#but its a good sign that they're doing stuff like that! means we might get so much more social stuff later hopefully

[theophexislegacy]

kenth (my alliance commander) and lana have a very deep/close relationship but it's more of an aromantic queerplatonic situation so I haven't actually romanced her in game bc it was more fitting but god I wish i could see the date night still lmao

[shinesurge]

Webcomic rings run by people within the community are cool and you should support them

I've been loudly struggling a little bit with corporate webcomic Stuff lately so I want to mention something positive to balance it out: webrings run by small groups of creators earnestly trying to support each other are slowly making a comeback and I for one am delighted.

If you weren't around for them in the before times, webrings were just some folks who hang out a lot who feature each other on their websites. That's literally it lmao. There's generally no money involved and it only really functions the way it's supposed to if people have control over their own websites AND genuinely want to participate and get excited about other folks' work, which means the practice has pretty well fallen by the wayside over the years in webcomic culture given. Everything. In the rare event someone decides to do something like this it's usually in the form of a link list somewhere on their website; this doesn't usually indicate any sort of mutual support, it's just a list of what the creator is reading themselves.

A webring, though, is an official banner or hub that people gather under intentionally where each member is more or less on equal footing. It's essentially the concept of "a rising tide lifts all boats" put into practice, each creator brings their own audience to the table in a passive, opt-in sort of way that's different from working for a publisher since there isn't necessarily a Top Spot or a paycheck everyone's vying for, and individuals retain autonomy over both their own work and how (if) they promote each other. You're all at your own tables in an artist alley rather than fighting over the table in the front of the book store, essentially.

I have two rings and one collective for you today!

Webcomic Ring was brought to my attention AGES ago by Holly, one of the artists featured there, and I might have brought it up at some point but I'm doing it again lmao. This is exactly the kind of thing you ought to be looking for; a small group of enthusiastic folks having a good time making their weird little comics. You probably haven't heard of much in the catalog, that's PERFECT in the context of webcomics that's where the GOOD SHIT is. Finding something like this is A Gift go dig around in the longboxes for a while.

Then a few people have pointed me in the direction of the KNIFEBEETLE collective and that's neat too! Most of the comics there are already fairly well-known, but the vibes are excellent and I haven't seen a lot of talk about the collective /itself/ outside folks already in the know. I think it's important for this sort of thing to be more visible to folks who aren't terminally steeped in webcomic culture already so here I am telling you about it. You were probably reading several of these before I suggested it, but that's how a webring works! For it to do its job you should take those bigger creators' tacit recommendation of the less popular titles as a sign to go read something new and strange. Wild, I know these are practices held over from the old internet, but I think we should try and bring them back.

Lastly, I want to mention Spiderforest, which is a collective (slightly different from a webring) BUT still a very cool project readers starved for new stuff should pay attention to.

You've probably seen Spiderforest kicking around for a long time already; they're wonderful and have always been an overall positive force in the community in my experience. They really focus on building up a community, and especially welcoming newcomers and helping them get their feet under them. Full disclosure, I've been asked to apply by a few different folks over the years and the only reason I never did is I don't have the ability to participate in their forums and such as frequently as they want their creators to; it's a very good system (from my outside perspective) that might contribute to the community staying mostly healthy in ways that art communities usually don't and I appreciate it a lot!

ANYWAYS that's all I got for now, just trying to balance out some bad feelings I've been having by talking about some good stuff. Please go binge an archive this week.

[goose-duck]

Creepypasta incorrect quotes ⭐

~~~~~~

Nina: spirit Halloween opened up early and my poor money decisions are always open so I bought a bunch of stuff

~~~~~~

Jeff: so...are we the best or the worst?

Toby: yes, sir.

~~~~~~

Jeff: he doesn't have eyeballs bro- he probably doesn't have balls either...

~~~~~~

Nina: he's ugly, I love him

~~~~~~

Y/N: There's just something abt his lack of a mouth and being less fluffy that makes me want him

Toby: he can't scream

Y/N: perfect

~~~~~~

Jeff: best friends!!

Y/N: nooOOOOO!!!!

~~~~~~

EJ: I learn from the mistakes of people who take my advice

~~~~~~

Y/N: heading into work~

*explosion*

Y/N: or maybe not-

~~~~~~

Nina: so romantic~

Jeff: *screaming*

Nina: romance <3

~~~~~~

Y/N: Jack, why am I in this room?

EJ: am I responsible for you moving from room to room now?

Y/N: yes.

EJ: then stay in that room.

~~~~~~

Toby: it's an elevator

Masky: this is a ladder, Toby.

Toby: imagination ✨

Hoodie: just because you put a sign that says "elevator" doesn't mean it's actually an elevator.

Toby: imagination ✨

~~~~~~

Y/N: but not me, because no one can get mad at me

Jane: I feel like in an hour we're all gonna be mad at you for something

~~~~~~

Toby: I made a house, what did you make?

Sally: a balloon

Toby: wonderful

~~~~~~

Jeff: just don't be blind

EJ: wow, you've cured me

~~~~~~

Toby: someone please take me off this fucking planet

~~~~~~

Y/N: Don't look at ceilings when ur tired. Never know what you'll see.

Toby: context, please

Y/N: Thought I had a fucking ceiling fan but it was just the balloons that I refuse to take down from my 13th birthday. I can't tell if I'm tired or stupid but I think either way it's correct.

Toby: it's probably both

Y/N: Exactly- It scared the shit outta me too-I saw it and was so fucking scared that I might have a ceiling fan in my room-

Toby: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A FAN! ITS ON THE CEILING!!

Y/N: Y/N, Weakness: ceiling fans that may or may not be there

Toby: strength: walking in high heels, weakness: imaginary ceiling fans

~~~~~~

Hoodie: it's just a deer or something

Masky: bro, that is not a deer

~~~~~~

Jeff: *sees a spider* I should have just bombed the house the last time I saw one of you fuckers

~~~~~~

EJ: I'm doing good...im doing great...i have a headache.....

~~~~~~

Jeff: this is like when I threatened to steal your skin and bones and stuff

~~~~~~

Jeff: it's like if a heat stroke were a room

Y/N: me

Jeff: no, you're like if a heat stroke were a person

Y/N: oh

~~~~~~

Y/N: tree tops

Jeff: crispy

Nina: crispy tree tops?

Jane: why are they crispy?

EJ: why is everyone talking about trees??

~~~~~~

Jane: I'm moving the pumpkins, sorry, Toby

Toby: nooo, my life's work...

~~~~~~

Toby: would you be more offended if I got a mug of milk or orange juice?

Masky: milk.

~~~~~~

Jeff: they're all safety scissors, I don't think I can possibly be unsafe with them

*pile of about 10 safety scissors*

~~~~~~

LJ: I took some of his teeth and coloured them like candy corns

~~~~~~

Jeff: I'll steal ur hair, I'll take ur eyebrows and I'll steal ur skin too

Toby: please, that's all I have

Jeff: U have bones, mucles, veins, blood, cartilage and organs that I could take too

Toby: no thanks

~~~~~~

Hoodie: Masky is this big *puts his fingers together*

~~~~~~

Jeff: what are you doing dude?

Y/N: hugging? I think??

Jeff: it's weird...

Y/N: yeah, let's never do that again

~~~~~~

Y/N: die.

Toby: :0

Y/N: in a nice way..?

~~~~~~

Nina: I'm sure there's someone in Fabio who's named Russia

Jane: what?

Nina: yup.

~~~~~~

Jeff: I hit myself in the face with an eye!

EJ: give it to me!

~~~~~~

Ben: what the rational number?

~~~~~~

Toby: I think I failed at life...

~~~~~~

*Jeff and Toby leave the room*

Masky: well, that was a headache

Hoodie: which one?

EJ: both.

~~~~~~

*Jeff walks by*

Jane: look at him, he's greasy

~~~~~~

Y/N: why are you only offended when Jeff says something?

EJ: because it's Jeff

~~~~~~

Toby: well how's this right?

Jeff: because I'm here!

~~~~~~

Jane: I'm going to Halifax

Jeff: Hali-fuck you

~~~~~~

Sally: I saw a girl and she was young

Y/N: you're young

Sally: I'm 8

Y/N: exactly, young.

Sally: so you're a grandma?

~~~~~~

Toby: fellas, if you need me, I'll be living inside this cabinet

~~~~~~

Y/N: I'm afraid of togetherness

[anonymouscheeses]

Im sorry i have to say it..: Get Your Hands Dirty sounds like a love song.

HEAR. ME. OUTT!! (No i dont mean a love song between Chloe n Ella omg 😭)

What I'm implying here is that it sounds like one of those niche high school love stories when one of the lovers(most likely a goodie two-shoes) goes to their mentor/parent/even the person their loving/etc to ask for advice on relationships. Or more specifically, if this person is worth it or even a good person. From the top of my head: I Won't Say (I'm In Love) and the goodie and the wildchild dynamic is pretty similar to Gabriella and Troy from hs musical, which iws(iil) kinda inspired this post tbh but also ive been thinking about this ever since i first watched the movie. (You plop in ur own songs, i js KNOW this trope exists)

Now that we've established the well used niche trope existing in this niche song made by the niche king that is Disney.... why do i think that Get Your Hands Dirty is a love song, i hear?

Lets analyze THE LYRIICS 😈😈

"Right and wrong, cruel and kind, who's to say?" "There's a code that I believe in."

"Robin Hood" "yeah?" "Awesome guy" "yeah!"

"Every choice, you're gonna find there's shades of grey." "There are rules for a reason!"

"So you could then cross that line, theoretically."

"You'd agree?" "But he stole for the poor."

"The decision's always up to you. When there's only one thing left to do"

"I don't know you anymore.."

Okay, so i shortened and made it tiny for obvious reasons, that bein its too long �� so! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS A FEEELIN?? a feelin that this is SCREAMING denial?! Its giving...

Chloe: Ellaaaa.... this girl im talkn to is SOOO HHHOOOOTT and PRETTY and cool and stuff but ugh.... SHE EEEVILLL!!

Ella: oh my gosh.. STFU. Shes prolly not even that evil ill prove it smh..

*get ur hands dirty starts playing. No exaggeration. No cap.*

"Okay, but there's some universal truths you must recognize." "Like?"

"Valiant knights, pure and good, guaranteed" "That depends on what they're fighting for"

"Creepy witches selling potions for evil deeds" "She could have kids she's providing for"

"If your good-good things will come to you"

MORE denial, Chloe wants to be friends with Red SO bad she looks stupid, but she brings herself back by trying to prove to herself that she's evil and they SHOULDN'T be that close. Which also is a big sign of comphet and heteronormativity, i would know 🧍 (which is a post for another day i might make. Prolly 2 prove that Chloe is a lesbian in deep comphet)

"But just how far do you go? How much do you compromise? Oh, tell me, how do you know. Where do you draw the line?"

"There's nothing I wouldn't do. If my heart tells me it's right. If it's for someone I love. If it's to save a life."

"To save your life."

Further deepening the trope i mentioned. The first line could be interpreted as a double meaning since the song is kind of mostly about Chloe coming to terms with the fact Red isn't really evil or as bad as she thought, plus the argument of where the line between evil and good is. It could refer to Red or Ella, maybe both, but Ella changes the meaning with her own experiences so it drifts off the focus from Red because we cant have ANYTHING 🤧 but i still believe Chloe intended it to be for Red since the entire song is really just for the progress of their relationship n stuff.

Now this could definitely all be in my head, yes, Disney would most likely NEVER canonize or even imply heavily a queer relationship or anything lgbtq on a pre established franchise (cowards.). But there is always a chance.... deep inside the dark heart of the mouse..

Plus, with the subtle hints here and there of Red and Chloe's relationship growing, romantically or not, they are still super close and love eachother alot. Chloe is js (kinda) canonically a girl kisser who cant help but find a girl kissable (same)

And don't get me started on this movie and its obsession with love and proving how it is not "ain't it". Hello...? They set the tone of love, but i see NO person close enough to Red established for this message (other than Chloe) and if they introduce some random guy in the next movies, NO ONE would care nor would they want it unless somehow its 100x better than redcharming, but thats impossible cz wlw 4 life.

So, this entire thingy is me basically finding scraps and wanting to provr that charminghearts IS canon and WILL be established soon! (Im delulu)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for distancing myself from my partner?

I, (17NB) and my partner (17NB) had a rough year. Thier family is super religious, and so is the place we live in, and we've had many fears about being outed. My family is less religious and I mostly raise myself so admittedly he's a lot more paranoid, and rightfully so I'd say. But ever since we've started dating I've had to ask them multiple times to improve thier communication.

To start off, I wish they were upfront, or atleast more firm about us breaking up, atleast in the first year. That wouldve solved a lot of heartbreak if they didn't want to be with me.

They dodged the question of physical intimacy of literally anything more than holding hands or cuddling multiple times, and yet mentioned they were ace offhandedly to a friend instead of giving me a straight answer (which I wouldve been fine with, I just wish they told me.) They tend to get angry quite easily and resort to snappish/ short answers, and, especially since them having a conversation with thier mom questioning thier sexuality, tend to abhor the smallest inkling of physical contact or sign that we're together, even if we're around friends who know, or alone.

After the conversation with thier mom, they asked to break up, but i basically pleaded for another chance and they agreed. I know it's my own fault at some point for beating a dead horse, but I recently had a conversation that kind of snapped the rose-tinted glasses right off.

We were discussing our futures, and there's a somber agreement neither of us will see each other again after school. Thats not what I'm upset about. They described having kids in a hetero marriage and joking to thier kids about the "wild" stuff they got up to in highschool like experimenting in a queer relationship, basically saying our entire 3 years of dating was a fluke or joke or experiment.

I realised this was the straw that broke the camel's back, they didn't really initiate or seem as eager as me about the sparse times we could go out alone together, they gave me a half finished craft I had to sew myself while I gave a painting for valentine's day, and various examples of bad communication. They're a good friend, I'm not so sure about partner.

So, I'm kinda trying to stop this year. I stopped frantically calling in school and rearranging lessons to be with them, I didnt spam text or think about making any gifts so far, I asked to have a..spicy experience with a friend or two (that my partner agreed with me doing). In my head I guess I told myself that we might call ourselves partners but the word just lost its meaning for us both.

So far, it's okay. It hurts, because it seems more like we're just friends instead of dating, but I want to focus on myself and my studies to get out of our really conservative area. Still, I feel guilty and a little resentful. I know I should've just accepted breaking up, but we're kinda codependant. They and I both know we can't be without each other.

They love me so much, I know that. They've done so so much for me and dragged me out of a horrible place pretty much single-handedly, they're just not great at communicating or emotional maturity. Also, they seem to think queer people go to hell in some self-imposed notion of religious guilt, and when I express resentment towards religions that push homophobia on thier followers they seem weirdly defensive of it.

For context, I have BPD (my partner has, for a long time being my 'favourite person') and what I'm reluctant to call "severe" trauma but it's been described as that. I'm genuinly curious to know if this is a result of some upbringing-induced overreaction or if its okay to just kinda give up on my own relationship. Yes, I'm aware that the best thing would be to break up but I dont think I could ever leave them, for some stupid reason.

What are these acronyms?

[searchingsomewhere]

All Too Well, Part 7

{"We're good people, and we both deserve peace."}

Part 1 Part 8

I know we're moving quick here, trying to go at the pace the anime generally goes, but I might write some oneshots of them being teens because I just want them to be happy ;^;

Two weeks and they were back in their regular routine, with some exceptions. At Yaga's request, Miho was allowed to attend several of his classes with Shoko, Suguru, and Satoru. Not every class, but some. Shoko pulled her aside one day as they left the library when she finally noticed Suguru walking Miho to and from her room every morning and afternoon.

"So," Shoko said, linking their arms as they walked, "I noticed you and Suguru are pretty close. Are you dating?"

"We're trying to keep it quiet, but yes," Miho said.

Shoko smiled softly, "How serious?"

"Barely. Just feeling things out," Miho admitted. It really hadn't been long.

"That kind of stuff is hard. You never really know when the two of you will go out, and only one will come back."

Miho watched the ground as they walked. It had only been a few weeks, and she and Suguru had already had that conversation. You had to, going out on missions like they did. It was a tentative situation.

"Just don't let the higher ups hear," Shoko muttered.

That was the whole reason they were being quiet about it. Still, hearing it from someone else peaked her interest. "What do you mean?"

Shoko glanced over her shoulder, as if expecting someone to be watching them.

"They're awfully nosey. I just feel like..." she shook her head, "...I don't know. Just be careful."

Miho squeezed her arm in a quiet 'thank you'. It felt strange, having people looking out for her. She was having trouble remembering how isolating the library had been.

Muted afternoon sunlight filtered into the gym. Thunder rolled softly outside. Suguru was waiting for them there, sitting on one of the bleachers. He had just returned from a mission with Satoru, though the white haired boy was nowhere to be found.

"So how many hand signs does it take to activate Retribution?" Suguru asked.

"Eight. I can do them in about a minute, but I'm trying to get faster. A minute is an awful long time."

She molded her hands into the first sign, keeping her pointer and ring finger down. Shoko stood from her seat nervously.

"Should you really be doing that?" she asked.

"As long as I'm not activating it, it's fine," Miho said. She went through all eight motions slowly, feeling them out, fingers instinctively moving without thought. "I think my problem is cursed energy control."

"How so?"

"Retribution allows me to expend all my cursed energy at once into a single seal. And since it's a Domain Expansion, it's guaranteed to work. But," she dropped her hands, sighing, "it's the expending part that would kill me."

"So if we can train you to better control your cursed energy, you may not have to release so much at once," Suguru said thoughtfully.

"That would tamper with its effectiveness," Shoko said.

"But I'd be alive," Miho shrugged.

"I gotta go," Shoko said, grabbing her bag, "But give me some time and I'll see if I can come up with anything that might help!"

Miho waved to her as she left. Suguru stood, grabbing her tote. "I'll walk you to your room."

It was pouring outside. Miho grabbed his hand and began running through the rain. Suguru gave only the faintest bit of hesitation before letting her guide him. The rain pelted their backs, soaking through their uniforms. Something about the cold rain striking her face was oddly both soothing and exciting.

The closer they got to the dorms, the slower they ran, until they were standing in the downpour, just outside her dorm building. Lightning struck overhead. Miho turned to say goodbye.

Suguru pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. He said something she couldn't hear over the thunder before turning to jog back. Miho stood there, dumbfounded, mouth open and cheeks warm. Another strike of lightning sent her running inside, head still reeling.

---

Satoru's face was impassive as he walked through the school grounds with one hand in his pocket and the other holding an umbrella. He'd only been gone for a few days, just to Sendai to take care of some Curses. And in those few days, Suguru and Miho had both gotten hurt...and started dating.

He was relieved they were both okay. And for that other part...That was fine. Of course it was fine.

"Hey Satoru," Suguru had said just a few weeks before, "What do you think of Miho?"

The two were back in the gym, passing the basketball back and forth.

"She's cute. Not my type, though," Satoru was quick to reply.

He'd seen the way Suguru watched her, how he seemed to hang on to every word she said. He'd been spending a lot of time in the library, too. Satoru only knew because he found himself doing the same thing.

"So, you'd be okay with me asking her out?"

Satoru threw his head back and laughed. "Of course. You think you need my permission?"

Suguru bounced the ball to him. "I figured I'd run it by you. You seem to have taken a liking to her."

He hid his frown with a scoff. "Nah. I mean, she's a sweet girl. I'm glad to have her as a friend. And besides, you two would be cute together."

Satoru blew air from his mouth, rubbing his neck. He'd been fighting a sickening sense of disappointment ever since that day. It was worse now, a few weeks later, seeing their small touches. How Suguru would shyly bump her hand when they walked out in town, fingers interweaving until they were holding hands. Or how he'd put his arm over the back of her chair during studying hours. How red her face would get when he smiled at her. And the way she leaned into his touch.

At first, he told himself that one date didn't mean they'd begin dating. Then, on the train to Sendai, he scolded himself. Of course, they'd start dating. Suguru was a great guy. Truly. He had a good head on his shoulders. He was exceptionally handsome, and incredibly kind. One of the kindest people Satoru had ever met. And Miho was quiet, but sweet and thoughtful. He hadn't quite met a soul like hers. Not once did jealousy ever cross his mind. He wasn't jealous of Suguru. Or Miho.

"Satoru, wait up!" Suguru called behind him. His hair clung to his face, uniform thoroughly sopping wet.

"Dude, you're soaked!" Satoru laughed, stopping in the middle of the path. Suguru ducked under his umbrella. Satoru's eyes glowed and he peered at his friend over his glasses. "Why's your face so red, huh? Huh?"

Suguru grinned, waving it away. "Don't worry about it."

"D'you kiss her?" Satoru gasped, "Oh my god, you kissed her, didn't you?"

"Something like that."

Satoru 'ooo'd and 'ahh'd, jabbing him in the side with his elbow until he confessed. A strange feeling struck him right in the chest, but he laughed it off, opting to tease his friend instead. It wasn't until they were walking to the dorms that he realized what he was feeling wasn't envy.

It was longing.

Part 1 Part 8

[velvetfoxgames]

Following the MBTI stuff, for fun, here are some gathered quotes about knowing if the types are into you.

Alexei INTJ

"Ever the observer, they’ll want to know and engage in your likes and dislikes, dreams and goals, and more. They might even use this to help inform how they interact with you and what they do for and with you, often putting your interests above their own."

"Once they know, they’ll use that information to put a smile on your face. In many cases, their gestures might be small and subtle, but this isn’t something that they’ll do for just anybody."

“Sadly for me, I fit perfectly into the stereotype of INTJs being romantic disasters. The art of subtle flirting is unknown to and lost on me. I generally try finding events we would mutually be interested and asking the other if they wish to go see it. Basically, just asking them to hang out one-on-one, without explicitly asking them out on a date.”

"INTJs aren’t normally very physical. So if they do allow hugs or are otherwise willing to be touchy-feely, it means that they trust you a lot — especially if they’re the ones to initiate the physical contact"

Brooklyn ENTJ

"If an ENTJ has been unusually direct, taking the initiative to engage you in stimulating conversations, you may have just received an unmistakable sign an ENTJ likes you."

"The planning and strategic aspect of giving meaningful gifts and memorable moments are something an ENTJ will relish doing for the people they care deeply for. And while you may not even realize that they knew all the little things that would make you happy or have meaning for you, they would’ve carefully attended to this in the days and weeks beforehand.  

"When we are genuinely interested, our Sensing (Se) function draws us to focus intensely on you, making you the center of our universe."

"Compromise is something that isn’t necessarily often done. Still, when it is, you can be assured that ENTJ values you and your relationship – your happiness being more critical than their routine or goals will manifest in them changing plans, compromising, or finding a different way to make it work. This is a definite sign of their affection for you."

Leo ESFP

"We love to turn our full, sparkly attention on someone we're into!"

"If they are interested in you only as a crush, they can act more freely around you: smiles, giggles and, possibly, superficial conversations. But if they really like you romantically, then they’ll become a little shy." / "We get nervous when we are close to someone we like a lot. We can even become awkward."

"Of course consistency is a very good sign. ESFP are very independent and soon lose interest in someone. It’s easy for them to have a crush, but they fall in love with much more difficulty. Consistency means ESFP likes you a lot in 99% of cases."

"A rule of thumb for us: if you have to ask "does an ESFP like me?" The answer is probably no lol. Se Fi isn't exactly known for its subtlety. How this manifests for me is i will want to spend all my time around a person. I'll invite them places, I'll go places i know they'll be, offer to help them with stuff they're doing, and I'll pay extra attention to them in a group setting."

Milo INTP

"An unexpected warmth, heightened intellectual curiosity towards you, and unusual social efforts. Bear in mind, these cues may be subtle and sporadic."

"INTP pretends they dislike you. This is not so much a visible sign but rather a confounding and self-sabotaging defense mechanism INTP deploys, probably out of fear of rejection."

"We usually keep conversations lighthearted and cordial. However, if we start rambling about the latest conspiracy theory, that crossword clue we’re stumped on, or the documentary that tickled our brains—watch out, you may be in crush (or at least close friend) territory."

"INTPs have an uncanny talent for remembering an entire backlog of information about someone's past or preferences. When INTPs are in their feelings, they'll randomly bring those details up in conversations. Our crush becomes a fun trivia game we’re invested in exploring further."

Rory INFJ

"They might hand you a book, saying, 'I knew you'd love this,' even if you've never expressed your literary preferences to them"

"Have you noticed a fleeting touch, a seemingly awkward gesture emanating from your INFJ companion? Perhaps, a light brush of the hand that seemed unintentional but was, in fact, meticulously premeditated?"

"Something that INFJs are highly fond of doing, is showing someone that they like them by little reminders through music and art. If they create a playlist or share a song with you, they want you to know that they are thinking of you or that a specific song reminds them of you."

"More than anything, they expressed a deep desire to connect emotionally with someone they like. They will be more emotionally open, express more of their deeper longings, and become more vulnerable with you if they like you. If they’re not into you, they will probably keep these things closer to the chest and appear slightly more guarded."

Tobias ESTP

"ESTPs aren’t typically mysterious about wanting to impress you. They’ll lift heavy objects, crack the funniest jokes (winking at you afterwards), and challenge competitors to arm-wrestling matches just to show you their power or wit."

"ESTPs get a major thrill from seeing you laugh. Whether they’re impersonating cartoon characters saying over-the-top sexy lines, pranking someone (think Jim Halpert from The Office) or making silly faces at you during a serious board meeting, they’ll find some way to trigger your funny bone."

"These types are all about amping up the current experience and making it memorable and intense. Sometimes this means taking you on the steepest roller coaster in town or playfully stroking your hair while they whisper something in your ear. "

"ESTPs can grow impatient with the emotional ramblings of people they’re not especially close to. But if they care about you romantically, they WANT to know how you feel. In fact, they will put themselves on the line emotionally and try as hard as possible to express their feelings to you."

[starlit-dreaming]

[idea] the spiteful fake dating au

inspo from this post [click here]

obligatory tag (im an attention whore and therefore i summon thee): @lithi @hwang-lucas

tl;dr if you dont wanna click on the link:

"i know we could half-ass it, but i would never fake mistreat my fake husband, how dare you" which reads like athy to me

and

"my baby cousins are probably screwed when it comes to their chances of turning out normal, but I’d like them to have one healthy example in their life" which can pass as a caring uncle lucas

.

the setting and my Vision:

modern au, lucathy are probably mid-20s or early 30s im thinking??? maybe kinda like the ons/fwb au where athy's like. 28 and lucas is gonna be 30

so as the lines i've quoted state, lucas is gonna be a caring uncle whose brothers have shit show marriages. a train wreck and not gonna be healthy at all (oldest has a falling apart 15 year marriage and kids were their solution of slapping tape on the problems; youngest has a hateful wife and is a doormat probably; i need a reminder on whether or not lucas is the youngest but im gonna treat him as the middle bro atm cause its the Vibes).

and yeah, he wants Nothing^tm to do with his family, but his nieces and nephews deserve to see a healthy relationship to have as an example and damn does he hate his in-laws more than his actual family

so he asks athy to be his fake wife

(i feel like it'd be funny if they signed a marriage certificate just in case lucas deals with paranoid family (when really he's just paranoid and athy's an overthinker who HELPED him get paranoid at the thought), then they got drunk, and accidentally submitted the paperwork and just straight up forgot

"wdym you guys ACTUALLY filed the paperwork?????????" -- helena probs

"oh shit does that mean we got married fr???" -- athy, before the panic settles in

it becomes an inside joke among their friends after the panic of it wears off because now they're pretty much committed to the bit for the sake of lucas' nieces and nephews so now there are jokes about "where's your wife/husband" and "" etc etc)

athy's gonna constantly overthink it (and desperately trying to avoid ever mentioning it to her parents because her mom would be so disappointed that there wasnt a wedding and claude might kill lucas if he makes athy cry)

plus she's 100% gonna be ready to fite lucas's shitty relatives if they say something bad about him

side note: diana 100% thinks that lucas is athy's long-time bf so she's always joking with claude that lucas is finally gonna drop down on one knee any day now and claude, being a super big grump, is just "at least its not that alpheus kid"

little do they know that lucas became a legit in-law (although they still invite him for family dinners, and when its mentioned that athy's parents treat him as family, lucas's parents and grandparents take that as a CHALLENGE)

athy being petty by having a sickeningly sweet relationship and talking about how wonderful lucas is as a husband and partner because of how much she just straight up hates one of the sister in-laws

i'm self-indulgent, so i'm gonna have the classic "my sister in-law tried to sleep with my husband" stories

also idk if its just me but when it comes to fake dating aus (which i'm a SUCKER for) i think its a++++++++ when one of them casually goes "yknow if we were actually doing this for realsies, we'd probably be making out in a closet rn" and the other person sweating cause that sounds infinitely better than what they're doing rn

ALSO

the casual "oh yeah athy's crazy about that kinda shit" or "lucas would absolutely hate that lmao" and just FLEXING on everyone about how good of a partner they are to the other

and lucas, who originally suggested that they don't have to do any lovey-dovey stuff and that they can just be the same as always, ends up getting a fuming athy who more or less goes "my REPUTATION would be at stake if people found out that we broke up just because i wasn't being a loving and caring partner, so hell no!!!!!"

aksulifdfhbjdkshf i'm running on like,,,,,,, 5 hours of sleep and havent slept in like,,,,, 17 hours now

so i'm just gonna leave this unedited all-over-the-place mess here

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

[contrivedchaos]

So I have been thinking too much about the idea of Carmilla getting Sera pregnant. So once Sera figures out she panics and stops seeing Carmilla. So when Emily is born and heaven finds out and kicks her out its been like 8 months since Carmilla saw her last and now she shows up at her door holding a new born saying it's Carmilla's. Once Carmilla gets over that shock she drags them in and is rushing to find her girls old baby stuff as she is demanding answers like why Sera didn't tell her and how it happened. Which is Sera paniced and didn't know what to do and she doesn't know. I don't know if she would say it or just think it but her thoughts towards Sera are "You're an idiot but you're my idiot." She does eventually finds and sets up a crib and has to go get some things like diapers on short notice she tells Sera to stay put and get some rest since they aren't going to sleep well for a while. Once she gets over the shock of everything she decides she is fine with it she loves kids and Emily while a surprise is welcome and this means that well she isn't the angels secret mistress anymore she doesn't have to hide their relationship wait for months to meet up or fear that she'll be left behind but they can just be together she knows Sera and heaven enough that she thinks that Sera might find having a child out of wedlock would make Sera uncomfortable so she probably starts planning a proposal to make her feel better. When Lucifer learns he doesn't believe it at first but when he learns it is laughing that he couldn't believe Sera of all angels would fall and for this reason. He does let Charlie and Emily have playdates.

If humans on Earth can invent a way for two cis women to biologically conceive, I'm sure two fallen angels in Heaven/Hell stumbled upon that secret eons ago. Or maybe it's an SPOP thing where they can *poof* have a magic pregnancy (i.e., Catradora and Finn). Or maybe they're not cis....Hmmm. Either way, we have the technology/magic/plot-specific reason to advance the story!

Sera would for certain be freaked out, and desperately trying to get to the only safe place she knows, being Carmilla's place. Heaven probably just dumped her in some random part of the Pride ring, and she's never had to navigate to Carmilla's by foot before; she's always just warped. She's just frantically searching for Carmilla or some sign of her company. Zestial probably finds her, because he's got eyes and spiders everywhere. She fits a similar description to the person that Carmilla told him she was sneaking off to see.

He stops her and asks where she's going. Sera is terrified and doesn't trust him, but literally has no one else to turn to, so she asks if he knows where Carmilla lives. When he sees Sera holding Emily, he immediately knows something is up and takes her there. Carmilla is understandably in shock for a good while after they arrive. She hadn't heard from Sera for so many months, and then she just shows up at her door holding a BABY. Color her surprised.

I like the idea of Carmilla keeping Odette and Clara's baby things. Like she'd logically have no reason to; not many other people besides Lucifer and Lilith are having kids. She must have held on to them for sentimental reasons, or because she instinctively knew she'd need them again...

You know Luci is surprised at first, but of course he's supportive. He could have told them this might happen, though, if two full-blooded angels who are together aren't careful! But no one ever bothers to ask him (joking). He's happy for them, and ecstatic to have a little angel playmate around for Charlie!

[pinkprettycure]

I was thinking that Crunchyroll is a really bad site for kids anime because it lacks any good age filters or categories but now that I'm browsing the site it's just dogshit for anime fans in general imo??

this is the genre tags we have, it's extremely small and general tbh The shows also aren't properly tagged all the time so you might click on something and not see it in there because it wasn't tagged.

For example A Sign of Affection is tagged with "Romance" ONLY. so you can't find it in the shojo tag at all. The way they're defined is up to god as well because they have shows that aren't shojo under the shojo tag and whether or not a show even gets tagged with it seems based on if they remember it exists cuz you might argue maybe My Love Story isn't tagged shojo cuz the protag is male and there's a misconception that shojo = female protag, but Super Lovers is a BL and it IS in there.

It's not based on the magazines they ran in (Skip and Loafer is under shojo but ran in a seinen magazine) and it's not based on the protagonist's gender because Super Lover's is a BL and tagged shojo, and its not even based on like, whether or not the demographic is female regardless of if it's magazine (Precure is a girls anime first series and IS tagged shojo but Brother's Conflict targets girls as well and ISN'T tagged as shojo.)

Under shojo is a subcategory for magical girls which you already see a large glaringly obvious problem here right off the bat, only the very first precure is even in it.

Since MG is a subcategory of "shojo" it means that any non-shojo magical girls aren't in it, not that it matters since it's utterly lacking in shojo magical girls as well, this is NOT their only selections, they have for shojo magical girls, they have a bunch of Precure of course, Creamy Mami, Fancy Lala, Minky Momo, a few Pretty series shows, and Acro Trip off the top of my head.

Magical Girl IMO shouldnt be a subcategory at all, it should be it's own genre category and they should include everything under the umbrella in there regardless of demographic and then have subcategories such as shojo, ecchi, or idol underneath THAT. Madoka, Spec-ops Asuka, and Boueibu SHOULD be possible to locate under the same category as Sailor Moon and not just by digging through a massive generic tag like "Fantasy"

Mecha is a similar problem where it's a sub category under Sci-fi instead of it's own genre tag, I do think Mecha makes sense as subtag way more than MG does and at least it has a healthy amount of shows in its subcategory but it really should be it's own thing with it's own subtags, doesn't have to be just like, super and real robot it could be for stuff like whether it has heavy romance or the settings like if the battles primarily are in space like Gundam 79 vs in a fantasy isekai world like Escaflowne.

There isn't a tag for BL or Yuri at all, Super Lovers like I mentioned before is tagged as Shojo but Junjou Romantica is tagged as Drama and Romance and Love Stage is only tagged with Romance.

These shows are all way too hard to find if you don't know where to look or what to look for, and a fan who wants to find something new to watch will have little luck since their favorite genres either don't exist or aren't tagged properly, you can't really search unless the genre is in the name and you still get irrelevant shows in the search. So looking for "Yuri" gets you "Yuri on Ice" and not Strawberry Panic, and the "more like this" carousel is hit or miss on if it shows anything relevant. I saw Quintessential Quintuplets and Rent-A-Girlfriend under the recommendations for Citrus and I imagine anyone watching infamous yuri anime Citrus is not interested in a het harem with a male lead or whatever the fuck is going on with rent a girlfriend.

like its one thing imo for Hulu and Netflix to just slap a bunch of anime under one tag and call it a day but a site targeted specifically toward nerds that's trying to be THEE one stop spot for all things anime and japanese media? this is fucking embarrassing.

[lu-is-not-ok]

Hope no one hasn't asked for Faust's hex nail before 🙏

But it's really intriguing to me as it has very weird sin resource requirements (literally only six envy) and it's also a weirder, yet somewhat telling sinner choice in my opinion

I really want to see what you (and possibly other people) think about it

Hoo boy, it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for keeping everyone who sent asks waiting, but at least we're back!

It might take me a moment to get back into the groove, so if this analysis is a little bit weird structurally, uhhh... Sorry!

Now then, under the cut we go!

Alright, before we can get into Hex Nail, we first need to look at the Abnormality it comes from, Hurting Teddy Bear, as well as the Abno it's an Abberation of, Happy Teddy Bear.

Let's start with that last one. Happy Teddy Bear's main theme is abandonment, child-like innocence, and the loss of that innocence due to the passage of time. It's a plush toy that was left to tear and rot after its previous owner grew out of playing with it, and now it fears being abandoned again, hugging the people it grows attached to until they die out of its fear.

Interestingly enough, Happy Teddy Bear itself has not lost its innocence, unlike its owner. It doesn't seem to actually Want to kill people, it simply doesn't want them to leave, not being able to understand the idea that they could come back.

Now onto Hurting Teddy Bear. While Happy Teddy Bear seems to have been treated well by its owner before they left, Hurting Teddy Bear seems to have gone through the opposite. It's noted to have spent a lot of time in pain, and a lot of emphasis is put on its "emptiness".

The holes where its eyes should be are empty. The cavities left after pulling out the nails are called an "empty void". If the nails are dug deeper, the plush looks down but doesn't seem to notice anything is actually happening. Interestingly enough this reaction makes the narrator wonder if the plush is simply unable to feel pain, seemingly contradicting its initial description noting how its bloodstains are a sign of the pain it went through.

An interesting thing about Hurting Teddy Bear is how its hugs are described, and how little emphasis is put on them. When Happy Teddy Bear's hugs are noted, they are explicitly said to be something that the plush Wants to do, how it's something it Loves. They're actually noted quite often, as it's something the Abno is explicitly known for. For Hurting Teddy Bear however, its hugs are described only once, and specifically as a "duty" it has to fulfill.

So, here are the themes I think we're dealing with here.

First of all, loss of innocence, in this case specifically the loss of innocence caused by abuse. Physical abuse, if we take the bear's damage literally, and emotional abuse, if we take the idea of them piercing through the bear's heart more symbolically.

Another theme I think is good to note here is the idea of learned helplessness and/or obedience caused by abuse. The way Hurting Teddy Bear's hugs are described as a "duty" combined with the emphasis put on how empty the bear is gives me a picture of someone who has become a husk of their former self, going through life on auto-pilot and accepting the abuse they're put through without complaint.

With both of these in mind, let's look at the main point of interest here.

Faust. And Hex Nail.

I'm going to focus on the animation and dialogue lines first, since I think it's the kind of stuff anyone could analyze without delving deeper into Sin Analysis territory, and I think that's what I'm gonna try to do in future E.G.O Analyses as well.

The Awakening dialogue line, "Pierce... to the profundities of the heart.", is of particular interest of me due to Faust's delivery here. Noticeably, she seems to uncharacteristically whisper a part of it, implying it's something that emotionally means a lot more to her than the rest of the line. Perhaps it brings back a notably bad memory, or has her feel anxious enough to not want to say it out loud?

I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Through my expert analysis (throwing the original korean version of the line into google translate and seeing what the individual parts of the line translate to), the part that makes Faust emotional here is the act of Piercing.

Remember how we mentioned that the theme of abuse plays a major part in the Abnormality this E.G.O is derived from, and how the nails pierced through it can be interpreted as either physical or emotional abuse, depending on whether they're taken literally or symbolically.

Considering how Faust here specifies the act of Piercing is being done to a heart, specifically to aim for its "profundities" (which means great depths of insight or knowledge), I think its fair to interpret this as more symbolic, thus implying more of an emotional kind of abuse.

If the act of Piercing here is meant to represent this abuse that Faust has potentially gone through, it would make sense why she would whisper it like she does. The phrasing used regarding what is being pierced to is quite interesting. Profundities aren't just any depths, it's specifically intellectual depths, fitting for Faust, yet odd considering we're talking about the heart, something that is more often symbolically connected to emotions than intelligence.

Was Faust's emotional intelligence the target of this Piercing? Was this Piercing trying to harm that part of Faust, or was it trying to expose it? Considering how Faust notably lacks social awareness as well as self awareness, I'd go out on a limb and posit it's the former.

Something else notable about Faust's Awakening here is the animation itself. The way she stabs the nail through her target is notably aggressive and violent, with her face even being covered by a shadow. It feels like a Major departure from her other Awakening animations, which show her attacks be seemingly more calculated and slower-paced. I think this just further proves how deeply this E.G.O touches Faust, and how truly personal it is to her.

Next, the Corrosion. This is the one other time we get to see Hurting Teddy Bear's hugs be referenced at all, and it's in an interesting form. Faust's line here, "Come here... I'll hug you tight...", is again notable from her vocal delivery. Faust sounds Very Emotional here, her voice almost trembling and by the end it edges to sounding like she's about to cry.

Considering how Hurting Teddy Bear's hugs are considered its "duty", it paints a very interesting picture of Faust's own potential duty. Perhaps following her given purpose causes her pain and suffering, but she pushes through it regardless.

Something I find important to note is another contrast between the hugs seen from the two Teddy Bears. For Happy Teddy Bear, the hugs by themselves aren't actually fatal, it's the bear deciding it doesn't want to let go that hurts the one it hugs. For Hurting Teddy Bear however, it's a completely different story. We see in Faust's Corrosion animation how this bear's hugs are inherently painful to the reciever, as it causes the bear's nails to pierce whoever it decides to hug.

I wonder, could this be interpreted as a symbolic representation of the cycle of abuse? The same nails that hurt the bear cause it to harm those it tries to show affection towards, perhaps also partially because that affection is not genuine, as the idea of giving hugs being seen as its duty suggests.

Perhaps Faust doing her job inflicts the same kind of suffering to others as she herself went through? Considering how we know she's the one behind everyone's contracts, yet had to have also been given a contract of her own to become a Sinner herself, it might not be too far off.

Then, there's the last little bit of the Corrosion animation we need to talk about. The box of cereal that falls out of Faust once she stops her attack, which proceeds to bleed on the floor. The imagery here is very easy to interpret as a symbolic representation of a miscarriage, and I don't think it's something that can be ignored in this analysis.

While the easy way to interpret it would be to say Faust is a mother who lost her child and leave it at that, I don't think it's nearly as simple as that. No, I think there's something else going on here that's a bit more abstract.

My personal interpretation here is that the box represents some part of Faust. Some form of child-like innocence and wonder that she loses each time she goes back to her duties. Every time she perpetuates what she herself has been through, she loses another part of herself, becoming further like the empty husk that Hurting Teddy Bear is.

Of course, I could be completely wrong here. We genuinely don't know enough about Faust to be sure.

Now, let's get to the part everyone actually knows me for. Sin Analysis.

Hex Nail is a Fascinating E.G.O, as it's all about a single Sin - Envy. Its Sin Affinity is Envy, and the Resources it needs are an obscene amount of Envy.

I hope that with all the prior analysis we've done, this actually starts making A Lot of sense.

Hex Nail is a representation of the abuse Faust has gone through at the hands of other people. Whether it's Limbus's higher ups, whoever gave her her own contract, or some other person we don't know yet, one thing is clear. Everything about Hex Nail screams the influence of other people.

It represents her learned helplessness, her obedience under others, her causing the same harm those she's obeying cause her... It's all about how her actions have been influenced by people who have authority over her.

It's Envy, the Sin of being influenced and controlled by other people, in its purest form. It truly shows how Faust lacks any control, how she's just a plaything being used by someone else, and how she passively accepts and follows whatever they put her through.

I think the fact that Sloth is not included in the resources despite the clear themes of obedience presented here further drives that point home. There is no resignation in the part of Faust that Hex Nail represents. It's all due to the influences of other people, adding to that image of an empty husk. Faust has no say in the matter. She has no control. Can it really be called resignation when you're so empty that you can't even resign yourself to your fate?

And as some extra icing on the cake, there's something poignantly cruel about Hex Nail Faust being fatal to Lust and Pride. The Sins tied to actions for one's own sake, whether for emotional fulfillment or tangible benefits, are the ones that hurt Faust the most in the state that reminds her of how few of her actions are actually truly her own.

A lot of this post is just blind speculation on my part, as Faust is one of the more mysterious characters within this cast. I could be completely off on some things for all I know, but I get the feeling I might be onto something here, even if it is just. A general direction, I suppose.

Also this post ended up. Much longer than my other ones, since I decided to go a bit more in depth than I usually do. However, I will also blame Flaw Peacock for this, as I recently got through one of his videos and the way he explains and notes things might have done something to my brain.

Either way, hope this one was enjoyable for you guys, as a return to my longass analytical postings.

[thesweetestdevotion]

please can u do a tutorial on how to channel or do more intuitive readings ourselves?

What a nice request! thank you!

Im gonna be honest, i dont know if i can give you a tutorial on how to channel/read as everybody's energy is different and we all have different abilities. I can run you through my own personal process though! That's not to say that mine is the best one for you (or anyone really) but maybe it can give you some insight on how I channel/read and inspire you a little! Here we go!!:

I shuffle my deck until I am called to stop. if i had just done a reading right before I'll snap my fingers 2-3 times as a way to clear the past energy/make space for the new one.

I roll my dice one by one (three, 12-sided dice. Planets, Zodiac Signs, 12 Houses) I dont always use them fyi. Once theyre rolled out i begin to shuffle my deck, I only take cards that jump out but also they just have to feel right as well, even if i cant see the card yet theres like a force that pulls me to the right cards and lets me know which ones are relevant/not.

I lay my cards out and begin to read and connect energies. It's very important to know the meanings of the tarot, and also be familiar with their traditional symbolism. But its also good to know when to use your intuitive gifts, theres no need to always attach yourself to the cookie cutter meanings if you dont feel called to. Its also good to be able to connect all of the cards into a coherent "story" where they're able to build off of each other. If you feel the meaning of a card doesn't resonate with the overall energy of the reading, It's usually spirit guiding you to use your intuitive skills to find meaning in another way.

As for channeling, I really can't make a guide as to how to do this. I've seen some readers channel by writing down messages, others close their eyes and let images come to them, amongst many other methods. Personally, I dont need to do anything in order to channel messages, often as soon as I start a reading I get channels. I'll very often get channels even while doing chores or reading a book. I see images, colors, scenes, hear sounds, music, voices. I even have sensations in my body (heartaches, throat closing up, sudden tension, etc...) I'm someone who is very in tune with my body/mind and im naturally able to tell what feelings belong to me vs not. I don't know how to guide someone to do this if im honest. I think some readers can and others not. That doesn't make you a bad reader, or like your messages have something lacking in them because of this, so don't feel discouraged if you aren't able to do stuff like that.

Also, things will come to you as you read over time. You'll stumble upon new methods, find what you like to do, read at quicker paces, etc.. Tarot is a skill, and like all other skills it needs to be honed. So practice, practice, practice.

Other (kinda crazy) stuff i do to supplement my practice (not necessary at all, just personal stuff):

sleep with my tarot decks near me/under my pillow

cover my head with a cloth/blanket. I just lay it over me no special method.

let my tarot decks charge (many different ways to do this, mostly i just let them rest in favor of using another deck, some people use crystals, smoke, moonlight. Its really up to the reader)

I don't read all the time, i take breaks. Dont wanna deplete my energy

If channels are getting annoying (which they often can for me) writing them down somewhere, even if theyre nonsensical, helps a lot.

Keep my body physically fit/healthy, as much as I can. This is an astrological method. The 6th house of health/work/daily routines/hygiene/stomach directly opposes the 12th house of the subconscious mind/dreams/sleep/intuition/secrets/anything hidden or mysterious. If one house is out of balance the other one is too. So keeping one in check helps me keep my intuition clear, also works both ways (nurturing my intuition/getting rest helps my health). This might not be something everyone includes in their practice, but it personally keeps me very grounded.

Have boundaries. you don't have to tap into all energies, especially if they repell you. It's important to be aware of this.

General Advice:

Have conversations! dont be afraid to ask other readers for help (hehe as you did now, good job!) or for guidance. Finding a great teacher/guru to help you is a wonderful gift, honestly wish i had done this as well

It's okay and normal to be wrong, no one is infallible or omnipresent. we are human, and ultimately we might be tapping in to a spiritual source, but it will always be interpreted by our biased and limited human minds. it's why its important to be okay with mistakes, and also important to find readers who resonate with your energy and vibe. Don't force yourself to listen to someone who makes you feel icky!! its not good vibes at all!

If you all have any further questions like this, drop them in my inbox or here on this post. Thank you again to the anon who sent this in! love ya<3

[omghallucinations]

aries moon

alongside virgo rising this is my white whale of i feel like people get her wrong (also houses especially the 11th, but not the point rn)

i often see, and have in past even thought, "omg felix is an aries moon, weird! not what i would've thought! doesn't make sense!" but yes it does because

an aries moon is a baby that you should not cross*

*how much and why you should not cross the baby is heavily dependent on other chart factors (as is the moon itself, aspects with other planets or houses could make the moon much less obviously aries moon-y)

an aries sun is often A Lot, assertive, jump don't look, full of life, leader, etc (dependent on chart factors) but an aries moon is completely different because. and this might shock you. the sun is not the moon. i know that sounds obvious but when i really thought about what that meant in practice my astro vision changed like i got supersight

your sun is your ego in an earth-sense, your self-expression, it's bright you see its influence bc it's shining on everything, although it's not like. inside of things. it heats things up, it lights or shadows things, it is the force around which everything else rotates, but it's not inside of things. it's a big part of who you are and you both need it to grow and grow towards it (bc the sun isn't necessarily who you always are automatically, we all gotta grow bud)--but it's not what drives or sets off your actions and reactions

your moon is your ego in a soul-sense, what makes you feel safe, your security, ur emotions but like ur therapy emotions the ones that fuck u up or save you or both. those kneejerk subconscious reactions. you feel the moon's influence because it's pulling on the water in your body and making animals and children act up it's specific to you and probably causing a lot of unconscious compulsive behavior

if you are born on idk the 8th of june or the 9th of june or the 10th of june you will have a gemini sun, the degree will change by like 2 max, but there will be like 3 or 4 moons that will be possibilities and within each day you can have dozens of different aspects to the moon. this is what i mean by more specific to you

ur sun is very important, again with the shining and the revolving around, but your moon is the one that's making you act up. she ain't changin much. ur sun evolves with you and you evolve with it, but ur moon... you gotta learn to live and work with her my friend!!

aries is the start of the zodiac. it's the baby. it's so excited to be there and express itself. it's cardinal (action, starting) fire (passion, creation). it's the spark. but while it is pretty logical and easy to understand for the sun to be in a fire sign, lighting up and heating and gravity-ing all around it, well an aries moon is gonna have that spark and fire pulling on their insides.

another metaphor--you know how when a baby or a little kid experiences an emotion or a sensation for the first time and it is clearly insane to them, they can't process it, they have to be soothed right now they're gonna react huge (for a good reason!!! what a crazy thing to experience for the first time and most of them can't talk yet!)--this is aries moon.

instincts, full of life, imagination, searching, discovering. a kind of innocence and brightness. they gotta do stuff. you ever try to make a toddler sit still for an hour? hell no, they're gonna pull on every cabinet door until something happens. they're gonna touch everything in the room. action/starting things/injecting some life in there (whatever that means to each person) is how they feel safe.

some known or likely aries moons:

stray kids felix, ateez jongho, seventeen woozi

bts jin, bts taehyung, blackpink rosé

ok i got tired of finding photos, but also seventeen jun, enhypen jake, daniel radcliffe, mitch marner off hockey, charles leclerc off f1 and more! but do you see what i mean?

there are a lot of things that change the way any moon will express itself, some people's moons are more hidden/shielded and no one has the same aspects/house/etc but fundamentally aries moons all have this need to explore and experience and act and move and do things. this can often express like:

reacting with big startling pure feelings

gotta find meaning and excitement

drive, urgency

brave, almost in an innocent foolhardy way like baby doesn't understand fire hot kind of mood.

really creative (starting fire)

needs praise and enthusiastic acceptance of their unique identity

and also a baby. things seem new to them. they have a little bit of that "baby tries (new food) for the first time" energy in their subconscious and/or their emotions.

some aries moons are new baby (felix) or baby with an old soul (taehyung's moon conjunct his south node gives him how u say le past life memories) but they are all baby you should not cross. maybe u shouldn't cross them because they can actually kill you (jongho) or because someone else will kill you (felix, although i feel like if he applied himself he could also kill you) but either way, just a good plan not to cross them.

i think aries sun (especially since the sun is exalted in aries) is such a powerful character and often obvious in the people who are aries suns (like, blackpink lisa or kiss of life julie) that it makes it easy to mistake aries the sign as just aries sun. moon in aries sun. venus in aries sun. that's why it seems confusing that ateez yeosang is an aries rising--we think of aries rising just as aries sun, but it's very different. does that make sense at all idk

one astrology book i read said that the signs were like ingredients, but the way they're prepared is totally different. so like, if aries is salt, salt in a savory dish comes out very different than salt in chocolate chip cookies. i remember the author saying it was the "danger of cookbook style astrology" and lol what i just did was essentially cookbook style astrology (moon in aries is never just moon in aries, it's moon in aries in house aspected to planets in sign in house, etc) but maybe it still worked for you lmao

[starlight-blvd]

the hearing — a hwu drabble-fic

(I wanted to write something for my HWU MC before I posted her profile entry so that her bio and headcanons made more sense. Quotes in italics come from dialogue in the quest itself.)

Friday, May 22nd, 2015

"Rose Jeanette Ingram, this is not the end of your acting career."

The brunette stood in front of her dorm's bathroom mirror, wearing a suit she'd kept in her closet to bring out for this unfortunate occasion. Her disciplinary hearing was scheduled to start in half an hour at the Monroe building, thankfully only a ten-minute walk away.

Her phone was on the sink's counter, still open so that her text messages were still on screen. Addison and Lisa were already there, and Zoe was finding a parking spot off-campus.

A knock on the door. "Rose? You good in there?"

Rose sighed. "Just a second!" She took one more look at herself in the mirror before exiting the bathroom.

Ethan Blake, her agent, stood in front of her desk with his hand leaning on its surface.

"Any luck?" she asked.

He shook his head with a pitiful expression. "Nope. Chris is out of the country to shoot a film, and Holly's going no-contact right now."

"Shit. And you can't vouch for me because your title makes them think you're inherently biased."

"Unfortunately. And we can't ask Aria to come in either since we didn't work with her."

Rose sat on the edge of her bed. "I can't believe this. All these technicalities, and it feels like they're running this hearing process ass-backwards. Anders probably put some fucking money behind this just so they can eliminate any of Bianca's competition."

Ethan moved to sit next to his friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You know what I always say: 'Integrity is losing with good intentions, not winning with bad intentions.' We just have to go in with Lisa and Zoe on our side at this point. It might still be enough, but we can't say we didn't try regardless."

She looked down at her feet as she slid on a pair of black heels. "You're right. I just don't want my career to end like this."

"I know. We'll get through this. I promise."

~~~

Fifteen minutes later, Rose sat at a table by herself in front of a long bench with several unoccupied seats. Addison, Ethan, Lisa and Zoe all sat a few rows behind her. Bianca, Jenni, Lance, and Anders all sat at a table a few yards away from Rose's.

Professor Singh walked into the room, followed by several faces Rose didn't recognize, save for Professor Hunt at the very end of the line. He was the only one to look at her and acknowledge her presence before going to sit behind the bench.

The air around her felt fifteen degrees colder when she heard the door fall shut.

"Nice of you to show up on time," Professor Singh remarked. "Barely."

"Save your vitriol for when it's warranted, Priya," Thomas quipped back before taking a head count of the room. "It looks like all relevant parties are here, so the hearing can begin." His voice didn't seem as cold as it usually was in this moment, and Rose couldn't discern if that was a good sign or not.

Professor Singh spoke again. "We've already had a chance to review the three projects you submitted. The work is impressive…" A long pause. "...but the issue of your character is a concern. We'll start with community members who wish to speak against Rose."

"Ooh! Me first!" Bianca's shrill voice spoke up, elbowing her boyfriend Lance in the ribs.

"Uh, and me! I want to say mean stuff about Rose!"

Anders crossed his arms, his facial expression as smug as the day Rose first knew of his existence. "And I have plenty to say."

Professor Singh seemed to copy his expression in return. "Oh, don't worry… you'll all get your turns-"

"This is asinine!" "——— bullshit!"

Rose had shouted with the more hearing-appropriate choice of words, but she hadn't expected the latter voice to continue.

"You do understand how predatory you appear to be, don't you?" Professor Hunt asked as he stood up from his seat at the bench.

"Thomas, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Professor Singh questioned with a shocked and seething voice.

"Calling out abhorrent behavior that I'm seeing happen directly in front of my face. Yours included. If this board is not going to function as intended, then I will not sit or stand as a member of it."

"You're making a mistake-"

"So is the board for letting us address the disciplinary complaint of a nineteen-year-old who went into a club despite being underage, was drinking despite being underage, and who antagonized a twenty-three-year-old woman who was just minding her own business." Professor Hunt moved from behind the bench. "I have all of these students in my class, Priya. I know how old they are. They're all going to make understandable mistakes that every student goes through, but I know damn well that there is video evidence of Bianca drinking in that club and video evidence of what actually happened that you did not want to take into account so you could accept a blank check from Anders Stone." He eventually stood beside Rose's table. "I will not let this slide."

This stunned the disciplinary board into silence — and almost everyone else, for that matter.

"You think you're so damn smart, Hunt," Anders remarked with a sneer. "Always trying to level the playing field with your heroism."

"I'm no hero." He turned to the actress. "I know Rose can defend herself well on her own, but I'm not going to sit here and watch her career die because of a setup."

Campus security started filing into the room, moving to take the Stone family and Bianca's friends off the premises.

The two professors who had spoken throughout this meeting glared daggers at each other from across the room.

"Dismiss this complaint," Thomas ordered. "You know the tabloids will devour this scandal when it comes out. None of us will come out looking good in the end."

Without a word but still continuing her glare, Professor Singh signed the dismissal from for the complaint, handing it off to the others to sign.

Rose sat there as if she were a deer in headlights, unsure if she really just bore witness to all of that in front of her. She didn't think that Hunt of all people would have sided with her, but as she watched people around her be even more vicious than she knew him to be in her presence, it dawned on her that this could just be the beginning of her time in the industry. Her mind went to how much worse things could get as opposed to how much better things could be after this. She took a calming breath as she finished processing the events of the meeting, watching the board members leaving after one of them handed the dismissal form to Hunt.

"I think I'm going to change my major," Rose said quietly.

Hunt paused, pen in hand. "Pardon?"

Rose looked down at her hands on the table. "If this is how the industry is going to continue to treat me as an actor, then I don't want things to get even worse."

Placing the paperwork down, Thomas looked at her. "I wouldn't rush into making that decision here and now." He sat across from her. "You still have many years ahead of you to figure this out. I know of your previous academic record, Rose. Your skillset leaves you at an advantage here." He signed the form and placed it into a manila folder, which in turn went into his messenger bag. "Ultimately, I can't make your decision for you, but summer break starts tomorrow. Give yourself some grace, and please give this idea more thought and time to see if that's what you want."

She nodded, taking a moment before looking over at him. "...thank you, Professor. For defending me."

Hunt nodded in return. "Of course. I know you can handle yourself, but I knew how this was going to play out if I didn't step in." He stood up from his seat. "Walk with me. Your friends are waiting for you."

Complying, Rose stood up and moved to walk side by side with him. "I thought you hated me. I've heard you call me a pain in the ass before."

"I was too quick to judge you, and I take full responsibility for that. Not just towards you, but toward some of your friends as well. I'm sorry."

Rose adjusted her sleeves. "It's okay. I'm just glad you apologized."

The two left the room as Addison, Ethan, Lisa and Zoe stood by the opposite wall of the hallway they entered.

"Keep me updated," Hunt said before turning down the hallway and exiting the building.

"What the hell was that?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know," Rose admitted, watching Hunt walk across the courtyard. "But I think I'll be fine in Hollywood 101 now."

[omentranslates]

Owari no Seraph volume 30 author's afterword english fan translation

"Afterword

Well, everyone, we've made it to Volume 30!!

I think that, for a manga publishing monthly, 30 volumes is quite an accomplishment, so I'm deeply grateful to all of you. This might come off like, 'well you say that every time,' but I really do love everyone. So, I'm not sure there are many people who keep reading from the 'afterword,' but usually it goes like this: Lots of "it's finally here!" and "The next volume will move us towards the truth at long last, meaning that everything that happened will be drawn there, so everyone, please look forward to it....." I'm not sure if expressions like that make for good back of the book content, but I'll appreciate your support.

As a recent topic, AI has been progressing steadily. When Owari no Seraph starts the world ends immediately, so they don't get smartphones. The light novles take place before the end of the world, though, so they do have cellphones, and they were used by saying the words "phone, start." In the process, I ended up changing the word to "look."

The timing was perfect, for something that was about half and half cellphone and smartphone. Even though the story is from a bit earlier, its world had been introduced to smartphones, unknown viruses, and AI. I want to write something like, "We'll surely see smartphones able to utilize AI, so isn't it about time for aliens to visit us too?" and it makes me think of my interview in France before where I was asked how I'd predicted the virus. In anticipation of the questions I'll receive if Earth does welcome some visitors, I'm just going to write for the record that I'm not in contact with any aliens (lol.) They're stored in my smartphone.

Ok so anyways, things are really starting to come together in the story. That's what I'm feeling, although I don't think people's tendency to worry ever does change. Even when I read books from the past (REALLY old stuff like the Bible, the writings of philosophers and the legends of gods for example), I get the feeling that people from ancient civilizations were just as smart and just as prone to worry as us. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West as if not a single new thing has happened since it started, it's strange to think about.

We dream of paradise, but how exactly will we bring it about? That's what I've been writing about this whole time. With everyone's support, we've welcomed a 30th volume and I'm just grateful.

Also, I already wrote this in the news about Jump SQ's authors, but I succeeded in dieting. I'll be a liar if I don't make it to the next sign event without breaking it, though, so even though I don't know if there will be another one, I'm going to be strong (lol).

I'm going to go keep writing this manga, so everyone, I hope to see you next time as well!

Kagami Takaya"

T/N: *there's a pretty big distinction between smartphones and "cellphones" which usually refer to like flip or slide phones, those stayed culturally relevant in Japan for a lot longer

**the part about the cellphones with AI in the prequels is translated almost directly from the text bc I have not read cat16 and I don't have context on how their phones work I'm sorry if it's confusing :(