#I mean all of us at this point are but considering current events yeah

[friskafriskito]

I wanted to say, regardless whether you are American or not, I know a lot of you are feeling hopeless and frustrated right now, between everything that's going on in the world and this is apparently being past the last straw on the camel's back, but please remember to take care of yourselves

there is a lot of suffering in the world between wars, genocide and famine, and leaders that refuse to do anything about it or even actively encourage it

It's not wrong to want to take a break and find something to smile about, nor does any of it invalidate your own suffering

Help where you are able to, and when you can of course, and remember to reach out to your loved ones when things start to get too much

I know some people feel bad for using resources or for trying to find ways to cheer up because "It's a luxury some people can't afford" but I am telling you they are not luxuries, they are necessities. The tragedy of these events isn't people not being able to access luxuries, it's being denied necessities

so as sort of harsh as this sounds, do not deny yourself your necessities because it helps no one in this situation; it's just one more person suffering in this entire mess. you cannot be expected to help or care for anyone if you're too burned out to do so.

Please take care of yourselves.

[rubys-domain]

i'm going through a phase of "i just want x character out all the time and i just wanna run around with them and bask in their glory" with kokomi. so much so that i'm almost scared that she'll surpass chong as my fave of all time. but i went through a similar phase with cyno so logically i know that that won't actually happen.

still kind of annoying that i can never have this much interest in a meta dps tho. like why are all the characters i have any interest in maining either 4 stars, supports, or just not meta units (cyno, yoimiya)???

[project-sekai-facts]

Wait An/Kohane have outright stated romantic interest?

poor wording on my end bc they never actually say "an and kohane like each other romantically" but the evidence it very much there and it is clearly depicted and phrased in other ways. for example: the shoujo sparkle effect that is used for An from Kohane's POV.

This effect is often used on Haruka in Minori's imagination, which, well, let's just say it doesn't disprove that Kohane is attracted to An. While the effect is also used to show a character being cute or having a strong "idol" aura without any attraction attached, it's prettly clear the intent was to show Kohane's attraction. Also she was blushing.

Bonus points to the fact the wedding event has a underlying message (they say it on screen) about how marriage should be equal regardless of the genders of the couple [because gay marriage currently isn't legal in Japan].

There's also literally everything in Buddy Funny Spend Time. While almost all of the interactions in that event can be read as platonic if you really want to, they're written so you can interpret it as romantic if you choose to. And considering the featured pairs in this event were Minori/Haruka, An/Kohane, and (briefly) Shizuku/Airi, it's not like that reading isn't supported by the writers lol. There's one part where Minori and Kohane get jealous of how close Haruka and An are as childhood friends and aren't sure if they can amount to that, but they want to try. Doesn't necessarily have to be romantic but can be if you choose to read it as such.

When Kohane is visibly attracted to Haruka, An gets slightly jealous and says that her singing should be the only thing that makes Kohane react that way.

Haruka also points out that although An has always been super friendly she's never been like this with anyone until Kohane came into her life, and still keeps this behaviour Kohane-exclusive. An says it's because they're partners, which, kinda friendzones them, but kinda doesn't.

The word for partner used in the story - "aibou" - means, to put it in incredibly basic terms, coworkers. It's like the cowboy or detective word for partner, though I believe it comes up in shounen every so often (the genre vbs story is based on). In itself, aibou has no romantic connotation. But 3 of the partnerships we see in VBS' story have lots of interactions that easily read as having romantic undertones, so basically in the context of VBS story the nature of said partnerships becomes a little more ambiguous. The word is still platonic and that doesn't change, but you get the idea. Oh and VBS has recurring romantic soulmate imagery more on that later.

continuing on BFST, yeah they went on a date. which is strongly suggested to be a romantic date unlike how it's sometimes used platonically. like the other characters say An is "seeing someone", at least in the English translation, which is very much associated with romantic interest. Also the original Japanese for the "do you know who she's going out with" line uses the phrase デートの相手 which is the Japanese equivalent for the word "date" (as in a person/your date), so it's not really any different. they go on another one in Kick it up a notch and An's card story for the event. their relationship is never labelled or anything (probably bc this genre avoids that sorta thing for fan-related reasons) but this very much was a thing that happened.

(also when ken says partner he says aibou. so not partner /r but anyway it does clarify that this date is to do with their relationship on a different level to partners /p. ie: an's going on a date with kohane because she's cute not because she's her partner. language is fun)

Lastly back on that thing I said I'd come back to. The Walk on and on costumes have romantic soulmate symbolism included on them. The wings on the backs of the outfits are based on the mythical hiyoku bird, a one-winged bird that could only fly after meeting its other half. Kohane's costume has pink accents, one of the variants has accents in An's image color and the wings on the backs of those variants match up to each other. The card illstrations themselves also feature crows, which mate for life. While the symbolism is mostly associated with Toya, the Whip the Wimp Girl! cards take place in the same location as the woao cards which is pretty neat, and makes sense given the themes of both events. I've put both their gacha logos above as well. Oh and An's card for wtwg was. Something.

And Kohane got the valentine event this year and it was about her entering a contest to win limited edition chocolates for An I forgot about that until just now.

Have fun with that.

[completeoveranalysis]

OK!

UNHINGED THEORY TIME:

WHO ARE LAVA LAMPS PARENTS?

Criteria for candidates include: (a) his mother's name is Sakura, (b) his mother is a dream seer, (c) they are vaguely Sakura and Syaoran shaped, (d) they end up in the Jam Jar

Potential Answer 1: Cardcaptor Sakura and Syaoran Li, from Cardcaptor Sakura

Hints in favour: Almost everything. Clamp drop constant hints that imply Cardcaptor Sakura, including but not limited to: the world Lava Lamp is 'from' resembles our world, his father's name is Syaoran Li, his mother's magic circle is the same one from Cardcaptor Sakura, his father's sword is identical to Cardcaptor Sakura!Li Syaoran's sword, his magic circle, Touya and Yukito (in 216, his relatives) are shown in ordinary clothing resembling our world, Lava Lamp's mother gave Yuuko the Star Wand, Lava Lamp's grandmother looks like Nadeshiko, Lava Lamp's father is descended from Clow Reed.

Counterpoints: Lava Lamp doesn't seem to recognise Touya and Yukito in the Clow Kingdom, CLAMP wouldn't need to hide their faces if we already correctly know who they are, Lava Lamp doesn't seem to know how Cardcaptor Sakura is related to Clow Reed.

Also: It's a bit dark! Even though Clamp are OVERFLOWING with hints that Lava Lamp's parents might just be the Cardcaptors, it would be a bit of a downer for the main characters for such a sweet and uplifting manga like Cardcaptor Sakura to end up here.

Theory Status: The one the narrative most strongly backs up, but still doesn't feel quite right

Potential Answer 2: Someone from Tsubasa

Hints in favour: THEY DON'T SHOW US THEIR FACES. EVER. Why leave their faces out unless we would recognise?

With this in mind, let us narrow down the potential Syaorans we have seen who could be considered JUST KIDDING THERE'S ONLY ONE: CLONE SYAORAN. He's the only one with an appearance distinctive enough to be immediately recognisable: he has heterochromia.

What if Clone Syaoran is Real Syaoran's father? Which would make Lava Lamp's mother either Clone Sakura or the new Fusion Sakura we just met.

Counter point: That's completely batshit.

Counter Counter Point: Logic in the universe is dying. Also this is CLAMP. It should be completely batshit.

Another Counterpoint: Hiding their faces could be a red herring just to torture us on purpose

Which I have no defence against that is 100% what they would do

Yet Another Counterpoint: Clone Syaoran and Clone Sakura are currently dead.

AND OK I HAVE NO EXPLANATION FOR THAT ONE.

Unless? There is a gap in the timeline where they could have disappeared for a long period of time? Ie, long enough to disappear to another dimensions, have children together, raise them, and then hop in the Jam Jar for an undisclosed number of years? And then time travel to still make it back into the narrative on time?

And - sure! There are MANY holes times where Clone Syaoran disappears from the narrative entirely. Most notably, his magic growth is extreme between the end of Nihon and his reappearance in the Reservoir. Also that was arguably when his soul was restored. So he MIGHT have disappeared, done all that, and still made it back in time to die in the Reservoir.

Also, if that IS the order of events, that would explain why we can never see his face AND ALSO why he still has Fai's eye when fighting in the Reservoir. Because he hasn't died yet.

Big Counter point: Yuuko has never met Lava Lamp's parents. Also, Lava Lamp's parents don't have the power to cross dimensions.

Which, yeah. That seems to rule them out entirely. Yuuko has met Clone Syaoran.

(Unless she means technically, since she wasn't in the same dimension as Clone Syaoran when she first met him in Chapter 1/2, but surely that's splitting hairs.)

So that seems to... rule them out pretty solidly?

Unless Yuuko HERSELF doesn't know exactly who they are, which seems even more unlikely than anything else.

Theory Status: Doesn't compute but I kind of want it anyway

Potential Answer 3: A completely unrelated pair of Sakura and Syaoran

Hints in Favour: It wouldn't counteract with any other facts we have so far, since we know nothing about them.

Counter point: It's boring.

Theory Status: It would work but it would be disappointing.

PS - no confirmations or denials in either direction please and thank you :D

[blue-thief]

Ok so. I really like seeing your takes on Kaiser and Isagi, so I wanted to pick your brains about this, if it's ok?? What do you think about Kaiser's current idea of redefining himself and his proof of existence, and his rivalry with Isagi?

Hope you have a good day!

I'M GLAD YOU LIKE MY TAKES 🫡🫡

but ooohhh boy, yeah. i have a lot of thoughts about kaiser and this new chapter :3

the big question right now is, will kaiser actually make a comeback in this match? it's hard to tell. if this were a regular sports animanga, i would say, "without a doubt, yes." but we have to remember that this is blue lock. this is the same manga that eliminated kira ryosuke, and it's the same one that gave us this beautiful sequence of panels

a character hitting rock bottom and unlocking a flow state is not a guarantee that they will score as we saw with rin at the end of the jpn u20 vs blue lock 11 game. the same can be said about a similar awakening bachira went through at the end of the second selection. both times, isagi picked up on their evolution and used that to his advantage.

isagi is aiming to do the exact same thing with kaiser in this current match.

in the case of both bachira and rin, their awakenings were brought about by the realization that they needed to stop being so dependent on others. bachira had to free himself from isagi and the monster while rin had to free himself from the support of the blue lock 11.

the formula for these past few chapters has followed the same beats as what bachira and rin went through (rock bottom, backstory, flow state, interruption by isagi), but kaiser's current state is more similar to another character.

kaiser and barou are both positioned as monarchs who (at least initially) viewed themselves as the protagonist until they were challenged by isagi. unlike bachira and rin, barou was able to claw back up and score a goal by redefining what it means to be a king.

it seems kaiser is trying to do the same thing. however, he isn't necessarily trying to redefine the title of "emperor". instead, he is taking the title his father gave him, "piece of shit", and reclaiming it.

the best way i can explain what's going on here is that クソ物, "piece of shit", is written to be pronounced as "michael". kaiser's father calling him a "piece of shit" and refusing him to call him "michael" was his way of refusing kaiser's humanity. with how kaiser doesn't go by his first name, "michael" is the human he was never allowed to become.

as a child, kaiser equated himself with an object - his ball.

"when you throw a ball, it flies away. and when it hits a wall, it comes back. even if i got angry and hit it, or kicked it with all i had, it wouldn't get angry or cry. always, it would be there without saying anything. it's a piece of shit like me."

this was from a time in kaiser's life when he considered himself to be "mentally weak". however, the moment he discovered his identity was when he fought against his father and the police in order to protect said ball. this moment led to him discovering his identity. however, he misinterpreted this event as him finding his identity through hurting others like his father rather him defending himself.

now, we are at a point where kaiser isn't trying to destroy others. instead, he is doing the best he can to defend his position on a team he had no intentions of sticking with in the first place. earlier on in the series, when ego explained turning zero into one, he also said that being a striker is equivalent to being a destroyer. i'm not sure if this is actually what's going to happen but imagine how crazy it would be if KAISER was one of the characters who abandoned being a striker in favour of another position. even if that turns out to not be the case, there is no doubt that kaiser is going through a major shift in identity. he is discovering a way to feel human, to feel like the boy "michael", in a way that does not involve tearing other people down.

he is returning to a point in his life when he was at one with his ball, but now, he may realize that "not getting angry" is not necessarily a sign of weakness, but instead, resilience. he has hit a wall, but he still has a chance to bounce back from it.

however, i would like to point out that while kaiser has Been Going Through It, he is not at a point i would call rock bottom just yet. kaiser initially grew attached to his ball in the first place because he identified with its "weakness", and like how many people pointed out before, this is what drew kaiser to ness as well. he still hasn't lost ness yet. at this point, he easily could with how he dismissed ness's help in the most recent chapter. the question now is, will the final step in kaiser's evolution come before or after ness deserts him? or, will kaiser's evolution lead to ness developing on his own?

[copperpipes]

PLEASE? TELL ME WHAT YOU DO IN SPECULATIVE BIOLOGY? THAT SOUNDS REALLY COOL???

WHERE DO I EVEN START???

Okay I know. Some general information about the subject first:

Its a genre.

Before speculative biology comes speculative evolution, a more known subject that is basically a whole genre of books, projects, and is more spread then speculative biology because it is less specific. You would find plenty of speculative evolution projects.

They are very similar in a lot of ways and I think the difference is that speculative evolution 'documents' the journey (the evolution) of a creature or a multitude of creatures throughout a time-line of events that may or my not effect its form, while speculative biology is more focused on a single time period or just one creature or maybe a made up culture or an entire planet at a certain point in said journey, and digs deep.

A good example would be birgworld by @iguanodont and alien whale documentary which I definitely recommend checking out if you like the subject and a couple I forgot the name of currently ':]

Whe i say digs deep, I mean it could be as vast as from the building bloks of DNA (like carbon and nitrogen for us) to the politics and cultural plays. Tradition, religion, culture, history, language, psychology, and of course, biology. From general physiology to the way they reproduce and raise their young if at all.

This genre is usually categorized as sci-fi (not in all cases, but then it would be seen less as speculative biology and more just world building, an example would be monstergarden on YouTube) even though its word building because most of the creatures 'documented' are made up aliens and the projects themselves are closely tied to science.

Everything has an explanation in speculative biology and it goes into detail.

Actually a couple of my personal projects are categorized as speculative biology since in them I put my imagination to use and explore alien creatures and their identity.

Being my autistic self everything is thought out to the miniscule detail of how my aliens farm their equivalent of potatoes to what is their social structure and the different things I listed prior. Consider it my special interest.

To this date, I have at least drawn a picture of 10 different intelligent alien species (not including animals or other life forms from same planets, not even different life stages that may be in one species) all seen in a single time period on their respective planets.

Speculative biology also often features in it the planet itself and the solar system it belongs to since one is heavily effected by the other.

I am planning on posting about my project soon enough since I'd like to document it digitally but for now its nearly 3 am so yeah

Thank you so much for the ask I've been wanting to blubber about my favorite subject for some time just didn't have the opportunity :]

This is merely a summary of what little knowledge I hold, I encourage you to look into it and maybe start one of your own.

Also if I didn't get the question right correct me please

[inuhalfdemon]

No One Can Know... (12/?)

Word Count: 1,816 Words

Rating: Mature (Sexual Themes + Language)

Chapter 12

"Hear me out, I'm sorry but I'm a little less than sold

I've been around, heard all the stories you said you never told

You're used to speaking in tongues to feel like you're in control

Now you've got nowhere to run, now you've got nowhere to go."

- BAD OMENS

Alastor had already known what the results to Charlie’s meeting with Heaven would be, but it was vitally important that he be present when everyone in the hotel gathered together to hear the re-telling of the events from Vaggie. He had guessed right in that Vaggie’s being-an-angel was what had rocked her and Charlie’s little love boat and he could only imagine how brilliantly that must have come to light for everyone – including the Princess of Hell - amid the meeting. He listened – rather boredly – to the group as they questioned Vaggie, until someone pointed out Charlie’s obvious absence and Vaggie explained that she was currently upstairs, in their room…alone.    

Alastor’s ears perked up at this.

Lilith had instructed him to withhold any information pertaining to a possible defense against Heaven from Charlie until after the meeting. His next move now was: revealing what he knew and helping Charlie formulate a plan in defending the hotel. But, perhaps…there was an opportunity here he hadn’t previously considered.

Shifting to shadow; Alastor silently slipped away from the group – meaning to catch Charlie in her most vulnerable of states.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Alastor was in his main room within the hotel. He had just hung up his jacket and was setting aside his bowtie when a golden-glowing portal formed beside his door, Lucifer stepping out.

Lucifer cleared his throat; his portal snapping closed behind him.

“Hey, Al…sorry for stopping by unannounced.” He paused. “Are those wards of yours still up and working?”

“Yes.” Alastor turned, glaring at him.

“Oh, good.”

“Wh-?”

Lucifer exploded into his winged-devil form; hurling himself at Alastor and painfully pinning him to the wall. Photo frames and a variety of décor fell and crashed to the floor.

“YOU FUCKING MADE A DEAL WITH CHARLIE!?” He roared into Alastor’s face.

“Wait! Just wait! Lucifer, let me explain!” Alastor struggled. Despite his height; Lucifer had leveraged himself at the end of a sofa that Alastor kept against that particular wall and he was finding it hard to find his footing with how high Lucifer had pinned him. His ears laid flat and his eyes were wide.

He hadn’t anticipated Lucifer finding out about his deal with Charlie so quickly nor had he properly considered the King’s response.

“EXPLAIN IT THEN!” Lucifer shoved against him and Alastor thought his chest might just cave in.

Air rushed from Alastor’s lungs and he wheezed; trying to gulp more in.

“I did it- I did it for the power!”

“HOW DOES THAT ANSWER MAKE THIS SITUATION ANY BETTER FOR YOU!?”

Lucifer’s grip on him sharply tightened; his eyes glowing and burning hotter.

“Careful, Luci….please…I’m not Lilith…you could actually kill me!”

“I JUST MIGHT…” Lucifer hissed; spitting into his face. “YOU THINK THAT I’D RAISE A HAND TO LILITH!? YOU THINK THAT SHE’D INVOKE MY WRATH TO SUCH AN EXTENT!?”

“No, no, no –“ Alastor was shaking now. “That’s not why I said it- I-“

“YOU’RE SUCH A FUCKING LITTLE COCK-“

“HEY!” Alastor shouted back at him then in deeply offended resentment.

“-ROACH” Lucifer finished.

“Oh, yeah….okay.”

Lucifer seethed at him and Alastor took a risk at furthering his explanation.

“Look, it was a very simple deal that I made with Charlie. A deal of favors. I made it because I had something to offer and the added power I get from making a deal like that – with someone like Charlie – it’s significant. It could prove to be beneficial to us when it comes time to defend the hotel.” Alastor reasoned. He withheld the points that: he did it as a small backhand at Lucifer - banking on that his continuing deal with Lilith protected him from any real consequential harm; and that it might be a very valuable get-out-jail-free card he could use in breaking one - or even two - of his chains at some point.

“VOID. IT.” Lucifer growled at him, deep and menacingly, emphasizing both words with precision.

“I can’t…you know I can’t!” Alastor told him, honestly. “My part of the deal is complete.”

“THEN ASK HER TO MAKE YOU A FUCKING SANDWICH.”

“A: That would be rather rude. B: It’s not quite that simple. It has to be a favor that only Charlie could provide for me; something only within her possession, power or ability that I can request from her and her only. She likely doesn’t even have anything like that yet!”

One favor at the time of my choosing where she harms no one…but, Alastor didn’t bother delving into those little details.

“WHAT A FUCKING-“ Lucifer shoved him again and then pushed away; letting him go.

Alastor slid to the floor; his feet catching him but his legs wobbled and buckled and he just went to the ground.

“Ugh! Do you have to have such a hard on right now!?” Lucifer yelled at him, turning away. He was shifting back into his normal form.

He hadn’t noticed it before but Lucifer was right…he was hard.

“The fuck!?” Alastor leaned against the wall and shakily stood up. He tried to re-adjust himself but there was really nothing for it – his man was standing at full-attention.

“God, who knew you were such a fucking submissive.” Lucifer sneered; his back still to Alastor.

“I-I’m not sure that I know what that means.” Alastor was saying, awkwardly moving to reach for his jacket. Sliding it from the hook; he draped it around himself – feeling humiliated.

“You fucking wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t really clear things up for me, but thank you.”

“God, Al…this... This is such a fucking mess.”

Alastor moved himself to the sofa; angling himself against the armrest so that he was less visible now.

“Your fault, really.” Alastor said lowly, looking away.

“My fault!?” Lucifer turned on him and it was made apparent to Alastor that he wasn’t the only one who was getting excited about things. “How is all of this my fault!? You were the fucking one who decided to use me! Who decided to play with my feelings!? You wanna fuck around – even if you’re not in rut!? Well, let’s do it! Let’s fuck around! I’m all for it! I love a good fuck! But, you don’t get to do what you did last night and plan to make for a power grab like that when all I ever did was fucking respect you.”

“IT WASN’T A FUCKING POWER GRAB!!!” Alastor yelled.

“YOU SAID-“

“That the: Thought. Crossed. My. Mind.” Alastor told him darkly, emphasizing each word with coldness. “Ever hear of an intrusive thought, Lucifer? Ever think of something – consider something – so sinisterly tempting and yet, you never act on it? Hm?”

Lucifer stared at him – eyes widening when he realized.

“But, you didn’t say-“

“YOU DIDN’T FUCKING ASK.” Alastor yelled back at him again; standing up now – letting his jacket slide off and no longer caring. “What you did…was force.”

Lucifer didn’t move.

“I asked you to remove the chain and that fucking shackle.” Alastor told him, his voice low and shaking.  “Not because I wanted to lie to you…but, because I wanted you to trust me enough to know that I would have told you the fucking truth.”

Lucifer’s eyes dropped from him in shame.

“I don’t want your power.” Alastor told him. “I never fucking did. Lilith knows that.”

Lucifer’s head jerked up at this.

“So, why didn’t you?”

“Al…I’m-I’m sorry.” Lucifer told him. “I didn’t mean-“

Alastor snorted. “No…you didn’t, did you.” His ears laid flat. “Maybe because the ugly truth of all of this is; last night did mean something to me. But, did it mean anything for you?”

“Yes, Al.” Lucifer was moving toward him now. “Of course, it did.”

“Then, why are you still here?” Alastor asked him. “I already told you, I won’t be the one, the thing that comes between you and Lilith.”

He’s still so worried about that, even now…

“It’s not going to happen, Al. I’ve already told you…” Lucifer paused; reaching out carefully – tentatively - to touch his face.

“That sex means different things to different people.” Alastor surprised him, his face leaning into the King’s touch rather than pulling away from it.

“Yes, but that’s not what I meant.” Lucifer explained. “What I meant was, there is nothing that can come between me and Lilith – not even you.”But, Alastor didn’t want to hear that either – he started to pull away and Lucifer stopped him, pulling him back. “Listen to what I’m trying to tell you, please.”  

Alastor waited; listening.

“You can’t come between us. What Lilith and I have…it’s not the same. It’s…beautiful and amazing, it’s undying, it’s unbreakable and it’s….unconventional. I can’t…explain it without it sounding non-committal or cringey, but I can have Lilith and I can have you.”

“So I’m just your side chic, then?”   

“No, you’re –“ Lucifer saw the small smirk. “Oh, I see, you’re trying to be Mr. Funny now, is that it?” Then, “Well, I mean if you wanted to be.” Lucifer told him, shrugging.

Alastor made a disgusted sound at that.

“Look, can we-“ Lucifer took his face into both hands and Alastor leant further into the touch “Can we just…be for now? No labels. No overthinking it. We don’t even know where this is going or where it will take us… Lilith knows, she has no problems with it –“

“Does Lilith know?” Alastor asked him suddenly. “She knew about you helping with my rut…but, does she know about…the other stuff?” Alastor suddenly looked like he might have a panic attack.

“Lilith knows.” Lucifer told him.

“I  haven’t told her.” Alastor realized, alarmed. “And, you can’t contact her so how does she –“

“Alastor, breathe.” Lucifer pulled him down – pressing his forehead to his. “She knows. I can’t contact her but she’s contacted me.”

“You told her!?” Alastor pulled his head back, somehow, he was even more alarmed now.

Lucifer’s mouth twitched; he was trying not to smile or laugh at Alastor’s complete and utter distress.

“Yes, Al. I told her.” Lucifer assured him. “She knows. She doesn’t mind. If anything, she’s glad that I’ve got you to keep me busy and distracted – I’m less likely to make a mistake with everything she’s got planned, and I’m less lonely. Really, Al, it’s okay.” Lucifer told him; pulling Alastor close, reaching up and sliding a hand into his hair.

“I still can’t say that I’m very happy about the deal you made with Charlie, but…I’m sorry that I let things get so out of hand this morning and I’m sorry that I put you in such an impossible and unfair position. Are we��good now?” Lucifer asked him. “If you’d rather I just leave and we talk about this more later, I’ll understand.” Lucifer went to step back; his hand sliding away from Alastor’s hair.

Alastor caught his hand; pulling it back and holding it pressed against his face.

“We’re good.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13

[beetleviolet]

Let's talk about Bishop from TOTTMNT

(Tw sibling death)

@hahachiknfunny

Ok. I'm going to just get this out of the way at the beginning.

I HATE THIS CHARACTER

And not in a "aaa this villain makes me so mad bc they're evil" no I mean I hate the way her character is developed and justified.

IF YOU DISAGREE PLEASE DO EXPLAIN I WOULD QUITE GENUINLY LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!!!

So I am still working my way through a lot of different tmnt series (currently alternating between 2012 and 2003), so I don't have a lot of experience with the usual Bishop character. Based on the little I know about him (mostly from fanfiction), my general impression was that he was this bigoted white guy who was like. A mutant nazi or something. He hates mutants because they are different, they are "flawed", and therefore they are a threat. I figured he was just a hateful asshole, and hadn't thought about it more then that.

But for this, they decided to go in a different direction. The ✨tragic backstory✨ direction. Which is a pretty good direction! IF you do it right. Which, in my humble opinion, THEY ABSOLUTELY DID NOT!!!!

Ok let's get some actual points here!

When we get Josefina Bishop's backstory, she starts as this passionate, nice character who is eager to achieve her robot building dreams. Nothing about her is mean or hating or anything of the sort. She is exasperated by Rod, but doesn't say anything incredibly bitter to him, she's just frustrated being forced to work with this rich guys man child. Which yeah! Thats fair! She has a sister who died and who is the inspiration of her work. Awesome!

And then her workshop is destroyed.

Let me just add. She is being funded by a millionaire. She probably has insurance! Her sister is in no way harmed by these events. And yet her response to property damage is DOMESTIC FUCKING TERRORISM.

She immediately gets bitter and revenge-filled, deciding that she should exterminate ALL THE MUTANTS!!!

You know, the mutants that were helping fight Superfly? The enemies of the one who destroyed her work? THEYRE LITERALLY ON HER SIDE???

And not only does this hatred of Superfly extend to the turtles.

SHE ALMOST KILLS A SUBWAY TRAIN FULL OF PEOPLE!!!

Because, of course "iTs A sMaLL pRicE tO PaYyYyyy"

Bestie. Honey. Girlfriend.

Its just. Weird to me? It doesn't seem very thought out. I would have loved a kind of change up from the usual Bishop themes, but just because its different and new isn't an excuse for it to suck!

IT TOTALLY COULD HAVE WORKED AND HERE IS HOW.

Nickelodeon needs to stop being a bitch and kill off her sister during the Superfly conflict.

Its very clearly what they WANTED to do. Its like the original concept was that her sister died, but that was considered too violent, so they took that out, but then didn't replace it with something else. And they tried so hard to be like "ohhh its about my sisterrrr" GIRL WHAT THIS IS ABOUT SUPERFLY DESTROYING YOUR SHIT AND YOU BEING BUTT HURT ABOUT IT.

And another thing! For a character to turn evil, they have to SNAP! And a character can't snap unless they are already under enough pressure to make that a threat.

Make her be cruel to Rod. Have her be control freak who has to have all the variables perfectly in place. Bitter about the sponsors that doubted and rejected her. Make her already angry at the world, have the only thing that matters to her be her robots and her sister, the two things that were always at her side. And then one day Superfly kills her sister and destroys her lifes work. Yes, she can rebuild the robots. Not the sister though, and making them without her is such an empty and performative motion.

Mutants have gotten people killed. They're too dangerous, its too much of a risk.

This mindset would make so much more sense if they just HAD SUPERFLY KILL HER SISTER LIKE OMG.

Also she had several direct conversations with the turtles, so she was well aware they were intelligent beings.

ALSO! She didn't target the mutants who used to work with Superfly. That would TOTALLY make sense even without the sister thing!

But no. She had to kill the TURTLES. The ones who are widely acknowledged and widely known to be the ones to stop Superfly and save NYC and the world.

But you know what? Maybe i could let that go. Its a kids show, right? And I did like her recovery arc at the end.

Until they. You know. COMPLETELY UN DID ALL OF THAT!!!!

I thought that maybe Bishop will be like. Idk a spy for the mutants or something, like a double agent, but tbh based on the previous writing of her character, I wouldn't put it past the writers to just. Have her do a complete 180. I'm just mad she's going to be a reoccurring character.

Anyway. I kinda hate to dump on this show so much bc I love (most) everything else about it. Bishop was the lowest point to me by far.

[mioyeo]

Watch your back : chapter 1

Once you don’t value what you have someone else learns how to take care of what used to be yours

Synopsis : 8 men supposed to give her all the love they promised end up leaving her behind without a valid reason

Pairing : girlfriend Reader x PolyAteez !

Warnings : this chapter contains mentions of, mean Ateez , neglecting , poor behavior, a lot of crying , being stood up, being left out , broken promises , heartbreak, etc Please reminding me if I forgot something

This series is going to be posted together with the Psychiatric series, which means one chapter after another

Word count : 1,1k

She walked slowly towards the kitchen carefully to not make any noises , that could wake up the boys who where sleeping peacefully with their new girl

Everything was going way to fast for Y/n to comprehend what was happening lately

The girl opened the fridge pulling out her mini water bottle and drank it feeling at ease as the cold liquid poured down her hot throat

Closing up the bottle she sat down on the kitchen counter to relax the body that unknowingly tensed up

She hugged herself and teared up at the memories invading her mind again

Why can't you be like her ? She's not clingy and annoying like you are

You need to give us some space too stop being a nuisance and find yourself something else to do other than bothering me

It was never her intention to bother San that day , all she ever wanted was for him to help her with the groceries since nobody else was home at the time she arrived

Whenever she cooked she had to eat it on her own, but when one of her boyfriends made it or bough it there was never enough left for her

Guys dinner is ready please come eat it before it gets cold !

No one responded to her so she went up to knock on the door where noises came from that seemed like people laughing

Guys dinner is ready let's go eat-

We already ate outside after school so you can have dinner by yourself

Oh ok , I guess I'll eat by myself than

It was painful for her sometimes to revive everything again

She walked down the hall entering the kitchen where she saw everyone eating and chatting as they had fun

Im sorry im late , whats today's dinner ?

It was take out , since you where sleeping we didn't order for you

Her stomach growled signaling her that she was hungry

It's ok I'll just eat bread or something

She stood up and took a bottle of actimel from the fridge and went back towards Yunho's bedroom that she shared with him currently

She wiped her tears only for them to fall again after today's event

Guys the new Spider-Man movie came out and I got us tickets

Being a huge fan of  Marvel films in general Y/n got exited and jumped around like a child who just got a huge bar of candy for dessert

But the excitement died down when they arrived at the cinema

Ok we all are sharing a row together since we have the numbers 451 to 458

She frowned seeing her ticket , it said 578

Seonghwa, but my ticket says 578 so that means I'm not sharing a seat beside you guys

Yeah that seat is at the far back , it's ok that means you don't have to share your popcorn or drink with anyone consider yourself lucky

She wasn't going to consider herself lucky, she loved to share the snacks with them and loved the feeling of their hands touching when they grabbed into the bowl at the same time

As they got inside she went to her seat where nobody else was beside her just the pure darkness surrounding the girl

They all giggled and chatted not even paying attention to the movie, she wished she could be beside one of them but someone else was already getting the affection she wanted

She wiped the tears and tried to concentrate on the movie, but that didn't work as they all stood up and left her there to go somewhere

The girl knew why they where leaving so she didn't even want to go home at this point to have to hear them do it

She only waited some more hours for the film to end so she could finally go home

There was nothing more than just her being the other girlfriend at this point

She put her drink back inside the fridge but stopped when she heard someone waddle towards her direction tiredly

" Honey? Why are you still awake ? "

It was Hongjoong who than tiredly wrapped his hands around her neck

" I just couldn't sleep so I came for a quick drink, let's get you back to bed "

" Come back to bed with me please "

He whined humming into her neck

" But I'm supposed to share with Yunho "

" Please , I didn't get to see you today "

She sighed and helped him walk towards his room where he laid down making grabby hands for her to hold him

" You shouldn't overwork yourself Joong , you know how much I detest to see you tired "

He wasn't sleeping enough due to him composing music all the time at night

" Mhm I'll stop , I'm sorry for worrying you "

" You always say that but you never do , it honestly upsets and makes me doubt you "

" I'm sorry for not taking care of myself like I should, I just love music that I tend to forget about the real world sometimes "

" I know Joong but please get some rest today "

" Don't worry I'll try at least "

" Promise me ? "

" I promise, love "

The elder kissed her and fell back asleep into her warm soft embrace

She caressed his hair knowing he promised a lot of things he couldn't keep , he'd probably just end up yelling at her like he always did and crawl back to her crying wanting to try again

Y/n knew her boyfriends more than they knew themselves , that's just how they were

When he was asleep she slowly got out of bed to return into her shared room with Yunho but someone already took her place

Sighing she went back into the living room and slept there on the couch with her blanket instead not wanting to disturb the others

She closed her eyes tiredly and let herself get taken slowly into dreamland

School was the only thing that worried her , the way they would ignore her again till they come home or exclude her from their lunch table since there wasn't "enough" space for her

She feared that Seonghwa would forget her in the rain again , Mingi pretending not to know her in science class , San and Wooyoung go rough on her at PE again , Jongho preferring someone else as his singing partner even tho they were assigned together, Yunho letting the girls from his class flirt with him again , Yeosang being mean to her , and Hongjoong tell her to stop caring about him at school

These where just simple actions in their eyes but it hurt her a lot to the point she'd want to give up on them , but she loved them a lot

[directdogman]

how involved was callum with nasa? he was president during the space race and personally sent norm on his mission but something that stook out to me was norm mentioning intell nasa info about man on the moon - neil armstrong - which happened 3 years AFTER he left earth. was history shuffled for callums sake, if it was important at all?

Disclaimer before I answer this: This is a nerdy DT lore question that is absolutely not essential to understanding DT lore and it's teeechnically slightly removed from the scope of the current canon (since it mainly relates to the actions of a character who Gingi has never met in-game), but it's a smart question so I feel compelled to answer it.

Answer: Your guess that the moon landing happened earlier in DT's universe than in ours, during Crown's presidency, is correct. It's funny, but I've got this rough draft of a joke post written that I never posted (involves DT characters having to pick their favourite Muppets. Yeah.) where Gingi (out of spite) informs Norm about the NASA Challenger explosion (a very specific malfunction/televised rocket explosion that occurred in the 80's in both universes, though the Bird Big Puppeteer died in DT's version of the event, unlike in ours, where that only almost (but didn't) happen.) ...which implies that, yes, with him not knowing about this event, Norm's intel obviously DOES cut out post-warp, meaning the moon landing itself was pre-warp by virtue of Norm having secret intel about it.

There are other big clues to an early moon-landing in other dialogue, but I figured I'd at least confirm your method of reasoning was also correct.

On the question of whether Crown really altered history: Yeah, history was shuffled to a large degree, certainly during Crown's term. while most events match up in timelines, Crown invested WAY heavier in certain technologies (mainly nuclear weapons + space flight), causing the US to hit certain milestones early (and even a few that we never did, when you consider the full extent of what Crown got done as President and then Honorary Leader of the UN!)

While I guess Crown's rigorous strides towards vast technological advancement was never outright stated in-game, I definitely implied it through Crown selecting Norm for the mission himself (which means Crown evidently had direct oversight on NASA projects.) There's also the very obvious (but easy to forget) point that of course NASA would not have gotten Norm to a wormhole before they reached the rock in earth's orbit! We're obviously far closer to our moon than any wormholes, and that also goes for the small sci-fi wormhole Norm traveled through which is not far from DT's version of earth (yet doesn't exist in ours.) If it was closer to earth than the moon, it'd definitely swallow satellites sent up by companies into space, which is funny and the kind of thing that would happen in DT's shitty world, come to think of it. But, yeah.

But yes, your question is entirely right for the reasons mentioned above. this might seem unnecessarily convoluted but there IS a reason why I constructed things this way (I know how it all connects in my head), but yeah, it's a little bit complicated to wrap your head around if you don't have surrounding context, and this kind of nitty gritty detail only really matters if you actually want to map a concrete timeline, or God forbid, deconstruct certain actions Crown took in office (some of which have never been directly referenced in canon DT material, but likely one day will be!)

[super-luna-fic]

Camp Justice - Chapter 1: The Lecture

Back at Mount Justice two hours after the Caedmus Incidence…

The five teens huddled together near the zeta tubes as the League discussed the night's events. Despite being successful during the mission they were never meant to be part of, anxiety plagued their thoughts. The teens knew they had overstepped a line by not only disobeying the League's direct orders but also telling them to either get on board with their plan or get lost. Neither action was acceptable, but they knew they could do nothing to sway the teens' minds. However, the League's compliance wasn't going to stop them from giving them an earful and more once they dispersed to their respective locations.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Wally asked.

"The mission obviously" Cal answered matter of factly.

Wally narrowed his eyes at her, "Oh yeah, and what makes you so sure of that?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe it could be the fact that they literally said they were going to do that BEFORE leaving us here"

"Well duh, of course I knew that. I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention"

It was her turn to glare at him"…You know Wally… I think you might wanna get checked out. You seemed to have lost a few brain cells after getting knocked out"

Dick couldn't help the giggle that escaped which in turn increased Wally's annoyance.

"You little-"

"Quiet!" Kaldur firmly but quietly inserted to cease their bickering, which did anything but that as Wally continued to talk.

"You know Kaldur, you've been pretty silent. Not that it is not normal, I just thought you would give us words of encouragement before we walk into our inevitable doom"

He thought about it for a moment before responding, "I am certain we are overthinking our current situation, I doubt the punishment would be as severe as you are making it"

"Mmm I don't knoow, maybe not for you but some of us might not be so lucky *cough* Robin *cough* Crow"

"While I acknowledge our mentors may have a different way of dealing with our punishment we most certainly will not be walking into our "inevitable doom". Especially those of us who have stricter mentors, right Robin and Crow?"

Kaldur turned to look at them when he didn't receive an immediate answer and noticed they seemed lost in thought.

He cleared his throat before repeating his question, " Right Robin and Crow?"

"Hm? Oh Yea, totally", Cal answered unconvincingly then turned to Dick to whisper "You don't think he's going to tear us a new one when we get back to the cave, do you?"

As though Batman had heard her whispers, he turned his head to glare at the two.

"He's definitely not going to do that" He sarcastically responded.

Their conversation was cut short when the League made their way over to them. Each Leaguer took their team member home with the Batfamily being the last to go.

Dick and Cal shared an uneasy look as Batman input the information to send them back to the cave. At this point, they were considering staying at Mount Justice with Superboy but decided against it knowing it would only prolong the long awaited lecture.

The "ride" to the cave was short and the teens were still met with a silent Bruce. Dick decided enough was enough and tried to break the silence.

"Sooo, how was the meeting?"

Silence

"That bad, huh?"

Silence

Cal elbowed her brother and harshly whispered, "What is wrong with you? Are you trying to provoke him??"

"I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas"

"That may be true but at least I have some common sense"

"Is that so?" Dick asked in a mocking tone.

"As a matter of fact yes"

"What about that incident that happened last week with the Penguin?"

"We don't talk about that"

"Well if you're gonna go the common sense route, I really don't see why not"

"Grayson you aggravate my very sou…."

Bruce's grip on his chair tightened as he listened to the two whisper amongst themselves or at least try to. I mean did they really think he wouldn't be able to hear them? With all the training he put them through they should at least know how to have a conversation discretely especially if the person they're discussing is literally ten feet in front of them. He shook his head as a way to dismiss those thoughts. Right now he needed to focus on how to actually talk to them. Regardless of what some may think of him, he doesn't want to break their spirits or tear them a new one (yes Cal, he did in fact hear your whispers… and everything else). He just wants them to realize that their actions always have consequences, whether it was positive or negative. With that in thought, he turned his chair around in time to see Cal attempting to put Dick in a headlock but stopped the moment she felt his glare on the back of her head. Both quickly detangled their limbs and stood up with an uncomfortable smile.

After a brief stare down Bruce finally spoke.

"You two were given strict orders to stay put. Not only did you disobey them but you also put yourselves and your teammates in a situation that could've ended badly, very quickly."

"We were successful with the mission. We actually did good! Why can't you just believe we're stronger than you think!" Dick argued.

"It's not about believing."

Cal stayed quiet which was uncommon for her but she knew this was a battle they weren't going to win.

"Yes, it is! You always leave us with the small things while you get to have all the fun. What was even the point of training us??"

"You knew what you were getting yourselves into the moment you decided to join me. You are to do as I say, nothing more nothing less."

"We know but-"

"No! You don't! Because if you did you wouldn't have done what you did!"

The two looked down in shame knowing what he was saying was true.

Bruce sighed, "Look, I know you both were only trying to help but there's a reason why we don't let you join certain missions. I can't-" He paused to take a shaky breath. "We can't lose you guys. So if that means making you hate us then so be it."

Bruce wasn't known to show his emotions outwardly for many reasons. The fact that he almost slipped up made Cal and Dick second-guess their actions but that doesn't mean they changed their minds.

Bruce straightened up, "With that being said, the League and I have decided that while we acknowledge the need for a new team, we must be sure you are properly trained to handle that responsibility." The two lit up. Is the League actually listening to them for once?

"Starting July 1st you will begin your training at an undisclosed location with other young current and soon-to-be members."

"Undisclosed location?" Cal asked.

"Yes, no one but the League knows where it is. Your hearing and sight will be restricted by Martian Manhunter just to ensure you don't attempt to figure it out."

"We would never do something so diabolical. We actually follow the rules. Can't say the same for the rest."

"Mhm mhm" said Dick while nodding along.

Batglare activated

"You know that doesn't actually work on us"

Batglare continued

"She's right, we're not kids anymore."

Batglare intensified times 10

"I- We- We'll shut up now"

"As I was saying none of you will know the location, just what it looks like on the inside. You will go through weeks of intense training and the Leaguers and I will determine if you are in fact ready to join the new team."

"So it's like a summer camp but on steroids"

Bruce rolled his eyes, "If that's how you want to think of it. Just know that if you don't meet our standards then you will NOT be joining the team. Is that clear?"

They tried their best to hold in their excitement. Summer camps are fun but a summer camp for superheroes was even better. They couldn't wait till they got there wherever there was. Speaking of…

"I get that we can't know where it's located but can we at least know what it's called?"

"Camp Justice"

"Doesn't sound very intimidating if you ask me. With our training, it'll probably be a breeze. Right Batman?"

"Hmph" was the only response they got before he entered the elevator.

Cal stood there flabbergasted, "I know he did not just 'hmph' me, who does he think he is?"

"Your boss"

"Boss or not, I don't get paid enough to deal with his sass"

"You don't get paid at all"

"Your point?"

Dick rubbed his temples, "Why do you always try to pick a fight with me?"

"Why do you always make it so easy?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Anyways, we have three days before we have to leave. I can probably hack the computers to see exactly where this place is."

"What for?"

"Do you really want to go to place where you have no idea of its location?"

"Hm good point boy wonder," She said as she stood next to him as he worked the computers.

"Now if I can just bypass this security wall then we'll be good to g-"

"And what exactly do you two think you're doing?"

The two froze in their place as they heard the familiar voice of their beloved butler.

"Uhh checking the weather for tomorrow," Dick said with an unconvincing grin.

"Lady Cal."

"We were checking the computers for the location of the camp Batman is sending us to."

If there was anyone who could get an answer out of her by just asking it was Alfred (and her mom but that's a different story).

"And why are we doing that? I do believe Master Bruce specifically said you were not allowed to know."

"Because curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back"

Alfred raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Go upstairs and eat your dinner."

"But-"

"No buts. You need to relax before you leave."

"So you do know something about it, don't you? C'mon Alfred, please give us a hint."

"You should by now your puppy dog eyes have no effect on me. Now go."

They grumbled about unfairness as they made their way to the elevator.

Alfred turned to look at the computer, "Besides, no amount of hints will prepare you for what's to come…"

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the DC characters or universes. The only characters and universes I own are the ones I create.

DO NOT REPOST

A/N: Here's chapter 1! Thank you for reading it I can't wait to show you all the rest! I'll be posting a chapter a week so be on the lookout! If you have any questions or just want to talk please do send me a message :)

See ya later!

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Hello! ^-^

Can I please request Alear, Yunaka, Framme, and Etie hearing that their S/O worships the fell dragon, but when they question them it turns out they're just a massive fan of Robin?

This kind of scenario has been in my head since I started the game hehe.

Have a nice day ^-^ thank you for the stories!

(FE: Engage) Alear, Yunaka, Framme, and Etie's S/O worshipping the "Fell Dragon"

Now that I think about it, if you did worship the fell dragon legit but were still part of the good guys, would you get persecuted?

Alear immediately tenses up when S/O mentions they worshipped the Fell Dragon.

(Alear) "...Are...you truly okay helping us then, S/O? I'm the Divine Dragon after all."

(S/O) "Hm? Why wouldn't I be estatic? I get to fight alongside Robin, it's like a dream come true!"

(Alear) "O-Oh. That's what you mean."

Marth suddenly appeared next to her.

(Marth) "I'm not exactly sure Robin would feel comfortable being called that."

(S/O) "Hm...I suppose that is kinda insensitive."

(Alear) "...In more ways than one."

She simply sighs and shakes her head.

(Alear) "Saying that kinda thing will give people the wrong idea, S/O. Please make sure you choose your words more carefully."

Yunaka's eyes widen at the mention of the Fell Dragon.

(Yunaka) "You what?! But...Why are you even here, and why did you mention it so offhandedly?!"

(S/O) "Huh? What do you mean?"

(Yunaka) "People just don't go around saying "Oh, I worship the god trying to kill us!"

(S/O) "OH! No, I mean Robin!...Do you even know the history of Emblems Robin and Chrom?"

(Yunaka) "Probably enough to know that he'd probably hate being called that! Who the heck would start that as an icebreaker for a conversation!?"

(S/O) "I worship the Fell Dragon."

(Framme) "You

WHAT?!"

Framme screams out, waiting to beat S/O to death with her hands, or the accounting book of the fan club for the Divine Dragon.

(S/O) "Hey, what's wrong with liking Robin?! They're pretty cool!"

(Framme) "...Oh, that's what you mean!"

Framme quickly tossed aside a large rock.

(Framme) "Listen, you can't just casually saying that, considering what's going on out there!"

(S/O) "...Oh yeah, guess that does sound bad."

(Framme) "You think?!"

(Etie) "Oh, neat you worship the Fell Dra-What?"

Etie immediately stops wiping the sweat off herself and turns to S/O with an extremely concerned expression.

(Etie) "Are...you alright?"

(S/O) "Hm? I'm fine, why?"

(Etie) "You just said you worshipped the Fell Dragon, and you don't expect me to be surprised by that?"

(S/O) "But Chloé loves people like Sigurd for being fairy-tale esque. Can I not like Robin for being cool?"

(Etie) "OOOOOH! Okay, you meant RObin! Well, next time just say that instead of the freakin' dragon trying to kill us!"

(S/O) "Oh, yeah that is a good point."

(Etie) "Besides, I don't think you should just casually bring that up. If it were someone other than me, you might have gotten beaten up considering all of us here worship the Divine Dragon."

===

Bonus:

(Robin) "I'd...really appreciate if you didn't call me that."

(Chrom) "Honestly, I'm surprised that even got in the stories told around here."

(Lucina) "But it seems...distasteful, does it not?"

(Robin) "I suppose it makes sense, our past is just a story to them."

(Chrom) "Kind of like how Hoshido and Nohr's war is a story in our world, but current events for Camilla and Corrin."

(S/O) "My bad, I'll make sure not to call you Fell Dragon anymore!"

(Robin) "...Well, at least you're not going around, shouting "I love the Fell Dragon" to everyone you meet."

(S/O) "..."

(Robin) "...Oh my gods.-"

[mbti-notes]

Hi, this will sound strange but can the inferior function leak into consciousness when one is dreaming ? I'm an INFP and usually see Te-doms as being loud rushed and so on but I had this dream where I was behaving more or less like one and in the dream my actions while under the influence of Te made sense I was like hell yeah it makes sense as to why Te-doms are always on top of things always solving problems and such that when I woke up their actions made a lot of sense. Thank you.

Do you know who Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are? Freud is widely considered the founding father of psychology, and Jung was his mentee. The two of them developed the first rigorous methods of dream analysis that are still used by some therapists today. Freud wrote the first authoritative treatise about dreams called The Interpretation of Dreams. In it, he famously said:

"The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind."

Freud made a distinction between manifest and latent content of dreams. The manifest content is the literal images of the dream, while the latent content is the symbolic meaning of the images. Dreams have symbolic meaning because they are actually expressions of unconscious activities.

Unconscious activities deal with darker instincts, thoughts, feelings, emotions, desires, and ideas that are too psychologically disturbing to confront when awake. Though unconscious, these activities still have a negative influence in waking life, so it is important to become more conscious of them in order to mitigate those negative effects. This is easier said than done because the conscious mind seeks to avoid disturbance at all costs.

Enter dreams. Dreams occur in a mental space between the unconscious and consciousness, so they are the perfect vehicle for transmitting messages. Since the content of unconscious activities can be disturbing, dreams disguise the content in symbols in order to make it more palatable and easier to confront and accept. The process of interpreting the symbols in dreams allows people to arrive at deeper truths about themselves.

Freud understood dreams as a form of wish fulfillment. He postulated that human beings had a great many desires, but those desires often conflicted with each other or were deemed unacceptable by society. Thus, dark and taboo desires had to be repressed and kept unconscious.

However, repressed desires don't just disappear and they might even become stronger the harder they are repressed, to the point of creating anxiety or neurosis in waking life. The pent up energy from repressed desires has to go somewhere, so it eventually influences dreaming. Playing out dark/taboo desires through the events and stories of dreams is a safer way of handling them. Freud believed that dream interpretation was a good way of getting to the bottom of what was actually troubling people.

Eventually, Jung broke with Freud because he believed that Freud's ideas were too narrow in scope. Freud was famously focused on understanding repressed sexual desires and fixations (because of his own repressed desires and the fact that many of his clients were female and had suffered some form of sexual abuse in early life), but Jung believed that there was much more to mental life than sex and taboos. He developed dream analysis in a somewhat different direction. While he generally agreed that dreams were about wish fulfillment, he was able to paint a much broader picture of what a "wish" could be.

Dreams might provide some clues about the current state of your life, e.g., whether you are generally happy, sad, anxious, yearning, etc. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, people often neglect their own well-being, so dreams provide an opportunity to check in with oneself.

Dreams might provide insight into a challenge or problem you're facing. Ever heard the phrase "sleep on it"? When you're dreaming, the brain's executive functioning is switched off, which allows your mental processes to operate more freely and thus more creatively. Dreams can explore, connect, and synthesize information for you, which might help you come up with better solutions. This fits with current neurological dream research that indicates the brain uses sleep to clean up and consolidate information.

Dreams might provide wisdom by connecting you to a larger pool of knowledge you didn't know you possessed. Jung was an exceptionally well-read person. He studied the stories, myths, and religious practices of many different cultures, western and eastern, and was astounded to find common recurring patterns, which he distilled into a concept called archetypes. Dreams are often full of archetypal images. This led him to postulate the existence of the collective unconscious, a storehouse of information that is genetically transmitted to every member of a species. Ancient archetypal patterns lend dreams a narrative structure that makes it easier to decipher their meaning.

Dreams might signal a need for compensation or aspiration. As I've explained in the study guides, normal personality development is "uneven". This creates an underlying sense of lack or missing something, which opens a door to developing your potential.

In the process of healthy personality development, certain functions must be given more power and control. However, the side effect of this is that their opposite functions get repressed and left to exist in an infantile state, operating more unconsciously. When the imbalance between opposing functions becomes too extreme, the pent up energy of repressed functions can influence us in unpredictable ways. One way is through inferior grip, which is an unconscious and desperate attempt to right the imbalance. Another way is through dreams, fantasy, and wish fulfillment.

Your dream might be related to people or someone you've recently met that you feel drawn to because of their Te strengths. Or your dream might signal "type envy", which is negative, because it implies low self-esteem, deep-seated self-hatred, or a dark desire to destroy your true self and become something false (a manifestation of Te grip). Or your dream might indicate compensation for personality flaws, which could be positive if it led to change and improvement. Or your dream might indicate an aspiration to realize more of your potential, in terms of being more ambitious or striving for more challenging goals, which could be positive or negative depending on how you approach it.

While someone trained in dream analysis can help you interpret your dreams, at the end of the day, only you can confirm the underlying truth of those interpretations by taking the bigger picture of your life into account. Nobody can access your full experience except you. Examine the notable thoughts/feelings you've had about Te and the encounters you've had with Te in waking life. How do the images and emotions in your dream connect to those experiences? Because dreams often seem random at first, it helps to contextualize them by connecting them to waking life or reflecting on what aspects of waking life are provoking you to focus on Te. With added context, it's easier to discover the most truthful interpretation.

[the-himawari]

A3! Outing Event Translation - You're my first and last love. (7/11)

*Please read disclaimer on blog

---

Masumi: …

Hisoka: …I thought you’d be here.

Masumi: …

Hisoka: …What’s wrong?

Masumi: …

Hisoka: …

Masumi: … Last night…

Hisoka: Go on.

Masumi: I went to the lounge. To get a drink.

Hisoka: …

Masumi: At that moment, I heard Director’s voice. I thought it was fate since I was just thinking I wanted to see her. But… Sakyo was with her. And then—. He said something about “love” to Director.

Hisoka: …Huh?

Masumi: ...I figured I just misheard at first. I didn’t hear their entire conversation after all. However, I started feeling worried when I considered whether he might’ve actually meant it that way. After Sakyo said that to her, she laughed really happily.

Hisoka: …

Masumi: …Even if Director chooses another person, my feelings for her won’t change. I thought that even if she chose someone apart from me, I wouldn’t mind as long as she was happy. …Even so, imagining it still hurt my heart.

Hisoka: …

Masumi: That’s what happened, so I couldn’t keep it together at today’s meeting. In actuality, Sakyo was right about the idea I suggested before. It was something I wanted to do for Director.

Hisoka: …So that was true?

Masumi: …Yeah. When I was asked if I had any ideas again today, I just couldn’t hold back all the things on my mind.

Hisoka: …So you took your anger out on him.

Masumi: …I know. I honestly do regret it a little.

Hisoka: It’s great that you’re reflecting properly. Sakyo was just as in the wrong though. …What did you actually want to do, Masumi?

Masumi: I… want to put on a play for Director. But I know that’s not the point of the thank you event that all of us are trying to put together, so—.

Hisoka: …Zzz.

Masumi: He fell asleep while listening? …

???: Woahh!

???: Hold up, Sakuya-san!

???: I gotchu!

Sakuya: Thank you, Misumi-san!

Azami: You actually caught Sakuya-san falling from that position?

Misumi: I’m glad you didn’t hit your head.

Masumi: …What are you guys doing?

Sakuya: We heard from Hisoka-san that you might be here… So the three of us came to look for you.

Azami: I caught up with these two in the middle, so I also overheard a bit. Sorry.

Misumi: I see. So you wanted to do a play, huh~?

Masumi: …

Azami: Well, I mean… to be honest, I don’t really understand Masumi-san’s motives. But it’s fine if it’s for Director’s sake, ain’t it?

Masumi: Huh?

Azami: Even if Director’s the catalyst or motivation for Masumi-san to take action, as long the fans are happy as a result, then that ain’t a bad thing. Right? I mean, put it this way… if Director wasn’t here, then Masumi-san wouldn’t be a part of MANKAI Company in the first place. If we’re expressin’ our gratitude to our fans, then there’s nothing wrong with starting with Director. …I dunno if you get what I mean though.

Masumi: …

Misumi: I totally agree. Masumi, you’re a good guy so you were just overthinking it~.

Sakuya: Masumi-kun. Tell Sakyo-san about your current feelings and ask him. Let him know that you’d like to do a play.

Masumi: …It’s impossible to do anything now though. He mentioned that there’s nothing like a stage. Plus we don’t have enough time to prepare anyways.

Sakuya: Then instead of asking, let’s give him a suggestion. Let’s come up with a plan that will convince Sakyo-san!

Misumi: I’m down, I’m down! It’s a strategy meeting! I’ll go get a notebook!

*runs off*

Azami: Damn straight. We’ll show Sakyo who’s boss.

Masumi: No, I don’t have any—.

Sakuya: Come on, Masumi-kun. Let’s get going!

*pulls*

Masumi: Watch it. I’m going to fall too.

Hisoka: …Good luck, Masumi.

---

previous | next

[p5x-theories]

An interesting thought here....

Just what happens to the Phantom Idols when Wonder leaves the Metaverse? Do they just disappear? Do they stay in existence? If they disappear, would they still be around if somebody other than Wonder entered the Metaverse, believing they were still around? Do the Phantom Idols have any memories of their everyday life (the general facts, obvs not day to day up to date) or are they blank slates...?

Interesting questions I've asked myself

Yeah, they're definitely interesting questions, and we don't exactly have the answer! In fact, we don't even know if they exist the entire time that Wonder is in the Metaverse, or if it's only while they're on his active team, since you only ever see his active team outside of cutscenes (which instead have the story team). I've certainly wondered about this as well.

If we stay as close to canon evidence as humanly possible, Cattle only asks Wonder about the Phantom Idols after the first time Wonder uses one in combat, suggesting that Mont (and any other Phantom Idols the player may have acquired by that point) suddenly came into existence when they got into a fight. But the player can see their active team running behind them in Palaces, and of course active teammates will comment on chests, safe rooms, etc. as the player encounters them, so again at least his active team seems to be present at all times within the Palaces. But there's never any concern about how everyone will fit into the Cattle car, or generally get around, and they're never mentioned in any way in the collabs so far (Moko isn't even mentioned in the summer event when the fact that Tomoko doesn't know about the Metaverse briefly comes up).

Obviously, this is partially because the devs don't want to make some Phantom Idols more "canon" members of the team than others, or alienate any players that don't have a certain Idol yet (though I feel like Mont would be a safe one, since you're given her in the tutorial). But the above evidence, to me, seems most likely to suggest that Wonder may consciously or unconsciously be able to control when they're present, almost like a Persona? They are based on his cognition, after all. If they only exist when it makes sense- in fights, and as backup in Palaces- and not when it'd be inconvenient (i.e., driving around in a relatively small car), the most obvious answer seems to be that Wonder is directly the cause.

You could potentially also argue that Merope controls it, but I think that's an extra step removed from the most obvious, closest-to-canon explanation. Considering the player can power up teammates and change their active team via a menu on Wonder's phone, it's also possible that maybe he controls which Phantom Idols currently exist with his phone (perhaps similar to how the MetaNav still works in the Metaverse), though that raises the question of if he's also doing that with his Personas/the Velvet Room, as those are also available in the phone menu. So "Wonder's cognition controls them" seems like the most straightforward answer at the moment, but not a complete guarantee.

This would suggest that, in your "what happens to the Phantom Idols when Wonder leaves the Metaverse" question, they'd probably disappear if he doesn't need them? That may mean it'd be possible for him to keep them around if he needed them to do something, and evidently he can send them to help Marthym with things via the Marthym Tasks function, so that seems to have some evidence backing it up. The "if somebody other than Wonder entered the Metaverse, believing they were still around" part is a little less clear, and ultimately probably depends on which of my possible explanations in the last two paragraphs you like best, but at least if it's based on Wonder's cognition, then the answer's probably that it really just depends on if Wonder thinks they're still there. But I doubt we'll ever get a canon explanation for that part, since like I said, the devs seem to be avoiding making any Phantom Idols "canon" members of the team, and especially for a scene that might prove this part of the theory, it'd be extra weird if the Phantom Idol that appeared wasn't one the player actually had yet.

The "Do the Phantom Idols have any memories of their everyday life (the general facts, obvs not day to day up to date) or are they blank slates…?" is actually the hardest one to answer, I think. Logically if they're based on Wonder's cognition, they should only know whatever Wonder knows about them, and act based on what he knows about their personality. But in her explanation, Merope says that they can be based on people Wonder hasn't even met yet, and represent the full realization of their desires (or something along those lines), even if they never reach that point in the real world, or even already passed that point. Obviously this explanation is meant to cover how Wonder can have a Phantom Idol of a character who's not in the real world yet (ex. Fleuret, Sepia), and why the Idols reflect their desires even if Wonder never finishes their Confidant, and things like that, but it has really interesting implications for your question here.

At least to me, I take all that to mean that the Phantom Idols can be considered as true to how that character would be if they awakened a Personas as is possible without them literally awakening a Persona. Because Merope gives them these Persona II, and distinguishes them from a Persona, it can be assumed those aren't the Personas they'd awaken if they ever did enter the Metaverse and do so, but they're likely chosen to be as fitting as possible based on the cognition they're built from. And because their Metaverse outfits come straight from their desires, I think we can assume those would be the same, in a situation where that character were to properly awaken a Persona and gain a Metaverse outfit. Element type, team role, and weapons can be assumed to be the same as well, I think.

But in my mind, a change in the story/circumstances leading to that character properly awakening a Persona could potentially lead to things changing unexpectedly. If Wonder were to, for instance, take Tomoko into the Metaverse right after finishing her Confidant, show her around, and get into a situation where she has to awaken a Persona to save the day, I think she probably would look the same as Moko, with a similar theme to her Persona even if it's not literally Prosymna, and be a Psy/Superior teammate with the same weapons. But if the story changed enough- for instance, Tomoko getting involved in the main plot in a different way, maybe even before Kiuchi hurt her (or perhaps well afterward, maybe snooping around into what Motoha is doing every day)- it might also change what her will of rebellion/desires in general look like, which could lead to her manifesting a Persona, outfit, etc. in a different way. If that makes sense?

This is deep into my own theory, but basically, I think that the Phantom Idols represent how their current desires would manifest as an outfit and powers in the Metaverse, but if things changed enough to change their rebellion and desires (for instance, an alternate universe where they did join as a story teammate), I could imagine that giving them a different outfit and powers, to more accurately reflect the different desires and rebellion that led to the Persona awakening. It's sort of like how Akechi has two different Personas, outfits, and powers- they represent different parts of him, awakened into a Persona under different circumstances.

All that is a really long-winded way of saying, I have no idea what specific memories they have, haha, but I do think they're probably relatively rooted within their real-world self's experiences, and likely have at least enough semblance of their memories to act as a pretty truthful representation of a version of them that fully realized their desires. Since they're not quite the same as the person Wonder meets in reality- due to having a Persona II, and the fully-realized desires- a direct comparison is a bit trickier, but they're tied to the Sea of Souls, so I think they have to be within the realm of possibility for that person. Memories tend to inform how someone acts, so it's hard to imagine that the Phantom Idols could act so "correctly" accurate to the person they're based on without any memories, but at a certain point it kind of gets into stuff like the Chinese room thought experiment, and other stuff people ask about things like the concept of true artificial intelligence (not the stuff we have right now): are the Phantom Idols really thinking, understanding, and generally experiencing things exactly the way that the real person they're based on would, and that's how they act just like that person? Or are they essentially "programmed" (via the cognition they're built off of) to know exactly what response that person would have to a given situation, and just simulating an understanding by having the "correct" response for that person to each situation?

... Sorry, that got a little philosophical, heh! I'm admittedly not expecting this question to ever come up in canon, partially because of how complicated it could be to really answer, but also again the thing about no "canon" Phantom Idols. But it is something I find really interesting, and wonder about myself.

I'm inclined to guess, myself, that the Phantom Idols do probably have a general memory of their day-to-day life, and their history leading up to this point, but it's really impossible to say whether they truly "understand" it, or where those memories cut off (would they have specific memories up until the point in time when Merope made them? Would that mean they essentially have a "birthday" where they stop remembering things from the real self they're based on? If they're informed by Wonder's cognition, but sometimes based on the "future" (someone he hasn't met or finished the Confidant of yet), does that mean they know how their real-world interactions with Wonder will go before Wonder has had those interactions?) Heh, sorry, I'll stop! If you can't tell, I'm really interested in this stuff, so I think way too hard about it. Hopefully this post doesn't just read like I've descended into madness, and is actually interesting!

[seeingteacupsindragons]

This may sound really dumb of me, but can you explain asexuality/aromance (?) to me?

I know it exists and I believe it’s totally valid, but a part of me always feels like I can’t really be inclusive or use inclusive language when I don’t understand it, because I’m afraid that not understanding it might lead to miscommunication and me accidentally offending someone

And the last time I asked someone in person they got mad at me „because I should know, I’m part of the queer community“ but all I ever heard is that it’s a spectrum? Which I don’t really understand

The way you communicate makes you seem like such a nice person, so I thought this would be a good place to ask 🫣😅

I think this is the first time I've been told I seem like a nice person, but this is a lovely way to round out ace week when I haven't managed much, so let's do this.

Anyway, the jerk who said you should just. Know things. Is rude. You have to learn things at some point. It is true that some things you can find ways of learning yourself, or that you should have perquisites or are expected to know things before x, y, or z, but that's also just not helpful, so.

So let's start with definitions: Aromanticism and Asexuality don't mean the same thing, but they're related concepts.

Asexuality: The trait of experiencing sexual attraction never, rarely, or only under certain circumstances.

Aromanticism: The trait of experiencing romantic attraction never, rarely, or only under certain circumstances.

Those last two are how it's a "spectrum": there's more than one possibly manifestation or asexuality or aromanticism, and those spectrum identities are often called "gray aromantic" "gray romantic" "gray sexual" gray asexual", etc.

However, those identities generally have more in common with people who never experience sexual attraction that people who don't fit into this spectrum, so they're included. If someone only experiences sexual attraction when certain criteria are met, that means the rest of the time they don't, and they may have only recently or rarely even experienced attraction and started to understand that experience. Etc.

The next part of where people tend to get tripped up is that they thing of attraction as "wanting" something, but that's really not what it is. It's more of a compass that indicates what direction where you want to go is.

We're going to reuse the very common donut metaphor here. I'm not a big fan of it, but it's helpful for this.

People think of wanting a donut as "Oh, I want this donut, let's go get one," because that's how most people end up with a donut (or a relationship). But there are also people who are offered a donut, aren't real sure they want one, and they look at it and go, "Actually, yeah, that donut looks good." And that would be specific circumstances met! A-spectrum!

Or, they're offered a trip for donuts and go, "Actually, yeah, I could really go for a Boston Creme." That's someone who maybe doesn't usually think about donuts, but now that they're considering donuts, they're experiencing a desire for a specific donut. A-spectrum!

Or, they're just like, "You know, a donut sounds good right now," but has no specific opinion on creme filled or jelly filled or glazed or iced or whatever the hell. They're just like, "Donut. Please a donut." That's someone who who wants a relationship, but doesn't feel attraction. But that doesn't make their desire for a donut, or their happiness having the darn donut, any less real. A-spectrum!

So, it's perfectly possible to want sex or romance and not be attracted to someone. The wanting is not the same as the specifics, and attraction is in the specifics.

However. It's also true the wanting and the specifics do go hand-in-hand, and for many a-spec people, they have no desire for sex or romance (or little). And the way society is currently structured is very hostile and dismissive of that. Hell, when I got this ask I was at a family event, and we were talking about my new apartment and the red color my living room is, and my grandmother made a comment about me maybe meeting a fireman.

Now, my parents and my siblings and I all sort of recoiled, because we know better. I don't want a fireman. I don't want an anybody. But that doesn't mean my relationships are less meaningful than sexual or romantic ones. I feel love and care for people in my life intensely, and they're precious people to me. I don't like the way society pushes those important parts of my life aside, and I don't like them being talked about in a way that sounds like they matter less, or they're less valuable, or they should be de-prioritized in favor of sex or romance.

And, sometimes, i just want to go through life for a while not thinking about either of those things, because they're not part of my own personal life at all, but my life is still full and rich and interesting.

Now, this was a quick 101/102 level introduction to the topics. There's much more to discuss around libido and romantic libido and zucchinis and qprs and different forms of attraction and squishes and on and on and on.

But I don't think that's what you want right now when you're first stepping into understanding the topics.

So I hope this helped you understand the ace and aro spectrums better.

Cheers!