#and feels like a bit of reach in my humble personal opinion

[charlotte-of-wales]

https://x.com/cambridgepower/status/1707733092754972878?s=46&t=AxlDdgQh7bjsCmxr5Sxmtw

This actually explain everything

[akookminsupporter]

I'm rewatching Jungkook's Wlive but with ‘official subtitles’ this time, and I've realised he struggles with imposter syndrome. I had noticed it before, but I often saw it more as him being humble about his achievements, impact, and talent rather than a feeling of self-doubt. It really stands out how much he downplays himself, even when he’s done something incredible. It’s almost like he doesn’t fully believe he deserves the recognition he gets.

Both he and Jimin seem to ‘suffer’ from this the most within the group, in my opinion, and it’s interesting—and honestly a bit sad—to witness. They’ve achieved so much as solo artists and as members of BTS, and yet they seem to constantly question whether it’s enough or if they’re truly worthy of the love and admiration they receive. It’s sad that they think this way because it’s clear to anyone watching how extraordinary and talented they are, but at the same time, it also feels like this mindset is part of what makes them who they are.

That desire to always do better, to never settle, seems rooted in their constant questioning of themselves in many ways. It pushes them to improve every day, striving to achieve this personal ideal of perfection they’ve built in their minds and while it’s inspiring to see their work ethic and dedication to be and do better as artists, I can’t help but wonder if it’s exhausting for them to carry that pressure all the time. Is it healthy? Probably not, but it’s definitely a huge part of what keeps them moving forward and reaching new heights.

Having said all that, it's bittersweet, really. Their self-doubt may fuel their greatness, but I can't help but wish they could see themselves the way the rest of us do—flawed, perhaps, but already perfect in so many ways.

[rosewine-5]

Eyes Never Lie

gif made by margeretmarch

Coriolanus Snow x b!woc capitol reader

(Contains spoilers for T.B.O.S.&S)

A.N: what the hell is a p.o.v anyways, it bounces from one character to another. I am not the best writer so if you see a spelling mistake/ typo I apologize, I’ll get better.

A.N 2.0 : this might get a part 2 because my mind got one idea, then another and I just RAN with it.

Word Count: 4.2k words (trust me, it was more)

———

When the both of you first met, it just so happened to be your first year at the academy. At the time, you were only acquainted to one person, a nice boy who, despite his riches, was very humble, and dare you say good looking: Sejanus Plinth. He had approached you, making civil conversation, and before long you both discovered the two of you had similar thoughts and opinions, particularly about the capitol.

That was when you first laid eyes on him. The tall blue eyed blonde boy. From the look on his face, anyone could tell he was a little nervous, hell everyone was a bit nervous to be here, being the first day and all. But flexing your hand every 5 seconds is a clear sign you’re about to pass out from fear. That was when you approached him, Sejanus not too far behind.

When he turned to you, his eyes widened a little, shocked someone was looking to make conversation with him. While his eyes went from in between Sejanus and yourself, yours stayed on his face. He kept a calm face, not showing a lot of expression, one free lesson growing up you had mastered.

Even though you were blessed to grow up in the capitol, you never much cared for the people, viewing the other districts almost like animals and not people infuriated you.

But you were good at hiding your expression behind your eyes, and this boy was good at it too. Too good. In fact, you couldn’t tell what he was thinking, “Odd, I can usually tell, even guess what people think.” Not him, not Coriolanus Snow, as he introduced himself. You knew of him, just not anything about him other than his family name.

As years went by, it became clear the 3 of you would be close friends, but your feelings for Coriolanus grew deeper than yours for Sejanus. You couldn’t see Sejanus as much as you could Coriolanus, so naturally you would have a deeper connection. The both of you even walked to school most of the time because you lived so close together.

Today you decided to add a couple of beads onto your braids this morning and walked out of the house. After walking a couple of blocks, you spotted Coriolanus just walking outside, and waving to you. “You’re up early.” You said, giving him a short hug which he returned. “I didn’t want to be late.” You rolled your eyes as he said that, “You’ve never been late to class, ever.”

He looked forward, a smirk on his face. “Can’t afford to be late.” He always answered. You looked up at him, his eyes never wavering from the road ahead. “You know why.” He then added, to which you nodded as a reply.

You discovered his true reasoning of why he strived to be top of the class by chance. He had gotten sick as he was walking home, having an uncontrollable coughing fit and fell out on the grass. You refused to let him walk home alone and that was the first time you had seen him so vulnerable. He almost looked embarrassed when you helped him in his home and to his room.

As you helped him out of his jacket, he slowly laid back. You went to get a towel to wipe the blanket of sweat off his forehead. As you came back, he caught your hand. “I’m sorry you had to see this.” He weakly said, returning your attention to him,” Go ahead, laugh at me.” I shook your head, “Why would I? You’re my friend.” You then took the towel and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“I may have been raised capitol, Coriolanus, but I was also raised with a soul. I’d do anything to survive and succeed in this life, who am I to judge you for doing the same thing?”

For a moment the only thing in the room was the sound of his breathing as his hand reached for your hand, and kissed it, before holding it firmly, never looking away from you. You looked in his eyes, and for the first time you could finally see what he was thinking, “Thank you”. You then nodded, not needing him to say a word as you stood up, and kissed his forehead, “Get some rest, Corio, you need it.” As you walked out of the home, you walked in silence.

You felt like a terrible friend, not knowing how much he was going through. But that wasn’t the only reason, your heart soared when his lips kissed your hand. Sure it might have been an innocent gesture, but the way he looked at you made your heart stop for a second. Sometimes you swear he did it on purpose.

During the last academy year, the closer you got to Coriolanus, the more you realized you truly loved him, and sometimes you thought he loved you back. The walks to the academy became slower and somehow his hand always found yours. At one point you had to run to get there on time, earning the both of you harsh stares from Dean Highbottom and smirks from Sejanus.

The both of you also agreed to study together whenever you could, even including Sejanus whenever he was free. There was no doubt in your mind that either you or Coriolanus would be top of the class, and receiving the Plinth Prize. And if you were the one who came out on top, you would give Coriolanus the funds he needed, whatever they would be.

While you two studies for the last test, he smiled when you rolled his eyes. “Alright smartass, you’re going to pass.” You said. Suddenly, he pulled you into his arms, and hugged you tightly.

You then felt his voice break, “Thank you.” He softly said. “You’re my friend, I’d help you with anything.” You said, looking up at him, a smile splitting your face. As you walked to class the next day & took the exam, he had a sly smirk on his face the whole day. Even at lunch he didn’t drop it. “Someone in a real good mood.” Sejanus said, nudging his shoulder. “Yeah, what’s got you in a good mood?” You teasingly asked. “You know.” He said, looking at you, the smirk turning into a smile, which all of your mirrored.

As the two of you walked back home he had a smile on his face again. Confidence. As he stayed close behind you, you stopped when you got to his doorstep. “So, here’s to winning the Plinth Prize tomorrow.” You said, giving him one last hug, which he returned. That was when you lifted your head to look up at him, but he was already looking down at you. Once again, you couldn’t read the thoughts behind his eyes, but you could make a good guess. He only had that similar look when it was just the two of you together: admiration.

“What is it?” You asked, a nervous chuckle leaving your mouth. He only shook his head, offered you a smile, finally releasing you from the embrace. “See you tomorrow, Calanthe.” He whispered before going inside. “One day I’ll look up what that name means.” You said to yourself, walking home.

The next day, graduation day. You woke up early to get your makeup on, slicking your edges back, and, to enhance your braids, added a gold charm in the middle. Afterwards you got dressed in the outfit Tigris made for your graduation. She insisted on it and told you she wouldn’t take no for an answer. As you walked to their home, you heard your name being called from behind you. Tigris was waving you down before hugging you excitedly. “Turn around for me!” She said, making you twirl as she admired her work.

As you waited, you saw Grandma’am clip a rose and walk out of her room. “Oh, dearie don’t you look gorgeous.” She said, smiling at you and opening her arms to you. You met her in the middle and gave her a light hug. “Not a gorgeous as you, Grandma’am.” You said, smiling at her kind words. She then walked forward and after an exchange of words, pinned the rose to his vest.

His eyes finally met yours, and then they took in your dress. He walked forward and kissed your hand, a now normal occurrence between the two of you. “Shall we?” He asked, before walking the both of you out the door. As the two of you walked to the academy, you could feel his eyes on you. “You look beautiful.” He said, giving you a smile, and making your heart soar once more.

“And you look dashing today.” You complimented, not missing the red tint on his cheeks. As you two walked up the stairs, his arm looped into yours. “Never missed a class, never been late.” He said to himself. “Corio, you got this.” You said, encouraging him, he offered you a small smile just as a new and familiar voice broke the moment.

“Why Coriolanus Snow.” You saw the small smirk grow on his face. “Clemie.” He said, offering him his other arm. “Hey girl.” She said, nodding to you, and getting a smile in return. “Two girls on your arm, must be your lucky day.” Clemmie teased and making Corio roll his eyes. As she continued to talk, your mind went to the graduation. You were getting more nervous than usual.

Something felt off today, and you didn’t like it.

You didn’t realize you had stayed in a trance until Sejanus walked up beside you, breaking the gaze. “Sejanus, you made it to the reaping for once.” “And you made it to graduation, Festus, we’re both shocked.” After hearing Sejanus’ quips, you went to sit down. You didn’t know why your nerves were acting up, but you couldn’t kick this feeling. “You ok?” You heard a voice ask, Sejanus was standing over you, concern in his eyes. “I’m just nervous about today.” You said, making him nod in response.

“Well, you may be right.” He said, sitting done next to you. That made the hair on the back on your neck stand up. And the look on his face didn’t help either. “What do you mean?” You asked, but getting no answer. Then as the rest of the students sat down, you saw why he was so silent. After it was announced there would be no more Plinth Prize, you looked at Coriolanus, who had a worried expression on his face.

However, when it was announced that the graduates would be mentors of the Hunger Games, that was when you froze, and your mind started to race.

There’s 25 graduates.

There are only 24 tributes.

Someone isn’t getting a tribute.

Going from district to district, started to guess who had a good chance at winning. Your heart broke when one girl, Dill, was pulled out. You stared to wonder if she had been voted so she could die in the arena. When it got to the district 12 female tribute, it was down to you and Coriolanus. His hand found yours and held it tightly, but you didn’t know who was holding on tighter.

“The runt girl from district twelve, she belongs to Coriolanus Snow.��

And that was when you knew he was the one holding on to you. He squeezed your hand so hard you almost thought he broke it.

The tribute: Lucy Gray, was wearing a colorful dress with a corset top. You had to admit, she was beautiful, and so was her dress. You watched as she put a snake on a girls dress, making you smirk. “I love her already” you thought to yourself. But then your mind suddenly came back to reality, you didn’t have a tribute. What did I do wrong? Did I pass? Did I fail?

The only thing that broke your trance was a voice singing, then another. You saw Lucy Gray stand up, and continue to sing by herself. “YOU CAN KISS MY ASS!” She then screamed. As the rest of the people laughed at her, you and Coriolanus shared a look: I like her.

As the laughter started to die down, one voice spoke up. “If you didn’t receive a tribute, report to Dr. Gaul.” Highbottom’s voice spoke up, and then it was silent. All eyes turned toward you, and it made you want to curl up in a ball and die. Sejanus’ hand found yours, giving you a silent squeeze of encouragement, and Coriolanus’ did the same. You then walked towards the woman, a small smile gracing her face.

“Let’s have a talk, child.” She said, her hand finding your back, leading you away from the hall. You were only able to catch a small glimpse of Coriolanus’ worried expression as you went down the hallway. She started to hum a tune while she led you to her lab. You had never been here, but you always wanted to get a peek. “Guess I got my wish.”

“I’ve been watching you, dear, for a long time.” She said, going further into the room. “Almost the top of your class, but you could never quite get that edge.” Dr. Gaul said, pinching her fingers together. “Why am I here?” You asked, finally finding your voice. Dr. Gaul then raised her eyebrows, and then let out a dark chuckle. “Let me ask you: What do you crave most in this world?”

You sighed, “To survive and thrive in this world.” She nodded, “Good answer.” She said, smiling. “You and your friend, Coriolanus, you two are good friends. Bonds like that build trust, those bonds can help you live as much as they can destroy you.” Dr. Gaul said, going to one of her glass cases in her lab. You didn’t know what the hell was in it, and frankly, you didn’t want to know. “I’ve known President Ravinstill for a long time, and we both live well, and thrive.” She said, putting her hand on your shoulder before looking down at you.

“I see myself in you, child. You thirst for survival, but to thrive you need to reach for power,” that was when she gave you a deadpanned look, “that’s why I pulled you from the games.” Your eyes widened at the realization, and she smiled once more. “You don’t need the Plinth Prize when you got mommy and daddy’s money. Why settle for a housewife when you have the brains of game maker.”

You almost shouted when she finished, “Game maker?” You said, to which she nodded. “You’ve always been a curious child, a strong appetency for knowledge.” Dr. Gaul said, putting her gloved hand under your chin. “You want a look behind the curtain? You wanna know how the puppeteer makes the strings? You need to join the magic show.”

You thought about your options, but you knew this opportunity wouldn’t come around twice. Almost like she knew your answer, Dr. Gaul then took you hand, and led you deeper into her lab.

After talking for hours, you knocked on Coriolanus’ door and it immediately opened to a shocked Tigris. “Where’s Corio?” You asked, after hugging her. It didn’t take long for him to come around the corner and hugged you tightly. “What happened? Did you get hurt?” He asked, but you stopped his hand as he examined your face. “I’m okay. Dr. Gaul just pulled from the competition.” You calmly said, and immediately regretted it, the faces of Tigris and Coriolanus going from worry to shock. “Why?” He asked.

She told me she’d be mentoring me from now on. I’ll be studying under her from now on, as well as continuing my classes.” His eyebrows rose before hugging her again. “That’s great news.” He said, but then I hugged him tighter. “For a moment, I thought my life was done for.” He nodded, and then looked you deep in the eyes. “We will get through this. I promise you.” You left a few minutes later, but before you got down the street, Coriolanus caught you “Hey!” He shouted, making you turn around. He was running towards you, holding out a wrapped cloth.

“I meant to give you this at the graduation, but you were pulled away.” He said. You unwrapped it, and smiled when you saw the flower charm. You smiled and held it tightly. “I meant to get a charm for this one day.” You said, looking up at him. “Guess I beat you to it.” He said, before returning the smile. “Meet me at the train tomorrow. I have a plan on how to get in Lucy Gray’s good graces.” You nodded and went home afterwards.

The next morning you got up early and put your uniform on before walking to the station, where Coriolanus was already talking to Lucy Gray, who saw you walking up to them. “Another mentor?” She suddenly said, turning towards you, pointing a white rose in your direction, obviously a gift from Coriolanus. Smart.

That was when he turned to you, and put an arm around you. “This is Lucy Gray. Lucy Gray, this is my closest friend.” He said, and you gave her a smile. “Another rebel?” She said, looking at you. “If it fits,” you said, shrugging, before leaning closer to her. “ loved the stunt you pulled with the snake by the way.” You added, making her smirk.

The moment was cut short when a peacekeeper nudged her and the male tribute towards a vehicle. “It was lovely to meet you two.” She said, before being led away to the back of a van. You then saw his eyes go to the van, and then it clicked in your head. “Corio, don’t.” You said, but it was too late. He was running toward the van, and you were following close behind him. It finally registered what you just did when he slammed the door behind him and felt the van move, going wherever it was going.

And now here you two were.

In a vehicle.

Full of tributes who were looking at the two of you like lions to lambs. Corio put you beside him, putting you closer to the tribute from 2 and the wall. “Hi.” He said, his voice sounding weak. “You in the wrong cage pretty boy, pretty girl?” The tribute Realer asked, tilting his head to look at you. “This cage is delightful.” He said, and then Reaper went towards Corio, pinning him to the back. You yelped when you were then surrounded by the tributes. “Shit.” You thought.

Somewhere between the exchange between Corio and the other tributes, you felt the truck come to a sudden stop, getting everyone’s attention. That was when you felt the truck start to tilt forward, everyone started to slide down. In one swoop you reached for Lucy’s hand as she reached for yours as Coriolanus wrapped one arm around your waist and your free arm around his shoulders. The three of you were able to hang on to each other as the other tributes began to slide down and out of the van. The three of you followed suit after the harness broke, sending you all tumbling out of the truck.

Lucy slid down first, with you and Corio falling out last. He was able to wrap both of his arms around you before everyone let out groans and curses from falling on rocks. When you were able to look up, you realized exactly where you were: The Capitol Zoo. And if fate couldn’t make it any better, Lucky Flickerman was in front of the pen, with his entourage of cameramen. “You gotta be kidding me.” You said, groaning and leaving you head down, only to be met with a blue shirt.

As you lifted your head, you were face to face with Coriolanus, who, somehow, had managed to keep his hold on you when everyone tumbled out of the van. “You ok?” You asked, to which he nodded. “Yes. Are you ok?” He asked, and you nodded in response. His eyes went to your necklace and the rose charm attached to it, a smile blooming on his face. His hand touched it, “You put it on.” He said in a soft tone & a tender look in his eyes.

As you both smiled at each other, you felt one hand go to your cheek and to then the other to your waist. The rest of Panem melted away as his breath hit your face. You forgot about being in the capitol, being Gaul’s student, and the tributes around you as you looked in between his eyes and his lips. “Calanthe.” He whispered, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper. That was until the voice of Flickerman broke the moment. “Are those academy students?” He said, and the both of you looked up to see the camera pointed directly at you.

“You guys ok?” Lucy asked, walking up to the both of you. “Yeah, you?” You asked, getting off of Corio and helping him up. The three of you looked around, and sighed. That’s when you began to brainstorm: how could you get out of this without getting expelled? “We gotta get them to love her.” You said to yourself. You then brought your necklace to the front of your shirt before unbuttoning the top button, making the rose charm more visible. “We give them what they want: a performance.” You then walked to Lucy and began to smooth out her hair while Corio broke the white rose and tucked it behind her ear.

He then put her hand out for Lucy to take, which she accepted. He then turned and opened his arm towards you, making you raise your eyebrows. “Trust me.” He whispered, and Lucy nodded towards his arm, and that’s how you found yourself being next to him as he presented Lucy to a pair of children at the cage.

You weren’t only shocked of how he fell into the role of a mentor, but how Lucy played her part as a tribute. She had a smile on her face when she talked to the children, and a calm expression when Flickerman approached and interviewed her. You couldn’t help but smile as she talked about her dress and where she was from. The Covey sounded like it was a homely group of people. You couldn’t help but picture how the nature of district 12 looked.

That was when Lucky Flickerman turned towards you. “And who might this lovely lady be? Are you also her mentor?” He asked, the camera’s filling the microphone as it was put in front of you. An innocent smile grew on your face as you shifted your tone into a kind voice, while still having a serious edge to it. “No sir, I’m taking courses from Dr. Gaul instead of being a mentor in the games. I’m here to support my dear friend, Coriolanus Snow.” You said, smiling up at him, which he responded by squeezing you closer to him. “You both seem pretty close for dear friends. How long have you known each other?” Flickerman asked, moving the microphone to Coriolanus.

“Since the first day we went to the academy. She approached me, and we’ve been close ever since. I’ve never known a more intelligent and alluring woman.” He said, and your eyes did a double take at his choice of words. Before you could answer, peacekeepers walked in and escorted you out of the cage. “I’ll come back later.” You said to Lucy Gray, holding her hand for a moment before you were taken away, Corio coming out a minute later. As the both of you walked back to class, you kept looking up at Coriolanus.

“On a scale of one to expelled, how fucked do you think we are?” You asked, making him chuckle. “He wanted us to make them spectacles, he never said how we had to do it.” He said, nudging your shoulder, making you huff out a short laugh. You then took his hand and gripped it tight, which he reciprocated. “To survive and thrive.” You said, walking closer to the classroom. “We will survive these games,” Coriolanus softly said, before stopping you, and making you look up at him. “I promise you.”

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

[1ichtbringer]

i would love to hear more about your thoughts on choso if you want to share!! i always struggle to connect to him as a character admittedly because i haven't paid that much attention to his character building, so his connection to yuuji is basically front and center to me. would love to know more about what draws people to him though c:

hi, I feel like choso is one of those characters where most readers fell for the character’s facade when they were supposed to dismantle it or something like that :D

to put it simply, the reason I love choso is that, aside from his cool jujutsu skills, he is one of the few full-fledged characters in jjk, a character with a beautifully tragic story on top of that. all in my humble opinion, of course. :)

to show you, what I exactly mean, i will refer to 1. his jujutsu abilities and 2. his character arc and personal story. so, let’s start with the first one.

now, JJK has a lot of characters with super cool abilities and great understanding of jujutsu, unfortunately they just get overshadowed by the power houses like gojo, sukuna etc.

choso is such a case imo. he’s classified as a special grade curse and estimated to be a grade one sorcerer later. he’s a skilled all rounder, meaning he can combat in all ranges, has refined cursed energy control and high durability and strength, even compared to the other death painting wombs. he’s inherited the traditional kamo family CT Blood Manipulation and has arguably perfected his craft, without access to family knowledge, manuals or any battle experience, which is very remarkable.

but the problem with hereditary techniques is that the knowledge eventually seeps through the family boundaries, especially the three big clans seem to be thoroughly informed about each other’s techniques. which is the reason naoya instantly knows how to counter him. additionally, as his parent and because of his own former vessels, kenjaku also knows about the weakness’s of BM, which is a bit of a hardship.

choso can use all common BM abilities, however he also adds some of his own special creations, which is why he can catch off even stronger opponents in his battles despite his lack of battle experience (including kenjaku themself).

even though he looks like the hotheaded, emotional type at first glance, he’s actually very smart and an underrated tactician, seen to be advising JJT several times and coming up with clever plans to aid the sorcerers, even as they prepare to fight kenjaku and sukuna. he also has a remarkable logical understanding of jujutsu, that he seems to have developed on his own since he’s been incarnated for only a few months. I highly recommend you to pay attention to his fighting style or his comments on other people’s fights, it’s always interesting to listen to him. :)

now to his story:

I think since he’s a minor character, who seems rather stoic and unobtrusive on the surface, a lot of people focus on his dynamic with yuji instead of taking the opportunity to look behind his facade. so for a better understanding, let’s have a quick look into his backstory.

as death painting wombs, him and his brothers are the result of kenjaku’s “intellectual curiosity”, essentially conceived through longtime sexual exploitation of their mother, who naturally ends up resenting kenjaku for what they did to her. interestingly enough, choso is the only death painting, who gains memories of his parents and inherits his mother’s hatred for his father.

anyway, at some point, JJT retrieves the death paintings as cursed objects and locks them up in their warehouse, where they basically spent one and a half centuries in imprisonment while they’re fully conscious and alive. we know this, because it’s in those 150 years, that choso works on his jujutsu and also because he remembers his brothers reaching out to him for comfort while they have to live in complete darkness and cold.

once him, eso and kechizu are incarnated, choso, as the eldest, makes the decision to ally themselves with the disaster curses, despite not trusting them. He tells his brothers, it’s because “the future made by cursed spirits is more convenient for them”. We’ll come back to this statement later.

he loves his brothers and looks out for them, but he also has pride and confidence in their strength, which is why he lets eso and kechizu go on a mission without their big brother. unfortunately, it results in them being killed by their own half brother without any of them knowing, leaving choso with a lot of anger and the desire to kill the murderer of his brothers (remember, anger is just a secondary emotion).

after shibuya, where he’s finally confronted the killer of his brothers, only to realize that this mere child, is not only in fact one of his brothers, but has been going through hell without any remaining family, choso adopts yuji as his little brother.

now this is where it gets interesting, because most fans either seem to find his overprotectiveness for yuji extremely strange or endearingly funny, when in reality it’s evident that he has severe guilt and PTSD. not only, because he just failed to protect two of his precious family members the one time he left them out of his sight (even though it wasn’t his fault at all), but because he was the one who suggested to ally with the cursed spirits. in fact, he wasn’t entirely honest about his motivation to join the cursed spirits earlier.

see, the death paintings actually didn’t know anything about their appearances until the moment they incarnated. once they did though, choso quickly realizes a harsh truth about them. he looks quite “human” - human enough, to live among other humans, probably. but his brothers don’t.

eso and kechizu look different, their bodies are not normal. humans will never accept them and they will have to live in great pain, which scares choso, so much so, that he takes the “easy way out” for their sake.

but while he had worried about the hardships his half curse brothers could face among humans, yuji actually had to live through hell on his own, because of his humanity.

when yuji brings up, what he did to eso and kechizu, choso brushes it off quickly by telling him not to worry about it, that it was all a misunderstanding. again, he isn’t being entirely honest here. he actually doesn’t want yuji to worry, because he blames himself for their deaths. he blames himself for his dead brothers and he also blames himself for not finding yuji earlier, even though none of it is remotely his fault.

while yuji believes he doesn’t deserve to walk alongside his friends after sukuna’s rampage in shibuya, choso thinks he is undeserving of walking beside him. after all he killed humans - even though they were never treated kindly by them, deemed to be curses or objects or both their whole life.

yuki’s last words to him are to keep on living as a human. which is ironic, because right from the start, choso is as human as it gets.

he feels hate, but more importantly he feels love. love for his brothers, love for a mother he never met, love for yuji whom he just found, love for the first friend he’s made and who saves him before she dies.

his emotions are his greatest strength, but they’re also his biggest weakness. he is extremely selfless, but also very selfish. he has fears, is flawed and makes mistakes, quite a lot of them actually. he tells naoya that he makes them, so his siblings can learn from his misery and do better. It’s why he’s so tough in the first place, after all he had no one to rely on and had to learn everything by himself. he’s empathetic, oftentimes hiding his true thoughts in consideration for the people dear to him.

when he reunites with eso and kechizu in the afterlife, kechizu is surprised by how apologetic their big brother has become. their big brother, who always knew what to do and what to say without the need to apologise, looks strangely vulnerable now.

and even in his last moments, he still feels as though he didn’t do enough for yuji, despite being by his side in his direst times and giving his life for him. he dies with regrets, like sorcerers supposedly do, but he also dies with gratitude in his heart. gratitude for his little brother, who brought out his most human parts and allowed to stay by his side despite everything he did and like the big brother he is, he teaches yuji one last important lesson: that no one in this world is born with a set role.

[smgsyndicate]

Little!Rain & CG!Alpha

No CW, Age Regression, Kinks DNI

Regressed Rain with CG!Alpha ??? Yes .

Anyways, a 2k-something word long mindless fic about them being adorable. No warnings, just cuteness

ALSO . Suggestions and criticism is welcome and encouraged (please be nice tho lmao)

The ministry halls were unusually quiet, though that may have something to do with the time. Alpha looked down at his wrist to check the time, sighing very obnoxiously when he was met with the sight of his bare wrist. ... The fire ghoul doesn't even own a watch.

Alpha just huffs, pulling out his phone and squinting at the light as it shines the numbers 3:33am brightly in his face. He groans, turning his phone back off and scrubbing tiredly at his face before going back to what he was doing ... Pacing the halls.

Sometimes, a feeling Alpha could never get anyone else to understand, would creep up on him. The feeling brought up intense urges to make sure absolutely *everyone* was safe.

This time though, he was thankful for his un-fightable urge, rounding the corner of the water ghoul's wing when he hears a soft sniffling. His ear flicks, eyes turning to pin pricks and his breathing slowing as he listened for the soul crushing sound again. ... *There!* Right there it was again!

But if a ghoul is crying... Who? Must be a water ghoul, obviously. But *who?* The sound was too raw and bare with emotion, as opposed to the silent and angry cry of a certain ghoullette, Mist.

The sound was a shitty attempt at hiding sadness, something Chain was *never* good at. You would *always* know when Chain was upset, letting out ugly (in Chain's own humble opinion) sobs anything something upsets him.

There was a distinct lack of destruction around, leading Alpha to believe it wasn't Lake either. The older fire ghoul brushed the tips of his fingers across the doors, wondering *who* could be so sad?

The answer hit him as he heard a sad wet sniffle come from the door to his right. He pauses, turning towards it. The name "Rain" is etched in a gorgeous stone that Alpha wouldn't be able to tell you the name of, sea creatures of all shapes and sizes glued to the pretty name tag.

The guitarist stared at the door with his mouth twisted to a slight frown. It's not that he didn't like the new ghoul- quite the opposite actually. His calmer personality and soft voice was a much welcome change to the hyperactive ghouls that were Swiss, Phantom, and Sodo.

Alpha hovers his hand over the door knob, hesitating. He didn't really know the guy, opting to spend his time reading or messing around trying to make his own music. Would his help be appreciated? Or even actually helpful?

The ghoul sighs, turning to walk away but a distressed chirp catches his breath. His head whips around to face the door again, throwing caution to the wind and knocking as gently as he could. (Which isn't all that gently, but he's trying?)

The crying grows quieter before a shaky voice reaches his ears. "H-hello?" Alpha winces at the attempt of sounding normal. "Hey buddy, you doing okay? I can try to help if you need anythi-" before he could finish, the door is opened and he stumbles with the force of a water ghoul hugging him tight.

The fire ghoul's face contorts into a mix of discomfort and surprise. Alpha had no problem letting the newer summon hug him, no. The problem was ... How was he supposed to comfort the ghoul?

He hugs the shorter ghoul, rubbing his back with what he hopes is a reassuring smile and not one that expresses his current feeling of being out of his depth. "Shhh.. shh... It's alright. What's going on?"

Thankfully, Rain either doesn't notice or doesn't comment on it, hiding his face in Alpha's chest with a body wracking sob. "I- I-" Rain's gills flutter and he shakes as he tries to get his breathing regulated enough to speak. "I wan- I wanted to prac'ice my bass but when 'm got there, is was broked! The strings!"

The guitarist nodded sympathetically, but was still a bit confused. How did this all lead up to this much distress? "A-an then when I tried to fixed it? We has no more!" Alpha frowned at the water ghoul's words for a few different reasons. Firstly, he feels bad for the bassist. Secondly, the practice room is usually stocked- so he made a mental note to remind Special to order some more. Third of all... The ghoul is a mess over something that's not that big of a deal? And his words are all slightly off and it's almost like a child throwing a tantrum-

Alpha would've face palmed if not for the fact he currently had his arms full of a Rain ghoul, who is still clinging to him just as tight. He's not as experienced with the coping mechanism known as age regression, but he'd heard enough from Omega that he's confident enough that that's what he's dealing with.

With as gentle of a smile as the fire ghoul could muster, he carefully moved the water ghoul so he could see his face. "Rain, how old are you right now?" The bassist blinked at him owlishly, lashes wet and small tear tracks left in his sorrow's wake. His brow furrowed adorably, (at least in Alpha's opinion), before he softly spoke.

The older ghoul tilts his head. The answer wasn't English? "Can you repeat that, little one?" The water ghoul lets out an embarrassed chirp at the name, shyly nodding. "... Trois.." Alpha wracks his brain for information, frustrated at the lack of answers before he lets out a soft "oh." of understanding. "You're three, droplet?"

Rain just nods, biting his lip anxiously. "I- I can uhm. I can go 'way an deal with it on my own though- if you wanna. M a big ghoul... An .. droplet 's Dewy's name. Not mine! Silly!" He giggles a bit at the end, but his voice is heavy with rejection.

Alpha frowns at that, shaking his head gently and keeping his tone light as to not frighten the little ghoul. "No, no. It's alright. You can stay with me until you're feeling better. Besides, there's plenty of other names out there little guppy."

That seems to be a good enough response because soon enough he finds himself with a hand full of a purring water ghoul. A small sound catches the guitarist's attention, ear flicking. "You hungry, little one?" He says with amusement, still gently rubbing Rain's back.

Rain flushes and hides his face in embarrassment at his stomach growling. "M... Mhm..." They hum out in agreement. Alpha lets out a small "aw" at their adorable behaviour, bringing a hand up to push their curtain bangs out of their face.

"No need to be shy, dragonfly. I've got you." The fire ghoul goes to pick him up but pauses. "Is it alright to pick you u-" he's interrupted by an excited trill and Rain lifting his arms expectantly. "Uppies!" He cheers, tail wagging so quickly that it shakes him slightly.

Alpha laughs at that, picking up the excited water ghoul. Surprisingly, Rain is pretty light. He expected some sort of struggle carrying a full gown ghoul (or well,,, full grown *physically*,) but it seems not to matter. Alpha maneuvers him to be resting on his hip as he makes his way towards the kitchen, eyes flicking over to the regressed ghoul every few seconds to make sure he's alright.

The bassist pouts, fins flattening, when Alpha gently coaxes the bassist's fingers out of his own mouth. They whine, immediately going back to do the same thing again. Alpha just sighs dramatically with a smile, trying to think of something better.

Naturally, he'd give the little one a pacifier, but he's never personally dealt with this situation before. He feels out of his depth with no tools or toys or anything to help keep the water ghoul all happy. Still, he tries his best to make Rain happy.

"Shhh... None of that baby. Can you tell me what kind of drink you want? Or maybe something to eat if you feel up to it?" Alpha remembers something Omega said about some littles not wanting to eat if they feel too young, opting for a drink alternative if they can. However, the guitarist can't remember what age range the Quint had said. "Mnh... M'k.."

The fire ghoul nods, carefully setting the bassist down on the counter and grabbing the milk jug from the fridge. He hums in thought as to what container to put it in, knowing the water ghoul would spill it in his current space.

"Boddle!" Rain chirps out happily, pointing at a cabinet Alpha's never used before. The lead guitarist nods with a relieved sigh when he sees an array of different bottles and sippy cups in the cabinet. He pulls out a blue one with cute little sea creatures on it and closes the cupboard, pouring the milk into the bottle and moving to put it in the microwave.

He stops when he hears a distressed whine, turning to see the bassist frowning at him and reaching for the bottle. "Oh, I'm just heating it up for you little one. Don't worry, you'll get it soon enough."

This doesn't seem to please Rain, making him whine louder and shake his head. Alpha swears he remembers Omega saying that he should heat up the milk, saying regressors would find the warmth soothing and it would be easier to make them take a nap, but in this moment? Alpha just wants the bassist to be happy.

Definitely not because Rain has him bending to his every demand with big round eyes and watery tears threatening to emerge and a sad little pout on his face .. ... No, definitely not. Alpha hands the bottle to the water ghoul, watching him fumble with it for a moment before chuckling and taking it back.

"Right. Forgot. You're just a little thing, aren't you?" He says fondly, big blue eyes blinking back at him owlishly. "Come here, you." He says, scooping up Rain as best he can despite only being a bit taller than the little ghoul.

Alpha carries him to the couch, sitting down carefully and putting the bottle down. He reaches over and grabs the spare blanket they always leave there in case they find a sleeping ghoul on the couch and wraps it around the bassist, swaddling him as best as he can.

Rain chirps and trills loudly at that, making Alpha chuckle. "You like that, huh? Being all comfy and cozy?" The water ghoul doesn't really reply, just happily nuzzling against the lead guitarist with happy little sounds.

The fire ghoul hums. "Alright, alright. Let's get something in your tummy now, hm?" Alpha paused, realizing he's been talking out loud to basically himself since Rain's too little to respond.

He stays quiet, feeling slightly embarrassed as he picks up the bottle and brings the nip to the little ghoul's mouth. Rain blinks at it before looking up at Alpha.

The fire ghoul sighs, realizing the water ghoul liked him talking. "Alright, alright, fine. You win. Now drink your bottle before I die of worry you silly thing. C'mon, open please baby." The bassist doesn't quite understand for a moment but with the help of Alpha trying to work it into his mouth, the water ghoul happily starts to suckle on the bottle. He purrs in-between gulps of milk, eyes closing and body relaxed peacefully as he drinks.

"Thereeee you go, buddy! Good job! You must be starving, huh? All tired out from such an exhausting day, hm? We'll go restring your bass tomorrow, okay? Right now, just rest up and relax." Rain chirps, happily drinking the bottle still.

Alpha just smiles softly when he notices the milk starting to drip down the bassist's chin, gently removing the bottle and wiping off the spilt milk gently. "I guess that's naptime, little shark." He says quietly, slowly standing up and carrying Rain to his room.

He looks around, never having been in the newer summons room before. The walls are painted with an ocean mural, all sorts of sea creatures and coral painted as well. Alpha carefully lays the little water ghoul down on the bed, adjusting the blanket and pulling another over him to make sure he's comfortable.

Rain whines quietly, wiggling a bit and chewing on his lip. Alpha tsk'd and gently pulled the bassist's fangs away from his own lip. "None of that, little one. Settle back down and go back to sleep baby ghoul."

The fire ghoul noticed a small box sticking out from under the bed, pulling it out and opening it to see some little gear. He smiled and picked up a small green pacifier with a little fish charm on it. "Here you go, this should be better, yeah?"

Alpha gently slips the pacifier into Rain's mouth, watching the water ghoul easily relax at the soothing pressure. The fire sighs, feeling slightly disappointed at having to leave now. "Alright... Sleep well little one."

He stands up to walk away but is stopped by a heartbreaking whine. When he turns back, the bassist is looking back at him with big watery eyes, begging him to stay.

The lead guitarist can't help the small smile. "Alright baby. I'll stay." He says softly, moving onto the bed and holding Rain close to his chest protectively. "Sleep tight, little rainbow." Alpha kissed the little ghoul's forehead, happily falling asleep to the sound of quiet happy little purrs.

[adhdtsukasa]

totally not what i intended to post today but also whatever, we ball. pinocchiop is my favorite vocap and i'm very autistic about both him and wxs, so, to honor the song campaign clues that we got today, allow me to present to you the reincarnation apple wxs cover line distribution i did some time ago — and why, in my humble opinion, it fits wxs much more than it fits niigo,

(the lyrics where the color changes each word are where the characters both sing at the same time but my notes app doesn't have the option to do a gradient)

i'm in no way expecting it to be an official line distribution because i did it based on my personal interpretation of the lyrics — and i feel like dedicating almost a whole big part of the song to each member might mess up with the game cut, but i also really would like to see them have solos of those parts — but they're here to help me explain my point better my point. so!

what i like about wandasho covers is that they are performers — and it should give them more creative liberty when it comes to their covers. that's why the reincarnation in this song could be simply treated as them getting into roles, reliving countless lives as actors. even though the accuracy of the lines sung is always nicely welcomed, the covers don't have to always be 100% fitting. and that's fine. especially in wxs' case, because that is a yet another story that they want to tell us.

people often say that the storyline fits niigo but i... don't see it at all? i mean, yeah, ena as the artist and kanade as the savior, that much is obvious (and i guess you could also say that mizuki as a revolutionary, but that is kind of a reach?). but what about the part describing the inventor that matches rui's backstory so well? what if you put main story tsukasa in the artist's place and draw the similiarities? what if you think about emu as the savior, comparing the savior's unconditional love to her wanting to save wonder stage and make everyone smile? the only match that doesn't fit quite well is nene and the revolutionary, but you can't have anything i guess. and then the adventurer part, which is a call back to the our happy ending set (i set out in search of an ideal — emu deciding to go with wxs in order to expand her knowledge and horizons) (and then you know, the end has come with the reincarnation apple)... and then lines like i'm not smart enough and i don't have a great cause could resonate with how people viewed emu and rui in the past.

"oh but isn't the start of the song a bit too dark and depressing for it to be a wxs cover?" kami no manimani starts in a similiar way and yet it still is a wxs cover.

and, putting lyrics aside, it just doesn't feel like a niigo song from the instrumental alone. i'm not a music expert so i don't have strong arguments for it, but for me it sounds absolutely like a wxs song. it even reminds me of sekahaji in a way.

does that mean you're in the wrong for wanting niigo to cover it? nope! i just simply want to explain why it fits. and i don't want people to complain that it doesn't make sense for it to end up as a wxs cover. because i will cry.

tldr: reincarnation as a metaphore for acting save me

[spotlightlowlife]

Alastor hazbin let down

By overhype and a lack of tone setting.

He isn't creepy

Try as they may, the glitchy effects just tell me that this is a quirky character, only most of the cast are quirky in character just not too flashy.

Nobody is particularly menacing, including Alastor who so far has been a bit menacing to a character who isn't going anywhere and unnamed extras who not even Charlie 'everyone is worthy', 'these are my people/family' cared about.

His secrets mean nothing to anyone

Where has he been for seven years? The same absence period of Lilith? Who cares?

What Alastor knows is what the audience and clueless Charlie doesn't, but others do.

All someone else's talk

In the pilot it was Vaggie who let us know who exactly Alastor was and ehat he was capable of, she wanted no part of him around, but nothing to loose, no opinion in the matter Charlie did.

Mimzy in her passing visit told us more about him, she actually bought his character down to earth a little which was actually a good thing, Mimzy let us know that Alastor could be fun, reminded us that he had a whole life, she offered us a time frame of his existence and let us know he has friends/acquaintances/connections.

Though the 'bringing down to earth' negative aspect would happen too this episode, through no doing of Mimzys but entirely of Alastors. Unfortunately Alastor appears to have cut off Mimzy as a friend, leaving him with a shorter reach.

Any other reputable character steals his spotlight

Alastair was outshone by Mimzy, who literally interpreted his song baiting the actual devil. In this episode he showed that he wasn't all too composed when not in control of the situation or when outclassed, his attitude to Lucifer case in point, who he can't possibly topple any time soon in any way. All would be fine if we got to see what he did about it when he had time to himself or what he would do when things escalated, a missed opportunity being in the last episode he would lose to Adam, which was great, Alastor gave off overconfidence and lack of interest as usual, but by now we have seen how much he wishes to insert himself among those higher, only for him to treat Adam like a nobody - how did he feel about the looming danger he was in and not being in the same ballpark as someone who felt confident enough to challenge? Who knows, he as good as drifted away like piss in the ocean.

We didn't learn of any particular interest or reason for lack of in Adam, for someone who does so much research.

Between these encounters, Rosie too managed to stand out more than him as his confidant who successfully run an operation, had a clear goal, seemed unconditionally helpful, a people person and got through to Charlie with nice enough advice and a ear to listen.

He struggles to keep up an act, something that's not utilized at all when it could be

Being overactive to Lucifer, showing dislike for no apparent reason and dropping the bomb seems like it was meant to get a laugh out of the audience, only for Alastor to go on to continue tormenting Charlie's dad and to build a rivalry. If a rivalry was the intention then the usual composed attitude would have fit. If there's a reason for a hatred he struggles to contain, it's a shame the time wasn't made to delve into this.

Significant characters could have done with more time in general honesty.

In other media we have Good omens had composed and sweet angel Azraphale drop an unexpected but very understandable fbomb (which may have been the first of the series) when he accidentally lost his body of 6000 years. There was a build up of the looming end of the world, years of preventative work going to waste, nobody listening and a pest in his home.

HH really missed a beat in having a character like Alastor first snap for no particular reason.

In other media, Durarara did excellent at deconstructing and humbling an unbothered and mysterious troll character, this being Izaya. In this supernatural series he would manage to stand out and consistently be a strong villain/antihero, managing to not become lesser dispite going from a menace holding a number of cards who claimed to love humans, to being proven to be a human with the introduction of his sisters, his very uncomplex backstory and generally getting dealt with by the series's most illusive gangsters.

Coherence could make things work, hopefully there's less going on next time and the ensemble cast can be dispersed out a bit better.

Better luck next time Alastor

[dreamlessimp]

— mint gum

bachira meguru x reader | 0.9k

he hates bitter things, but you thought to test it

bachira meguru is an outspoken hater of all things bitter. he claimed they simply don’t go with his personality, as if the two had any actual ties. you couldn’t deny though, that it certainly fit him well.

he was the first person you thought of when ‘sweet’ came to mind, and the label fit him terribly well in your humble opinion. according to him, he trusted that you knew him well enough to form your objectively correct opinions. you were happy to agree.

alas, it was a commonplace game of yours to try to feed him bitter things, never entirely sure whether he’ll notice or not. it usually ended up in him getting mad at you, but his annoyance rarely lasted long. 

how could he stay mad at you when he thought you looked so pretty laughing, even if at his expense. bachira wouldn’t admit it, but he may play up his negative reactions, just a bit. if it made you smile that much more, he was confident it was fully worth it.

the way your face lit up made him feel like the gross tasting leaf you’d just made him swallow was made of butterflies, and so who was his own pride to deny him of the sight?

this didn’t mean he enjoyed it though, especially considering that he had much better ways of making you laugh. it was a bit unfortunate that his displeasure brought you more joy than his occasionally well-timed jokes, but who was he to go against it? you liked his jokes well enough anyways.

gum was quite clearly banned from your school. you supposed it was fair enough, considering the concerning number of students who stuck theirs underneath the desks. did this rule stop most people though? of course not.

bachira walked up to you, balancing his lunch tray in one hand, waving at you excitedly with the other. “hey!” he exclaimed before meeting you at your usual table, where a late isagi had yet to join you.

��hi!” you responded, a bit too excitedly in your opinion. beneath the table, you crossed your fingers that he failed to notice.

just as expected, to your relief, he did not. it was lucky isagi was late, as he certainly would have asked you about it in passing. not that it would matter much either way.

bachira took a seat across from you and leaned forward to try to steal the small dessert from your tray. rejecting this, you swatted his hand away. “hey! mine.” you spoke jokingly, as though you were offended.

“that’s supposed to be my line.” bachira responded, massaging the back of his hand, the grin in his voice disagreeing with the attempted serious look on his face. “i can’t believe you hit me.” he reached again in order to bop your head.

you recoiled as if in shock. “and to think,” you began, revealing your hand to bachira. “i was planning to give you this gum.” you curled open your hand to show him the pink-wrapped piece of gum. 

on your tray, behind the dessert he tried to take, was another piece of gum. This one the real one, as opposed to the mint gum in your hand bachira was staring at intently.

seconds later, bachira hand flew out to grab the gum from your partially open hand. “i’ll accept this as your apology, i guess.” he announced happily.

you held up a hand as if you foolishly expected him to politely place it back. with a glance at you, he dropped the now unwrapped gum into his mouth, apparently not taking notice of its obvious green color.

instantly, bachira felt the bitterness erupt in his throat and his eyes began to water. he briefly believed you had just poised him, before recognizing the sensation as that of mint. the mint gum that he blamed you for forcing him to eat, by the way.

“ow, ow, ow!” bachira chanted as if it would help. so clearly working against him, though, was the unfortunate fact that he had yet to actually spit out the gum.

eventually, he thought to spit it out amongst your laughs and slightly concerned stare.

“why did you keep it?” you asked through laughter.

he momentarily faltered before beginning to answer. “i was too busy thinking that i had been poisoned.” he fanned at his mouth dramatically before turning to you.

“if only you could help my burning mouth?” he suggested, his voice just as happy as his face, the pain likely being long-forgotten. or, at least, he was focused on more pressing matters.

apparently, bachira was not one to pass up opportunity. for the sake of his pride, your friendship, and this moment not haunting him forever, he hoped you were as well.

you shrugged and he took the chance to messily smash his lips against yours. 

seconds later, your poor friend turned third wheel, isagi, decided to finally show up.

as he apologetically tripped over his words in an effort to explain that he could eat somewhere else, bachira shrugged and happily invited him to sit down, where he placed his lunch tray on the same side as bachira, leaving just enough distance between the three of you that it was obvious you and bachira were sat closer.

you weren’t exactly surprised when a minute later, the corner of a napkin fell onto the tray in front of you, and carefully (messily) scribbled onto its side, was a message stating that his mouth hurt really badly after school, and that he should walk you home in the name of fairness.

[h0riz0nstuff]

Pros and cons of The Remaster

(in my humble opinion)

I've started a NG+ with the remaster, just because I want to explore a bit more and look for differences in the world, which aren't numerous but are there. Technically, this is still exactly the same game (except they just added transmog, which is honestly great). Still, I have a few gripes: - They didn't correct the pre-rendered cutscenes where Aloy reverts to her default outfit. I suppose this would have entailed actually making them dynamic instead of pre-rendered. Still, why do a Remaster and not even do that ? This is honestly the main thing that makes me feel it is a bit half-assed. - Now there's a palpable difference between the Frozen Wilds dialogues and the main game dialogue, but it goes the other way xD It is STILL a way less perceptible difference tho, I'm nitpicking. - Some of the skintones in those new dialogue scenes are all over the place. - A few weird visual glitches here and there and the NPCs tend to replicate a lot more and move less naturally in some instance. - Personal gripe: I don't like that the healing plants have butterflies flying around like in FW. I guess it makes them more easy to find ? I dunno. I don't like it somehow. Stuff I'm neutral about : - I don't really give a damn about the horse teeth. They're fine. The Good Stuff: - MOSS EVERYWHERE. Like, seriously. MOSSSSSSSSSsssssss. It's really great. Love it. MORE (well ok, not more… but maybe more ?) - The water does look a lot better. - I dunno if it's the case for everyone, but way more random encounters in the world (machine convoys, NPC patrols, bandits attacks). Also, did those NPCs become a little bit more sturdy ? Not sure. But there are way more of them than there used to be and that makes just venturing around without a specific goal way more enjoyable. - This also holds true for NPCs populating the upper reaches of Meridian Village. It's instantaneous while before it took a few minutes to happen (and that weird glitch that had one of them on a roof is gone). - Added animations in settlements, some of them incredibly cute. A lot of the cooking animations seem to come straight out of Forbidden West. I think they actually replaced one cooking animation in Mother's Craddle and added more too. And most previous animations happen more often too. - Oh ! And they added small FIELDS in Mother's Craddle too ! They don't look like fields but there are Nora harvesting and seeding in them. That wasn't there before and it's funny that it actually fills in a little hole about the Nora having so many harvest (not gathered) staples visible in their settlements. I also found dummies wearing HFW Carja gear in a corner of Mother's Craddle. - The merchant stalls have stuff added on the floor etc to make them more realistic. love it. - The one Strike gameboard in the Hunter's Lodge !… nobody seems to be playing it tho. :( Could have added an animation there, even if we couldn't actually play it. - More plants in settlements, more realistic ivy and stuff like that. It makes them looking so much better. - Photomode tweaks like being able to turn off machine lens glare ! Yes ! I wanted this so much in HZD. (Still no way to move the camera in settlements which is a bummer. And I don't like the Hero Halo around Aloy. I wish there was a way to turn it off too) You'd think they could have added the poses and expressions from HFW in there too, but no. *sigh* Still, the lens glare thing was my major ask so i'm happy about that. I know they must have some sort of reason for the fixed cam in settlements but that one still hurts.

That's all I can think about so far. I've taken tons of pics but they're still in the ps5 ^^;

[farfromsugafanfic]

SKZ Most To Least Likely To Date An Aquarius

Genre: fluff, astrology

Warnings: none

A/N: Since the members' rising signs are not publicly known, I am basing this off of the rest of their charts. Y'all seemed to like the first one so I'm hoping to do the rest of the signs and maybe MBTIs too.

Most

Chan Changbin Hyunjin Jeongin Felix Seungmin Jisung Minho

Least

As much as it pains this Cancer Sun Chan bias to say, his chart is extremely well aligned for dating an Aquarius. His sun sign, Libra, is one of the most compatible with Aquarius and both are air signs. He does have a Scorpio placement and another possible (but unconfirmed) Scorpio placement. This could pose trouble, but it would ultimately depend on his partner's chart as if they had a Virgo or Capricorn Venus, they would balance each other out perfectly. Chan will find himself attracted to how independent and somewhat mysterious the Aquarius can be. They often are not afraid to stand up for themselves or others—whether in an aggressive or passive manner—something Chan would definitely respect.

Changbin's Leo Sun is a nice complement to an Aquarius Sun. Unlike an Aquarius pairing with another Air sign, pairing with a Fire sign brings an element of excitement to the relationship. They are naturally attracted to one another and often have an antagonism that seems more like flirting than true bickering. The more reserved Aquarius finds the more boisterous Leo charming and fun. Whereas Changbin would respect the Aquarian values of hard work and how they do not live in the past nearly as much as Leos. His Virgo Venus could pose problems, but like with Chan, his partner's chart could easily balance this out.

Hyunjin is a bit of a wildcard here. None of his placements directly conflict other than his Moon. But, none of them are exactly perfect either. However, he has two Aquarius and an Aries placement which I think could easily endear him to an Aquarius under the right conditions. He would appreciate how an Aquarius quietly supports him and remains fairly humble themselves. With that said, I don't think he would naturally seek out an Aquarius and conditions would have to be just right.

Jeongin is the sole Aquarius Sun of Stray Kids. While two Aquarius Suns have fairly good compatibility, I placed Jeongin in the middle because I think he would be fairly apathetic about the whole thing. However, his placements do match an Aquarian partner well. Also, in my personal opinion, while two of the same signs can work out, sometimes it's possible to be too similar. He would likely find the relationship grow boring or see the negative aspects of himself in an Aquarius partner. However, again, given the right partner with the right chart, it could work splendidly.

We have now reached the Virgos: Felix, Seungmin, and Jisung. Virgo Suns generally aren't too compatible with Aquarius Suns. Out of the three, Felix seems most likely to date an Aquarius because he has two Aquarius placements and two Libra placements which could complement an Aquarius Sun partner if they too had complementary elements further down in their chart. Personally, I feel like Felix could open up to an Aquarius quite well and if a relationship were to bloom between him and an Aquarius, I see it being a slow process that starts off as friends.

Seungmin does have a Libra Venus working for him when it comes to a relationship with an Aquarius. However, I do think his Cancer Moon may conflict too much with an Aquarius Sun, especially in combination with his Virgo Sun. It could work if he and his partner really worked at it and the rest of their charts were immaculately compatible. Seungmin may be a bit overwhelmed by an Aquarian's brashness in some situations and an Aquarius may not quite get his quirky side. However, both do have serious, thoughtful sides that would work well together.

Jisung does have some promising placements in his chart. However, his Sun and Mars clash harshly. His Pisces Moon is not ideal, but not a detractor either. Personally, I think Jisung could benefit from an Aquarian's air of confidence and fearlessness. However, I also think they would have clashing values and Jisung could unintentionally stifle and Aquarius while an Aquarius could accidentally neglect Jisung. So, while much of his chart might work well, I think its unlikely he would even gravitate toward an Aquarius Sun naturally. If he were to have a relationship with an Aquarius, it would be an introverted Aquarius with otherwise complementary placements (perhaps they would have major compatibility in their rising signs which would definitely move up their chances of making it).

Minho's Scorpio Sun is considered one of the least compatible with an Aquarius. Outside of this, his whole chart is fairly Water and Earth heavy which wouldn't go well with an Aquarius partner. Minho has to be able to be silly and have fun with a partner. An Aquarius partner could take his sarcasm a bit too literally or chastise him for goofing off despite his otherwise hard work. Minho may be a bit too intense for an Aquarius partner whose ideal partner is someone with a naturally confident aura (regardless of if they are confident or not). Minho's quieter and reserved aura—while somewhat similar to an Aquarian's own demeanor sometimes—feels too out of line with what the typical Aquarius looks for in a partner. The only way I see this working is if his partner is younger than him (he feels like he needs to take care of them), introverted, and potentially has compatible rising and Venus signs. it would be a fairly tall ask and I don't think there would be natural chemistry there to even start a conversation without a reason to.

[callmethehunter]

Oh dear Anon, you have made my day! These are great questions about my favorite subject in the world: Robert Plant.:D And as far as that goes, I could (and will) go on and on about this forever, I’ve got so much to say!!

I’ve been obsessed with Robert’s music as well as with his personal life for years. I find him to be a multifaceted, highly talented and intelligent person who embodies traits that one would think were mutually exclusive, yet are somehow at home in him. He is without a doubt, totally outrageous and extroverted, he wants to be the center of attention, yet he is also reclusive, a deep thinker who is keenly aware of the world around him while also being introspective and self-aware. In his own words he has said

“It's part of me to get off on those moments where... well, what people would call attention. Obviously, that isn't the be-all and end-all of life, but at the states of creativity that I've reached, well, it helps the lyrics along a little bit.”

“ I’m pleased with how ridiculous I am. I like me. Though I’m not a huge fan. I know when to switch me off.”

I do think he has a very warm heart. He is genuinely interested in other people, in experiencing the most out of any given situation.

In my opinion, he loves the idea and the feeling of falling in love. He gets off more on that than on the longevity. It’s like he’s got ADHD in the aspect of love lol!! I say this because of the number of serious relationships (and not so serious relationships) that he has had in his life. I’m sure he was saddened when they ended, but then he’s moved on to the next great infatuation and adventure. He’s quite capable of starting again, as he has shown multiple times both in his personal and professional life. But I also think it’s a testimony to his heart that he’s been able to continue to be friends with his past loves. “There have been people I've warmed to over the years but, as the situation I'm in is so fleeting and transient, I've always known it's going to be over kind of real quick.”

I mean think about this: after having children with two sisters, Maureen (his exwife) and Shirley, they have been able to raise their children in what looks like a loving extended family. His sons, Logan (with Maureen) and Jesse (with Shirley), are half-brothers as well as first cousins. Just think on that for a moment. In a recent picture, there’s the entire family on vacation: Maureen, Shirley and their children with Robert, as well as Robert and a previous girlfriend, Jessica something or other (don’t remember her name). He’s not confined to societal conventions. He could give a flying fuck. I love that free spirit and he himself has said (and I paraphrase) that he may come across as being a good mate, but in reality he’s out to do whatever the fuck he wants. (And it shows!! )

He says, “...if you do what you think is right for the benefit of everybody and everything and you make decisions, then to go back and regret them afterwards - it's a futile experience and it's not worth thinking about. Because life just unfolds. Provided you do your best and you think you're on the right track, you can only be right or wrong. But to regret it - I don't think there are any huge errors or misdemeanors.”

In the area of friendship, however, he is fiercely loyal. He and Bonzo were like brothers till the end, and even still, Robert honors his dear friend. He’s also been able to maintain friendships with so many people from his hometown- people he knew before he was famous. He puts away the trappings of fame and fortune to be the good old Black Country boy, riding horses and playing with goats, walking around in the forests and enjoying nature.

“I think I could sing and shear a few sheep at the same time.” He is the picture of the word “earthiness”. Able to be the rock god on stage as well as the humble farmer on the farm or at the local pub. He’s loyal to his soccer team and to the sport itself which has been a lifelong passion. And I love that in him.

Is he a hedonist? Absolutely, he has tasted every pleasure there is to taste. His every material wish could be a reality in an instant...He has done drugs, had hundreds of one night stands. He is a highly sensual man. IMO the sexiest man that’s ever walked the planet. His sizeable bulge perpetually stands* as a symbol (no pun intended*) of his virility and lust (and I like it!!) He exudes charisma and raw sexual energy. He’s done it all to the highest level, partied and cavorted around the globe. What a life he’s lived!!

But in his lyrics there is also a deep spiritual side of him: I think he is a modern day troubadour and philosopher. His lyrics touch on that, “it is the springtime of my loving” ….“In the light you will find the road” “when all is one and one is all” “Then as it was, then again it will be, though the course may change sometimes, rivers always reach the sea” and I could go on and on with other examples. These are just what popped in my head. “I am a reflection of what I sing. Sometimes I have to get serious because the things Ive been through are serious” He’s had moments where he is the “golden god” as well as tragic moments such as the loss of his 5 year old son and the loss of his dear friend Bonzo. These are definitely reflected in his music.

All in all, in his own words:

“I'm like one of those firecrackers that goes off in your pocket occasionally. I'm not really struggling with it as much as the people around me. But at least I'm not doing too much damage to anybody or to myself. It's just the condition I'm aware of.

And he’s still got a twinkle in his eye.

Thank you for letting me go and on about this man, he holds such a special place in my heart. He is a beautiful and joyous old hippie full of wisdom and talent.. He has created a lasting legacy and I hold the deepest admiration for him, despite his human frailties or shortcomings.

[talenlee]

Dealing with My Dad

Okay, I write about fundie stuff, right? And time to time, I will wind up mentioning that my dad is a fundamentalist Christian and has beliefs like climate denial and supernatural demonic possession. With the coming of Christmas, and a greater period of socialisation with families, it’s that time of year when this kind of story circulates around: ‘Oh boy, dad’s going to do X.’

Well.

What about my dad?

Content Warning: I’m going to talk about my relationship to my dad and it’s going to possibly be a bit of a bummer. Also, if you’re the weirdo trying to stalk my blog to build a case of lies about that guy, you’re not going to find anything interesting. Really, this is going to make me look bad, not him.

Alright, so my dad is an older, conservative Christian who believes in some things that I think are conspiracy theories, like Velikovskian Catastrophe. He does reject modern arkaeology, but not because he thinks that the Biblical flood story didn’t literally happen six thousand years ago, but rather because he thinks God would have hidden that important artifact to prevent it from being an item of political power in our world. My father once extolled to me how amazing the Flood must have been in that it has successfully obliterated every sign it ever happened, something that shows the absolute power of god’s decision to wipe out history.

I don’t tend to fight with my father.

We have had conflicts; certainly since I left the house. We have largely been limited to a few moments where it became evident that we weren’t going to have a smooth time around something. But I still try to see my father regularly, and I don’t try to avoid him. This is because I like my father. It is a a complex relationship, where my father is someone I care about and also do not have a strong social bond to. It is a complex and frustrating way to be where I do not wish harm on him and recognise the ways he has improved as a person but also know there are things that he will do socially I dislike a great deal.

How then to handle this.

How do I square the problem with him institutionally as a person in a place of prominence in his church with my personal opinion about that entire organisation?

A long time ago I asked dad a hypothetically question about how he would feel about knowing that a member of his church that he was teaching was an atheist. He was someone who grew up in the church, who had a deep love of the Biblical text and the experience of church, concurred with the church on moral frameworks and behaviours, but simply did not believe in the existence of a God. This is an interesting question, to me, to pose to a religious leader type because it seems to me that hypothetically at least a person should care a great deal about why someone is at a place that is meant to be built around an ideology like a church is. My father’s stance was, not quite instant; he thought about it a moment, and then explained that he would be glad to have them, and would much rather they be there in his church than not.

His argument was that he couldn’t see into anyone’s hearts; he couldn’t verify what someone thought about the faith. What he could do was engage the community, encourage behaviours and exclude people based on what they were doing. If this person wasn’t disrupting things and get something out of the experience of the church, then he would much rather they be there, because how else was God going to reach them if they were being excluded from things?

It was honestly, a great answer. It was humble, it was honest and it looked at the material realities of the church situation. Even if you believe you have supernatural insight into the mind of god, which, I gotta hold onto, preachers believe they have, you can look at the actual relationships between people before you and decide you’d rather have someone singing along than not just because of how you think they hold to your ideals.

I think about it a lot when I think about how I deal with my dad, because pretty much most of my adult life I’ve been concerned that I treat my dad like a child, or at least, like I am the parent doing my best to encourage good behaviours in someone who doesn’t know better.

For example, in social gatherings, I will sometimes make it my job to keep my dad occupied on something he cares about. I don’t get to have long talks with him often, but being able to sit down with him and ask him specific questions about areas of his expertise give him a chance to engage with it without feeling like he’s the centre of attention. This means there are some topics I keep myself informed on even if I don’t know much, like Formula 1, the council of Nicea, and weird stories out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and Seven Day Adventists. Note that these are Very White Topics that are mostly about people who are like himself, meaning that he doesn’t have a lot of reason to veer out of that lane to have opinions on complex ideas.

Similarly, there’s giving my dad opportunities to avoid social experiences. If we have the youngest family members in one spot, and they make noise, I take ’em somewhere and do something to keep ’em entertained. The infamous ‘uncle joe said something awful at dinner’ can be avoided if uncle joe isn’t people’d out by the time the dinner is happening. These kinds of outbursts can be seen as an outcome of stress and unhappiness in intense social situations. If dad can take a break at a social event, then he’s not going to be running low on conversation topics.

Also, and this is important: I have a lot of control over what I bring up and I can keep myself from bringing up stuff that I know will require an argument. And yeah, that means that there are times I won’t specify things about people I’m talking about, I don’t need to make my dad realise he’s hearing a story about a bunch of queers including his son. There are things I don’t need to talk about with my dad, and by choosing to keep some things private, I am able to keep him wanting to be connected to me, such that those normal things that are part of his mind now aren’t going to feel like alien ideas when he encounters the ways I am not what he wants me to be.

Finally, dismiss but don’t engage with conspiracism. He shared a story about bible college teachers being fired for showing their pronouns, where he presented the story that these teachers were fired from a Bible college for ‘not including their pronouns.’ This isn’t the case. The story, which took me a few seconds of checking on my phone, was that the Bible college fired two teachers who included their pronouns in their email signatures, which is especially telling because those teachers’ first names were Shua and Raegan. You wanna call your shot on those pronouns if you’ve never seen those names before? But yeah, dad internalised the story as something that’s literally opposite to the truth. I didn’t pull out my phone and fact-check him on the spot, I just shrugged and said ‘doesn’t sound true,’ and changed the subject.

Does this suck? I mean a little bit. It sucks that dealing with my father is work. But it’s work because I can’t change what’s in his heart or mind or how or why he thinks things, but I can do things to change his behaviour. I don’t think my dad wants to have an argument at a social gathering, but he has attached great value to an organisational social structure that makes him feel like he needs to be prepared to do so. And because of that, it means that my father is a person attached to this thing, this immense thing, that I hate. And I can love him even though he is part of that, and want him to remain connected because of it. I’d rather he have me in his life and remember ‘oh yeah, my leftie hippie commie son is like that, and I don’t hate him, so maybe hating people like that isn’t a hard rule.’

Not saying any of you need to like my dad. It’s not your job. It’s apparently, my job, but I don’t think it’s bad to try and keep these relationships present.

I can maintain a relationship with people who are part of something I find hateful.

It’s how I was raised.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[jamespmarchapologist]

Lawrence Gordon - spicy ABCs

prompt : short nsfw alphabet hcs for our fav homicidal doctor.

warnings : 18+ mature content. fem!reader. age gap?? kinda.

this is a requested fic! my writing has been a bit scratchy so my sincere apologies! <3 mwah

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Aftercare - after sex/scenes.

I imagine him to be very attentive. He’ll probably end up drawing you a bath after annoyingly searching your body for any injuries, depending on the activities beforehand. He’d throw in one of your favorite bath bombs you swear to him wasn’t a bad purchase for his wallet. One thing about your old man, is he knew how to take care of you.

Body part - his favorite part of your body.

I don’t know why but I feel like he’d be an ass man. He’d love watching you walk in front of him like the little pervert he was, and will take any excuse to use your ass as a pillow after a long day at the hospital. You let him, because well, that’s the least you could do after bleeding his wallet, right?

Cum -

Your face when you cum, has to be a picture he could store into his memory forever. You’re pretty sure he actually did take a picture once, but you can’t prove it. (He definitely did)

Dirty secret -

Lawrence is a pervert at heart, in my humble opinion. So, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that he keeps intimate photos of you in his wallet to use when he’s alone in his office, and of course, thinking of his little princess. Will he tell you the presence of these pictures? Never.

Experience -

When it comes to the relationship, I much so see many scenarios where you have to introduce him to your kinks, or even just simply how you like it in the bedroom. Hes dominant leaning, but i definitely see him following your advice more often than not. And he definitely does as he’s told. Very well.

Favorite position -

He’s a missionary guy at heart, or he’d love to see you ride back onto him as he rocks his hips into you. It mostly coincides with him being an ass man, he just loves the view. His view.

Hair - how groomed is he?

I’m gonna be so honest here I don’t understand this category completely, but I figure he’d have a typical dilf happy trail that he refuses to shave off just because you said it was sexy one time while on a movie date.

Intimacy - Romantic

When it comes to treating you to romantic surprises, he takes his time. Trailing careful kisses down your neck, your spine, your collarbones, everywhere you let him reach. He’s probably whispering how much he loves you as he enters you, telling you that you’re his beautiful girl and what he’d ever do without you. He’s a big sap, for sure.

Jack-off -

As stated that he could be a grade-A pervert at heart, he masturbates to even the slightest mention of you. He gets horny often, and fast. The filthiest of thoughts running through the bastard’s head. Oh, and he’ll tell you when and how when he gets back home if you’re awake. He can’t keep many secrets.

Kinks -

One of the biggest kinks he’d have is a daddy/sir kink. You would bring it up to him one time and then he’d ask you to only call him that. He knew he was a good few years above you, and hated any mention of this or even being called an old man, but as soon as he heard your sweet voice call him daddy, he was done for. And maybe, being old wasn’t so bad after all.

Location -

He looooves taking you over his desk back at the office. When you take him lunch, you’ve given yourself a pattern to never wear anything underneath your skirt.

Motivation - what turns them on

There’s plenty of things. When you press your ass back onto him “accidentally” in the morning when he’s already late for work. When you wear any clothes he’s bought for you, including your many pieces of jewelry. Calling him daddy at random times of the day, of course. And his personal favorite, when you call yourself his little housewife (and dresses accordingly if you catch my drift.)

No - something they wouldn’t do

He doesn’t say no to any of your ideas often, but he did say no to feet play. (HAH)

Oral -

He loves eating you out, more than he loves when you suck him off. He often makes it a point to wake you up with such, loving his rightful spot between your legs. You’re always so, so happy to oblige.

Pace -

This depends more on the mood that’s set before each session. When he’s more irritated and is just aiming to take his stress out on his girl, he’s rough, taking on a brutal pace that is impossible to keep up with, yet expected from him. You commonly just let him. When he just wants to spend time with you before work, he’s sweet and slow, savoring every contented sigh and taking his time to enjoy your warmth.

Quickie -

With the amount of time that the two of you don’t have with one another, quickies are more often than wanted, or needed (but who’s counting). In his car, his office, in the shower before you go to college, in public when he can hide you on his lap. All that fun stuff.

Risk -

He’s always willing to take a risk as long as it makes his baby happy. And if that’s a random kink you found way deep into your tiktok fyp that you interrupt his reading for because you just have to do it that second, then so be it.

Stamina -

I’m a bit on the fence about this. Realistically, he could last about 2 or 3, I think he’d just get spent pushing himself more than an hour tops. You take whatever you can get, though, and if you weren’t done, you’ll just try to milk it out of him the next time.

Toys -

He doesn’t personally own toys, he typically likes the old hand method. He really doesn’t wanna learn about anything else. Very old school, very mindful.

Unfair -

He’s a huge tease. More so with his words than anything. You regret buying him a new phone for his birthday and you definitely regret showing him how to text properly. Your phone would ping constantly while you’re in class, induced with all the things he’d want to do to you in that exact moment, knowing you had a hefty 2 hours ahead.

Volume -

The man whimpers. I just don’t know how to describe that properly, but he just… does.

Yearning -

His sex drive is well.. it’s pretty high. He insists on having you everywhere he could imagine, and whenever he’d like.

Zzz -

He falls asleep SO fast after sex, instantly if you insist on playing with his hair.

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A/N : ok I really hope this wasn’t too bad, don’t hate me if you were the one to request this. School has been kicking my ass already (ew) and all that’s on my mind is accounting shit.



[fluffyjothoughts]

Then i would like to have the honor of giving you the first ask if that's okay. I'm more of a angsty btch tbh (comfort or none idc). I was wondering how the guys would react to you having a panic or anxiety attack during an interview or concert (can be headcannons or a little text idc).

Hope your blog will be doing well, love!

Firstly, hello anonboo! i’m glad you’re my first ask and i will gladly answer that for you!

i hope you enjoy my first ask!!

Bojan: The moment that man would see you, he’d know. He knows what it’s like to go through a panic attack, so a nice breathing exercise along with slight physical affection (if you feel comfortable) goes a long way for him, such as hand holding or him rubbing his thumb on your knee, and is (in his humble opinion) the best way to help with a panic attack. He seems like the type of person to have a nice cuddle session after while playing with your hair and humming a song to you.

Kris: is also anxious. As organised and put together he is, he can sometimes get quite jittery when a loved one of his is upset and he cant help it right away. Looks like the type to struggle a bit at first but get the hang of it pretty soon, tapping his fingers on your leg or letting you hold his hand and fiddle with his fingers until you’re calm before he presses a kiss to your forehead and the corner of your lips.

Jan: Usually knows not to touch people that have panic attacks (back when they were younger he accidentally set one off on Bojan and he still feels guilty, so better safe than sorry), so he’d usually just sit next to you, far enough as to where you don’t touch, but close enough that you can reach him if you want to. He would explain random mathematical concepts or something that’s relatively simple to tune into just taking in his low and soothing voice. Kisses the shell of your ear afterwards.

Jure: He is all physical touch. Would find you and pull you to his chest, wrapping his arms around your middle and rubbing your stomach and hips over your shirt until you’ve calmed down. he gently coaxes you to calm down while pressing small kisses on your neck and cheek, nuzzling into your skin like the true cat he is. Would hold you even tighter when you’re calm.

Nace: This man is ready. He’s dealt with Bojan’s attacks so he knows that people can react differently but would usually talk you through a breathing exercise, put your hand up to his heart to feel his heartbeat, call you all sorts of sweet and comforting names and wrapping you up in his signature bear hug once you’re calm.

[antariies]

Late Winter in Divinity's Reach

Summary: Winter and Urlae are invited to celebrate the Lunar New Year's festival in Divinity's Reach.

Characters: Winterlayt, Urlae Summer, Lily Summer, Verdanzy

Notes: Winter's POV (2nd person); fluff; 1.2k words; this is my 2024 secret santa red envelope gift for @ruderubicante! happy new year!

—

The charr have this theory about humans, that they insist on being so noisy all the time to make up for their dull sense of hearing. You’re inclined to believe it. You’ve only just arrived in the Crown Pavilion and the cacophony of firecrackers and joyous shrieks bombards you from every angle, unrelenting. This was a bad idea.

“This was a bad idea,” Urlae remarks, echoing your thoughts. “We should leave.”

Well, now you obviously can’t leave. That would be letting him win.

“You can leave, if you’d like,” you offer, perfectly cordial. You even give him this sort of sympathetic look you’ve been practicing.

Urlae sees right through it. “You can drop the holier-than-thou act. I know you hate this racket just as much as I do.”

Your reply is as pleasant as spun sugar and just as substantial. “Hm? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A gaggle of human teenagers rush by, and for some reason, every single one of them feels the need to knock their bony elbows into your legs as they pass like you’re some Dragon Bash piñata. “Ow,” you intone with the same lofty cadence.

Urlae crosses his arms, unimpressed. “Winter, I can see your eye twitching.”

“You should get yours checked then, Doctor.”

“You’re acting like a huge prick right now.”

“And is that your personal or professional opinion—”

“Dad! You made it!” A new voice interrupts your bickering. Urlae turns faster than you, eyes scanning in the direction of the familiar shout until he spots a young charr squeezing her way out of a sea of humans. The tension bleeds from his shoulders as his daughter makes her way over to the pair of you.

“Oh,” he murmurs, a fond smile stretching across his face, “Lily, you look stunning.”

That, at least, you can agree on. Her hanbok is gorgeous in its simplicity, consisting of a pale green chima, an even paler yellow jeogori, and as she gets closer, you spy little white flowers embroidered on the goreum. Combined with her soft, well-brushed fur, she looks like the last frost before spring, in spite of her namesake.

Speaking of spring. Verdanzy is next out of the crowd, the blue-and-orange ribbons of their hanfu fluttering wildly behind them in their hurry. Their beizi is light and delicate, long sleeves billowing around their body like a cloud.

“Hi, Uncle! Hi, Dad!” they cry, and now it’s your turn to smile. Which, to everyone else, looks like an infinitesimal uptick of the corner of your mouth. It seems like a hassle for them, having to constantly dodge lanterns and paper dragons and the occasional stray sparkler because of their height, but when they skid to a halt in front of you, it’s clear that nothing short of an apocalypse could ruin this day for them.

“Wow, Uncle,” they start, breathless, “you look great!”

Pleased, Urlae gives them a short bow. He’s wearing an áo dài himself, a long-sleeved peach-colored tunic embroidered with matching blossoms over black trousers. The whole ensemble is made of silk, and the reflection of the warm lantern lights in the fabric creates an illusion of luminescence.

“Thank you, Verdanzy. I’m glad at least you two understand the importance of dressing well,” he says, shooting you a sidelong glance.

You look down at your extra lumpy sweater. It’s a thing of beauty—in your humble and unbiased opinion—made of eye-catching (though some would say eye-searing) red and yellow wool. “I’m told these are the traditional colors. Very auspicious.”

“But not traditional dress,” Urlae says, picking at a loose bit of yarn on your shoulder. You slap his hand away.

“When did you get here? Have you eaten? Just in case you haven’t, we got something for you!” Lily manages all in one breath. “Here!”

She shoves a paper carton under your noses. Yours, literal, and Urlae’s, figurative. The gentle reminder that you two can’t eat regular food dies on your tongue when you open the container.

“...Is it human custom to eat raw meat during this festival?” you ask instead, staring down at the chilled pile of—you sniff the meat—uncooked pork.

“Nope!” Verdanzy chimes in, “We just asked if we could have some of the, uh, what’s it called?”

“Bánh chưng,” Lily provides helpfully.

“That. We asked for some of the filling before they cooked it. They didn’t even charge us.”

“You’re kind to think of us,” you say, taking the small wooden skewer that Verdanzy holds out to you. The raw pork strips are soft and marbled with fat, yielding under your teeth with surprising ease. Seasoned well with salt and pepper, but unlikely to make you sick later. It’s not bad. Urlae gives you a knowing look as he chews slowly on his own meat skewer. It’s rare the two of you get the opportunity to actually enjoy the food you eat.

“Have you two been enjoying the festival?” Urlae asks after swallowing. 

“Yeah!” Verdanzy nods fervently. “We’ve been having lots of fun at the game tables. I think one of the dealers is using loaded dice, though. I lost a handful of silver there.”

You reach for your gun.

“Dad.”

“That was humor,” you clarify, holstering your pistol. What, did they think you were actually going to shoot someone for your kid? …Hm. Unconvincing even in your own thoughts.

“I liked your joke, Uncle Winter,” Lily reassures. “And you two are just in time for the lion dancers! They’re about to start, c’mon!”

You and Urlae are unceremoniously dragged through a throng of people and all the way to the front of the crowd. Some people glare up at Verdanzy, who can’t help their height, but quickly find other places to look after catching a glimpse of your glower. A crash of cymbals and rhythmic drumming pierces the air, and cheers erupt as costumed dancers bound into the middle of the circle.

They don’t look like any lions you’ve ever seen, but what do you know? Perhaps Canthan lions are much more friendly and colorful than their Elonian counterparts. Admittedly, they’re growing on you. The puppetry is impressive, and for most of the performance you even forget that it’s two human dancers under there, and not one giant, fuzzy beast.

A little ways to your right, Lily urges a reluctant Urlae to offer a cabbage to the lion. “Quick, Dad, he’s coming back around, hold it out! He’s not going to eat it if he can’t see it—”

The lion considers the offering for just long enough that you can see Urlae’s patience wearing thin, then takes the whole head of cabbage into its mouth, making a show of chewing the vegetable with great vigor. Abruptly, it stands up on its hind legs, opens its mouth—

“This is my favorite part,” Verdanzy whispers.

—and begins spitting cabbage leaves back into the crowd. Before you can move out of the way, Verdanzy holds their arm up above your head, protecting you from being pelted by the chewed-up cabbage. To your endless amusement, Urlae is not so lucky. As soon as he peels a cold, wet leaf off his face, he’s immediately hit with another one. And another one.

“It’s supposed to bring good fortune, apparently,” Verdanzy explains, grinning. They look down at you, eyes bright with unrestrained mirth. You would give the world for them to be this carefree all the time.

“Is that so?” you say instead of voicing that thought, “I suppose I am feeling rather fortunate right now.”

“Yeah? That’s good. Happy New Year’s, Dad.”

“Happy New Year’s.”

[rainytypology]

ATEEZ Wooyoung MBTI Analysis

- ESFP -

An in-depth analysis of an idol's MBTI type. Based on my opinion and observations, may change later. Not an expert.

ESFP (Se - Fi - Te - Ni)

Dom: Se (Extroverted Sensing)

A perceiving function that uses our 5 senses to process the external world.

Wooyoung is always aware of the present moment, quick to react and to take action. He also pays attention to physical things such as aesthetics, the visuals of the performance, the way he looks, etc physical appearances matter a lot to him.

He enjoys photography and videography, which are pretty good activities for Se - it allows him to use his senses to make visually stimulating images and videos. Physically engaging activities seem like the best way to energize him e.g cooking and riding a bike. Cooking is great for his Se as it engages with all his senses - all the movement in cooking, tasting the foods, the aromas, watching the food cook, plating, maybe he enjoys hearing the sounds of food cooking as well and/or the way kitchen tools slightly hit each other (e.g knife on a cutting board).

This moment especially was an incredibly Se dom moment. Comparing it to Si user Jongho (Si has to step back and assess first), being the Se dom he is, Woo just went for it.

Aux: Fi (Introverted Feeling)

A judging function that uses one's own values and belief to compare and make choices

As Fi wants to be authentic, that is what Wooyoung always strives for - he always wants to express himself well, to be real. He wants people to like him for him. He returns the same gesture with others - he wants to know the real version of others. Wooyoung tries not to make assumptions at first meet since he knows he will not learn everything just from one encounter. He seems very empathetic.

Tert: Te (Extroverted Thinking)

A judging function that uses established facts and systems to make objective, working decisions.

He's quite goal oriented and takes time to plan to achieve these goals, even if it's not the most detailed. Either way, he knows how to get what he wants and works hard to reach his achievements.

Wooyoung lays down the rules as well - Te can be by the book, which Wooyoung can be sometimes. E.g when he was explaining how he found it rude when juniors would not put in the effort to correctly bow down to him and other senior artists. Wooyoung has a strong belief in being humble and kind (Fi) and wants to implement this in everyone.

Inf: Ni (Introverted Intuition)

A perceiving function that uses one's own personal insights and ideas

In his episode of "Fill in the Blank" series, Wooyoung said he wanted to use dance to convey deeper messages and emotions for others. He wants to be a sense of comfort, the light in other's darkness. He has always wanted to make an impact on others from a young age, especially considering how much he values relationships.

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Why is he not an xSFJ or ISTJ

Both types use Si - Ne, which I do not see in Wooyoung at all...xSFJ's Fe is understandable, but Wooyoung is sometimes a bit too straightforward and honest to be using Fe in his main stack though lol.

And ISTJ just does not make sense in general for him.

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Other analysis:

Enneagram | Birth Chart

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Kpop typology list