set your heart ablaze

-having a job

-not having a job

-applying for jobs

-the job market

I think I realized this when I had went to see my dad and stepmom one day and asked if I could place my hawk’s food. (A rabbit leg) in the freezer. My step mom was disgusted by the idea that a leg from an animal was in the freezer meanwhile an entire chicken was sitting in the fridge.

Your rotisserie chicken is an entire chicken.

Your pork chop is a hunk of pig.

Your rack of ribs are from a cow’s rib cage.

It’s like Americans view meat as colorful red and pink hued shapes that just exist and come into the world packaged.

You see so many people getting harassed or even having their content flagged for showing how to process or field dress meat when it’s at it’s freshest. Right after culling. For some reason this is considered “gore” by many folks when in reality it’s no more different from plucking a processed chicken after cull.

You also notice that Americans have an idea of what’s normal meat and what isn’t normal meat and there’s racist undertones that I’ve noticed in a lot of these comments left on foreign cooking videos

You have people that claim a video of a man in a different country preparing something like this is “eating a dog.” Meanwhile this is roasted goat.

You have people who’s only perception of an edible fish is in fillet or fish stick form and they call something like this nasty because “Eww there’s a head!” Yeah.. most animals have heads..

If you ever wondered why they call tattoos and piercings "unprofessional" and "unsophisticated"

Trans men have shared histories with lesbians who have shared histories with bisexual women who have shared histories with ace people who have shared histories with aro people have shared histories with gay men who have shared histories with trans women who have shared histories with nonbinary people who have shared histories with etc etc etc etc etc.

because tell me why I caught myself multiple times leaning forward like, "oh… this might actually work." "oh, i would like to see what happens," like I was considering it. like I was ready to watch Devon fall and go, "yeah, okay, I get it, I support it."

and that’s the trap.

this whole time, we knew who Maul is. manipulator, survivor, (at one point) a victim, walking vendetta wrapped in charisma, Sam Witwer voice, and cool tattoos. him technically not being a Sith anymore doesn’t cleanse anything. it just makes him more unpredictable. he’s not serving Sidious anymore, he’s serving himself.

and still… the show makes you feel for him.

that last episode especially felt like emotional whiplash in the best, most unsettling way. one moment you’re watching him inch closer to getting what he wants; Devon as an apprentice, and there’s this creeping tension where you think, "is it really gonna happen?" and then the next moment he’s practically delivering Master Daki to Vader like a calculated sacrifice.

and it snaps back into place.

oh. right. he’s awful.

but it doesn’t stick, does it? because then Daki dies, Devon is angry and shattering the way Maul wants.

and Maul... Maul has that moment. that barely-contained smile. that flicker of satisfaction he tries to hide while feeding her anger, sharpening it. "we will have our revenge." and suddenly you realize something deeply uncomfortable:

he’s not just manipulating her.

he’s been manipulating us the entire time.

because why are we feeling anything close to hope when he speaks? why does his pain feel compelling enough to blur the lines? why did I, even for a second, forget that wanting Devon to follow him is wanting her destruction?

it’s not just character writing at that point. it’s narrative sleight of hand.

and honestly? I have to give it to the writers. because making Maul likable isn’t new. making him tragic isn’t new. but making the audience complicit in his manipulation? making us feel the pull of the dark side alongside the characters?

that’s something else entirely.

mutual 2: the new dandys world event is mid as fuck

mutual 3: liveblogging a foursome

mutual 4: on lunch break