Fics for Gaza- Obey Me

Hello, all! I will be offering my time and effort to show support for citizens and families of Palestine. Me, as well as many other writers, are participating with @ficsforgaza to raise money to offer as much relief and aid to as many people as we can! And I'm honored to be able to put my talents to use as much as I am able.

Eyes on Gaza. Prayers for Palestine.

Here's How it Works:

(More in depth information on how this works can be found here!)

: ̗̀➛ There are two options you can pick from. You can sponsor one of my many WIPs and speed boost their progress. Or you can donate to earn yourself a request (more information on that below).

: ̗̀➛ After picking which option you prefer and reading over my rules, you must send a donation to a vetted fundraiser. I will repeat; send a donation over to a vetted fundraiser using the link I just added above or by going straight to @ficsforgaza 's page and finding all the information there. Do not send me money directly.

: ̗̀➛ Once you have made a donation, please screenshot proof of your donation, and ensure you block out all your personal information!

: ̗̀➛ After all that is done, you can head over to my blog and send in an ask! Make sure you include your screenshot (again, only once all your personal info has been blocked out), as well as include if you are either sponsoring a WIP or asking for a request, as well as other details.

: ̗̀➛ Lastly, if you don't have money to spare, there are still ways to show your support! Petitions, volunteering time of your own, joining groups like these, or at least SPREADING THE WORD! @ficsforgaza has masterlists and details of several other blogs participating across a wide variety of fandoms, and the more we spread the more good we can do! So, at the very least, please go and reblog and share and let these posts see light!

Information on my WIPs and Requests below!

Sponsor a WIP!- $1/ 100 Words

: ̗̀➛ Take a look over the list of the WIPs I have and pick one to donate towards! Note: some might not ever be worked on enough to see the light of day, and just one donation could make that idea a reality and go towards a wonderful cause!

❈ OM Characters with MC's head in their lap

A full post with a small drabble of MC falling asleep with their head in the character's laps. Including all the brothers + Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon, and Solomon.

(Character) x Reader, Fluff, Gender Neutral MC.

Current Words: 1.1/ Approx. 9.6k

Words Sponsored: 0

❈ Cuddling in bed with him

A full post with headcanons on what sleeping beside the OM characters would be like. Including all the brothers + Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon, and Solomon.

(Character) x Reader, Fluff, Gender Neutral MC.

Current Words: 225/ Approx. 6k

Words Sponsored: 0

❈ Dolcissimo (Chapter 1)

Mer!MC and Harpy!Mammon meet against all odds and fall in love despite the rather Romeo and Juliet esque forbidden love.

Mammon x Reader, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy Violence, Gender Neutral MC

Current Words: 1.4k/ Approx. 6k

Words Sponsored: 0

❈ Tainted Reflections (Chapter 17)

A darker OM story where the characters plus MC fight several battles and face several deadly challenges to bring the Devildom back to safety.

CW: Violence, blood, broken bones, torture, death, body horror, disturbing imagery.

Second Person POV, Original Characters, Original Lore, Gender Neutral MC.

Current Words: 2.9k/ Approx. 7k

Words Sponsored: 0

❈ Upside Down (Chapter 14)

A fun reverse AU where MC is the demon charged with the responsibility of heading to the Human Realm and watching over the human Morningstars.

CW: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Death, Guns.

Second Person POV, Original Characters, Changed Lore, Gender Neutral MC.

Current Words: 0/ Approx. 6.5k

Words Sponsored: 0

❈ Fundraiser Special: (Bring Me Out of Hiatus!)

There are a few works of mine that have fallen off the radar whether due to lack of interest, or loss in priority. But I figure this is a perfect opportunity to allow those WIPs endlessly collecting dust to rise from their graves and see the light once more!

❈Beneath Still Waters (A SeaCreature!Levi story!)

Current Words: 0/? Words Donated: 0

❈We All Get Angry Sometimes (MC is sick of how they're being treated and speaks their mind!)

Current Words: 0/? Words Donated: 0

❈Love Letters of Times Past (Letters from the brothers from different periods!)

Current words 0/? Words Donated: 0

❈The Demons Inside (MC cries in front of the brothers and then acts like it didn't happen!)

Current Words: 0/? Words Donated: 0

Send in a Request!- Please Read Carefully!

: ̗̀➛ These particular requests will be held in the form of drabbles/one-shots! I specialize in fluff, romance, hurt/comfort, found family, and magic mishaps/adventures!

: ̗̀➛ Keep it to one or two characters! If you request more than two, I will pick my favorites out of the list and write them!

: ̗̀➛ I do NOT write demoncest or "proshipping", and I am not fully comfortable with heavy abuse, hurt/no comfort, major character death, or suicide. I also am not fully confident in my ability to write about someone else's OC.

❈ SFW Drabbles are $2 per 100 Words!

: ̗̀➛For the fundraiser, I will also be accepting NSFW drabbles! 18+ only! BUT, if you want a NSFW drabble you MUST first contact me through a DM or the ask box to make sure I agree with the request BEFORE you make a donation. You MUST also have anon off AND an age posted in your bio to confirm your age. After I have given you the all clear, you can follow the regular rules to post your donation.

: ̗̀➛ I will NOT write demon/twincest, non-con. con-non-con, ageplay, coprophilia, necrophilia, or anything within the same vein as these. I will NEVER write anything NSFW with Luke! Again, you must tell me what you want prior to you donating and sending a request so I can let you know what I am comfortable with doing.

❈ NSFW Drabbles are $3 per 100 Words!

Requests Received: 0

I will be updating this page with added sponsors, requests, and updates! Let's all work together to make a difference!

AITA for not being entirely negative about AI?

05/16/2024

Just before anyone scrolls down just to vote YTA, please hear me out: I'm not an AI bro, I am a hobbyist artist, I do not use generative AI, I know that it's all mostly based off stolen work and that's obviously Bad.

That being said, I am also an IT major so I understand the technology behind it as well as the industry using it. Because of this I understand that at this point it is very, very unlikely that AI art will ever go away, I feel like the best deal out of it that actual artists can get out of it is a compromise on what is and isn't allowed to be used for machine learning. I would love to be proven wrong though and I'm still hoping the lawsuits against Open AI and others will set a precedent for favouring artists over the technology.

Now, to the meat of this ask: I was talking in a discord sever with my other artist friends some of which are actually professionals (all around same age as me) and the topic of discussion was just how much AI art sucks, mostly concerning the fact that another artist we like (but don't know personally) had their works stolen and used in AI. The conversation then developed into talking about how hard it is to get a job in the industry where we live and how AI is now going to make that even worse. That's when I said something along the lines of: "In an ideal world, artists would get paid for all the works of theirs that are in AI learning databases so they can have easy passive income and not have to worry about getting jobs at shitty companies that wouldn't appreciate them anyway." To me that seemed like a pretty sensible take. I mean, if could just get free money every month for (consensually) putting a few dozens of my pieces in some database one time, I honestly would probably leave IT and just focus on art full time since that's always been my passion whereas programming is more of a "I'm good at it but not that excited about doing it, but it pays well so whatever".

My friends on the other hand did not share the sentiment, saying that in an ideal world AI art would be outlawed and the companies hiring them would not be shitty. I did agree about the companies being less shitty, but disagreed about AI being outlawed. I said that the major issue with AI are the copyright concerns so if tech companies were just forced to get artist's full permission to using their work first as well as providing monetary compensation there really wouldn't be anything wrong with using the technology (when concerning stylized AI art, not deepfakes or realistic AI images as those have a completely different slew of moral issues).

This really pissed a few of them off and they accused me of defending AI art. I had to explain to them that I wasn't defending AI art as it was NOW, because I know that the way it works NOW is very harmful, I was just saying that as an IDEAL scenario, not even something I think is particularly realistic, but something I think would be cool if it were actually possible. The rest of the argument was honestly just spinning in circles with me trying to explain the same points and them being outraged at the fact that I'm not 100% wholeheartedly bashing even the mere concept of AI until I just got frustrated and left the conversation.

It's been about a week and I haven't spoken to the friends I had that argument with since then. I still interact on the server and I see them interacting there too but we just kinda avoid each other. It's making me rethink the whole situation and wonder if I really was in the wrong for saying that and if I should just apologize.

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

hi, im an 18 year old pre-transition trans guy and ive grown up in an incredibly repressive fundie household which has caused me to really struggle both socially and with my sexual development. ive been homeschooled nearly my whole life and am currently getting everything set up to enroll for college this fall, this will be my first time living away from my abusive household and im very nervous about it..

anyhow, im in a really really weird situation right now. because of my shelteredness ive always been extremely isolated irl, ive never had a consensual romantic or sexual experience irl and all of my friends are online friends. well, one of my online friends (a cis guy who i knew from an online forum) and i started fooling around a bit, flirting and then eventually very explicit conversations, trading nudes and sexual video calls. we were extremely emotionally close and the relationship was pseudo-romantic but we both agreed we didn't want to do online dating after both of us having a bad experience with it previously.

this whole situation allowed me to experiment sexually more than i ever have, and i really felt more sexually confident than i ever have.

when we met, he told me he was freshly 19. and for the whole relationship i was under that impression, he didn't give me any reason to doubt it. but two days ago he couldn't handle lying anymore and revealed that he was 15. needless to say that was an incredible shock and i dealt with it as responsibly as i think i can.

the reason i'm coming to you about this is because i feel really weird about the whole thing, i dont blame myself for believing him and im not mad at him because i understand what lead him to those choices, but now i feel really awkward about all of the good things i got out of the situation before the reveal.. this was my first time ever really doing "real" sexual stuff with someone (beyond just texting i mean, i had never exchanged nudes or done vidoe calls like that before) everything sexual i encounter now makes me feel awkward because of all of this, its really weird and uncomfortable and i don't know what to do :(

im not sure what im hoping to get out of telling you this but i can't really talk about this to anyone else i feel like, so i guess i just wanted to get it off my chest

(if anyone responds to this accusing me of taking advantage of him or not handling the situation correctly, firstly you have basically no context and secondly you don't know what i did to take care of the situation. let me and my close friends be the ones to judge how i handled it, this is an extremely complicated situation for me to be in and you being judgmental does nothing positive for it.)

hi anon,

oofah doofah, what a sucky situation.

I totally understand feeling grossed out by the reveal; those feelings are real and deserve recognition. it's not nice to be lied to, especially when the truth casts all of your previous experiences in a totally different light - and a much scarier one, since you could very well have been breaking the law by exchanging nudes with a 15 year old, depending on where you live! this person could have gotten you in huge trouble by lying, which makes this whole situation that much worse.

having said that, you don't need to feel good about having had a good time and having gotten some positive experiences out of this dynamic. you were enjoying a relationship that you had every reason to believe was above board and it did great things for your sexual confidence! that's not retroactively untrue just because you were being misled; all of the good things you felt are still real.

think of it this way: when a couple breaks up there's often a urge to feel that they've been wasting their time together, that all of the energy and devotion they brought to their relationship was ultimately a waste because they didn't die together in bed holding hands at the tender age of 107. but that isn't true! no relationship is a waste of time, and even when things don't work out, that doesn't mean the good things didn't count. every time those people made each other laugh, everything they encouraged each other to try, every new thing they experienced together, every time they had sex, every meal they shared - all of these are real and matter and helped shape them for the better, even if they ended up parting ways as romantic partners.

the same is true for you. take your time to sit with your hurt at this loss and betrayal of your trust, but don't throw the good out with the bad. this wasn't ultimately a good relationship for you, but that doesn't mean it brought nothing of value into your life, and you can carry what you learned about yourself forward with you as you seek more appropriate partners :)

To bring about its hypothetical future, OpenAI must build a new digital ecosystem, pushing users toward the ChatGPT app or toward preëxisting products that integrate its technology such as Bing, the search engine run by OpenAI’s major investor, Microsoft. Google, by contrast, already controls the technology that undergirds many of our online experiences, from search and e-mail to Android smartphone-operating systems. At its conference, the company showed how it plans to make A.I. central to all of the above. Some Google searches now yield A.I.-generated “Overview” summaries, which appear in tinted boxes above any links to external Web sites. Liz Reid, Google’s head of search, described the generated results with the ominously tautological tagline “Google will do the Googling for you.” (The company envisions that you will rely on the same search mechanism to trawl your own digital archive, using its Gemini assistant to, say, pull up photos of your child swimming over the years or summarize e-mail threads in your in-box.) Nilay Patel, the editor-in-chief of the tech publication the Verge, has been using the phrase “Google Zero” to describe the point at which Google will stop driving any traffic to external Web sites and answer every query on its own with A.I. The recent presentations made clear that such a point is rapidly approaching. One of Google’s demonstrations showed a user asking the A.I. a question about a YouTube video on pickleball: “What is the two-bounce rule?” The A.I. then extracted the answer from the footage and displayed the answer in writing, thus allowing the user to avoid watching either the video or any advertising that would have provided revenue to its creator. When I Google “how to decorate a bathroom with no windows” (my personal litmus test for A.I. creativity), I am now presented with an Overview that looks a lot like an authoritative blog post, theoretically obviating my need to interact directly with any content authored by a human being. Google Search was once seen as the best path for getting to what’s on the Web. Now, ironically, its goal is to avoid sending us anywhere. The only way to use the search function without seeing A.I.-generated content is to click a small “More” tab and select “Web” search. Then Google will do what it was always supposed to do: crawl the Internet looking for URLs that are relevant to your queries, and then display them to you. The Internet is still out there, it’s just increasingly hard to find. If A.I. is to be our primary guide to the world’s information, if it is to be our 24/7 assistant-librarian-companion as the tech companies propose, then it must constantly be adding new information to its data sets. That information cannot be generated by A.I., because A.I. tools are not capable of even one iota of original thought or analysis, nor can they report live from the field. (An information model that is continuously updated, using human labor, to inform us about what’s going on right now—we might call it a newspaper.) For a decade or more, social media was a great way to motivate billions of human beings to constantly upload new information to the Internet. Users were driven by the possibilities of fame and profit and mundane connection. Many media companies were motivated by the possibility of selling digital ads, often with Google itself as a middle man. In the A.I. era, in which Google can simply digest a segment of your post or video and serve it up to a viewer, perhaps not even acknowledging you as the original author, those incentives for creating and sharing disappear. In other words, Google and OpenAI seem poised to cause the erosion of the very ecosystem their tools depend on.

Dearest Dumbasses if the Inferior kind, I urge you to invest in a journal or one way island vacation, the children beg for your sanity and your horse, a break from holding you up so high for so long.

It is with a happy, and joyous heart to see your tower of babbling nonsense come to it's inevitable conclusion as your rancid behavior involving children and child characters is being looking at and acknowledged as the unacceptable filth it is

I am so so delighted that I. your outrage you shake your canes at as it helps us do a proper headcount of how many of you support unacceptable and moral less behavior such as; incest, pro shipping, etc. it is such a shame you wish to make excuses instead of working to be better but we the SBWACS (stop being weird around children society) urge you for the betterment of humanity to stop posting(after the full headcount, we don't want to miss a single one of you)

seeing as you all have decided to embark on the 🎶toxic gossip train 🎶 we the SBWACS hope you crash into a wall. As entertaining at the ukelele would have been, the poor instrument had been disgraced enough. Judging from your support of adult x child characters the only cord you would play would be A Minor and that gets old but what never does is the younger half of your favorite ships

As a headcount let's see the stars of the show including (TW-5) Most Obvious Digital Footprint,

(Quill) Most Likely To Forgive Toxcitiy

Way to forgive and forget the wrong things

(Camelspit) Most Likely To Spit At Others And Cry When Called Out

Special thanks to the tornado warning that really wrapped this all in a weird, strange bow: Commonghost; stop it, get some help

disclaimer that I'm not trying to white knight anybody, I'm not some kind of kotlc drama messiah, I'm just a regular person with morals who doesn't appreciate people trying to turn a fun fandom space into a cesspool of people dictating what people can or can't be uncomfortable about

Whether or not you agree with calling out, pushing people around while supporting those who insist upon having their voices be the only ones listened to and allowing a fandom space for a children's series to welcome in unwelcomed topics for their own pleasure and enjoyment is wrong

Now to move away from the drama llamas;

i am BACK GODDDAMN sorry no magical girls or md omori to be seen atm 😞 i have ocs tho LMAO

listened to my heart?? and decided to draw ocs before i go absolutely insane. i mean i have three perfectly fine md ocs to work on so i might as well

i never did tell you what i had planned for asta huh

oc dump below cut that no one asked for <3

the three musketeers of my account HDJEHDHS

allow me to introduce them properly, i guess?¿ they each have their own individual posts but those posts were kinda rough around the edges,,

ASTA ✨

asta is my first (disregarding older ocs) md oc i've made. she's ridiculously smart (for the most part) but is also inherently a scaredy cat. she hates change and hates the unknown, sticking to a routine that she's used to for comfort.

like doll, she doesn't have her parents anymore and they're also partly the reason she doesn't have a courage. her parents' death had killed her curious spirit. they had always been more overprotective of her, considering they had both escaped unscathed out of the cabin fever labs situation.. (070 and 072, working on that) if asked, her strongest emotion is Fear. she's allowed it to control her life so much she doesn't know what it's like to live, despite being alive. because of this, even though she had been offered a spot with the cheerleaders, she didn't take it as it would mean a deviation from her comforting routine.

of course, her routine can't last forever. life in the bunker is boring but it was safe, and that's all she needed. (going into how she would be a part of the story? in progress though) she and uzi never knew each other personally. she sat at the back of the class while uzi was towards the front. she preferred not sitting too close to her because of her, uh, personality and actions? either way, she doesn't feel safe with uzi around because of uzi's inventive mind, and her tendency to do and create dangerous things (e.g., her sick as hell railgun. and also the whole braiden thing). asta wasn't necessarily shunned, she just had a small group of friends that she preferred sticking to (until doll killed them in the days going onto the promening)

getting the absolute solver string was NOT on her to-do list, but as mentioned, routine doesn't last forever. she hated the solver string and actively tried to ignore it, but it was difficult because if fucked with her systems and caused her to crave oil (which is a whole other thing and also the point where she finally accepted that she can't keep brushing away what she doesn't want to face). did i also mention she hears the solver's voice in the back of her head, because yeah that happens.

either way, since gaining the solver's string, she is also made aware that uzi and doll both had it but didn't try to reach out for help, still strongly controlled by her fear. my plan for asta was similar to how nori was the solver's secondary host (since cyn wasn't on copper-9 at the time), she would become puppet to the absolute solver, and in turn the third official host because of how lowkey she was and doll and uzi not knowing she had the solver. naturally, asta hated the idea of becoming a pet for the solver and constantly tries to override the solver's control on her (eventually succeeding. it leads the solver to want her death because it fears that asta will take over)

this is all canon divergence ofc :3

SERIAL DESIGNATION E 🐾

my second md oc, and first and only disassembly drone oc (for now? maybe haven't decided). serial designation E (also known as E or cerberus) is the outcast of his three-drone-squad. he had once tried to fit in better with the rest of his peers but after the first attempt, decided that it was too bothersome and they didn't deserve him anyway. or, that's how he phrased it in his lonesome.

he's the laziest of the bunch and hates any extra movement, preferring to kill prey quickly than to draw it out and have fun. he only hunts when his oil levels go down to 15% and if given the choice, he would've chosen to not need to eat at all. he isolates himself and has a small space set up away from the pod and essentially, his squad.

he didn't always used to be like this though, as mentioned whenever he tried his best to fit in with the rest, he did work hard. it wasn't enough though (nothing ever is). outcasted for his strange feature of having three nanite tails instead of one, he was always made fun of and in the beginning was also nicknamed Dog by his two other squad members since he wanted so bad to feel like he was needed and important to them, to the point he would willingly have done anything for them. but that was in the past. there's no point.

as a butler in the elliot manor, he has occasionally come across J, V, N and cyn. hard not to when they hang around the young mistress so often, especially J as her personal maid.. or something. he doesn't remember too well. much like his currently disassembly drone self, he took whatever shortcut he could find back in the mansion. he isn't a good person. he wasn't good then, and certainly isn't any better now. maybe a little. back in the manor, he hated doing work. he severely lacks motivation and seriously can't find a reason that he should be bothered other than the humans could kill him, or whatever. it didn't matter, or maybe it did? he wants to live (does he?) he doesn't remember.

anyway. that life is far behind him now. his squad was sent to copper 9 by JcJenson in spaaaaaaaaace (i forgot how many A's were in the space) to clear out the worker drones of course. he's got a chunk of missing memory somewhere in his head.. somewhere dark and somewhere fleshy. probablly not important. he remembers his quad but he can't find them, only alerted that a new pod and three new disassembly drones had landed– J, V and N (where was the other one? who was the other one? someone is not missing)

the forest breathes life into the dead landscape.

how long had he been asleep for?

OCTAVIERY 🦉

the oc that y'all would be familiar with. octaviery has more posts than asta and E combined (i think). the accidentally acquired child of N and uzi somewhere within the events of cabin fever

the good, quiet child of nuzi,, if you disregard his love for 'extreme sports' (read climbing into places he doesn't belong, and eventually getting stuck like an idiot). since his parents are both verbally loud and open, he never really had to ask for anything himself because his psuedo-parents dealt with it for him, leaving him to be the only introverted person of their small family.

he grows faster than a normal drone would, and thus reaches the age of a young teenager even while uzi is still in school. (yes, he is, in fact, taller than uzi. not taller than N though)

he doesn't know his true purpose.

AND THEN I GOT LAZY TO TYPE🤞

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The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

What d’you think is the “best” trait the main bau team members have?

OH I love this question thank you so much. There’s a lot so bear with me

Hotch: his compassion for his team. He’s an extremely compassionate and empathetic leader, constantly allowing for his team to leave work if they need to and following them on their hunches, even if they seem unlikely, purely because he loves and respects each of them. Quite often Hotch is portrayed as stone faced but I’ve honestly never seen a male leading character be so openly loving to their team.

Gideon: how much he cares for the victims in his cases. Gideon is often characterised as being a bit clueless to the feelings of his team, yet he never is to the people he is trying to save because he puts his everything into it. He has always been so open and accepting in cases which was rare for a 51 year old man in 2005; he was very willing to let go of his old ways and what he used to know so that he could evolve with the changes in society in order to best help the people he was saving. We also got to see his book of the people he saved. It was amazing.

Rossi: his ability to read and help the people on the team when no one else does. I wholeheartedly believe that if Rossi was present during the Hankel case, Reid would not have gone through his addiction alone. Rossi is always the one to call out people who try to hide their problems and he puts in so much effort to help them, even using his hours outside of work to do so. We see him waking up early to help Hotch coach Jack’s football matches, him inviting Penelope over for scotch so that she can finally disconnect from technology and him hosting the cooking class, the wedding and Strauss’ funeral dinner ar his house. His character development from being weary about the team to adoring them all individually was amazing.

Reid: I love how despite him admitting that he has trouble with emotions, he is always the one doing everything he can to be an emotional support when people around him are struggling. We see him try and comfort Elle when everyone else disconnected from her, he stayed with Garcia the entire time when she was shot, he is the one to call Emily to ask if she wants to hang out when she started disconnecting due to the Doyle situation, he is the one to try and help JJ with her PTSD in season 10 and so on. He doesn’t like the idea of the people around him going through things alone despite the fact that he often tries to go through things alone and he is extremely selfless in this sense.

JJ: I am constantly inspired by how throughout the show, she is repeatedly putting in effort to try and improve herself as a person and as an agent. We never see her get cocky, even when she deserves to be like she was in the FBI from a very young age, she had one of the most challenging jobs as the press liaison and then she was able to work herself up to profiler where she was one of the most formidable people on the field. Despite how impressive she really is, the audience are never given a chance to consider it because she never boasts about it and instead spends everyday striving to be better.

Morgan: he is always willing to take on a leadership role when he has to, yet he is always willing to give it back to Hotch when he doesn’t need to take it on anymore. I’m not just referring to season 5 either, I’m talking about any time when Hotch is unable to take on his role. Morgan respects Hotch a lot and is always willing to support him by taking on the role of team leader when Hotch can’t anymore, yet he never tries to take the role permanently for himself, despite being told he could by Strauss. Despite his years of experience and his leadership skills, he is willing to give up the role because he sees it as what is best for the team and he respects Hotch too much to keep it.

Elle: her protection of women. Elle was, in my opinion, ahead of her time. She previously worked in the sex crimes division and in season 1, she was the only female profiler and she did not step away from her previous role as an advocate for women in sex crimes just so she could better ‘fit in with the men’ of the BAU; she instead brought her perspective with her and implemented it in her cases. She was the only one in episode 3 to look at the woman who was assaulted and realise how uncomfortable she must have been surrounded by men. She ended her career in the BAU fighting for women and it hurts me that the BAU lost her.

Garcia: she never, ever stops being herself, even when people question her or bring her down for it. Sadly, because Garcia is the brightest person in the room, she is quite often the one who the profilers take their frustrations out on; we have seen JJ, Morgan, Hotch, Rossi and Emily all do this. Despite this, she doesn’t waver, she doesn’t stop being the brightest person in the room just because someone is simply not in the mood for her to be because she knows that she does not need to apologise for simply existing as her authentic self. In the episode The Black Queen, 9x12, her ex tells her that they both used to make fun of girls like her, and she corrects him saying that he made fun of girls like her, this was who she always wanted to be. This is so empowering to me.

Prentiss: my love, she was so unbelievably loyal to those around her and this was clear from the beginning. She was the only one to question Reid’s suffering in season 2, she literally uprooted her life and faked her death so that her team’s lives could be protected in season 6. When she found out JJ was in danger in season 9, she was so quick to jump on a plane back to help her. When the team calls for favours whilst she is in London, she always answers to help them. When Reid got arrested and imprisoned in season 12, she didn’t once believe that he committed the crime of which he was accused and even risked her entire career tampering with possible evidence so that it couldn’t be used against him. She is loyal to a fault and so many don’t acknowledge that.

Todd: we only got Todd for 9 episodes but I loved how human she was. She was the first character to make the audience realise that none of what we were looking at was normal. By season 4, the audience became very desensitised to the crimes that we were looking at and Todd broke us out of that and she also was not afraid to call out the fact that it wasn’t normal that the profilers were desensitised either. I respect how in the end she would rather admit that she couldn’t do the job anymore than lose that human side of her. I also loved how she made sure Hotch never took JJ for granted.

Seaver: we never got to see much of Seaver’s development because of the writers, but I loved her willingness to learn. Seaver hadn’t even graduated from the academy when she joined the team, she was not a profiler, she wasn’t even a qualified FBI agent. Watching her learn and grow in such a traumatising field and take it all in her stride was so incredibly interesting to watch. I also loved watching her friendship grow with the team; going to the cinema with Reid, Morgan and Garcia, gaming night with Rossi and going out for curry with Reid. 

Blake: Blake was so incredibly talented and so unbelievably smart but instead of using it as a way to get ahead of her team, she used it as a way to relate to them and bond with them. She almost became a protective figure over them and she took that role very seriously too. It was honestly amazing watching her mind work and how easily she was able to take on her role as a profiler because of it. I know I just named multiple good qualities but it is incredible to me how much her character was able to grow and be adored in just two seasons, she had no idea what dynamic she was getting into when she joined the team yet she fit in perfectly and adapted to it so quickly in order to help them and gain their trust.

Callahan: her confidence. She went into that bullpen being unapologetically herself from the beginning and she fit herself into that team without an ounce of apprehension. She made so much effort to establish herself and she was not shy about it which I adored; she had banter with Rossi, she opened up to Reid, she carpooled with JJ, she became a close friend for Garcia and she gained Morgan’s trust all within a few episodes; the last two being hard to do as a new member of the team. I love how she didn’t question where she belonged, she knew she belonged.

Simmons: to me, Simmons was just so incredibly sweet. When he first joined and I saw that he was buff and conventionally attractive, I was weary that he was just going to be another jock detective that we see in other shows, but he wasn’t. He, again, was an incredibly strong and skilled agent yet when he arrived on the team he took everyone for who they were and never once acted like he was in any way better than them because he had skills that they did not have. He was just a nice person and that may sound like a basic description but to me, it’s the best description to give a person. I felt genuinely safe with Matt’s character on the screen because it was just lovely to see a man on the screen who was just good.

Lewis: OH I love this woman. Tara brought a new element of self assurance to the screen and also humour. She, again, was very unapologetically herself and she knew her worth, as we saw when she went through her breakup, which was so refreshing to see because it is rare you see a woman know her value and not be portrayed as cocky for doing so. She is also a character that marked her place on the team and I also love how unafraid she was to come out and say that she was dating a woman, which was a risk in itself because the BAU had never had an openly LGBTQ+ profiler before. I also loved how she brought ‘your mum’ jokes to the show because watching a 50 year old woman with a doctorate make multiple ‘your mum’ jokes is all I needed from the show if I’m honest.

Alvez: I don’t want to repeat things too much but I also love Luke’s loyalty, which is something we also saw from very early on in his time in the show. Bear in mind when Reid was in prison, Luke was only on the team for a very short period of time, yet he believed wholeheartedly that Reid was innocent and even made threats for his safety. I also love how he took Garcia’s original dislike of him in his stride and honestly embraced everything about her, whether it was her distrust in him or her ‘quirkiness’ as the team would dub it, he took it all in and loved her because of it all, not in spite of it.

Another thought coming in, this time about how Riko and Yuji are similar in ways that has me in my feelings and I am definitely going to ramble about it.

They're both such tragic characters. Bright eyed kids who despite their positive personalities, life is unfair to them. Yet, somehow they adapt the best they can.

Raised by a single person who is family to them, whether not blood related (Riko and Kuroi) and blood related (Yuji and Wasuke, Yuji's grandfather). Parents? Gone. Riko's died in an accident and Yuji's, well, his mother is dead and maybe his father (his whereabouts aren't really clear, but I figured he's dead).

Both have expressed they're loners, however they are sociable and can get along with those around them.

"Vessels" that are doomed to die. Riko, merging with Tengen would mean her no longer existing. Once Yuji consumed all of Sukuna's 20 Cursed Fingers, he is sentenced to be executed. And they both had accepted this, even though they question it and it's not something they want to do in the first place.

Riko and Yuji were born into those roles, being a "vessel" wasn't something in their control from the start. Riko was found to be a match as a Star Plasma Vessel and Yuji was created to be Sukuna's vessel/"cage". Those roles that they were forced into came with dire consequences and somehow those roles of theirs, even being a "vessel" is halted by a Fushiguro.

Riko is killed by Toji, just as she makes the decision to not merge with Tengen. Sukuna uses the Binding Vow he had on Yuji to force control over his body to switch into Megumi's body. Riko's was done voluntarily on Toji's part while Megumi becoming Sukuna's vessel is involuntary on Megumi's part.

These actions lead into even more chaos. With Toji killing Riko, Tengen later evolves into something more curse than human, something Kenjaku wants for the Merger. Sukuna switching to Megumi's body allows him to use his technique, the technique he uses against Yorozu who possessed Tsumiki (Megumi's sister) and kills her and later against Gojo.

Also, something else. When they have died (Yuji once in the beginning, he gets revived), it's right in front of someone (who are black haired, have eye color changes from manga to anime and can summon creatures with their techniques). Suguru witnesses Riko's death, Megumi witnesses Yuji's.

It's also something of how they die/"die" that kind of foils. Yuji dies by his heart being taken out. Riko dies by being shot in the head. I think of that saying how you should think your head, not your heart. Yuji, though he does follow his heart, also thinks logically sometimes, evident in battles. He does show he is smarter than what he even gives himself credit for. With Riko, she is more emotion driven than logical. (That's not to say she's dumb, which I doubt she is.)

Also, speaking of Gojo, he's heavily involved with Riko and Yuji's roles as vessels.

He had been one of the two (along with Geto) to protect Riko until it was her time to merge with Tengen. During that time, Gojo grows compassion, and not just towards Riko as later he displays that traits to his students, Yuji being a notable example.

When Riko dies, Gojo expresses sorrow and grief and even suggests killing the Star Religious members because they were celebrating her death. In a similar manner, when Yuji dies (Sukuna ripping his heart out), Gojo expresses distraught and anger, even mentioning how he should kill the Higher-Ups who orchestrated the very mission that could have killed Yuji (as well as Megumi and Nobara, but their focus was Yuji).

Gojo's time with Riko changes him and his time as Yuji's teacher displays that change.

And...

It's also funny to me how similar their names are to the previous MCs of JJK 0. (Okay, I know Rika ain't like a MC-MC to some, but she is to me!)

Riko -> Rika

Yuji -> Yuta

...

I'm not done, let me touch on how they're opposite.

Riko is a non-combatant and seemingly has more knowledge about jujutsu. Yuji is a newcomer and is an combatant. Riko is a girl, Yuji is a boy. Riko has long, dark hair. Yuji has short, light hair.

I'm still trying to see this complexity that TG has, and that's why TG stans like them?? Alicent changes her opinion and personality every hour, is the complexity of her still having any consideration for Rhaenyra? not have imagined that a war would start? or just have the same crying expression? Please....!! What complexity does Helaena have? supposedly having dragon dreams and not knowing how to interpret them? the girl doesn't say anything in 1S and everyone just thinks she's weird, she doesn't do ANYTHING! Aemond's complexity is that he was bullied and became a presumptuous arrogant who killed his nephew? and I'm not even going to talk about Aegon..... he's an abusive drunk but yes.... he's a complex character

A)

I think that "interesting" for them is actually"potential for high drama, spectacle, and foolishness just because" for some TG stans who say the greens are more interesting. Yes, the green side is actually a complex group AND they rely on fear (amongst themselves and sometimes against the blacks) & strategy...because they have to strategic in order to try to justify some of their actions or wrest the power Rhaenyra's allowed or could accrue at court. To wittle her already-given status as heir to a more passive role. And beyond-court, they wished to convince the realm that Aegon was the rightful king both before and a little after he's crowned. The greens basically had the task to work past the whole "my heir should rule after me" deal that many lords wanted to stay as solid and meaningful as possible by precedent while also arguing on the precedent set by the GC of 101...which was itself a vote based on the adulthood as well as maleness of the candidate chosen. So, again they had to be strategic and shady and underhanded. And that will inevitably give us more drama.

Funny. Ironic.

We already know that the greens were not that successful with the convincing part even with Rhaenyra at Dragonstone and their long success at isolating her, bc it is only Alicent's move to hide Viserys' body, imprison courtiers and servants, hurry to search for Aegon that enables the greens to take the throne at the end AND Rhaenyra still was able to have many more supporters fighting before and after her death for her and her sons' claims.

Which if this is why you like the greens and not bc you think Aegon deserves the throne or ay sort of leadership [bc we see how unwilling and determined he was to not allow his grandfather to actually try to rule him in canon for the very paradigm that develops from Otto-Alicent's style & aims, they created their own monster], valid. I admit, they make the perfect antagonists & foils to the blacks and they do what they are supposed to do.

B)

People, not just TGs, have cited Alicent's past affecting how she views her own and Rhaenyra's motherhood, that chain of abuse. I'm fine with this, this is true. As for Aegon, I wrote a whole master post for what I think is his "deal" HERE, which is long but you can really sum it up as him trying to prove how great of a leader and man he is in lieu of the all the years he's been on the side and Rhaenyra was Viserys' heir. Yeah his life and misery and nastiness is in part bc Alicent wishes to prepare him to become king and "peacefully" reestablish the order of patriarchal feudal primogeniture/order so she'd not have to confront her own suffering and still materially benefit from it in "exchange". This sentence in itself reflects more on Alicent's complexity than Aegon's.

Aemond? Show!him, as presented, is interesting in that he's going to show a sort of vulnerability from his inflexible role as his side's militant "guard" and his worth being drawn mostly from that. He is there to be the support to Aegon's claim. hamliet describes what I am saying well. "Love is a transaction for the Hightowers". He seeks to "prove" himself and tries to make the glory of a warrior replace real love, but it can never so he's a ball of terror.

And love is a transaction, conditional and more so than on the black side because the greens really rely on putting their children's bodies to some sort of use, from Alicent to Otto to Aegon himself and there is no recourse or sign of deep bonds where each understands the other, comforts each other, reaffirms their emotions etc., or tries to make them happy just for the sake of it formed between any green member. (prob should have made this part part of the 1st paragraph but idk how to):

Helaena's body is made into a breeding machine for Aegon's claim for Otto

Aegon is a tool for Otto's desire to move the crown how he wants and is thus not really asked to be a great leader so much as it there & take his orders/suggestions

Alicent was a Helaena for Otto

Alicent uses her kids to stick it to Rhaenyra (show & book) or else ignores them bc of the troubled context from how they existed even as she genuinely loves them

Daeron--if the show will show that dynamic b/t Daeron and Ormund--is suggested to be more of a tool for his way into high prestige behind Alicent and Aegon's own rise, which is why Daeron's sent to Oldtown in the first place, away from his own family for years...yes I know about fosterage, but I'm speaking to the effects this has on the actual bonds b/t these family member s being reduced to transactions towards their goal towards power

So this troubling, repression, and denial of love is itself intoxicating, and thrilling to people who even don't have to be part of any team. I don't blame them.

C)

This issue for me is then:

Alicent could have been a lot more coherent without the inherent benevolent sexism of her becoming Rhaenyra's only friend and underdeveloped writing that makes her a lot less rational, deliberate, & mentally vulnerable to manipulation than she was in the book....all of which undermines her "complexity" bc she becomes less active as a character much sooner than she does in the book

people say all this ethically justifies the greens' actions, determine that their moral examinations of psycho-social conditions yield the correct and only conclusions to then just reveal that they just want their thoughts to be the general thought in contrary to the evidence in text, or hide behind their real biases and need for validation of those biases through the greens

Don't get me wrong, the black side aren't angels and do heinous actions...but it is simply true that they do not create the conditions for the war to begin and are also reacting to the usurpation.

Moreover, the blacks are pretty open when they can be to be about their actions and Rhaenyra is also already the heir. But the show didn't explore her life as a mother, what her relationship to womanhood as a mother AND heir looks like without Daemon there, or her kids' development after episode 5:

Rhaenyra being reduced to her body (advertisement of "Realm's Delight"; affairs and talk of them)

her kids' understanding, more of this from episode 6 and how exactly they interacted with Alicent's sons...how does Aegon enlist them and their frustrations against Aemond and from their perspective; court interactions, including those with Viserys and Harwin or any of the Strongs; education

Rhaenyra's perceived lack of ability that really just comes from her society evaluating her gender

[book] how she forms bonds with women around her, her relationship with Daemon and their journey towards each other, her relationship with the other Velaryons (Corlys and Laenor)

Daemon as a father -> how he "settles" but not really -> how he navigates/learns to raise another life form(s) & instill pride in their heritage and family after years of his beef with Viserys and losses and his resentments he tried to allay or "make up for" through social advancement and by becoming a warrior/has moved for mainly his own validation [idk how to say this concisely]

how he met and developed whatever relationship he had w/Laena...Corlys and Rhaenys' reactions to that (yes, bring Daemon & Laena back from Essos sooner)

The blacks comparatively do not have to be as underhanded and sneaky, and yet you will also have green stans argue that they are entitled, malicious, terrible threats to a perceived order (a projection--the greens are more that bc they are going against the king's word and what I said above about heirs and precedents).

This and majorly bc of how much opportunity we lost from the writing of this show focusing on developing the greens is also why they appear as "boring" or uninteresting while overbearing, scheming, manipulative agents of destruction at the same time to some people, even though they have more than their fair share of drama and angst from the very hierarchies they are perceived to totally benefit from.

Ok, I’m not going to get involved in a certain thread because I don’t want any drama and the line of argumentation leans too much to one side already (the views of the vocal majority in this fandom) for it to make much sense to contribute, but I had a few thoughts today:

In a fandom where people write AUs full of cows and merpeople and other shenanigans that have nothing to do with canon (or the actual characters, to be frank), they can’t do that for Calliope (or any other female character, for that matter)?

She doesn’t get to play in the sandbox?

We don’t have the imagination to turn her into one of the two dolls that kiss?

We have to keep her in character while everyone else can be turned into… whatever person (certainly neither the one of the comics nor the show)?

We constantly have to remember her strife and trauma and can’t invent (!, that’s what writing is about!) a different or new side to her? Or a better future? One in which she gets to be happy?

Or we can’t turn her into someone she canonically isn’t?

While all of this always, always works for Dream? Or the hairy guy?

And speaking of said guy: Do we have any reason to think Dream would treat him better than Nada? We’re automatically assuming he’d do the same thing to Calliope, but not to him? Or: Why do we assume he would do what he did to Nada to any other love interest, because canonically, there’s no evidence for that (we wrote about this on here before)? So no, that line of argument just doesn’t fly in my view.

If Calliope and Dream have chemistry and people are able to acknowledge it (which most do), that on its own is enough to ship them. The chemistry argument works with every M/M ship. Why doesn’t it work with her?

Oh, she is allowed in gen fics (and I am a fan of those btw, but that’s past the point), or as a character with very little agency, or any personal or sexual desires. Even better if she serves the ship. That’s okay of course, I forgot. Reminds me of most of the women of the Sandman—I wonder why.

I just wish people would give the honest reason without going through all the mental gymnastics of why Dreamuse is not an interesting (or even bad or problematic) ship, and the other one is the best invention since sliced bread:

They want to see/imagine two guys together.

There, I said it, it wasn’t hard. It’s really as simple as that in fandom, it’s a predictable fantasy, and it’s the same in every fandom. The Sandman isn’t any different.

M/F ships are frowned upon because they’re “heteronormative”, and yet, (mostly) women proceed to project (mostly) heteronormative relationship dynamics on two guys of which they fancy at least one and use the other to project themselves on. Sometimes, they fancy both of them and get more of what they have the hots for. Good for them, there’s nothing wrong with it. We have oodles of research by now why some women prefer M/M porn; it’s not earth-shattering, groundbreaking or “queer-positive” (it sometimes fetishises homosexuality though, but that’s a different topic). It’s been like that since at least the times of Spirk, and probably longer. It’s actually a fairly (dare I utter the word on here?) straight female sexual fantasy. The queer-positivity everyone is so enamoured with is more than, and not singularly limited to, shipping M/M—as a bisexual woman, I personally can’t identify with that line of thinking at all, but other people’s mileage might vary…

If people are into smutty/explicit fanfic , that’s just how it works: Some women project on a female body while imagining to get railed by a guy, others prefer to imagine two guys because they fancy men. Again: Nothing wrong with it, but it’s also not as deep as people often pretend it is.

Yes, I wrote about that one before as well. That’s why I can do it again—“once your reputation is ruined” and all that 🤣

It’s ok to be horny for two guys without turning it into a brain-contorting statement every time.

It’s also okay to reflect on the wider implications of completely erasing women from EVERY fandom, especially if you identify as one.

Hello I am starry anon! I am just here to ask out of curiosity, after listening the tiring amount of Viv's drama and I had open my eyes now acknowledging how much of a immature and awful person she is. (Well actually I have been a long time after seeing alerting signs of her behavior and her writing on her show... Which it makes me uncomfortable.)

Sorry for the rambling, back to the question. Is there any tips or guides to not be like Vivziepop? Her shows isn't inspiring, especially the overall characters design and writing but I think sge inspires people to be caution to do and not to do in the indie animation industry (I also don't know many about indie animation industry, you may correct me.), or how they should and shouldn't behave around the internet. It doesn't have to be a whole guide, just tips or list only.

Thats all I hope you have a good day!

■[Howdy✨️Starry✨️]■

When it comes to tips on being NOT like Viv, it boils down to just being a good, hard-working person. When you're in an industry like this mainstream or not, you HAVE to be able to have a strong sense of self cause this sorta job will challenge your work and ideas. So criticism and growth are a must. Not everyone will grow at the same pace or handle the many eyes the same way, but being professional and mentally strong tends to be a useful trait to have when your delve into being a content creator period.

No matter how good a work is or how bad a work is, there will always come criticism. Critical views bring about building blocks or destroy em. How you take them matters. Viv, even when the critical comments are solid, tosses them to the side and refuses to grow. DON'T do that. Don't toss the solid and useful stuff for the sake of one's ego. It does more harm than good. It is almost as harmful as allowing the hateful words made to destroy rather than aid enter the mind as if it were food. It isn't. You have to know when something is good for you and when something is not. Never completely ignore everything and never accept everything. Have a balance.

Vivziepop wishes to only hear what she [wants] to hear. Not what she [needs]. She is like a child who was given everything and was never taught the concept of self-reflection. Never be that. Period. Be down to earth, but never buried. Be confident, but not too hot to handle. Be balanced and aware. Be fair to everyone. Imo, regardless of what occupation you have, being a balanced, adaptable person is a very solid way of living. If anyone has anything they'd like to add to helo the homie Starry out, that'd be epic af though

[I do hope I helped in any capacity. I didn't expect people asking for advice from me on here tbh, I felt like I'd be the last person to ask, but I am honored!]

Okay I'll bite... Who are these two men who are driving you crazy?? Who is Buck or Bucky (when in your fic they have different names?? Isn't one of them called Gale??) why are they so interesting... I don't get it but I am a bit compelled👀

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED FRIEND.

First thing: they're from the TV miniseries Masters of the Air, which is based on a book written about the US Air Force's 100th Bomb Group in WWII. The book has the same title, and was written by Donald L Miller. The characters in the show are all based on real people, and the events are inspired by real events. But personally, I see the miniseries as interpretive and fictionalised enough, so divorced from the actual people and events, that I'm not really interested in the "real" side of it. It's an adaptation (read: interpretation) of a researched/compiled account (read: interpretation); it can't be taken as factual or reliably historical, in my opinion.

So anyway, these two men. This is one of them:

He is the Gale one. His nickname is Buck, which was given to him by this other one:

He is the John one. His nickname is Bucky. You may be thinking, "but B, why would Bucky give his friend Gale a nickname so similar to his own? That's insane." And you'd be right! It is insane.

The explanation given by John/Bucky is that when he met Gale at flight school, he thought Gale looked just like a guy he knew in Mantiwoc, Wisconsin whose name was Buck—so he started calling Gale by that name, and it just caught on even though Gale didn't indulge it. But let's be real it's all very "call me by your name and I'll call you by mine" of him gay bitch

Because my first fic for this fandom (called if that isn't love, it'll have to do go read it pls) is from Gale's POV, I've chosen to use the names Gale and John in the narration, but in the dialogue they largely call each other Buck and Bucky respectively—but it's also why Gale tells John to call him 'Gale' and why it's so 👀👀👀 when he finally does:

I rec the show if you want to lose your mind about yearning and repression, suicidal devotion, shared trauma and poor coping mechanisms, the Warriors' Bond™, the guard dog/attack dog dynamic, you-above-all-else type bullshit, and the-love-was-there-but-it-didn't-save-us sort of tragedies. I cried like four different times on my first watch, and there two different scenes that still make me sob when I rewatch them. All of the John/Gale scenes make me go "is this allowed?? Is anyone else seeing this??? WHo is letting this happen????"

There are so many good great excellent amazing things being written and drawn and made, so much talent in this fandom!! I am so in awe of everyone!!! I feel insane!!!! But I'm normal I swear.

chapter 150 review

*laughs* oh this chapter. this is the day ive been waiting for since 123 dropped last year. folks its finally over. but before that lets review: augh aqua looks so tiny in the first panel....standing with bloodsoaked pants. man. he can't ever escape that hallway huh. him and goro being stuck in that same hallway from over ten years ago, still drenched in blood is so....auhg. i am so happy we're finally getting back into aquas head after *checks notes* 31 chapters of no longer being in his head! and i really love the conversation between the two of them too! it establishes a lot of what i've been thinking of how aqua views his reincarnation vs how ruby views it i.e. she is continuing her life as sarina unbroken but aqua....is a wholly different person! a year is enough time to change a person let alone almost twenty years! and how goro refers to himself as a faint wound is also quite interesting because as we've seen in c.65 and c.95, goro is used almost exclusively as aqua's vehicle of self hatred, constantly telling him he has no right to be happy or that he deserves to live unless ai's murderer is dead (put a pin in that point). goro is wound that aqua has not allowed to heal and it festers until he does. AND FINALLY. WE ARE FREE. we've never really seen aqua's viewpoint of the whole Incest Debacle apart from the very very uncomfortable faces he makes when ruby is chasing after him and that's because the very instant we get back into aqua's head he instantly shuts down any notion of it ever happening. it really is just ruby seeing the illusion of goro amamiya in him and aqua is no longer that person. anyways speaking of c.95, goro giving up here is very....eh. sure seeing sarina happy must've triggered some rethinking because she was also a major part of his guilt but. its always been centred around ai! ai's murder is the reason goro can't let go, because he was never able to fulfill his promise to protect her. avenging ai is always the driving force of whenever we see phantoms of goro in aquas head! honestly this is part of like. the story largely removing ai as a driving force in the twins lives - from decentering her involvement in their reincarnation to excising her from goro and aqua's central motivation for vengeance. but as i say that, goro has always been a vehicle for aqua's self hatred when it comes to his revenge. he is exclusively shown as a restraint on aqua gaining any sort of happiness and all his self hatred given form. but the phantom that is actually his desire for revenge, pure and unfiltered is:

and we haven't seen aqua confront him yet have we? *laughs nervously* also goro acting like an elder brother to aqua and teasing him about his crush on kana is hilarious lmfao. and handing him the knife. ha. anyways kana is so funny here. girl does not acknowledge akane as her rival in any major sense. akane is crying somehwere in the background (for legal reasons this is a joke). anyways kana slowly working up the courage to finally confess to aqua is so beautiful because she has incredibly low self esteem and to see her hope in this? after reminiscing on all her moments with aqua is really sweet. honestly a lot of aqkn romantic moments feel overdramatic on kana's end but this was. just really sweet really. it reminds of the moment in sweet today where she just glances aqua's way before the camera comes on. actually this chapter itself gives me a lot of the early onk vibes in how its written which is quite different from the tone of the movie arc which swung between comedy and almost horror. i will say i like that both aqkn think of their more normal moments in between all the dramatic ones. and god that panel of kana. shes so beautiful. i am so scared. because there is no way aqua will accept, since she is still an idol, kamiki is somewhere in the background and. well baby aqua hasn't shown up yet has he?

either way the knife is in aqua's hands now. its his choice if he wants to turn it on himself or throw it away.

break next week!

Will the gods mind if I go into periods of stagnancy where I can do little to no active worship? I struggle with a lot of mental illness and am typically very busy so there are periods during which I cannot do my typical prayer and conversing and such

Hey, Entity,

I feel this post by @doves-of-aphrodite puts my thoughts on this matter the best. I feel that the love and care of deities are not so surface level as to disappear when someone isn't able to actively worship.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I feel every worshipper should go a period without giving offerings. For me, it changed my perspective on worship entirely. Just as you ask for help from loved ones without always giving immediately in return, I feel we are allowed to ask for help from deities without being able to give immediately in return. Kindness that is only given with the expectation of receiving in return shouldn't be the cornerstone of a relationship, in my opinion.

Of course, it's healthy to return the favor, especially to show appreciation and care, but that shouldn't be an "always expectation" that happens every single time you ask for help. The relationship becomes more of a formal exchange to me, and that's personally not what I look for when interacting with deities. For me, when a deity relationship is built solely on offerings and nothing else, there is this neverending pressure to give and give and give, and it discourages me from reaching out when I need help because I'm unable to give in that moment. That discouragement isn't a good thing if it prevents you from communicating with your deities. They aren't a bank that keeps a record of the debt you pay back to them; they are beings with the ability to care for and love humans, and the maturity to understand that humans sometimes don't have the ability to immediately give back.

All of this is to say that I don't think it's healthy to put so much pressure on ourselves to immediately provide an offering of thanks. It can easily consume a deity relationship, in my experience, and make a relationship feel much less personal and much more conditional. It's ok to take your time with things. If you feel guilty, maybe just let the deity know that it will take you some time before you can give an offering directly. I'm certain they have the ability to show you some grace for that.

Also, I believe it's extremely important to remember that worship doesn't always come in the form of giving a physical offering. Worship can be subtle, such as listening to a playlist you create for them, saving pictures on a Pinterest board that reminds you of them, or even just taking care of yourself as an act of devotion. You could even just offer a glass of water and proceed to drink that water, and that can be an act of worship. It doesn't need to be this huge and elaborate thing where you dedicate some lengthy ritual and a luxurious offering. It's ok if your worship is much more subtle for a time. You're allowed to worship in seemingly small ways. Those small things add up to a pretty solid relationship built on genuine care - enough care to think of a deity while going about your day.

Even with this idea of subtle worship, however, you still are not required to give a ton of offerings or put a ton of effort into worship when you're unable to. I believe that deities would prefer us to take care of ourselves first, rather than expending every last drip of energy on devoting ourselves to them. Take care of you for now. Your deities aren't going anywhere.

I hope this helped you. This is, of course, based on my personal practice, and there is no right way of going about worship or anything of the sort. There are no rules or guidelines that we must follow; we make of it what we see fit. Take care, and have a good day/night. 🧡

I think my new avatar slaps

enjoy the roman sculpture.

Misc. photos from the past year or so ~