#and yet everyone has their own specific way to portray them

[amoritasart]

My favorite visual design aspect of the Wittebane brothers is that they look NOTHING alike. They don’t share eye nor hair color, they don’t share face shape, their eyebrows are different, they don’t even share the same nose.

This is very interesting to me because almost every other character that has relatives shares at ALOT of aspects with their bio families, that it’s unmistakable that they’re related. Eda and Lilith are both super pale, tall, slender, and have the same face shape, Amity looks EXACTLY like her mom and her siblings all share the same eye color and nose. Luz is basically just a teen Camila, and even half brothers like Steve and Matt have the same eyebrows.

And you know, that was something deliberate. In a live action setting you can’t always control exactly how your actors will look, but in a cartoon these characters were made to be so different. And their story is so vague that for all we know “brothers” is what they called each other because they had no one else, for all we know they were both abandoned orphans who found a home in each other . And his attachment to Caleb grew due to being the only person who ever showed interest in his well being.

[victorian-persuasions]

jane austen's ability to portray female characters occupying a wide range of roles in society, falling into a variety of stereotypes or patterns, yet give each one a depth that makes them jump off the page... is genuinely so impressive to me. as a student i was reminded sometimes not to dwell on relatability when discussing historical literature but like. anne elliot? relatable. DEEPLY relatable, in a remarkable way. this woman has put aside her own wants and needs and interests, been silenced so frequently that she learned to silence herself - but then, partially because of maturity and partially because of specific circumstances - she learns to say no, to admit to herself what she wants, to defy social convention in little ways in order to stay true to herself. so many women today are boxed in by social and familial responsibilities, raised to put everyone else before themselves. and it's why i keep coming back to persuasion, and to austen, knowing that she saw and understood and chose to give us a novel where the eternal caretaker protagonist rejects being resigned to the future that her father, sister, etc. imagine for her, and reclaims her own life and her own story. austen didn't just write real, whole women, she wrote universal women.

[cry-stars]

Komaeda and Dementia: Part 1 of 5: Introduction and Overview of FTD

Hi everyone!

I’m an aspiring Komaedologist with an interest in dementia. I often see people doubting Komaeda’s stated diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, since it presents differently in him than in the common portrayal of dementia in the media. While his portrayal may not be completely accurate, there is a lot of truth to it, and there are many symptoms visible in-game. I wanted to share a few posts about dementia symptoms that we do see canonically in Komaeda’s portrayals in SDR2 and DR:AE, and share some information regarding his specific diagnosis as opposed to Alzheimers, for example.

I work with people living with dementia as a recreation worker. This means that I see them living their daily lives, and know about difficulties they might have with recreational or day to day activities. There are a lot of observations that I might make that can’t be backed up scientifically yet, but do make sense in a practical way. Everyone with dementia is different, and since I work with seniors for the most part, some observations won’t transfer onto Komaeda. However, I’ll do my best to back up whatever I can with sources.

This post is just for fun and to give people ideas. It means a lot to me to see a fascinating and endearing character like Komaeda portrayed with dementia, since it is a sad and terminal disease, and I usually see it end badly in my job, so I hope to give people ideas on how to portray it, or just to notice things in a different way they might not have before!

My main sources for this post and the following ones include “Dementia Diaries,” which is a really cool project where people with dementia talk about their experiences, National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Society, and my own work experience. I plan on doing more posts about specific symptoms that we see in Komaeda later, but I would be happy to hear from other people who have dementia knowledge, or to answer any questions that I can.

For the most part, I'm only going to be talking about SDR2 and a little bit of DR:AE. I haven't finished watching the anime yet and have not read any of the manga. If anyone has ideas from any of those sources, I would love to hear about them!

Overview of FTD: Which Variant does Komaeda Have?

There are two major forms of frontotemporal dementia. The first, which Komaeda likely has, is the behavioural variant (BvFTD), which is also the most likely for young people to develop. This variant of FTD mainly affects behaviour, empathy, judgement, and planning.

Komaeda is less likely to have the other variant of FTD, primary progressive aphasia. This form of FTD mainly affects language skills, including speech and comprehension.

Komaeda doesn’t seem to have very much trouble with understanding the concrete content of what people say to him, but he does occasionally seem to have trouble fully comprehending hidden meanings behind statements (for example, taking statements literally rather than as sarcastic). To me though, this is less connected to him not being able to understand the words or content of statements, and more not picking up on the emotions hidden in the statements (which I’ll address more in the behavior post). He does seem to have some trouble with word-finding in the Japanese version of the game, but again, it doesn't inhibit his ability to express himself given enough time to speak.

Another thing to note about FTD is that, in its early stages, it mainly affects behaviour and language processing, as stated above, rather than memory. In later stages, memory does start to be affected as well, but it’s different from Alzheimers (probably the most well-known form of dementia) in that memory loss isn’t the main symptom.

FTD’s prognosis is about 6-8 years. Komaeda states in his fifth free time event that his life expectancy is between half a year and one year. However, he is also referring to his lymphoma diagnosis, meaning he expected to die from a combination of both illnesses within that time frame. In SDR2, Komaeda is probably in the early to middle stages of FTD, since he was diagnosed right before entering Hope’s Peak, and was a Remnant of Despair for some time without treatment, so while we can see evidence of memory issues (which I will address in another post), it’s something he’s able to cope with and isn’t a debilitating symptom yet.

One more observation: while dementia as a whole is usually seen in elderly people, Komaeda’s specific frontotemporal dementia diagnosis has an earlier age of onset, usually between ages 40-65, and is rarely seen in elderly people. Even though being diagnosed in high school seems unlikely, it is not impossible. According to Alzheimer Society Canada, early-onset or young-onset dementia (between ages 18 and 65) accounts for 2-8% of all dementia cases.

Thank you for reading! I plan on making five posts total. The other post topics will be Outward Behaviour, Judgement/Thought Processes, Other Symptoms, and Writing Ideas.

[thatonefandomweirdo]

Mouthwashing and The Ways The Abuser Gets Empowered

We all know how the story of Mouthwashing goes. Anya got raped by Jimmy. Curly did nothing because of the Bro Code. The basic reading everyone has.

But I'm surprised how few people have actually understood that Curly isn't the only example we are given of this toxic workplace culture in which harassment is done nothing about. Yeah, Curly is the one who is inactive because he has a connection to Jimmy.

But that completely ignores Swansea and Daisuke and what they portray in the story.

We know Swansea is aware of what Jimmy did to Anya from the scene in the cockpit. And yet nothing really happens afterward for a while except some passive-aggressive comments. Swansea is fully aware that they won't get rescued. And yet he does nothing to stop Jimmy at that point. He only attacks Jimmy once both Daisuke and Anya are already dead.

Besides, I think he was at the very least aware of some of Jimmy's sexual harassment way earlier.

Here's the first conversation with Swansea about the Utility Room

What an odd thing to do. To talk about Daisuke first. Then Anya. Then Daisuke again... and how he won't let anyone in there.

Unless he isn't talking about Daisuke here. He is talking about Jimmy. Because who else? Curly is burnt and can't do anything anymore.

Is it because he views them all as practically teenagers due to his own age? Does he single out Jimmy specifically because he views him as immature? Who knows.

Swansea is at the very least aware of Jimmy's more open behavior around Anya. He does not really confront him directly. He just compares it to his own kids. We've seen how Jimmy treats Anya badly even when it isn't anything sexual related. And nobody does anything then either. Swansea does not seem to view Jimmy's sexual harassment as that bad. If anything, he just seems to think the harassment he does see is immature

He is only using his words for the longest time. Once he retaliates, him and Curly are the only ones Jimmy can hurt anymore.

Now, let's talk about Daisuke. Throughout the whole game, Daisuke knows the least. He is the only one who does not know what Jimmy did to Anya. With that, he gets no choice presented to him in how he handles this. He just does as he is told by the authority figures.

Nobody can really blame him for his inaction. He is an inexperienced guy who has never been around such a difficult situation before. He has hopes they'll get rescued when every else has accepted they are only prolonging their deaths.

By not even being told about anything, Jimmy is able to manipulate him. He talked Daisuke into giving a spiked drink to Swansea for the greater good. So what else would Jimmy have done had he had the chance?

For example, imagine a situation where Jimmy wants Anya alone, so he asks Daisuke to get Anya to come into the cockpit but not tell her he's here. For some private talk away from everyone maybe or any other bullshit excuse he can come up with.

That's the sad part about the game. Jimmy gets empowered through Curly's goodwill towards him, Swansea being passively aware, and Daisuke being completely unaware

[snowy-equinox]

Spirit Boards are Just Another Divination Method

It feels like spirit boards often get ‘othered’ in the world of divination. People label them as either innately dangerous and to be treated with caution, or as an ineffectual toy that shouldn’t be taken seriously. What could be someone’s favorite form of divination is shoved aside for more ‘traditional’ methods like cartomancy or scrying. In truth, they’re not any different from more popular divination methods, and it’s time we embrace them as another tool in the diviner’s arsenal. 

Spirit Boards Started as a Game

‘Spirit board’ is a broad term for any board that is used for spirit communication. They often have “yes”, “no”, the alphabet, and numbers engraved or printed on their surface; a planchette or pendulum is used to mark the spirit’s response by moving to the appropriate symbol. The most popular spirit board is the Ouija board, which was first made by Hasbro in the late 1800’s. 

Many will point to its origin as a game to say that it’s just a toy, it can’t actually be used for spirit communication. However, the makers of Ouija were inspired by reports of Spiritualists in Ohio using ‘talking boards’ to contact the dead; while Ouija specifically was invented as a game, it is based off a real divinatory system. 

I also want to point out that many divinatory systems we use today started as games. Tarot cards started as a style of playing card, yet I don’t see anyone doubting their ability to communicate with spirits. If being manufactured specifically as a game or toy interferes with an object’s spiritual abilities, why can we use modern playing cards or dice to divine when we don’t have access to tarot? 

Why Are Spirit Boards Dangerous? 

I’m sincerely asking. You can use tarot in the exact same way as a spirit board, yet tarot blogs are not drowning in disclaimers and warnings. I’ve never once been told I have to say goodbye to end a session, and I’ve researched tarot, oracle decks, runes, scrying, and pendulums.

Many will say that spirit boards can open portals. Why does a spirit board open portals, when tarot, which can also be used to communicate with spirits, doesn’t? Most likely, this was just made up by horror movies so the use of spirit boards can be the inciting incident for the plot.

Why do we assume Ouija boards only work when there’s an entity on the other side? We often think of tarot, runes, and pendulums as housing their own benevolent spirit, so it should follow that spirit boards can do the same. Now, some people believe that divination tools don’t have their own spirit, and are simply blank objects manipulated by external entities. In that case, why would spirit boards be more dangerous to use? Shouldn’t every divination tool carry a risk of attracting malevolent entities? You might say that’s why people will recommend putting up protections before a divination session; that would mean we could put up protections before using a spirit board and we’d be just as safe, so there’s no reason to fearmonger about them specifically. 

The aura of danger spirit boards possess is purely from their horror movie reputation; they’ve been portrayed as dangerous because they’re a horror movie darling and that has become everyone’s first impression. 

Many times now, I’ve pushed back on someone’s fear of Ouija boards. I ask the same questions I asked above, and I get mixed results. Many can’t answer those questions, proving my point. I don’t think you can give an actual reason to why spirit boards are dangerous or ineffectual, simply because they aren’t. Once you peel back the horror movie persona, they are just another tool, to be used or misused. 

Sources:

The Ouija Board Can't Connect Us to Paranormal Forces

The Dark History Behind Ouija Boards

[raplinesmoon]

원샷! (One-shot!) - MYG x F!Reader

series masterlist

pairing: Doctor!Yoongi x Doctor!Reader genre(s): crack, fluff, brief smut au(s): medical AU, idiots-to-lovers (not quite yet) word count: 3.1k warnings: cynical Yoongi, hospital talk, artificial insemination and pregnancy, sperm for insemnation switched without readers’ knowledge/consent, Yoongi has no filter, 20,000 different ways to say sperm, unhinged behaviour from OC and Yoongi, probably HIPAA non-compliance, intoxication, marijuana use, an almost-kiss, did I mention they're idiots (affectionate), mentions divorce (OC's parents), bi-panic from Yoongi, implied masturbation (m) rating: 18+

summary: Yoongi's friendship with you is the one bright spot in his life. So when you tell him you're ready to have a baby, he thinks this will finally be his shot to take your friendship to the next level. Cue a few shots of soju, and one insemination party, and Yoongi suddenly has a huge problem on his hands.

a/n: Old rom-coms (aka pre-2012) are the best. I was rewatching The Switch the other day and felt a burst of inspo to write this cute little au! This will probably be a oneshot (get it?) for now, but never say never! I hope you enjoy!

disclaimer: I do not own, or have any affiliation with BTS. Any similarity between the version of the idol(s) mentioned and portrayed here and their real life counterparts is purely coincidental, and does not represent the thoughts and opinions of said idol(s). Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios. This specific fic is based on the 2010 movie The Switch, which contains sensitive themes relating to accidental artificial insemnation, consent, and pregnancy. Please do your research before engaging with this fic, as these themes may not be for everyone.

In his somewhat short career of practicing medicine, Yoongi had become an expert people-watcher, you could say. For instance, he’d been privy to the same morning commute as hundreds of other strangers in the city for the past five or so years. In fact, he was so used to seeing their faces that they didn’t seem like strangers at all. There was the old man who rode in the same car he did, always clutching what seemed to be a bouquet of flowers or a baked good. Maybe it was for his wife. Or his mistress. 

Yoongi puckers his lips sourly at the unsavory thought, shuddering at how cynical he’d become. Instead, he turns his attention to the girl sitting in the corner. She had to be in middle school, he thought. Only middle school could put that despondent look on the face of someone so young. Maybe she’d been jilted by a crush. Or more likely, she’d gotten a B on her math test and was about to walk into a lecture from her parents the moment she came home from school today. Yoongi knew the feeling all too well.

You see, it was Yoongi's job to be in the business of people. Being a doctor meant that he dealt with people all day long. They flitted in and out of his life like the flies that buzzed past his ears every time he entered the subway. And he always surprised himself with how much he could learn about them in a single meeting, or before they even walked into the room. 

Which is why nothing could have prepared him for what awaited him when he walked into the hospital cafeteria that morning. Sweat streamed down his back in rivulets from the summer heat, drenching his scrubs. And yet, he still insisted on grabbing a piping cup of black coffee from the drinks counter.

“It keeps me awake for longer,” he grumbled when the man at the checkout counter shot him a quizzical look.

His eyes scan the crowded array of chairs and tables outside the café, looking for the one person who could perk up the start to another grueling work day, even more than his cup of coffee was capable of. 

You wave to him enthusiastically from the crowd, bouncing up and down like a child waiting for a lollipop. It was probably from all the kids you hung around with all day. Peds was no joke, and Yoongi admired your ability to keep a bright, starry-eyed attitude when his own stomach turned at the thought of sick children.

“Please don’t tell me you saw another man with flowers who might be cheating on his wife,” you raise an eyebrow at the scowl on his face as he approaches the table. “Either that or today’s the day you finally regret not getting an iced coffee.”

Running a hand through his hair, he sighs, annoyed yet also mildly amused by your teasing.

“I told you, it–”

“It keeps you awake for longer, I know, I know,” you beam at him.

“It’s actually neither of those things,” he groans. “Today it was the old lady in the elevator who asked me what year of high school I was in.”

“That’s what you get for having a stupidly perfect face,” you quip, waving your fork at him. “You know Seungkwan from Derm would freak if he knew you only washed your face with bar soap?!”

Although you chuckle at your own joke, Yoongi can’t help the way his heart twists at your words, resisting the heat that rises to his cheeks when you compliment his face. But before he can think about it too long, he falters, noticing that your attention is buried deep within your pile of scrambled eggs, and you’re unable to look him in the eyes.

“You know, Seungkwan from Derm would also tell you that frowning causes premature wrinkles, ___,” Yoongi responds, and you lift your head up, eyebrows furrowed in worry. His hand twitches, and he fights the urge to reach out and squeeze your hand to reassure you everything will be alright.

You finally reach into your bag, pulling out a piece of paper.

“Look at these labs,” you push the paper towards him. “What do they say to you?”

Yoongi stares intently at the paper, trying to piece together this patient’s story, despite you failing to provide any helpful demographic information.

“Iron count, a full blood panel, HcG, any infectious diseases, genetic markers—” Yoongi pauses when he realizes. “You’ve got a pregnant kid on your hands?”

The paper is snatched from his hands before he can finish, your face redder than a tomato.

“No silly, it’s not a kid. I-it’s me. Those are my levels. Do you think they look okay?”

Yoongi can’t prevent his jaw from dropping wide open. He’s sure he must look like an idiot, staring blankly while you blink your eyes, waiting for him to respond.

“You’re having a baby?” he chokes out. The sick, twisty feeling in his stomach has returned, only this time it's a thousand times worse.

“Not yet. But I’m trying,” you admit sheepishly, avoiding eye contact.

“So what, you want me to have sex with you?” Yoongi blurts out before he can stop himself, and he immediately sees you freeze. Sometimes he really hated that he had no filter when it came to his thoughts. That, combined with the fact that he’d had a crush on you since you nearly knocked him over with your Heelies during his first week of work, and Yoongi had found himself in a sticky situation more often than not.

“No!” you immediately blurt out, growing more flustered when Yoongi frowns. “Not that, I mean–, that’s totally beside the point, completely irrelevant to my clinical question, I, I– I’m using a sperm donor okay!”

For the second time in a matter of minutes, you’ve rendered Yoongi completely speechless.

“Is this about Kihyun?” he finally asks. “Or Doyoung? You know, I know you haven’t had the best track record with relationships in the past, but jumping into having a baby with a random guy is definitely not the solution!”

“It’s not about them!” you sputter, unable to stop your voice from rising. “It’s about me, okay! My choice to be an independent woman, raising a child, who doesn’t need a man to help her at all! I get paid well, I have all the resources I could dream of, a strong support system. My life is in session!”

Yoongi has to bite back at chuckle at you quoting one of the various hospital brochures that decorated every reception desk and spare table. 

“So are you gonna help me find some jizz, or not?!” you finish, only to look around and realize nearly a dozen pairs of eyes are on you. Perhaps you’d said that last part a little too loudly.

“I-, I gotta go,” you whisper, slinging your bag over your shoulder and running as fast as you can out of the cafeteria, leaving a wistful Yoongi to ponder over the fact that you hadn’t even bothered to finish your breakfast.

You might have thought that breakfast was the end of your baby-making discussion, but judging by the way Yoongi cornered you immediately during the mid-afternoon patient lull, it seemed he hadn't.

“So you’re looking for, uh, semen,” he says, mortified when the charge nurse on your floor whips her head around to glare at him. He pulls you into an alcove by the windows, immediately realizing what a wrong move that was when he can smell the strawberry shampoo you’d used this morning, or count each one of your long eyelashes.

“What’s wrong with mine?” he asks innocently, before realizing he’d messed up yet again. The uncomfortable look on your face tells him as much.

“Listen, Yoongi, I’m sure you have great sperm, killer sperm even. Not in a murder-y way, you know, but like in a Darwinian kinda way. But we’re best friends, wouldn’t that be weird?”

“We don’t have to have sex, you know. I could just nut in a cup and hand it to you. I mean we’ve literally cleaned vomit off each other, how weird could this be?”

A strangled giggle erupts from your throat, and you’re bouncing on the balls of your feet. Yoongi knows you well enough to know your untapped anxiety is preventing you from saying what you really want.

“Okay, spit it out ___.”

“Well, no offense, Yoongi, but you’re kind of neurotic. And not to mention a little pessimistic, maybe even nihilistic…”

“Damn, ___. You could have just said you didn’t want my swimmers. No need to hit a man where it hurts.”

You smile, fondly recalling the time you two played for the hospital basketball team, only for Yoongi to suspend you when your pass had gone awry and smacked him straight in the balls.

“Oh please, you recovered just fine. And we still won the championship that year against the nurses.”

The smile Yoongi forces out of him is no match for the way his heart is breaking underneath. But he looks at you, eyes sparkling and so excited about the prospect of having a baby, and immediately sets his own feelings aside. He could do this. He was your best friend, and as your best friend, your happiness was his number one priority. 

“Okay, I’ll help.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” you crush him in a too-tight hug, his arms wrapping around you stiffly, before melting into it. Normally he would have pushed anyone else off by now, but you’d always been his exception to every rule he’d ever set for himself.

“So, what do you think about Hoseok from Finance?”

Yoongi freezes at the mention of the happy-go-lucky man with the heart-shaped smile and how he could immediately charm the pants off of anyone within his vicinity.

“Absolutely not,” he grumbles, walking away.

“Oh come on, why not? He has great fashion sense, can pull off any hair color, the nurses say he can dance well… Yoongi, YOONGI!”

After a tumultuous few months, which involved a rather precarious incident in which Yoongi had nearly gotten fired when he locked Taehyung, a cardiology fellow, in the bathroom after he’d gotten a bit too handsy with you at a party, Yoongi opens his apartment door one Saturday morning to find a comically large pink envelope on the outside.

The dozens of sperm-shaped balloons that fall out of the card have him jolting in surprise, and he looks up to find his across-the-hall neighbours, a mom and her daughter, staring at him dumbfoundedly, before swiftly slamming their door shut in his face.

I’m Getting Pregnant… And You’re Invited, the garish pink letters on the invitation read, and Yoongi wants to tell the stupid card to go shove all the balloons up its ass when he realizes in horror that you’d finally decided on someone. Without him.

Standing in the hallway with the huge mess around him, Yoongi wonders how despite changing people’s lives every day, he’d always managed to fall behind when it came to his own.

. . .

The obnoxious EDM bumping in your apartment is enough to make Yoongi’s ears bleed. Tugging at his hoodie, his eyes scan the crowd of people, recognizing more than a few people from the hospital. Frowning, he tries to run each one of them through his mind, wondering if you’d gone with Hoseok from Finance after all.

“Dr. Min!” Yoongi nearly chokes on his drink when Jimin from HR comes up to him, landing him a good-natured slap on the back. “You made it!”

“What the hell are you doing here, Jimin?” Yoongi deadpans. “Shouldn’t you be reporting this shit? I thought all this was supposed to be protected under HIPAA!”

“We’re all HIPAA-compliant here, Yoongi, except you,” Jimin chortles, before smirking at him. “Don’t think I don’t know that you’re the only one in your department who hasn’t submitted their training modules yet.”

“I-, I’ve been busy! You know, actually taking care of patients and stuff.” Yoongi knows Jimin is joking, but somehow still feels the need to defend himself. 

“I’m sensing some negative energy from you, Yoongi,” Jimin drawls, and Yoongi is sure he has to be drunk, waving what looks like a turkey baster in his face. “This is ___’s moment! We should all be happy for her!”

“Oh I’m sooo happy,” Yoongi grumbles, disappearing into the crowd to look for you.

“Dr. Min!” another voice calls out to him. “Wanna take a hit?”

Yoongi turns to see Jungkook, one of the medical students rotating in his unit, offering him a lit joint.

“Put that damn thing away, Jeon!” Yoongi scolds him, before backtracking. “On second thought, gimme that.”

All Jungkook can do is blink in surprise when Yoongi takes a drag of the joint, immediately feeling his irate energy subside just a tiny bit. Still, he was antsy. Where were you?

Yoongi takes another few hits, downs a few shots of soju and he’s overcome with the munchies. Reaching for the hummus and pita chips, he groans when the dip plops down, staining his pristine white hoodie. 

“Here, let me help you with that,” another disembodied voice calls out to him. Yoongi looks up at the sound, and is immediately taken aback.

Yoongi’s sure he’d never seen this dude at the hospital before. He was like, freakishly pretty. Tall, with dark hair and broad shoulders, and pink lips. He blinks, trying not to panic at the attractive man swiping the stain off his shirt.

“Yoongi!” you appear out of nowhere, wrapping him in another crushing hug. “I see you’ve met Seokjin.”

“I’m the donor,” the man called Seokjin reaches a hand out for him to shake, offering a blinding smile.

Fuck. Of course this stupidly attractive man was your sperm donor. Of course you’d want to have his baby. He was literally perfect. You probably had a crush on him. Hell, Yoongi kind of had a crush on him. 

“I’m gonna grab another drink,” you drunkenly lean on Yoongi for support. “You two have fun talking though!”

“___’s great,” Seokjin grins. “Super nice. Pretty hot too.”

“Why are you doing this?” Yoongi interjects bluntly. “I mean no offense, a guy like you, you could probably have anyone.”

“Ahh yeah,” Seokjin ruffles his hair, and Yoongi grits his teeth at how he still manages to look perfect doing that. “Money’s tight these days. A PhD in astrophysics at Harvard doesn’t exactly come cheap.”

Before Yoongi can make another smart comment, Seokjin is whisked away by Jimin and Hoseok from finance, the men slapping him on the back, hollering that it’s time to do the deed. He sees you disappear into your own room nervously, and can’t help himself from following you.

“Everything okay, ___?”

“NO!” you’re nearly bouncing off the walls. And there’s no kids to entertain in sight. “I’m freaking out!”

Yoongi’s next to you in seconds, taking you in his arms and letting your head lean against his shoulder. He’d discovered how much it calmed you down after one drunken night out where you’d basically recalled your childhood trauma from your parents’ divorce.

“Do you think I’m crazy, Yoongi? I want this so bad, but maybe this is the wrong way to go about it.”

“I think you want a family, ___. There’s nothing wrong with that. And I’ll be here every step of the way. Uncle Yoongi to the rescue.”

You giggle at his words, a dazed look in his eyes.

“You do act like a total dad.”

There’s a brief pause, silence falling in between you two. Your eyes peer into Yoongi’s and for a moment, he could swear you lean in, the shiny pink gloss on your lips sparkling in the dim light—-

Only to be interrupted by Jungkook bursting into the room, grabbing your hand and telling you its finally time.

One shot, Yoongi had promised himself. Only now he’s ten shots of soju deep and hiding in the fucking bathroom while the party rages on outside. The colors on the wall blend into each other, and Yoongi’s head throbs trying to figure out what he’s looking at. He smiles to himself when he sees its your meticulous pregnancy planning chart, filled with labs and calendars and lists of medications.

Lifting himself up off the floor, he stumbles, bracing himself against the toilet. He was about to hurl. In his stupor he hears something clatter, off to the side.

“Is someone in there?” the nervous voice of Kim Namjoon, one of the hospital’s talented surgeons, calls out from the other end. “I have to pee!”

Namjoon’s voice breaks Yoongi out of his daze, and he looks at the object lying on the floor.

Cum. A whole bucket’s worth of it, it looked like. The creamy white substance now lies swirling in your toilet bowl, and he feels his heart drop to his ass when he realizes it’s Seokjin’s. Oh fuck! It was Seokjin’s sample. Aka the sample you were supposed to shoot up in mere moments, to have the baby you’d been dreaming of for so long.

Yoongi tugs at his hair, wanting to scream at himself for ruining your plans, all because of his own stupidity. You’d be so mad at him. You’d probably yell at him in front of the entire hospital, hands on your hips, and your face would go all red.

He’s horrified when his dick twitches to life at the image of you cursing him out. How was it his fault that you were so hot and he was idiotically attracted to you?

A lightbulb goes off in his head, and Yoongi looks down again, caught in a face-off with Min. Jr. This was a very big problem with a very simple solution.

The pounding in his head continues as Yoongi drops his pants, getting right to work.

. . .

Thankfully, Yoongi doesn’t remember much about the night of your party. He thinks it’s a blessing, at least until you pounce on him in the hospital cafeteria a couple of weeks later.

Something about you is different, he thinks. You’d always been pretty but now you’re stunning, practically glowing from the inside out. He wonders if it has anything to do with stupidly handsome Seokjin when you tap him on the shoulder.

“It worked!” you blurt out, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m pregnant!”

Suddenly, it all comes back to Yoongi. His jealousy over Seokjin, the two of you nearly kissing in your room, the cup spilling into the toilet, the way Yoongi came with your name on his lips.

Shit.

A/N pt. 2: Thanks for reading! As always, any feedback or comments are much appreciated, but I appreciate you all anyway. Lots of love, Isi 💜

[autumnnnsun]

Now that I’ve finished reading Hortus de Escapismo and Executor’s record, I really gotta ramble about Executor for a second and kinda talk abt how Arknights handles his lack of empathy trait that I really enjoy. This isn’t a proper analysis or anything just my thoughts I wanna vomit for a sec.

So it’s implied in Executor’s record that he just, wasn’t born having empathy despite being a sankta. Or at least he just naturally doesn’t have the same levels of understanding of emotion as other sankta. The part that I really like about it is how Executor’s Record and story in general doesn’t portray that as a necessarily bad thing.

His lack of empathy allows him to think in a way that is a lot more unique than other sankta. When his partner in his record story told him to sacrifice him, he still brought his body back to Laterano. One of the reason being because of a specific sentence in the will they were enacting (“I hope all Laterans return back to their home.” Smth that most people would assume is just smth the will writer wrote for some extra literary flare) but also because he disregarded his partner’s feelings. His lack of empathy is the reason why he did something good and that is very interesting to me especially when most people tend to demonise having low/no empathy.

I also just really like how in his record story, it’s emphasised that he knows what emotions ARE. He has developed a system with his parents to recognise and visualise emotions by drawing lines that represent them. He knows what it is, he can recognise it to a level where he can think of the next best course of action when confronted with it, he just doesn’t put much importance on it nor does he bother with understanding it for the most part. Especially if it’s something that will get in the way of his job. And I REALLY like that cus it reminds me of how people irl that have low empathy will develop systems to work around it and still be kind.

I know a lot of us joke about Executor being autistic and that’s funny and I like the jokes as much as everyone else, but low or no empathy is a trait of other mental disorders and disabilities and even as someone that hasn’t been diagnosed with anything yet it still feels kinda nice to see low empathy being portrayed in a way that isn’t villanious.

In fact, Executor having low empathy kinda makes him the best person in the room sometimes especially in Hortus de Escapismo. The part where he does a warning shot at Oren and Lemuen and essentially goes “Can ya’ll STOP I’m trying to do my JOB.” And essentially manages to stop a massacre because of it is so funny but also so fucking hype bruv. I like how in the end of the event when Executor was starting to ask more questions and have more doubts and was starting to let emotions affect his actions a bit more, it isn’t framed as like “Oh mah gerd, he’s learning empathy and being more hooman!”

Instead he’s asking questions and seeking to find solutions to them in his own unique way. Asking around and adding more variables to his thought process like a computer would (which has some implications that gets my lore brain churning but hrghrghrgh)

Top it all of with the fact that he is specifically a character that is born and raised in a society that values empathy. Being able to feel other people’s emotions is what makes you a sankta. And Executor, is one of the better sanktas because he doesn’t follow that rule.

God I love Executor, go son, thrive.

[meefy]

Diverse Autistic Characters in Akagami no Shirayukihime

I could go on for hours about my dislike of how autism is, for the most part, portrayed in popular media - the butt of a cruel joke; autism representation by a non-Autistic actor; or centered around the plot of the story itself, where it boils down to the Autistic person "overcoming" their autism or some outside force "fixing" it (or, semi related, an Autistic character being shoehorned in as a token minority).

I think that's one of the reason I love Akagami no Shirayukihime so much. While none of the characters are confirmed as Autistic, the ones that are quite blatantly Autistic-coded are so diverse and so welcomed by the cast that it's both sweet and refreshing to see.

I have talked at length about Ryuu and why I love his character so much, so I don't want to get into it too much here because I've said most of what I want to say. He is, at first glance, the "typical" popular culture depiction of autism: the male child savant who has no friends, can't socialize, and has the niche restricted interests in science that seem to characterize every big Autistic character in media. But it doesn't take long to see he is so much more than that! His interests in poisons has granted him a field of study and work where he thrives and does what he loves day in and day out. His mentor, Garak, supports him and treats him as an equal, and looks for opportunities for him to grow - as does everyone around him, including Shirayuki.

Ryuu's time in Lilias was so beautifully depicted. The years he spends studying and working there are not him masking his Autistic traits or "beating" them; they are years of him feeling safe and supported enough to test his comfort levels and branch out because he knows he won't be mocked or scorned for it. He has found an environment where he thrives because of his Autistic traits, not in spite of them. And so, as of most recently, we see that he wants to remain in Lilias to continue his studies there because of this. His growth is not reduced to finally acting neurotypical; Ryuu being Autistic has not changed. But he has found others who share his passions, who support him, and who encourage him without changing who he is.

I also want to touch on Kirito specifically, because he is one of the few people Ryuu's own age who interacts with him. Kirito is too young to hold back his questions about Ryuu's behaviour. Why is he running away from a crowd of people? Why has he never had a snowball fight? But Kirito doesn't dwell on Ryuu's quirks; he accepts them, moves on, and focuses on what the two have in common - which is what I would hope for any Autistic person, myself included.

What is particularly special to me about how Autistic characters are depicted in AnS is the diversity. Too often I see Autistic characters depicted in the same way, like the author read a WebMD checklist and created a character around said list. Autism is a spectrum, and with that comes two ends of the spectrum.

Which brings me to Lata.

Although I haven't explicitly mentioned at length Lata + autism the same way I've discussed it about Ryuu (and although I could write a whole essay on it), I do want to go in a bit more depth because his overlap and contrast with Ryuu is exactly the kind of Autistic representation I live for. Ryuu actively wants to work to help people; Lata seeks to work in solitude. Ryuu is open and generally friendly with others, Lata is blunt and evasive. Ryuu's expressions are generally flat (and his voice monotone in the anime); Lata is quite expressive (even if he doesn't smile often, and neither does Ryuu). Yet we see certain similarities between the two; for instance, both have their own niche hyperfixations that they absolutely live for, and neither is totally at ease in crowds.

But leaving Ryuu out of the equation, one of my favourite things about Lata's character is that none of the Lyrias crew seemed genuinely bothered by how he acts. Like, even Obi's teasing is, by and large, in good faith. They're just like "Oh, that’s just how Lata is..." and move past it. Most recently in Chapter 133, Shirayuki is visibly happy to see him. And related to that, the other scholars always go out of their way to include and invite him to their outings - to their banquet celebrating the successful germination of the phostyrias, or to see them blooming in their lab. Even if he always declines, and they probably know he will always decline, they ask. Speaking on a personal note, I am like Lata and really, really hate parties or any large gathering; so people (understandably) stopped inviting me. And that hurt; even if I knew I'd say no, and wouldn't go, people actually thinking of me meant a lot more than they likely realized.

So, seeing representation of people actively trying to invite and include their Autistic comrade means so much to me.

Lastly, I want to talk about Shirayuki. It's not terribly often that Autistic representation in media is a female character, let alone the lead character. I know I am not alone in thinking Shirayuki is Autistic, but I do love its subtlety unless you know what to look for. The long running theory that there is a "girl" autism (versus the stereotypical "male" autism that is most commonly diagnosed and seen in popular culture) is absurd; autism is a spectrum, and just where some Autistics are reclusive, have a flat affect, and exhibit quirky behaviours and interests, there are plenty that are the complete opposite, or somewhere else along the spectrum. In many respects, this describes Shirayuki; she seems to have no trouble making friends, attending parties, or showing emotion.

And yet, she has the intense focus in herbalism and pharmacology that mirrors Ryuu's in many respects; she just does not express that interest in the same, "typical" Autistic way. She reads her textbooks to relax and spends time in a garden (the latter of which is, stereotypically, a perfectly expected behaviour for someone of her gender). It's easy to forget that, much like how Ryuu ran away from the crowd on his first day in Lyrias (a depiction of an Autistic shutdown), Shirayuki ran away from Zen when her feelings for him became too overwhelming. She asks Zen for a comfort object of his when she leaves for Tanbarun, much like how many Autistic people have a particular tangible object that gives them comfort. Shirayuki is also blunt; she tells Prince Raji to act more like a leader she can be proud of, and rebuffs the knight who insults Ryuu at the beginning of the story - her low rank does not deter her. Autistic people are sometimes known for apparently "not understanding" power dynamics and rules (which I doubt, as do most Autistic people - I think it's more likely that the rules and dynamics are simply unfair, and created and upheld by neurotypical people) - Shirayuki's behaviour certainly seems to fit this. She is not rude by any means...but where it might intimidate many others, a person's title does not keep her from speaking her mind. In many respects she reminds me of myself!

I could go on and on about this topic - and how different Autistic traits are present in different characters - but I'm comfortable stopping at Ryuu, Lata, and Shirayuki (at least for now), and reiterating that media like AnS proves that diverse Autistic characters can exist without being a punchline, can grow throughout the story without shedding their Autistic traits, and can be accepted, supported, and loved by others for who they are. This series is dear to my heart, and this is but one (albeit huge) reason why!

[calware]

what r some of ur fav Hal fics? Currently looking 2 read some and would love some recs!

sure thing!!

fics that are specifically about hal:

Reallocated by breezefulskies mature - chose not to use archive warnings - 324,756 words - 65 chapters (unfinished) Hal finds himself stranded aboard a certain meteor, impact-bound for Houston, Texas circa 1995. And everything spirals out from there. Because sometimes, when a system seems to be just short of defunct, all that is required is to take a step back and reevaluate the materials at hand and redistribute your available resources. And so, with birth comes a countdown on a cycle that begins as it ends: In the red.

hal is mysteriously sent to earth via unknown means and finds himself raising a baby as best as he can, which, given that he's glasses, is not easy. this is my favorite homestuck fic, not just because it's about hal, but also because i love the focus on family dynamics and the plot as it unfolds. begging everyone to read this, i can't say what happens exactly without spoiling things, it's just really really good. at the moment, it updates once a month

Ersatz Abyss by katreal mature - no archive warnings apply - 120,092 words - 39 chapters (unfinished) You look into the mirror to find your own face looking back at you. You laugh. And then you cry. Last, you try and figure out how you got to this moment. The Auto-Responder had long since resigned himself to an artificial existence, his only dwindling hope for escape hinging on a promise that has yet to be fulfilled. Then one day he wakes up, Dirk nowhere to be found. What's the point in getting what you want, if you can't show off a little?

another great hal fic. i managed to get my roommate (who has not read homestuck) to read this and they really enjoyed it, so i'm sure you all won't have any problems liking this one either. there are a lot of fics out there of hal getting a body, but this one is very different in that it's not the happy ending that you might first think it is. this fic perfects the feeling of everything snowballing into a bigger and bigger problem until it all falls apart

fics that have hal in them:

Bound in Ink and Iron by cyphertext (@4lph4kidz) teen - no archive warnings apply - 18,627 words - 3 chapters (unfinished) A prisoner in his own kingdom, the Prince of Derse seeks his freedom through the inadvisable use of a magic mirror. While making his escape he finds himself lost and in the company of a strange boy who lives alone in the ruins of his grandmother’s cottage. Both cursed, both hunted, they agree to travel together in the hopes that they can find some way to save their loved ones from their terrible fates. Or so the story goes.

hal is in this one for one chapter. but so far there are only three chapters... which means he's there for a whole third of the fic ^_^ but for real, i really like the way zero portrays him here. i am a supporter of evil shadow clone rights

Tennessee Whiskey & You by mistlafey teen - graphic depictions of violence, major character death - 12,217 words - 5 chapters (unfinished) When Dirk dies after an aneyursm, Hal and Jake have difficulties coping. Jake drinks to forget, and eventually Hal can't handle drunk Jake and his own grief - so he turns that into anger. “I’m not him, Jake! I can’t fucking- I can’t fix you. Dirk is gone and you don’t get to pretend he isn’t anymore. I can’t be Dirk, and every time you try to tell me I am it fucking hurts. There’s nothing left for you here. If Dirk was the only person that filled a void in you, there is nothing left to make you whole.”

i honestly have no idea how this is going to go but the bar scene in this one lives in my head rent-free. idk if it's ever going to update again though. hal fans forever forced to take what we can get

Falling for the First Time by nobrandhero teen - no warnings apply - 63,818 words - 11/17 chapters The game is over, Alpha Earth resets to 2009, and Dirk's bro doesn't live up to expectations. The movie director who appears so chill and stoic in interviews is actually a talkative, needy dweeb like his teenage counterpart. It's not a bad thing, as far as Dirk's concerned.

for whatever reason, i'm a sucker for fics where the characters somehow end up on earth again post-game, and out of all the fics that follow that concept this one is my favorite. hal is also there sometimes

[mythsandheather]

What I hate the most about LO is that Rachel is making the romance between actual gods backward. Aphrodite and Hephaestus were a couple but Aphrodite found him repulsing so she cheated on him with Ares. Even after that cheating on Hephaestus, Ares, and Aphrodite were the only sane couple in Greek myths. Apollo had his fair share of lovers (if you exclude Daphne) with him being in love with BOTH male and female and how does Rachel do justice to his character? By making him a R*****

The saga of Ares, Aphrodite and Hephaestus is often terribly misunderstood and LO is no exception, except that she weaponises it in her narrative and portrays it arguably at its worst.

The original story of these three is often stripped down to the bare basics along the lines of either “star-crossed lovers and ugly loser dude who got in their way” or “bad slutty woman cheats on poor helpless (but still ugly loser) dude with angry frat bro” and it’s wild. It’s a story, at least how I see it, about love, pain and compromise for what you need for yourself.

Hephaestus is hurt, angry and traumatised by his parents abuse of him, specifically Hera, and so he traps her in his specially made throne. He has a point to make and for the first time in his life, he will not be ignored.

Aphrodite is offered as the prize for freeing Hera, without her consent, and so is also hurt, worried and angry, especially when Hephaestus wins her hand. She is handed off to a man she barely knows, let alone loves, and can’t do anything about it

Ares is both not strong to free his mother, nor able to keep the woman he adores from being handed off to someone else — his own brother, no less, and has to just sit and watch. He is humiliated, he is hurt, he is angry.

The retelling I like the most is from Stephen Fry’s Mythos, where Aphrodite and Ares are already engaged when the throne incident happens, Zeus assuring them that surely since Ares is the strongest, he’ll be the one to free Hera. Even Zeus is humanised. Aphrodite’s hand being offered is him making a rash decision to motivate the other gods out of his desperation to free his wife.

When Hephaestus arrives and frees Hera, it’s not what anyone expected and Hephaestus makes it very clear that he’s not doing this to get the girl, so much as to make it clear he’s a force to be reckoned with.

He had Aphrodite seperate shortly after their marriage and she goes on her way with Ares while Hephaestus goes about his work, now with the respect he wanted for his craftsmanship. Ares, Aphrodite and Hephaestus are all on relatively amicable terms as later stories unfold too, especially compared to the fighting of the other gods.

In some versions, Dionysus intervenes and convinces Hephaestus with some alcohol both to free Hera and not to pursue Aphrodite, and Hephaestus agrees.

Now, you might be looking at all this and thinking “wow, what a nuanced tale and what a mature way everyone ended up handling it! Everyone here is flawed yet you like and relate to all of them! Surely this would make a great adaptation for a ‘feminist retelling’!” You’d be wrong.

Ares is a douchey dudebro who is obsessed with Persephone cuz reasons and exists to say every oversexualised, gross, objectifying thought Rachel herself has while drooling over her self insert but can’t make Hades say cuz he’s supposed to be a gentleman.

Aphrodite is a petty caricature of influencers and Kim Kardashian and her hyper sexualised nature is a bad thing and entirely her own fault when something bad happens to her. She’s also purple. I will never not be mad about Aphrodite not being pink.

She and Ares break up because -insert slut-shaming, not like the other girls logic to defend Persephone- here and she marries Hephaestus.

Hephaestus is set dressing, at best. Every cool attribute he has is stolen and given to Hades and instead of being ugly due to injury or physical deformity and this being a source of how mistreated he is, he’s just…black-coded and with prosthetic legs. If that made you slightly uncomfortable, it should.

Speaking of minorities being taken, chewed up and spat out by Lore Olympus, that brings us to Apollo. Poor, poor Apollo. One of the most beloved and influential of the Theoi, literally unrecognisable and reduced to being the self-insert’s r*pist because, you guessed it, reasons.

Let me add to all the people saying it, because it needs to be repeated; APOLLO DID NOT ASSAULT PERSEPHONE IN THE MYTHS OR ANYWHERE EXCEPT LORE OLYMPUS.

I know it’s probably not intended to be homophobic how Apollo is treated in LO, but fuck it, that’s how it smells to me, so that’s what I call it.

Every character, every relationship, every story serves to boost the Rachel x Mads fapfic Persephone and Hades love story and it’s nasty. How the fuck are you gonna call yourself a folklorist and do this?

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hey happy to see your back, what might you have for living among dinosaurs?

Theme: Dinosaurs

Oh my gosh answering this request is going to be so much fun! I’ve been hoping to do a dinosaur request for a while!

24XX Predators, by Dice Ghosts.

DINOSAURS ROAM THE EARTH! A terrible earthquake has struck the biggest city in the world, releasing prehistoric creatures that were trapped beneath the earth. After quarantining the area, a team of experts has been assembled to enter the city and meet this ancient threat.

Play as a team of uniquely skilled individuals venturing into a ruined city that has become overrun by dinosaurs. Using your unique skills and training, you will need to work together to survive this metropolis of prehistoric predators and complete your mission.

An homage to Jurassic Park, 24XX Predators brings dinosaurs to the big city, in a post-apocalyptic kind of adventure that pits the player character specialists against roaming giant lizards while trying to help hapless bystanders as best as they can. Like many 24XX modules, Predators includes some special rules about being hunted by dinosaurs - are you prepared or ambushed for them? - as well as team mechanics that allow the group to do something called Scatter. When you Scatter, each player thinks of a number between 1-3. If all of the players are in sync, they’re able to help each-other. If one player disagrees, their action is hindered.

If you want a game that has your players feeling confident and you also like picking up small toolboxes with a few neat pieces in them, I recommend 24XX Predators.

Predation, by Monte Cook Games.

Welcome to the Cretaceous. Our ancestors won’t climb down from the trees for another 66 million years, but here we are now. Time travel seemed like a good idea. Exploring the ancient world. Building. Creating an entire society here in the jungles of our primordial Earth. Until those SATI guys messed it all up.

We’ve got gear. We’ve got guns. We’ve even bio-engineered a few dinos to our liking. And that’s good, because we’ll need it all to survive. History says there’s an asteroid headed our way, and there’s no one left alive who knows how to get back to the future.

Predation uses the Cypher System, which means that includes all of the typical neat tricks like spending points to increase chances of success, and one-time use items that are super powerful yet hyper-specific. It also has a really neat addition in the form of Dinosaur Companions - which are played by other people around the table.

That’s right, you’re making your own character and playing them, but you’re also responsible for portraying someone else’s dino pet - and someone else in turn is embodying yours. I find that this keeps everyone at the table more engaged as you play, because they have to keep track not just what their character is doing, but also what their dinosaur’s companion is doing, and it encourages players to interact with each-other whenever your dino decides to stick their nose where it doesn’t belong.

If you want adventure, a stunning setting, and friendship, then you want Predation.

Escape From Dino Island, by Sam Roberts and Sam Tung.

Escape from Dino Island is a thrilling adventure game about intrepid heroes trapped on an island overrun with creatures from a lost age—dinosaurs!

Players take on the role of everyday people who are brave and competent, but also in over their head. The game is designed to help you create the kind of stories that are full of action and suspense, but in which fighting is rarely a good option.

Will you escape with your life? And what kind of person will you become in your quest to survive? There’s only one way to find out…

This game isn’t so much about living among dinosaurs as it is about escaping them, true to form for media like Jurassic Park. The game is a PbtA short-form game, designed for 1-2 sessions. Setup is quick and streamlined, providing you with a map and a number of roll-tables to help you make choices about what can be found here and what is known about the island. You also have character playbooks and basic moves, two more tried and true elements of PbtA design. There’s a some really good resources for GMs here, including GM principles and moves, and a number of rumours and reasons for NPCs to be on the island, both nefarious and helpful.

Overall what I really like about Escape from Dino Island is that it knows exactly what it wants to be and uses all of its tools to aim directly at that experience. It’s meant to be punchy, adventurous, and full of mystery, but concise enough to play once or twice before you call it a day.

Sauritopia!, by The Griffin’s Typewriter.

Inspired by half-remembered episodes of Dinotopia, that 2000 movie Dinosaur, the Lindworms from Walter Moer's Zamonia series, and a peculiar cultural osmosis of spacefaring dinosaurs, herein lies the Lost Sphere of SAURITOPIA! Explore the streets of the Meteoric City! Argue with lumbering professors at the Volcanic Colleges! Or just add these intelligent dinos to your vision of the multifarious Spheres, hung delicately across the hump-backed sky!

You’ll need the Troika rulebook in order to use this supplement, which is mostly a series of dinosaur characters that players can choose from and some neat items and skills to use in a dinosaur-centred game. If you want to mix dinosaurs into an acid-fantasy setting, you can allow the player characters to choose from Sauritopia alongside the standard backgrounds, but you could also create a party of dinosaurs and then send them on a mission in the Troika sphere to see how they fare. As a personal fan of the boardgames Dinosaur Tea Party, I think it might be fun (or funny) to combine the characters of Sauritopia with the Troika module An Invitation to Dinner.

Diesel and Dinosaurs, by BasiliskOnline.

Is a rogue tyrannosaurus inciting panic in a local settlement?  Have velociraptors wandered into a neighborhood causing a safety hazard? 

Did an earthquake spook a herd of triceratops which are stampeding towards a local settlement?

Ride into the Parazoic!

Diesel and Dinosaurs is a powered by Charge RPG combining dinosaurs and post apocalypse settings and inspired by the cartoon Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and the comic Xenozoic Tales. Humanity has spent the last 600+ years in bunkers while the planet recovers from a massive climate crisis. Those bunkers began to breakdown beyond the mechanist's abilities to keep them running and eventually humanity began to return to the surface. They found a world once again reclaimed by dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, and began working to settle this untamed land.

Powered by Charge, Diesel and Dinosaurs contains plenty of nods to Forged in the Dark, including action ratings, dice pools, and the use of Stress. It’s designed for high action scenes in dangerous situations, flexible in tone from Saturday Morning Cartoon to high-adrenaline action film to gritty survival. The game comes with a series of roll-tables for the GM for a number of different kinds of dinosaurs that might be out there, as likely threats, pieces of backdrop, and maybe even new friends!

I’d probably pick up a game of Diesel and Dinosaurs if I’m in the mood for a high-action cheesy 80’s flick or something in that ballpark.

Preshistoric Portals, by Harper Jay.

The portals opened a few months ago. Nobody knows who to blame - scientists? The military? Dark wizards? But it doesn't matter now. What matters is the dinosaurs came through and destroyed life as you knew it. This city, built by a massive life-giving lake, was like a beacon for the prehistoric predators. Only the sturdiest skyscrapers remain fully intact, but even they threaten to fall to the might of the dinosaurs!

Built on Breathless, Prehistoric Portals drops you into a ruthless world of survival and small moments of reprieve. You’ll move between moments of action and danger, throwing everything you have and the kitchen sink into getting from point A to point B. Then you’ll take a break, refresh your resources, and the GM rolls for or creates a new complication - and then you’re on the run again. A great pacing mechanic for high energy games, while still demanding that you keep track of your resources.

Dinosaurs & Man, by Cilindro Cubico.

Humanity faces a crisis when dinosaurs escape from the Triassic Safari zoo due to a corporate espionage operation.  Now, humanity must survive in a world where it is no longer at the top of the food chain. 

Players take on the roles of brave men and women who must confront dangerous dinosaurs and unravel corporate intrigues to save humanity. 

Get ready for an exciting and epic odyssey of survival and adventure!

This is another game inspired by Jurassic Park, so once again, while the dinosaurs are living among you, they certainly aren’t friendly. Task resolution comes in the form of a percentile roll, using a percentage to determine how likely success is going to be, and the player rolling 2d10 with the hopes of rolling at or under the target number.

What I think the neatest thing is about this game is the way it determines your inventory. You have to take everything you have in your pockets out and place it on the table. Those items are your inventory. Your characters might be specialists, but that doesn’t mean they have specialist gear on them - they’ll have to use a combination of their skills and their wits in order to get them out of sticky situations like a rampaging pack of velociraptors, or a hungry t-Rex.

Rex Arcana, by Five Points Games.

The West is a Wild Place and it's about to get even more Wild. You are a band of Drifters out to make your claim on the open Plain, spell slinging outlaws on the run from the law with hearts of gold and teeth as sharp as kitchen knives. You and your fellow T-Rexes will travel the high plains and prairies, fighting corrupt oil tycoons, train-robbing bandits and devouring innocent townsfolk along the way.

This is a game where you play as the dinosaurs, rather than the people running from them. Not only that, you’re rootin’, tootin’ shootin’ defenders of the people, fighting off train robbers and the big fat cats profiting off of oil. If you want goofy, gonzo, and gigantic lizards, you want Rex Arcana.

You Might Also Want To Check Out….

This 2022 Dino Jam.

The Cavemaster RPG and it’s supplement, Dinosaurs of the Lost Valley, by UNIGames.

Camp Cretaceous, by Zozer Games.

Dinos and Lasers, by TassAllgood.

[yuff7e]

hii!! I just recently came across your writing and I love them?!?! could you please write about katsuki with a trans man reader that has a quirk that gives them wolf ears and a tail?? I know this is like reaaaally specific but ssshhhhh 😚

— 🐾 annon

˚₊‧꒰ა✨ 𝐏𝐀𝐖𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 ✨ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

— hii 🐾 anon!! i love this, it’s so cute!! i kinda let my creativity flow with this, so i hope you enjoy. i love katsuki requests guys, they’re the best!! also, for everyone wondering i do write for trans reader!! so if any of you have any trans reader requests send them in, i’ll try my best to portray it!! :) ఌ︎

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝

katsuki bakugo

♬♪ -> lıllılı.ıllı.ılılıı

you’d always known life would be challenging, but you never anticipated just how complex things would become. being a trans man in a society filled with quirks was one thing; having your quirk manifest wolf ears and a tail was another. it was both a gift and a curse, a part of you that you embraced yet found difficult to manage in social situations.

still, you persevered, determined to become a hero and make a difference. your journey led you to u.a. high school, where you met katsuki bakugo. known for his explosive temper and fierce determination, bakugo initially seemed like someone you’d struggle to get along with. but beneath his rough exterior, you saw a spark of something else – an unwavering sense of justice and an undeniable strength.

the first time you met bakugo, he barely glanced at you. it wasn’t until a training exercise forced you to work together that he took notice. you were in the middle of a simulated battle when your quirk activated, your wolf ears twitching and tail swishing as you dodged and attacked with agility and precision.

“hey, wolf-boy!” bakugo yelled, smirking. “think you can keep up?” you matched his smirk with one of your own. “i’m not the one falling behind, bakugo!”

from that moment on, a strange camaraderie developed between you. despite his harsh exterior, bakugo began to respect your abilities and the way you carried yourself. you, in turn, found his unyielding confidence and raw power inspiring. training together became a routine, each session pushing you to your limits and beyond.

one day, after a particularly grueling session, you found yourself sitting on the edge of the training field, panting heavily. your ears twitched at the sound of footsteps approaching, and you looked up to see bakugo standing over you, a rare look of concern on his face.

“you okay?” he asked, his voice gruff. you nodded, wiping sweat from your brow. “yeah, just... a bit tired.” bakugo plopped down beside you, uncharacteristically silent for a moment. “you’re strong, you know that?” he said finally.

you blinked, taken aback by the unexpected compliment. “thanks, bakugo. that means a lot coming from you.” he grunted in response, staring out at the horizon. “what’s it like... having a quirk like yours?”

you shrugged, your tail curling around your leg. “it’s... complicated. it makes me stand out, which isn’t always easy. but it’s a part of who i am, and i’ve learned to embrace it.” bakugo nodded thoughtfully. “must’ve been tough.”

“yeah, but everyone’s got their struggles, right?” you replied, smiling softly. he looked at you then, his eyes searching yours. “you’ve got guts, wolf-boy. i respect that.”

over time, the bond between you and bakugo deepened. he became someone you could rely on, a pillar of strength and support. he never treated you differently because of who you were or your quirk, and that acceptance meant more to you than words could express.

one evening, as the sun set over u.a., you and bakugo sat on the rooftop, the city’s lights twinkling below. the air was crisp, your ears twitching at the sounds of the bustling city.

“hey,” bakugo said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence. “there’s something i need to tell you.” you turned to him, curiosity piqued. “what is it?”

he hesitated, a rare moment of vulnerability crossing his features. “i... i care about you, [name]. more than i’ve cared about anyone in a long time.”

your heart skipped a beat, warmth spreading through your chest. “bakugo, i...” he cut you off, shaking his head. “let me finish. i don’t care what anyone else thinks. you’re strong, brave, and... you mean a lot to me. i just wanted you to know that.”

tears welled in your eyes, and you smiled through them. “i care about you too, bakugo. more than i can say.” he reached out, his hand finding yours. “we’ll face whatever comes together, alright? no matter what.” you squeezed his hand, feeling the truth in his words. “together.”

weeks turned into months, and your bond with bakugo only grew stronger. the two of you became an unstoppable team, complementing each other’s strengths and covering each other’s weaknesses. despite his gruff demeanor, bakugo showed a side of himself to you that few others ever saw – a side that was caring, protective, and deeply loyal.

one day, during a particularly intense training exercise, you found yourself pinned by a powerful attack. your body ached, and your vision blurred, but you refused to give up. through the haze, you saw bakugo charging towards you, his expression fierce and determined.

“hang in there, [name]!” he shouted, blasting the enemy away with a powerful explosion. you struggled to your feet, your ears twitching as you caught your breath. “thanks, bakugo. i won’t let you down.”

with renewed determination, you fought alongside him, your movements perfectly in sync. the battle was fierce, but together, you emerged victorious. as the dust settled, you looked at bakugo, your heart swelling with pride and gratitude.

“we did it,” you said, panting heavily. he nodded, a rare smile tugging at his lips. “damn right we did. you were amazing out there.” you blushed, your tail wagging slightly. “couldn’t have done it without you.”

as the days passed, you found yourself growing closer to bakugo in ways you never imagined. he became your confidant, your partner, and your best friend. the walls he had built around himself began to crumble, and you saw the depth of his emotions – his fears, his hopes, and his dreams.

one night, as you sat on the rooftop watching the stars, bakugo turned to you, his eyes filled with a rare softness. “[name], i... i’ve been thinking a lot lately.”

you looked at him, your heart pounding. “about what?”he took a deep breath, his gaze unwavering. “about us. about what we have. i don’t want to lose it. i don’t want to lose you.”

tears welled in your eyes, and you reached out to take his hand. “you won’t lose me, bakugo. i’m not going anywhere.”

he squeezed your hand, his grip firm and reassuring. “good. because i... i love you, [name]. more than anything.” your heart soared, and you smiled through your tears. “i love you too, bakugo. with all my heart.”

he pulled you into his arms, holding you close as the stars shone brightly above. in that moment, you knew that no matter what challenges lay ahead, you would face them together. with bakugo by your side, you were ready for anything.

[singingcicadas]

The main thing I have against Spotlight: Hot Rod is that it portrays him as being constantly weighed down by past losses and guilt, to the extent that he even limits himself for fear of facing the potential negative consequences that his misjudgement might inflict onto others - the "prefer to go solo" line - when it contradicts the very essence of his character as established in MTMTE and the main comics (even Autocracy), which specifically presents him as the type of person who is unburdened by the past and for the most part consciously remains unaffected by the consequences of his actions. It's why he has a perpetual Peter Pan thing going on, because he moves on from one day to the next, one crisis to the next, for four million years without letting the experiences change him - which includes the experiences of deaths and sufferings of both himself and others - and maturity and growth cannot be achieved without change.

His impulsiveness and headstrong obstinacy is in part a compensation mechanism for insecurity and subconscious self-doubt but is also an intrinstic aspect of who he is, someone who plows onward while refusing to look back. He can feel sorry but he does not do regret, much less mire himself in it like his spotlight appears to suggest. As a matter of fact he doesn't mire himself in anything at all - be it politics, responsibility, or guilt. He doesn't regret Nyon, nor Ironhide, nor Optimus' resignation, nor leaving Cybertron, nor trusting Megatron. Not even the Overlord incident, since although he does feel bad for his poor decision getting a bunch of people killed, in the end the biggest issue that he has with it is the 89/101 voting result (which isn't even solely about Overlord).

It's obvious that he wants - expects - to stay as captain in spite of everything and having the vote cut so close got him hard because it's a blow to his ego. He practically admits to this when Optimus calles him out, which again is in direct contradiction to his spotlight monologue.

If he's willing to apply this kind of introspection for a failed mission that can’t even be attributed to his fault, then a lot of his later screwups would never have happened.

Choosing to return the Matrix to Optimus is supposed to be a landmark incident of Rodimus' character growth, yet he regresses right back in MTMTE, in which he develops a recursive pattern of messing up, trying to do better by making amends, then returning to his old ways because he can't fully commit. There's no fundamental change going on. I would argue that the true pivotal moment of change to his character took place during his talk with the guiding hand in Mederi, when he first learns to look past himself to accept what's best for other people, how his decisions might affect them etc. - even if it clashes with his own desires.

And then he chooses to save Getaway, and the speech that gave everyone the confidence to open their matrices. There's change and growth and maturity, he learns to fully empathize and appreciate the people around him. But with this growth comes a double-edged sword: by opening himself to connect with other people he leaves himself open to be affected as well - he is irrevocably changed by his experiences aboard the Lost Light, by the people around him he's grown to care about, so that when the Lost Light lands for its inevitable end and everyone departs to pursue their own lives, he alone remains mired in place, with nothing but the past to cling to. After a lifetime of moving on and brushing horrors off without lasting issue he's suddenly unable to move on. The remainder of his life becomes defined by the weight of memories and loss (and the empty comfort of a parallel universe of which its existence he'll never know).

[paladin--strait]

raging flame - j.drysdale

jamie drysdale x reader

tw!: none other than some language! jamie is still with the ducks in this story! reader can be portrayed as any body type and y/n is used in place of a specific name for the reader.

warning! this story is a work of fiction! players are real but names that are used as media personnel or staff for the ducks are from my imagination. fair warning, this story is very cringey and fast paced with a seemingly rushed ending. however, that's how I intended the ending to be. also, I'm still trying to figure out the way that I like to write and everything. constructive criticism is always appreciated!

the air conditioned breeze from the arena is cold when I walk into the building. I breathe a sigh of relief as I shove my hands further into my pants pockets. the light music that's playing from my earbud is enough to help drown out the slight noises coming from the other ear.

I spot my new coworkers that I have yet to meet as they stand around, sipping their coffees and from what I've heard so far, talking about today's media assignments. the deep breath I take to mentally prepare myself for comes out a bit louder than I hoped, causing some of them to look and me.

"oh my gosh hi! you must be y/n!" a girl slightly taller than me runs up to me and shakes my hand excitedly. "we were just talking about today's assignments and we decided that we want you to just take some pictures for today! ya know, walk around the rink, maybe get in there and skate around to take some shots? how does that sound??" she smiles and asks me.

"oh uh, I can definitely do that! one small problem, though. I can't skate..." I chuckle and look down. "also, I didn't seem to catch your name?"

"oh I'm so sorry! my name is katie! I kinda run all of the media accounts. oh! and you not being able to skate shouldn't be a problem! we have some shoes with little spikes on them that you can wear." she says, grabbing me by my shoulders and taking me down a long hallway.

"won't the spikes mess up the ice?" I ask, taking my earbud out and putting it back in the case while we walk.

"no. at least not much. we tested them out with the guys a while back and it didn't bother any of them." she says, waving a hand in the air as we step into a room with way more people than before. some of them are running around with cameras, some with microphones, and some are just lingering around or talking to other coworkers.

"this is what we call the media room. it has all of the equipment that is needed for your assignments. each worker gets a cubby slash locker type thing to keep all of their things in. that includes your cameras, lenses and what not. a lot of people here have their cameras or other equipment set a certain way and they don't like it to be changed. so everyone here has either brought their own professional equipment or they get it from us. but all of it has to stay in your locker that has your name on it." katie says, bringing me over to my locker and opening it, revealing some brand new equipment for me to use.

"wow...so I get to use all of this? and I can set it up the way I want to and everything?" I ask her, picking up a camera and playing with the settings some before looking up at her and smiling.

"yup! just be sure it doesn't get broken. if it does, don't worry about it the first time. but the rest of the broken equipment will come out of your paycheck from then on depending on how the equipment is broken." she explains.

we chat a little more about worker safety and she gives me the shoes I need to be on the ice. as I lace them up, I realize how scary being on the ice can be with all of these big and tough hockey players. I tell myself it's okay and that I'll never get over a fear of something if I just don't do it.

I grab the brand new camera and set it to my preferred settings that I've used for previous jobs. but, I have to take in to account the fact that these are fast moving players and I haven't done this type of job in a couple of years. so I take out my phone and go into my notes app, searching for my old note that has my preferred sports settings on it.

when I begin my trek to the arena, I notice it getting colder. I try to warm myself up by rubbing my hands together while the camera lightly swung from my neck. when I step into the open practice arena, I think to myself that I will probably need to bring warmer clothes for tomorrow and that I should keep an extra hoodie, jacket, or blanket in my locker.

the sound of skates is enough to soothe my mind from all of my stress and to help me realize that I would definitely need to take some skating lessons. before I know it, I'm getting called over by a coach or manager of some sort. I take quick and long strides to get to him.

he tells me that the guys are about to do some stick handling drills and that I should get on the ice to take some pics. I feel like he can sense my nervousness since he reassures me that everything will be okay and that I can stay near the boards to keep out of the way.

my shoes make a clicking sound of some sort as I step into the ice and the grip I have on wall is somewhat helping me. "oh fuck, lookout!" I turn around and run back to the manager who was sitting on the players seats in the box. he laughs as he watches my reaction but assures me that it's okay. he decides to walk out with me and help me out with some good angles for shots after I get a feel of what the drill they're doing consists of.

as they skate by, the shutter of the camera captures some awesome shots. the guys soon take a break to get water and whatnot, and the general manager, nick, waves a couple of the players over. they soon come up to me and nick and the first thing I notice about all of them is that they're way taller than me and the manager, who is about my height.

"morning, general" one of the players with big fluffy hair says, jokingly saluting nick.

"morning, zegras." nick says with a chuckle before addressing the other players as well. "and morning to you two as well, jamie, mason. I'd like you guys to meet a new member of our media team. this is y/n l/n and this is her first day. I'm gonna leave you guys to talk for a bit while you're on break and I expect you all to treat her with the utmost respect." nick says, smiling at all of us before making his way off the ice and soon disappearing into a hallway.

after he disappears, we all turn and look at each other, an awkward scilence has seemingly taken nicks place. I nod awkwardly and introduce myself. we soon begin making conversation and while trevor and mason seem very nice and talkative, I notice that this jamie guy doesn't seem to talk much. maybe he's one of those people who don't open up for a while.

soon trevor and mason are called over by a couple of their other teammates to chat, which now leaves me with jamie. "sorry I haven't talked to you much..." he mutters, looking off to the other side of the rink.

"it's alright. I understand completely." I say, laughing as I tuck my hands back into my pants pockets with a shiver. I should've known to wear more appropriate attire for a literal ice rink. "sometimes its awkward for me to meet new people as well...as you can see" I state with a really awkward chuckle.

"hey, aren't you cold?" he asks, suddenly making eye contact with me with a concerned look on his face. "follow me." he states, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the ice before I can answer his question.

"uhm where are we going?" I ask, trying to look down the long hallway he's taken me down before we make a sudden turn. I soon realize that we're in the locker room for the players and jamie is taking me to his cubby.

"here, take this. it should keep you warm. it's been sitting in front of the heater for a while to keep it dry and stuff so it should be nice and toasty." he smiles, handing me his jersey.

"oh no, it's okay! I don't want to get it dirty." I decline, pushing back into his hands.

"no. you're just wearing a thin long sleeve shirt. you're cold, don't even try to deny it. if you're really worried about it getting dirty, just wash it and bring it back tomorrow!" he says with a smile, insisting that I wear it. "if it gets stained somehow, don't worry. we have two extra backup jerseys of each kind for a reason." he laughs.

I smile at him softly, finally giving in and pulling the jersey over my head. and he's right, its warm. I begin to feel a heat flush over my cheeks so I turn away, hoping he doesn't see it. but as I'm turning away, I catch a glimpse of his face and its beet red. "hes blushing..." I think to myself.

"well, we should head back. break might be over now and I don't feel like skating suicides." jamie states with an awkward laugh, before walking with me out of the locker room and back into the rink. "I hope my jersey keeps you warm." he says, giving me a wink before skating back onto the ice and joining the team huddle right on time.

katie comes up to me, "where did you two run off to so fast? I came in here in just enough time to catch a glimpse of him dragging you off somewhere and then you two walking back together a few minutes later." she asks, cocking a brow.

"oh uhhh...he just noticed that I was cold and let me wear his jersey. it's been sitting in front of the warmer so it's really warm and he didn't want me to be cold." I say, smiling softly.

"I see. jamie is a good guy. he's always thinking of others."

"is he usually very quiet? when I was talking to him, trevor, and mason, just the three of us, he wasn't very talkative." I question, snapping a few pictures of the team all together in their group huddle while I speak.

"what? I wouldn't say he's as loud or as outgoing as trevor, but he's usually pretty close to it." katie says, face contorting into a look of confusion as she carefully thinks over my words. "maybe he's nervous that there's a new person around and he wants to impress you."

"oh well I don't want to distract anyone..." I say, snapping my head to look at her, a look of shock on my face. "I don't want them to get in trouble because they can't focus."

"oh they'll be fine." katie says with a joking scoff. "if anything, he thinks you're cute." she states, pointing to jamie.

"WHAT?!" it comes out louder than I expected and I immediately cover my mouth, my face turning red. some of the guys turn around to look at me and I melt to the floor of embarrassment.

katie laughs, sitting down on the floor behind the boards with me. "I mean...you are wearing his jersey..." she says, poking her shoulder into mine in a joking manner. "listen, I don't know you very well, I'm not sure what kind of people you're into and I can't tell you who to date. but, I can see you a jamie making a cute couple. I'm sorry if that's out of line for me to say, but I'll just say this one last thing, there's nothing on the contract about not dating players!" she says, giving me a wink before laughing playfully and walking away. my face heats up more than ever before.

a few minutes later, I jolt as a hand grabs my shoulder. I look up to see jamie, who has a concerned look on his face. "hey...are you okay? coach sent me to check on you since you didn't seem well." he says, taking katies spot beside me.

"yeah, I'm okay." I say, giving him a soft smile.

"are you sure??" he says, eyes squinting with concern and confusion. "if not, I can get the nurse for you right away." he states, about ready to jump out of his spot on my command.

"yes, jamie, I'm okay. I promise." I say, resting my hand on his shoulder. "you better get back to practice now. I don't want you to run suicides because of me."

jamie laughs, "we're done with practice for today. all the guys use the home team's box to go back to the locker rooms and we're currently in the away teams." he smiles.

I nod understandably and we continue on conversation for a few more minutes until the sound of people and the zamboni begin to fill the rink to clean it up after practice. jamie looks at me before he stands, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. "hey, would you like to go get some dinner? together? not as like a date or anything...of course if you don't want it to be then I would totally understand." he rambles on, and I cut him off to say yes with a laugh.

jamie suggests to me that I wait outside the locker room while he changes and gets his things. "how about we meet in the lobby near the media room? I need to put away my equipment and we can meet up there?" I suggest. putting my hands up in the air to show him my equipment.

jamie agrees and I make my way to the media room.

its empty and all the lights are off when I open the door. I cut the light back on to put away my equipment into my cubby. I take a seat for a minute and drink some water while I recount today's events.

first, I almost get ran over by huge hockey players. secondly, I meet three of them and they're much nicer than I expected. thirdly, I'm wearing one of those guys' jerseys. fourthly, I'm now getting dinner with guy whose jersey I'm wearing.

"holy fuck..." I think out loud, rubbing my head.

a sudden knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts. "you okay?" I turn to see who's speaking and it's just jamie.

"yeah! today was just eventful." I say, standing and walking over to the doorway, cutting the light off and walking out, shutting the door behind me.

"I can take you home if you need to go? we can just reschedule for another day?" he says, putting his hand on the top half of my back, looking at me with concern. "really, it's okay if you need to go home and get some rest."

I assure him that I'll be okay and I walk with him to his car. on the way to get dinner, we just make small talk. we converse about my previous jobs in photography and how he got into hockey. the long drive that seems short soon comes to an end, and he jumps out to open my door.

the restuarant he picked for us is a small and quaint italian restaurant. my heart flutters and my cheeks flush pink when he opens the restaurant door for me, his big, light brown eyes shining from the golden light of the setting sun that hits his face.

he smiles and walks in behind me, smiling at a waiter who just gives him a nod and a gesture with his hand to continue on into the restaurant, the waiter following close behind.

jamie soon explains that he comes to this restaurant very often and they try their best to save his favorite table during his hours off, just incase he stops by for a bite to eat. he tells me the best things on the menu, and I soon decide on my personal favorite at every italian restaurant.

the small talk between jamie and I continues on for hours until the restaurant closes and jamie takes me home. we said our good nights and exchanged numbers.

our small talk over text soon turned into full blown phone calls, then facetimes, then we began to meet more in person, and those meetups soon turned into dates. I really enjoyed getting to know the guys and how to get on their nerves to most, which was now a common occurrence for trevor and I to get on their nerves.

but jamie.

there was something about jamie that drew me to him. it's like I was meant to take this job so we can be together. jamie asked me to be his girlfriend after just 4 dates.

from the first day we met, I knew there was a spark. and that spark has since grew to a raging flame. that raging flame has kept me and jamie together ever since. we are inseparable and I couldn't be more thankful that the other staff and players are supportive of our relationship.

and thanks to the old spark that soon grew, I have now found the love of my life.

[vasito-de-leche]

;R1999 "COVER" section analysis (1)

Analysis and theories on how to interpret the characters' profiles in the Cover section of the game, such as their exhibition year, ages, their medium, afflatus etc. A full dissection of the profiles.

I started seeing a lot of people argue about whether a character's first exhibition date correlates or not to their birth year, if their ages are correct and all the little inconsistencies that make it difficult to understand, so obviously I wanna talk about it lolol

disclaimer that I do not play or follow CN updates, I only play the global version! but I invite everyone with more insight (hehe....insight) to discuss in reblogs, replies or tags! (<- loves discussing viddygames)

I'm ALSO gonna be VERY pedantic and explain some stuff that might seem super obvious or go on really long tangents because this game is relatively new, so I don't wanna assume everyone is on the same page and alienate some ppl from discussing the lore and cool stuff of the game!

First of all, I would like to point out something that most people know by now about the character profiles, just in case someone hasn't seen it yet: the "Cover", "Item" and third unlockable story for every character are all written by Pandora Wilson for the UTTU magazine.

When you go to a character's cover page, there's an extra menu that can be found by tapping on the UTTU logo on the top right corner, as pictured here.

Which leads you to the following page, a Reader's Guide for UTTU's magazine.

The contents of the Reader's Guide are a little scattered and confusing, sometimes their own text format breaks as well, such as points 5, 6 and 8 being in the same paragraph as opposed to a proper numbered list. Or point 11 having a weird line break mid-sentence.

There are three items pictured on the guide, which have letters spelling out different words. The first one spells "ARCANUM", the second one "MAGAZINE" with "SELF-UPDATING" upside down, and the last one spells "ENJOY reading". Not pictured above is the full proper end of the guide:

But overall, this guide is important because it explains the formatting of the profiles and why they're worded a certain way. The implication is that the character profiles are interviews of all arcanists that Pandora Wilson and UTTU encounter, archiving and exhibiting their information like works of art.

There are some people who offered the idea of the profiles being written by Vertin, since the voicelines imply all characters are talking to her - but this cannot be, since the voicelines are just an archive of the lines said during other situations, such as being in the main menu (her suitcase) or battles (guided by her). In this case, it is extradiegetic within the context of the magazine (though the Guide does allude to the magazine being able to emit scents and have moving pictures within).

There is also another theory which replaces Vertin with the Foundation instead, given the events of the main story. For those who don't know, in the main story there is a very heated political debate within the Foundation regarding Vertin and all the arcanists she's gathered, on whether they deserve to be an independent group led by her or go through their usual regulation system. This theory implies that the information given in the profiles are reports made by the Foundation.

But given UTTU's Reader Guide and every 03 Story, we can all safely confirm that they're all written by them and Pandora Wilson. The items' description are also written from Pandora's perspective. This might be a lot just to establish a single thing, but I wanna be thorough!

As for why UTTU magazine specifically chose to portray all arcanists as pieces of art, using words like exhibit and measuring them the same way one would a statue, I don't have a very clear answer!

The game overall has a lot of themes regarding art, like Vertin's tuning abilities "First Melody" and "Grand Orchestra" being so obviously music themed. She's portrayed as a conductor for the arcanists she leads. The art theme also lines up pretty well again with the main story and how Vertin, as a Timekeeper, is meant to record time and events for the Foundation but she also keeps track of the people she meets and their endeavors, not for the Foundation but herself. It makes sense to me that the arcanists she takes in are seen as "artwork" by UTTU, they're stuck in time and represent an era that is no longer possible to reach or that has long passed. It makes sense that they're archived and represented as such to me, at least!

With that, we can finally go into the actual cover page for the characters. I'll be using the characters that I personally own and I'm most familiar with as examples. So everyone say hello to Pavia again.

Right away, we're hit with an unknown term - "mixed".

In the "Atlas" menu, there's three sections - "Story Review" which allows you to see the full story of the game as you unlock it, with some of the trails you can unlock (this is irrelevant to the post, I just wanna say it here in case anyone can help me out - but some of the trails don't seem to be recorded in this menu and there is no way to find them again?), then there's "Role Atlas", which I'll get to in a second, and "Psychube", a collection of all Psychubes.

The Role Atlas is, once again, written by UTTU. You can see their logo in all the magazines and there is the UTTU Bound Volume of all characters in one menu. The text on the covers varies, but I cannot read most of them clearly, the text inside does not change. All five of them in order are:

The Beyond

The Awakened

Arcanists

The Mixed

The Infected

All character's profiles begin by stating which of these categories they fit in. The VAST majority of the characters fall within the "Arcanists" group, so it's very easy to assume that all human characters will fall within this section, while others such as Door or Mr. Apple would fall in categories like "Awakened" by virtue of being objects.

And this is where it gets tricky, because as far as I know, there is no official description for any of these categories nor what they fully entail! But bear with me, there's a thought process somewhere in here.

The "Beyond" seems to be self-explanatory - it encapsulates any living creature that comes from space and isn't native to Earth, such as Voyager and aliEn T.

The "Awakened" seem to be inanimate objects native to Earth that gained consciousness and self-awareness, such as Mr. APPLe, Sputnik and Ms. Radio. But that is immediately put into question when seeing characters like Darley Clatter, Door and TTT being categorized as "Arcanists" instead.

There are only two "Mixed" characters - Pavia and Satsuki. The word alone could easily imply that they're either "half-arcanists", and thus less respected due to their lesser Arcanum abilities, or that their Afflatus is mixed, but Afflatus and the way they're assigned onto characters is still very vague, because they don't seem to align with their actual use of magic.

And then, we have the "Infected". There are no characters labelled as such so far, so there's nothing to speculate here.

With all of this in mind, I would like to point out the wording of the profiles. I will add a few examples here in order of category (Beyond, Awakened, Arcanist, and then Mixed).

Notice how Mr. APPLe, Darley Clatter and Pavia's description are notably different than aliEn T's? Compare "A supernatural work" to "A mixed's work".

I don't own Voyager, but her profile listed in the wikifandom site follows the same pattern as aliEn T. It is very distinct to me that neither aliEn T nor Voyager, the only two characters who come from actual space, aren't described as "A supernatural's work".

The point I'm trying to make here is that the first phrase of the profiles alludes to the character's parents or creator, rather than themselves.

After all, the character is the artwork, it makes sense that they allude to their origins/heritage - in this case, crediting the "artist" that brought them to life. With the examples given, it makes sense to me that the Beyond cannot be anyone's work, by virtue of being aliens. Human concepts such as family and such don't necessarily have to apply to aliens. Their origins can easily be much too complex to understand by our standards.

One might argue that this theory falls apart when examining the Awakened - after all, they're described as "An Awakened's work". But I have to insist that the Awakened are confirmed to be inanimate objects that became sentient on their own, and thus they are given credit for their own "existence" so to speak. I'd like to point out the introductions posted on the official global twitter for these three characters. Mr. APPLe's does not allude to the moment he became sentient, but Ms. Radio's and Sputnik's do.

And speaking of sentience, I chose Darley Clatter as the example for the "Arcanist" category because it perfectly illustrates the point I'm trying to make. Darley Clatter is not a human in any way whatsoever, it's a toy horse. But the difference that sets Darley Clatter apart from the "Awakened" is the fact that he was MADE by an arcanist rather than gaining sentience himself. He exists and is able to move and talk thanks to an arcanist - this is explained in his 01 Story

If you don't feel like reading it, here's a short summary - it tells us about a young girl named Lilian who wants a horse and how her father, who spoils her way too much, approaches an unnamed arcanist to make her dreams come true. The arcanist then gets the ingredients needed and prepares a speech for Lilian's father, insisting that the foal they created will be better than any other real horse. Thus, making Darley Clatter an arcanist's work.

But then it leads me to characters like La Source, Pickles or Door. La Source is easy to explain, as she's a magical creature. Nature itself and some animals aside from critters are presented as inherently magical in some ways, so that could also explain Pickles. I'm pretty sure one of the tips displayed in loading screens says something similar to "sentience has nothing to do with arcanum ability", which supports the previous statement. As for Door? I have no idea!

And there's also the more vague characters, who were implied or hinted to have been humans and are now supernatural entities such as TTT, Rabies, Poltergeist or Click. I'd argue that the supernatural aspect of it lines up with nature as an inherently magical thing, but that could be a reach.

Another point against the theory I offer is the fact that it implies most of the characters come from arcane bloodlines, and arcanists are said to be a minority. But how can they be a minority if everyone and their dog (hehe, Pickles....get it...) comes from arcane bloodlines?

During Constantine and Madame Z's divorce arc the last two chapters, one of the main points of tension within the Foundation is the fact that there are more arcanists than there used to be in the past (hinted to be a result of the "Storm"). And that these arcanists no longer feel comfortable having so many restrictions within society now that they're no longer a minority that's easy to ignore. While this information could work as an argument to support my theory, I think it's easier to remember that all the characters in-game are people that Vertin takes along to brave the storm with her - as seen with Regulus, they're special. The fact that there's so many of them isn't an issue. The ones not relevant to the main story are summoned with the spinning wheel from their respective times, it is not indicative of a high amount of Arcanists overall because they don't share the same space or time.

Characters like Druvis III, Mesmer Jr, Matilda and Sotheby are stated to come from prestigious or important arcanist families, but for other characters its either a subtle implication or their families are not addressed in the slightest.

And this finally brings us to the "Mixed" - where do they fit? Does this term allude to something different, just like the "Beyond"? Are they Mixed because their Afflatus is different? Or because they come from a family that includes both Arcanists and non-magical humans? Or because they're not full Arcanists? For this, we have to examine both Satsuki and Pavia. Both of them share a very particular detail that is important to their respective backstories: neither of them know their parents.

Satsuki is an orphan, which led her to start a life of crime out of necessity. The defining trait of her character is that she's trying to put her past behind her. This excerpt is from her 01 Story.

On this hopeless land, the orphan girl could only make a living by theft, which had earned her the title "Little Thief Using Arcane Skill" from the local government.

As for Pavia, he was sent to live with his aunt after his mother's death. The information on Pavia's parents is mentioned in his 02 Story and one of his voicelines.

His aunt did not like him. The child's face resembled that of her beautiful, sorrowful sister who had abandoned her, gone to the city, then died a few years later.

Mio padre (my father) was missing, Mia madre (my mother) was in the asylum. I can't remember her face, but I vaguely remember the rhyme she sang me... She's in Rome, probably in her middle age. I've never visited her.

On Pavia's specifically, there is a little confusion from my part since his 02 Story says that his mother died a few years after she left for the city, but then Pavia's voiceline implies she's still alive. I go into detail about that in this other post here, so I won't do it again either cause this post is already long as shit.

Either way, the main thing to keep in mind is that neither of these characters knew their parents, which could explain why "Mixed" is a category for Arcanists whose families and bloodlines couldn't be properly traced on account of not knowing them.

But also, "Mixed" encompasses arcanists who aren't purebloods, as implied by this document on Manus Vindictae from chapter 3:

"Holding a grudge against humans and contempt for the mixed, these extreme racists only recognize the bodies ruled by arcanist's blood as 'mankind'."

"In that case, humans, arcanists on the human side, and the mixed who tolerate the pollution of arcanist's blood [...]"

The wording used to described the Mixed speaks for itself. There's a discussion to be had about the parallels between the stigma against Arcanists and real life racism, or rather, how it replaces racism as we know it within the universe of the game. But that's an entire different debate. Overall, it's safe to assume that "Mixed" is a term for those without traceable and/or fully arcane families.

As for the "Infected", I have nothing to say because there's no one in that list! From what I can gather trying to look up information on them, Schenider was put on that list in the CN version for the demo, but was later taken out. I'll leave it at that for this part.

The next part of the profile states when they were exhibited and for how long. The first thing that comes to people's minds is to assume the year/era stated is when the character was born and that the age listed is their current age.

But upon closer inspection, that year of birth theory falls apart rather quickly because of characters like Regulus, who has been "exhibited" in two different centuries. Satsuki as well has two different ages listed. Or the fact that characters who should know their exact birth year instead have an approximation of it, like Matilda. Sonetto, despite being on the same age range as both Vertin and Matilda, is listed to have been exhibited in the 20th century too instead of the 1990's like Matilda's profile. Lilya, who was also in the Foundation at the same time as those three, is said to have been exhibited in the second half of the 20th century. They're within the same period, but imply very different things in the end. It's little details and wordings that simply don't add up.

But the biggest thing that ruins this assumption is the fact that characters born in the 90's simply wouldn't have any time to be the age they're listed as, because time began to go backwards on the year 1999.

This might be something explained in future CN chapters or events, I recall seeing people talking about how there are hints and clues about how time might've advanced up to 2006, that Vertin has been lied to in that regard, that the Foundation knows more than it lets on. And that could definitely affect my current analysis, but again, I'm a global player </3.

So assuming time DID stop in 1999 AND that the years listed are their birth years... Let's talk about Matilda and Pavia, characters stated to have been exhibited in the 1990's. Pavia is stated to have been exhibited for 25 years, while Matilda has been exhibited for 14 years - there are 11 years of difference between them, already impossible for characters who were both born in the 1990's. If Pavia was born in 1990, Matilda would've had to have been born in 2001 for their ages to line up. This isn't even taking into consideration the fact that they would've also have to live BEYOND 1999.

One could argue that they could've continued aging as expected with the reversal of time, but Matilda is the only one who could've done so by virtue of being a student within the Foundation - who are not affected by the "Storm". Pavia wouldn't have been able to, because only those special Arcanists can brave the storm if they're WITHIN Vertin's suitcase. The other option to survive a storm would be to work with the Foundation or Manus Vindictae. I can also safely say that Vertin wouldn't have been able to save Pavia on time, on account of being a child and the fact that Regulus was the first Arcanist she ever saved - something that took place in 1966.

Which begs the question: what does the year a character was first exhibited mean?

I've been told that one of the most popular theories within the CN fandom is that the year dictates the moment the character developed their Arcanum. For a magazine that focuses on Arcanists' and the truth about them, it makes sense to focus on when they first began to develop their unique Arcane skills. It does help with some age inconsistencies, but it leads me to think again about the previous examples.

Pavia first developed his skills as a child - it's the same argument as before. The timeframe is much too narrow for things to line up with his current age. And again, there's characters with more than one exhibition date.

I think it's pretty simple and that we might be reading too much into it: an exhibition is just a public display of art. The exhibition date is just the eras in which the characters were seen. The era they're from.

I don't have Regulus, but I remember her global Cover profile lists two different ages. The wikifandom states this for her profile: "Exhibited in the mid-20th century for 15 years." The era listed, mid-20th century, is equivalent to the period between 1930s and 1960s - this lines up with the main story, as Regulus braves the "Storm" from her era in 1966 (note she was already 15) to 1929.

For characters that aren't relevant to the main story (or that simply aren't affiliated with the Foundation or Manus Vindictae) the era they were exhibited in could apply to the moment they were taken from by Vertin's spinning wheel - the abilities of the item and the way characters are summoned seems to transcend time and space, leaving it all vague, magical and mysterious enough to make it work without too much scrutiny.

Next! The date the characters' were "completed" is simply their birthday. This is easy to check, since we can check all birthdays of the month when looking at the Sign-In menu and tapping on the birthday cake on the top right.

Right now, as of writing this, it's December. Rabies' birthday is on the 14th, which aligns with the information on his Cover profile.

Next, their place of birth and different places of exhibit. Pretty self-explanatory too! This is where they were born and all the relevant places the character might've traveled to throughout their life.

This post got very long, so I'll be talking about the remaining sections in a different one! If you've read this far, thank you! And if you have more insight, thoughts or would like to discuss details I might've missed, overlooked or that you feel are relevant, I'm all ears! I love talking lore and theories with others <3

[apollos-boyfriend]

haii could you give me a summary of c!purpleds characterization ???

oughhh i always struggle w questions like these because for me it has become almost second nature but. i will try my best (≧∀≦ゞ fellow cpurpled enjoyers feel free to chime in with ur own suggestions if u so wish

purpled is selfish. this feels like a pretty obvious aspect of his character but Oh the amount of people i’ve seen get it wrong. he does not feel guilt over his selfishness. he will take and take until there’s no more left to steal, and he will blame the other party for his loss. he’s a survivalist before all else, a businessman before a person, and he’s proud of it. he’s manipulative and cunning and, honestly, a total asshole most of the time. it’s part of his charm

he’s been used. a lot. being used is kind of a key aspect of his character and his behavior. i think it’s important to note though that his experiences are never portrayed in a way where he’s meant to be pitied. his story is more focused on rage, on revenge, on a burning anger that will burn everything in its path. his story is tragic, yes, but he Refuses to let it be a tragedy (he is not consciously making this choice, which i’ll go into later)

he’s VERY prideful. he’s good at a lot of things and he knows it. i think a lot of people see his character type of smug, confident asshole and jump to the conclusion that it’s a front for him to cover up his insecurities but. i cannot stress enough. he is Genuinely Just Like That. he is almost fully incapable of self-doubt. if he ever encounters a situation where he has fucked up he will instantly find a way to shift that blame to others. he’s hot shit, he knows it, and he WILL make it everyone’s problem

something i think is really important is that, when it comes to seeing others, he sees most people at a neutral. he has very few people he strongly likes or dislikes, and is more uninterested and unconcerned with most people. he looks down on them, but not in a negative way, per se. that’s just how purpled sees people. if they can’t provide him with something, they’re unimportant to him. it’s not personal, it’s just fact. quackity is the only person purpled has a true hatred towards, as well as technically tommy, but that was more as a one-sided rivalry, and much, much lesser. it’s worth noting he did NOT hate slime, seeing him as a nuisance at best. he only attacked slime because he knew it’d be the way to hurt quackity the most, he held no real animosity towards him otherwise. ponk, hannah, jack manifold, tubbo, and technically boomer are the only people i’d really classify of being people purpled enjoys being around/sees on the same level as him

i know a lot of these points are somewhat bleak and serious, but he does have a silly side!! he likes pranks and scams. his best friend is his dog, who he regularly talks to as if he was another person. he has a flair for the dramatics and likes showing off, even if doing so is risky, and even if no one but him will see it

this is less of a character analysis but he talks like if you introduced an angry victorian orphan to youtube shorts. he has a very specific cadence of more sophisticated, verbose language mixed with modern-day slang and memes. it’s. very strange. i really can’t begin to properly describe it

there is zero self-awareness in that boy. he cannot see past his anger and spite and realize possible mistakes. 95% of what i’ve mentioned here he is completely unaware of. he can’t see his flaws, he can’t realize his wants, yet he always sees himself as on the right and on top. he is playing 4D chess completely unaware that everyone else is playing checkers, and is prone to unintentionally self-sabotaging himself due to being unable to recognize his true wants. he has 0 self-awareness of any of this. the way i write purpled is to make it Blatantly Obvious to the reader that his mindset and worldview is wrong, but make him completely blind to these points. he should not know things are wrong, but the reader should be able to pick up on it