#I just also become disorganized very. very. VERY easily

[e77y]

The writing is not writing tonight. Brain not braining etc. I will do this essay tomorrow morning in a procrastination-induced frenzy as per usual

[prentissluvr]

s/o with adhd headcanons — sam winchester

cw : gn!reader, fluff, college!au, stress from school, adhd symptoms like procrastination, executive dysfunction, over and understimulation, etc, eating and medication mentions, highkey just me blabbing, 0.8K words. requested !

prompt : neurodivergent!sam x adhd!reader disclaimer : based on my own experience with adhd but i tried to make it decently generalized (?)

MOVED BLOGS TO @sammyluvr !! no longer active on this blog! all fics can be found there!

⟢ first of all, both being neurodivergent really helps you two click when you meet!

⟢ it just adds a layer of understanding and relatability that’s really nice in a friend, especially at such a prestigious place like stanford where you’re expected to be pretty much perfect academically

⟢ so while you’re of course very intelligent, adhd totally gets in the way :,)

⟢ but even before you’re dating, sam’s already so helpful! even if he’s not adhd like you, he’s very understanding and relates to certain aspects!

⟢ mostly because he understands that you get easily understimulated and distracted in dull classes and he’s good at staying focused so he always lends you his notes

⟢ you naturally grow close to each other because you feed off of each other’s energy really well and end up studying for classes together a lot

⟢ even if you’re not the same major, you have several gen-eds that you share and work through together

⟢ it’s very easy to fall for him, and he thinks the same about you!

⟢ he realizes he likes you when he’s hugging you close after a stressful day :,) because he’s sweet and cute like that

⟢ he’s scared of ruining your friendship of course, but he becomes confident enough that you might like him back that he asks you on a date <33

⟢ no relationship is completely easy, but being will him feels so natural that it runs smooth and relieves a lot more stress than it creates

⟢ it’s really nice to date him after being friends first because you already know each other well!

⟢ and in terms of your adhd, he’s already seen the biggest things that stress you out, so he knows how to help and what to look out for

⟢ he’ll know even better than you will if going to a party that night will overstimulate you and he tries to come up with fun dates that will help out when you’re understimulated

⟢ he still of course shares his notes with you for classes you share

⟢ and he tries to keep good track of the other classes you’re taking if you're more disorganized about them

⟢ he pays so so so much attention to everything ever that you say, and this includes all the projects and assignments you’re working on in case you forget

⟢ sam tries his best to be helpful and motivating when your executive dysfunction kicks in and makes you procrastinate, but he’s also understanding that sometimes even just thinking or talking about it is too stressful

⟢ so he’ll distract you for a little bit if you both have the time and then do his best to help you get started on whatever you need to do

⟢ he likes organizing things so he helps you stay organized in your dorm/apartment and for your assignments

⟢ he probably likes making lists, so if those are helpful/not stressful to you, he makes you lists too!

⟢ knows how certain things like your impulsivity or distractedness manifest and learns how to help with those!

⟢ is so understanding if you get distracted while talking to him or doing something with him!

⟢ and is so so so comforting when you get upset for whatever reason, usually stress from school and how your adhd is making it extra difficult for you to get everything done

⟢ loves that you play with his fingers absentmindedly when you get fidgety!!

⟢ and loves that you also understand him and how being neurodivergent affects things!

⟢ you of course reciprocate all of his efforts to understand and help you, and you learn how to best help and read him as well!!

⟢ i think he gets easily overstimulated, so you’re really helpful in reading him and removing him from situations or changing things up before he gets too overstimulated

⟢ holding his hand tight to ground him when he’s overwhelmed <3

⟢ and giving him tight hugs when he gets super stressed!!

⟢ he also makes sure you eat properly even when you don’t feel like it, but doesn’t pressure you too much!

⟢ if you take meds for it, he helps you remember those

⟢ but sometimes meds can feel unhelpful or make you feel worse so he understands if you don’t always take it

⟢ he prioritizes your mental health and comfort over your productivity!

⟢ he wants to help you feel productive and less stressed over unfinished school work, but he doesn’t actually care about your school stuff, he cares about you above all else!

⟢ bonus only having gay and neurodivergent friends because we flock together for real LMAO

⟢ adhd!jess my love, she’s your bestie in this au for sure, unimportant (so important because i love her sooooo much)

⟢ anyways! basically it’s a really nice part of your relationship to have this understanding of each other and ability to care for each other extra well

⟢ it may cause conflict sometimes because you might be understimulated while he’s overstimulated and you have to stay in separate rooms until you both sort of level out LOL

⟢ but it’s never anything big, and you’re both understanding of the other even when your vibes are not on the same wavelength heh

[sinnashuart]

Zack's ADHD

Zack fair has ADHD. That's something I see tons of people acknowledge that I myself agree with, but a lot of it feels very shallow/surface level? I mostly see people talk about his diffculty paying attention, but never really explore a lot of the other symptoms of ADHD that he very clearly has.

In general, ADHD has symptoms that can be put in two categories. These being inattentiveness and Hyperactivity/Impulsive behavior. I'm going to try to go into each symptom I've seen him display. Going through things that fall under inattentiveness since that's what most people focus on first and foremost! Obviously, Zack has a short attention span. The opening of Crisis core has Angeal setting him back on track multiple times, and has to remind him of his mission. That bleeds into another symptom of ADHD, which is having a hard time listening to or following instructions.

Another few symptoms of ADHD under inattentiveness is being disorganized, forgetful, and making careless mistakes. Zack has shown to fit under all of these things in DMW scenes. One in particular features him both losing materia AND forgetting his sword.

Again, we see that he's a messy person when he's talking to Aerith in another DMW scene.

Now I'm going to go into the symptoms that fall under Hyperactivity. Some of the most talked about symptoms he exhibits are a lack of ability to stay still, excessive physical movement, and excessive talking. Noteably too, people with ADHD can have difficulty controlling the volume of their voice, or how fast they speak. For example here, Zack is told right before to calm down by Angeal, and immediately proceeds to talk loudly (giving away their position.)

Circling back to the previously mentioned symptoms, trouble staying still and excessive movement are some of the few things I feel people notice first in correlation to ADHD, but never really think about what it really is in the context of ADHD. Zack tends to do squats when he's excited. It's a repeated motion he does to calm himself down and/or focus. Sound familiar? that's because it's stimming. Interupting conversations lines up with ADHD, and is something Zack does in-game too!

Here he interupts Angeal's speech (and gets a fond smile in turn. I will bring this up later for something else). Zack is impulsive by nature, and tends to rush into things without a clear plan. He has a very absent sense of danger sometimes as well. All of which fall under the Hyperactivity category of ADHD symptoms.

The symptoms I see in Zack that hardly a soul has acknowledged though, is him being easily frustrated or irritated. ADHD makes it hard to regulate emotions, and Zack showcases this a lot throughout Crisis Core. For Zack, this sometimes seems to fall under under Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, which is common in people with ADHD. It's a discomfort and difficulty regulating feelings of failure or rejection. For Zack, this also takes the form of confusion/frustration/annoyance. However, in most instances of him taking criticism, he mostly manages to move past his and take the criticism/corrections to improve himself. Funnily enough, you can see his quick frustration/irritatrion in the very first cutscene when Angeal jumps down to elaborate on the parts of the mission he missed because Zack jumped a bit too soon due to his eagerness (more impulsivity). Zack gets angry due to this interuption to the task he was focused on, and becomes cheerful as soon as he is able to get back to his task. The frustration with interuption and being quickly upset is interesting. There are more instances of this kind of behavior, and it all really feels like it falls under this umbrella of him struggling to regulate his emotions. This also goes hand in hand with his stimming, since it isn't just the frustration/anger he has difficulty managing. His excitement and stress is something we also see him have difficulty managing, and can be tied into a lot of the other aspects of ADHD I have discussed here! Zack gets frustrated again later when Angeal ends the training simulator, and puts an end to the task he had been hyperfocused on.

It's an irrational anger, but it makes more sense when read through this lense. Zack was excited and hyperfocusing on his mission. He charged ahead without hearing or understanding the full objective, and almost got hurt (in the context of the training sim). The sim was ended before Zack felt it was "finished", which resulted in a frustration he expressed outwardly. His hasty behavior and exciteability is a core character trait, but makes far more sense if you read him as a character who lives with ADHD. How he is written and how other characters interact with him is interesting to watch as well! One thing in particular I love a lot is Angeal's treatment of Zack's ADHD tendencies. For being in the military, which is a very unforgiving enviornment, Angeal shows quite a lot of compassion for Zack's ADHD tendencies. Things that would normally get him into trouble are instead corrected rather gently! Angeal consistently repeats instructions to Zack when he needs it, and keeps a firm hand when he guides Zack through missions. He never tells Zack to sit still. He never berrates him for his interjections (Zack going "And? And and and?"). The only time he really scolds Zack is when he's doing something that may endanger them.

For example, here they're on a mission that requires stealth. Zack being loud isn't normally a problem, but here, they need to be relatively quiet in order to achieve their goal. Angeal is compassionate and understanding when Zack is... doing things that are very ADHD coded. As mentioned earlier, Angeal doesn't get upset when Zack interupts him. Instead, he just smiles. It's likely Angeal was the one who taught Zack to do squats to stim, actually. In the Ever Crisis version of Crisis Core, Angeal says this to Zack. Although it's not necessarily canon, it's still entirely plausible and just. Very wholesome.

More of Angeal's tolerance for Zack can be seen here, when Zack's attitude slips after being criticized, and Angeal pays it no mind. (Again, his rejection sensitive dysphoria plays a part in having him react rudely)

Again, you need to keep in mind that despite their closeness, Angeal is still both his mentor and superior. He doesn't have to be as patient with Zack as he is in-game, but he does so anyway because... that's just how he is. Angeal cares a LOT about his loved ones, and Zack is included in this. He shows a lot of love to this little guy! I think it's nice, because I love seeing characters with ADHD being treated with consideration by others. It's something I wish people did more IRL, really. Lots of ableism surrounding aspects of ADHD that aren't as easy to romanticize and considered "annoying", so having Angeal respond to them with understanding makes me incredibly happy. Altogether I just absolutely love Zack as a character. I love reading him with ADHD since I have it myself. I just want people to see the depth to it more though, since there's more to it than just "he's high energy and gets distracted". You get to understand his actions or irrational behavior a lot more when you dive past the surface of his writing. Big, massive, enormous fucking thanks to my bestie @runerapier for letting me bounce ideas to and from him!! He helped me get a lot of these scenes in here to analyze, and brought up a LOT of points that made it in this post, and made it a lot easier for me to word.

[astroismypassion]

Astrology observations🌊🌊🌊

Credit goes to @astroismypassion

🐟Pisces over the 4th house in a woman's chart points to the fact that her father had not the best work ethic (tends to avoid work), faced a longer period of time of unemployment or retired very early. 4th house because in a woman's chart 4th house sign represent the father and 10th house the mother. But in a man's natal chart 4th house represents the mother and 10th house sign the father. It's just the opposite.

🌊It's so strange how much Pisces Moons and Moon in the 12th house people get easily embarassed, which is not a trait you would connect with them, but more so with their opposite sign Virgo. When in fact they can very easily get embarassed by their past wrongdoings and mistakes from the past that they often deflect the truth when talking about it in the present moment, they might pretend that what you are remembering NOW about THEIR PAST SELF actually inaccurate.

🐟I noticed that people who have Capricorn moon can have a 6, 7 or 10 years difference with their romantic partner, but rarely more than 10 years. But with Aquarius Moons is often more. They might have a romantic partner even with a 12, 15 or 20 years difference.

🌊Pisces South Node people need to be mindful of not being grateful for everything as it is in the present moment. With Virgo North Node you might become critical of the things you currently don't have (either in skillset or items).

🐟Gemini over the 4th house in a man's natal chart points to the fact that his mother (and even romantic partner) didn't want to get a job or the mother was actually a homemaker/housewife/stay-at-home parent.

🌊If you have Sagittarius, Aquarius or Aries Midheaven in your Midheaven Persona chart, you might work in a variety of career fields in this lifetime, you might often switch jobs just to work in a completely unrelated next job in comparison with your last one.

🐟I always taught that Gemini Moon/Virgo Moon/Virgo/Gemini over the 6th house men have good hygiene, when I figure it out that I'm looking at it the wrong way. THEIR PARTNER usually keeps up a very good personal hygiene and is very particular about health, body, hair, skin, nails. They themselves are more disorganized and chaotic or downright bored to pay too much attention to hygiene.

🌊Aquarius Jupiter singers are musically always ahead of time. They might also get inspired by music from decades long time ago. Real life examples would be: Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus, Lana del Rey, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Shakira. They were all ahead of time at some point in their music career and have at least one hit that is known worldwide and on all continents.

🐟Virgo Liliths struggle with accepting invitations for hangouts or gatherings, such as birthday celebrations, weddings, anniversaries, they most often say no.

🌊Natives who have Gemini Ascendant or Gemini over the 1st house in their Midheaven/MC Persona chart might be very indecisive about which career field they want to go into.

🐟A tip for finding the best photographer in your friendgroup is to search for Pisces/Neptune contact. Such as if you are a Taurus/Libra Sun, search for people that have Pisces Venus to take your best photo. If you are Cancer Sun, search for Pisces Moons. If you are Leo Sun, search for Pisces Sun people. If you are Virgo/Gemini Sun, then opt for Pisces Mercury people. If you are Sagittarius Sun, search for Pisces Jupiter people.

🌊Virgo North Node or North Node in the 6th house might find it hard to keep a job due to not know how to work well with others. Learning this skill will be one of the their main life lessons.

🐟Virgo North Node avoids daily routines, routine at their job. Which is often seen by them wanting to change their daily routine every 2-3 days, they might want to introduce different, new activities in their daily routine. However, sometimes it's not just that these individuals need to follow a routine, but more so they could help OTHERS with routine, mundane task and how to have a steady daily routine.

🌊The degree of the Ascendant in your Midheaven/MC Persona chart might point to your age when you get your first steady job.

🐟People who have Sun in the 5th house in their Midheaven Persona chart might transform a hobby or something that interests them into a full-time career.

Credit goes to @astroismypassion

[wowa-bublord]

Just found your Zack lives au and I love it!!!! I have a question about tifa and barret tho if that's ok!! What's their thoughts about the whole situation?? About how they're on the run from shinra and what they did to them?

YAYYY BARRET AND TIFA OMG. i have soo many ideas for them but im still figuring out quite how i want 2 draw them so this post is going to be mostly words.

both Tifa and Barret are initially suspicious of Zack, for good reason. With Barret recognizing him as a SOLDIER and Tifa recognizing him as specifically one of the SOLDIERs from Sephiroths mission in Nibelheim, theyre both not really sure what to make of him. Tifa, despite her suspicion, is grateful towards Zack for taking care of Cloud, and gets him the room he stays in to both get cloud a stable space to sleep, and keep him close enough to keep an eye on. Since they are suspicious of him, I imagine the timeline of missions would get a bit disorganized- Zack wouldn't be invited onto Avalanche as early as Cloud was, and he'd be hesitant to be so far from Clouds side even to take down Shinra. Slowly, though, since Tifa is also very interested in Clouds well being, Zack and her form an initially unsteady bond based on their care for him, which turns into a real friendship between the two of them!!

Tifas eventual trust in Zack would leak into Barrets trust in him- as he trusts her judgement 100%, even if he's more open with his worries on the matter. I think Zack and Barret would become fast friends once Barret starts to lose his suspicion of him. They're both stubborn, easily agitated people who also have a tendency to act silly or goofy or make a joke when situations get tough to ease tension.

And, in response to their warming up to them, Zack would be able to drop his own ":-)" mask a little bit and slowly open up about what he's been through and how Shinra has hurt him. Though, Zacks own trust in them does come with its ups and downs, especially when it comes to Cloud. (Sorry for the kinda off model barret here, it was my first ever sketch of him i will make more content of him soon >,<)

[gabrielora]

South Park disorder Headcannon:

EPISODE 1: ERIC CARTMAN.

I belive that Cartman has HPD (Histrionic personality disorder), BED (binge eating disorder,) early childhood schizophrenia, and Autism. (Check @rottrottencorpse headcanon post about it he words it better then i ever could.)

(Also disclaimer I am a 14 year old who has never talked a psychology or neurology class and I’m just autistic and like to study the DSM and South Park for fun)

Cartman

1. childhood schizophrenia:

Cartman is shown to have difficulty with daily functioning, such as brushing his teeth and doing basic chores. Although this could be a result of him being spoiled by his mother.

he has a large lack of impulse control, his impulses are often caused by delusion and his inability to control his emotions. He has very extreme emotions that do not fit the situations he is in.

Cartman is shown to have speech delays and is exhibits behaviors of echolalia (in “Cat Orgy” he repeats “they mostly come at night, mostly” over and over again. He does the same thing with “beefcake!”) Cartman (especially in early seasons) tends to have very disorganized speech patterns. He is unable to pronounce certain words and sounds even into adulthood (Post Covid.)

He is shown to have difficulty paying attention and has an extremely low performance in school despite having high academic intelligence when he believes the situation calls for it.

Cartman is often shown to have delusions, an example is in “the China problem.” He will go through extreme measures to validate his delusions. (Such as committing terrorism or even genocide.)

Cartman is shown to have hallucinations; specifically Cupid me. In Cupid Ye, Cupid me begins to show behaviors that are extremely antisemetic and cruel to the point even Cartman becomes concerned. He fully believes Cupid me is real. He calms “Cupid me” down by forcing him to take his meds. Which may imply Cartman is taking medication.

2. HPD,

Cartman is shown to be extremely insecure about himself (seen in “insecurity” and “Cartmans mom is a dirty slut.” Along with ” the end of obesity” and “fish sticks.”) and he gets his sense of self worth from others. He craves constant validation, often attempting to make himself seem grandiose to make others amazed.

He acts very dramatically for the attention of others. He doesn’t understand that his behavior is inappropriate. He becomes upset when he is not the center of attention.

He puts on an extremely charming performance (often when having a delusion) to make himself look great. He is extremely dramatic, to the point he is theatrical. When he wants to draw attention he sometimes will wear outfits that bring attention to him. In fact, he has the most outfits out of any character in the series. He has over 100 as of 2016.

He speaks very dramatically and rarely has reasoning or evidence for his thoughts despite the fact he is capable of researching them. Cartmans emotions tend to be exaggerated, quick and shallow, as shown in people with HPD.

He can be extremely gullible. Especially in early seasons. This can be attributed to the fact he is a child though and cannot be concluded as a specific symptom.

He often believes he is closer with people than he actually is (specifically Jimmy Valmer as shown in Tsst.) and he has a very hard time maintaining relationships with people who aren’t his closest friends.

He has a constant need for instant gratification. This can make him extremely efficient in his plans, but due to his poor impulse control can cause disastrous situations. Cartman becomes bored very easily, and he again, is constantly looking for the approval of others.

Some risk factors for HPD include:

1. Genetics, (other symptoms which Cartman did not yet have is sexually promiscuous behavior.) his mom exhibits many of these symptoms. Especially attention seeking behavior via sexuality, and believing she is closer to people than she actually is (as shown in Tsst with ceaser Milan)

2. Childhood trauma, Cartman is shown to have suffered childhood sexual assault throughout the series. In fact, it has happened or has been referenced to around 21 times throughout the series. It is stated in an episode that Liane made him wear a costume and dance for her while she was intoxicated and having sex with an unknown man. She also drugs him with codeine when he’s paranoid or anxious (as shown in let go let gov.)

3. Parenting styles such as ones that lack boundaries or are overindulgent. Parents who display extreme erratic sexual characteristics and other inappropriate behaviors put their children at risk for developing HPD. (That’s literally just Liane)

3. C-ptsd,

I have less reasons to belive this and it is more of a loose headcanon.

Cartman has experienced long-term/repeated sexual abuse.

He is hyper vigilant about sexual abuse as shown in The Coon, when he sees a man kissing a woman and immediately assumes she is being assaulted. He has negative correlations to anything sex related. He views sex as in inherent act of violence and humiliation (as shown in the fractured but whole when he tells the new kid their dad fucked their mom.)

He reacts excessively and becomes very defensive when any negative feedback is pointed towards him.

It is shown in early seasons that Cartman was bullied by his peers. In the episode Damien, pip says “I think they made fun of the fat boy a lot too, but now i think they like him because he picks on me!” Which shows that a lot of his antagonistic behavior was brought up because he would be ostracized otherwise. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny were the bullies first. Cartman was mirroring their behavior.

The boiling point for this was in Scott Tenorman must die, when Scott humiliated him and he snapped.

He was not the first kid to snap in South Park, in fact the even headed Wendy Testaburger was.

A lot of his negative behaviors are him covering trauma or trying to adapt to his surroundings. (I am referring to morally incorrect or extremely self destructive behavior not just odd behavior when i say negative behaviors.)

4. Autism spectrum disorder

I belive that Cartman shows signs of autism, although many of these symptoms can be attributed to Schizophrenia.

He is very sensitive to small changes, in let them eat goo he got so caught up about the slight changes in the food he had to be hospitalized. (By the way a lot of this evidence was from a post by rotten corpse!!! I am not trying to take credit for the autism!!)

He has hyperactive and inattentive behavior (which can be symptoms of schizophrenia but i think should be listed anyway.)

he is shown to have Alexithymia. He has a hard time expressing his love for people (he tells his friends he hates them when this is not true.) He cannot recognize when he is feeling empathy (which he does feel empathy, he can feel empathy towards inanimate objects and cats and people he is not close to which is why i do not believe he has ASPD.) With the theory he has alexithymia, you could also come up with the idea that he is unable to recognize his strong emotions and therefore unable to think about them logically.

He obsesses over his goals frequently, the largest one being wanting to make a million dollars. Some of his behavior relating to this though can be attributed to his delusions and grandiose. He seems to be very talented at photography and has a large interest in it.

He is shown to not understand personal space a lot, specifically in tegridy farms where he repeatedly holds Kyle’s hand despite his protests. he also seems to become aggravated anytime someone else is in his space.

He tends to butt into and dominate conversations, this can be related back to HPD but this is prominent even when he is not trying to get attention.

He, again, has echolalia which is an autism symptom but also a symptom of schizophrenia.

He mirrors other people’s behaviors. In Damien it’s stated that he mirrored Stan Kyle and Kenny’s behavior so he wouldn’t be bullied by them. He also has developed some of Butters behaviors throughout their friendship. This is also a symptom of HSD (being highly influenced by others.)

Cartman has a hard time understanding social cues. This is more prominent in early seasons compared to later seasons. He is shown to not fully understand when someone is being sarcastic towards him, and often takes things literally. (Such as the Sea Men.)

He HATES unexpected change (he tries to murder Heidi over making him late to the pumkin patch he is not normal)

this is a large maybe as many of these symptoms can be related to his other disorders. I still love this headcannon though because i think it makes it much more interesting analyzing his trauma with that in mind.

5. BED (Binge Eating disorder.)

Im pretty sure this is canon so I may not explain as much as the others.

Cartman compulsively eats very large amounts of food in short periods of time, even eating when he’s not full anymore or not hungry.

He has a hard time identifying when he is full which can be linked back to autism and not being able to process your senses.

He hides in his bathroom to binge as seen in the end of obesity, and he is shown to feel a lot of shame towards binging. (His desperation to get ozempic.)

A good thing to take note of is that Cartmans mom doesn’t just over feed him. She uses food to bribe Cartman into being friends with her. Almost all the “love” she shows towards Cartman is bribery done to alleviate her crippling loneliness. In episode one he tells her he doesn’t want to eat too much because he’s being bullied for being fat. She tells him he’s not fat he’s big boned. He still doesn’t want to eat so she kept bribing him with food until he caved in. In Tsst she bribes him with KFC to skip an project to see a show with her, neglecting his academic needs. He likely sees food as a form of validation. This boosts his BED even further, and the need for validation is boosted by his HPD.

I think his HPD and schizophrenic symptoms make many people assume Cartman has ASPD. I do not belive he has ASPD as he can feel empathy to a very broad spectrum of things (inanimate objects, animals, and people he is not close to.) Conduct disorder may apply but it’s shown he can grow out of it when taken away from his environment or his environment is changed meaning he was not born with ASPD. He does have a lot of symptoms of ASPD but on the dsm they state “The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.” Which in my analysis Cartman has untreated schizophrenia which would mean outside of the age requirement, he would not fit the ASPD criteria.

ANYWAY thats all folks!!

[vinnsley]

Hi! I saw your recent post about wanting to write! If you're still caught up with Dislyte, could you write something quick for Chu Yao x reader?

(ignore this request if you change your mind or if you don't want to do it, it's totally ok!)

actually, im not caught up at all, i have 0 idea who this fellow is! 😝

So im gonna write headcanons of how i think he would act like based on voice lines and design. tho i might redownload it... sigh

didnt read again nor edit it, were raw dogging with this one

[--------------]

To me, he seems to be rather secretive and someone who tends to keep to himself. So the fact you even close to him to be friends — Let alone lovers was a miracle on it's own.

Especially if you weren't a Shadow Decree member. (Mortal, Esper, or part of the Esper Union, doesn't matter)

Based on him wanting to 'dominate' earth and heaven (Also probably everything beyond it), he would probably want to monitor you any way he could. As a way to make himself feel like he has the 'upper-hand'.

Definitely possessive and becomes easily jealous. Judging from his divinate art, he definitely has some type of trauma (My guess would be religious?)

"When all is chaos... i will rule." Even if this his echo intro, he looks like an uptight clean freak who cannot work or gets unnerved if he has to be in a disorganized environment. You cannot really convince me otherwise. So if you were to actually 'hang out' with him... you would need to be somewhere he affirms is clean to his standards.

He probably (definitely imo) has a twisted sense of 'justice'. To me, it seems like he's simply obsessed with the idea of pleasing Taiyi and would do anything to achieve praise and reassurance that he's good enough. (For what? 0 idea)

So... praise him. He would be surprised. Wide eyes as he looks over at you and if you're lucky, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. But don't overuse it. Of you overuse praise, it loses it's meaning (specifically coming from you.), if you would per se praise him daily for something he would shrug it off like it was just a random comment, not reacting or even focusing on you.

The same goes for those cursed 3 words. I love you. Don't overuse this either, ESPECIALLY this. Because i bet on my life that he wouldn't say 'I love you' even if his life depended on it. (Maximum only when he was in private or something.)

Talking about private, i said before, he's definitely closed off. You wouldn't know much of what he's doing, what's going on his mind, or what he's planning. And you would know even less if you aren't a Shadow Decree member. Though that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't love nor trust you, he's just used to keeping to himself.

In all honesty, i doubt he's much of a talker either. I think he wouldn't speak unless he's spoken to or he deems fit to interfere. So it would probably be you doing most of the talking. But he would engage in the conversation with small quips and responses to let you know he is listening (and interested perhaps), and not ignoring you.

I think his love language would be gift giving. Trinkets he found or bought (maybe even hand-made, i think he definitely has some type of hobby he secretly very much enjoys and does it closed doors whenever he could) to give you. Definitely something usable or something you could utilize in a way.

I also think he likes proximity. It plays into him being very protective about the things he likes, enjoys or treasures. So if you're close to him, or he knows where you are (plays into monitoring...) he's fine and dandy. Just his usual self.

[animeshrink]

Naruto...A Lesson in Attachment

This is Naruto Uzumaki.

And so is this.

So, how did he go from doing this:

Desecrating and vandalizing the village

To doing this:

Leading it.

We'll explore that, but first want to start where it all began.

Attachment!

These are Naruto's parents: Minato Namikaze, his dad. All around great shinobi, a prodigy, super talented, became Hokage at a really young age. And Kushina Uzumaki, his mom, quite an impressive kunoichi (female shinobi) in her own right.

So, yes, from the start Naruto had an extra leg-up with two loving parents who loved him and cared for him.

At least for a couple of hours.

Yes, he lost both of his parents as a newborn. So, what happened to that child? Well, it's below, but first a lesson about attachment and why it's important.

First there are four types of attachment:

Secure - confident, non-reactive, comes back from adversity; kids feel safe, secure, and trusting

Adult Naruto and his own family.

2. Avoidant-Dismissive - Independent, show little emotional needs, unemotional, little physical contact, manage own distress

Hear me out here, I would say Little Sasuke (sahs-kay) and his relationship with his father. Sasuke was independent and parents focused their attention primarily on his older brother. He eventually grew to become self-reliant and used other people to get his needs met, forming very few attachments along the way.

3. Disorganized/ Avoidant-Fearful - Inconsistent emotional support, crave attention from but also fear caregivers; often stemming from trauma

Anybody with this man, Orochimaru. Orochimaru thrived on creating disorganized attachments in the children he experimented on, kidnapped, worked with.

Or anybody with Danzo. Both preyed on orphans and their lack of secure attachments.

4. Anxious - Inconsistent parenting, so seeks reassurance to elicit caring response. May become really attached, dependent on others in a relationship to fulfill emotional needs, may become preoccupied with others. Place high hopes on others and get attached to potential. Sounds a little like our hero.

Inconsistent parenting

Granted, it wasn't the village leader's job to raise him, but he did step up and take responsibility for him. Just was inconsistent.

Becomes easily attached and preoccupied with others and their potential.

He literally chased Sasuke around for years (!) to force a friendship. He became obsessed not with the person Sasuke was, but the person he could be.

No matter how many times Sasuke tried to kill him or refused to come home.

Anxious attachment.

Poor attachment also can lead to behavioral struggles.

And poor academic performance

Naruto finished last in his academy class and failed three times.

So, what changed?

Healthy Relationships!

Iruka sensei, his first teacher, and ramen!

Team 7! Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei!

And friends!

*As always, this post is for entertainment-educational purposes only. If you do need mental health assistance, please reach out to a local (!) mental health provider. If in crisis, please in the US, call 988.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

when schell were designing the fabricator's workshop, they had to constantly make an effort to mirror "the various nuances of [her] character".

her shelf is full of stacks upon stacks of either books on poisons, or experiments surrounding her poisons. she has blueprints and memorabilia of all of her favorite inventions dotted around her workspace. despite her put together facade, her safe space is a completely disorganized mess intentionally designed to parallel her "chaotically creative" nature. she gets so attached to her projects that- regardless of their complexity- she will become enraged upon their destruction.

the fabricator is very quick to anger. she gets a grudge and holds it for a very long time. she will go through extreme, often unnecessary lengths to feel vindicated for any slight against her. she is also very quick to encourage the people around her to do the same, implying that it's less than an instinctual practice and more of a lens in which she sees the world/emphasizes with others emotions.

solaris is a character who has canonically become a "zealot" for laser technology, despite the fact that lasers were only invented in the late 1950s, and patented in 1960- the decade in which the entire series takes place. in that short span of time she has gone on to create a laser so technologically advanced that it has surpassed decades and generations of current scientific progress. when you destroy it she screams like you just murdered her firstborn child.

solaris also has difficulties with communication. she is frequently sharp with people she doesn't like (ie. zor), and has no clue when she should or shouldn't hold her tongue- to the point where it most assuredly jeopardizes her own health and safety. when communicating with the agent before their cover is blown- despite generally being friendly and sympathetic towards their situation- her tone will still be rather blunt and monotone, and can easily be misconstrued as cold, curt, or frustrated.

dr prism is a highly intelligent scientist who developed the technology to combat gravity itself and still was not personally satisfied due to the immense amount of pressure she was constantly applying to herself. she devoted herself to creating robotic agents to supplant humans, succeeded, and then grew to care for those robots with such intense fervor that she considered those lives as sudo-human and of more worth than her own.

she also is highly rejection sensitive, lashing out at both herself and people around her, while simultaneously desperately craving for meaningful approval from her peers. at the end of cold shoulder- as painfully as she loathed the phoenix in that moment- she couldn't even bring herself to kill or even harm them because of her subconscious sensitivity towards others' lives.

she has a perfectly acceptable house that she- seemingly- does not live in, because she spends so much time working on her robots that she chooses to live in the factory zor lent her. she can differentiate between the hundreds of her robots and cares for them like family. she stims when she gets excited- even in the middle of a life or death scenario inside of an active volcano.

this is an incredibly unnecessarily long winded way of saying that these three women are autistic as fuck i think. why aren't we making these women more autistic?? hello???

[michixoxo]

"how does the god-tier trio show affection?"

long over due lol

John

shows love through quality time and acts of service

he would spend a lot of time with his s/o simply hanging out together while doing stupid shit lol

he isn't so easy to trust, so it takes a lot of bonding together for him to really open up towards you.

once he does like you, doing things for you is sort of a way to show his worth, since he's used to people overlooking him.

abandoning him...

though he's not the best cook, nor a good tutor, and is more likely a patient than a caregiver... he really does try for you.

anything from tidying up or carrying your bag for you is a gesture of love to him. making your day just a bit brighter is an achievement in his books.

who knows? he might even teach you some of his secret boxing techniques. you're welcome, honey!

personally, i think he's an anxious attachment style that shifts towards disorganized attachment as the story progresses. especially when analyzing his relationship with seraphina.

he puts you on to a pedestal and can only pray he doesn't ruin it all due to his... everything. it's been so long since he felt like this about someone. he can't destroy it.

even if destruction is all he knows how to do.

he's extremely hyper vigilant of your needs. it's sometimes a good thing, when he's so observant of your likes, dislikes, and what makes you comfortable or uncomfortable.

but, as we saw in the webtoon, if his perspective shows you getting distant from him or getting closer to others, or god forbid both...

...yeah he's ripping his hair out and foaming at the mouth.

therefore, he receives love best through words of affirmation.

he quite literally needs you to tell him he's doing okay and that everything will be alright. he often gets lost in a hell of his own creation, spiraling down into it.

your words make it better. you make him better. that's why he loves you.

Seraphina

shows her love through quality time and words of affirmation

by analyzing her relationship with john, it all starts with just a chance given.

just the chance of having a conversation, or being next to one another, or understanding each other's mindsets.

she doesn't fall in love easily, not by any standards, but that's really all it takes. just a chance.

she isn't one to do all the mushy pet names and "I love you"s, but she's also not shy about her love for you, making sure that you know that, especially when you're feeling down.

whenever you're feeling sad, she'll be the one to take you out of that mindset. need her to solve the problem? she's got you. need to just vent and have her listen? she's all ears. just need someone to cry on? to tell you it'll be okay? she's there for you.

that being said, in my book, she's a secure attachment style with avoidant tendencies.

for starters, she isn't codependent by any means, actually, she's rather hyper independent. she's always done things by herself, solved her own problems, wiped her own tears. her self reliance and negative view of others is best illustrated during her perfect era flashbacks. (why does this sound like my apush essays...)

but, from the beginning of the webtoon till now, she's been able to settle into a secure attachment style.

she isn't insecure, but not dismissive. she's adamant about her own feelings, but doesn't disregard others. she doesn't like conflict, but won't run from it.

overall, she's a very healthy girlfriend. despite dealing with her own problems, she tries not to let that affect you and your relationship.

however, she isn't perfect, and sometimes she spirals. and when that happens, she receives love best through quality time.

actions speak louder than words and knowing that you're there for her makes whatever she's going through that much more manageable. she finds, over your relationship, that you've become her peace of mind.

Arlo

guys dw i know my man from personal experience

he shows love through acts of service and giving gifts.

first of all, don't tell me this man wouldn't be lowkey spoiling his partner, whether they need it or not. he smells of rich people and he most definitely is spending it on you. not in a sugar daddy way, but in a "i love you, and this is how you know it," sort of way.

in a way, we can see this behavior from him in the comics, but very subtly. its less that he's doing something for someone to make them happy, and more in a way that the actions he takes shows that he cares about others.

after his ambush of john in season one, he tells elaine to heal melli and ventus first before him, the designated king. he warns seraphina about the authorities looking for her, allowing her to escape their grasp. when the siege of wellston happens, it's blyke and him that sacrifice themselves to help isen, remi, and john.

helping you, whether directly or indirectly, is how he shows how much he cares about you. besides that, i think he would give you lots of gifts.

i don't have any analyses to back this up, i'm just pushing my sugar daddy arlo agenda.

okay, walk with me, imagine you and arlo, on a date, at the mall. you look around and people carry shopping bags in their hands with joyous smiles on their faces. you look through your wallet and... a fly buzzes out. you feel your eyes start to sting as embarrassment and disappointment swell deep inside. suddenly, you feel a hand at your waist. "don't worry, baby [girl/boy/boss baby]. i got you.", arlo says, handing you his black card.

seeeee? you get it.

he's definitely an avoidant personality style. hyper independent? check. avoid emotional intimacy? check. hides or suppresses feelings? check.

we see this throughout the webtoon and can even just infer it. the moment we're introduced to him, arlo is king. he's the one people go to when they don't know what to do. he's the one that leads the turf wars and keeps wellston's ranking high. he's the one that put the school back together after rei's graduation and who kept it together once seraphina exited the hierarchy.

when everyone is relying on you, who do you lean back on? that's right, no one. he keeps almost everyone at a distance, even those he cares about such as holden and elaine(i guess?). he doesn't listen to isen's warning in season one, why should he? in his mind, at the time, the only person who he could listen to was himself.

and look at what happened. yikes. wouldn't want that on my conscious. but arlo does, he regrets and regrets, and asks "what if?" so much that it no longer sounds like a real sentence. just syllables bouncing off the edges of his mind. sometimes, he just needs to hear you say he'll be alright.

like john, arlo receives love best through words of affirmation. I guess when you're so stressed without a direction on what you're doing and where you're going, someone reassuring you that you're doing it all right eases the mind. or maybe not just that you're doing it right, but that it's okay to do it wrong. mistakes are human, and no matter how strong any of us are, we're only human. hearing that from you... it means everything to him.

[teabeexo]

Hello! I saw your post about OC asks, and I'm curious about question #23 (how organized/disorganized are they? How does it manifest in their life?).

HELLO DOLL IM SO SORRY IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO ANSWER!! Let me blabber 🗣️🔥

Winona is pretty disorganized in the general sense of the word. Most people would look at her workspace and think it’s absolutely in shambles — but it’s not so! Trust her, Winona has her own method of madness to follow. She has pretty intense ADHD anyways, and working in an environment just meshes with her brain. Too much perfect rigidity can actually be kind of disorienting for her.

Luella is probably relatively average when it comes to how well-kept her spaces are. She does need some kind of a system, otherwise she gets kind of overwhelmed. A busy surrounding can make her anxiety worse, so she tries to keep things relatively tidy. Her and Derek’s bedroom is very clean usually (with the help of Derek in maintaining it), but it’s mostly her bathroom that gets out of control. She doesn’t wear that much makeup, but she tends to just leave stuff on the counter and let it pile up while she’s in the zone, which leads to clutter. Her workspace is much the same.

Vérène is extremely neat in comparison to her friends, and that’s really just because of how her mom taught her to take care of her personal spaces. A lot of the hobbies she enjoys also requires a certain amount of organization, so it really just becomes second-nature to her. It’s also kind of comforting/soothing for her to clean, so sometimes she’ll end up getting carried away.

Mina isn’t super tidy, but also not terrible with her organization. She has an unfortunate habit of stacking papers and just shoving them into a drawer — but that’s usually a problem for future her. Her house can get a bit messy because she likes having trinkets and stuff, so she’ll sometimes just sit down with Qiu and figure out what needs to go. Her disorganization is less about being inherently untidy and more about nostalgia.

Maël, despite his best efforts, is absolutely terrible at maintaining order in his house. He sits things down and immediately forgets where he put it, which leads to moving more items in the search for it. He tosses things it random places and loses small stuff very easily. He tries, really.

[the-leafiest-leafwing]

I've seen a lot of people say that Kinkajou and Sunny are basically the same character, and I strongly disagree with that. What do you think?

HOOOOOOOOLY MACKEREL THIS ASK HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS FOR LIKE TWO YEARS MAYBE. SORRY ABOUT THAT

this is gonna be kinda long, disorganized, and probably poorly written but it was fun to think about so 🤷‍♂️ i hope i am coherent

first of all, i feel like people who have no media literacy or character analysis skills are ALWAYS the quickest to make baseless generalizations like this. yes, kinkajou and sunny have very similar personalities (both bubbly and optimistic) but their character archetypes to me are actually completely different.

i see kinkajou as a character who is more focused on novelty and adventure, always seeking new experiences, new knowledge, new people, etc. she’s far less seasoned, mature, and responsible than most of the characters around her - not to say that she’s weak or dumb, as characters like them who are portrayed as happy and excitable are often equated to being dumb, by both the other characters and the readers/fans.

both of these characters are often underestimated, but sunny’s character revolves much more heavily around her proving herself to her peers and dealing with feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, and not being listened to or being unimportant. we never really see examples of these types of struggles from kinkajou.

i think kinkajou is also especially underestimated in her resiliency; she was kidnapped, imprisoned, and essentially tortured by the nightwings, she was hit by that venom during the competition for the throne, and she was put into a literal coma for i forget how long, plus all the other various harrowing adventures, fights, and experiences she’s been through. she always bounces back very easily and never seems to be deeply/personally affected by any insults to her intellect or general character. she gives the impression that she embraces and even flaunts her odd characteristics, physical and personality-wise, but sunny seems to have more trouble with accepting herself. it’s all like water off a duck’s back to kinkajou, whereas i think sunny is much more easily hurt by other people’s opinions.

sunny spent her entire childhood being put down and shamed for her appearance, demeanor, abilities, “weakness,” basically just everything about her. so it makes sense why, even after founding jade mountain academy, she’s so worried about being taken seriously and also making sure she doesn’t make any of her students feel the way the guardians always made her feel. she’s also (in my opinion) a much more dynamic character than kinkajou, meaning over the course of the books we see her change a lot more. she becomes less of a happy-go-lucky character and more of a sweet, caring, good-natured adult figure (regardless of her actual age). she kinda reminds me of an aunt with no kids of her own who loves looking after her sibling’s children.

kinkajou, on the other hand, would be more of the aforementioned child that is being looked after. she’s still a very independent character, don’t get me wrong, but she’s also very young and often needs to recieve guidance and protection from others. at the same time, though, kinkajou seems a bit more sure of herself and confident in her optimism, while sunny probably used her optimism as an escape/defense mechanism of sorts.

of course, being happy and excitable is an important part of both these character’s personalities, but it comes from different places and experiences and is conveyed in different ways. they do fill similar roles in their friend groups, but feel like sunny acted that way because she had to, while kinkajou acts that way because she wants to. she’s more inclined toward spontaneity, exuberance, and drama, and sunny is more inclined toward peace, love, and unity - to simplify it, sunny is a “happy” character in a calmer way than kinkajou.

​i also think there’s something to be said about the fact that sunny and kinkajou are both women and that’s part of why wof fans lump them together as “basically the same character” and don’t take them seriously as individuals or pay much attention to them and their importance to the overall story, and to both of their respective story arcs.

i might come back to edit this later if i have any more ideas, but please let me know your thoughts on this! whether you agree or disagree with my assessment of these characters, you think there’s something i left out, or there’s something youre confused about!!

[fighting-these-demons]

Kuw*ma Romantic Rowing AU

This is chock full of late series spoilers so I'll be putting it under a cut since one of the besties ( @thedragonchilde ) is newly interested in possibly watching Y*H!

This is one of my slightly longer and slightly more thought out Quick and Disorganized AU Idea posts so if you like my AU Shenanigans this is definitely one to check out!

🎉🎉🎉

Inspiration:

I know he'd more likely be on the baseball team but HEAR ME OUT!!!!!!!!!

What if Kaz*ma was on the rowing team in college instead?????

He's got all this time now that he's not tangled up in Spirit World affairs! He may as well put it to good use while staying in shape and ready just in case!

And it's a great back and chest and shoulder and arm and core workout which is perfect for keeping his sword-wielding muscles active and ready (along with weekly training in sword forms to keep skills sharp).

What if Kaz*ma helps his team go to the international championship in 1995 in Tampere, Finland?

What if Kur*ma was studying abroad in Europe that year and decided to go visit him???

What if the crushes/affection they've harbored suddenly Spark because Kaz*ma is old enough for Kur*ma not to feel so guilty about it all anymore?

What if Kaz*ma is the one that actually makes the first move this time around?

He's had enough time and experience outside of their group and with more men and women to have more confidence?

And he feels like Kur*ma would be able to field -and if needed blow off- any advances that he makes while still easily maintaining their friendship, so he has the confidence and drive to pursue?!?!?!?!

What if the initial hints and flirtations go well???

What if he's spent years memorizing flower language and buys the most expensive bouquet of his life (up to that point)???

What if they go on a series of romantic dates and become a couple?!?!?!?!?!

What if a year later Kaz*ma does research on SAFE and Beautiful bodies of water in Makai and he opens a portal and wrangles Yus*ke into helping him carry a dingy and oars and gear through the portal and then kicks Yus*ke out so he can set up on his own. (Yus*ke of course is very supportive but loves poking fun at them and making terrible dirty jokes about what he assumes Kaz*ma plans to do to Kur*ma that has Kaz*ma going red and swinging an oar at him to banish him through the portal while also thanking him for helping with the dingy.

What if Yus*ke had helped by making and packing a nice dessert for their picnic?!?!?!?!

🥺💖

What if he covered it up saying it was his lunch or something?

What if Kaz*ma finds it and a cute heartfelt but simple note from Yus*ke saying he's happy for them and Kaz*ma better not fuck this up! (He's got a feeling Kur*ma is likely planning to step up the level of their relationship too).

GOD WHAT IF KAZ*MA SPENDS ALL EARLY MORNING GATHERING FLOWERS AND FILLING THE DINGY AND GETTING EVERYTHING SET UP AND THE AREA WARDED BEFORE HE OPENS A PORTAL TO MEET KUR*MA AT HIS OFFICE FOR THEIR LUNCH DATE????

Kaz*ma knows Kur*ma can just like, take a half day if he feels like it. So him not coming back after lunch is more of a call to his step-dad's secretary than anything.

(Kur*ma will claim illness/food poisoning and ask that no one checks up on him until the next day please because he just wants to rest! - Kaz*ma opens a portal for cell reception)

God what if they have a super romantic date thats so sweet and then have really hot makeouts and maybe more on the shore and then Kur*ma like Proposes to Kaz*ma?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

And then what was gonna be the hottest and most romantic weekend date he's ever planned turns into the setting for his own engagement right after the sun sets and the stars are staring to be visible?

Kur*ma likely had something special planned of his own but Kaz*ma is such a huge romantic that this honestly blows whatever Kur*ma was planning clear out of the water. (He'll still be using it for his own romantic date plans with Kaz*ma though! No need to let any planning go to waste!)

Oh God I'm caught up in it all!!!!!

🥺💖😭

GOD I JUST LOVE THESE TWO OK?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

AUGH!!!!!!!! THEM!!!!!!!!

[l3viat8an]

demon brothers hcs (I was Inspired by the true demon form art you reblogged)

lucifer❤️

constantly marking his territory

he'll like rub his wings on things to claim it (yes including you)

speaking of his wings

there's so soft omg

it's like being swaddled in a blanket

he's also so short temperdlike the smallest things get him pissed

Mammon💛

Always fighting

mainly with Levi

so the way they fight basically

they kinda headbutt each other like rams

he collects shiny things like a crow

has a whole box of shiny things under his bed

then proceeds to give them to you as a way of asking to mate

Leviathan💙

Is so antisocial omg

hides away in his nest of blankets and body pillows

very long tounge

like longer then normal

his scales shed frequently do to his anxiety

Satan💚

is also very territorial

will smell that Lucifer marked something then continue to rub his scent on said object

everything becomes so disorganized

is just in a blind rage

Asmodeus💖

extra horny

like 10x more horny

is incredibly flexible

uses his tail for balance

purrs alot

Beelezabub🧡

also very flexible

growls constantly

but is still somwhow very gentle

his wings are really thin so he gets cold easily

when hunting goes partially blind and has to rely on his other senses

Belphagor💜

is the softest of them all

is still mentally belphie (same as the rest) he's just more animalistic

has really good hearing

also makes a nest

From yours Truly 🕸

🕸 I am in love with these headcanons <333

I always need more demonic and somewhat animalistic headcanons tbh

They’re always fun! And just so cool to think about!

[discar]

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 29 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

Zo: Alva, I wrote up those agricultural practices you wanted.

Zo: [UtaruAgriculture.pdf]

DIVINER: Oh, thanks!!

DIVINER: I hope it wasn't too much trouble!

Zo: No, it was simple enough. Though I think you will find it a little disorganized. I've never had to actually write it down before.

BoyNextDoor: What's all this about? It thought you had already learned more than enough for your people, Alva.

DIVINER: I have! I mean, I think so? I'm still looking. But this isn't about the agriculture, really, it's about comparing what the Utaru have retained or learned over the generations with what the Quen have learned from the Ancestors!

HIMBO: PEER REVIEW!

DIVINER: Not quite, but sort of! I just wanted to see exactly what the differences are!

DIVINER: We can't be sure, but I think that the Utaru are completely divorced from the Ancestors!

β: isnt everyone

β: youre all descended from the cradles no one is technically connected to before

DIVINER: Well, yes, but I mean most other cultures have clear influences from the Ancestors! The Carja developed their religion from ancient books, the Tenakth have their Visions, and the Oseram learned at least some things from ruins.

BoyNextDoor: The Nora didn't learn anything from the Old Ones. The ruins of the Metal World are forbidden.

DIVINER: True, but we don't know exactly to what extent! After all, we know you have at least ruin, the exterior of the Cradle facility!

DIVINER: Besides, the Quen didn't learn hunting from the Ancestors, so there's not an easy point of comparison.

FlameHairSavior: So you want a pure sample. Why, exactly? I mean, I understand getting more information that you might be able to use, but you don't sound like you're looking for better farming techniques.

DIVINER: If I can identify the differences, I can make all sorts of interesting inferences! Maybe improve both of our techniques, if I can see what works in one area and what doesn't in another!

FlameHairSavior: I think you're just having fun.

DIVINER: That too!!

Zo: I suspect that you'll be less impressed with Utaru practices. We do, after all, have a major advantage with the land-gods.

DIVINER: Don't sell yourselves short! Agriculture was never so central to our culture as it is for you! We revere Eileen Sasaki as a great Ancestor, but it was always just a means to an end! We grow food for our population. Nothing more and nothing less.

DIVINER: Your children probably know more about growing plants than most of our experts!

Zo: I suspect that is an exaggeration.

Zo: But thank you.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Do not underestimate the value of specialization. How do you think that the Tenakth were able to fight back the Carja?

BoyNextDoor: Sheer charger-headed stubbornness?

HIMBO: NO, THE OSERAM ARE THE STUBBORN ONES.

MARSHAL Kotallo: [B99SelfBurn.gif]

DIVINER: You used one of mine!!

MARSHAL Kotallo: I've used several of yours already.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Regardless. The point is that, as Alva noted, while the Utaru have some advantages that might have kept them from being pushed to truly innovate, their deep devotion to the very idea of agriculture must have led to some advancements that other cultures would never have discovered.

HIMBO: THE CARJA STILL USE SOME UTARU TO FARM THE MAIZELANDS. EVEN WHEN THEY WERE SLAVES, THEY WERE APPARENTLY THE BEST THAT THEY HAD.

β: they put slaves who hate them in charge of their food

β: couldnt they just sabotage everything

HIMBO: I'D CALL IT CRAZY, BUT IT WORKED.

Zo: No Utaru would sabotage a field. It would be an affront to everything we believe in.

BoyNextDoor: I bet they worked harder once Avad freed them, though.

HIMBO: YEAH, HE TOLD THEM ALL THEY COULD GO HOME, OR STAY AND BE PAID. I THINK... HALF TOOK THE JOBS? ERSA WAS CAPTAIN BACK THEN, SO I DON'T REMEMBER FOR SURE.

Zo: Utaru also become very attached to any fields they sow. They would not leave them easily.

BoyNextDoor: Are you saying they... put down roots?

HIMBO: HA!

DIVINER: Surprise pun from the Nora brave!

MARSHAL Kotallo: [DisapprovalDog.png]

Zo: [ForumWeaponHeadShake267.gif]

FlameHairSavior: It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

Zo: That's because the quiet ones understand the value of patience.

β: they know if they wait long enough it will bear fruit

DIVINER: [DeadpoolGasp.gif]

MARSHAL Kotallo: In some parts of the Clan Lands, puns can get you executed.

FlameHairSavior: Really? One little pun? Even for the worst of the Tenakth, that seems a little much.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Unfortunately, yes. My people do not appreciate those who go against the grain.

FlameHairSavior: …

FlameHairSavior: I'm coming back with a ravager cannon and I'm going to shoot you.

Chapter 29 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[rachelmsterling]

Things I loved about Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne...

I just finished reading the book and am having approximately 75 different feelings about it simultaneously, so thought I'd spew them here (what follows is less of an actual review and more a disorganized list of things that made my brain light up and go "cool!!!"). Keeping this as spoiler-free as possible.

The romance between Priya and Malini! They spend so much of the book at cross-purposes, and they certainly aren't always kind to each other--and at times, can even be pretty brutal, but despite that, I spent the whole book rooting for them to be together. And just, really, seeing a sapphic romance that isn't fluffy, where there is sharpness and the characters are allowed to prioritize themselves and the things that are important to them without the narrative condemning them as characters or their relationship is just !!! So good!

Priya's kindness. At the start of the book, her kindness and compassion are so loud and come through so clearly (her treatment of Rukh, her reputation among the other children with rot). That struck me as such a unique character detail. Not like there aren't many kind characters, and kind female characters, in fiction, but I often see characters' kindness (especially in women) portrayed as a weakness, preventing them from making bold or lesser-of-two-evils choices. Or, if they're kind, often that's all there is to them? Their journey can so easily become about the other characters in their life. But this doesn't happen with Priya, because...

Priya's fierceness! Priya isn't just a kind person, she is also willing to do whatever it takes to protect the people she cares about and then, later, for all other Ahiranyi, even those whose methods or politics she disagrees with, and even those who actively fought against and hurt her. Priya is willing to fight when she needs to, willing to kill when she has to, willing to prioritize her people over even her relationship. She may be kind, but she isn't soft, and I love that.

Malini's manipulativeness. Unlike Priya, Malini doesn't have magic powers that help her in a physical fight, so she's learned to use the tools available to her, namely, manipulating people. She does this to keep herself safe and to further her political cause. She also uses whatever she can to survive, and that feels so human. But despite how much she has to use manipulation, making herself seem at times pathetic and at times demure, her true character comes through so clearly. And she never really seems to be able to lie to Priya, even when both characters believe she is.

The anger in the world-building. Between the emperor who wants to burn his sister, a woman married to the regent oppressing her people, and a rebel willing to spill as much blood as it takes to root out the empire's control, there is a lot of brutality in the book. The heroes don't always get to do the nicest things, but the powers they stand in opposition against are oppressive and cruel. And the oppression and cruelty feel only too familiar to our own world. It makes the stakes and the world itself feel very real, not always in ways that are comfortable, but in ways that always pulled a genuine emotional reaction from me.

The yaksa are genuinely creepy. I never would have imagined deities with so much flower imagery could be so disturbing, and yet...I certainly wouldn't want to be on their bad side.

Ashok's character arc. I don't want to say too much since I'm trying not to get into super-spoiler territory, but it's so perfectly crafted, the shifts in his relationship with Priya, the conclusion to his deathless waters journey--it all lands so satisfyingly and makes my writer's brain buzz in the best of ways.

Many deities, no single truth. Priya and Maili discuss their different creation myths in a scene that I absolutely loved, but beyond that, there are different systems of belief here, different gods affecting the world, pushing characters toward their destinies. I enjoyed seeing the ways the different religions interacted throughout the story, and I'm very curious to see more of how the various deities might have similar goals or clash completely to further shape the events of the next two books.