#and i simply cannot retain that much info

[luv-again]

goddd one of my priorities once i get back to my dad's is to replay cryptic castle a bunch but take the largest tiki tour imaginable just so i can soak everything in

bc i feel at any given step i could miss a detail i might wanna add and we can't have that

[imagineitdearies]

firstly, perfect slaughter is so brilliant! you must be so proud with what you have created. your characterisation of Tyrus fits so well into the story and his relationship with Astarion is amazing. i don’t have the right words to express how much i love this.

one thing that also really stuck to me was cazador’s characterisation and his sick and twisted obsession with astarion and tyrus, you have clearly done so much research to understand his character.

which brings to my ask (apologies if you have already spoken about this): cazador says some really interesting things about astarion before the fight if you don’t bring astarion with you. it got me thinking about what are the factors that really drive cazador’s obsession with him specifically, considering most info the player gets is from astarion directly. i want to get your take on it, is it a deep rooted, subconscious fear/hatred that astarion has the capability to rebel, like in someways he is similar to cazador before he killed vellioth or is it more ‘simple’ as astarion is just the most fun to torment in comparison to others??

long ask, sorry

Hi anon! Thanks so much 😊 definitely feeling proud of PS, it's really shown me the high-level storytelling I'm capable of when I feel passionate enough about a project!

I think I've talked a bit about Cazador's obsession with Astarion but I'm not sure it was on my tumblr, so I'm happy to throw in my two cents! Like you've already listed out, though, there's multiple theories and likely all are true to some extent.

Thoughts below the cut:

When I think of Cazador Szarr, I think of how much fear can be a poison. A little of it is healthy, but when you let fear drive every decision you ever make, you're on a swift tunnel downward into all the no-good emotions: distrust, loathing, contempt, malice, sadism, etc, turned outward and inward. So yes, when you're a person who's let fear drive basically all your emotions and decisions, what kind of individual would make these ugly reactions flare up even more drastically? Yup, someone you fear. Now why would he fear Astarion extra--I have a few theories:

As you said, he sees Astarion's defiant nature (e.g. "the boy has always been troublesome" he writes in his journal) as similar to his spawn self, and therefore believes he has a similar potential to rebel and overthrow him. (This idea not only plays into Cazador's fears, but also his internal self-loathing.)

I like the fanon idea that Astarion shares a semi-similar personality and even physical traits with Vellioth, which certainly would trigger the hell out of Cazador and fuel the need to go extra hard on him out of anger, but also leftover fear.

When I meet the other spawn in bg3, there's just such a stark difference between Astarion from the very start of meeting him--he retained his sense of self in a way the rest really don't seem to have. They all act and talk a certain way, feel almost actually like siblings despite no physical relation, while he stands out like the black--silver?--sheep of the family. Therefore, outside of just his defiant nature, because it's not like he was always defiant with Cazador (i.e. Leon calling him a "lickspittle"), I'd argue Astarion simply has a resilient force of personality. He won't "drink the kool-aid" and lose himself in the name of survival. And maybe this is a hot take, but I think Cazador deeply fears ridicule and judgment. Having a spawn who retains a personality and even worse, opinions of him beyond fear and submission...how terrifying.

Of course, there are factors besides fear that could be examined. We cannot ignore Astarion's canon line: "He[...]did take special pleasure in my pain--he said my screams sounded sweetest." You can argue Cazador enjoyed Astarion's screams only for deeper, more contextual reasons like those outlined above, but I headcanon (and included in PS) that Astarion had the hard combination of a more resilient spirit but a lower pain tolerance than his siblings. So it was easier to get him screaming, but harder to truly break him, which is a hell of a lot more fun for a certified sadist like Cazador.

Alright, that's probably enough yapping from me! Cazador is quite the interesting beastie, isn't he?

[tanya-shiza]

Ember // LMK OC Art & Info

Kinda created for my SIB AU, where the story of the canon characters turned out differently.

Ember still can be in the canon, but, obviously, with a changed backstory. (look at the end of the post).

Ember or «Demonic ember from the Moon».

Birth story:

Moon Goddess - Chang'e - trained to cook many, many years ago, dreaming that one day she could teach everyone how to cook as well as her only friend, the moon rabbit. However, Chang'e was distracted and the rice ball burned. The Goddess threw it onto the sky, like any another star, but the coal couldn't stay in the sky and became fallen sky.

The coal fell into the cave of a snow-capped mountain, which people unsuccessfully tried to conquer. When it hit the ground, it split into two pieces.

One of it fell into a human campfire: mixed with smoke, cosmic dust and campfire's coal, Ember appeared into this world - with black, wavy hair like his mom's(Chang'e) and dark blue eyes like the night sky.

The second piece fell into a pile of human bones. Ember noticed that the second piece could not decide for a long time what kind of appearance to choose for itself. It wanted something special. Something perfect. Ember intervened to help, and a female demon with white skin, white hair and crimson eyes was born, completely unlike Ember or Chang'e. The demon wasn't happy at all that she was interrupted, but Ember interrupted the perfectionist demon again, calling her little sister. The Bone Demon pouts and pushes Ember away, accidentally using magic that causes one of Ember's locks to turn white and stiffer. It curls up and now looks like a false halo.

The Bone Demon feels guilty, because now Ember's hair is not perfectly black and soft. But Ember suddenly for the demon enjoys her new white ahoge(?). She tells the perfectionist demon that she made her perfect and there is nothing to feel guilt about.

Short Facts:

SIB AU:

Ember & Lady Bone Demon are sisters. (Let me be honest this is the reason why I created Ember in the first place. It's so funny to me to observe that the cold Lady Bone Demon is actually a younger sister, and her older one behaves incredibly infantile. 🤭)

Ember wants to explore the whole world which expresses Chang'e's desire to show her cooking to the whole world. (Lady Bone Demon expresses desire to help everyone in need.)

Ember had a strong influence on the young Lady, which subsequently made her so stubborn and confident in her rightness. However, Ember still retained her authority and the Lady may sometimes reckon with Ember, perceiving her as the voice of morality and subsequently of conscience, which the Lady does not have. (Please note that the Lady in SIB AU is slightly different from the canon. For example, she did not ice the entire empire, but actually arranged the overthrow of the Emperor. She also has no plans to use samadi fire to destroy the whole universe—)

Neither Ember nor the Lady Bone Demon know that they were born because of Chang'e. Even Chang'e herself doesn't know.

Ember believes that she is a demon born from a falling star, but since she woke up in a campfire, she named herself an «ember». (Lady Bone Demon guesses that they weren't born from a falling star, but it's useless to convince Ember.)

In Canon:

Outside of the SIB AU, it is obvious that Ember and Lady are not sisters. And even more: Lady is much older than Ember. However, there was a period when Ember followed Lady Bone Demon purely out of curiosity. Ember perceives Lady as a best friend with whom she can talk about anything and who will help, but Lady Bone Demon perceives Ember simply as a fool who cannot think longer than 3 seconds.

[coraz0ndegranada]

*personal info dump: tw ed & body image etc.*

i-

what they say is true. when you’re in a happy relationship you put on some weight, but this time it is different.

My current relationship is healthy in the sense of communication and all the pros you could imagine. We eat out a bunch (which I’ve been slowly changing) but mostly the concern is portion. He wants me to have everything I ever wanted. He knows I’ve had problems with food in the past, so he gets concerned if he thinks I am pretending to be full.

I understand, yk? You don’t want to see someone you care for in any type of agony, especially self inflicted. He’s a man who loves to indulge me so it’s hard to be mad about. We run together we skate together we dance all of it. Between work and needing to rest the frequency isn’t enough to keep up with how much delight we take in sharing a meal.

I’ve never been a small girl, my body is the opposite. I carry a lot of muscle but never put in the time or effort to define them. My strength is quite high. There’s just enough of a visual difference in how I look now v the time I met my love and I’ve been struggling to grapple with it.

This time I am committing to myself that it isn’t about how I can control this situation when a lot of other exterior stressors are inserting them into my life. This journey is about being able to run and have fun getting my breath back. It isn’t about being “skinny” anymore, it is about how I can retain my strength and lose fat while being conscious that I simply cannot be consuming as much as a man does.

I deserve to feel like I’m putting the time in for myself. Working out feels good, and I also use it as an offering of pain up to God. To sweat is to calm the mind.

Enjoying food shan’t be hindered this time round, ladies!!!!!

[the-sweetest-little-angel]

Very much as child learned to "hate dumb." Would react with anger and annoyance if saw friends be dumb in ways I was. Struggled to empathize. "Why not able to figure it out? I did."

But I didn't. Just trauma responses. Forced because of bad things happen when was dumb. Got yelled at, was frustrating. Never could remember or retain things. Never stopped being dumb. Just became angry when was dumb and hated others being dumb like I was. Would react with anger like I was treated.

Being abused survivor and seeing those patterns in yourself is scary. Seeing how much I acted like my family to own girlfriend was heartbreaking. Knew had to unlearn it.

As unlearned it, learned that was always dumb. That it never changed. That it okay to be that way. Have harder time processing, much slower. Cannot understand many things as others might. Struggle to retain info even if got it at time. Like would learn in tutoring or class, but not be able to apply or recall it when needed to. Cannot learn to cook, get overwhelmed. Cannot learn basic life skills others know.

I never stopped being this way just cause I refused to accept. And the way learned to figure things out was never real. It was trauma response. And trauma response lead to burnout. Can no longer do things to figure stuff out like before. Because it was forced. It was never meant how brain operate. It was forced to protect self. And now while other friends can learn do stuff, cannot. Trapped.

Whatever ability had to learn even if was slower at it or couldn't understand is fucked over entirely by trauma and abuse. Because was forced too young for survival. But also forced into skills maybe would not develop or would need to develop when older. But now will never know. Will never know what could have done if allowed to be given help young. If not treated horribly for brain difficulties. If not shamed and mocked and yelled at for things. If given actual help. If not treated like not understanding was on purpose.

Maybe some things could do. Maybe some things could never do. Will never know. Hard to live with that. Hard to know just how much trauma affected autism and mental struggles. How would be if not traumatized and given help versus now after severe neglect and abuse. Whatever skills "developed" from trauma now gone too. Feel trapped at same levels as elementary school. Because never really learned. And now educating and learning triggers. Try to learn things and shut down or overwhelmed and cry. Or have bad flashbacks. Ability to learn so affected by trauma. School traumatizing enough without help, but worsened by family. Worsened by mockery. Worsened by neglect.

Will never really have answers to how Angel and system would be. Because so much fucked Angel up. So much fucked Angel and system up. Already disabled and autistic. But add on severe trauma some of worst can imagine. Horrible neglect and abuse. Isolation. Not even have diagnoses. Just now getting help for allergies and chronic pain. When have experienced it for years. Still waiting on sleep apnea. Looking into autism adhd diagnosis. Finally. Fucking finally. Want to cry.

But mother will still say "barely on autism spectrum" despite how act. Despite cannot do stuff self. Despite her having to help me. Despite meltdowns. Despite everything. And mother still expects to be "functional" and independent if get autism diagnosis and get help. Will not listen to us when say not happen, would take lifetime to be able get there. Too much.

Simply want to be happy and given help. Not to be independent. So much stuff that will take years to deal with. Is okay with that. Mother is not. Mother acts as if life is tragedy that cannot be independent. Which mostly mean live alone and work a job. Hate mother. Hate way she treats host and system. Hate her. Angel hate her.

[gooperts-gunk]

ok yeah so we all have our daydream delusions of who we want to join the server and be part of the federation, right??? mine even include people i don't know but i hear people wanting so im like ok... i will conjure an interpretation of this person for my federation member daydreams based on what i've seen on twitter dot com... that being said here are my delusions but i dial back the detail as to not get embarrassing about how much i daydream

so first i rainbow color-coded them based on the 8 timer room doors, royg CYAN biv PINK right? but at the same time i wasn't sure how accurate my color placings were of some people i wanted so instead my current interpretations are not color-constrained and look like THIS

head scientist, with the most power - tinakitten - she deserves it, i want her to have an important federation role IMMEDIATELY upon joining, and considering that she's possibly the carrot in ice hint... LET'S GOOOO, yes she must be evil for my visions to come to fruition, my interpretations of her are based on her conflict with c!quackity back in the dsmp. she has gone down a dark road..... i forgive her though LUL

portal controller - rtgame - he just signed a contract he doesn't care THAT much about the federation, YOU KNOW HE'D BE SO GOOD ON A RP SMP, btw his smpearth self is canon here mr galaxy man portalled in that's how he got his job, they snatched him up immediately

caretaker, census bureau manager - ihascupquake - she raises and monitors the cucuruchos and the workers, and she raised jaiden, BTW NO ONE HAS BROUGHT UP THE CONCEPT OF QUAKE ON THE SERVER AND I HATE YOU ALL FOR THAT SHE'D BE PERFECT!!!!!! JAIDEN WOULD BE HER DAUGHTER AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!, i heard she was a witch in a past smp maybe this could come in handy somehow, she has experience with children irl and in minecraft but we don't talk about in minecraft (BABY JOBY!!!!!!!! </3)

ecosystem & agriculture manager - lyamargarita - SHE WOULD BE LOVELY her and her sunflower theme, she'd be perfect for everything plant and living based, i don't know much about her only things based on what i've seen from......

weapons expert - skeppy - HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAH OHOHOHOHO YES YES!!!! UH HUH!!!! HE'S GOT A LOT OF FIGHT IN HIM!!! but here's the kicker HE IS BRAINWASHED TO SOME EXTENT to have RESENTMENT TOWARDS C/Q!BBH so it causes a rift between them that q!bbh will desperately try to patch. he retains trauma from dsmp so he has a dislike towards lava but can't seem to remember WHY either out of brainwashing or out of his brain blocking it out, and he has a strong preference to ice because of it. he finds the cold comforting. hope ur heart broke just then.

+ bonus - skeppy jr or simply named junior - the federation's kid that skeppy brought along :) mostly skeppy, lya, and cupquake look after the little buddy. junior was given prosthetic robot arms built into a backpack so they use them to moves around more than their little feets and they use them to play on a gameboy advance :)

those are my delusions i hope you like my vision. other people i have heard of as possibilities and have inserted in are rivers (WHO I THINK GOT TEASED AS THE BOXING GLOVES IMAGE???), aldo, i've also inserted jacksepticeye of course, i've inserted scott the woz out of my own autistic urges, no one wanted him only i did, i've also thought og 'ok what if someone joins as the code and it's matpat', i've also inserted gumiho because gumi has expressed interest, also puffy, also yogscast zoey & rythian because im not over BRC, not ever, also i've inserted my kpop faves but let's not even go there, also brunim because forever is president now and it could happen. :)

so as you can tell i based my picks on english & spanish speakers because of that bit of info we got of more members from pre-existing languages joining :) so much more i could say but brain too jumbled it is very hot where i am so i cannot think as well with all these thoughts!!!! bye bye for now -goopert

[sweetescapeartist]

Bardock's Wish Saved Goku In The DBS Manga Continuity. Saiyan Resilience Saved Kid Goku In The DBS Anime Continuity.

According to the DBS manga continuity, Bardock's wish protected Goku until adulthood (link to Herms' tweet). But, events of the DBS manga continuity DO NOT apply to the DBS anime continuity.

So, when speaking about the DBS anime continuity, take the wish that DBS manga continuity Bardock made out of your mind when re-reading/re-watching DB & DBZ.

TLDR; Saiyans are just built tough. We've seen this over and over in Dragon Ball. They'e built for combat and survival and thats why they are a warrior race. They are capable of surviving from things that are fatal to other aliens & they recover faster from damage and get zenkai boost. So, what would be considered deadly to an Earthling/human, is not as deadly to a Saiyan.

And here are examples in DB that relay this info to us verbally & visually.

SAIYANS ARE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL:

The Galactic Patrol have tried & failed to kill off the Saiyans with something called "The Extinction Bomb." Saiyans can withstand something that kills most other aliens.

GOKU'S "GRAMPA" SAVED HIS LIFE:

This one is not an example of Saiyan resilience. This is Goku being metaphorically & literally saved by keeping his "Grampa" close to his heart.

Goku viewed the 4 star ball as his Grampa.

So, when Goku is saved by the 4 star ball, he says his Grampa saved him. (He even makes sure to catch it after he makes a wish on Shenron. The ball is special to him. So much so that he puts the 4 star ball on the hat of his son who he names after his Grampa.)

The 4 star ball saving Goku's life was meant to be foreshadowing of Grampa Gohan returning. Goku kept his Grampa in his heart & kept the 4 star ball (his "Grampa") over his heart. It's like spiritual protection. Then, Grampa Gohan appears in the next arc.

GOKU'S HEART TEMPORARILY STOPS:

There have been examples of Goku's superhuman feats, but this example is one of the first near death instances that shoe of his Saiyan resilience.

(One I left out is Goku drinking the super god water which was poisonous, but Goku survived it.)

Goku's heart is temporarily stopped by King Piccolo then he breathes again later. This is simply due to him being a Saiyan (another example later). Toriyama even stated that during the King Piccolo arc is when he decided Piccolo & Goku were not from this world. This is foreshadowing that Goku isn't human.

A SAIYANS' LIFE FORCE KEEPS THEM ALIVE LONGER THAN EXPECTED:

More Saiyan resilience is displayed when Raditz & Goku were pierced by Piccolo's attack. There was a hole in their chests yet they still talked and were alive for a minute or so.

VEGETA'S SAIYAN RESILIENCE:

Vegeta survives getting a hole blasted through his stomach as well. He even walks around and talks before collapsing. This is some insane life energy Saiyans have. Saiyans are truly built for survival. Even if they are dealt a fatal blow, they still may be able to kill their opponent when their back is turned before they die.

Due to Saiyan resilience, Vegeta was able to talk for a while before dying instead of dying immediately from getting shot through his heart.

Also, in Chapter 256, Vegeta says that his enemy underestimated his recuperative abilities when they thought he wouldn't gain consciousness until a half hour later. Yet another example of Saiyans being built for survival.

THE RESILIENCE OF EARTHLINGS & SAIYAN/EARTHLING HYBRIDS:

Non-Saiyans get holes in their chest and cannot speak afterwards. Meanwhile we see Goku, Raditz, & Vegeta retain consciousness longer while having holes in their chest and are still capable of speech.

On the flipside, Earthlings and a Saiyan-Earthling hybrids are not as resilient full-blood Saiyans. Yamcha getting a hole in his chest and Trunks getting a hole in his chest. (Although it was a combination of Yamcha's ki being drained + getting impaled.)

A full blood Saiyan would've survived a little longer than Trunks and been able to speak. Hybrids have the physicality of Earthlings but the power and abilities of Saiyans. Saiyan bodies are just more durable than a hybrid & most other aliens & humans.

So, that's why I say that Goku was not protected by a wish in the DBS anime continuity. For now at least. And I hope it stays this way. The series itself explains why Goku sirvived dangers when he was a kid. We don't need some wish from Bardock to protect him. And the inclusion of Bardock was Toyotaro's idea, not Toriyama's. Toyotaro said so in an interview.

And that inclusion resulted in a poor retcon, dumbing down Goku & Vegeta, as well as trying to change what Saiyan pride is. Toyotaro doesn't even know what Saiyan Pride actually is. So, I don't take the DBS manga continuity seriously. The DBS anime continuity understands the world and characters far better than Toyotaro ever could.

[demonslayedher]

Other than Tanjiro, are the other demon slayers aware of the Kibutsuji curse on the demons?

That… that’s a really important question, it would really change things! I really have to wonder just how much the average demon slayer even knows about demons, seeing as communicating with them hasn’t really been much of a thing. It’s worth noting that Tanjiro started his journey as a way to talk to more demons to find out more about them in case they knew anything that could help Nezuko, as Urokodaki, who had lots of experience with demons already, simply did not know enough to provide much advice for Nezuko. Had he known, Urokodaki probably would had warned Tanjiro about this unique threat his sister faces.

The kicker is at the beginning of Chapter 52, when the narration points out how Muzan’s ability to read his demons’ thoughts meant that had Nezuko not cut herself off from Muzan, he’d had been able to find the Ubuyashiki Estate due to them having brought her there. This leads me to believe that Muzan’s abilities to keep tabs through his demons are not well understood by the Corp, so likewise, they do not know the threat of silence which the demons are under.

Yoriichi, in his recollections to Sumiyoshi in Chapter 187, seems to understand that Tamayo was temporarily freed from Muzan’s control due to Muzan’s weakened state. However, he might have only known about the control because Tamayo told him, and given how much of an uproar there was about him after this encounter, it’s hard to say how well the information he got from her would had been retained (my personal theory is that 6-year-old Oyakata-sama secretly placed his trust in Yoriichi retained the info as best he could and passed it on, which was why Kagaya knew of Tamayo). Even for vaguely knowing Muzan has control of his demons, though, from that interaction with Tamayo alone, it may not be clear that they cannot say his name. After all, Tamayo was saying a lot of stuff that could had gotten her in trouble.

If other Corp members did know this, though, I feel like they’d probably find ways to try to use that to their advantage, whether cowardly taunting demons to invoke the cursed name, or in the case of Pillars who had always desperately been trying to track down Muzan, trying to figure out some way to reverse-engineer the effect as a way of homing in on Muzan.

[jjheejz]

About Internet Water Army in the case

This is an ongoing update about the case from start to development. List of all related posts can be found on this blog's pinned post (link provided at bottom of each post as well).

19 August 2021 update: Added the scale of his success for reference, before bonus below

18 August 2021 update: Added timeline of events, orange title in post, found out the official English term for Immoral Media = Internet Water Army)

Major updates since first draft: Added bonus, added disclaimer, certain info details

Originally posted on 16 August 2021

[The purpose of this post is to provide a perspective as to why the Media is raised/blamed regarding the issue. Especially for international fans, as all the encounters happened on Weibo. Also, those who were on weibo, do read through if you will. So although it's lengthy, do try to read all, at least if not the last two parts].

The Media referred by most, is not the common perception of the Entertainment Industry (celebrities, directors, shows, channels, staff etc), but the dark side of the Entertainment industry: Antis, toxic fans, toxic marketing accounts. They are called Internet Water Army💧.

Toxic Marketing Accounts is one of the things they do, these accounts on Weibo has millions of followers, each of their post likes are in the hundred thousands (buyable) to give credibility to passer-bys. Some use similar names to Official accounts, some use similar logos. Their posts are usually subjective or aims to steer view points of a certain celebrity/movie/show. Before the latest update of this post (18.08.21), I just group them all together and term them as Immoral Media*.

*Below is my original post using my original term because at point of first draft, I did not know the official term (so have changed/added the term from Immoral Media to Internet Water Army in content below but retain the content based off first draft).

If you have chased before celebrities, or just simply passed by an article about certain celebrities, recall how some title that caught your attentions were like. Clickbaits is one of the many things they do. If GZ is your first and you do not have Weibo, then this read(link) is good enough.

Just as the term Immoral Media (Internet Water Army), it’s immoral and unethical, but they exists because they are paid to do so. Who pays them? Entertainment Companies, and maybe other Organisations

Normal Media/Marketing vs Immoral Media/Toxic Marketing/Internet Water Army

When a show or movie comes out, the normal Marketing department will generate outreach and buzz so that people know a show is airing soon/know the show exists etc. Official announcements are not enough, because there isn’t much context (limited content to put up as well) so having some other Marketing accounts do the buzz in a planned period to gain awareness through posts, some articles about the casts, the plot summary, the production details etc is normal. This is Marketing, bigger companies will probably have stronger Marketing departments (aka influence) and can hire more Marketing accounts to generate buzz. Celebrities (aka casts) themselves, are also Marketing point.

Then we have the Internet Water Army/Immoral Media, these are what they mainly do:

Create Fanfiction-rumors: Creating rumors about celebrities to shift audience perception of them. [eg. XX was seen with XX leaving a hotel, XX was drunk on Event Y and did ZZZ to AA, XX is dating BB and has been in a relationship for N years etc]

Honing their brain degrading skills: Come up with titled clickbait headings/ trending topics with negative written contents. For articles, exceptionally out of heading content related to the celebrity. [Refer to Baidu, it’s a winner of these, feel free to Google Translate]

Regressing their common sense and understanding skills: Take everything a celebrity does completely out of context in a negative way and create a topic out of it [eg. XX said AA is a ---, “XX raised his finger, a sign of ---?”, XX pushed BB aggressively on Variety Show Y - A competition variety show, XX is in beef with CC because XX was caught giving CC the eye]

Using their fingers to stir shit and bathe each other in it: Escalate all smallest form of possible tension created by fans/themselves into a huge thing by acting as the fandom's fans/lurk in fandom chat groups, and voicing their disguised opinion to spread tension/exaggerate severity of the issue [eg. XX fans mocked AA - in groupchats: tbh I've never liked AA before, AA just gives off a vibe that I dont like and now this? It just disgusts me even more > Yea, i feel this way too. AA has problems / XX Lurkers expressing views on XX about NN, slowly to NNMHFXW - XX did NNMHGT - I cannot accept NNmHfHw, I'm leaving = multiply by 1000++]

Epitome of a self-deteriorate: Creating something out of nothing and react to that something negatively to gain massive attention/reaction [eg. “XX raised his hand on show Y” - dk what XX fans are thinking, are they literally blind? XX fans are tasteless just like XX hahaha / “XX did community service” - they are acting / “XX breathed” - From the start, i thought XX was NN, but I am so ZZZ that XX breathed. Goodbye fandom, i’m leaving. Those who still want to stay I urge you to rethink your life choices] - if I may add, Xiao Zhan’s fanfiction case as well. 

Metaphor - Ability to use bare hands to collect paychecks from the urinal/toilet bowl where their boss/client peed in: Doing all of the above.

Apologies for any term offense, but not apologetic of the term context. This is what they do for a living. Any normal human being who do not like anything, will generally not be interested at anything about it in the first place, so to have some antis/toxic fans knowing certain things and inside jokes/references in their posts questions their goal.

On involved in Internet Water Army/Immoral Media 💧

Fans on weibo during these few months witnessed many of the above on GZ. From rumored girlfriend (spammed with articles) to mean and nasty comments on trending topics, to bouts of insults and fake emotional cryouts by certain fan accounts that GZ's office has to release a number of Lawyer’s letter to them. 

Aside from WOH there were also a few other BL adaptation films that were actually released this year but they did not reach exponential success like WOH. BL adaptations are so highly followed by because this is the key to wealth. Literally. Successful BLs like The Untamed and  Dao Mu Bi Ji saw the amount of wealth fans are willing to spend on the celebrity as compared to say BG or idols (younger fan groups). This is why when WOH shot up exponentially, Immoral Media start to sweat.

Major anticipated adaptations were supposed to air this year eg. Hao Yi Xing(HYX), Sha Po Lang(SPL) etc but was severely held back due to the stricter change in BL adaptations submitting their scripts for approval regulations (WOH manage to submit earlier before the change). Because of this, most final films were rejected and they have to keep re-editing, by then WOH was already months into reaping tonnes of major brand endorsements, shows/movie casting, variety show appearances etc, something that is seen as too successful in the Immoral Media’s eyes, because they have to create buzz for other celebrities, some are specific celebrity oriented and thus circulate rumors about having endorsement opportunities shifted from celebrity X to GZ (think fanfiction-rumors and shit stirrer) causes tension in celebrity fandoms. - A real event just in July:

The Untamed’s cp fandom is called BJYX which had always been in the Top 1 of Cps for 2 years dropped for awhile to Top 2, over taken by LLD. Both of them had a war and hated each fandom, one fandom is somehow not allowed to like the other fandom even casually after everything broke out because it started out with some BJYX toxics photoshopped GZ on of portraits .

Also another case of which he wore the same costume as WYB did in a previous photoshoot and it became a useless comparison of who wore better, who looks better, degrading the other. (Finger stirring shit).

Now apply all of the above things the Internet Water Army do and we have them earning money, while both fandom reacts and hate each other.

In LLD, our own fans started suspecting each other on who is a spy from BJYX and what not.

The first few months of Internet Water Army saw LLDs mostly mocking them because the average age is 30-40s, they know and see through all of their intentions so nothing was big. They were trumpeting and LLDs didn’t even care, what with all the doing tedious stats was not even important to them.

Over time, as the issues they create became more and more serious LLDs did start to care, reporting Toxic Marketing accounts/toxic fans became a daily task, go vote for GZ at certain polls etc, solo fans, and LLD fans also split apart. Solo fans think cp fans use GZ to furnish their fantasies, and cp fans thinks they are the ones furnishing their dreaming-girls fantasy with (aka my boyfriend).

There was also a period where LLD had a habit of continuously mentioning “we are in the 30-40s so we can see through everything about the media, we are all fans for the first time, we are good at spending money (because of purchase power compared to other fandoms)” it was prevalent for so long it felt odd, ‘chasing celebrities the first time’ in particular sounds more vulnerable as a weakness than a strength / sth to be proud of.

Gradually, more secretive/insider confirmed ‘sweets’ were flying around. Fans advised each other to not circulate, and the mindset of “if you know, you know, dont tell.” (This is a problematic mentality, of which fans will still be curious to know and search for it themselves, but this secretive hook is unhealthy. Over the long term, it becomes hard for existing fans to know a lot of things properly to judge for themselves, especially those who knew and publicly reacted, but blasting those who ask and telling those who know to keep quiet, this did not help some to understand why on certain things, even so for international fans, dont know and dont understand, causing misunderstandings. Yes, certain information should not be shared, so why should you react about it publicly in the first place? - Internet Water Army effect)

The last few months (for example the July fan war) created a tonne of seriousness and anger. A period even broke out with a tonne of ‘insider confirmed sweets’ (which is LLD’s daily dose of happiness), it was hard to tell what was real and what was fake. Trending topics became negative and everyone warned each other not to enter because it will give the trends ‘views’ and trend statistics, in reality entering there is to enter an exhibition by the self-deteriorates, collecting the fandom's traffic data (it's a sure lose for fans each time they enter the topic). Everyone even starts thinking that the trend’s popularity was caused by each other (it's true but it can be bought daily and not caused by fans). There was a raise in the number of fans who were getting emotional because they want to protect but Internet Water Army kept coming and got worse, because fans, tbh, not just GZ fans, every other celebrity’s fans are always fighting with an Army, getting played and plotted in that Army's calendar.

Even so, despite all of these, LLD is actually a fandom Internet Water Army may find the hardest to break because they understand GZ so much, they could tell what are fake news regarding GZ, because among everything above, there are still plenty of logical fans to stop many fans from drifting too far and debunking them. Why? 30-40s are grown up adults.

Why 13.8.21 and the Japan issue is plotted?

First of all, in the political climate of China, there are many political dates in a month that is NO-Entertainment news. Because it’s the honoring of certain important political events. It’s like Remembrance Day, thus the sensitivity is higher. On these days, there are usually no news and even the Internet Water Army zip their pants. This year also marks the 100th year of the Chinese Communist Party(link)

Secondly, he had no work schedule on 13 August 2021. A great full day to focus on any other news (because if he had schedules, everyone will turn their attention to his events, what trumpeting outside is just bird chirps). 

Thirdly, when the news broke out, especially about the shrine, the reception was actually quite serious within the fandom so the scale of this might be big but to what extent in reality?

Lastly, 15.8.21 marks the 76th anniversary of the announcement of surrender of Japanese in World War 2(link). Also a day of NO-Entertainment news. 

Timeline of events:

13.8.21 - [His rest day, Eve of Chinese Valentine's Day, Japan News broke out] His rest day, no schedules = increased attention about him online. Lowered guard among fans because they are getting ready for tomorrow's Chinese Valentine's sweets = Caught off guard = Huge break out of fans' reactions

14.8.21 - [Chinese Valentine's Day, Eve of the 75th Anniversary of the announcement of Japanese surrender] Keep a wishful and happy demenaor to not destroy the mood, suppressed thoughts about ZZH's Japan news

15.8.21 - [75th Anniversary of the announcement of Japanese surrender, Official announcement of ZZH's boycott and all China social media account ban] NO-Entertainment news day, Solemn day, not allowed to voice anything so the fandom can only wait for tomorrow to start voicing out/debunking but before they can wait out, the boycott and social media ban happened, every official accounts about him was gone overnight, fans had no time to react

17.8.21 - [All official fandom accounts related to ZZH and JunZhe were locked/removed]

Forced to be silent since the day his matter broke out, over the course of official news release with everything taken down in a day because of the Japan correspondence, his accounts banned overnight across the Chinese media and the overnight cancellation, fans could not speak anything about it. Overnight cancellation like this scale happened for the first time in China, leaving no time to react by the fandom, by the time they can, they are silenced.

When the period of events occured within a set of special dates, it’s not coincidence.

Conclusion

Because he was too successful and had many actually honorable past things, and a hard to influence fandom, Internet Water Army view him as a huge threat enough to want to destroy him, because it’s hard to defeat. With a chance they have, they will hold it till the end, bringing up this issue to the Government during this period also shows a sign of how scared they were of him and perhaps his fandom to plot something like this.

Updated on 19 August: Here's a screenshot of assumed calculation on the scale of GZ success for reference while chatting with a fellow fan, assuming GJ also has 27 brands, and there are 1000 brands. Rationale of numbers used: Only big brands can hire big celebrities.

Bonus

Mentioned in the first post, will mention again in case. After the news broke out within 2 days, there was a drop on his weibo followers from 18.9mil to 18.7mil. 200k+ drops, if the politics was such a big national issue, there should at least be a huge drop, even at least a million right? Because weibo is a China-Chinese majority right? Nope, we get a puny 200k drop.

What's funny? The self-deteroriates:

Translation: "Are his fans bought? Why didnt he drop fans? Those people got brainwashed to this point?" / "I've never entered his weibo and today i feel like having a look yet it showed I've followed him. All his fans were bought right? It disgusts me, i immediately unfollowed. This kind of process is worse than WYF..." / "i dropped fans because of him...no...I just reposted 2 posts and I've dropped 4 fans?"

Isn't the tone and regressing brain cells, all too familiar and same?

//

Added above, will remind again to read this link. It has an even more in-depth knowledge on who are paying them.

So what should we do? Link here

Related posts 🛏️:

[alloravondoom]

The Case for Guizhong’s Reincarnation

There’s been a theory floating around, especially on Twitter, that seems to have touched the subreddit but not actually been explained as far as I can tell so I’m going to make a mini dissertation fully explaining it since there seems to be enough evidence at this point that it totally might be real. Quick disclaimer: there’s 1.1 AND 1.2 spoilers in this post. The 1.2 spoilers are actually just Zhongli’s voice lines so nothing huge.

Ninggunag is Guizhong’s reincarnation. If you’re not very familiar with Guizhong and only kinda remember her from this quest someone was wonderful enough to compile info on her here. So, now that we’re all caught up I’m just going to dive straight into the insane amount of “coincidences” that tie Ninggunag to Guizhong.

1. Glaze Lilies: Glaze Lilies were in bloom when Zhongli first met Guizhong and during their final parting. On top of that Zhongli says true wild glaze lilies were found in Dihua Marsh and Guili Plains. The glaze lilies we see in Qingce Village and Liyue are “domesticated”. So there’s really no way around not associating Guizhong with glaze lilies. Ningguang is also associated with glaze lilies because they are her ascension materials as well as the fact that she goes on about how lovely and expensive they are in a voice line as well, in fact she’s the one who tells us in that same voice line that Yujing Terrace (in Liyue) are where they’re grown.

2. Memory of Dust: Another thing glaze lilies are used as an ascension material for is the Memory of Dust catalyst weapon. This weapon was a gift from Guizhong to Zhongli and is a puzzle he’s been unable to solve confirming the association to Guizhong again. Also Dust= Guizhong, goddess of dust. It’s also one of the very few catalyst weapons in the game that mesh perfectly with Ningguang’s talent kit. In fact its passive talent is completely worthless on anyone but Ningguang as she’s the only catalyst user who creates shields. The lines. I’ve connected them.

3. Ideologies: Guizhong has been characteristically kind and deeply understanding of humans and human motives. Her priorities where nurturing her people and bridging the gap in the strength of adepti and humans through wisdom and knowledge. She also gave commandments to her people. At first glance Ningguang seems to be none of these things but her character stories show that she actually goes down and plays with children and values their opinions on the happenings of Liyue so much that she uses them as her “intelligence network.” She also simply enjoys their company, showing that she is not the cold hearted businesswoman people make her out to be. Additionally Ningguang’s character story tells us that she’s always been kind and friendly to her common people and only treats business owners with her ruthless mentalities. Her love of rules is also not be noted. I’ll admit this one is shaky on it’s own but it’s there.

4. Engineering: Stone Tablet Compilations (I) confirms that Guizhong built Guizhong ballista to defend the people of Liyue and Cloud Retainer says herself that she helped.  Cloud Retainer also complains about a certain human who ALSO is a renowned engineer and has a floating abode. She whines and jealously builds her adepti’s abode just to show off how much better adepti ingenuity is, but in reality we’ve seen both and hands down Jade Chamber wins Ningguang 1 Cloud Retainer 0. What I’m getting at is both Guizhong and Ningguang have “adepti level” mechanical engineering prowess to the point that even Cloud Retainer even has to acknowledge them. It should also be noted that both the Guizhong Ballista originally made to protect Liyue and ultimately the Jade Palace were what killed Osial.

5. Mora Meat: Okay, I’m gonna look crazy. But you obtain the Mora Meat recipe during the Cloud retainer quest where you need to serve Matsutake Meat Rolls, Mora Meat, and Jewelry Soup to a table where Cloud Retainer, Morax, and Guizhong would sit and eat. We know the Jewelry Soup is for Cloud Retainer so the Mora Meat is either Guizhong or Morax’s plate BUT Ningguang’s specialty dish is Caelum Terra Mora Meat (meaning Heavenly/Heavenly Ground Mora Meat). Again. The lines. I’ve connected them.

6. Hair: This might be the most damning evidence and quite frankly when I noticed it in game it made me go from “yeah thats a cute theory” to losing my mind for a week and writing this long ass post. We all know one of the many big tip offs of Zhongli being Morax was his ombre hair. No other characters but the archons thus far have this ombre hair EXCEPT ONE. Yes, Ningguang has ombre hair, her hair is white then turns to this gray...ashy...some would say dusty....shade. I’ve checked this over three times. In game the only characters who have ombre hair are archons. In all promotional art this is the same. Even among the upcoming characters only Xiao and Xinyan have colored hair but with Xinyan it’s notably NOT ombre and instead these streaks in her hair that quite frankly looks like she tied red ribbon into her braid for color and dyed the tips orange for a fire aesthetic. It looks totally different from how adepti and archons have their hair BUT what do I know. Xiao...is an adepti. Of course he has ombre. 

6. Lore Implications: All of those things are nice and cool and all but the real reason I’m so obsessed with this theory is how well it ties into the Liyue plot. If Ningguang really is Guizhong’s reincarnation there is no shot in hell Zhongli has not noticed. In Zhongli’s leaked voice lines he refers to Ningguang in an incredibly fond and somber tone calling her a “rare gem”. He even very cryptically says “Time is cruel to humans.” Look. Come on. 

More importantly, you have to consider that the people of Liyue were originally Guizhong’s people and Morax came to rule them with her before sending them south after she died to protect them. For Zhongli to retire NOW in the era when Ningguang reigns and she bears this heavy resemblance to his deceased friend would be a plot masterpiece. FINALLY Zhongli can return the people of Liyue to their original ruler and rest, FINALLY Zhongli can take the time to learn what Guizhong was trying to teach him about humanity by taking a break and embracing humanity, and more importantly FINALLY was Guizhong’s will realized and the gap between humans and adepti bridged. The jade palace, a construction of human intelligence and strength, dealt the killing blow to Osial NOT the Ballista. I cannot stress how impactful and amazing this subtle theming is. If this is never outright confirmed in canon I’d be fine with it as just a theory but I will eat my shoes if its outright debunked.  

TLDR Ningguang and Guizhong share a lot of motifs and character traits to a point where it's too much not to mention or theorycraft also it just makes sense plotwise.

[sipsteainanxiety]

Listen you, I have loved your fanfic ever since I found it on AO3 and honestly Fukui being Bakugou was obvious and it was great. Knowing who he exactly he was just made mc's feelings so much more meaningful to me and honestly showed why I kinda have a thing for amnesia fics.

In real life they are so much harder on people obviously, and I wanna say I don't mean to take away from their pain in any way.

But I guess I am just so enthralled with the idea of how people can fall in love with the same person again and again. It's so comforting to read fics like that esp about your comfort character or ships.

I also love your fic cause goddamn is that a ride. Like the baby? Bicth I'm ready to get hurt by that plot line. How every time Bakugou looks at her as Bakugou there's always that sadness in his eyes that his love can't remember, and yet he still can't help but love them. Fuhck bro.

Anyways love you and your work looking forward to what see what you do in the future!

omg hello hello!! <33 i'm glad you like fmn so much!! thank you for reading it!! i also have a thing for amnesia fics (with a happy end of course) even though like,,, if that ever happened to me i think i would simply pretend to know the person i forgot bc of social awkwardness..... john mulaney did a skit on that once and i was like dang i agree LMFAO but i digress

yeah, having amnesia is of course harder irl and there is simply no way for me to understand how painful it is. i took a class that went through a bunch of case studies on people with anterograde/retrograde amnesia and it's just heartbreaking :(( did u know there's a fellow tht has a memory span of like 10 seconds. crazy to think abt. he rmbs his wife and things from the past, but he thinks he hasn't seen her in years since, yk, his memory span is so short and he can't retain new info for long. so every time he sees her when she comes to visit him, its like he's seeing her for the first time in ages. there are videos online abt him, it's very sad bc once she leaves he forgets that she was ever there :( i'm rambling again, sorry KJSFHKDJG

but anyways!! yeah there's just something poetic almost abt falling in love with someone again c: looking at fmn from bakugou's pov like... he's very much in love with the reader, and it's very agonizing for him knowing that she doesn't remember him. but those instances where they're in each other's presence and there's just something there, lingering in the air between them that the reader cannot understand but bakugou does is... mmm, the hurt.... that's what prevents him from losing hope and pushes him to pursue her still, even after all the negative reactions she's had to him in the beginning! that and the fact that he doesn't give a FUCK that she doesn't rmb, he'll MAKE HER RMB DAMNIT!!! somehow haha. he... was actually pretty successful, even if he didn't realize.

oooh the baby plotline LMAO. i purposely didn't touch much on that one throughout the fic only cuz it's more of a side thing to make bakugou suffer more LMSDFJHSDFKJH i'm kidding but that was one of the plot twists that i was hoping not a lot of people would pick up on and i think it worked? at least it's less obvious than the fukui one LMFAO i have stuff planned for that in the,,, next next chapter i think.

thank you again for reading my dumb little fanfics <3 ahhh i keep saying this but i really can't blv fmn is almost over skjfskdjfh but i've got this one 150k fantasy au fic that i'm hoping to start releasing sometime this year if i prewrite enough that will just-!! all i'm saying is it'll be absolutely great heehee rip-your-heart-out-plot-twists-galore great >:))

[leejungchans]

— our first snow.

word count: 2.2k

pairing: dino (svt) x idol!oc (juliet)

warning(s): mentions of cyberbullying, allusions to stalking (dispatch yucky), mentions of the toxic/dark side of the kpop industry

genre: mostly fluff; slight angst (about idol life); crushes-to-lovers; idol au

notes: can be read as a standalone but you can refer to juliet’s masterlist for more info on her!! there may be some weather inaccuracies in this ahskhwjs please don’t be mad 😭 i live somewhere that never snows :(

summary: a confession is made during the first snowfall of 2021.

a/n: thank you to the anon who suggested a cute dino/juliet scenario 🥺💖 i hope you like this!!! thank you all for reading and have a nice day!!

Winter in Seoul is beautiful.

Even though she’s been living in Korea for six, almost seven years, Juliet thinks she can never get tired of seeing snow. Something about it is just so utterly magical and charming, like being in a Christmas card. Sure, it’s freezing and the snow sticks to everything—her hair, parka, boots, even her lashes, but it’s still one of her favourite things about living in Seoul as it’s something she wouldn’t be able to experience back home in Sydney.

Juliet still remembers the first time she saw snow the year she moved to Korea and how transfixed she had been. Upon learning about this, Yeri, the first friend she made at her former company, immediately dragged her out to the sidewalk where snow elegantly floated down from the sky and would eventually envelop Seoul in a pristine white blanket.

Though, she supposes that at the moment, they’re experiencing more of a snowstorm than a snowfall. By the time she gets back to the dorm, her black parka will probably turn white from all the snow sticking to it. She wonders what her members are doing, if they’re also enjoying the snow or staying inside to shield themselves from the biting cold.

A particularly strong gust of wind blows the hood of Juliet’s parka off her head, causing snow to immediately start landing on her newly-dyed purple hair. A gloved hand instantly reaches up to tug the hood snuggly back into place.

The female idol turns to her companion and smiles, even though he can only see her eyes due to the both of them wearing black masks, but she hopes he notices her eye-smile anyways. “Thanks, Channie.”

Juliet watches Chan’s eyes curve into crescents, and she knows he’s also grinning behind his mask. They’re always so sparkly, she thinks, like they hold the entire universe in them.

“C’mon,” he says softly, “the snow’s getting heavier, better get you home before we’re both stranded out here.” Juliet doesn’t tell him, but she wouldn’t exactly complain even if they do get stranded as along as she’s with him.

Here being a mostly empty street with only the dim lights from the street lamps and the occasional passerby to keep them company. The passerby’s don’t pay them any attention either as they walk briskly in an attempt to get out of the snowstorm as quickly as possible. They did pass a few small groups of people who came outside to enjoy the first snow of the year, but those people too occupied with making snowmen and taking photos to notice that they had crossed paths with two idols.

Despite the late hour, Juliet doesn’t want to go home. At least, not yet. She knows she should be back by now, a few award shows are scheduled for the end of the month, not to mention ATEEZ’s upcoming projects and appearances, so she needs all the sleep she can get to keep up with the practising. Chan definitely also needs the rest, yet he insists on walking her back to her dorm after their late night out before going back to his.

Juliet knows they’re both physically exhausted from their hectic lifestyles, but it is the unspoken knowledge that this is the only time of the day they have for themselves, truly just themselves, that make them want to stay out longer to retain a sense of normalcy. Over the years, she’s learnt to cherish the short-lived moments away from the cameras and prying eyes.

It’s knowing this that causes her to deliberately slow down her walking pace, because she wants just a little more time where she is simply Baek Minyoung instead of Juliet from ATEEZ, spending time with her friend Lee Chan and not Dino from SEVENTEEN.

Juliet has always believed that she is someone who warms up to people slowly with the exception of her members. But then Chan came into her life and effortlessly wove himself into the seams of her heart in a blink of an eye.

She thought they’d just be friends, she really did, until she found herself falling for the energetic boy with a heart of gold after a few secret outings much like this one. Before either of them knew it, their friendship had morphed into something more, though neither dared to make a move. After all, they know how fragile idol relationships can be in their industry—interfering companies, invasions of privacy, the slew of hateful comments that every idol couple cannot escape...

There were many nights where Juliet stayed up late thinking if it was easier to stay friends than to take the next step. Idol friendships, even opposite-sex ones, typically last longer and are met with less scrutiny, after all.

In those times, she also found herself wondering what her life would’ve been if she never came to Seoul and became an idol. She never thought that at one point in her life, getting a coffee or grabbing lunch with friends without having people shove their phones in your face would be a luxury, but here she is.

But if she never came to Seoul, she never would’ve met her members, the kind staff members who treat her like a younger sister or daughter, the amazing friends she met along the journey of becoming an idol...

She also wouldn’t have met Chan, so there’s that.

She once asked him during a phone call last year how he and his members cope with all the downsides that come with being an idol.

“It’s a learning process every day, I think,” he says thoughtfully. “But in general, I try to tell myself that even though bad things happen, there’s still a lot of good that outweighs the bad...I get to meet amazing people and do what I love for a living...These things are what I will cherish forever, the bad things won’t last forever, and it doesn’t do me any good to lose myself in them instead of the good.”

Juliet thinks about that a lot. Not that he has to know, or he’ll never let her live it down.

“—say about the first snow?”

Chan turns to face her with confusion written across his face from a lack of response. She blinks blankly at him. “What?”

He shoots her a look of mock exasperation. “Were you seriously not listening to anything I was saying?” he whines.

“Sorry, I spaced out!”

“I’m not going to be friends with you if you keep ignoring me like this!”

Before the boy has time to react, Juliet grabs a handful of snow from the ground and launches it at his face. He splutters for a moment, brushing off the flakes from his mask as she cackles, but her glee doesn’t last long when he reaches for a larger handful of snow.

Juliet shrieks and jogs away from Chan, which isn’t as easy as she thought given that her feet keep sinking into the layer of snow. “Wait, wait! Stop! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“You have to keep it down,” he laughs, gently tossing the snow back onto the ground, “we can’t be out here screaming and drawing Dispatch’s attention.” His tone is light and teasing, but the mention of the news—no, gossip—outlet makes her wrinkle her nose in distaste.

Though she can’t help but find it funny that if someone from Dispatch is actually currently following them—and she hopes they’re not because, hello? What happened to privacy and human decency?—all they’d get would be footage of them throwing snow at each other.

“You’re right,” Juliet says as they continue walking, “let’s not give them more business. What were you saying earlier, by the way?”

“I asked if you know what people here say about the first snow.”

Of course she does. Even if it has never been brought up in the dramas or movies she watched, her friends outside the industry have certainly gushed about the symbolism.

“No, not really,” she replies, feigning innocence. Playing dumb is fun, especially when you can also play the ‘foreigner card’ to back yourself up.

“It’s said that any lie you tell on the day of the first snowfall will be forgiven, and that any wish you make will be granted.”

Juliet frowns. “I thought that was for the first snowfall of the season, not the year. So technically, today’s not the first snow.”

Chan’s mouth drops open in a large ‘O’. “I thought you said you don’t know much about the first snow,” he accuses before shoving her lightly.

“Ah-ah-ah, you can’t be mad at me! You said any lie told today will be forgiven!”

“You’re the one who said today doesn’t count!”

“Okay,” Juliet relents, “this can be our thing, then. We can have two first snows each year.”

He laughs, and she can’t help but admire the sound of it. It’s just so contagious and never fails to put her in a good mood. “Deal.”

They keep walking until her building is in view. Admittedly, it’s a risky move to have him walk her all the way to the building’s entrance, as it’s known that people tend to wait outside idols’ dorms hoping to catch a glimpse of them, but Chan insisted that he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of her walking alone in the dark at this hour.

“You know what else people say about the first snow?” Chan’s voice loses its usual playful edge. Instead, it sounds far softer and might’ve even betrayed a sense of nervousness.

Juliet doesn’t respond, but she turns to face his side profile to assure him that she’s listening. He keeps looking down at the ground, so she decides to silently admire the straight slope of his nose and the sharp angle of his jawline.

“People say that if you confess to someone during the first snow, you’ll stay together for a long time.”

“Is this your way of saying that you want to be with me for a long time?” she teases, but her grin drops when Chan looks at her with a solemn expression. “Oh. Oh. You’re being serious.”

He huffs out a quiet laugh at her wide eyes. “I know we’ve talked about this before, but what would you say if I told you I want to be with you? Officially, I mean.”

What would she say? A million thoughts are running through her mind, and she feels as though she’s been struck by lightning. How would the boys react? Their second year since debut was only a few months ago, would they think it’s too early? Would they be upset with her? Should she tell her company or let them find out? Would they tell her to break it off if they knew?

What if they break up? Will they still stay friends after that? Idol relationships can crumble easily given the nature of the industry and its habit of selling the fantasy of idols being ‘available’. Ten fingers wouldn’t be enough to count all the couples who broke up due to the pressures that come with this job—hectic schedules, obsessive fans, meddling companies, cyberbullying, the list can go on forever.

Is it worth it to take the risk when there seems to be a million reasons suggesting that it’d be better to stay friends?

But what does she want? Does she want to live basing every decision off of appeasing people who only know her from what they see on a screen?

Or does she want to live unapologetically with the people she loves and cares about, even if she has to risk her reputation and image simply for being happy?

Her answer couldn’t be clearer.

“I’d say that I’d like that a lot. Unless you’re secretly playing a prank on me.”

To say that Chan is flooded with relief would be a massive understatement. “You scared me!” he whines as he clutches his heart. “You weren’t saying anything for so long and I thought you were thinking about how to reject me!”

“I’m sorry,” Juliet giggles, eyes shining up at him. “Forgive me?”

A dramatic, reluctant sigh. “I guess I can make an exception for you,” he finally says.

Despite their masks hiding most of their faces, their eye-smiles tell the other just how happy they both are.

Deep down, Juliet knows that a simple snowfall cannot guarantee a fulfilling, long-lasting relationship. Perhaps a few years later, or even shorter if they’re unlucky, they may find themselves dealing with imminent heartbreak and separation.

But when her gloved hand—gloves courtesy of Chan because he somehow knew she’d forget her own— reaches for his, interlacing naturally as though they’ve done it a hundred times prior to today, she hopes that the universe will grant her silent wish that they can stay like this for a long, long time; that no matter how much they and their environments may change, they will still be able to find happiness and comfort within each other. She thinks it’ll come true.

After all, it is the first snow. Their first snow.

— bonus!!

a/n: eeeeeeeeppppp ngl this is,,,kinda cute if i do say so myself ;-; and yes this is also indulging my wish to have a cute boy (preferably park seonghwa or lee chan) confess to me on a snowy day ahdjhwjs 😔 again, thank you for reading and take care!!

feedback is always and highly appreciated!! whether it’s a reblog, a reply, or a short ask, it would mean the world to me 🥺💗 and remember that you are more than welcome to chat with me about anything in my asks!!

[titleknown]

Hello and good tidings to you!

Now, you may be wondering where I have been these past few months! Well, aside from some... rather bad mental health days, I have been scouring a terrain most unusual to me to find information on a representative species!

Specifically, the... well, I'm not sure what humans would call it. The human habitus has been considered a "backwater" by may of those in magical society, but as my, ahem, creator can attest, humanity is more than capable of harboring magical fauna. Like most things worth studying, it simply requires inspection.

Of current interest both of myself and, in niche circles, are these so-called "liminal spaces." Now, the casual term is for spaces of transition or decontextualization in a nonmeta-physical sense, perhaps conflated with the academic term due to the access of metaphysical locations through these casually-termed spaces, or the metaphysical-liminal spaces resembling "mundane" liminal spaces taken to exaggerated extremes.

It is the dream of a world, context filtered into magical shapes and decontextualized and jumbled. The dream of the world humans live in, much like the Memory Palace is the memory of the multiverse, though due to lack of study from magical society, any connections possibly linking the two are as of yet unknown.

There are enough native species to such locations to space out hundreds of entries, but with the aid of our pictured friend I have decided to focus on one. Specifically, the Maskers.

They are, as it seems, floating masks, often with some means of conventional locomotion but not always, sapient and able to access fine manipulation through facial expressions. Their biological systems on non-invasive inspection appear to be semi-organic and semi-inorganic but requiring supernatural means of biology for support of multiple systems.

Their ecological nitche appears to be akin to the cleaner wrasse or the infamous necropossums, in specific they are symbiotic creatures that allow creatures to empower aspects of their personalities not only by allowing concealment, but also in manifesting these aspects in supernatural powers, drawing energy in a mutualistic faction from this catharsis.

There are some restrictions, as my pictured friend has told me. There are nuances I may detail later, but the most prominent is an entity cannot have these qualities as their main "socially presentable" outward expression, the reaction of "matching masks" is supposedly a "taste" they find "disgusting".

Their written history is currently... difficult to access, due to the nature of its storage and the location, but they were able to introduce the body of their oral history regarding their origins. Apparently, they were created when thinking beings begain to hide their feelings beneath social graces, but not as expressions of those masks. Rather, as the world's reactions to these masks, for every reaction produces a reaction in and of itself. This bears further inspection, though it will require some navigatorial... finagling.

As with many inhabitants of this plane, their appearance shifts slightly from meeting-to-meeting,my hypothesis being this is a result of the nature of the "plane," but individuals do retain enough aspects of their appearance to be recognizable to lay individuals upon repeat encounter.

Hopefully we will meet again, as the fellow who was my main contact; who's name was Cheribam, was quite a sanguine; gregarious individual and a gracious conversant even with my, admitted, relative lack of familiarity with the area!

Though, their sanguine nature does make me curious upon which aspect they "surface" in their interactions...

Oh silly me I am annoyed I forgot to ask. Well, perhaps next time.

-Xavier X. Xolomon , Monsterologist and Understudy to The Librarian Of Babel

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So, because I haven't returned to the former for depressingly long despite how many pics I had for it ready to go, I decided to tie together my XXX Book of Monsters stuff and my Liminal Spaces stuff, because I thought it might at least make that return a bit less... jarring.

And also because I love worldbuilding-crossovers, UNIFIED SETTING FTW!

And yes, I did make Cheribam as a "basic" representative of those mask-creatures who keep showing up in my Liminal Space stuff, so there's a bit more info there!

In the interest of giving, this type of surreal-specimen is free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

And, if you wanna support me, maybe check out my Patreon, or even just send a Ko-Fi my way! Every penny is appreciated, and I am eternally grateful for those who donate!

Or, if you wanna commission me for a pic like this, my commission info is thisaway!

[shans-writings]

—–-- AU-GUST PROMPTS 2021 :

↳ Day 1 : Ancient Gods.

`

↳ Main Info :

BNHA / MHA short story.

All Might and Endeavor are ancient gods and Shigaraki Tomura is the new Death in town.

Non explicit violence content, no sexual content, no mention of dead.

Safe for minors.

`

`

“Tonight I will kill a god.”

The stranger slammed the glass on the table. His friend, who had laughed at such insolence as if it were a joke, put her hand to his chest, so that he would not stand up.

“You cannot kill a god,” the stranger's expression was fixed on the traveler in front of them, in the hollowed darkness under his hood, the type that didn't let his eyes be seen. “The gods do not die. This is not how the world works.”

Beside him, the stranger's friend pretended to be amused, though over his glass he was watching them warily.

He did not believe that he and the stranger were real friends. They were completely different, one like the heaven's, one like the underworld. Yet the stranger and his friend were about the same height and width, with the same bulging muscles under tight clothing, the same hard cuts on their faces. Their swords, the size of a dragon's fang, were tied behind their back by a golden band across their chests. Neither really needed them to inflict harm, much less to exercise their authority. But the bands had their ranks written on them and they matched the crowns on their heads, the rings on their biceps, the golden markings under their eyes… Those were their honor as warriors, which marked them and distinguished them from all the rest.

The traveler, who had not revealed a name, so the stranger's friend only thought of him as the traveler, made a strange noise that seemed to come out of his throat, leaning both elbows on the table. Was he laughing? The friendliest of warriors hastened to direct the conversation to safety, recounting all the times someone tried to kill a god and failed. He talked a lot, it wasn't easy to put him in a bad mood. Usually he left it to the stranger to make enemies, for he was so brutal that it was easier for him to force himself into situations, but not with words.

After a long time, the stranger and his friend heard the doorbell.

The rest of the tavern customers turned to look at the newcomers, keeping silent. The two bulky men kept staring in front of them, at the traveler, who had once again let out that chilling sound that was his laughter. In a hummingbird flutter, the traveler stretched out his hands and the golden bands of the strangers began to explode, first those of their chests, their heads, their arms, their eyes. Both bulky men rose to their feet, but it was clear that these bands were not decorative, which could not be hidden for much longer. Of those bands that had served to seal their colossal powers and pass them off as humans, only dust remained.

In the middle of the tavern, All Might, god of wind blows, and Endeavor, god of the flames of hell, had their skin and eyes alight with the light of their divine cores, so much so that half the tavern had to stumble out into the street, or close your eyes to avoid being momentarily blind.

Endeavor drew his sword from him, but All Might was still hesitant. He studied the dark robe the stranger wore, his lanky posture. A sense of dark terror washed over his chest, which he knew immediately because no god was used to fear. The longer he watched him, the more he felt there was something ancient there. He was frightened that the creature could reveal itself and be a copy of himself, a wandering mirror, distorted and new, spotless, so bright and flawless that it'd drive people him.

“What are you?” The god of the winds finally asked.

“The only thing that can truly end itself.”

The traveler removed the robe from him in one fluid motion. No, the god thought, the robe simply ceased to exist when touched to transform into something else, a kind of function between divine matter and organic matter of the human world.

Now he was finally beginning to understand what was happening.

A sharp knock told him that the tavern door had been fully opened. Slowly, as in a dream. The torch fire turned from orange to blue, shadows and men multiplying, compressing the air. It smelled of river, of blood, and the atmosphere thickened until both gods could only perceive each other by the brightness of their eyes, as well as their unearthly gazes.

One after another, disembodied hands turned to the lord of him, holding the parchment and feathers for him so that he could read without touching. From behind, the voices of everyone present began to speak in turn.

“Toshinori Yagi, All Might, god of wind blows and of peace among the tribes. Todoroki Enji, Endeavor, god of the flames of hell and the terror of the fallen. Meet our lord of decay, Shigaraki Tomura. "

Death.

Yagi wanted to fight. He knew Enji would do it, even if it was to taste his god blood.

"May I ask how you plan to kill a god, child?"

Oh, how the roles had changed. All Might heard someone hiss, not daring to turn around. Shigaraki perm He was calm, smiling. The more he looked at him, the more Yagi felt his spine bend toward the ground.

“Have you chosen his replacement yet?”

Nothing, none of the gods spoke. Shigaraki scratched his neck, floating hands signed the scroll and closed it, gently placing it in his hands. As a final gesture, his hands extended their bony fingers to the sky again and then, in a second, his form decomposed in mid-flight and Death's entire body enveloped the gods, until he materialized on the other side. .

In the hands of Death, two pearls had remained. One golden like the high summer wind, another red like the blood and sulfur bottoms meters and meters underground.

Toshinori was the first to collapse. His skin stuck to his bones, he was shrinking until he was no more than an old man on his knees. He couldn't stand up, no matter how much he wanted to.

Enji retained his physique, but there was no light in his eyes. Everything that made him a god was gone. He felt it as the greatest pain, he knew that his cores were intact, but with all his immortality it would take years of devotion to fill that void again.

Years they would not have.

They heard Shigaraki Tomura laugh one last time, as he went with his entourage into the great darkness beyond the door.

And the old gods, that night, learned how you can kill a god. They must replaced and sentenced to exile, until no one remembers them.

And finally... Nothing, oblivion.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

some real inside baseball games shit but i cannot BELIEVE the business history of the STALKER devs, GSC Game World.

1) almost as old as i am, still around

2) never bought out

3) dissolved for a couple years and then revived instead of selling themselves off to a bigger company???

4) retained the iP through the acquisition of their publisher THQ by embracer. how on earth did they keep their IP? what the hell was that publishing deal like? how the fuck did the original three games get funded? keeping the IP rights is a Big Deal today but not so much in the early aughts. was there a backroom deal where they bought the rights back???

it is a ~*fucking nightmare*~ trying to find any info on games funding past like uhhhh 2016, bc the industry is so so fragemented, a billion news sites and blogs have risen and fell, and this industry is not overly given to preserving its own history, let alone eastern european studios’ history.

like damn! good for them i guess! i want STALKER 2 to at least break even, bc i love the concept and aesthetic and am contractually obliged to love anything radioactive, but i’m just baby and have bounced off these games so many times with so many mod configurations bc i am simply not very good at shooters

[kittymsmithwritesstuff]

Theory Following the Bangalore/Wraith lore video.

Video Link: https://twitter.com/PlayApex/status/1378037453894848515?s=20

Note: 

* means additional info at bottom

Also, sorry if I repeat myself a couple times. Anywhoodle.

I am fucking LIVING for the Bangalore and Wraith interaction. This presents so many questions, and I find it fucking hilarious that Crypto is like, “yeah can y’all get a handle on yourselves?”

Also really nice to hear Wraith talk for an extended period of time, you really get an impression on just how “mellow” she is. The lorebook was fantastic on giving her a voice but hearing how she might actually say the words is interesting. 

ANYWAY HERE’S A THEORY

-Bangalore possibly knows something about Wraith that she’s not saying. Wraith, until this moment, seemed to be completely unaware of this. The question here is: what does she know, and why isn’t she telling her?

What she might know: So this requires having read the lorebook, so spoilers ahead as I drop some background.

Background

Bangalore is shown in the book to have some conflictions on her perspective of the IMC; more specifically, she has separated the individuals within it from the overall company for a number of reasons that are better explained in book. But what you need to know is that her eldest brother, Zeke, was killed in the Typhon explosion, alongside millions of other people. Typhon was a planet full of unarmed research and development scientists and civilians. This combined with her brother’s death made Bangalore hate the Militia more than she ever had. The final battle at Gridiron happened soon after, but Bangalore missed it because she was taken to her ship she had just been assigned to, the HMS Hestia, by her brother Jackson. He showed her a strange piece of tech and then everyone on the ship used it to escape, though Bangalore wanted to fight. The tech let them make a 20 year trip to the Outlands in 1 year (in cryo-sleep). It was then useless.

Jackson later told her the truth that is the origin of her conflictions and eventual separation of IMC individuals from the company overall. Her brother got insider info from a doctor who survived the explosion and had worked on the project with the strange technology. He revealed that the ARES division was torturing and doing horrific experiments on human beings, with one of their main projects concerning the strange tech (side note: I believe it is actually called an Ark but I’m too lazy to look it up), which they intended to turn into a massive weapon that could wipe out all IMC competition. In Bangalore’s words, “the Militia killed millions…to save billions.”

This is for everyone to read: Bangalore’s hatred for the Militia tempered some and shifted to the ARES division and General Marder, who was behind the giant weapon. She tends to avoid thinking about it too much. She maintains that the IMC was not completely evil, and it is the opinion of the author of this post that she is correct and there was bad on both sides, but this is another post. Other context clues indicate that Bangalore may, overall, avoid conflict when she cannot be sure of the correct choice.

So What She Might Actually Know

At the very least, she knows Wraith was previously part of ARES division. She might even know what part she was involved with before Project: Wraith, which could very well be part of the weapon of mass destruction. For Bangalore, this would be enough to hold a grudge. If she somehow got additional information – say from any possible database on the Hestia, or any other former IMC hotspots in the Outlands that she might have located-then she might have additional reason to hate or dislike Wraith. She specifically mentions that she especially doesn’t want Wraith saying Jackson’s name, which could indicate that she figured out Wraith had some special role in whatever hit the Hestia and caused Jackson’s (presumable) demise, since he’s been gone over a decade by Bangalore’s account, though that’s a far reach.

Baseline: She knows about Wraith’s connection to ARES, and possibly knows more about what Wraith did while working under ARES, something that may or may not connect to Jackson. Additionally, her resentment on Wraith specifically speaking Jackson’s name could simply root in the death of her other brother, Zeke.

Why she might not be teling her: It is possible Bangalore knows what kind of person Wraith was.* More specifically, she might know what she’s done. Why might she not tell her? There’s a few reasons, probably, but the main reason I can think of, almost in summary, is this: She doesn’t want to be the one to tell Wraith the horrible things she might have done, or did do.**

Wraith is shown in the Season 6 comic and in her Employee Intake form in the lorebook to have had trouble with empathy and aggression, her intake form containing a hard-to-read warning that advises keeping an eye on her because of possible conflict. Wraith knows some about this, but Bangalore may have the whole kit and kaboodle, or at least more than Wraith.  She is noted to dislike Wraith, specifically mentioning that she doesn’t like that she volunteered for the experiment that ruined her, but from the video we know they are at least civil, if not “acquaintances” due to the info Wraith has about Bangalore’s brother, though she could have gotten this from outside sources. It’s also possible this civility is a result of Bangalore doing her best to not take out her resentment on someone who has no way of knowing what they did wrong. This could be considered part of the long term effectsof her gradual character change and improvement that first changed significantly when she began her friendship with Loba.

Summary/TLDR: Bangalore probably dislikes Wraith both because she disagrees with her choice to volunteer for the Project: Wraith experiment, and definitively because of her previous ARES association. She might also dislike her for whatever actions she took during her time with ARES, which she may know about due to her IMC connections/previous access to IMC databases. She is trying to avoid acting on this knowledge because she doesn’t want to blame Wraith for something she doesn’t even remember and has no way of knowing she did. She is withholding information from Wraith because she does not want to be the one to inform her of the possibly horrific things she did under ARES, both out of sympathy and possibly because she simply doesn’t want to or doesn’t know how to deal with it.

*in this case we assume fully that our Wraith is similar enough to the Wraith she traded places with that their actions are mirrored in each other’s respective dimensions. This might also contribute to why Wraith can’t just pop into another dimension and figure out what happened-only her and the other Wraith we saw in the Outlands video are similar enough, and she can’t see into the past in either dimension.

**I did entertain the possibility that she was retaining info for her own use, manipulation, or to be a flat fucking bitch, but in all honestly Bangalore’s character just doesn’t fit that. She’s not a horrible person; she’s a strict, sad, frustrated one, but if she found something about Wraith that would be to Wraith’s benefit, I highly, highly doubt she would withhold it, as that crosses the line from bitch to cruel.