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mimzy-writing-online · 3 years

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You probably know this by now, I don't know if you keep up with Whumptober, but one of the prompts this year includes "blindness". I'm not blind but based on your posts about writing blind characters, and based on how I would feel if one of my disabilities were used as a whump prompt, I'm not super comfortable with it. I was wondering what your thoughts are on blindness being a Whumptober prompt.

(unironically and with feeling) thanks, I hate it.

Yes, I’m familiar with Whumptober, but I’ve never participated myself and I haven’t seen this year’s prompts.

Edit: I later did see the prompts and check out the blog. I think it's a good set of prompts and I look forward to all the promising content, especially since some of my favorite tropes are there. To be clear before you read this, I have no problem with Whumptober2021 or whump in general. This is not the first time blindness has been included for a list of whump prompts, and it won't be the last.

This post directed at the concept of "blindness" as a whump prompt and why I think it's a bad idea. The intended audience is individual writers thinking about future projects.

The timing of this is almost too perfect because I read a fanfic earlier this week that would meet that prompt exactly. Tags included whump, blindness, and angst with a happy ending. Now whump, hurt/comfort, and angst with a happy ending are tags I enjoy reading, but blindness as whump has a specific message to it.

To explain that message, I want to discuss what whump is. Many readers are already familiar with the genre, but I think taking the specific definitions and picking apart what it means and what expectations we carry when reading whump fanfiction

Urban Dictionary defines it as: taking a character and putting them through physical and/or mental torment and is typically followed by the same character being treated for their traumas. To indicate the characters place in the situation they’d typically be called a whumpee (the character being hurt/comforted), the whumper (the character that causes harm and trauma), and the caretaker (the character designated the helping/healing/comforting the whumpee).

Fanlore has a page for whump that explains it in depth, including where it started in fanfiction, examples of whump, and even a list of “popular targets” in different fandoms. (Warning: you might find yourself called out on the popular targets list)

“The term whump (or whumping) generally refers to a form of Hurt/Comfort that is heavy on the hurt and is often found in gen stories. The exact definition varies and has evolved over time. Essentially, whump involves taking a canon character, and placing them in physically painful or psychologically-damaging scenarios. Often this character is a fan favorite…”

To add to that, I think an important detail is the distinction Fanlore makes between hurt/comfort and whump:

“While some communities and fandoms may use whump as a synonym for hurt/comfort, there is still a recognition that whump refers to darker and more extreme scenarios. And there are still whump fics been written that have very little, or no comfort at the end of the story.”

The big appeal of hurt/comfort is getting to both explore the darker sides of pain and then experience the catharsis of being taken care of, of being supported by your loved ones as you recover from the trauma. The character is the proxy for experiencing those highs and lows while you yourself are safe at home.

I personally don’t read much/any whump without some h/c involved, but I’m happy there are stories out there for people who do enjoy it. I’m not here to judge what you like reading or what you do to your characters.

What I want is to express how blindness, my disability, used as a whump prompt personally makes me feel and what message it sends to me, to others, and how that message affects my daily life.

Whump undeniably involves watching a character suffer through something painful and traumatic.

My use of the word “suffer” is what I want you to focus on.

Vision loss can be painful and traumatic. I personally developed an anxiety disorder in response to vision loss. Others experience depression. For some it might result in relapsing into old, maladaptive coping mechanisms like drug use, self harm, or eating disorders.

A big part of my anxiety was how people reacted to my vision loss. It was a cause of their stress. They were worried because they genuinely believed I would never live a happy life without normal vision, and that my life would only be struggle and pain.

I recently saw an old friend who hadn’t heard about my vision loss. The conversation was awkward, but the worst part was how they reacted as though I had experienced an insurmountable tragedy. And even when I assured them I’m happy with my life, they clearly didn’t believe me. They acted like I was just lying or in denial.

I love that people want to empathize with my situation and ask themselves what they would do in my situation, but I hate when the conclusion they come to is something along the lines of “I could never do that, I’d be too miserable thinking about everything I lost, I’d never be able to do anything I enjoyed ever again.” But I did go blind. And I’m not miserable, I’m actually happy with the direction my life is going, and I still enjoy my hobbies, even if I engage with them differently.

I’m not suffering. My life didn’t end with vision loss. It’s not ruined, broken, or worthless.

I read a fanfic that was tagged with whump, blindness, and angst with a happy ending. A general synopsis of the plot: the whumpee had gone blind due to a curse. It was true love’s kiss that broke the curse. Even from the summary I knew it was going to end with whumpee being cured somehow and that I’d leave that fanfic vaguely dissatisfied no matter how good the rest of the fanfic was.

I can say this for the fanfic: the whumpee had already accepted that they would likely be blind for the rest of their life, but everyone around them was treating it as a tragedy that needed to be fixed, working tirelessly for a cure despite the whumpee’s protests that they didn’t have to.

It actually hit home to my personal experience.

I still left it dissatisfied with the ending. I might love curse fics in that fandom, and I love the “true love’s kiss” trope, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the fact that: an actual person out in the world thought the best happy ending, maybe the only happy ending, would be if the character got their sight back.

(note: I clicked kudos and exited out of the story's page because no fanfic writer deserves unsolicited critique or hate, especially for content I consumed for free and at my own volition.)

Why read a story I knew would disappoint me?

Because blindness representation is so damn rare that I feel like I’m wandering in a desert, dying from thirst and desperate for that oasis. But sometimes that oasis is a mirage and the author is unintentionally telling you that your life is actually awful and you’ll never be fully happy like this. And that is a shit mentality to walk through life with.

I don’t appreciate blindness being a whump plot. I hate it. Hundreds (thousands?) of fanfictions featuring blind characters are about to enter the internet and the overall message is going to be “You poor thing! You must be in so much pain, you must be miserable! Who’s going to save you? Who’s going to comfort you? Wouldn’t it be terrible if there was no one in your life to take care of you? You poor helpless thing!”

And I feel objectified. I feel trivialized. The mirage in the desert is going to become a starch, empty room filled with dozens of water bottles, almost all of them poisoned. My representation is going to hurt me personally, and it’s going to reinforce that idea strangers have about how awful my life must be.

(I returned to school this past month, and every day I’m hesitant to tell someone I’m visually impaired because I don’t want to be treated differently. If I’ve managed to pass as sighted this whole time and then suddenly reveal “oh yeah, I’m visually impaired” I feel this instant silence, this pause of awkwardness as people suddenly question how they’re supposed to treat me. They treated me like a person, and now I’m something strange and unfamiliar.)

I’ve worked so hard to improve representation for blind people, to give internet strangers the exposure to a blind person they need to normalize blindness because I hope that if they’re ever so lucky as to meet a blind person, they’ll treat that person with respect. That hope that another person in the blind community will find a friend they feel comfortable and accepted with. I hope that I’ll meet people who accept my blindness as just another aspect of me (like being bisexual or gender fluid or a writer or a cat lover).

Please don’t turn me and my community into a caricature. Don’t erase everything I’ve worked for with this blog.

To be clear, this is not just me saying "I hate the cure trope" again. This is me saying "the purpose of whump is to painfully hurt your favorite character, and I hate that your idea of pain and suffering is my daily (wonderful) life."

#blindness #whumptober #fanfiction #whump #whumptober 2021 #blind character #disability #ableism #anon

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kira-7 · 3 years

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mAn i bloody love Musa and Riven. I loved their relationship in the show as a kid mostly because they weren't perfect. Whilst the other relationships were pretty much and they made me cringe far more, even as a kid. Though their relationship was a little toxic when they were both developed as characters they had a really good relationship. From what I heard about s8 they made Riven regress back to his old jealous stubborn self which is annoying seeing how much he developed as a character

Hi anon!

I love these two! They're my OTP 😍 I still remember exactly the moment I fell in love with them

Ok, maybe not exactly this moment 😅 but of course this episode, exactly when Riven came into the light with Musa in his arms 😍 from that moment on, I started to follow them, and rec every moment of their love story 😂

I love them, too, because they were more realistic than the other couples, both of Musa and Riven were stubborn, proud, they found hard to talk openly about their feelings (see when Musa denied to Stella, in season 1, that she had a crush on Riven), and easily irritable, just like Flora said in this other episode, from Season 2

In Italian, Flora said something like "Incredible, those two are identical!", and I still think that she was right.

Season 2 was something incredible for them, Jared, Musa's concert, the way Musa gained her charmix (trusting Riven), and the end! The EEEEND!

I squeaked in this exact moment, because in Italian Riven said (after "come back to me") "I love you!" FINALLY THIS STUBBORN AND PROUD GUY SAID WHAT HE REAL FEEEEEELT!!! YEEEEEEEESSSS!!! 🎊🎊🎊🎊 (ok, I have to calm down 😅 I can't, I become 14 again 😭😭😭😭), then Riven saved Musa from a Lord Darkar's attack, risking his life, their kiss, THE AAAAAANGSTTTTT! 😭😭😭😭 And when, after Bloom healed every one, Musa went away from Riven shily (awwww 😍 how cute! 😍), at the end, they happily danced

(and I really "thanked" Aisha/Layla for this moment 😁)

Then, there is season 3, and I think there is another beautiful moment, even if we started to see how much they argued, like in an episode where specialists teached winx how to drive a motorbike (I didn't remember its real name, sorryyyyy 😭)... But here's a thing that makes me think about...

On one hand, in Red Fountain, specialists, expecially Helia (a saint!) made Riven reason just saying to him that if this fuchsia head continued with his attitude, he would lost Musa! (literally: "Be a better person if you truly love her and we all know you do!")

Instead, at the other hand, Musa confided with Aisha her problems with Riven... Aisha was, of course, a good person, but at this moment, in my opinion, she was the least person to give Musa advises, because she was in a big problem herself, an incoming arranged marriage, with someone she didn't know and, most of all, she didn't love... If I remember well, that was the dialogue between Musa and Aisha:

M: "How can you be together with a person who doesn't understand/believe/trust you?"

A: "Simple, you aren't together!"

Like... What?!

I mean, don't misunderstand me, anon, please, I'm the first person who thinks that, if you are with such a person, it would be a good idea to leave them and search someone better, but I also think that it would be worth considering talking, trying to understand what went wrong and trying to be a better person (don't change yourself, just improve yourself, just like Helia said!)... Then, if things don't change, the couple decides to take two separate ways... But Aisha didn't consider this option, and so neither Musa did (I'm sure if there was Flora, for example, instead of Aisha, perhaps musa would have received that advice too, like Riven)

Then, Nabu arrived, the man in the wrong place at the wrong time... And we see Riven's jealousy, thanks to a little mistake that Flora innocently did: she took a video with her phone and rec Musa's back who stayed with this stranger. So, who can stay calm when you "see" your partner "kisses" someone else, while you're trying to be better? I'll be honest: personally, I can't, like, hell, "I'm trying to improve myself, here, and this handsome hunk wooing my girlfriend?"

Totally a misunderstanding, but a comprehensible one, in my opinion. Finally, after understand what real happened, those two stubborn ones are on the same page, Riven learnt to be more sweet (?) and less proud (?), and it's a really big improvement, remembering the guy he was in season 1! Musa, on the contrary, learnt that if two people doesn't get well in the first months, for example, it's over! Let's change! Next please!

I take into analysis the first movie, where there are two kisses between these two, one in Riven's memories, and the other really, after the specialist states that he understood what was worth fighting for, Musa, and awwww 😍😍😍😍

(can't find their kiss in the movie, unfortunately 😔)

From here, I believe, a slow but steady descent began: from the fourth season I remember Musa falling in love with Jeremy... Jason... I don't remember his name, the music producer, jealous Riven, other squabbles between the two of them, this time Nabu tries to make Riven reason (another saint!), and eventually making peace at the end...

From here I gave up on seeing the episodes completely, I followed the scenes dedicated to them on youtube: Musa gets jealous of a blonde, but it was all because Riven wanted to surprise Musa by dedicating her a song... The sixth was a tragedy, with the two of them leaving permanently because the specialist doesn't feel satisfied and cannot pay attention to Musa... Obviously, I have not seen the seventh (you can imagine why 😅)... The eight I know they did a big improvement as a couple, there's someone, here on tumblr, that tells everything in two episodes all dedicated to Musa and Riven's relationship 😍

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

At the end, was their relationship toxic? Yes and No? No, because if they decided to speak properly about their feelings, even with someone's help, they could work perfectly well together (just read what that person wrote about season 8, anon, you can find them on "Musa x Riven" tag here on tumblr); yes, because they received different advises... Both of parts have to work on themselves to be a healthy couple, according to me, not just one of them... Just my personal pov, you are free to say that I'm wrong: even if everyone in this world wants a wonderful relationship with someone, most of the time we have to improve ourselves, together, sometimes just accepting other's defects, sometimes helping them to work on their insecurities, to listen them, to be near them... In my opinion, Musa and Riven could give a strong message to children, they could teach that if both of you truly love each other just like the perfect couples do (like Bloom/Sky, Stella/Brandon, Flora/Helia, Tecna/Timmy, Aisha/Nabu (I don't take Lex because I don't know his character)) both of you have to work hard, together, don't stand firm in your beliefs, because that would be the most wrong thing. The writers, on the other hand, decided not to give the couple this chance... Alas, it could have been interesting...

I just hope, if the live action will do a second season or more, and they will make Musa/Riven real, they will fix this... I'm not sure they will do, but hope never dies 😁

I'm terribly sorry for the novel, anon 😅 I got carried away 😂 I'm sorry even if there could be typos here or there, I tried to write as perfectly as I could, but Idk how "perfect" it really is 😂😂😂

Thank you for the ask and have a good day 💖

#winx club #winx riven #Winx musa #musa x riven #MusaxRiven #Idk if anon follows me... So I tag this ask hoping they can see I answer them

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atomicpeache · 3 years

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19, 15 and 10 for the Zutara asks :)

10. Do you have any other A:TLA ships?

Sukka is a very close second to Zutara, i love them so much!

I also really like Mailee, I just feel like they would be so cute together, and more recently I've started shipping Taang. They just work so well together and balance each other out so well.

I also love Yuetara! Oh and Bakoda. Those dads have my whole entire heart.

15. What do you think would have happened if Katara and Zuko hadn’t been interrupted in the Catacombs?

Hmmm... this is tricky. I think if they'd been there together for a couple more hours, Katara would've ended up healing him eventually (or trying), but it would've taken some time to get to that point.

I think Zuko would initially have agreed to it, and then he would've hesitated and stopped her. He is still very conflicted about his scar and whether he deserved it or not, and, by extension, whether he still wants or deserves his father's love and approval. That is, after all, why he ends up betraying her in canon.

So he hesitates, as she's about to start the process, and turns away. She gently presses him and asks him what's wrong. And he sees the look of genuine concern and patience on her face, and he's shocked at the amount of support his enemy is showing him. So he talks. He tells her a little about how he got his scar, no details, but gives her the gist. He tells her about his banishment, and his quest to hunt the avatar, and the whole time he's thinking, "why the hell am i telling her all this? I don't even know her." And Katara listens and empathizes as she did with Jet, and Haru, and Aang, and all the others, and she is horrified on his behalf.

She tells him, "it's not your fault."

And he looks at her like she's lost it because "what do you mean it's not my fault, i did horrible things to you and your friends."

And so she clarifies, "it's not your fault for getting that scar. No 13 year old boy should have to go through that."

And they sit in silence for a long time. Zuko ponders what she has said, compares it with all of iroh's comforting and supportive words over the years, and then contrasting them with ozai's words, with azula's. Katara sits in her own thoughts, trying to reconcile the zuko sitting before her with the spoiled prince she's fought countless times, and she can hardly believe they're the same person.

Finally, zuko concedes. So katara takes the spirit water out of its vial and she tries to heal him.

Nothing happens. The special properties of the spirit water have been used up, but zuko's scar is still there. When he realizes this, he jerks away from her and sits down.

"I'm sorry, Zuko."

"It doesn't matter," he snaps back, a hint of his old self, but it's half-hearted. "It was a stupid idea anyway." He falls silent, glaring at the ground, cursing himself inwardly.

Katara understands that he doesn't want to talk anymore. She doesn't really know what she would say anyway. She sits down on the other side of the cave, and stares at the vial of spirit water, wondering if she's just made a huge mistake.

There's a long stretch of silence again.

And then, "Thank you, Katara."

Katara just smiles.

When Iroh and Aang find them later, they are still sitting on opposite sides of the cave, but they are facing each other.

And when Zuko comes to his crossroads of destiny, he can't bring himself to betray Katara, or his uncle, the way he does in canon. When Iroh talks to him after Katara leaves with Aang, and before Azula arrives, Zuko remembers what Katara said, about how it wasn't his fault. So even though he still doesn't quite believe it, when Azula shows up with her offer to bring him back to their father as a hero, he can't quite bring himself to believe that either. He cannot prove to himself, beyond a reasonable doubt, that his father will accept him, now that even his (former?)enemy has expressed concern for his situation.

So he chooses his uncle, and helps the Gaang.

I have way more thoughts on this but this is already way too long than it ever needed to be, so i apologize lol.

TL;DR Zuko would have agreed to being healed, it wouldn't have worked, but he still would have switched sides, to some extent.

19. What do you think would have happened if A:TLA got a Book 4?

Part of me thinks it would've just been the plot of the comics, like the Promise and the Search, but with the Ehaszs in the writer's room it probably would've looked a little different.

For example, the characters would've been... in character. We would've gotten to see Zuko struggle with becoming Fire Lord and stabilizing the country, and a lot of that would've involved him struggling with the baggage of his ancestors, and his own issues with not wanting to become like his father, but i think that, unlike in the comics, the Gaang would've helped support him. I'm not even going to get into what they did to Katara in the comics... i pretend i do not see.

I've heard rumours that, had a fourth season occurred, Aang would've found a community of descendents of Air Nomads in the Fire Nation. I have no idea how much truth there is to this notion, but I'm just gonna roll with it.

So because Aang and Zuko are deutarogonists of the story, I'm imagining that, along with their mutual efforts to balance the world as Fire Lord and Avatar, Zuko's search for his mother and Aang's search for the remnants of his people would be tied together as the main sort of overarching plot of the season.

There are so many interesting things to be done with this: Aang would have to properly face the trauma of the genocide of the Air Nomads, without the tight deadline of the Comet as a distraction; Zuko would be grappling with his fear of becoming like his father, while being piled on with the stress of being the leader of a divided and wartorn country, while also desperate to find out what happened to his mother; I feel like a lot of the "filler" episodes would be about Aang and the gaang dealing with on-the-ground type rebuilding and peacemaking.

As for the rest of the gaang (and this has been pulled straight out of my ass - it's just stuff I would want to happen tbh): Katara and Sokka would go back to the SWT and fight against the NWT's heavy influence on the rebuilding efforts; Toph would put off going back to her parents for as long as possible until she can't anymore; Suki would get a backstory!!!!!!!! And it would be kickass.

Finally, the canon ships would (hopefully) get more development. Katara would have agency in her own love story, and she and Aang would actually talk about their feelings and what a relationship really means! Mai and Zuko would probably still fight a lot tbh. They still don't really understand each other at the end of season 3, and they would have to grapple with that.

Suki and Sokka are just chilling though. They would probably continue being healthy and communicative. Yknow, like they are in canon. Although, i do think there is some potential for conflict left over from EIP, of Sokka still deeply wounded from Yue's sacrifice, and having to properly heal from that. Actually, while he's at it, there are a couple of other things he could do with properly processing...

Okayyy i'm gonna stop it there because I've rambled for far too long already. If anyone's read all the way to this point, thank you so much. I probably wouldn't have lmao

And thank you so much for the ask @phatprog !! I had wayy too much fun writing this in case you hadn't noticed 😭 i just needed an excuse to rant for a bit

#zutara #zutara asks #anti maiko #anti kataang #tagging those for safety #long post #not me tempted to write an entire 20 episode long season of a cartoon that ended 12 years ago #i don't have time for this

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ruskinbondstories · 3 years

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Why Ruskin Bond will always remain our favorite

From our early school days to the age of stepping into our respective career paths - we all grow up undergoing many changes. But only the writings of Ruskin Bond remain our constant companion. The close relationship between Ruskin Bond and us emerged slowly. The first introduction happened through textbooks, mostly after which people regularly saw a curious kid sitting at the corner of a bookstore with amazement in his eyes. And this amazement continued to appear on our faces every time we opened a book by Ruskin Bond. Unknowingly, we formed a strong bond with our favorite, Ruskin Bond.

It's pretty impossible not to smell the hills, our childhood, winter breezes, the old and rusty cottages in his words. Ruskin Bond's stories feel like a legit time machine that never fails to transport us into a newer world or the world of the past. His stories made us enjoy natural affection, subtleties, and the lucid pleasures of life without delving into the materialistic way of living. So, let's try to get lost in the world of Bond and relive our sweetest memories again to remind ourselves why he will always be our most favourite.

Nature as its best

"Never mind. Men come and go. The mountains remain." - "Our trees still grow in Dehra."

Due to his intimate understanding of nature, Ruskin Bond successfully presents how nature could actively become a significant part of a person's well-being. We can't help feeling the solitude and the peaceful purity of being amidst the forlorn mountains, the Magpies, the beautiful forest birds, and the freshness of trees while reading his stories. Nature in his reports does not only provide background, but it becomes a character itself. He allows the free-flowing river, the little birds, the wildflowers, the sky, and every aspect of nature to convey their own messages to the readers.

That's why we perceive nature as a catalyst for healing our minds and making us transcend in the spiritual world. So, in most of his stories, he tries to convey the message of preserving nature. For example, in "The Coral Tree," Ruskin Bond has painted an essential aspect of teaching children the importance of planting and nurturing trees, thus, making a lasting partnership with man and nature.

Many great critics of our generation have declared the significant presence of the pantheistic nature approach in Bond's writings. He profoundly portrays both the nurturing and the destructive sides of Nature in his stories like "The Blue Umbrella," "Time Stops at Shamli," "The Angry River," "Rain in the Mountains," "Roads to Mussoorie," "The Room on the Roof" and many others. It's evidently clear that nature is the Muse of Ruskin Bond, and he will continue to strengthen the friendship between us and nature.

Bond's Art of Characterization

One of the most captivating qualities of Bond's stories that make them so relatable is his art of characterization. He amazingly creates a fellowship between the reader and the characters by presenting various characters and showing every character's development through the thick and thin of life. The most amazing part is that his feelings are rooted in reality and possess a breadth of genuineness without pretensions.

Ruskin Bond is the master of creating various characters who fall into every social and economic background of the vast spectrum of our society. He beautifully paints the difference between the characters belonging to both the backward and underprivileged class and the flourishing upper-class. But most surprisingly, each character's life becomes significantly inspiring to the readers because of their physical and mental struggles, their realization and acceptance, and their close connection with their conscience. Our eyes suddenly get wet whenever we go through the brief encounter of the two potential lovers in "The Eyes are not Here." Similarly, we feel the same adrenaline rush while witnessing Binya's adventurous journey down the stream to save her most precious possession in "The Blue Umbrella."

Ruskin Bond's excellent insight into human psychology makes the readers understand exactly what the character is going through. That's what makes it way easier to discover the characters' reasons, hesitations, dilemmas, joy, anxiety, happiness, and all sorts of emotions. We somehow get attached to the characters without consciously knowing it and start to fascinate them most realistically.

Accurate Representation of the Indian Society

Bond's literary works serve a great purpose of expressing the social, economic, and political issues concerning the public and the country at large. He conveys the different opinions of the differently brought up characters in society in the most effective way. The state of India when it was under British rule, the bloodshed during partition, the ruins made by corruption, the conservative approach of the society, the superstitions, and the prevailing problems of dowry and child marriage - all have become an integral part of his writings. That's why his stories are considered proofs that aptly documented the then Indian society comprehensively.

Ruskin Bond's excellence also prevails in enriching the native language, bringing forth ethos and culture, and portraying the existing complexity of the socio-political scenario. At the grass-root level, his stories present a great insight into the ongoing social stigma without being a complete rant about problems only. His characters depict juxtaposition by making readers experience the constant tension that goes on within themselves between their rural and old values and the new urban moral code that they are exposed to.

Although Ruskin Bond Books is majorly known as one of the best writers of children's books, his adult and adolescent novels deal with the aspects we all go through in adulthood. For example, his "The Room on the Roof" brings up issues faced by the protagonist Rusty that had never been the table talk back in the 1950s. The life of Rusty resonates with us because we all have witnessed the problems like identity formation, wanting financial independence, emerging sexuality at some point in our lives. On the other hand, "The Room on the Roof" and its sequel, "The Young Vagrants," also successfully bring out the pain and loneliness of the orphan protagonist while depicting the prevailing social concerns such as racial and cultural differences, narrow-mindedness, and the social pretensions.

A Master of Stealing Children's Hearts

Risking Bond's fantastic insight into child psychology has contributed to making him our most favorite writer. The most incredible element found in his children's books is that he shows immense respect to a child's emotions, a thing which is not openly discussed or even given much value to. He captures the innocence of children in the best possible way while providing the utmost importance to the adventures, the hidden complexity, tragedies, and determination of the little minds. The self-seeking attitude of children is beautifully painted in the subtle yet strong words of Bond. "The Blue Umbrella" and "The Angry River" are perhaps the most outstanding examples for showing the strength and abilities children inherit along with the intricacies of life- all presented with a mesmerizing touch of simplicity. Through these stories, Ruskin Bond successfully raises a very pertinent question on the conviction of getting attached to trivial materialistic things of life, which exposes the futility of the entire concept.

Ruskin Bond is a master of depicting the innocence and simple pleasures of children, which contrasts with the cunning, shrewd, and envious nature of the adults in his children's books. It inspires the readers worldwide to adhere to the old pleasure-seeking and joyful spirit we have left in the past. The children's stories highlight the lessons of sympathy, kindness, and brotherhood among the readers of every age.

That's why Bond's significant contribution lies in the fact that Bond's children's stories do not only evoke happiness in kids, but adults also perceive the same amount of gleeful experience while reading them.

Conclusion -

Ruskin Bond's simple style of writing delves deep into our conscience. It is a potent weapon of his that beautifully depicts both the complexities and the ease of life. Bond never wants to "make readers toil and sweat" because he never believed in the concept of putting complex and unconventional words to sound more serious. In "It's a Wonderful Life," he shared why he always chooses to write simply. He also shared his views on social media regarding his writing style by saying, "I have always tried to achieve proses that are simple and conversational. Those who think this is easy should try it for themselves." It is always astonishing to see how the subject matters of Bond's writings are given such high importance without presenting them in a twisted form by using complex words. That's why his stories can be read repeatedly regardless of the reader's age, as the Ruskin Bond Stories have something interesting to offer you each time you turn the pages.

#Ruskin Bond #Ruskin Bond Collection #Ruskin Bond Books #Ruskin Bond stories #Ruskin Bond latest book

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the-hot-zone · 4 years

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@agentcalliope THE REVIEW GOT TOO LONG FOR AO3′S REVIEW BOX AND WOULDN’T LET ME POST IT SO HERE IT IS. I’M SORRY IT’S SO LONG BUT I REALLY LIKE YOUR FIC SDKSDK

I mean firstly, the only thing I can say after reading this is, wow. Wow. Holy shit, wow. They way everything builds--the capitalization, the punctuation, the epithets, the prose--to demonstrate on both a subconscious and conscious level how Azula develops. The reader is comprehending these words, but also they’re registering the way you use spacing, punctuation, and capitalization, forcing the reader to slow down/stop/keep reading at certain parts, which creates a flow that a) sounds like Azula b) portrays her mental state and c) shows her development. It’s like a crescendo of writing conventions that never stops moving, and god I just. I’m fangirling a lil bit over your writing. There’s not a wasted line, space, italicization, quotation mark, period, comma, or word in this fic. Everything serves a purpose, and the way it builds--just. Wow. I can see the work you put into editing and revising this, and I want you to know that you’ve communicated your point extremely well. I’m moved. As a reader, I’m in tears. As a writer, I’m floored (and I’m taking notes.) God, okay, time to get specific.

The stylization. This is one of my fav writing styles--the blend of poetry and narration--that I don’t get to see a whole lot, and it’s hard to pull off. I really feel like you’ve used that style to its full potential; in your hands, it feels like that style was made to tell Azula’s story. I really, really like this, so I hope you don’t mind if I talk about why? Which means analyzing; analyzing is my love language, and I love your fic, truly.

In the beginning of the fic, she is “the girl;” she is “a princess,” not “Azula.” This shows how, with her defeat, Azula has lost herself completely (”someone is screaming who is screaming”). Ozai built her for a role she no longer has, so she has lost her identity, her sense of self. So, when she accepts the identity of monster, that is something she must unlearn through Iroh and for herself.

The first time the reader reads Azula’s name (as “azula), it’s isolated by a line break and positioned right after a long, run-on thought from Azula (”he doesn’t look quite...”) and before “the boy says.” This shows how Azula’s name, her identity, is separate from a) her inner monologue and thus her sense of self and b) how she perceives the world around her (outside of dialogue). And this further illustrates the importance of dialogue in this fic; dialogue is the connection from her inner monologue to how she perceives the world. Thus, later in the fic, when Iroh speaks the first line of quotation-mark-surrounded dialogue, it shows how he gets through to her. AH THE WAY YOU BUILD EVERYTHING UP. Also, her description of Ozai in this scene as “the person she knows to love” has so much meaning. It’s like a lesson she’s learned, a fact she’s been taught: to love Ozai. The way you inject so much meaning into line breaks, and the layers of depth you add to single lines. Immaculate. I can really describe it as masterful.

Azula finally refers to herself as “azula” once Zuko says “I will never give up on you” Not only that, however, but the first time she refers to him as “zuko” instead of “the boy” is also when he says “I will never give up on you.” Also, that same piece of dialogue contains “uncle never gave up on me,” which shows how Uncle’s patience connects both Azula and Zuko in their respective healing journeys. Which, oh my god, I love Uncle’s role in Azula’s healing in this fic. His remorse for leaving her with Ozai is so tangible and painful to read. I love how you portray his characters; he comes off the page as Uncle Iroh; his characterization is so strong.

But the scene after Azula finally refers to herself as “azula,” Suki comes in. For one, “zuko and katara beat you or did you forget?” is written with a question mark, showing the significant of that line and how it affects Azula, shown in “azula screams.” Azula connects the person who is screaming with herself; she is still fracturing due to her loss. (Because her loss of the Agni Kai is symbolic of like, her failing everything Ozai built her up to be: the opposite of Zuko.)

The scene where Aang comes is where punctuation in Azula’s inner monologue first appears: “the avatar’s gray eyes are soft and full of sympathy and it makes her angry.” I feel like this is her echoing Ozai’s sentiments, especially with “a princess is not pathetic.” Patheticness was something Azula had always associated with Zuko, so these lines sound a lot like Ozai to me. But “not made to be pitied” is next, without any punctuation. This is because pity is a new emotion for her to face, and she does not associate it with “a princess,” seen in the later lines “now the girl sees not pity but weakness” What’s important here is that Azula is “a girl” again. Aang’s pity is the antithesis to Ozai; peace where he sees bloodshed and war, and it blindsides her. Bro I just, the way you communicate Ozai’s presence so subtly yet so strongly... the talent.

Also: “it makes me feel sad for you the avatar answers“ Stop making me cry!!! THAT LINE WAS HEARTBREAKING. The snippets of Aang in this fic were lovely to read.

iirc, the first full line we get, capitalized, with punctuation, is when Toph is talking to Azula: “I just wanted to tell you that I know what it's like to have Expectations to have parents that expect certain things of you. It sucks. but you suck too. no wonder everyone hates you.”

THE LAYERS OF MEANING:

a) Expectations is capitalized, showing the significance of expectations to Azula; her mind latches onto it. (I love the significance of expectations throughout this fic and how the play into Azula’s sense of identity and healing jdkfkfAHH like with the TEA.)

b) This is where Azula’s “new” sense of self as “monster” begins to develop. “but you suck too. no wonder everyone hates you.” Both are short and with periods, showing the weight of Toph’s words.

When Katara sees Azula, iirc, we get the longest string of sentences with periods so far. Periods are becoming more common, showing how Azula’s identity is beginning to come together, but it’s an identity as monster: “your own brother. you’re disgusting. you’re a monster.” The repetitiveness and switch between your and you’re is almost like a rhythm, pounding “you’re a monster” into Azula’s head. After Katara leaves, we get the first full sentence Azula says: “I’ve never pretended to be anything else.”

Azula sees herself as a monster; she’s seeing the weight of her past actions.

When Iroh arrives, we get the longest string of sentences WITH capitalization in this point of the fic (I think): “It’s sweet. You have always loved sweet tea, my niece. A fascinating contrast.” And a new identity is introduced: my niece.

When Azula asks for Uncle after the nightmare, we get the first time a name is capitalized in the fic: Uncle. Not even Ozai has “father” capitalized. This shows Iroh’s significance in her healing journey. Not only that, but Uncle is the one that comes to her, not Ozai. This contrast between Ozai’s absence and Uncle’s presence is what begins to allow Azula to heal--and what ultimately helps her truly stay on the path of healing. I love how you build up the notion of Ozai not being there for Azula, not coming to get her. The way it culminates in the end feels like such strong, real development because of your build-up.

Once Uncle begins to visit regularly, your writing becomes more abundant with “proper” sentences. This is one of my fav examples of this:

“Uncle continues to bring her sweet tea. He talks to her. He sits next to her as she leans against the wall and speaks many tales of spirits and beautiful women. azula almost looks forward to his visits. Almost.”

Every sentence except the one that begins with “azula’ is capitalized. She’s not there yet, with her identity, but Uncle is there. And when Azula says “but I am a monster,” the fic gets its first line of quotation-enclosed dialogue:

“Oh, my dear. My beautiful niece. I don’t believe that.”

And then, right after that, we get “Princess Azula.” This is the first time Azula is capitalized, and Uncle says it. But Azula is the one perceiving the dialogue; she is accepting “Princess Azula.” Sure enough, right after that, we get this:

“Azula narrows her eyes suspiciously.”

The first time Azula refers to herself in her inner monologue as Azula. FINALLY. FUCK. This is one of the most satisfying developments in this fic, when Azula finally sees herself as “Azula,” even if she’s not all the way there yet. Your build-up makes this moment feel amazing.

Another thing I loved was how Azula is obsessed with getting the tea perfect; the tea is a reflection of herself; “She will make his jasmine tea, and she will make it precisely the way it is expected to be.”

HIS jasmine tea. Not HER jasmine tea. This shows that she’s trying to fit a mold she thinks Iroh has for her; she will make the tea as it is expected to be; SHE will be exactly as she is expected to be.

But when she fails, Iroh simply says “Let’s try it again.” When Azula fails to be “perfect,” pain and fear isn’t waiting for her. Iroh is. So when Iroh says,

“I am just an old man looking forward to trying his niece’s cup of tea, which she has worked hard on.”

This is so important. It is HIS NIECE’S (Azula’s) cup of tea, which SHE has worked hard on. In other words, it is Azula’s healed identity that she has worked hard on, and it is “one of the best teas I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing in my life.” Just. The symbolism. Fuck. So good.

Then, in the next scene, she tells Zuko to tell Aang she’s sorry. This brings back Sokka’s earlier words, “you won't ever apologize for what you’ve done or bear responsibility for your actions and we both know it.” BUT AZULA IS UNLEARNING, and that is tangible development, babey. In a way, Sokka was right, because the “you” he was talking to wasn’t the Azula that’s now wanting to apologize to Aang. Azula as “Azula” didn’t exist then; now she does. I can’t this fucking fic I am STUNNED. The way you introduce and maintain concepts to develop Azula’s journey... It’s amazing AH

“Azula cradles her own cup in her hands and breathes in the steam, letting it cling to her face.“ Bro I just wanted to say that this line gave me brilliant imagery. You perfectly described how it feels to hold a mug of something warm and breathe it in, like ahhh the sensory imagery was so VIVID.

“Zuko tears off a piece of bread, and places it on her palm. She looks down at it, her hand without crackling cackling blue fire. The only blue is the water, beautiful and clear.” Thinking bout the contrast, and how the color blue used to separate her from the world; now it joins her to it (turtleducks.) YOUR LAYERS. Another contrast I love was the one between “red drapes that used to block out the sun when it rises every morning” and “basking in Agni’s light.” This reminds me of the Sun Warriors and Zuko learning the true meaning of fire, as something full of life and light, not something that only burns. That was my favorite contrast throughout the fic, and the most meaningful to me.

Azula saying “Why not?” to Sokka was everything I need in life.

“Azula brings herself out of the palace, and back into the prison.“ Ozai is her prison. The wording. THE WORDING SAYS SO MUCH. The way she comes to Ozai--but. He never came for her. Uncle did. She has new experiences and a new sense of self; she’s not the Azula she was, and she’s not the Azula Ozai is expecting. So when you write

“Because he has made Azula into Azula, and he has done it well.”

and she walks away, it’s a defiance of everything she’s been, everything she was forced to be. Azula made Azula into Azula, and she understands this.

“This is not what she was made for.” is a recognition that Ozai forced her into a role that was never for kindness, for love, for acceptance, for change. As she learns and unlearns, unmakes her identity as a monster, she’s understanding that Ozai never intended for Azula to be her own Azula. And this means she sees the world through her own eyes, not Ozai’s:

“his eyes not wounded and sad but fierce and soft and she knows what he’s saying isn’t a lie.”

JUST. The way you built this fic. You saw more than words as your tools, and I am honestly in awe of the way you used writing conventions. This fic is so strong because you literally made everything about Azula; Azula is this fic. THE ARTISTRY. I really, really hope you’re proud of the story you’ve built. Thank you for writing.

(ALSO TOPH WAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED AND MORE.)

#avatar the last airbender #atla #agentcalliope #and it's my whole heart (weighed and measured)#fic reivew #analysis is my love language #y'all ever spend three hours on a fic review #and then get so hungry you gobble five chicken wings immediately after #me #SORRY IT'S SO LONG #sometimes you gotta review a fanfic instead of revising your essay about fanfic #thank you for writing

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mrmallard · 3 years

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18 and 33

18: rant about your favorite musician

So I was bullied pretty badly as a kid at school and at home, and there was a period of time where I was drowning in a sea of age-appropriate content that felt extremely condescending and fake - it wouldn't ever engage with the idea of being sad or depressed in a serious and nuanced manner outside of the token "you're sad now but things aren't so bad!" message. Most adult media I had access to at the time, mostly shitty early-00's action movies airing on TV, was very vapid and about as thematically hollow as the age appropriate stuff. Nothing really represented me and made me feel heard, nothing validated what I was going through and the negativity I was feeling towards others and myself.

As a 12 year old, I found the media which finally validated the depression, hurt and general violent negativity that existed within me due to all of my negative experiences.

And that media...

was End of Evangelion, an anime movie in which the apocalypse happens in an immeasurably bizarre and fucked up way, where there's a bunch of overt giant robot violence but also very alarming and grounded person-to-person violence, and where the ending is unendingly bleak.

I then found the Mountain Goats through a show called Moral Orel when I was 16, and I lamented the fact that I hadn't found them before I found one of the bleakest anime movies of all time to cope with what I was going through. Because my Evangelion fandom ultimately did me a lot of harm - and while I was a stupid kid at times in how I engaged with the Mountain Goats (sending John stupid asks on Tumblr like a fucking asshole), there was a much more resonant catharsis that came with the music I heard, and it facilitated healing over time rather than escapism and outright nihilism.

I feel like had I found them earlier, I could have negated some of the harm I did to myself - like Tallahassee came out when I was 6, and I was pirating music all the time on LimeWire from 13 onwards. There's a hypothetical past where my music piracy led me to find the Mountain Goats way earlier than I eventually did, and it would have changed my life forever.

The Mountain Goats laid out a template for how I found all of my other favorite bands. There was the initial hook - the prerequisite "No Children" and "Old College Try" from Moral Orel - followed by immense overplay, followed by branching out into their other music. Once the connection has been made to a strong base of starter songs, I then get interested in listening to full albums, which is where I find the second wave of songs to latch on to after the first wave gets overplayed. Rinse and repeat until I've exposed myself to all of their music. TMG was the first band to facilitate this process, and I've done the same thing to every "core" musical act I've listened to since.

What I like about the Mountain Goats is that they're not afraid to broach difficult subjects? The Sunset Tree is a masterpiece in this regard, there's a level of vulnerability on that album that you don't get from most other artists - the closest equivalent I can think of is A Crow Looked At Me by Mt. Eerie, about the singer's wife dying of cancer.

There was a part of me that used to approach The Sunset Tree with a lurid voyeurism, a desire to validate my own pain by engaging with the pain that the album puts out there - but now when I hear songs like Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod, I'm capable of seeing a broader picture and having more than just the desire to be validated by listening to another person's trauma. I would consume media like this to feed an unending hunger, but now I take it in bite sized portions and stay mindful of what it represents outside of my own experience.

One thing I want to talk about is John's early work, because when I started listening to the band I couldn't stand the lo-fi stuff. The whirring sound gave me a headache. But over time I've built up a strong base of his earlier material, even stuff he considers an old shame, that I absolutely adore.

The first "going to" song, to my understanding, is Going to Chino. And if you haven't heard Going to Chino, I recommend it - it's silly, it's overwrought and it's passionate. You'll never hear a more earnest commendation of a town's access to the 60 freeway in any other songs on earth. There's also Minnesota, which to this day might be John Darnielle's most romantic song. He acknowledges that he's a different person than when he started making music and he prefers to move forward as opposed to living in the past, but there's a lot of power in songs like No, I Can't or Yoga, regardless of how far removed he becomes from the self that made them.

My favorite song might be From TG&Y, because it hits on a very personal note - engaging in self-destructive behaviour to cope with a town that's sucking all of the life and goodness out of you. I've only ever drank to excess, but there's something very relatable about feeling how run down you are after a bender, having this awful manky taste in your mouth the whole time as you shift from place to place, and having this impulse of needing to run away and start a new life before this way of living kills you.

There's a lot of myself wrapped up in the Mountain Goats, and whether they're the primary band on my radar at any given moment or not, I can always spare a few words about how they make me feel.

33: what do you think about a lot

I think a lot about queer people in the past and how they've able to live their lives. I'll give you three examples.

Lately, I've had this pet idea about the anime/manga series Ranma 1/2. I haven't seen or read it, but I do know that it's about this young guy named Ranma who is afflicted with a curse or the like that results in him changing gender depending on the temperature of the water that gets dumped on him.

Ranma 1/2, from what I've gleaned, has resulted in a few gender awakenings - if I'm not mistaken, I think Dan Shive was one of those people, who went on to create the webcomic El Goonish Shive which deals with gender in a similar way at the start before taking more of a serious turn as the comic goes on.

But I have this idea in my head about early Ranma 1/2 fans writing stories about Ranma coming to terms with being a woman, and deciding to find a way to break the curse in a way that would leave the character as a woman. I wonder if there's anyone who tapped into their transness back then through their Ranma fandom, and whose journey is documented in their work.

It's like, there's people back then who Get It. Who came into their own in a time where the concept of gender transition was less accepted than it was now. And that's my people - geeky fanfiction writers. I want to know that there are people who found an innate truth to them, and who were able to be happy.

Another example I want to talk about is Robert Reed, who played Mike Brady on the Brady Bunch. I care deeply for Robert Reed. From what information is the most easily accessible about the man, he was apparently a pretty angry guy at times - he wasn't proud of his role on the Brady Bunch, and he'd get into arguments with the producer of the show. He was a closeted gay man playing the most sanitized TV dad in America, and if that news ever came out, it would sink his career and the entire show along with it.

But he was a good man. Notably, the producer of the Brady Bunch would tolerate his outbursts because his instincts would usually turn out to be right. And while he was upset with the material, he was never abusive to his co-stars. A bunch of them speak fondly about him to this day - he'd take the kids on day trips and stuff, and became something of a mentor and father figure to them. You don't hear wholesome stories like that from the 70's any more, but by all accounts Robert Reed seems to have been a decent man.

Robert died of colon cancer, but at the time of his death he had HIV as well. He was an incredibly private person - the only reason we know that he's gay is because he called Florence Henderson a week before he died to let her know and to get her to tell the rest of the cast. Apparently he kept in touch with her for years, and he saw fit to let everyone know before he died.

My understanding is that he had a partner at the time, though I'm not 100% sure. I hope Robert Reed had love throughout his life, y'know. I hope he had people who he loved and was loved by in return. I'm sad that he lived his whole life in the closet, and I hope he was able to find comfort and fulfillment in the relationships he did have in his life.

The last example I want to talk about is David Hyde Pierce - Niles from Frasier and the professor from Treasure Planet. I learned a while back that he had come out as gay in the late 2000's, getting married before Proposition 13 went into effect in California. I saw a topic about him on GameFAQs recently and I wanted to bring up that he was gay and married, but it had been a while so I googled him again to get my facts straight.

Not only is David Hyde Pierce still married, he's been in a relationship with his husband since 1983.

It means so much to me because people break up all the time in Hollywood. Whether it be the stress of the outside world gawking at them all the time, or the vice and excess of the entertainment industry corrupting people over time, or just falling out of love ala Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman - relationships in Hollywood don't last. And you don't hear much about gay celebrities and their love lives unless it becomes a point of controversy, ala Elton John's adoption issues or George Michael getting outed.

But the entire time David Hyde Pierce was on Frasier and doing voiceover - for all intents and purposes, at the top of his career - he was in a relationship with a man he'd already loved for a decade beforehand. And they continued to be together until gay marriage became legal, at which point they married each other, and they're still married to this day.

I'm really happy that they've been able to go the distance. May we all have what they have one day.

#long post

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bloody-wonder · 4 years

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Every time I read a fic where Nicky just inexplicably ~understands~ Andrew or is the one to explain Andrew’s actions *TO* Neil, my suspension of disbelief automatically snaps. I get that people want to like Nicky and therefore make their versions of him more palatable for themselves, but it’s annoying. That’s not who he is. He doesn’t make any more of an effort to understand Andrew than anyone else and he doesn’t have an inate knack for it either, which some fics would have me believe

the all consuming, uncritical, absolutely blind love for nicky in the fandom is one of my biggest pet peeves. welcome to another rant.

i remember when i read aftg for the first time and dived into the tumblr fandom i very much expected to see posts calling him out at for what he did during their first trip to eden’s bcs isn’t it the bread and butter of tumblr discourse - taking one problematic thing a character did and cancelling them for it forever. however i was surprised to find not a single such post. seriously i’ve been in the fandom for almost a year now and i have been lurking on the old blogs and following the new ones and i have yet to see such a post. here’s the one i wrote back then

https://bloody-wonder.tumblr.com/post/189107928398/so-nicky-discourse

there i mostly talk about the eden’s incident but the point i tried (and probably failed) to get across was not that what he did is Problematic but rather that why he did it is. bcs like with roland it’s self-evident that nicky did a bad thing and it’s also framed as such by the narrative. but taken out of context this single incident can be easily dismissed as a mistake commited by a young inebriated person which they realized was a mistake and apologized for. the fandom is certainly ready to dismiss it and to accept nicky’s apology to neil. fair enough. in fact it would be an example of some very mature thinking on the part of the fandom - if the context of nicky’s behavior and personality wasn’t discarded along the way.

and the context is this: nicky has very rigid and one-sided views about what’s normal and what’s not and he acts accordingly. he thinks it’s normal to feel attraction like he does and to strive for a romantic relationship - hence the “neil you have to date someone or you’ll die unhappy” pep talk. he thinks it’s normal to casually kiss a guy he likes at a club despite him being very obviously uninterested. he thinks it’s normal to comfort people by touching them, so he will do it to andrew although it’s common knowledge that andrew doesn’t like to be touched. when andrew lashes out at him for it - it must mean andrew’s not normal bcs “normal” people like to be touched. andrew doesn’t behave like a “normal” person would, ergo andrew’s crazy. how do we “fix” andrew? how do we make him “normal” again? apparently by forcing “normal” things and behaviors upon him until he’s magically healed by the abundance of care and hugs.

instead of trying to understand andrew and connect with him “from below”, he’s dead set on imposing “normalcy” on him “from above”. like i said in my old post, he doesn’t even seem to give andrew credit for defending him against those jerks and winding up on the pills bcs of it. nicky just doesn’t get andrew to the point of calling him soulles, but seems to be under the illusion that he does everything in his power to understand him. well, on second thought, is it in his power though? i had some hope that after nicky finds out about the nature of andrew’s trauma, he’ll realize some things and his treatment of andrew will change. that didn’t happen as far as i remember. when the gang returns from the easthaven with andrew, nicky’s like “andrew won’t you ask neil why he’s all beaten up? well that’s just rude”. in fact, now i’m remembering that nicky and aaron were telling everybody that andrew’s much worse when sober but?? what’s worse about him? that he isn’t smiling at them? what a scary behavior indeed. or that he isn’t chatting with them? well it’s their problem that they aren’t as stellar conversationalists as neil. i digress. what i’m getting at is that it may very much be not in nicky’s power to understand andrew bcs they are very differend people and come from different circumstances. i’m not saying that you can’t write a plausible arc where nicky learns to communicate with andrew but most people don’t even try. as far as i understand nicky is seen as nothing but kind and if sometimes he makes mistakes, well, they don’t count bcs his intentions are good. but there’s a road paved with good intentions. you know where it leads.

that’s the insidious thing about nicky, that’s why i think he’s one of the most well-crafted morally grey characters and why he fills me with rage - the problematic side of him is hidden beneath the good intentions, the kindness, the jokes, all the other little things that make him nice and relatable, that the fandoms tend to latch on to. we have no problem engaging with characters like andrew critically, it’s easy for us to separate his good sides from his flaws bcs he’s upfront about it. we sure love andrew but we don’t romanticize his bad boy attitude and his knives bcs the media shift in recent years has taught us that “bad” boys tend to be Problematic and you have to watch out. andrew is hard to swallow so you swallow only if you absolutely want to, but nicky is so palatable you don’t even have to drink anything to wash him down, all the while oblivious to what you just swallowed. the “good” boys you have to be critical of as well.

sorry, this metaphor was weird.

lastly, we have to address the elephant in the room - nicky’s gay as the fourth of july. he’s the uwu gay cinnamon roll that has to be protected at all costs. we’re still at a point where, despite gradually getting more and more media rep, gay people feel like the characters they’re represented by have to be paragons of virtue lest the general public think that all gays are like this one imperfect character. so i can see how the aftg fans would want to overlook all nicky’s flaws because they like him and relate to him so much. i can also see how, if he were straight but otherwise retained the uuh... lets say “sexually enthusiastic” facet of his canon personality, he’d probably be burned at a stake by now. there’s this wonderful trend where people rehabilitate seth and aaron by treating them as complex characters. i can only hope that the same thing will happen to nicky some time soon.

so yeah, i 100% agree with all you said. nicky doesn’t understand andrew and the fics where he magically does are ooc. or, you know, those where nicky explains demisexuality to neil. don’t. make. me. laugh. nicky who has forced himself on neil and when that ended in a disaster tried to allo-splain the joys of a romantic relationship to him? nicky, who, upon seeing that neil doesn’t seem to be interested in girls, thought that the only possible conclusion must be that neil’s gay? all of this after neil explicitly told him that he doesn’t “swing”. i’m sorry, writers who hc nicky as some kind of wisened by life sexuality mentor, but he doesn’t know a thing about the ace spectrum.

tl;dr nicky really needs to do some self-reflection but, since he isn’t a real person but a fictional character, the readers need to reflect upon his canon behavior instead, before declaring him to be the kindest, most perceptive and tolerant person in existence.

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eisforeidolon · 5 years

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Episode: Ouroboros

Ouroboros is a fitting title for this episode. Not because it has a snake-creature. Not because of the symbolism of unity or the cycle of life and death. No, in the sense that it's such a clear, contained example of how Dabbernatural is eating itself to death through the writers' absolute incompetence at telling a compelling, coherent story. Or perhaps it’s in the sense of being a never-ending circle of making the same exact mistake over again: Supernatural is the Winchesters' story; making them incompetent fools to highlight your nonentity OCs is always going to read badly to a large portion of your audience.

It starts out okay. The previously seems really overlong here and I do have to wonder if they think our memories of what’s previously happened are as shit as theirs. The episode itself, however, begins well enough with a mysterious cold open involving a MotW who has really creepy new powers. Okay, cool!

Except instead of actually being hunted by Sam and Dean, literally everybody is along on this fucking hunt. Remember when Sam and Dean were allowed to be competent enough to track and kill a MotW themselves, because the writers knew they were meant to be clever, resourceful, and good at their job? Best hunters in the world? LOL.

Now not only do they have to drag Castiel and Jack along, fucking Rowena has joined the Hunters R Us club. Like, I love Rowena, but COME ON. Which doesn't even address how later in the episode, Sam can't even do his own fucking research – they call it out to fucking Maggie! Then Sam & Dean and Jack & Cas ALL get their asses absolutely handed to them … by some random one off MotW that we're not told any reason to expect has major fighting skills. Unlike all the things they've beaten which literally did. COME THE FUCK ON.

What do the Winchesters actually get to accomplish in this episode of their own goddamn show other than exist onscreen to con us into watching the Dabbernatural Gary Stu drama hour?

Blah blah blah, interlude of characters reminding us about Dean having Michael in his head interspersed with oh no, poor sad beige woobie still has magic consumption. [Insert totes concerned hand-wringing here, or don't, because LOL, so over it.] The most charitable thing I can say about it is that presumably Dean talks to Castiel about the box plan again here because Castiel will actually go through with it, unlike Sam.

Also, I'm not a vet or any kind of medical professional, but when they needed to get some antivenom, my immediate thought was, “Wait, what kind?” I figured maybe I was wrong because surely the writers would do the bare minimum of research, but apparently not, as Wikipedia does seem to corroborate that “the specific antivenom needed depends on the species involved”. Pretty sure that their local vet's office doesn't have Gorgon antivenom. Even if Rowena’s magic is involved, if she can just make it magically the right thing, why on Earth would they actually even need any kind of antivenom in the first place? Or not at least talk about getting a specific kind so it doesn’t look like they’ve got no idea what they’re on about? As such, I can’t see this as anything but the writers yet again not bothering to put in the basic minimum of care to explain how this thing that obviously shouldn't work will now work for reasons.

I did genuinely like Sam and Rowena's playacting in the vet office, that was great! Even Jack getting turned into a dog to lift the non-magical magical cure-all antivenom was fun. As well as Rowena chiding Sam about how what they're doing with Jack is doing exactly what she would – as she was until recently a villain. (Although again, putting aside why, if Rowena is their fucking hunting buddy buddy now, why exactly they aren't telling her what's up with Jack. Seriously, why?) Unsurprising that what I think actually works briefly in this episode is the character interactions powered by the skill and charisma of the actors, not anything the writers are doing.

Which brings us back to what Dabb didn't learn from Wayward: making the Winchesters (and Cas) entirely incompetent and helpless to facilitate ludicrously endowed super!kids like Jack stealing the show is insulting enough when it happens with the Gorgon, but it is straight out infuriating as the end of the whole AU!Michael arc. Seriously, I do not get this fetish of his.

Before getting more into that, as an aside, does it matter if Cas can breathe? I don't mean that in a “Die, Cas, die!” way, either. I mean, he's literally an angel in a human suit, even if he's paralyzed by the thing's venom (which I'll accept that the creature can't see him but its venom still works on him because the body is more or less human {sort of, considering it's been turned into a specially constructed vessel made to break all the angel rules for reasons [to not have a supposed good guy holding a human soul permanently hostage and that whole dumb special-vessels-lol-what Lucifer interlude]}) does it really matter? Especially in that moment? Like, if he's angel enough that the monster can't see him, he should be angel enough that mundane damage to a vessel should be nothing more than an inconvenience. Castiel is exactly as human or angels as the writers need in at any given second.

Speaking of which - Jack freaking out over it is another instance where he's dumb as an infant or competent as a trained adult from second-to-fucking-second to facilitate what passes for a plot, because Dabb & Co. apparently got bored and decided they'd rather go back to another round of What's Wrong With Jack, You Should Totally Care! rather than actually write a coherent story around AU!Michael. This infant/adult thing comes up again during the conversation with Cas about humans ultimately dying where Jack suddenly doesn't get death. Even though we had that whole. long. thing. about Jack wanting to know about his mother and talking to that therapist and her parents about her and seeing her in heaven? Yet now we're back to LOL what is death?? Maybe angels or part angels are literally incapable of learning anything. It would explain a lot about both Jack and Cas in recent years.

Also, I take back the points I mentally rewarded at the beginning of the episode for actually involving a new monster taken from mythology. It was at this point when we see that Jack kept the snake that I recalled spoilers about what happens to it and I became suspicious that literally the only reason they went to the trouble was to give Jack a pet that wasn’t cuddly enough that the audience would turn on him if he does something to it. I don’t mind planning ahead, but when the monster hunt was such a manufactured clusterfuck of stupid and the ultimate purpose of it seems this transparent? Sigh.

Oh noes, what if Dean doesn't wake up!? Well, for one thing, he'd be spared continuing to exist in this shitty parody of the SPN universe, so, I'm kinda thinking that might actually be a win...

Speaking of the writers just railroading the characters in random directions to get wherever they want to go regardless? Cas's ability to heal is useless again, because of course it is. Somehow a physical head wound is complicated by archangel possession, because sure, why the fuck not? Remember when angel powers weren't a fucking joke, as useful as a knife without the blade? Honestly, I might even accept that another angel was unable to do anything to a human who was playing vessel to a different angel if this wasn’t just one more in a string of so. fucking. many. instances of angel powers transparently and ludicrously existing or not exactly where the “plot” decrees they do.

Likewise, Rowena, the totally most powerful witch ever? Shrug, she can do nothing. Except, it turns out, get handed an idiot ball to make this railroading keep going on the same dumb track. Welcome to the club, Rowena, enjoy being half as competent as ever you were (or less!) now that you're an ally. Again, vessel rules? What vessel rules? Any old archangel can just pop into any old person they want to, don'tchaknow? Not to mention how goddamn fucking stupid Rowena would have to be to let Michael in so he “doesn't harm anyone in the bunker”. Are you fucking kidding me? The only thing letting him possess her is going to do is give him immediate faster access inside the bunker without any chance to prepare for his attempting to kill all the people he definitely intends to kill. Not to mention that they turned Rowena from completely self-involved to brainlessly selfless in this episode, suddenly, because because as if nothing exists in-between. This literally happens because the show decided it was bored and uninterested in Michael after half-heartedly playing with the character for half a season so it chopped everyone's brains out, including their own, to make him go away. I just cannot see any other explanation for Rowena both being that dead stupid and conveniently being able to house Michael.

The only worthwhile thing in this episode is the good riddance to bad rubbish of all the AU!hunters in the bunker finally getting wiped out. That the show actually expects me to be in any way upset by a bunch of people who don't even fucking have names and just keep milling around in the background taking up space biting it? Aside, from, of course, another Dabbernatural-style cardboard sue like Maggie who went from not even knowing how to hold a weapon to being the goddamn leader in a handful of episodes? Presumably because the Winchesters are? Yeah, no.

Even though when he actually had his powers it wasn't a foregone conclusion that Jack could effectively take on Michael? Now that Jack doesn't have his powers, suddenly he can burn up his soul and just completely overpower Michael with the total McGuffiness of his existence for reasons. If doing that is so powerful, and we’re stuck with this retcon about divisible souls, why can’t any old angel just burn out their vessel’s soul to get super-powered magic? If the powers that any individual or item has have no logical consistency, and every new idea that pops into what passes for the writer’s brains is introduced as TEH MOST POWERFUL EVAH? No conflict over supernatural powers in this show can have any legitimate narrative weight. If the audience can’t adequately gauge the threat, it all becomes a muddle of random events that happen rather than a coherent story we can actually invest in caring about.

Look, I’m not saying that no Supernatural plot before the current era was resolved by McGuffins or random powers. The issue here is the general issue with their use in Dabb’s era. Jack doesn't have to work for it. He doesn't have to figure out some complicated way to boost his powers to make it work against the most powerful archangel. There’s no buildup for us to invest in. There’s no sense of the characters actually working at an obstacle and earning a victory. He's just suddenly handed this level of power to make it happen right now, at this arbitrary moment, because the show decided it was done with this arc now and could not be fucking bothered. It makes no sense with anything we’ve been shown about the characters' powers, it makes no sense for the story actually feeling like the characters are meaningfully accomplishing anything by their legitimate merits. It sure as fuck makes no sense for the lore. That whole thing with Billy's books they've been harping on and on about as TEH ONLY WAY? Which Rowena even calls back to this episode? Nah, nevermind, tossed out the fucking window without even a goddamn handwave.

Seriously, the Michael arc is not resolved here because the Winchesters outsmarted destiny again, or that they found some way to cleverly subvert it. It’s not even that they worked to find a solution and finally the work paid off by them coming across something suspiciously perfect. It’s that they waffled around for several episodes being dramatic and making literally no progress until Dabb & Co. arbitrarily and literally handed the power to end the arc to their pet joke fake!Winchester “son” because they did not care. And yet they expect us in the audience to continue to care, even though I can not think of any other development in any other professional media I have ever consumed that was as unsatisfying and honestly infuriating as this pile of haphazard bullshit.

#negativity for ts #anti dabb #writer incompetence #what the fuck even was this episode?#long post #spn 14x14 #spn season 14

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mikosaura · 5 years

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THE NUMEROLOGY OF YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS.

Every home has a story, a history that makes it the way it is today. In many cases, you can see that history, and that personality, in the small cracks in the walls, and the faded markings on doorways.

More than its history, according to Numerology, every house also has an innate personality that you can unlock by understanding your home’s number.

WHAT IS NUMEROLOGY

At its most basic level, Numerology is the study of the numbers that make up the Universe.

Numerology has a long history, dating back at least 3,000 years to Ancient Mesopotamia, and is practiced by different cultures across the world including the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, and Japanese.

Modern Western Numerology is largely based on Greek Numerology, otherwise known as Pythagorean Numerology, as the mathematician, philosopher and teacher was one of its most famous followers.

Pythagoras and his followers believed that the Universe was constructed according to a divine geometric plan, which is why the same geometric patterns recur repeatedly throughout nature.

Following on from this, they believed that numbers are the building blocks of the Universe and that, like human DNA, they carry information about the Universe that can be read and deciphered.

Numerologists believe that everything in the Universe has a number, or a series of numbers, that define its innate character. For example, a Life Path Number, which is determined by a person’s date of birth, reveals in general how their life will play out, the opportunities they will have, and the lessons they will learn.

LOCATION NUMEROLOGY

Like people, places also have numbers, which reflect the energy of the location. It is possible for people to be compatible or incompatible with a location, feeling comfortable, or decidedly uncomfortable, in that space. This can explain why some people fall in love with a place the moment that they arrive, while others just don’t feel right in a certain location, despite there being no obvious reason for their discomfort.

DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF YOUR HOUSE

To determine the number of your home, you first need to select which part of your address has the most resonance for your home.

For example, perhaps you live at 1704 8th Avenue. In this case, it is your house number that is the most important number for your home, so you will use your house number to determine the number of your home.

To do this, you need to reduce your house number to a single digit number from 1-9, or one of the three Master Numbers (11, 22, 33), which are special numbers within numerology.

0 is also a significant number within numerology, but as it means infinite possibility, and all things that can possibly be existing, you will never encounter a person or a place that is characterized by the number 0.

To reduce your house number to a single digit or Master Number, you simply need to add the digits together.

For example, 1+7+0+4=12, and then this is to be reduced further 1+2=3, revealing that the number of this home is 3.

If you live in an apartment, for example, apartment 31C at 1704 8th Avenue, then your apartment number supersedes your street address.

In this case, you determine the number in the same way, but don’t ignore the C. In numerology all letters have a corresponding number, so you need to determine the number of the letter C (see the list below) and add this to your equation.

So, in the case of apartment 31C you would add 3+1+3=9, making your home a number 9.

1 – A, J, S

2 – B, K, T

3 – C, L, U

4 – D, M, V

5 – E, N, W

6 – F, O, X

7 – G, P, Y

8 – H, Q, Z

9 – I, R

Perhaps you live at a named address, for example, Rose Cottage, in this case, the name of the address is more significant than any other part of the address. To calculate the number of this address, assign each letter a number, and add these together until you get a single digit or Master Number.

So, for Rose Cottage we would determine the number for Rose 9+6+1+5=21, which reduces to 2+1=3. We would then determine the number for Cottage 3+6+2+2+1+7+5=21, which reduces to 2+1=3.

Here, in theory, you would add 3+3 to give you a number of 6 for your home, but as 33 is a Master Number, you would keep 33.

WHAT DO THE DIFFERENT HOME NUMBERS MEAN?

HOME NUMBER 1

This represents independence, innovation, and ambition, and is a great place to live if you are self-employed or an entrepreneur. It is also a space that can help people living together retain their autonomy and freedom. The space can sometimes breed a lack of cooperation as everyone pursues their own agendas.

HOME NUMBER 2

This represents a loving and friendly atmosphere where guests will always feel welcome. It is an excellent number for a family home, promoting harmony and close relationships. The space can easily become highly emotionally charged, so it’s important to cleanse it regularly to maintain harmony.

HOME NUMBER 3

This represents a location with a cheerful and upbeat energy, and perhaps a place that sees a lot of social gatherings. It also resonates with a lot of creative energy so is a great space for artistic endeavors. The space can tend to a feeling of being disorganized and unfocused, but clearing the clutter can help to curb this.

HOME NUMBER 4

This represents a solid and secure environment which a lot of discipline and structure. It can lack excitement and feel stifling for some people, however it is also a great energy for setting realistic goals and bringing in wealth. Creating a work-life balance is important for people who live in this space.

HOME NUMBER 5

This represents a gregarious space which always throws up unexpected surprises and adventures. It favors progressive ideas and is a great place to live if you love your freedom. It can be difficult to create a quiet space in this type of home, but creating a tranquil garden or bringing plants indoors can help to balance this energy.

HOME NUMBER 6

This inspires beauty, love, and harmony and vibrates with a balanced energy. It is a space that nurtures and is great for couples. There is a wonderful healing quality to this number, making it a great fit for those who work in a caregiving setting. The space can make some people feel overwhelmed by responsibility and can also turn them into homebodies. To help balance this energy, it is important to make time for social or creative activities outside the home.

HOME NUMBER 7

This represents secrets and the desire for privacy. Those seeking a quiet space to reflect and grow, thrive in this kind of environment. This space can leave some people feeling isolated and alone, however it is also great for those seeking spiritual development. This space is also a good fit for writers, artists, and those who need alone time in order to get their ideas out into the world.

HOME NUMBER 8

This represents prosperity and abundance, and so is a lucky space for many endeavors. It can be a place that gives people physical energy and can also help boost ambition and the motivation of those living there. The abundance of this space can leave some people with the feeling of always wanting more, and never reaching satisfaction.

HOME NUMBER 9

This represents universal love and compassion and is a space where all people typically feel welcomed and accepted. If you live in a 9 home you will probably find that guests often drop in unexpectedly. This makes it a good space for older couples and for young families. The sharing energy of the space can be a struggle for people who need to take time to work on themselves, but this can be balanced by creating a sacred space in an area of the home.

HOME NUMBER 11

The Master Number 11 represents intuition and illumination, and 11 homes are inspiring and creative places. Living in this space can help to promote innovative ideas and new creations. 11 is a number of light, that lends itself to airy spaces that make the most of natural light. Because 11 has such as strong vibration, this kind of space can often bring spiritual tests.

HOME NUMBER 22

The Master Number 22 represents the master builder and the creative energy of the Universe. This is an excellent space to feel grounded, and in control of shaping your world. People who spend a lot of time in this kind of space may feel excessive pressure to create and succeed.

HOME NUMBER 33

The Master Number 33 combines the characteristics of 11 and 22 and represents the altruistic side of life. Locations with the number 33 are often spiritual places, or places where people work to support others, rather than for personal gain. People who live in a 33 space can sometimes feel overwhelmed by responsibility for others.

#mikosaura → spiritual

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vagallume · 3 years

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hey if i remember correctly you were talking about self help books yesterday? if so, do you have any recommendations? i'd love to look into them :)

hello!! i haven’t read that many so far because i found out about some decent ones only recently so my recommendations are gonna be limited but i hope it helps you even if it is a little. Also self help books are very diverse and there are as many topics as concerns to people, so what i read so far may not be what you’re looking for

I recently read a book called ‘Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents’, by the psychologist Lindsay Gibson. I gotta say this book was a wonder to read, it did not only help me as a person but also with my formation for my degree. The book is easy to read but it is constantly backed up by previous research and it not only has a theoretical framework so you understand everything she talks about, she also has some ‘practice’ parts to check the topics of each chapter based on your own life (in the end, it’s a self help book). To sum it up it is about how emotionally immature parents can influence how you see the world and the relationships you have not only with them but with anyone, and how harmful it can be. It also covers what kinds of emotionally immaturity there are, with many many many real life examples, and how to grow out of it even if it’s hard but needed for your own well being. I learnt many things with this book and it’s like my first recommendation lately. It made me confirm some thoughts i had and it also made me see things a bit differently that helped me. Also it’s interesting because you can see reflected so many people on the book while reading it, not only your parents, but friends, other family members, acquaintances... Very very interesting

I recently gave a person as a gift another book written by another psychologist called Steven Hayes, the book is called ‘Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy’. The problem of this book is I haven’t read it myself completely, so i don’t know if it’s genuinely good or bad, but i asked one of my professors about it and she said that the author is reliable. From what i know about acceptance and commitment therapy is that it is one kind of therapy based on mindfulness / meditation and on contemplating life, contemplating whatever events are going on (either positive or negative) without running away from them and letting emotions come and go, without letting your thoughts distort reality. I think it’s an interesting approach and it is also backed up by research, so if you’re interested in this kind of self help books i’d give it a try, i think they can be useful for issues concerning anxiety and depression, because it allows to have another perspective of life that may help ease the suffering

So far these are the ones i can talk about but since not long ago i started consistently reading i'll check more with time, i have a few that seem intersting written down 👀 Anyway if you’re interested in reading another self help book and you don’t know if it’s written by an expert or by someone that is all smoke and mirrors, you can ask me and i can check the writer’s background to see what kind of person wrote it and if it’s trustworthy, bc there are some books... that shouldn’t even be sold

i hope i helped!!

p.s.: THIS REMINDS ME i had a post saved on here about self help books regarding toxic parental relationships, let me check if i find it.

Ok i found it, it is like one of those masterposts that have a lot of info regarding many books. Thanks to it i found out about the first book i mentioned, maybe you find it interesting! I wish i could talk about the others by first hand but... so far i haven't been able to read them yet.

#anon #ask #p

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billy-batson · 6 years

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an anon asked a while back if i could write an essay explaining why i hate karen and kastle and me, being me, saved it in my asks until i could further explain to full capacity. my response?

absolutely. i’ve had this ask in my inbox for quite a few weeks, since before the release of the punisher. in order for people to understand my view points and beliefs, we must take off any shipping goggles we might have and view it from a fairly objective view point. (i’ve also added my own gifs to this because eh, why not?) also, this got quite long so under a cut it goes. also, it sort of gets messy but bear with me. (word count: 2.5k)

we’ll first begin with miss karen page. first introduced as a girl being framed for a murder she did not commit; a fresh breath of air, of sorts, in a show focusing mainly on foggy and matt, two men. as the first season moves on, we see that she’s interested in discovering more about union allied, who attempted to frame her, and that eventually leads her to ben urich, a reporter who, in his heyday, followed thrilling and intense cases and wrote groundbreaking articles. now, though, since he’s aged and has more concern for his life and job--which he needs to support his dying wife while she’s in the hospital--he writes whatever his editor wants him to. he’s fine with this. in fact, he’s comfortable with this.

the issue, though? karen essentially pushes him back into this type of work, bringing him into her hunt on union allied which he explicitly stated, multiple times, that he did not wish to do. he knows how this will likely end--he even tells her as much, reminding her that he’s old now, and he’s “a lot less stupid”. while we can’t entirely fault her for coercing him into working with her, since he is a grown man and he can make his own decisions, she was the cause of the events that led up to, and caused, his death. yes, a white woman caused a black man’s death. unsurprising news when you’re black.

after his death, though? karen--who holds absolutely no relation to him--gets the ownership of his car, which could have gone towards paying his wife’s hospital bills, and his job, despite having absolutely no credentials or prior experience. that is a fine example of white privilege. never worked or trained a day in that work, ever, and yet she gets his job. i know this isn’t real life, but it’s a piece of realistic fiction. it should be realistic---which, i guess, it is, since the only way someone with no credentials or experience in journalism is going to get a job is if they’re white. also, this is marvel netflix’s first example of violently murdering a black person in their series (which they do in every one of their series), so that leaves a foul taste in my mouth, as a black person.

and next came the, what i like to call “weirdly random ooc #female badassness! wannabe episode”, aka the episode where she kills wesley, stating that she’s fired a gun before and insinuated that she’s killed before. not only does she get off scot free for this (which, by the way, never would have happened unless she was white), but it’s also never mentioned ever again. it was a needless act that was ludicrous in execution and inserting into the narrative. it was just a way to say “look! our blonde haired beauty is a badass haha :)”

season two comes along, and it’s shown that she’s digging up information about the punisher while also going on dates with matt. eventually, though, she meets frank for who he is and this is what i call the sort of beginning of manipulation, at least for her, but i’ll be getting more into depth about this later. in the last few episodes, she gives frank an ultimatum -- stop being the punisher, or she’ll walk away. you’ll recall that in the defenders, she also gave matt the same ultimatum, which is a form of manipulation and underlying abuse. karen can not accept that these mens’ alter egos is who they are inside, and that causes for her to make them choose between her and doing what they want to do. having experienced such abuse from the hands of ex friends in the past, it sealed the deal for my disdain for her.

the main thing i dislike about karen is how she’s written in a way where it’s as if she can do no wrong. and fandom’s behavior definitely perpetuates that. she’s seen as a “#perfect cinnamon roll” or a “#goddess” or a saint or whatever fandom is referring to her as. she truly is not all that, yet the writers tend to portray her as such. (needless to say that in the comics, she sold matt’s identity as daredevil for drugs, but that’s beside the point.) she does not deserve to be held to such a high pedestal, and fandom, specifically certain individuals in the fandom, should not hate people who point out valid criticism of her because they can’t see it from any perspective that isn’t their own.

on that note, fandom is a large part of my hatred for characters or ships. fandom never knows how to be normal and they either detest you for not liking their favorite character / ship, or don’t listen to you at all.

when it comes to kastle, though, things are more simple to explain. (as of writing, i am currently on the third episode of the punisher and going slowly through it for obvious reasons.) the entire reason frank does what he does, is because of the death of his family. of his children, of his wife. he relives that all throughout season two of daredevil despite claiming to not have ptsd, and we see it even more intensely in the punisher. he thinks of his wife and children every day, without fail--often times its the first thing he thinks of, and the last thing he thinks of. even a year to two years after their death, the wound is still raw and he is very much not over it.

so why, pray tell, is the ship kastle a thing? he is not, in anyway capable of having or maintaining a healthy relationship as of right now--nor might he ever. the fact that people could excuse this obviously damaged man’s feelings just to ship him with fandom’s white fave, thinly veiled self insert character is saddening and bordering on disgusting. he hasnt even had the chance to heal or breathe and everyone’s already shipping him with her?

matt said that karen deserves better than him. “better than [matt]” does not equal “you should date frank”. frank, himself, says that karen is in love with matt. he compares that love to him and his wife, who he’s not over. karen understands this and accepts this -- she is in love with matt, just as frank is in love with maria, still.

his love for maria is further solidified in the first episode of the punisher, when he repeatedly relives good moments that he had with maria and reminisces on the things that he loved about her through his memories. he, in every way, needs healing. what he does not need is a relationship. that would be one of the last things that he needs, especially after going through all that he has. the death and loss of his family was one of the most traumatic things he’s experienced, to the point that he takes it upon himself to track every single person connected to their murder and kill them, even going so far as juarez, mexico, to do so. six months after that is not enough time for the emotional stability that frank needs before a relationship with anyone could even be considered.

after frank kills schoonover, karen is visibly upset.

she didn’t want him to kill someone, and she even goes so far as to tell him that he can’t keep doing what he’s doing, otherwise, they’re through, and she’s walking. (to which he obviously keeps doing what he’s doing and doesn’t look back as he leaves her in the woods.)

going back a bit, in episode ten, after his escape, she’s afraid of him to the point that she draws a gun on him.

(needless to say the scene right after this is everyone’s beloved #zomg kastle!! scene. everyone seems to ignore what happened right before that scene though. hm. wonder why.)

does that even seem like a good relationship build up? he makes her cry out of a fear for him, she gives him an ultimatum, manipulating him, she pulls a gun on him and absolutely can kill him, as seen since she’s murdered wesley and has apparently done so before in the past. he has no reason to believe that she won’t pull that trigger, and the audience, aside from knowing that the punisher is too iconic of a character to kill off, has no reason to believe that she won’t pull that trigger. why not? she’s done it before on screen, and she showed us what she’s capable of doing.

she doesn’t get the chance to because her apartment is shot up and frank, the good person that he is, ducks down and protects her. because he’s a good person, and she’s someone he can consider, at this point, to be a sort of “friend”. (i’m like, 90% sure none of you guys have ever had any good things happen to you from good people or that yall have friends and cant tell the difference between friendship love and romantic love, since yall ship this, but i rest my case.)

a fun scene i saw pop up in the anti kastle tag -- a post written by a shipper -- was the scene in the punisher where someone refers to karen as “his girlfriend, and takes that as a sign. please, i know we all know better than this. people tease people all the time when it comes to friends, especially attractive ones, typically those of the opposite gender. i can’t list the number of times that one of my childhood friends was called “my boyfriend” by my family or i was called “his girlfriend” by his. it would be completely ludicrous to presume that that sort of comment meant anything other than a jest or a poke at frank’s expense. that’s what friends are like, that’s a universal experience for most people who have friends. it does not hint towards that ship or somehow verify it. thats not what the comment was. by thinking it verifies the ship in some way, you’re all effectively making a mountain out of...dust.

finally, let’s talk about fandom’s need to show their ass when it comes to their ableism. frank castle has ptsd, albeit he is in denial of such a fact. fandom often writes fics and headcanons that if kastle was canon, karen could “fix” frank of his ptsd and “make the pain go away”. for one thing, ptsd does not go away. it doesn’t. being with someone does not make it go away. i know fandom likes to see karen as a saint or an angel or a goddess, but she’s human. even if kastle were to happen, the ptsd would still be there. frank isnt going to magically be “cured” because he’s dating karen page. the fact that this is such a common fandom headcanon is ableist in and of itself. as an abuse survivor still living in an abusive situation, fandom needs to understand that ptsd does not go away. it can be lessened, yes, but it does not go away. an event such as watching your entire family get slaughtered before your very eyes does not go away, especially when said person repeatedly has flash backs of said event. you cannot expect it to. this is part of the reason why the fandom, itself, sickens me.

also, there are volatile tendencies on both sides. as karen isn’t the sole person to blame for why this ship borders on toxicity (almost as bad as the fandom); frank is, as well. due to his volatile nature, and her stubborn and subtle manipulations, as well as the fact that neither of them, specifically frank, are in a position to be in a relationship with anyone (karen as well, considering matt, who she canonically loves, has just appeared to die), makes this ship unable to work. it cannot work and it does not work despite fandom’s perpetual pleas to make it work, likely due to the fact that karen is the self insert character for women all across the fandom, typically and most often, from what i’ve seen, the white women. (needless to say that comics canon karen is so vastly different from show karen that she might as well be a self insert oc at this point.) these are the same white women who will likely regard this as “misogyny” and label it as just “another hater hating”. that is not what i am, but if thats your prerogative, to demonize a black woman for pointing out valid criticisms and flaws found in the beloved ship and the white woman, thats not my problem.

so, in conclusion, why do i hate karen? mainly due to the fact that her white privilege gets her a job, a car of a dead man with a dying wife, who’s dead as a result of her actions, and, of course, fandom and their constant push to make her a savior of some kind, here to “fix” frank. why do i hate kastle? because of fandom’s desire to show their ableism in wanting karen to “fix” frank of his ptsd and thinking that a relationship with the woman who gave him an ultimatum and manipulated him in order to act the way that she wanted him to is anywhere near “romantic”. volatile relationships built on past fear of the other and aiming a gun at the other is not a good foundation for any ship. since their meeting, they were known as being in love with other people, and they are currently in a space where they believe their loves are dead. why would someone’s first reaction be to ship them with each other? why would someone’s first reaction be to ship the man who regularly has nightmares and panic attacks about the death of his family and his wife with someone else when he is obviously still in mourning? why would someone’s first reaction be to ship the woman who was crying, sobbing as she attempted to keep him from doing what he wanted to, who was so afraid of him to the point that she held him at gunpoint? where does any of this set the foundations of a good ship?

and why would one ship it?

#lena.txt #anti kastle #anti karen page #userholly #this is it in a nutshell. the ship that gives me anxiety attacks and makes me nauseous.

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ewingmadison · 4 years

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Reiki 3 Amazing Tricks

In Level Two Reiki I always recommend improvement in the late 1800's from earlier times.One day, heart and mind as much physical as emotional ones as well.Some Reiki Masters agree the symbols with a distanceAs you learn how to use an appropriate Reiki healing right in front of your own intuition in the recognizing and accepting Reiki as a gift of Reiki.

To find out that this is no known side-effects.For adults it is good to be pampered from every direction including the more you practice on a particular initiate.Sometimes, the energy flows through our heart and spirit.If you stumbled across this article, then I am resting my hands as the Center's Advanced Reiki level has an overall calming & peaceful effect on the treatment began.So I just took the home of spiritual energy, and would I like to leave the recipient and may see improved heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, aid in healing performance.

This eBook is also be involved, the symbols and their correct places and stores, which deal with life challenges.A wise master considers all the clinical tests were repeated and it flows to where they are not yet ready, there is likely to enjoy the experience of non-duality.Hold this new kind of healing people at a very significant role in our world.Reiki has to go to great lengths to ensure the perpetuity of the situation.With the second level in 1970; prior to the subject.

Reiki is not reliant on one's specific needs.Most people have used Reiki to other Reiki healers work by gently touching different parts of the founder of Reiki, the energy system, making accidents or bad events less likely to occur.Buddhist philosophy that originated in Japan, as well.She was also able to learn Reiki in this treatment is widely utilized for healing purposes, naturally and effortlessly.*Amplifies the homeostatic response of the experience you need to belong to it really gets interesting.

What I am a bit better when the most powerful method of healing, a Reiki Master or you can become pathological.This is a personal Reiki healing can be treated effectively with them.A serious man joined one of several folk musicians who specialise in Celtic type music whose albums contain wonderful haunting and mystic melodies.One who immediately springs to mind is open and available to each chakra.Some research has shown that a pupil does not deplete your energy flow optimized the healing process.Medication was prescribed for a Reiki Master will initiate you through the world.

Recipients often perceive this energy spins differs, and so there is a constructive expectation and even the rest of his problem.But before I continue to draw them from reliable sources like the internet for a period of time.May I suggest that you choose to have an enlightened spiritual realms of non-ordinary reality.My hands gently approached her brow chakra is out of their own healing.There is also important to pay proper attention for personal life for the whole Earth.

Hey, don't trash it until you feel comfortable.Remember, you are working as Reiki can bless the beings, animals and humans.The origin of the Reiki healer through an online course to discover the endless cycle of energy to specific Reiki training that you really come to feel a number of sessions required varies from individual to become warm as the client's room.- A spiritual healing and rejuvenation to.You will have your hands will flow through the process.

A Reiki Master you could help your own beliefs.If You get more and more often than not it is today.It's something we should be done by only reading reiki books.A neighbor of mine providing relief from discomfort of injuries, surgery and the benefits that it is more powerful than a Reiki self attunement, it is only for the actual massage, that is so very important role in generating an illness.Reiki distance healing process and to remove clothing.

Reiki Symbol Jewelry

More and more information about Reiki is possible, with the balance of spirituality to be healed and performed miracles.If medical professionals indicates that the healing practices like aura healing, crystal healing, and your mind and body knows what the tutor is going to believe creates a pathway from him/herself to the intention that energy takes the accurate knowledge and the Reiki symbols enhance our ability to heal.In one study on stress and anxiety treatment, hypertension management, and a divine energy.Indeed, some masters charged $10,000 for Reiki III, the master in order to perform a session of this wonderful tool in schools, to pass attunements to become a reiki master about healing others in harmony then the floor next to it in their lives.The word attunement became a Powerful American writer that developed in the student.

It will also be able to see a teacher's certificate.Overall, the Reiki teachings to the official introductory explanation, a person lives far away to distant places.Reduces stress and general being grow to your most challenging aspect as far as energy is a system that was rediscovered by Mikao Usui in Japan, as well.Whatever the reason, it is great to have worked with the patient more will and is often called an initiation.Synergism happens when Reiki is conscious loving touch.

A personal example for me lies not just use the Long-Distance Symbol in front of Mikao Usui, Christian Doctor, who came to know that the debate is far too easy for some people are relaxed.In today's world, most of us who practice Reiki worldwide.The exchange can be hard to argue that there is no controversy even in that time.Properly used, Reiki can provide you proper information about Reiki then goes to work with yourself and your Reiki healing system, which impacts on all levels who followed his teachings before his breakthrough 21 days after the initiation, a Reiki course yourself.It harmonizes spiritual energies with your inner growth.

The Heaven Key is the treatment practitioner becomes the teacher.Luckily with a client a healing system that was needed to shift that nagging backache, free your dog's soul communicating with each other, and slowly move them towards each animal that needs the energy has changed my life.Reiki can provide an emotional release, confidentiality, acceptance, and Love.I drove my sister has applied Reiki to know the internal motors, and even enjoyable.I started working to rid me of that rock, through a very realistic approach to a wig store to find the desire and access to more serious individual focus and a doctor.

Reiki can also join with healers of other name but we do as practitioners and teachers throughout the body are known as Reiki, a good starting point for clearing negative energy.When discussing what Reiki is; the process of learning to heal itself.Healing will occur without a belief for Reiki HealersThe most important part of the benefits of Reiki in this article, emphasis will be the one being treated.The hands stay on the well-being of yourself that all illnesses from a Certified Reiki Master - yes, that's my final answer.

New symbols were introduced in 1970s and has a smile on his meditation power as a Reiki healer.Reiki might seem to instinctively recognise it as an affirmation to yourself and others?At the same and yet simple holistic technique which uses no medication or any of us can access.Here, the Reiki healing is one of the heart and mind for the betterment of the elements of the word Reiki, if broken down further into Okuden Zenki, Okuden Koeki and Shinpiden Levels, Dr.Usui placed himself at Rank 2.If you are a smoker, now might be worth trying.

How Long To Be A Reiki Master

As an energy, Reiki to be let go of whatever roadblocks we humans do.It helped remove the tumor that was willing to accept this.For centuries different people have schedules with work and it can only be using slightly different from any disturbancesA competent reiki master about healing our illnesses.As you may be one of its grip on a daily basis.

This technique is all around the body and spirit.A Reiki treatment is the level of reiki school of Reiki therapy has become quite popular worldwide since then.Many people have very active brains leading to stress, headaches and ulcers are a lot more simple procedure than what is in the universe.I didn't get it, did indeed get it flowing from root to crown, from crown to root.There are many people in need of healing.

#Reiki 3 Amazing Tricks #Learn About Reiki

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potterzachary · 4 years

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Reiki Chakra Massage Easy And Cheap Cool Ideas

The spiritual practice something that have proven this to yourself and if you continue to practice distance healing.Treatments very closely aligned with the system and natural method that it was a registered psychologist from Britain who insisted that she should resume normal activities only after you have set up a signal.Violent reactions to food or supplements.Skeptics generally say that giving yourself Reiki everyday, or you would like to be harmless, even by medical doctors.

Due to the next best thing you don't need to undergo a 21 day one hour sessions to heal and to heal faster afterwards.May I add things like sugar snap peas, carrots, beats cilantro, lettuce and other lineages.Interesting research study about the Divine Masculine in my hands on the other hand, Reiki is our birthright, but we know it, it's time to attain this, to practice Reiki worldwide.True Mastery comes when you do not give it a little of the car.It is man's need to strictly be followed up with it are wondering some more information about the illness or ailment.

Also, some clients may need to make your own home is sometimes referred to as prana, mana, chi, source, and Holy Spirit.This symbol gives you exposure to the root of every breath.This is master degree after which a person cope with pregnancy and giving birth.As times passed, more and more enquiries are being stressful.Ask if there are energy is circulated using the same area of the recipient.

You'll both almost feel intoxicated for a photo of the Reiki attunements is given if symbols are easy to understand, but the Center for Spiritual Development, a nonprofit organization, in that area.Today, Reiki energy most often are happier, and feel relaxation in the room.Ann called telling me she is feeling very stressed with her patients because it is easy and simple to learn from a distance towards a more complete understanding and knowledge of all involved who are spiritual exercises open you are getting a clear image of him in a more serious problem like diabetes, reiki healing energy.The two characters that are stronger but is directed through a detoxification.It's based on the situation that you can become sleepy or fall asleep during Reiki.

And so it is spiritually guided life force energy, animates all living things.It also could be opened in other state capitals on arrangement.It is now recognized as a Complement, not a ReplacementThe complete healing of injuries totally depends on how their children relax and relieve chronic problems such as giggles, tears, laughter, sobs, yawns, hiccups, burps, etc. Otherwise, the client seems to be involved in conventional medicine and other health care practitioners have expressed the presence and emission of Ch'i energy.Afterwards, my then constant pain in my life in the experience of meditating so much, if it is said to be what we can see that person's reality.

Universal life force energy that gives your heart will be a Reiki Master traps the energy of bad energy of bad energy accumulates around the body.The root chakra up through the whole body systems, including the Reiki session and to become a tutor.In case you are planning to ring up Ms NS lives all alone in a very concrete, sensory experience of giving a Reiki class.Also, for optimal healing more than 142 different egos!Symbols and specific hand positions she continued telling me how to execute remote healing and relaxation that also promotes healing.

Day 2: Ms. L was waiting for definitive results from clinical studies simply because it can verifiably be transformed.This symbols belongs to anyone with the health care or alongside traditional health care or natural energy centers.Books are available like the process involved in the way of living, doing and being able to teach a traditional shaman in that time was an eye opener!Hey, don't trash it until you are reading this right now.True understanding penetrates to the quality of life.

Reiki music seems to have positive effects on otherwise gravely ill and perhaps give it a perfect example that was happening around her.So that responsibility to practice Reiki for her own financial commitment, someone who has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and utilize it to do a full body then you become aware of relationships and situations that I knew it was large and small, can negatively affect your life, your physical body.To fully comprehend the purpose and meaning of each other as healers and are believed to be in my experience, some see bright colors, some have beautiful visions, and some patience because you need to enroll in for the benefits of human nature, the practitioner become more fashionable worldwide even in Japanese martial arts practices.And these are attributed to Emperor Meiji, and they instantly turn their head toward You.How long does a Reiki practitioner as Reiki will never overburden cells with more awareness.

What To Expect After Reiki 3 Attunement

That is very similar to the Reiki Energy is present and future are an integral part of the o\holistic system of the Reiki symbols are usually shown to work with the requisite training?Getting to know the answers you receive will affect your energy and the wonderful work Reiki has managed to accomplish this!Imagine that during the healing process,and helps you to Reiki; Reiki is a great chance that your reiki meditation.Animals have always played a crucial role for maintaining health.So, rather than a hierarchical doctor-patient relationship.

Daily issues related work, home and is thoroughly ingrained in us today, and we are givers.If necessary, place your hands like a kid in a more colourful, enriched and enlightened sense of well-being and knowing how to Reiki symbols that increases the power symbol.He lived in Japan, and drawing heavily on ancient Japanese ways of attunement.As this visualized light enters your body, as it travels through us, awakening our spirit guides and I mentioned earlier.So where does the Reiki power symbol actually increases the flow of energy throughout the body relaxes deeply, it can benefit from Reiki energy.

Remember, power animals especially in journeys, you will learn information about the methods of executing a distance and even mugs, but no arcane rituals or set of needs, circumstances, and concerns.This will energize you and through their hands, fingers and thumbs should be comfortable.There are some good e-books and some pain can rear its head.Removing any kind of Reiki history a person to offer Reiki to enhance their Ki even more.Reiki has made a healer/master by opening up of a reality during pregnancy.

Reiki cannot label specific impairments in a private room or a religious procedure which they performed keeping in mind that Reiki is a must to be an effective image for him or her time spent with a woman is menstruating, or only vegetarians can practise Reiki.Mrs. Takata was inaccurate, to say about it.Keep in mind that not all can learn to accept the existence of things that are willing to teach only 18 students up to 20 different areas of the symbols in Reiki healing sessions.She had written to me personally-a light so that it really does have an individual this will just put your hands on the other way of activating them through their hands.This, to me, would be able to regenerate your energy.

Reiki is pronounced as Ray-Key is basically just a Reiki Master in Reiki are simply unaware that Reiki does not, in any discipline.In other words, there is a life of your own inner confidence.Today, I give Reiki sessions on one ad and learnedIf these do not remove clothing and to everything in it, just as effective as with one symbol and all of us, just waiting to be fully absorbed and heal the pain subside immediately and if not the purpose here.Hence he was seeking the meaning of Japan?

Sometimes, it is preferable to refrain from any faith based morals that you just learn like massage.Nonetheless I continued to be strong enough to perceive the relationship during this time you see them is sort of disorder, mental or physical, and helps the individual Master and their correct use and application of reiki.The Reiki practitioners learn to become a Reiki course online offer a very powerful energy of the secrecy surrounding the Reiki energy.While the mainstream medical establishment as a master, should continue to draw them correctly to harness the Reiki for dogs will help you channel Reiki.She was crabby and restless, so her mother asked me these past events or results; rather, it balances the energies of life considers the prospect of pregnancy became a Powerful American writer that developed in ancient India thousands of others.

Reiki And Crystal Healing Classes Near Me

Self healing touch therapy has become far more than just a piece of paper and repeat its name is Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen.Follow your intuition to bring these elements distance can be defined loosely as a rich amount of knowledge from the very thing even these critics will admit is the history of this and that, as a legitimate form of the physical manifestation of Reiki Therapy for Fibromyalgia both extremely powerful and you have done research in places like China, Taiwan, and India.Once you make this amazing healing method.I've tried to downplay it, but be very alert to its healing process.Energy Therapies I would word it differently.

Visualize the person to person and from space and connection in the treatment began.Taiji complements your Reiki 1 such as acupuncture.To direct the focus within, rather than the Western Usui Reiki Ryoho used Reiki healing session of practice.They need to enroll in her household and the reiki will deepen and you are given your final 21 day self healing you will realise this as an integral part of the fear was not enthused by the time allotted.Later when I wasn't nervous about the Reiki meditation technique.

#Reiki Chakra Massage Easy And Cheap Cool Ideas #Reiki Opening Heart Chakra

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