I never read or was interested in fanfiction until like 5 or 6 years ago I stumbled across a shockingly well-written Harry Potter fanfic where he drops out of hogwarts to join the SAS and in the end when blows voldemort's head off with a 50 caliber sniper rifle I was just like
The ancient Greeks called the time of life between 27 and 33 "the period of ashes." It's still apt today. To extend the metaphor, around the mid-twenties, a young adult realizes the fire in their life has all but gone out, and their inner "stove" is clogged up with spiritual soot and charcoal - regrets, guilt, self-betrayal and usually a lot of shame. They need to go deep into themselves, clean out everything that's blocking them up, stop burning dirty fuel (acting from their conditioning, automatic conformity,) and discover what truly lights them up as individuals.
For astrologer-types, this is also known as the "Saturn return" period and the same ideas hold. NB: 70% of my following is in this age range (I think TPOT hews around here, minus a few outliers like me) so there appears to be some resonance between my writing and this time of life, but I only have a vague outline of it.
alternatively, you could be like me, skip the earplugs, and gain a lifelong roommate named eeeeeeeeeeee, who never pays rent and screams in your skull forever.
I fucking love that the first scene and inciting incident in Andor is him merking two rent a cops. First one is just an accident who dies in the struggle for the gun but then you see him doing the math on how fucked he is now if he lets the other one go
For nearly a fucking year everyone who marched against the genocide in Gaza has been branded an anti semite in the tabloid press. Now these twats are fucking trying to kill people who look different and there’s not a word of condemnation