heck yeah

…to the point where a Pokémon that reads aura mistakes him for a long dead aura guardian based on vibes alone. Note that Ash is ten years old and has had no prior training.

Assuming that aura can change with time and effort, just like every other human trait, this means that some random ass child is just as strong as a legendary aura guardian despite barely even knowing what aura is outside of the Pokémon move Aura Sphere.

And that's not even the extent of it. In the rare moments that Ash remembers he's a fucking energybender, he has done the following:

Transferred his power to help Sir Aaron's Lucario heal a dying Mew's symbiotic rock tree. (And by extension, Mew itself.)

Astral project and see through the eyes of Pokémon. (This has happened several times. Just check the Aura page on Bulbapedia.)

Use a keystone to locate its matching mega stone. It's never fully explained why this works outside of "stupid magic bullshit".

See and interact with a dead boy* without even knowing he's dead, to the point where he can fucking project his own senses onto the kid's soul so that he can vicariously pet the fluffy mouse creature. The same thing actually happened in XY.

Telepathically communicate with his Lucario during a battle and discuss what move it should use next.

There's also this fan theory that the strange ripples that sometimes appear around Ash in Pokémon Journeys are aura waves being generated by his excitement, but it's not confirmed and it might just be a stylistic choice.

This isn't even the extent of what aura can do in the anime. It's just the stuff that Ash instinctively knows how to do without training. Please, I implore you, check out the Bulbapedia page on aura right now. This shit's crazy.

It's also shown that the bond phenomenon is linked to aura, but aura isn't outright confirmed to be the catalyst.

If he did decide to get some proper training, he could become the strongest aura user ever. And he’s just fucking around on a Pokémon journey.

*Of course, the whole "speak with the dead" thing could be explained by the fact that Ash has been a ghost possessing his own corpse since Episode 23 of Indigo League, but it's explained in-universe as Ash using aura to help Sunny pet Pikachu, so interpret that how you will.

TLDR: Pokémon lore is batshit insane and Ash Ketchum is a magical zombie Jedi that can see ghosts and he canonically doesn't give a fuck. I love you, Pokémon. Never change.

most of the essay but. I

can’t fucking find it.

Hello! I am still conducting a lot of research into this, and I am currently practicing reading primary texts as well (my Spanish and Gallego are sub par). But I’m gathering some information and putting them together as I go.

This mythology comes from the region of western Iberia. It includes most of modern day Portugal, Galicia, Extremadura, and a portion of Salamanca. 

The main pantheon of the gods consisted of:

Ataegina is the goddess of birth, fertility, healing, illness, renewal, and death. She is generally petitioned for an awakening and blessing on long dormant things (relationships, plans, etc). She is also asked for retribution, justice, and to curse others.

Endovelicus, the god of healing and of the oracles. He is a very important and prolific figure that seems to be of great importance based on the shrines dedicated to him.

Epona, the goddess and protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She is the goddess of fertility, it is said that her and her horses lead the soul into the afterlife. 

Nabia is both a god and goddess associated with the earth and sacred springs of the world. They also are the god/goddess of water and rivers.

Trebaruna is the goddess of home and secrets. She is the protector of property, the home, and families.

Bandua/Bandi is a goddess, protector of the local community.

La Matres, also known as The Mothers and represented by three female figures, are the goddesses of abundance and fertility. 

Lugus is a deity that crosses many borders. He is the sun god and a fierce warrior. He is said to be the god of storms and especially thunder storms. He is associated with the reven, crow, and lynx.

canon is what happens in the text. e.g. merlin tries to poison morgana

a headcanon is a fact that you have personally made up as an elaboration of canon. it is your invention. e.g. i think morgana and gwen had a teenage lesbian situationship before the events of canon. or, i think modern morgana would love evanesence.

an interpretation is how one reads the existing text. it is not an invented fact nor is it a headcanon, it is a reading. e.g. i think merlin tries to poison morgana out of misplaced self-hatred. or, i think that one line was delivered with suppressed malice and shows a nuanced relationship.

fanon is the general fandom’s accepted headcanons and interpretations that elaborate or recontextualize canon. e.g. merlin is a badass waif and morgana is a bitch.

It became less comical for Colt the one time the stunt crew were rushing and grabbed (a very flustered) Ryland and tried to hook him onto a rig, thinking it was Colt.

The way he ran up screaming, "DAN THAT'S NOT ME, THAT’S RYLAND! DO NOT DROP MY BROTHER OFF A 40-FOOT BUILDING PLEASE!"

Jody and Ryland still laugh about it. Colt still gets anxiety thinking about it

Anyways! HERE'S YOUR HANDY GUIDE TO WHAT CAN COUNT AS EYESTRAIN! I'm pulling this straight from the Artfight rules page about what needs to be labeled and filtered as eyestrain because it's VERY helpful and VERY accurate! I also know not everybody has an AF account and might not always have access to this handy guide, and this is an important resource; That's why I'm sharing it here! (under the cut)

PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!! THIS IS ABOUT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OTHERS!!!

Social security card

Driver’s license

Passport

Birth certificate

Employer HR

Bank account

Credit card company

Car insurance

Health insurance

Utilities

Cell phone account

Voter registration

Your school

Professional organizations (for nursing, bar, teaching, etc.)

Doctor’s office & other health specialists

TV & internet

Paypal

Linked footnotes

Customized page dividers

Sticky notes

Lined paper

Paper that looks stacked on top of each other

Old looking paper

Newspaper articles

Tumblr posts

iOS text messages

Emails

Fake ao3 authors notes and kudos button

Freaking discord chats

Its fucking amazing. Ao3 is fucking amazing. Can I legally marry a website?

300gr bacon, beef or chicken. A meat of your choice. These go specially well. I prefer chicken tights. Diced

1 medium onion, diced.

Garlic minced (i used 2-4 pieces depending on size)

300gr carrot, cleaned, peeled and diced.

3 sticks of celery, washed and diced.

800gr potato. Washed, peeled diced in quarters.

1 head of broccoli.

8 cups of stock of your preference. I recommend using the bones of the beef or chicken, but veggies stock works too for a vegetarian or vegan version.

3 tablespoons all purpose flour.

1 cup whole milk. (Almond or rice milk work fine for a vegan option)

½ cup heavy cream. (Skip it for a vegan option)

Salt and black pepper to taste.

½ teaspoon paprika, use the spicy one to get the warmth up a notch in winter.

1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander. Optional.

1 cup diced gouda or manchego cheese. Optional but really ties all together.

Make sure you have all your ingredients ready and at hand for this one to make sure it comes out nice and tasty!!!

In a pot put water and the bones to prepare your stock (chicken, beef, veggie) You can use premade or bouillon cubes, just make sure its 8 cups worth of broth. In a different pot boil the potatoes until soft.

In a big pot put some butter or olive oil to fry the onion, when it turns a little transparent add the garlic, move constantly.

Add the celery and diced carrots, moving constantly.

The carrot will get a little brighter in color, add the diced meat. Salt and pepper to your taste.

Meanwhile, blend the potatoes with enough stock so your blender wont have trouble blending. If you have a food processor, it’ll be easier.

Ad the remaining stock to you big pot with the veggies and meat, add the broccoli chopped in bite size pieces. Add the paprika and taste for salt and pepper. Let over a medium fire for 10 min.

Separate 3 tbsp of the stock to mix with the flour, set aside. This will be a thickening agent.

Pour the potato mix on the big pot, move to integrate and taste for salt and pepper.

Add the milk and heavy cream. Move with a laddle. Have a final taste and let over low fire for 5 min.

Serve hot and decorate with a pinch of coriander and some cubes of cheese.

ENJOY!

Notes:

I personally prefer to use chicken, love how it goes with potatoes and veggies. Also the tight is very tender and flavorful. With beef you have to be careful not to overcook it or it’ll get gummy and hard to bite, so make adjustments.

VEGAN: could also skip the meat, cheese and heavy cream for a vegan option.

I make it for my younger sister and she loves it. Instead of meat i add some diced, toasted nuts when served. Cashew, pecan and pistachios work nicely.

You’ll have to use 5 tbsp of flour to thicken up the broth a tid bit more without the heavy cream but you can still use a vegan milk.

You can totally skip the coriander, but it adds another dept of flavor.

Do try it with the cheese tho, i promise it’s GODLY. Gouda and manchego are my fave, the melt nicely and have a strong after taste, but i guess any cheese that melts could work.

Finally, if you are like me and like spicy food you can add chopped chili. Serrano and arbol chiles are my go to’s, freshly chopped sprinkled just after serving my bowl.

Hope y'all give it a try and if you have any doubts do ask!

Substituted spinach for broccoli because my partner is not a fan of the latter and used chicken and bacon. Gonna try it again with a nice Italian sausage in place of the chicken next time.

God does not hate you

God is not indifferent toward you

God wants to have a relationship with you

God’s plan accounts for the specific and individual way that you think, feel, and act

—don’t work for startups, they’re always one ‘innovative idea’ away adding ‘sell your kidneys on the black market’ to your job description.

—keeping a collection of basic OTC medicine on you will save your life one day. I recommend Advil, Imodium, and TUMS.

—those little single-use glasses cleaning wipes are 1000% worth the money

—overly self-depreciating jokes just make people uncomfortable, wean yourself off of them

—you can buy dehydrated mini marshmallows in bulk online and they’re a godsend for hot cocoa

—people don’t care if you have fidget toys on your desk they just want to play with them

keep on not working for startups

sometimes there comes a point where the thing (fandom, hobby, friendship, romantic relationship) you loved no longer brings you joy. And that's okay. Try to mourn the loss, take joy in the memories, and don't burn any bridges in case ten years go by and you find yourself back in that fandom/hobby/relationship again

it turns out that (ugh) moderate regular exercise is (spit) good for you. The sooner you make it part of your life, the easier it'll be

related: if you throw yourself into a new exercise regime too hard and too fast, without stopping to rest or consider whether a particular move is good for you ... well, shoulder injuries are painful and consults with orthopedic surgeons are expensive

knees are bastards too

don't even get me started on ankles

there may come a time when your digestive system is too fragile for ibuprofin. I'm sorry

one day you're gonna wake up and realise you no longer give any fucks about some things that used to bother you

on the other hand, you might be alarmed to realise what you still give a fuck about

"loving yourself" is less of a feeling and more of an action. you can start doing it any time and it will make your life better and better as you go on

this will happen incrementally - be patient

along those lines, if you haven't started making an active effort to quit shit-talking yourself, suck it up and do it

no, shut up. do it. "but it's haaaaard!" don't care. do it.

whether you like it or not, you are mortal and you need to go to the doctor for an annual checkup

stretch regularly - your future self will thank you

at some point you will encounter people much younger than you arguing passionately and incorrectly about history you personally remember and experienced

this will be infuriating and annoying

otoh, most other things just... will not matter to you as much

at some point you will shift from wanting to go out to being like "eh" and deciding to stay in. this is okay.

you will have absolutely no idea what The Youth are talking about and you will not care

but if you keep your mind open to new ideas you'll never be irrelevant

your company still doesn't love you - don't give them more than they pay you for

Find joy, every kind, it's always worth it

I'm talking that massive, never-ending Discord chat with your bestie? The one that makes you giggle through the day? It's not a "waste of time," it's what time was made for

If that's fanfic for your favorite characters who never even met on screen celebrate that!

If that's building a tiny fleet of snake villagers for your snake town and they just cover your mantel hell yes!

If that's collecting pillows and making a fort of them every weekend I'll be right over

Please keep stretching and exercise enough NOT to need an elaborate strategy to get up from the floor. IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE

Say bye to your employer as early as you possibly can, unless you really love your job. You won’t be sorry.

Keep doing the annual checkups 🙏🏼

Everyone from a different culture seems strangely poetic and profoundly deep in their observations, but only because they speak whatever the common tongue is as a second language, and whatever they are saying is actually mostly just clumsily translated common sayings/figures of speech that flow much better in their own tongue, and make perfect sense to the people who understand the cultural context.

Someone who comes from a place where geodes are common will describe another person: "He is like a stone that seems to hold a treasure inside of it - you learn to know such stones by their shape and their weight - but once you split it open, there is no quartz, no amethyst, no sparkling and brilliant crystal you expected. Just solid rock, through and through. He is like one of those rocks." Which vaguely makes sense, but they're clearly frustrated about not being quite able to express what they're trying to say.

dwarf: :o "that's so beautiful..."

...

human, speaking humanish to a human: "his quest is like he's looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."