp is aware that if he can't do something, the crew will help him out no matter what. Usopp's negative, yes, but it's alright because he doesn't go through it on his own. Even if he does look shameless and "selfish" when desperately asking for help (he isn't, by the way. It's actually pretty reasonable to act like that). Sanji needs to learn to ask for help shamelessly too and he needs to stop putting all the weight of the world's negativity on his shoulders. They need to carry it together.
Like- There's just something so personal in Usopp going "Yes! I am scared. Frightened even. Please, help!" because he might not like that part of him and he's trying to be stronger and more independent every day, but he acknowledges that things can go south and his reaction is very fight or flight but pretty mostly flight to be safe. While Sanji's response is always to fight because he refuses to let others know he needs help in case something happens to them (and also because he feels ashamed of feeling weak). Usopp shares the responsibility and accepts that he's kind of a loser sometimes but Sanji refuses to do so.
This is just a thought about Sanji learning that being a coward and asking for help isn't bad because they're meant to do stuff like that, and Usopp growing to be stronger and independent but not necessarily stop being pessimistic because sometimes you just... Are like that. Sometimes you're scared. Sometimes you have anxiety. And that's alright. You can be strong anyway.
#now this is one of the 1289123719834718937981 reasons why sanuso works so well together#they're literally perfect for each other idc#i just find the way oda portrays usopp's negativity really cool bc he takes that one 'negative' trait and turns it into a defense mechanism#against perona i mean#water 7 literally happens because usopp actually lets himself drown in negativity for once instead of trusting his crew like he always does#he won't stop seeing himself as less important than them and instead of communicating that or asking for help he decides to leave#it's a reasonable response when you're on the verge of a mental breakdown tbh but sanji teaches him it's okay for others to help you#which is funny because sanji refuses to use that for himself but that's because he's stupid and hates himself#they both hate themselves a lot but love each other a ton so. great relationship. teaching the other how to love#me when i say 'loser baby' from hazbin hotel could easily be sanuso but nobody shares that specific braincell with me#one piece#black leg sanji#usopp#sanuso
79 notes
·
View notes
Text
aries sun 10H, pisces moon 9H, gemini rising, pisces mercury 10H, pisces venus 9H, leo mars 2H
aries sun: is a day cardinal fire sign. the aries symbol is the ram, and its glyph represents the horns of the ram. aries is a sign that focuses on itself. very confident, independent and self-centered. aries are also a sign that will always think of themselves first and if that suits them. inwardly, they have a healthy self-interest and are very courageous. aries is a sign that is very brave and risks a lot of things. aries like to live on the edge of life and their motto is "try, even if it doesn't work out, at least you tried". aries is competitive and will always go all the way to the end. and also a sign that dares a lot. aries are not afraid of challenges but accept them with open arms. what is characteristic of aries is that they have anger issue. their anger is quick and direct.
sun in 10th house: you may feel motivated to fulfill your ambitions and so will drawn toward accepting responsibility or embracing executive positions. it can be harder to find motivation, inspiration and light - but it comes later in life. many times you look for yourself through the audience, your parents or your father. you want to find the personality that suits you best. sun here motivates you to have a strong influence and to get recognized while you’re also satisfying your thirst for power and make your dreams come true.
pisces moon: dorky jokes and crying easily. green tea with honey and tarot decks. i’ll be damned if i ever let another hand wipe your tears before they dry. smooth skin and doe eyes. stroking hair and pearl jewelry. soft touches and stolen glances. ripped jeans and jaded sketchbooks.
moon in 9th house: you find happiness in mental stimulation, embracing change and variety, experiencing freedom of thought, exploring different places, expanding your knowledge, seeking wisdom, trying new things, embarking on adventures, daydreaming, and learning about diverse cultures and foreign subjects.
gemini rising: gemini rising people tend to look younger than they actually are. also gemini rising people have small features giving them an innocent look. probably have a short height unless other planets aspecting. i have also noticed that gemini rising have a mole on their neck too like most of the gemini rising i know HAVE a mole on their neck and a small one on their cheeks. big eyes. wide smile and mischievous. wider face.
pisces mercury: mercury is fall in pisces. pisces mercuries seem...confused whenever they talk. tendency to space out and get lost in their inner world. they seem to struggle with articulating their thoughts. may be forgetful or remember things incorrectly
mercury in 10th house: restless, communicative mercury in the 10th house gives a native for whom it’s not unusual to hold down more than one job at a time or have multiple irons in the fire. mercury-in-10th has a knack for languages and this can be useful in any profession they choose to undertake. there is an air of authority with this one and they have a flair for communicating well and negotiating with supervisors or others in positions of authority. this one thrives in a job that keeps them on the go, traveling or what have you, as long as they aren’t chained to a desk or sitting still all day long. easily bored, the 10th house mercurian requires frequent new challenges or changes of scenery to remain interested and stimulated. easily adaptable to new and different types of people and possessing a witty communicative style which others find appealing, this one has an uncanny knack for success in writing or careers in journalism.
pisces venus: sensational siren, dreamy and karmic, elusive moments, drowning in feeling, flip a coin for love or lust - throw it in the fountain for both, making your dreams and/or nightmares come true.
venus in 9th house: this placement means that your happiness/joy/pleasure may come from traveling, college, and/or adventure. this could also indicate someone who enjoys philosophy and faith. you may date people or make friends with a variety of people, whether that be culturally, racially, background-wise, etc.. you find opportunities through your connections with others
leo mars: draws you in with their performance, wins, or adventures, brave in the bedroom, will risk it all, life of the party, maybe vain or selfish but always on top, a king, lust and power, feverish and flirty, are you their muse, trophy, or queen?
mars in 2nd house: the planet of action in the house of finances indicates one must work hard and diligently to make their living, and often have great work ethic. rashness or haste may end in financial loss, but 2h mars can usually recover quickly from financial upsets. investing in yourself and your capabilities can be very fruitful, but be careful to not become too self involved in your dealings and end up shutting out potential partners and opportunities. money and financial security are big focus of ones energy.
(@mitsi28u-blog)
ᵒᵇˢᵉʳᵛᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ ᵃʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ᵐⁱⁿᵉ
#aries sun#sun in 10th house#pisces moon#moon in 9th house#gemini rising#pisces mercury#mercury in 10th house#pisces venus#venus in 9th house#leo mars#mars in 2nd house#astrology#astro notes#astro observations#astro community#astro placements#astro tumblr#astroblr#astrology aesthetic#astrology moodboard#astrology notes#astrology observations#aries#pisces#gemini#leo
75 notes
·
View notes
Note
Do you still believe HRT, which unless you have a messed up endocrine system doesn't hurt or sterilize anyone , and SRS, which often calls for reduction or addition of things and doesn't have to entail the removal of any genitals, gonads etc, are in the same vein as being trans abled, and wanting things like debilitating illness, removed limbs, and to use mobility aids etc when physically and mentally abled? /genq
It could've been a trollpost, but I saw someone posting about something that supposedly came from you about how it's the same as removing healthy gonads or to sterilize oneself intentionally to want a limb removed to disable oneself /g
Uh, yeah, at the very least I believe it doesn't make sense to support people's ability to choose one but not the other. [Also as a necessary disclaimer: I am physically disabled and I use both a cane and a wheelchair. It has had a major impact on my life. This is my opinion as a cripple who suffers on a daily basis from both my disabilities and systemic ableism.]
If you get healthy gonads or sex organs removed, you are essentially reproductively disabled. When it comes to phalloplasty, especially RFF, your arm can experience some nerve issues (which for most people is not serious, there are therapies you do to help recover) but you could, potentially, experience some kind of disability. None of this is a value statement about any kind of medical transition because disability is morally neutral. In fact for many people being reproductively disabled is an entirely positive thing! Even though for another person it could be deeply upsetting!
I've fought for a long time against TERF fearmongering about transmasculine transition, specifically HRT, and their warnings that "it will make your good pure body DISABLED!!!!!" which is both ableist and transphobic. It comes from the assumption that a disabled body is inherently lesser and tragic and a place of suffering, and that no trans person would ever take disability for the ability to experience euphoria and relieve their dysphoria. Many of us would rather be disabled and happy than abled and suffering. So why do we only get to apply this to medical transitioning for trans people?
Yes, obviously getting a limb removed or paralyzed or losing a sense is going to change how you live and you will have to deal with a lot of ableism. But it's not up to me to tell someone else that they shouldn't pursue happiness and relieve because oh no! They might be a DISABLED PERSON! The worst thing to be in the whole wide world!!!!!!!! Like disabled people already have to constantly hear "wow if I was you I'd kill myself." And while you shouldn't comment your feelings on someone else's condition unprovoked, I think it's way better to see people getting excited to live a happy and active disabled life instead of constant traumaporn. So yeah I think people should have the ability to pursue voluntary disability & I also think it would be cool to see people with BIID reclaim the label of transabled, since it was coined by a BIID activist to create a less medicalized and suffering-focused way of talking about BIID.
(Also, my stance as a mobility user has always been that the only criteria you need to fill to get a mobility aid is thinking it could help you. People already suffer unnecessarily because they are worried they aren't "disabled enough" to deserve an aid. So if someone w BIID feels better when walking with crutches I don't care! Especially if they actively fight against systemic ableism and inaccessibility! I am wayyyyy more concerned with all the buildings in my hometown with no goddamn elevator + crosswalks with no button or speaker than I am with someone using a wheelchair because it helps their dysphoria.)
204 notes
·
View notes
Text
What Makes You Addictive | Pick A Pile
Hello and welcome to this Pick A Pile! In here you'll find out what makes you addictive. I hope you guys enjoy and find this useful. Do make sure to leave comments down below on your experience! I do want to remind you all that this is a General Pick A Pile which means this is for a lot of people: therefore keep what resonates and leave what doesn't.
Masterlist
Pick A Pile!
Pile 1:
Your energetic, playful and loyal energy makes you addictive. You can be silent, helpful, you can listen to people and give them your advice to help them with problems, you come over as kind and soft, but the moment people hurt you or the people you care about, there’s nothing of that to be found. You are strong, you are able to make clear how you feel and you won’t ever let the people you care about get hurt without consequences, you can be ruthless.
And that loyalty, that sudden change in energy? That is addictive about you, that lures people in, that lets people stay. You can be so soft, yet intense at the same time. You are so many things all at once, a complicated personality which one loves to explore, which one finds interesting and will continue to want to uncover no matter how long you’ve known each other for.
Pile 2:
Your realistic yet positive and optimistic way of thinking makes you addictive. Even though you know about the problems around you, around your friends, around the world, it doesn’t seem to affect you all that much, you are still able to see everything through a positive lens, and even if that isn’t the case, you make people believe that you do. People get positive around you, people get happy around you, your positive and enjoyable energy can feel like a drug to people, too fun to leave, to fun to ignore.
You make people unite by bringing people together. Whenever you notice someone not talking as much or being slightly left behind, you get them directly into the conversation. You make people feel comfortable in their own skin, and being confident and happy is something a lot of people don’t want to leave behind. People associate happiness with you, and happiness is addicting.
Pile 3:
Your demanding way of speaking is addicting. You can be demanding, you know what you stand for and you absolutely know how to get whatever you want and or need. You know what you’re worth, you know what you like, and that confidence? That demanding way of speaking? That self-awareness? That’s something people envy of you, that’s something people look up to you for.
Whenever someone talks bad about you, whenever someone tries to make you feel bad or manipulate you, you won’t ever fall for it, you will know what is going on and you’ll make sure they won’t ever do it again. You know how to bring good revenge, you are quick to find out what someone’s insecurity is, what someone’s weakness is, and you won’t ever be scared to use it against them. That is what is addicting about you, the sense of power you let off, the sense of power you show.
#pap#pac#pick a picture#pick an image#pick a side#pick a card#pick a pile#pick a piles#channeling#channeled reading#channeled messages#channeled message#divination#predictions#spiritual#spiritual healing#spiritualhealing#spirituality#tarot#deck#reading#tarot reading#tarotoftheday#tarot deck#free tarot#dailytarot#addictive to you#witchcraft#tarot pac#future spouse
684 notes
·
View notes
Text
Aziraphale and Forgiveness, Pt. 4: Do Unto Others
This is the last part of this series of posts! Thank you all for coming on this ride with me.
Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.
Part 3 here.
If you’re just tuning in: everything I write in these is me pulling from a combination of stuff in the show and my own past with the evangelical church/some of its particularly toxic ways, to talk about why I think Aziraphale is the way he is.
Now that I’ve written many many words about what I think Aziraphale’s general damage is around forgiveness, I’m going to look at some more specific examples of his behavior and attempt to answer the question, "What is going through his mind when he does that?"
In Aziraphale’s world, God (speaking through Heaven/the Metatron) holds all the cards. She casts angels and humans alike down into Hell for eternity for various transgressions, and forgiveness is the only way out. How any part of this system works is totally unclear to everyone but God. Despite all of this, Aziraphale is strongly attached to the idea of God and Heaven being The Good Guys and himself as someone who is on the side of good.
So, what does he do?
He seldom admits wrongdoing and never asks to be forgiven.
This may seem like a weird place to start, but stick with me for a minute: Aziraphale behaves like someone who does not trust that his own mistakes will be forgiven. Which makes total sense. Not everyone's sins get forgiven, and the consequences of that are horrific. Given that, how could he possibly feel safe enough to own up to any wrongdoing, ever? So he lies to God about giving the flaming sword away, and he lies to the archangels constantly to cover his ass whenever he messes up. (This part is not just Aziraphale, by the way. Look at the constant lying and backbiting among the archangels.)
In situations not directly involving Heaven, his response to seeing his own screw-ups is generally to rush to fix them. The Edinburgh minisode provides the best examples of this, I think: he fucks up a lot in this episode but he is eager to try to rectify his mistakes as soon as he becomes aware of them. He has his view changed on bodysnatching, and he immediately goes to Elspeth and offers to help her dig up a new body. He realizes his culpability in Wee Morag getting shot, and in the next breath declares his intention to go against Heaven's rules to heal her. He wants to fix his mistakes. But what he doesn't do at any point in the minisode is apologize to the people he's harmed or ask for their forgiveness. And when Wee Morag dies before he can save her, he basically freezes up until Crowley pulls the laudanum stunt. He's screwed something up that he can't fix, and he doesn’t know what to do with that.
Rationally, this makes no sense. Elspeth does not have the power to cast him into hell, she only has the power to be angry at him. But emotionally it makes all the sense in the world. Asking for forgiveness is a vulnerable position. The other party is under no obligation to grant it. That's normal and healthy and as it should be in the real world, but when your baseline concept of forgiveness is as a divine pardon that saves you from being cast out forever, the terror of having it withheld is bound to bleed over into other situations whether it’s rational or not.
He extends unasked-for forgiveness to others, often to his own detriment, theirs, or both.
He forgives Crowley for calling him stupid in season one. He forgives Maggie her rent at the beginning of season two. He forgives Crowley for…calling him an idiot? for the argument in general? (that question is a whole post on its own, obviously) in the final fifteen. In none of these instances did the other person ask to be forgiven. It’s easy to see a lot of this as rather condescending at best. But to Aziraphale, withholding forgiveness has implications far more dire than simply harboring a grudge. I see these unasked for statements of forgiveness more like a promise—I am not going to hold this against you. “This” could be money he is owed or harsh words or anything, really, because it’s not about the specifics. And it’s also not about his personal feelings, which is why he can still muster up the words even when he’s visibly radiating anger and hurt. Forgiveness means freedom from punishment, and he’s saying whatever may have happened between us, I’m not going to punish you for it. (Obviously this is not at all how it lands with Crowley, but that’s a different topic altogether.)
This also extends into his actions, which consistently show willingness to extend grace even to those who have seriously harmed him, or committed other deeply immoral acts. Aziraphale’s tendency to quickly soften when someone appears to show a kinder or more vulnerable side has a lot of possible interpretations, but here’s mine: I think he is deeply committed, for better and for worse (and we see plenty of both!) to the idea that people should always be extended forgiveness and an opportunity to change and redeem themselves. He can’t help it. The association of forgiveness with safety and freedom from punishment is so embedded in his psyche that withholding forgiveness feels unreasonably cruel.
He doesn’t actually have the power to send anyone to hell, of course, but again, this behavior is emotional, not rational. He takes in Jimbriel and protects him despite the clear danger to both himself and Crowley. He willingly paves the way for Gabriel and Beelzebub to go off and be happy together. He’s well aware of their previous harms, but his rigid personal code around this will not let him deny someone else the possibility of positive change and redemption, because he would never want to be denied that same possibility for himself. Or to put it another way, he's doing unto others as he would want them to do unto him.
Almost-definitely-controversial opinion time: I think this exact same compulsion is at work in Aziraphale when the Metatron shows up. The job was not the draw here, Aziraphale doesn’t even want it. But the Metatron shows up and does two extremely significant things: he saves Aziraphale from punishment by telling off the other archangels and sending them away, and he offers to release Crowley from his punishment of being fallen. (I’ll come back to this in a second, I promise.) Aziraphale has so many extremely good reasons not to trust the Metatron, but the Metatron knew exactly what emotional buttons to push around punishment and forgiveness to get him thinking, "Maybe he's better than I thought. Maybe he's changed. Maybe I should give him another chance."
What were the very first words he said to Crowley when he was trying to explain the offer? "I don't think he's as bad a fellow—well, I think I might have misjudged him." His forgiveness compulsion has kicked in, hard, and suddenly he's extending grace to someone who does not deserve it at all, to everyone's extreme misfortune.
He wishes (prays?) for God to forgive Crowley.
"May you be forgiven" at the bandstand and "Then God forgive you" during the Job minisode fall under this category. He's not expressing his own forgiveness at these moments, he's wishing for God's forgiveness for Crowley.
Falling is a punishment for angels. I talked about that in part 2, but I just want to reiterate it here. However any particular demon may eventually come to feel about their demon status, it starts out as a punishment and it inflicts a lot of suffering. Fallen angels don't choose to leave Heaven, they are forcibly kicked out. It's physically painful. They are banished to Hell, a place that is ostensibly a place of punishment for humans but is obviously pretty miserable for demons, too. And reading between the lines of a number of things said in the show, it's pretty clear that the punishment of falling is understood to be permanent.
So, from Aziraphale's point of view, his best friend, the being he loves more than anything, is serving an eternal punishment with no possibility of release. I think he knows deep down that being cast out forever to a place of constant suffering is an obscenely disproportionate punishment to any offense Crowley might have committed. He clearly knows that Crowley is a good person inside. He knows that God's ineffable plan sometimes includes forgiveness, at least for the souls of some humans. And I think he's been hoping against hope for a long time that God will one day forgive Crowley.
For people who have a totally different emotional context around forgiveness, the immediate (and understandable) reaction is no doubt to bristle at this. Forgive him for what? What did he even do? Even if he did actually do something, falling is an outrageously cruel punishment. Heaven should be the ones begging for Crowley's forgiveness for doing this to him.
And all of that is absolutely true. But it's not the context Aziraphale is operating from. When he hopes God will forgive Crowley, what he's hoping for is that Crowley will finally be released from punishment. So when Crowley says something that he finds morally abhorrent ("I long to destroy the blameless children of blameless Job") or something that stirs up his anxiety that God is watching and taking offense ("great pustulent mangled bollocks to the great blasted plan!"), he counters by once again wishing for forgiveness for Crowley. It's his way of expressing some confused and anxious combination of "I know you're better than this" and "I don't want to see even more punishment heaped on you" and "I want you to be free of this life sentence one day." It comes from a place of wanting to help and protect, however misguided.
Which sums up a lot about Aziraphale's attitude around this, really. Most of Aziraphale's ideas about forgiveness, and the actions that stem from them, come from a combination of longstanding fear and trauma, plus a severely distorted worldview that he's been indoctrinated into his whole life. There's a lot he doesn't understand, and there are definitely some areas of his life where he needs to learn better and make amends. But I think there's also a big case of different exactlys going on, when it comes to what Aziraphale actually means when he says certain things about forgiveness, and what Crowley (and much of the fandom) thinks he means.
These are all just my thoughts, as someone who spent the first twenty-ish years of my life being personally victimized by certain toxic and fucked up views of Christian forgiveness, and who sees a lot of my younger self in Aziraphale's words and actions around this topic. If you've read all this (1) you deserve a gold star, and (2) I would love to hear your thoughts as well!
#good omens#good omens meta#good omens 2 spoilers#character analysis#religious indoctrination#aziraphale#religious trauma#forgiveness#i forgive you
103 notes
·
View notes
Text
Anonymous: Idk if you've ever written anything abt this but I love the idea of some small foreign entity crawling inside my womb while I'm asleep and like. Fusing I guess? And just constantly fertilizing me to the point I'm always pumping out its kids. Makes me go straight to Niagara falls lol
I'm sure I have some permapreg like it somewhere around here, but it's always something I'm willing to explore <3
It's just an ordinary night for you, so you manage to get to sleep eventually. That's when your uninvited guest comes out to play. Maybe it was under your bed, or just outside your window, or somewhere else in your room that you don't check often enough. Whatever it is, the thing slinks out from its hiding spot on too many limbs and seeks out your available hole. It knows it has a good project on its hands - you can be turned into a good tool for it, something to pump out not-quite-humans infected with its genes.
Its body secretes sedatives that keep you fast asleep as it opens up your cunt with its tapered body, pulling itself deeper and deeper inside of you until it presses right up against your cervix. With a little extra force, it pops inside, sliding perfectly into place as it latches to the top of your womb. It quickly dissolves a portion of the inner lining so that its body can fuse to yours, and it even incorporates some of your DNA into itself so that your immune system doesn't recognize it as a threat. Within minutes, its skin and your womb flow into each other seamlessly, and it can begin its work.
It takes a little while to get your body up to speed on what the new plan is. The first round of hormones it secretes is meant to prepare its environment for its young in particular - they may be similar to humans in various superficial ways, but they are most certainly not the standard young a human should be bearing, and certainly at a rate far too fast for any human. Then, once your internal workings have been altered to its tastes, it starts releasing its seed into your womb - in fact, with bifurcated genitalia, it can simply insert a long probe directly into your fallopian tubes and bombard your unprotected ovaries with its sperm cells, fertilizing engorged eggs much faster than should be possible. In fact, new eggs are forming just for its purposes, which is normally an incredibly rare event - but, then again, this thing isn't producing humans, so human biology is mostly irrelevant.
The first cells start dividing late in the night while you're still peacefully sleeping, entirely unaware of how you've been changed. Permanently. Forever.
In the morning, you become acutely aware of the new developments when the first hints of labor pull you harshly into the waking world. You gasp and moan, clutching at your rounded, swollen belly. You're so large that you can't even adjust your position properly, and you're left to wonder, terrified, what must have happened last night for you to end up like this. You're not allowed to think much further about it, however, because the pain of a child pressing against your dilated cervix is a distraction from everything else, and you have to follow through on the urge to push before anything else can be done.
Labor is fast, in comparison to how long an active labor normally is, and it's agonizing as a result. Your body isn't used to being stretched open and pulled apart like this, much less from the inside out, so thoroughly claimed by something you can't identify - and yet, despite the pain, pleasure still washes over you, and you can't help but cum multiple times, delaying the birth as you clench hard around the inhuman child still sliding through your birth canal. Your cervix and cunt are stretched wide, wide open, torturous and euphoric at the same time, and you're tempted to linger at the crowning stage just to bask in the horrible, searing burn that comes from something just too big. Your body screams at you to bear down, though, so you do, your legs shaking as you cum again at the sensation of a newborn slipping wetly out of your newly-sloppy cunt.
As you lay back, fighting for breath, you can feel more weight gathering in your lower belly. Placing a hand on your midsection greets you with the sensation of your skin pulling tight under your fingers, an alien mass pushing out from within, filling up your womb with something you didn't ask for - and yet something that makes your skin burn with arousal, makes your eyes roll back in your head and your tongue loll out of your mouth when your cervix hugs another small body on its way out of you. The process seems to be speeding up - even as you're giving birth, another body stretches your insides.
These are just the growing pains as the organism that's taken you over makes sure its systems are in place properly. It's making sure that you can push out as many children as it commands, making sure that you're hyperfertile and loving it, making sure that the elevated pain response you're experiencing is simultaneously translated to pleasure so that it hurts and makes you cum at the same time. So far, everything is going well - but it wants to keep up the test run for a little while, pump out enough children to make up for its time outside of a human womb, when it couldn't produce young.
You're trapped in bed all day, screaming and sobbing through orgasm after orgasm as babies open you wide, an endless chain of children you can't identify, not at all human and yet with the appearances of oversized newborns. The way they can crawl immediately after birth - and climb up the walls, no less - tells you that you're not dealing with a weird human pregnancy; this is something entirely out of your wheelhouse, but you're finding it harder and harder to care as your brain learns more and more to enjoy your new position as a permanent baby factory, a sloppy hole for babies to come out of, an incubator. You're forgetting everything else you had planned for today, for next week, for the upcoming month, the rest of the year. Pleasure and pain, and this implacable urge to give birth over and over again, are quickly wiping out the desire to do anything else.
By the end of the day, things have slowed back down, but you're still giving birth at least once an hour. In between, you're rubbing your cunt, easily sliding a fist into your sloppy hole to keep yourself open for the next child that needs to come out of you. You're all too happy to stay like this, but when there's an extended pause, you take the opportunity to fall back asleep, exhausted without realizing it.
Then, you wake up, and your midsection is larger than it was yesterday morning. The morning sun says hello through your drawn blinds as you wail, squeezing out a batch of easily five or six newborns, apparently left gestating inside of you all night while the thing that took you over let you get some rest. It seems to have a good picture of the human limit, but you have no clue of any of this; all you know is that something happened to you, and it's the best time you've ever had in your life.
#Originally posted May 23 2023#asks#anonymous#my writing#nsft text#patreon.com/septimusmoonlight#constant preg#body invasion#body modification#constant birth#forced impreg#forced birth#birth#preg#impreg#somno
54 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
michael--jacks0n
sweet seducing sighs.
moma10kunitachi
お取り寄せ簡単東京グルメ
牛すじトマト煮込み
agenobat
Tanpa judul
natriae
Nari
bapestars
𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖞 𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖈