#I'm a strong believer that kids naturally want to learn and know things and you ruined that for those kids

[pinolitas]

I'm having such a spiraling night about how middle school/elementary made me feel.

like I had such blind hatred for every troublemaker and loud kid but the reason there was so many of those was clearly because they're in a low income community and going through shit at home and even without knowing that myself as a kid I never reacted beyond daydreaming ripping those kids' heads off. so then why did the teachers who are whole ass adults that can rationalize this fact about something else being the issue with the troublemakers why did they choose to humiliate kids in class and berate them for struggling like why why why I was a whole child holding back lashing out at these kids because I know that it's not right to blow up at people like that but these adults who have power over us chose to make things worse instead of helping. straight up being an asshole must have made learning so much less enjoyable for these kids.

anyways I hated that school originally for the same reasons the teachers did but I know now that I was wrong for that and at least I had no lasting impact on peoples' academic career as a result of my childish personal feelings

[mdhwrites]

One thing that's bothered me about TOH since the episode's release was in (I believe) Escaping Expulsion where Eda and Lilith were learning how to use glyph magic from Luz; I had theorized that Eda would rebel against learning things in the typical "school way" that Luz was trying to use and instead she would goof off, but in her goofing off she would use and experiment with the glyphs to understand them, showing that the reason she failed in school (and the reason for her being "the most powerful witch in the BI") was because the standardized school system didn't work for her way of learning and she had to teach herself everything (which led to a deeper understanding of her own magic.) Instead the episode just showed her goofing off and Lilith, the "good" student, had to save her. I'm not opposed to Lilith using her knowledge to help Eda but I wish Eda was shown to be more competent, if that makes sense.

The episode could have underlined the show's theme of standardized schooling leaving some kids behind and underlined that Eda's disregard for rules wasn't just a love of anarchy but also because the rules never worked for her, as well as showing that her training Luz in weird ways was just her training Luz the way she had to train herself.

It just felt like a missed opportunity to show how Eda and Lilith differ but still end up being powerful witches, instead of just made Eda seem impatient and immature and made her being powerful witch seem like it just came from being naturally strong rather than her actually having to work for it

You call it a theme but is it? This is a core problem of both TOH and its community where TOH will vaguely gesture at something once or twice and people will go "THEME! BRAVE! AAAAAAH!" when no. It's an episodic thing that usually misses its own mark. After all, let's interrogate this: What does TOH say about how our school system is like?

Well, first episode says nothing because assaulting people with snakes should get you kicked out, let alone bringing fireworks to school. She instead just gets sent to a life skills camp where you 'Stay in the Box'... WHICH ACTUALLY DOES SAY SOMETHING. A lot of people complain that our modern school system suffers by not teach us actionable skills. That we are all forced to learn trigonometry but we're not taught how to do our taxes. But then here is TOH going "Screw stuff like that!" So... Not the best start but that's in favor of things like the arts and self expression, right?

Well no, it's actually just the status quote. Period.

This is the message of The First Day. That's not an over exaggeration either. See, another criticism is that if you want to focus on certain parts of your curriculum, you are forced instead to learn everything. Want to focus on science and not have to read Huck Finn? TOO BAD!You have to learn everything. And what is Luz's goal in this episode? The ultimate form of schooling as is shown?

Learn everything. Divide your attention so you have a nine period school day. You know, just like you do in American High School. Yes, there is some allowance for choosing what you want to learn but the regular version of the Isles is actually the more brave, different style of schooling. It's closer to college honestly which has its own issues but is how many more people wish High School was. That it prepared you more for the job you actually wanted which it does under the coven system.

The fact that in universe, these kids are all literally breaking the law and damaging their ability to find work after high school is... Also a fucking yikes. More on just a purely literary level than thematic but there is something to be said about the fact that school, like parents, are supposed to help kids be ready for adulthood and Hexside is bluntly failing at that more after this episode.

Finally, the next time any of this is talked about again is Escaping Expulsion. Shockingly, the expulsion has nothing to do with it but you're right about the Eda and Lilith thing. The fact that it undercuts any of Eda's few winging it teachings that barely taught Luz anything and that it does reinforce being a good student, in your desk, paying attention and not experimenting. That you experiment within the box. Gee, that phrase sounds familiar to me for some reason...

But why should it be surprising? Eda leads Hexside at the end. Presumably, she teaches multiple magics, if not all magic. Luz thinks it's best to learn everything after all, reinforcing that. Reinforcing the social norm.

And TOH does this all the time. Where they'll act like they're saying something brave, confronting the establishment but then what they offer is just what we have now. It's not even often because Belos' world is some dystopia, again the coven system is essentially choosing a college major, but by just blatantly saying that's what they're doing for a five second clip on Twitter where no one's going to think about if it actually did a good job of doing that.

So no, it's not contradictory to a theme of TOH because TOH DOESN'T HAVE THAT AS A THEME! It barely has any themes because of this shit. Because honestly, it's too busy thinking inside the box and reusing tropes to actually say something smart. See you next tale.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[tigreblvnc]

YOUR LIFE IN BLUE LOCK — @nikonautic

BACKGROUND HEADCANONS;

♤ As a kid you had good academics, i’d assume your parents put much care into your activities.

♤ So naturally, selecting a sport/extracurricular was expected as well. Soccer was pushed on to you, but you weren’t against it as you were able to use your creativity in a more physical manner than usual.

♤ Eventually you were scouted by Ego, since he caught on to your desire to make an impact, and wanted to see just how hard you’d work for it.

♤ His answer is a lot.

♤ In bluelock, you met a few people who you connected with. And knew that there’d be more along the line. If there was any place where you could meet people who you felt most comfortable with, it’d be in bluelock.

♤ So you endured and adapted through everything they put you through.

♤ And it paid off!

COLOR AURA;

♤ Yellow.

♤ A nice dandelion yellow

♤ A perfect mix of your socialness, weirdness, and ideals.

♤ You want a color that’ll leave an impact? Can’t think of anything better. The brightness of yellow is often used to balance out other parts, and can often do so on its own, without relying on other colors.

♤ Yellow looks amazing in so many palettes. It can work in many situations, even ones you think it may not look good in. But if you darken or dim it too much, it becomes much harder to appreciate.

♤ Because of that, for yellow to look its best, it must be used in usually similar tints and tones as its surroundings. As long as there aren’t too many mismatches within an environment, yellow can always pop out and support the picture in the best way.

TEAM SELECTION;

♤ Bastard München

♤ With understanding being one of your main strengths, it makes sense that you can quickly gather the details of a situation.

♤ Whether it be emotional or logistical details, both help you understand the whole situation on the field

♤ No one on BM handles failure well, there you’ll be fighting with people with the same underlying fear of losing. Although things may vary between you guys, that will remain the same.

♤ Emotions aren’t something you have to worry about either. BM is the last team to judge you for getting overly intense on field, it seems to be the case with everyone.

♤ The lead players on BM all have incredibly strong goals, and will put almost anything on the line to achieve them, spectacular plays are the expectation.

♤ This I feel you would link into very quickly.

BEST FRIEND;

✦ What a magnificent duo, Niko :)

✦ I'm not only talking about your BFF… but about your overall dynamic, not just with your BFF but with your rival as well.

✦ Not to mention your position on the field.

✦ (Although, I am going to talk about it.)

✦ I think Isagi is perfect for supporting you in your desire to grow and affirm yourself through your successes. It's a strong trait that stands out in your entire description: you seek recognition for who you are through your achievements.

✦ Isagi is very skilled at analyzing and understanding every type of player, as we've seen multiple times in the manga.

✦ And I believe he quickly grasped your intentions, how you play, and why you play that way.

✦ We also know he's someone who performs better in a tandem than alone. I'm convinced that with you, he forms a formidable duo on the field.

✦ He not only helps you achieve your goals but also makes an excellent companion in your growth. It's entirely mutual, as he also learns from your game and personality.

✦ In short, one of the healthiest duos in the lore.

RIVAL;

✦ I didn't choose your rival by chance.

✦ I find that Kaiser is one of those characters who craves recognition more than almost anyone else in the Blue Lock cast.

✦ There's a huge identity quest behind why he plays. He seeks to define himself through his achievements, through his victories. He's someone who wants to be acknowledged for what he can accomplish on the field.

✦ And like you, he has doubted himself a lot. His self-esteem is complex, even damaged by his past. These are things he hides, trying to repair through everything he's building in the present.

✦ Seeing someone else on the field, motivated by similar intentions, could hit him like a lightning bolt.

✦ Understanding someone's intentions because you share them doesn't make that person a friend. This can even spark a rivalry, as a form of ego establishes itself: "It'll be me, and me alone."

✦ At the same time, I also think you’re both capable of recognizing each other's worth. You just don't openly admit it. On the contrary, I even think you tend to hold back from each other in public.

✦ But I know that in private, you both acknowledge that you have a formidable opponent who can teach you, even indirectly, how to surpass yourselves. How to turn weaknesses into strengths.

POSITION ON THE FIELD;

✦ Striker.

✦ The first striker of this matchup series :D Pleased to meet you. 🤝

✦ It's not a position for everyone: it requires boldness, courage, and an initiative that not everyone has.

✦ This position further amplifies the dynamic between you, Isagi, and Kaiser.

✦ You become the eye of the storm during the tense moments of the match.

✦ On one hand, you're supported by Isagi. On the other, you know that the threat of a Kaiser pushed to his limits could cost you the victory.

✦ In this particularly stimulating environment, you can give your best, highlight your qualities, and challenge the greatest opponents.

✦ The emergence of Niko in front of the whole world :)

© TIGREBLVNC 2024 | OCTOBER '24 MATCHUPS EDITION.

[inhaledpie4]

Is there any way to cope with the fact that women's natural skill set and role in society is so.....boring? We don't have men's strong will, courage, intellect, or creativity. It seems like all we will ever be good at is doing chores but there's no room for any creativity in women's work.

Whatt?????

This sound like someone who hasn't had the opportunity to joyfully run their own home for their own family. Or the chance to explore how wonderful it is to be a woman in general. The woman's natural skillset is amazing.

Don't get me wrong, cleaning is not necessarily fun, especially the daily chores like dishes. But ALL jobs have some sort of catch-22. Even if you get your dream job, there's at least one thing you don't like about it, whether it's the pay or the people, or a specific task. As someone who worked my dream job before becoming a homemaker, I know I'm not the only one with this issue.

Next, I get to use my creativity all the time! Women are blessed with the ability to make a home. Without a home, nobody can thrive. I get to design and decorate my house. I make my household reflect who I am, both in look and feel. And I get to turn this building into a sanctuary for my husband and children and anyone else who walks through my door.

Next is children. The children are first influenced the mother, THEN by the father. Because we are most often the first point of contact. We deal with the mess and the ruckus but we have a choice to make about that daily. You can either relish in the world of children or let it destroy you. You choose how you interpret it. Is their mess curiosity or chaos? I believe I have the most fun job because I get to stay home and play with my little ones. Not to mention, my oldest loves to help me clean so I'm not doing everything by myself all the time. And I get to teach my kids the way I want to. I know that the most important thing I can teach them is to love work. That is a skill most people lack nowadays.

I get to control almost every aspect of my world. I get to invent my own recipes and learn how to knit cute things and turn my backyard into a beautiful place that the birds love. I love watching the birds from the window on cold days. I get to have a husband who recognizes all the effort I put in to make the house beautiful.

Women are the best at creating things. That's why women were historically foragers and crafters. We make food and medicine and breathtaking artwork of all mediums including the written word. We are musicians and dancers and community-formers. These things (and the joy of them) have been stripped from us over time via the feminist movement but we can return to the full joy in our role when we see the fullness of what we were made to do. We were NOT made -just- to watch children and clean. We were made for so much more.

YHWH bless you.

[elaho]

Stardew Valley MBTI x Enneagram: Shane

Following my last post about the Stardew marriage candidates and their MBTI types, I've been learning more about Enneagram, how it pairs with MBTI, and how it changes some of the typical characteristics of each type.

The Enneagram and MBTI complement each other wonderfully, providing greater depth and understanding of how a person interacts with the world [Cognitive Functions] and their motivations why [Core Desire/Core Fear].

Here are my thoughts on Shane's Enneagram paired with his MBTI.

Shane - ISTP 5w6: “The Troubleshooter”

“ISTP 5w6s are analytical people who lean towards caution. This personality type is curious and passionate about their interests. Because of their wing, they are always cautious and look for all possible flaws before leaping.” – Personality Hunt

Shane’s Core Desire: To be self-sufficient

The core desire of the ISTP 5w6 is to be self-sufficient. ISTPs are naturally very independent and want to make their own way. To achieve this goal, they use their abilities to carve a niche for themselves, and honing their unique skills as 5w6s, they are often very successful.

“My life...It's a pathetic joke...Look at me...Why do I even try? ...*sob* I'm too small and stupid to... to take control of my life…”

"I want to feel like I'm not just a leech on the world. I want to contribute somehow, even in a small way like this.”

Shane’s Core Fear: To be dependent [a burden] on others

The core fear of the ISTP 5w6 is to be a burden on others, especially to those they care about. We see Shane struggle with his mental health and alcoholism through the game. He tries hard to fight his demons on his own, not wanting others to be held back by his personal issues.

It isn't until later in his character development that he learns to be okay with relying on others for help, that there are people who truly care about him, and that asking for their support isn't the burden or 'weakness' he believed it to be.

“I just feel like no matter how hard I try... I'm not strong enough to climb out of that hole.”

"Anyway... I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me. And I want you to know that I'm going to take things a little more seriously from now on. I don't want to be a burden on anyone…"

"You know, I sometimes forget that I really do have friends, people that care about me. And it's okay for me to rely on them... it doesn't make me weak.”

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

How Enneagram 5w6 changes typical ISTP behaviour:

New Strengths

1. More Introverted

ISTPs are introverts and ISTP 5w6s are even more introverted. They have a lower social battery than typical ISTPs and need extra time alone to recharge. However, this doesn't mean they aren't assertive. They will put their foot down when they need to.

Examples:

“I hardly know you. Why are you talking to me?”

“What's the point of talking to me? I don't want any friends.”

“...I don't feel like talking to anyone.”

“It's a lot of effort to be friends with someone. It's easier to just be alone.”

2. More Loyal

"ISTP 5w6s are loyal people...Because [type 6] is their wing, ISTP 5w6s will have a measure of loyalty. Their loyalty extends to their friends, family, and even their workplace. While this is true, their loyalty will never be as strong as a core type 6." - Personality Hunt

Examples:

“I... Well, I won't be living here forever, and I wanted to pass something on to Jas. I've been teaching her how to care for them.”

“I guess I've grown attached to Marnie and Jas. We're a ragtag bunch but it kind of feels like a weird family. I never really had much of a family as a kid.”

“I need to keep it together for Jas' sake. I don't want to be a bad role model for her.”  “I'm kind of like a father figure to Jas. I just hope I haven't let her down too much.”

“Shane's hard at work. He doesn't seem interested in talking.”

“I may keep to myself a lot, and I may seem unhappy sometimes... but I do appreciate all the work you do. I'm a lucky guy.”

3. More Creative

ISTPs aren't known for being traditionally artistic, but they can be incredibly creative in their own way. This is even more true for ISTP 5w6s. They love to work with their hands and show their creativity in practical ways.

Examples:

"My special blue hens... I've been raising them in secret for the last few months.”

“We'll have the best eggs in the whole valley! Fresh and healthy, with rich golden yolks. Not like those pale, sickly Joja eggs...”

“Sounds great. I'll have to create a bunch of practical effects to make it look cool.”

"Hey! I want you to be in this shot... okay? Just walk by Clint and Emily in the background while they're talking... It'll give the scene a little more authenticity.”

4. More Cautious

ISTPs aren't known for being cautious. Their Extroverted Sensing [Se] makes them more prone to taking risks and testing new ideas. Being Preceievers means they also love being spontaneous. ISTP 5w6s are different. While they also enjoy these things, they are more hesitant and risk-averse than typical ISTPs.

This is because type 5 is interested in self-sufficiency, while type 6 is interested in being secure. They don't want to do anything that risks losing either of these, so they are much more cautious when taking risks or making decisions.

Examples:

“A chicken will never let you down. Humans, on the other hand...”

“It's weird, when I was younger I swore I'd never have a kid. I wonder what happened to me?”

“Hey. Sorry if I came off as rude when we first met. It takes me a while to warm up to strangers.”

5. More Prudent with Spending

Due to their cautious nature, ISTP 5w6s will be less impulsive with their spending, preferring to be more prudent with their finances. However, this doesn't mean they'll be perfect at budgeting or sticking to a budget.

Although Shane spends exorbitant amounts of money on beer and liquor early in-game, once he starts getting treatment for his mental health issues, we see him begin to spend his money much more wisely and carefully, like in his 8-heart cutscene with Jas.

Examples:

"I've cut back on an expensive habit. I have a lot more spending money now!”

6. More Logical

ISTPs are Thinkers, and being a type 5 makes an ISTP's logical thinking even more pronounced. This can have its pros and cons. A positive is ISTP 5w6s can make very sound logical decisions, but on the flip side, they can be insensitive to the feelings of others.

Examples:

“Life isn't fair, and I can't help but feel bitter about it.”

“Do me a favor... when I pass away, use my dust to fertilize some corn for the hens.”

“If I watch more TV maybe I can forget about life. That would be relaxing.”

“Sigh*... If only we could send the kids off to Joja work-camp for a season...I'm just kidding.”

New Weaknesses

1. More Detached

Type 5s are prone to becoming detached if absorbed in their hobbies or passions. This can harm an ISTPs relationship with friends and family if they aren't careful.

Examples:

"Welp... got my year's supply of Vitamin D. Now I can play video games with the blinds shut the rest of the year.”

“Ah... this is the life. No responsibilities, Tunnelers game tonight, fridge stocked with all the goodies a guy could need.”

“If you need to go see your friends in town, go ahead. I'm happy in the company of the TV and a couple of tall boys.”

“Ooo... my throbbing head. How many did I have last night?”

2. Fearful

Type 5 and type 6 are both in the Fear Triad, making 5w6s fearful people. This fear often influences their decisions, and combined with their need for self-sufficiency, can cause them to be stuck in a situation for too long.

Examples:

"You know, Charlie... I was thinking... A guy like me is always teetering on the edge of despair... know what I mean?”

“Here's a chance to finally take control of my life... These cliffs... bu... *blaap*... but I'm too scared, too anxious. Just like always...”

3. Prefer to Play it Safe

"Fear, cautiousness, and worry are all factors that influence their preference to play it safe. This usually means little or no risk and a lot of pessimism. While this has its benefits, the drawbacks are also obvious. ISTP 5w6s will miss out on opportunities and life in general by playing it too safe. - Personality Hunt

Examples:

"Every time I try something new it goes horribly wrong. You learn to just stay in a shell."

“Why try? Life's just a roll of the dice. When they rolled mine, the dice fell off the table.”

“You ever feel like... no matter what you do, you're gonna fail?... Like you're stuck in some miserable abyss and you're so deep you can't even see the light of day?”

4. Lower Energy Levels

Type 5s live in their heads. This, combined with ISTP's dominant function Introverted Thinking [Ti], they spend a lot of time logically breaking things down and reassembling them in their minds. This takes up a lot of energy, making implementing their ideas harder for ISTP 5w6s.

However, ISTPs are still action-oriented and will always strive to be somewhat productive.

Examples:

"Hoo... Feels good to rest these hams. If anyone needs me, I'll just be sitting here, marinating.”

“Buhh... I don't feel like being productive today.”

“Farmer, should I do something useful today?... or just nap forever?”

“I guess... if I had some pants I might've gone outside today... but, nah.”

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

Conclusion

Due to his substance abuse and mental health issues, typing Shane was more challenging than the others. Though it can be hard to type fictional characters with 100% accuracy, given what we know about his character, how he responds to dealing with his alcoholism and depression, and his personal growth throughout the game, I believe there is strong evidence to suggest that Shane is an ISTP 5w6.

His Enneagram type 5 desire for self-sufficiency and independence, paired with his MBTI cognitive strengths as an ISTP, makes watching his character transform from a prickly, self-isolating man with severe alcohol addiction and spiralling mental health, into a brave, hard-working, and loyal friend/partner to the farmer heartwarming and inspirational.

Do you agree that Shane is an ISTP 5w6? If not, what type do you think he is? Let me know your thoughts in the comments :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------- References:

Personality Hunt: ISTP 5w6 - The Complete Guide

[eyesofshan-if]

Hi, I hope you are doing well. Could you please tell us the enneagrams of the Ros. Thanks in advance.

i think i've answered this before, but now that there are new ROs i'll include their answers, with some explanation about their character motivations!! this is more of a personal character study than anything coherent, so feel free to skip it all!! mightttt contain some spoilers for the characters' routes

hansol: two

hansol is a textbook example of an enneagram 2. the key motivation behind most of his actions is to feel wanted or needed by others. he derives meaning and purpose from life from how 'useful' or 'helpful' he is to the society he belongs to, and much of the way he views the world is in related to that. he lives to serve: his country, his family, and you.

"Like a force to be reckoned with A mighty ocean or a gentle kiss I will love you with every single thing I have Like a tidal wave, I'll make a mess Or calm waters, if that serves you best I will love you without any strings attached."

yongsun: nine

enneagram type 9s are called the peacemakers, but not necessarily because they are pacifists. yongsun is one of those devoted to seeking peace, both internal and external. however, while most others would simply come to peace with the chaos and troubles of the world, they were born into a unique position that gives them the power to make the necessary changes to achieve that desired peace.

"It looks like empathy To understand all sides But I'm just trying to find myself Through someone else's eyes."

wooyoung: seven

enneagram sevens fear being deprived and need to have their desires for freedom and fresh experiences fulfilled. still, this comes with a tendency to uproot themselves far too easily and often, leaving those they care about behind. wooyoung finds it difficult to settle anywhere, wanting all the new experiences, the new friends, everything — and fears getting too attached to anything too strongly. perhaps you will be the one to change that, commander.

"It feels like sinking when I'm standing in one place So I look to the future and I book another flight When everything feels heavy, I've learned to travel light."

raon: four

out of everything, raon fears mediocrity the most — to fade into obscurity like the rest of the women in her life did. there is no space for women in the male-dominated spaces of hae, yet the contributions of females in households — the foundation of every haeian's life — often go overlooked. after seeing this happen, raon refuses to let the same happen to her as well. enneagram fours have a strong desire to forge a unique identity that has significance.

"Flashlight in hand determined to find Authenticity only poetry could even begin to try to describe Bodies fashioned out of dirt and dust For a moment we get to be glorious."

no-eul: eight

although the oldest of the ros, no-eul has the most childish and simplistic heart. they do things as they desire without consideration of of much else. eights feel the need to prove their strength, to demonstrate their importance, to dominate wherever they are — yet all this is done with the strangely vulnerable motivation of not wanting to be hurt by others.

"I was just a kid who grew up strong enough To pick this armor up And suddenly it fit."

????: one

enneagram ones strive to be always be right, beyond criticism, and no one believes that more than the herald of change. it does not matter that they actively pursue a vision that only a madman would dare to dream of. to rebel against the natural order, to crush the status quo under their feet. the high leader will stop at nothing to make those softly whispered childhood dreams a reality, even if they have to declare war against the entire world to do it.

"Now hold on, let me finish No, I'm not saying perfect exists in this life But we'll only know for certain if we try."

[teardrop-scales]

Matchup for @babulejka

I match you with...

Macaque!

I think you two would be a genuinely healthy and good couple.

Macaque could definitely use someone like you. Your kindness, cheerfulness and politeness as well your energy and optimistic outlook would contrast well with his more quiet, snarky, sassy and brooding nature. You two give me a "miss sunshine and mr grumpypants" kinda vibe, and that's good honestly! It's one of my favorite ship dynamics XD

You said you have an elegant and lady-like kinda vibe as well, and these vibes also seem like something Macaque would be into for some reason.

Considering both your styles and your looks compared with Macaque's style, I think you two would be an aesthetically pleasing to look at couple. I can't really put into words why, but I think your clothing styles would fit Macaque's general vibe.

Macaque is very attentive and observant, so he'd give you some rings, earrings or brooches that he thinks you would like, or just ones that reminded him of you. You wouldn't even have to say at any point to him that you like that kind of stuff, he would notice on his own because he actually pays a lot of attention to you.

Generally I feel like Macaque is the type of person who quietly notices and notes down in his mind what kind of things you like, so he knows what kind of gifts would make you the happiest.

Macaque admires you for having so many interesting hobbies and passions.

He is a theater kid for sure, with his love for dramaticness and shadow plays, and you have a few hobbies that kinda match that.

He is amazed when he learns that you do ballet. You better believe that he will be at your every show if you participate in that sort of thing, in exchange that you come to his shadow plays as well, of course.

I mean, you literally said you organize puppet theaters! And Macaque is into shadow plays, which is also a form of theatre! I'm sure that's only one of the many topics you could talk to each other and bond about. If that doesn't prove that you two would be perfect for each other, I don't know what will lol.

He'll try to get into some of your hobbies. They are so creative and interesting, like I said, Macaque admires that very much as a theatre kid himself.

I headcannon that Macaque, like you, can also play a few instruments and sing quite well. And considering his storytelling during that one shadow play episode, maybe he would be good at composing songs too and writing poems. So I can see the two of you having music sessions, just playing your instruments and singing together. Macaque would also definitely offer to help you in writing songs and such.

Macaque is a demon and a celestial monkey; he's pretty strong and has a good stamina, so he'd gladly try to get into your hobbies such as fencing or archery and practice with you.

But he wouldn't try horse riding. Just... No.

Like you, Macaque also wouldn't probably limit to just one or two love languages and instead would try to show his love in different ways. Although he may be a little shy and distrustful of physical contact especially when you're the one initiating it, since how much trauma this guy has and what he's been through... So you'd have to be a little gentle and patient with that, but he'll come around and understand that you won't hurt him after some time.

Your love for nature and fascination with the world around you was probably one of the many things that made Macaque fall in love with you. He would gladly take you for walks around Flower Fruit Mountain and introduce you to the little monkeys.

And he has his shadow portals! Which means, he can take you all around the world basically. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to see or experience, just say the word. Your wish is his command.

If you start talking to him about space or oceans or just any topic that you're interested in, he'll listen to you while staring at you with a soft smile.

Surprisingly or not, I think he would like your darker sense of humour. I feel like it could match his snarkiness and his brooding nature.

He knows you're stubborn, but he wouldn't let you overwork yourself. He has a silver tongue when he wants to, so he definitely would try to coax you into taking a break, and preferably spending some free time with him. If that doesn't work, well... He's much stronger than you, so he'd probably just take you into his arms forcefully and drag you away from your work lmao.

Oh, and he'd definitely eat anything you bake or cook. If you bake cookies or something similar he'd probably try to steal some before they're even ready, just to mess with you. He'd use his shadow portals and do it when you're not looking. We all know he's pretty sneaky.

A.N: I know I haven't mentioned all your info and your hobbies, sorry for that, but girl, you have SO MANY of those, if I mentioned every thing this would be too long I think XD. Hope you're satisfied.

[s0ckh3adstudios]

So, if you don't mind me asking. Is there any other info on Flo you have?, i don't see people make their own human souls anymore.

Plus i just find them interesting

Oh hell yeah!! I've got info!! Thanks for giving me an excuse to talk more about my little guy. I was actually talking about them lots with mutuals on Discord, so there's some notes I can give!

Flo and Clover were raised in... a not very good household. This obviously had effected how they grew up and what their mentalities were. Flo very much believes in "survival of the fittest" and usually has a defensive attitude. They've got sass and WILL kick your ass (this is not a good thing). They've learned not to rely on adults and is actually a very independent kid. They've taken on a self-proclaimed role as Clover's protector. Their sibling is their utmost priority!

Despite their aggressive nature, Flo has a fun flair for the dramatics and loves dance. They went out on their own to sign up for a dance class not only because they wanted to do so, but they figured it's necessary to find themself a purpose like this so they can show the world they have something to offer.

Considering their soul has the trait of Integrity, it's important to look at a definition of it: "The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change" I like to tie this into their experience in the underground- They are following their beliefs and what they believe is the truth; monsters are beasts. Evil beasts. And they REFUSE to be taken down by them. They may not be very big, but Flo will fight until their last breath. They're so sure they're in the right. They can't be wrong. If they're wrong, what's the point of anything they're doing? Older sibling knows best.

They disappeared to the mountain when Clover was younger. I'm still deciding WHY they went- Maybe a dance recital went wrong and they ran away embarrassed before tripping into the underground? In present Undertale Yellow, Clover's a big kid and can go be a sheriff for real! They wanted to find their sibling. After doing research, they figured out that they went missing at Mt. Ebott where a lot of other kids disappeared. So, Clover thought they could go and search for all of them and find their sibling too.

[laismoura-art]

Hello!! I have a question about Harumi, it is true that's she's CANONLY was an umgadi? I saw Tanya's intros with Kuai Liang about her, I thought Harumi have experiences with outworld but, I wonder if Tanya the only one who knows her in Outworld?

Hey there, Mia!! Thanks for the ask!💕

No canon confirmation on my dearest Umgadi!Harumi yet, SHAAAAAAME! They knew they'd be giving her too much power✊🏾😔

Still, Tanya has given us some pretty interesting info and I'd LOVE to talk about it!👀👀

And I'll start by saying my bestie detector is never wrong and I'm telling you these two are besties!☀️🌺

It's all in the way Tanya talks about her! There's only fondness and playfulness in her voice, and she smiles as she talks!

Hmm, where have I seen that before?👀

Harumi making her besties smile will always be dear to me!💕

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Now moving on to what Tanya talks about her:

Tanya: Your wife is no stranger to Outworld, Scorpion.

Kuai: You know of Harumi?

I believe everybody agrees at this point that this is 100% canon confirmation that Harumi was the one who crossed Realms and went to Outworld and that's where she and Tanya met!

Maybe Tanya went to Earthrealm to help Johnny with his movies, but it's much more likely that he kept going to Outworld instead.

Plus, she clearly has known Harumi for a while, even longer than she knows Kuai! (Which is precisely what she's teasing him about, that they have a common friend)

As to, is Tanya the only Outworlder who knows Harumi? I think she's the only Outworlder *from the roster* who knows her, Kitana mentions her in a intro but I don't think she knows her personally, cause there's another intro that someone (I think Smoke?) Compares her to Harumi and she's curious to what he means, if they knew each other Kitana would probably get the comparison!

I strongly believe Harumi went to Outworld on a mission (why else would she be there?) And worked with Tanya. The Umgadi are a Sisterhood, a group, they fight together and go on missions together, so there's a big chance Harumi tagged along an Umgadi group and therefore all of them know her! (I so hope Khameleon was in this group too👀)

Kuai: You still haven't told me how you know Harumi.

Tanya: Only she can tell you.

This dialogue is interesting! I mean, why the secrecy here, Tanya?👀

I saw some folks theorise Tanya is implying she and Harumi were a thing, but as much as I am a big supporter of Harumi being into girls (lol, not only a supporter, FrozenBlossom is one of my greatest feats and I pride myself of it! 🌺❄️) I don't think that's the nature of their relationship!

As we all know, Tanya can't date because of her vows as Umgadi, and her biggest struggle is that she wants to remain faithful to her Goddess and her sisterhood but also wants follow the wishes of her heart (aka, Mileena)!

That's such a HUGE part of her character, and I think it would take much of its impact if she had already broken her vow with Harumi, you know?

To all Taleena shippers reading this, I need to know if there's already a Modern AU where Tanya is a religious queer kid struggling with staying faithful to her beliefs and true to herself!

And if there's someone out there who ships Harumi x Tanya, know that I would feast on your content, I'd very much ship them in fanon!

Now, as to what I actually think she means: She's teasing Kuai (and lightly scolding him too)!

I think she meant that as in "you've been distant for a while, how about you take some time to learn what you have missed out from your bride’s (my bestie's) life, huh?"

And yeah, I think it's a valid thing to say! Kuai inserted himself back into Harumi's life in the most abrupt way possible! And there's no doubt helping him brought a big change to her life.

She's done so much for him. It's only fair that he dedicates some time to keep up and get to know her better!

Ooh, protective bestie Tanya, MY BELOVED!💕 Tanya gives such a strong "Hurt my bestie and I'll chop your dick off 🙂🔪" energy!!

Kitana: I understand congratulations are in order.

Kuai: How did news of my marriage reach Outworld?

Tanya gossiped around. That's it. She told her girlfriend, her girlfriend told her sister, and now everybody knows cute Harumi from Earthrealm got herself a pretty consort😌💅🏾

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Aaaaaaand that's it! I hope my huge Tanya & Harumi friendship propaganda has answered your yes or no question, lol!

I love this friendship, it's a shame I didn't get to talk much about it yet, so I took it as an opportunity!

Also, I've got a platonic ship name for them, too! Hear me out:

☀️SunFlower🌺

Lol!

@mikka-minns @thedragonholder @thegrimoiresvoice @orbitinytheworld

[lightlycareless]

but what reaction would the zenins have , especially naoaki 😳🤯 with the babies

Hi!!! I'm going with the twin girls au :> although these can be in general 🤔

Off we go to the reactions from the rest of the estate.

Being real, I think most of the clan would not like the fact that the heir had two girls to begin with. However, since Naoya and Y/N are known for being strong sorcerers by themselves, it was only natural that their kids would inherit those talents.

However, they'd still find a way to make them feel less, either by giving backhanded compliments, or voicing how a "son" would've been much better.

Naoya would immediately shut down those comments. We're talking about a man that has now learned how wrong his family is (in more ways than one) and having suffered from similar comments in the past, understands all too well how hurtful they could be, so he tries to shield his children the best he can.

As for reactions, let me put it like this:

Mai and Maki would love your kids, cause they love you very much :> there's no denying that. Would play with them as often as possible, they're like (are) the cool aunts. SPECIALLY if they're girl twins like them, it's probably the first time they ever felt happy with being twins I reckon.

Junko, Mai and Maki's mom, would keep her distance. It's not like she dislikes the kids, she just feels uncomfortable—however, she would like to watch the babies from time to time, silently gush at how adorable they are and remind her of when her daughters were babies too.

Ogi couldn't care less—in fact, I think he'd hate them just because they're a reminder of what he could've had, but didn't. No one allows him to get close to the kids, not even his wife.

Jinichi is in complete awe that Naoya would want to have kids in the first place, but not surprised that he went through with it. He's very precise when it comes those things, and from there he'll just stare at him and you whenever interacting with the kids—idk, he still doesn't believe it's happening. I guess in my mind he never considered that his family would want to have kids (Toji is like the prime example of that)

Naobito is... idk. He never really cared about having kids, so anything about lineage and whatnot is irrelevant to him, but I guess that in the deep confines of his mind he likes the fact of having grandchildren. Specially if they're strong, he'd be very proud of them, show off that they're related to him and whatnot. Do not expect him to be involved, and honestly? You and Naoya are kind of happy he isn't.

As for Naoaki, Naoya's oldest brother... he'd be shocked that the two eventually made amends, enough to have a family together. He just never thought the two were each other's type, or that it was in Naoya's plans to become a father. But it happened, and he just keeps his distance as well. Maybe he hoped he'd be that man, the one to have your kids or something, who knows. Either way, in the short moments he'll be able to see the kid, he'll note that they look like you, as maybe even hope that they act like you too. This whole situation is 100% the reason he stops talking to you all together. It's the official closure of that chapter.

And I don't think I'm missing any other relevant character :> I'd say that most of Naoya's brother would be somewhat confused that Naoya is possible of having adorable children or something hahaha although everyone thinks it's thanks to your genes 😂

Thank you so much for indulging me with this ask!! I want more baby stuff :') I'll see what I can write.

Have a wonderful week, take care, and hope to see you soon!!

[onionjulius]

Alright so, ER rewatch is happening, but I'm swamped with work and so I'll have to wait for episode posts. For now, an initial inventory of my remembrance of the main characters/my opinion of them:

Love: Carol Hathaway, Mark Greene, Susan Lewis, Kerry Weaver, Abby Lockhart, Luka Kovač

Really like: John Carter, Doug Ross, Peter Benton, Elizabeth Corday, Lucy Knight, Jing-Mei Chen, Greg Pratt

Like: Jeanie Boulet*, Cleo Finch, Michael Gallant

Unlikeable but not devoid of complexity: Robert Romano, Dave Malucci

I remember your existence: Neela Rasgotra, Anna Del Amico

I don't remember your existence: Sam Taggert, Ray Barnett, Archie Morris, Tony Gates, Simon Brenner, Cate Banfield

*Jeanie's on the cusp between Like and Really like.

I'll be curious to see if my opinions change much watching this show 15-30 years after it initially aired. No doubt there will be cringe "Oh wow that aged poorly" moments, but hopefully also some that hold up well. It'll also be interesting to watch a pre-Prestige TV critical hit post-Prestige TV (and yeah, nostalgic, I'm getting quite nostalgic in my old age). And I'm wondering how my impressions of the characters will hold up in a close watch; I think I'm much more analytical now, and I'm pretty sure my opinions reflect the characters at their best without necessarily accounting for them at their worst. Although maybe that's not a bad thing as long as it's consistent.

More character recollections, some quite spoilery:

Mark's death slew me. It was so protracted too, he was suffering so much and his family was fraying at the seams and I just remember him trying so hard to handle things the best he could with that understated irony of his and just feeling so terribly for him. There was that thing with the guy in the elevator that he just let die, I don't remember what became of that ...

I love so much that Mark is really just Some Guy trying to do his job well while having normal Some Guy things like a wife and kids and basketball breaks. He's smart, decisive, dedicated, compassionate, a good teacher, and truly a deserving leader.

I know that Jeanie had at least one great story, which of course is the HIV story. I'm actually struggling to recall much before that, so that'll be fun.

I just ... I remember having such complex reactions to Kerry, and all these years later that has registered in my memory as love. I love Kerry, warts and all. You could feel so bad for her while simultaneously hate what she was saying or doing, and I do think she learned things over time. She was an outsider, a party pooper, ambitious and career-driven, a disabled lesbian, oil to Doug Ross' water. She was not easy to love, and so I loved her. Also, she was ER Mom. Love you, Mom!

I also loved Kim/Kerry. They felt so real and human and not simply an "issues" story. I find myself not recalling much of her relationship afterward, so looking forward to seeing if it is a worthy follow-up.

I loved Mark/Susan. They were such easy friends, so natural and believable together, so bright and breezy and (mostly) supportive and wonderful. I think they would have made a fine endgame, it was so easy to want good things for each of them, and what an unforgettable, lovely and bittersweet moment when she left Chicago on that train.

For all that though, I liked Mark with Elizabeth. It's true there wasn't the same will-they-won't they (and I remember feeling like her thing with Peter ended rather abruptly) but their domesticity was very sweet and she was a kick-ass character, strong and funny.

Romano was ... Problematic ... but his bond of some sort with Elizabeth was probably the best thing about his character.

I remember feeling that Peter was shafted, but that said he did last 8 years and I remember some good stories with his mother and sister, work vs parenthood, the custody battle, and of course (of course) his evolving dynamic with Carter.

Seriously though. Benton/Carter.

And on the topic of BroTPs: Mark/Doug!

There's something about the two most ambitious characters being Peter, a black man, and Kerry, a woman, that I kinda love.

Upon reflection, it seems to me that at least some of my affinity for Susan and Abby have to do with their family stories--particularly, having to deal with flawed family members, walking the line between loving and enabling, battling the desire to hope because of the need to protect against disappointment. It's ... interesting? ... because I don't have any deadbeat family members or family members who refuse to take responsibility for their illnesses, but something about how they use sarcasm to deal with life resonates with me, even though Susan in my head was a sunny character while Abby was a little black raincloud.

I loved Abby. Abby was a hot mess, a human disaster, a trashfire. Abby was strong, but also a coward. Abby was full of contradictions, Abby mistook self-abnegation for independence, Abby was only happy when it rained. Abby was hard to love, and so I loved her.

There was something about Abby/Luka that I found compulsively watchable. Something probably having to do with being really messed up and dysfunctional and full of maladaptive habits, but nevertheless wanting love like any other human being. There was a brooding intensity and understatedness to them that I remember just eating up. I was an undercover emo kid, what can I say.

That said, there was a phase in which he was truly insufferable (which I know was them taking a page out of the Doug Ross book ... but he isn't Doug Ross, even though he was brought on as a direct replacement). I'm curious if, on my rewatch, it will feel like an organic arc given how sweet, patient, gentlemanly and sensitive I recall him being at the start. Oh tragic little meow meow.

The final scene between Carol and Luka is so etched in my brain. "Because I'm still in love with him. I've been in love with him since I was 23 years old. He's everything to me. I feel complete when I'm with him and I feel empty when we're apart. He's the father of my children, and he's my soulmate." Yes, Doug was a manbaby and yes I was so hurt on Carol's behalf that he left her for Seattle, but really Doug/Carol were the Truth. You bought their connection so thoroughly and George Clooney's chemistry with Juliana Margulies was critical to that.

I remember thinking that Peter/Cleo's chemistry was nothing in particular to write home about (you know, not bad, but not special) ... but hell if they weren't beautiful together. Michael Michelle was just so stunning.

I really thought that they were heading for a lot of yummy Carter-denying-his-feelings-for-med-student-Lucy angst, which I was so there for. But I can't deny that what ended up happening (you know ...) was unforgettable television.

On that note, Carter was never the same after That. There's such a sad lost innocence about his character, given how earnest and caring and even hapless he was at the start. That's not necessarily a bad direction to go, narratively speaking, but one would hope for some eventual hard-won optimism for him all the same.

And yeah, at some point ER became darker and soapier, but I honestly have good memories of a few of those years, before becoming bored.

Like, another scene seared into my brain is Maggie Wyczenski turning on a dime and going postal right in the middle of the ER, screaming "I'm leaving! I'm leaving! I'm leaving! Iiii'm leaving!" and "You're my daughter you bitch!". God did Sally Field earn that Emmy or did she earn that Emmy. I wouldn't want to have missed out on that story, for all that it was such a downer.

Apparently Sam, Ray, Archie, and Tony came on more or less when Neela did, but she's the only one I remember. How'd that happen? Though I can't say I remember her stories, so there is that.

I remember watching with my sophomore year roommate the night that Romano freaking lost his arm to a helicopter. It was crazy. And I really thought it couldn't get any crazier, but then, as you know ...

The look of the show really changed from beginning to end, which, given that it lasted fifteen years, is probably to be expected. But I remember most the constantly moving camera in so many of the medical emergency scenes, and I hope that doesn't go away.

Mark's daughter and Peter's son were impossibly cute. Impossibly cute. So so cute. So so so so so cute.

Speaking of Chicago in the 90s, goddamn do y'all remember how incredible the Bulls were? I don't know why I'm putting that in this post, but I guess I am.

Carter/Jing Mei were such great friends, they never stopped being competitive with each other but they nevertheless grew up together and I love that the show never hooked them up.

I don't recall quite why but I feel like Doug and his dad were reminiscent of Riker and his dad from Star Trek. I don't know.

Okay yeah that's all for now.

[chickenkurage]

(almost sent this ask to the wrong person lmao)

anyways I've been thinking again about teen!cs!Alan and the other sticks not believing him about 06 at first because they think it's his imaginary friend because its backstory is hard to believe. They think it's Alan's oc he made to cope basically.

"Your 'friend' that we can't see because it lives in your head was created in a lab to be a weapon and escaped due to not wanting to hurt anybody and didn't object to your appearance because it was lonely? Sounds like a Mary Sue ngl uh yeah okay we totally believe you"

Then Alan and 06 go on thinking that the others are being honest about believing them. 06 is still too nervous to say hi, but is working up the courage. Then the reveal happens and 06's confidence is shattered for a bit and Alan runs from the PC after feeling hurt by the betrayal.

Then Vic learns about 06 being real because of being contacted by Annex Corp and sends a message to the PC to warn the others to keep Alan out of the outernet. Worst timing ever and now everyone's in a panic.

I'm sorry for the late reply :(( I think our tumblr is acting up again with your ask getting lost in the inbox (but thankfully it reappeared UwU)

06 being brushed off as like some sort of OC made by a kid honestly isn't a big surprise considering an artist making an OC?? WHAT A BIG SURPRISE??? (I feel called out here lol)

I like how we're making jokes here of how mary sue 06 is cause like it lowkey is one XDD Like super rad backstory? Check! Awesome super powers? Check! No weakness? Hmm... A hesitant check? Physically just strong but mentally a child... cause it is one

But on the side of the other sticks, like concluding that lil Alan over here just made an imaginary friend after being stuck in the PC after he prolly died would make sense cause there's no way someone is an IRL mary sue, right??? Thinking that Alan did all that to cope isn't all too far fetched.

Seeing a kid just appear in your world, leaving all their loved ones behind that's basically irreplaceable to them, you're going to think 'I think that kid's feeling lonely. So I should just go along with this imaginary friend thing.'

But still it hurts, on Alan's side, to find out that they didn't actually believe in the fact that your friend is real, and on 06's side, cause okay, sure it doesn't show itself to them but it felt like its existence was invalidated! Or something like that?

Huh, it makes me think if 06 would know that its code came from Alan's files so that's why they like, get along well or act the same in some instances? With a hint of that nature vs nurture debate though to make up for the differences in their personality :PP

Still, it was a good move for Alan to just say that 06 exists out loud to them since it kinda acted as something like a forewarning that the runaway weapon Sable was describing (which in the og cs universe, Vic thought was 06 pretending to be Alan but was in fact Alan) was not someone pretending to be Alan. It was Alan himself that's been talking to them and the imaginary friend was 06! Like... NAISUU??

But of course it (probably) didn't stop the inevitable kidnapping of the child... Still a good thing that Alan wasn't offered to the government, huh? That would've made things worse or something! - JM

[lookatmysillies]

[ A wild Kioku approaches Yael ! ]

HEY! Man, are you okay?

I heard you nearly drowned in the river! That's not good at all obviously, and I should know! I've fallen into my fair share of rivers. I saw a green-haired kid fish you out, though, which I'm grateful for. I've only just recently arrived and I'm no good at remembering names, so I couldn't tell you who it was. I'm sorry.

I don't really know you all that well, but I think you should eat something. The other kids tell me to be careful with you, and I've seen you pat your body pretty often, so I'm worried you might have health issues.

Here, take this jelly. It's plain, so hopefully it won't bang up your innards or anything. Don't even worry about where I got it! Haha. Ha. It's super important to eat and gain at least a little more strength! Maybe it'll help you out in the future! you know, with the falling or fainting and drowning stuff... I wonder how you ended up there...

Anyway, I know this is super sudden, but I kinda know what almost-drowning feels like, too. I just wanted to try and help a little bit. I'm not really sure how to do it properly... I just want you to feel better. I hope you can feel better.

Oh, the teacher is coming... I'm gonna run now, see you around!

Hiiii!! This is Para!! Sorry for all that, I just thought it would be silly. I'm here to ask what Yael thinks of Kioku! He's a super interesting character to me, and while you've already explained a bit of his thoughts on Kio, I'd like to ask if you could share any more/explain further? If it's okay with you! The whole angel thing was particularly intriguing...

Love your characters as always, and I truly do enjoy learning more about them :)

[Yael stares back at Kioku with wide eyes like she’s just given him the world rather than a single somewhat unremarkable jelly.]

Oh! Yes, um, it was an accident. A bad one, but I’m still here… Can tells me he’s the one who found me, and I’ll take his word for it. He seems like he would do something like that…

Sorry you’ve fallen into water a lot, too. Drowning feels stranger than I would’ve imagined. A lot worse. Thank you for the food, it almost tastes a little bit sweet if I hold it in my mouth for a while! You really are an angel. [He says this very seriously, though it flies over Kioku’s head. He’s quiet for a moment.]

I hope maybe we can talk more and—oh, yes, go ahead. Goodbye Kioku! The teacher’s probably here to take me for another useless checkup.

Hiii Para! Thanks for dropping this in my inbox, Kioku’s adorable face was the best thing to wake up to earlier today 🥺 To expand on Yael’s thoughts on Kioku a bit, I’ll establish some comparisons with his other fundamental relationships to give you a reference point:

He has the strongest feelings for @paradisedisconcert’s Can and @alien-til-i-stage’s Macbeth and Innamorati, Can being his purest relationship, Macbeth more muddled, and Inna just. Ridiculous. Who even knows

Add Kioku to this bunch of people he takes an especially strong interest in once she arrives, Kio being a person he looks up to and believes wholeheartedly in (due to misguided reasons, but there nonetheless).

He thinks of her as an Angel; Macbeth as Death; Can as Life; and Innamorati as personal Salvation. Kioku and Macbeth both represent “selfless” ideals: He adores Kioku because he believes she is here to save them from their eternal prison—not just to save him, but ALL of them. He truly believes she’s filled with all the good in the world and she can do no wrong in his eyes. His feelings about her are misguided but pure in nature. He also mixes up romantic and platonic feelings a lot, and she is the only one of these 4 he doesn’t feel confused about. I’ve mentioned that he’s subconsciously drawn to unhealthy relationships, Can being (for the most part anyway) an exception. Kioku is too good to have those kinds of feelings for, in Yael’s mind.

His perception of Kioku as an angel is different from his idea of Can as life or Inna as salvation. Can and Inna are what he perceives as his “selfish” ideals. Can isn’t holy or angelic in his eyes, but rather incredibly human; flawed and damaged, proof of their existence. Yael views his own existence, simply existing for himself, as selfish, and Can encourages living for himself. Inna is Yael’s personal salvation from his own mistake of playing a part in Macbeth’s death; Macbeth, who he believed was supposed to die and be free. He missed him so badly and questioned if it would be better for him to still be with him. He can’t change it, though, so he seeks absolution from the last piece of Macbeth there is.

Yael creates his own Saints in his head and Kioku is one of them. She represents a twisted sort of hope to him, and he wants to protect her and help her with whatever she needs to repay her for descending to Anakt Garden.

Thank you for the ask, I love yapping about the children. I love your characters too, I’m excited to learn more about Jiu and Kioku! That said if Jiu hurts her I will be seen on the news

[thesweetnessofspring]

Do you think Katniss and Peeta have biased opinions of each other?

Yes / No? Why?

Could you give example?

How did Peeta's hijacking affect their views of each other?

Disclaimer : these questions are for textual analysis, it’s not meant to incite fandom war.

Thank you :)

@curiousnonny

Hi nonny! This has taken me some time because I wanted to think on this for a bit. Tldr; their opinion of the other hinges a lot on how they think the other views them.

When Katniss thinks that she was just a random Seam kid Peeta helped once, she can't help but feel he's too good, too pure for Panem. When Peeta only knows Katniss from afar thinking she doesn't pay attention to him, she has an "effect" on people she doesn't herself perceive. When Katniss thinks Peeta views her as his competition, she believes him duplicitous and suspicious. And so it shifts based on whether they believe the other is actually in love with them, or if they're distant, or if they're friends.

The hijacking is definitely really tragic and this rocks how they view one another more than anything else. Obviously Peeta at first views Katniss as a mutt created by the Capitol. Once he's gone through some treatment, his views are still negative and that she's in the very least manipulative, his feelings and relationship to her bring a lot of confusion (did you love me? did you like kissing me? did you like kissing Gale? what happened on the train? are you my friend, lover, my target, or a mutt?).

Here's the thing with Peeta: he will not for the life of him admit when he needs to be cared for. He is the classic "I will take care of you, but don't worry about taking care of me, I'm fine." But underneath that, he just wants love, he wants someone to show him that he is loveable because he fears he isn't. And this personality trait doesn't disappear when he's hijacked. It is his very nature. But in seeing Katniss from a different light, in both his hijacked memories or her and the real ones clouded by the tracker jacker venom, he's broken to the point where he can't find it in him to love anyone (maybe other than Delly) because the memories have reinforced to him that his worst fear is true: he is unlovable. He gave his heart and was used and betrayed in return, never valued by anyone--not Katniss, not Haymitch, not Finnick.

In that anger, though, he is still reaching out for, yearning for Katniss to answer him. To explain everything to him. And I think a large part of him expects her to confirm she'd only used him the whole time. That his perception of her being a girl who enjoyed toying with him and Gale was true. But deeper underneath that layer of resentment, that part of Peeta that always sees the good and hopes, is searching for the reassurance: no, I love you. You are loveable.

When Peeta references the fact that the memory of Darius and Lavinia's torture wasn't "shiny" as well as the nights on the train that weren't touched by the Capitol, we're given to believe that he might have started to sort through some things on his own. And after Haymitch shakes up Katniss, she nicks a tiny crack in offering him a piece of himself back: his favorite color. Then seeing himself in his hijacked state really wakes him up to how far gone he is, how his perception cannot be trusted anymore.

This is I think where it really starts to turn back for Peeta. If he can't trust his mind, then his opinion of Katniss is wrong. So he has to learn about her all over again. And what does he learn? That she won't let him die. Not when he asks for it, over and over. Not when he first proposes it, not after more discussion, not when he's in the middle of his hijacking episode and she kisses him, puts herself in harms way again, to keep him with her.

The trouble is, Katniss has done this before during both Games, refusing to let Peeta be the one to die. So Peeta doesn't know if he is loveable, or if Katniss is simply that good and brave and strong to not let him go. That opinion he offered her about going to kill Snow, reminding her of the effect she can have...he sees now why she became the Mockingjay, why people followed her. And when he believes that she loves Gale, how can he see her sacrifices for him as anything but noble? If he is broken and worthless but she fights for him anyway, then she must be the hope Panem needs in that dark moment.

As for Katniss, well, we have access to her thoughts and some feelings. And she meets Peeta where he's at in challenging her. When he attacks her, calls her a mutt, something she never thought possible, she sees getting him back as impossible. She mourns him as if he were dead, because their relationship has changed so much she can't see it recovering, as she can't see him recovering.

She does get bits of hope, like Finnick and Annie's wedding cake, but when he comes at her with hostility, she sees that right back at him. It takes Haymitch reminding her who Peeta was, what he would have done for her, that brings her back to him. No longer is she meeting Peeta where he is in his hijacked state. Instead, she is remembering who he was, how he loved her, and tries to see him as he would have seen her in the same state. Through everyone helping out with his recovery, she finally gets glimpses into the true Peeta, the one she loves. Remembering her favorite color is green. That she loved the lamb stew. Giving others encouraging compliments. That he promised to always stay with her.

And after he had been conditioned to kill her, the fact that he saved her life as he always used to--that gave Katniss the belief and the hope that her Peeta, her dandelion in the spring, had truly come back to her, if she would only wait for his return. And then, he did.

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Helloo there, I hope you had a nice new year!

I'm an INTP here, and I need some guidance on how I can handle cultivating more empathy and social skills. I've had a lack of empathy since I was young. I am not sure what triggered it or led to it. But It's hard for me to form proper connections with people as a result.

When I was younger, I was a silent kid because i had almost no interest in socializing. I've noticed an issue where i was extremely selfish or cruel. For example, around the age of 6 to 12, I would get a sort of gratification when I purposely made my friend sad, I would find tiny reason to break of the friendship, and feel no remorse to it. I treated people more like experiments than friends. The only major fear I had was towards authority figures such as teachers.

Another thing I've noticed is that I have no strong recollection of good/bad memories. I can not remember the times I have been emotionally hurt or happy memories. The only major emotions I show are annoyance, happiness, and sadness if something happened to me only and never for anyone else.

I also find it hard to remember any important details of conversations and how I talked with people. Leading to fights because they bring up something i did, which i can not recall. My conversations are dull, I can't seem to generate emotions naturally. It feels like I have to fake every expression at times, as friends have previously called me a robot, due to my monotone behaviour.

I also find it hard to speak without saying something awkward and unfit for the conversation. It seems like my thoughts are many degrees away from the original path of the conversation. While everyone else can talk smoothly and reply in a way that continues the conversations, my replies fall flat and end with an awkward laugh.

As you might be able to guess, my friendships are quite shallow and unfulfilling, too. I often find it a chore to maintain relationships, almost taking an extreme amount of energy to reply to a text. Even if the other person has a keen interest in me.

But I still so desire good friendships, I keep myself cheerful and smiley, so that people don't turn off from me at first glance.

I've noticed these traits so often and spiralled down into sadness, believing that I might be sociopathic and that I am intrinsically a bad person. (I am prone to victim mentality, which made it worse).

It's only after I reached college and got into a failed relationship that I've consciously tried to fix myself. I've realised what an unfulfilling and selfish life I've been living.

I've tried living in the moment, trying to feel peoples emotions, putting in effort, listening more, trying to converse more, approach people, and, in general, involve myself in the class. But all it takes is one bad mood for me to undo all my progress and turn silent again.

My feelings of insecurity and envy have been raised, too, as my ex is now dating someone who is empathetic, sensitive, and socially adept.

I want to know

How to get out of this constant rut of motivation and failure to change.

How to live in the moment and talk, getting over the fear that I will say something unfit.

How to be more empathetic in general.

How to be more secure inside so that i can focus more outside and on my friendships.

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Lack of empathy or empathy deficit is a complicated topic in psychology, so this might be a lot for you to process. Yes, empathy can be conceptualized as a skill to improve and build up through learning and practice. However, like any skill, some people will have more genetic aptitude with it than others, so some people struggle with it more than others.

It sounds like you've already done some research and tried a few techniques with meh results. Unfortunately, your way of working toward a solution is very slow because you still don't know the "why". It's hard to solve a problem when you don't know the root cause because then the only method available to you is trial-and-error. It can indeed become very discouraging when you get error after error or don't see any meaningful progress.

Empathy deficit can be thought of as a symptom, which means there are many possible psychological issues/disorders that can give rise to it. It might benefit you to get assessed by a mental health professional with expertise about empathy deficit. It's important to investigate what lies behind it in order to discover the right way to address it.

For example, both autism and narcissism can produce empathy deficit but the mechanisms that impede empathy development are very different when you compare the two, so the treatment plans would end up looking very different once you tailor them to each individual's needs. Some people lack empathy simply because they have never been loved by anyone due to growing up in an environment of extreme neglect. Having never felt love, they don't know what it is and of course don't know how to show it.

One reason empathy deficit is a thorny subject is because of social stigma, especially since it often gets associated with psychopathy or sociopathy as you mentioned. Many psychologists don't use these labels because of the stigma and because they are imprecise. When a psychological term is widely used by the general public, it starts to lose meaning or the meaning gets extremely fuzzy, which renders it less and less useful for diagnostic purposes. People think "psychopath" and they picture a serial killer, which isn't helpful.

Personally, I'm even wary of using the word "disorder" because it often leads people to believe they are somehow "broken"; the way they behave is "wrong" and has to be changed to the "right" way. While some psychological problems should be called a disorder, I personally don't believe that empathy deficit itself should be, unless it is accompanied by dysfunctional behavior that indicates the presence of a serious mental disorder.

My understanding of empathy deficit is that it's more like a "disability", similar to blindness or deafness. What's the advantage of approaching empathy deficit as a disability? A) It's not your fault that your brain has low aptitude for empathy, so shame is completely unwarranted. B) A disability is something you can come to comfortably accept as a part of you, but also something you need to learn to adapt to, in order to live a fuller life. Thus, the question isn't "what's wrong with me?" but rather "how can I adapt better to having this disability?"

Empathy isn't an on/off switch. There are degrees of empathy. Some people have minimal to no empathy. Some people have too much empathy. Most people fall somewhere in the middle of having empathy much of the time but still capable of acting like a selfish jerk some of the time.

The way INTPs approach the world tends to be conceptual and intellectual, so it might help you to approach empathy in more cognitive rather than emotional terms. The most basic way to explain empathy is the ability to conceptualize/visualize another person's mind and understand what's going on in there. There are many paths to reaching that understanding, so psychologists distinguish between different kinds of empathy:

Affective empathy or emotional empathy is about sharing someone else's feelings and emotions. For instance, people with normal empathy would feel sad upon seeing their friend feeling sad about their dog dying. By sharing feelings and emotions with someone, it can lessen their burden and help them feel better. Expressing empathy in this way is a common method of showing how much you care about someone's well-being. When people talk about empathy deficit, it is usually affective empathy they are referring to. Try as they might, some people just can't muster enough care or concern about others.

Another kind of empathy is cognitive empathy, which is basically about modeling someone else's mind. Ti+Ne might help you with this. You could take your own experience and try to extrapolate from it to understand someone else.

For example, do you feel anything when someone goes out of their way to do something nice for you, such as ask how you're doing, give you a gift, or answer a question for you online? People with normal empathy would feel warmth, appreciation, gratitude, closeness/intimacy, care, love, or a sense of mattering. If you feel good when someone does something nice for you, you can extrapolate from it and guess that someone else may also feel good when you do something nice for them. This is the rationale behind the common advice of treating others the way you would like to be treated.

Even if you aren't capable of feeling good when someone does something nice for you, you can still observe that it is a common phenomenon in the general population. Therefore, you can deduce, through empirical investigation of cause and effect, that people doing nice things for each other is an important aspect of maintaining good relations. This can then be turned into a good principle or practice to follow: "If you want to keep a friend, you have to occasionally do nice things for them (so that they can feel justified in continuing the friendship)." You don't have to use your own emotion to arrive at good principles of action; you can also use logic and common sense to get a similar result.

Empathy is also closely linked to compassion, which is about taking action in accordance with empathic feelings. For example, seeing a friend get injured on the street, it isn't enough to just stand there and feel for them, right? Feeling bad for them should also prompt you to take action to help or save them from further injury or death.

If you can't feel bad for people who are injured, you can still understand, intellectually, that it's not a great situation. Instead of acting on empathic feelings you don't have, you could act out of logic and common sense, knowing that, universally, nobody likes to lie there vulnerable and bleeding on the street. Once again, this could lead you to create a principle/practice to follow: "If you want to keep a friend, you should take action whenever they need help."

If you're not capable of affective empathy, you are still capable of cognitive empathy as long as you are of normal intelligence. Most people rely more on affective than cognitive empathy. However, since you suffer this "disability" of not being able to generate enough affective empathy, you could rely more on cognitive empathy as an adaptation.

Maybe it's impossible for you to become the beloved social butterfly wowing everyone with your charisma, but you can still form meaningful relationships with a handful of people. When you meet a good candidate for friendship, be open and honest about your challenges, then they will know to show you more empathy and patience. As long as you're willing to put out some effort for them, they will return it. Relationships require reciprocity.

This brings us to the last point of "effort", which relates to motivation. Motivation often arises from emotionality; people have a strong desire or feel strongly about something, so they take action. What happens when your feelings and emotions are too muted to motivate action?

Human beings are motivated by a great number of things. The motivation to connect with other people is but one of them. In many cases, empathy deficit doesn't mean a person is incapable of empathizing. It's more precise to say that they can empathize but the motivation is too easily overridden by other conflicting motivations.

To give you a simple example, maybe you just worked a long day on your feet and you're utterly exhausted. You get on the bus to go home and there's only one seat left that's reserved for the disabled or elderly. You take it because no one else wants it. Later, a very frail old man gets on the bus and eyes your seat. What do you do? Many people, out of empathy, would yield the seat. A low empathy person can still feel bad for the old man. The issue is that their empathy level isn't strong enough to override the more pressing motivation to rest.

Oftentimes in relationships, you are faced with a dilemma of having to choose between yourself and others. Instead of thinking of it in terms of "I only care about me and I don't care about them", you can think of it like this:

I have multiple motivations. 1) I want to do what I want to do. 2) But I also want to keep this person as my friend. Just because motivation 1 is always stronger than 2 doesn't mean I always have to choose that way.

Since my feelings and emotions are muted, I do not have the mental resources to satisfy all of my motivations all of the time. I must ensure that I am not too otherwise stressed/taxed when trying to socialize. And I must calculate which motivation is most worthwhile to follow based on the situation.

When faced with a social dilemma, I must analyze which motivation is going to lead me to a better outcome via weighing the pros and cons objectively. In some situations, I will get a better outcome by taking care of my own needs. In some situations, I will get a better outcome by taking action to keep my friend. In some situations, I can be super smooth and efficient and do something that will benefit both of us at the same time. Make the smartest choice given the circumstances.

Taking some extra time to think through possible outcomes helps you make better social decisions (and develop Ne properly). Just like a visually impaired person has to put out effort to read braille or a hearing impaired person has to put out effort to use sign language, you must put out some effort to learn adaptations that will help you participate better in relationships and social situations.

You don't have to overthink. You can learn about people through observation and asking them simple questions. You can follow some basic principles like: compliment people when they do something good; offer help on occasion; say please and thank you; etc. Perhaps read about social etiquette to learn some good rules of thumb. Perhaps study communication skills so that you can express yourself more effectively.

An important aspect of maintaining motivation is regularly getting good results along the way. As INTP, you should be good at analyzing past mistakes for lessons to learn, in a scientific or experimental way. Try something and it doesn't work, don't do it again. Something worked well, try it again. It only works some of the time? Isolate the relevant factors to predict which situations it's more likely to work. You've obviously made some progress since childhood because you now actually care about this issue enough to feel bad and reach out for guidance. When feeling down, people tend to fixate on failure and it's easy to lose sight of all the little improvements achieved. Make sure to review the things you've done well, no matter how small, as a way to keep your motivation up.

Although empathy is an important ingredient in relationships, there are still ways to proceed without it. As long as you have some motivation to socialize, no matter how small or muted, there is hope to build something more out of it. Use those feelings of loneliness, regret, or sadness you just told me about to enhance your motivation and your desire to live your life in a better way (as opposed to wallowing in negativity).

You don't have to be "noble" and take action for others purely because you care deeply about them. Maybe it's enough to do it as a thank you to them for sticking around to make your life more fulfilling. It's not a competition of "me vs them", so don't think of relationships as a "sacrifice". By making them happy, you also make yourself happy, because you get to have a friend. Fe teaches you that good relationships should be win-win, even when you care more about your win than theirs.

[the-owl-tree]

on that note, if you were going to rewrite the sisters/write a similar group, what sort of approach would you take? ( planning on doing something like that if the motivation gods bless me)

i've made some big changes for the sisters for my beanie blog (pspspsps @askwcbean) but I think it really depends on the group you're trying to create. I wanted to keep the Sisters as a sustainable, self-growing group but keep some of the flaws (their strong sense of a gender binary). I don't want to make a utopian society out of spite, but I do want to make a society that could reasonably survive. Soooo (a combo of my ideas & stealing from others):

my collection of bullet point ramblings under the cut

The Sisters are very open to those willing to join and learn. They are a collection of loners, rogues, and kittypets. Not only does this keep our bloodlines less janked up, but it makes sense as to why the group can keep a reasonable amount of cats - they aren't closed off like the clans.

They'll often adopt abandoned kits, cats who are in bad situations, and generally anyone who is willing to learn and work with the group. This is a group that relies on diplomacy and good relations with others, they should be very open to outsiders.

Get rid of the super special bloodline thing. It's both a personal and practical thing, it doesn't work for a group like this. Have being able to see spirits be something you can be taught

I'm not giving Tree super special ghost powers. Sorry, I'm going to forever make fun of his novella it's so fucking stupid. He can see ghosts and has a heightened sensitivity to them, but it takes multiple Sisters and Brothers to be able to summon ghosts into views.

Keep the "Mother" kittypet origin story.

But how do they function? Well, the Sisters seem to operate a fairly small group, it doesn't really make sense to me for them to need a centralized structure. So, going for a decentralized system in the Sisters, power is distributed across the group and there is an emphasis on teamwork and decision making on all parts.

Choosing representatives for when meeting new groups tends to fall on reputation, charisma, and experience. Moonlight was chosen for these reasons, but she does not control the entirety of the group, though cats will lean on her words when she gives advice. She doesn't have legitimate power like a Clan leader, she relies on social influence and respect. Her word isn't law, but she does carry some weight due to her experience.

The Sisters have a fairly strong gender binary: Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, Fathers. You can be one or the other, they'll try to work around those who feel they don't fit for either role....but it doesn't always work out. I lean towards this not being decided by agab, you can shift from Brother to Sister and vice versa, it's those cats that don't exist in that binary who may feel out of place (but this is a wip idea and I want to tweak it more before i commit. i know for sure that Bean is one of those cats who doesn't want to fit this binary and is why she left to take up a "Brother" role despite not seeing herself as a Brother. I don't want them to treat them poorly, though it can happen, but that there's a lot of...reluctance to try and expand their ideas for these cats).

Toms don't get kicked out as babies. It's dumb, sorry everyone who likes that. There's no real logic to it besides a very half-assed attempt at trying to expand on the Sisters beliefs and even then, a kid with no training would get the shit kicked out of him by the wilderness lol

So, Brothers are socialized and trained on how to survive on their own. They're given information on medical herbs, hunting and gathering skills, best material to build dens and where to find a makeshift one in case of an emergency. Once again, this is not suddenly thrust upon them, they are socialized, this is something that they are believed to be as completely natural and an expectation for them.

When they are sufficiently deemed to be ready, the Brother is sent out to find a territory. They just don't just wander around (because I mean...the Sisters fill that role. They're nomadic). This is where I am yoinking a bit from others (notably bonefall's take on them), these territories act as base camps for the Sisters during their travels when they need to restock on herb supplies, have an injured or pregnant member, young kits, etc. That's why it's so important to them to have as many wide varieties of camps across their travels, and it's why Tree and Moonlight have some tension upon their meeting.

Boy picked a bad territory in their opinion, but in his defense, he didn't pick it for the Sisters. My base idea for these is Tree had a bad bad outing, but it needs work. I'll keep their strained relationship, but I'd like a little more depth to it just than the Erins beloved eeeeevvuuuulll mommmmyyyy (sooo scary!).

The Sisters believe they have a duty to help put spirits to rest, as well as help more malevolent ones find peace in the afterlife. They help with hauntings, lingering spirits, malicious spirits, etc.

They work in groups! The more malicious the spirit, the more Sisters it will take to pacify them and eventually release them from whatever is trapping them to the mortal plane.

Annnd so far that's what I've got! I have some more spirit lore over on my Bean blog, but this has been my working ideas for the Sisters themselves. Hope it helps :D