#cause we have a lot of similar mannerisms and behavior

[letrashbag]

I'm making this post so I can rant in the tags, it feels safer, like no one will see it, but I'm still screaming into the void y'know?

[marlynnofmany]

Accidental Training

The animal cargo of the day was large and honking, but it seemed well-mannered enough. Picture a sea lion with tiny scales instead of fur, dark gray on top and speckled pale underneath. Bobbing its head in curiosity at the cargo bay and the people in it. The squid-shaped clients maneuvering the cage into place didn’t rate a second look, but they were probably familiar and boring.

Captain Sunlight, with her lemon-yellow scales and dignified lizardperson demeanor, got a lot of attention. She ignored the honks as she finished business with the clients.

Then I stepped up to see what kind of creature I’d be in charge of for this trip, and it exploded in excitement like a 500-pound puppy, dancing in place on its flippers and honking up a storm.

One of the clients said, “It does that sometimes. Have a good flight,” then waved a tentacle and left.

Captain Sunlight squinted at the cage like she would have liked to cover her earholes but wanted to put on a strong front. Instead she looked up at me and said, “Good thing this is a short journey. It seems to like you, though.”

“I see that,” I said, waggling my fingers at it, which just made it honk louder. “Did they tell us a name for it?”

She consulted the information on her tablet while the excitable creature continued to hop around. “Looks like his name is Freckles.”

“That’s adorable,” I said. “Hi, Freckles! Are you a good boy? Yes? Are you so excited that you could break a weaker travel cage than this? Yes you are!” I pressed my hands to my knees in classic talking-to-puppy fashion, which did nothing for the noise levels in the room.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” Captain Sunlight told me. “The hover setting for the cage is turned off; it’s clamped in place; the food and supplies are here; we’ll take off shortly.”

“Got it,” I said with a wave as she left. There was a chance that Freckles would calm down if I left too, but he seemed equally likely to make lonely wails if left alone, and anyways this was the reason I’d been hired in the first place. Nobody else on the courier ship knew the first thing about animals. “All right, Freckles, are you ready to travel through space? Is that new for you? You look like you’re in good shape. Let’s aim for no medical emergencies on this trip.”

Freckles honked once, which I took for a yes. He bobbed up and down like a dog inviting another to play.

I copied the move, and he did it again. I lifted one foot, and he did the same, honking happily.

“Good boy! I’ll bet you make your people proud by holding still for tooth-brushing, don’t you? Lemme see your teeth. Ahhh.” I opened my mouth as an example.

With a similar noise, the clever animal copied the motion. His teeth looked clean enough, with none discolored or missing, and he even stuck his tongue out for a good look when prompted. I found a nearly-empty container of treats among the supplies, and rewarded him for good behavior.

“Good job. What else should we check? Can you show me your flipper? And turn like this? Very good. And like that?”

He could and did, visibly happy with the praise and treats. He was a little calmer now that there was something specific to do.

The engines started up with a quiet rumble, which caused him a moment of anxiety, but he was happily distracted when I started echoing his honks back at him.

If this had been an inanimate cargo, I would have left the cargo bay already, but I had nothing more important to do. My job today was to keep an eye on this guy. So I prompted him to do more beneficial tricks, then when the treats ran out, I decided the container made a fine toy.

“Hey look, a hat,” I told him as I put the lid on my head. The container was a mostly-round thing that twisted apart into two equal halves. That meant Freckles got a hat too. And he was so happy about it when I stuck it between the bars.

Only one coworker walked past the door while I was entertaining the cargo: Mur the Strongarm, who looked much like the people who’d brought Freckles onboard. Mur paused, saying nothing. Freckles ignored him, dancing from side to side while wearing his jaunty new hat.

I held my own pose, one foot in the air, arms spread. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” Mur said. “Nothing at all.” He continued on his way.

“You’re welcome to join us!” I called after him.

“No thanks. I’m good.”

The short trip was pretty fun. Freckles was particularly taken by the discovery that his honks echoed when the container covered his snout. He could even balance it on his flipper like a hand, taking it on and off to test the difference in sounds. When I did the same and then gave him another treat from a fresh container, he pranced in place and slapped his flippers together.

As it turned out, he was good at repeating patterns too. We did some clapping games of the sort that human toddlers love, then I found a ball among the supplies and we were all set for the rest of the trip. It was even the squishy kind that glorped between the bars instead of bouncing off, which was perfect. We played an entertaining game of catch until the engine noises changed into landing sounds.

I was honestly surprised the trip was over. The captain came back in to meet the clients who were here for pickup, and I made sure to pack away everything into the supplies. Freckles made a sad honk when I took the container back, but I gave him one last treat, and that made up for it.

These two clients looked much like the last, though one was carrying a bag from the shopping trip they’d done on the way here. They were also more talkative than the other ones.

“…Had to stop by the battery shop for three different kinds of chargers, then the feed store for more of the special diet that our oldest animal takes, and there was so much traffic!” The one typing information into the payment screen didn’t stop for breath, waving several tentacles as she talked.

“I’m just glad there was a mask attachment of the right size in stock,” said the one with the bag. “Getting Freckles his air vitamins is going to be hard enough as it is.” He pulled something from the bag: a long tube with a concave shape at one end. “What do you think, Freckles? Can this be easy for once?”

Freckles honked, which could have meant anything.

I looked at the mask. “What does he usually do when you have to give him air vitamins?”

The Strongarm sighed like a deflating balloon. “He just doesn’t want it anywhere near his face. He seems to think it’s a game to avoid it, which is fun for him but incredibly tiresome for everyone else.”

“Have you tried making it a different game?” I asked, starting to smile.

“Like what?”

“Can I see that for a moment?” When he passed it over, I got the container of treats and rattled it for Freckles’ attention, then took a position in front of the cage. I held the mask in front of my own face. “Hey Freckles. Honk honk.”

He of course honked happily and shoved his nose through the bars, eager for his turn. I settled it against his snout — perfect fit — and he honked away. I pulled the mask back and gave him a treat, then turned to beam at the clients.

“What! He’s never done that!” said the one.

“How did you train him to do that?” demanded the other.

“Honestly, I wasn’t trying to,” I admitted. “But he’s very smart. He seems to like copying motions, and he’s definitely food-motivated.”

“Oh yes, those are the good treats,” said the client with the bag. “The new kind that my cousin’s book club host recommended.”

I handed back the mask. “Then you might keep these in reserve for important things, like rewarding him for taking his air vitamins. Though given how much he’s enjoying the new game, you might not even need to.”

The clients were overjoyed. They thanked me, thanked Captain Sunlight, and showered Freckles with praise as they unclamped the cage and started up its hover function. We helped them down the ramp, then they waved off any further assistance on the way to a flatbed skimmer with a loading arm. The guy with the bag of shopping struggled just a bit managing all the supplies too, but neither Captain Sunlight nor I were about to insult a Strongarm by suggesting they needed help carrying something. So we just waved our goodbyes and made sure they got everything loaded onto the skimmer before we closed the cargo bay door.

“Bye, Freckles!” I called as it closed. I heard one last honk, which I decided sounded excited about the skimmer ride to come.

“Well,” said Captain Sunlight. “That was fortunate. Good job.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I think they’ll all enjoy the vitamin process more now, especially Freckles.”

We walked through the empty cargo bay to the hall, where Paint met us, with confusion on her scaly orange face and a jar lid in her hands.

“Mur said to give this to you?” she said, holding it out to me.

I laughed. “Mur thinks he’s very funny.” I dutifully set it on my head. “Yes, the height of fashion. But I think it would look better on him. You can tell him I said so.”

“Okay,” Paint said, taking the lid back. “Why?”

Captain Sunlight huffed a laugh and headed off to the cockpit while I began the explanation of how I’d spent the recent flight.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

[lu-is-not-ok]

I have seen you talk about how Hong Lu act around Sinclair due to them being both from rich family, but do you think there is a connection to be made from Heathcliff to Hong Lu, considering they are also both from rich family but didn't get a really, let say, nice upbringing?

An interesting thing to think about, as there very much might be a connection, but not in the way you might think.

First of all, it's important to remember that until Canto 6, as far as we know nobody knew Heathcliff was raised by a wealthy family. Heathcliff being from the Backstreets was something most of the Sinners clocked very early on. Rodya would poke fun at him for being unrefined multiple times. In fact, him being revealed to have been raised at Wuthering Heights is a pretty major scene, with the Sinners being surprised and Rodya even saying she feels a little betrayed.

As such, until Canto 6, Hong Lu's treatment of Heathcliff cannot have anything to do with their similarities in horrible upbringing among a rich family, simply because Hong Lu would have no way to know that.

All Hong Lu would know until then is that Heathcliff is from the Backstreets, is extremely easy to provoke, and is notably impatient towards the oblivious way Hong Lu carries himself. All of which, like I mentioned in a previous post, makes Heathcliff into an easy target for Hong Lu to bully because nobody would put the blame for Heathcliff's outbursts on Hong Lu's provokations, not with Heathcliff's reputation and pattern of behavior.

Then comes Canto 6. Where Heathcliff is revealed to not only have been living in a wealthy mansion and in an environment Hong Lu appears to find familiar, what with his constant comments comparing things to his own home, but also to have been severely abused by his family.

This appears to have some effect on Hong Lu's treatment of him. Notably, while he starts off the Canto giving a lot of anecdotes and frankly silly comparisons, he appears to mellow out and take things much more seriously after Heathcliff tears up a pillow to find Cathy's dairy. From that point on, Hong Lu seems to show a degree of genuine concern for Heathcliff, being the only Sinner besides Dante to notice he disappeared, and the only one who asks him if he's okay once he came back.

After Canto 6, we no longer see Hong Lu actively tease Heathcliff. There's only one moment where Hong Lu brings up Heathcliff in a manner that could be considered insulting, by comparing Heathcliff's hostility towards him to that of his own Family in TKT, but that happens when Heathcliff isn't around to hear it and thus wouldn't be affected by what Hong Lu said.

It's clear that Canto 6 caused Hong Lu to view Heathcliff differently, to the point he no longer tries to provoke him. Sure, he still makes it clear that he's not particularly fond or trusting of him through that comment in TKT, but he's no longer actively antagonistic towards him. Which. Makes sense I think.

If Hong Lu has shown any pattern towards what Sinners he seems to become more amicable to, it's towards those he's able to relate to. Being able to relate to Yi Sang is why ever since Canto 4 Hong Lu can be regularly seen checking in on Yi Sang whenever he gets reminded of his past, whether through his meeting with Rim in Canto 5 or by seeing what was being done to his research in Canto 6.

Thus, similarly, being able to relate to Heathcliff could be what made Hong Lu stop his bullying of him.

[krisluxxeeempress]

MARS SQUARE SATURN SYNASTRY| ASTRO SYNASTRY SERIES

Aw, man. This synastry aspect is like a parent and child relationship, with the beginning stages being the worst part for anyone who shares this synastry. The mars person depends on the Saturn person and resents it and chooses to rebel. The Saturn person feels responsible for the mars person and becomes frustrated more often than not, with the mars person. It’s interesting because parents love their children (most times) and children (usually) love their parents at the end of the day, despite all the growing pains.

Personally, I am estranged from my family, but my parents still have an emotional hold on me. I love them despite all the pain I feel they’ve caused me and I’m sure they feel the same way. They provided me a safe environment and a private education so despite them not being there emotionally for me, I am grateful and love them. They were very hard on me and expected a lot from me but at the end of it all- I am hyper independent and strong because of them.

So, with the mars square Saturn synastry that is how they both feel about each other which inadvertently causes the square, the challenge in this dynamic. A parent can claim that their kids get on their nerves but in the same sentence they claim they wouldn’t be where they are without their kids and usually their life reflects just that. Example, before kids the parents weren't living right or taking anything serious. After kids, I've witnessed parents buying houses, obtaining degrees and having better jobs. They felt the need to grow up and so they did. It wasn't just talk but action.

Kids can claim to hate their parents but when it really matters, the kids always come through for the parents even in adulthood. You hate that your mom makes you clean your room, but you do it anyway because deep down you love her. Your parents hate how expensive you are, but they still work hard to not only provide for you but also strive to give you what you want. Both parties want to please the other and, in this quest, comes the frustration because if only I didn’t love the Saturn person, I wouldn’t have to do this. If only I did not love the mars person, I wouldn’t have to tolerate that.

We tend to EVENTUALLY love what we initially FOUND difficult at first. Therefore, I can say the mars and Saturn person do begin to love each other deeply after some time. Anytime Saturn is involved, you can expect long term. IT’S WEIRD BUT THE MORE ANYONE INVESTS FINANCIALLY (OR ENERGETICALLY) INTO SOMETHING OR SOMEONE, WE BECOME EMOTIONALLY INVESTED- IT'S ODDLY NEVER THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I SUPPOSE THAT IS WHY SOME SAY LOVE IS AN ACTION AND NOT AN EMOTION.

WITH THAT BEING SAID, THIS COUPLE SHOWS LOVE THROUGH ACTION. THE SATURN PERSON TRAINS THE MARS PERSON HOW TO ACT AND HOW TO PROPERLY EXERT THEIR ENERGY IN A MATURE MANNER AND INITIALLY THIS IS WHERE THE HARDEST CHALLENGES COMES IN. THE MARS PERSON IS LIKE A WILD ANIMAL AND THE SATURN PERSON IS THE TRAINER TRYING TO DOMESTICATE A WILD ANIMAL.) SOME WILD ANIMALS WILL SUBMIT MEANWHILE OTHERS RATHER DIE THAN TO BE DOMESTICATED – THE RESISTANCE IS USUALLY COMING FROM THE MARS PERSON WHICH AGAIN MAKES THIS SYNASTRY VERY DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH. THE SATURN PERSON FEELS LIKE THEY HAVE TO TEACH OR RETEACH THE MARS PERSON EVERYTHING, USUALLY IT’S RE TEACH BECAUSE DUH! WE ARE GROWN.

SO, IF THE MARS PERSON IS USED TO BEING DISRESPECTFUL, IMMATURE, PLAYING GAMES IN RELATIONSHIPS- THE SATURN PERSON WILL CORRECT THIS BEHAVIOR AND IT WILL FEEL LIKE THE MARS PERSON IS RECEIVING AN ASS WHOOPING. SIMILAR TO A PARENT DISCIPLINING THEIR CHILD.  

The mars person will feel like everything they do is a problem and they’re unable to do anything right according to the Saturn person. The mars person will either decide to give up, rebel and run away from the Saturn person- kind of like a teenager who is mad at their parents for expecting better from them and begins smoking, drinking and getting in trouble with the law. The thing is the Saturn person does have high expectations and mars person will be challenged to rise to the occasion. This synastry aspect does give off ultimatum vibes because in reality, the mars person needs the Saturn person more than the Saturn person needs the mars person- and if the mars person is honest with themselves, they know this.

Going back to my examples- the wild animal needs the trainer, and the reckless kid/ adult needs their parents. Parents provide protection from all things the kid isn't ready for, same goes for a trainer. But in the moment, the animal, the kid, the mars person is unable to appreciate this and views it as an opposition (someone against them) not a (square) challenge to overcome.

the Saturn person has more experience and knowledge because they have been there and done that. The Saturn person “wasn’t born yesterday” so to speak. So, the Saturn person has patience with the mars person to a certain extent. Depending on the sign Saturn is placed in will determine just how short that patience will extend.

The Saturn person wants to invest in the mars person but only if it’s worth it and that is where the strength or weakness of the mars person will be exposed AND CHALLENGED. BUT IT’LL BE UP TO THE MARS PERSON TO RISE TO THE OCCASION. THINGS GET BETTER WITH TIME WITH THIS COUPLE SO LONG AS THE MARS PERSON ADHERES TO WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT, SHOWN AND EXPECTED- LIKE ANYTIHNG IN LIFE. WHEN WE START NEW JOBS AND ARE UNDERGOING TRAINING, THINGS SEEM OVERWHELMING BUT AS YOU STICK IT OUT, THE JOB becomes easier, and you will find that you were capable all along. When we start lifting weights at the gym, it’s painful, foreign, uncomfortable, and hard work but only the strong survive right? When you stick with something hard overtime you see massive growth and that is what this synastry is about especially for the mars person.

As for the Saturn person, they must learn greater patience and understanding and maybe some compassion because they have been the mars person before until they learned for themselves. Not everyone heals and learns at the same speed as yourself and having that expectation isn’t realistic or fair. The Saturn person may be too hard on the mars person and sometimes, this is because the Saturn person is trying to be a better through the mars person.

Back to my parent and child example- there are so many parents who failed in life in some regard and then they have children and try to live vicariously through the kid. A parent always wanted to be a doctor but couldn’t accomplish this, so they expect their kid to live out that dream. When the kid rebels, the parent in turn feels betrayed and let down and gives up on their kid with feelings of disdain and resentment. So, the Saturn person is challenged to reflect upon their intentions when it comes to the mars person.

Nonetheless, the mars and Saturn person are invested in each other because they both have a point to prove. ��The mars person has the energy, drive and will to rise to the occasion but the Saturn person may initially make them feel insecure and question themselves. This makes the mars person angry but deep down it’s really insecurity because the mars person wants to make the Saturn person proud of them, they just hate how the Saturn person goes about it. Again, it feels like an ultimatum or conditional love not unconditional in the eyes of the mars person and this makes them resentful and resistance initially.

The mars person ultimately doesn’t feel like they can be themselves or accepted if they do not submit to the Saturn person. Whereas the Saturn person feels like they do understand the mars person which is why they have high standards for them because they can see the potential in the mars person that the mars person cannot comprehend at the moment.

Personally, I am predisposed and maybe biased in the sense that I think life is about challenges and growth. If you are with someone who doesn’t challenge you, I feel it to be pointless. I view this synastry to be very beneficial and reflects a mature love that will last the test of time which we all claim to desire at the end of the day. But when things get hard most people run away from it.

If you truly love someone or want to make it work, you’ll find a way. You'll make a way, giving up was never an option.

[reverie-obsessingtime]

Why I think Sparkle is a maladaptive daydreamer coded character and who it plays part into her character as a whole: from a maladaptive daydreamer (and a character analysis)

(Ok folks, this turned out rather long so get your popcorn and water at hands reach!.....trust me.)

Hi!!!! :,D This is my second post here and it feels like it's been a decade but here I am again haha...

This time I'm here with something I'm more confident in exploring as, I myself, am a maladaptive daydreamer! :,)

And because of that Sparkle hit me like a TRUCK and her MADD (mal. daydreamer for short) coding makes me love her and go insane about it at the same time.(it means a lot to me ok?😭)

Sooo I'm here today to expand and shine light on it to the rest of the masses as there isn't much appreciation for Sparkle (which is understandable cause she is a character not everyone can savor) and I feel like her maladaptive daydreaming can help understand her way of thinking.

comments, reblogs and likes are VERY much appreciated if you would like to see more of my billion cents and share with others to further show me support :,)

if you have any disagreements, corrections, different opinions or such that you would like to discuss I'm always open to further discussions as I would love to receive back engagement with these posts (as long as it is in good manners)

Enough talk from me though, let's get into it already:

What is maladaptive daydreaming?

Throw the google definitions out the window, let me give you a gist of it from someone who has it:

it's a coping mechanism turned addiction that can develop from loneliness or trauma (it is also common in people with ADHD). It helps you deal with the current reality you are in by offering escapism but it differs from normal daydreaming because it becomes maladaptive (as the name suggests).

What that looks like is being addicted to escaping reality through it by daydreaming, which can make you want to trade time forming human bonds, hanging out with friends, doing tasks you should, even taking care of yourself (etc.) with daydreaming. Most of the time you don't even need to do it but daydreaming is so much more fun and entering than ur current boring life that you keep doing it anyway. It can isolate you and make you lose touch with reality (from one degree to another depending on the individual).

But people with MADD DON'T ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN THEIR DAYDREAMS. They KNOW they aren't real. Some might willfully want to believe in them but at the end of the day they know it's all made up. If you are a MADD but get serious delusions about it you might want to check more into that cause something is overlapping.

Maladaptive daydreaming is MUCH more immersive and vivid than normal daydreams (what can I say, practice makes perfect🤭). Some MADD will stim while daydreaming in various ways that have to do with whatever they are daydreaming for enhanced immersion (some will pace around the room, some will make facial expressions, some will catch themselves talking, etc)

The daydreams each differ from individual to individual and can be classified in multiple types, some make OCs while others imagine a different version of themselves or make a character similar to certain degrees to them.

We are very much fictional-stories-makers nerds no matter to be honest

Now that we got the explanation out of the way:

Why do I think Sparkle has MADD?

🎇Proof number one: her character story IV

..... *POINTS AGGRESSIVELY* like?? COME ON!! (my "she is just like me fr!!!" moment and what made me want to make this whole post)

Ok, ok, let me try to be serious about this 😮‍💨

Analyzing this alone:

"It's truly addictive to me" maladaptive daydreaming is a behavior that is addictive to the individual (du uh)

"The more I imagine, the more I get absorbed in those characters" Getting absorbed into your daydreams (and it being addictive) is a core part of MADD and what differentiates it from normal daydreaming.

"the wonderful and tragic situations I create for them, and the emotions they experience in those circumstances..." Here, Sparkle is talking about the characters she makes and how by acting them and playing their roles and their stories, she enjoys herself and is entertained by them.

From my perspective, Sparkle is an individual who finds the emotions of others and how each reacts put in various situations, fascinating, entraining and enjoyable to witness, observe and ponder on more than an average individual.

Which I think is something all of us MADD, writers, OC makers, character analyzing enjoyers and fic writers can relate to ( "no"? ok. now tell me your OCs tragic backstory come on~ come on~ ik you have one. No? Ok then tell me through what psychological horror you want ur fav to go through~ Ik you know that you want them to get tortured by the writers at least just a tiny bit....I know what you are.)

🌸Further more quotes from her character story IV:

"Lies? Come on, I'm not trying to tell a grand story or fabricate an eye-catching experience... I'm wholeheartedly exercising my imagination for my own sake. I imagine various lives, seek excitement, and then recreate them as best I can, and pump the brakes on my imaginative balloon just a second before it bursts."

.... genuinely what do you want me to say honestly, that's SUCH a MADD to say, pls reread how many times it takes to get it. Everything in that is just PEAK maladaptive daydreamingness. Genuinely I don't have anything to add that won't sound like "Water is H2O and 2+2=4" 🤷

"Seriously, having a script is far from enough. First and foremost, I must wholeheartedly believe that the character I'm portraying truly exists. Then, I need to imagine the other stories where the character would appear. I always need extra information to make their motivation logical and emotional."

Sparkle seems dedicated to portraying, grasping and understanding her characters by IMMERSING herself into them as much as possible. Going the EXTRA mile, such as imagining other stories they could appear in, making herself believe the character TRULY exists and informing herself about them to portray them the best.

Which, again, all writers, OC makers and fic writers who actually give more than two dice about their character can relate to as we want our characters to be most accurate and well written and for that we do all Sparkle said.

The "I must wholeheartedly believe that the character I'm portraying truly exists" strikes a chord in me because it's such a ??? NON MADD ARE NOT THAT DEDICATED TO IT JSJSKSJ THAT'S SUCH A MADD MILDLY CONCERNING BUT MADD THING TO SAY SKDHSKSN IK WHAT YOU ARE!!!

OK OK.

I can hear you going "but she is an actor, it's just part of being an actor". Ok Sherlock, but Sparkle is not your average actor. Case and point:

Sparkles love for the stage of acting and how it ties into her MADD:

🎇Who is Sparkle an actor for?

Herself.

Saying "she is so matriculated and dedicated because she is an actor" is only half way true.

Sparkle's love for acting and her maladaptive daydreaming are things that can coexist at the same time. (just like being a writer and MADD for ex. (yes, some of ur fav writers could have been MADD))

Which got born from which? We don't know but both are proof of how much she loves the other.

("But you said MADD develops from trauma or loneliness" YES!! And we still have no real idea about Sparkles backstory but ik damn well a "normal" person with an average fine life doesn't end up like Sparkle.)

(Also no, her character stories 1,2,3 and be at most half trusted as she says she makes them up for each individual both in her char. story 4 and a voice line.

They could either be total nonsense or parts and truths of her past but altered/heavily exaggerated and metaphorical. Pick ur fighter tbh.

"There are a few versions that are particularly popular." "Liking and believing are two different things, but people are more likely to believe in their favorite stories." "Lies? Come on, I'm not trying to tell a grand story or fabricate an eye-catching experience... I'm wholeheartedly exercising my imagination for my own sake."

She is basically toying with everyone who asks including the player for her own amusement and, honestly? Iconic.)

🌸She acts for her own entertainment.

Wealth, status, power... None of this matters to Sparkle. The only thing that can lure her interest is "amusement". (from her twt intro)

Her doing all this. Immersing herself into characters so deeply. It's all for herself and her own enjoyment. Just like MADD is for us and our own enjoyment and entertainment.

Not to be the greatest actor or for others recognizing her. In her introduction on twitter, she says: "I'm not exactly a person loaded with cool skills, and dreaming big isn't really my thing." Which says enough to contradict such ideas.

Yes, some MADD might go on to become writers or actors but some don't. And those who don't could still want to improve their characters FOR THEMSELVES because that will bring them more enjoyment, because they love what they do and their characters for one reason or other and want them to shine like they see them could.

🌸Sparkles elation is acting and MADD.

Elation: great happiness and exhilaration.

What makes her feel elation? Acting. What is her heavy immersive acting that is all for herself to feel elation intertwined with? Maladaptive daydreaming ✨

(wow, shocked, ik)

Sparkles Myriad Celestial Trailer: Behind the Curtain

Next, I want to talk about both her Myriad and Character Trailer through a MADD lens, starting off with her Myriad Celestial Trailer:

What struck a chord in me with it is her "conversation" with her mask. What is her mask really representing for her? The way I see it: it's her MADD and also, Sparkle.

At first she says it keeps on smiling even when she doesn't and that she can hide under it. While in reality we might not be able to smile all the time. Escaping into our daydreams through characters who can helps. The use of a veil to describe it can also be interpreted as choosing to hide your true emotions from yourself and others through emulating a characters happy emotions and state of mind.

Second, she says the mask imitates her face, her emotions, like a mirror showing her own reflection. When writers come up with characters, some might be similar to them through a degree with or without the creator even realizing. This can happen to MADD more since we are creating characters for ourselves and its a coping mechanism so emotions seep through unless we make a character/s that we want to share with others. It's also a way you can understand and grasp yourself better. In this particular setting, I think she means how through some characters she acted as (made by others) herself and emotions shines true,like that character and her acting were a mirror.

Third, it takes a darker turn, "when I'm smiling, you're screaming. When I'm angry, you're crying. When I'm sad, you're smiling". This could be her MADD taking a tool on her.

"When I'm smiling, you're screaming" like when you are content with reality but your addiction's screaming at you to be noticed, like an icky who wants to be scratched. The urge to do it despite not needing to.

"When I'm angry, you're crying" This is her "mask" empathizing with her, weeping for her anger and understanding it like no one else could.

"When I'm sad, you're smiling" this could be the situation from the first instance, but it takes a darker turn so I think the "mask" smiles because it knows that her sadness assures its existence.

Addiction is dependent on your sadness because you do it to comfort you through that sadness. Her acting and MADD is both her addiction and her elation.

From Sparkles tone, she might even be surprised at how, despite her deep sadness, the mask can still smile.

"You're like a face, steering at me" she says at the end. It brings back in mind the imagery of a mirror/reflection. But instead of a reflection, it's a different reflection, still a reflection, but not.

It reminds of when I see characters being depicted as steering into a mirror and they are smiling but their reflection reflects how they truly feel inside (emo ik)

I think that's what it's supposed to mean. Your true self steering at you, it's uncomfortable and penetrating.

Or maybe it's a blank face being unsurprised or just lacking any emotions or maybe the face itself is empty waiting to be drawn on an expression.

It's a very vague sentence, and I don't want to pretend like I 100% understand the meaning behind it, because it can be interpreted in very different ways and only an explanation by the one who said it can give us a sure answer. Maybe it's something we can't even understand with the info we currently have on her.

Overall, she holds positive feelings about her mask but she also recognizes it's kinda fcked up but she still chooses it at the end of the day for the elation it gives ("I am elation" ok girl.)

🌸In this section, I also want to come back to her:

Oh who is she?🎶~

Actually? Good question! :D

I think it was Sampo who commented that Sparkle's name is probably made up (which du uh)

But that is fascinating as well.

We see this girl at first in her trailer looking soft and innocent, nothing like the more.... eccentric person we know today.

If you look closely, she DOESN'T have the butterfly/flower(?) symbol in her eye at the start but she DOES at the end. Which to me represents how she and Sparkle were separate at the start.

"It doesn't matter how I am off stage.

When I'm on stage, I'm just Sparkle"

With the end of this video, this whole thing might be made up go, but that would be too pointless and annoyingly stupid so I'm inclined to believe she isn't fckin with us in this one. (for the most part)

That said, it seems like the girl Sparkle was before was performing for her love of acting, her madd, and for the audience.

But as time went on, doing all of this for an audience over and over lost its meaning (and probably drove her insane a little)

"When I realized that life was just a play, I wanted to leave the stage.

Because off stage, there is a even bigger stage"

Her acting, madd and elation shapes her way of seeing life and others. Why confine yourself to a stage when you can take yourself and your characters to the big stage of life itself and have fun with it the absolute bonkers way you want?

She is very much a Shakespeare truther, as he put it:

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

That's how her acting made Sparkle see things (to an extreme )

🌸Another thing is this scene:

"Im.... I'm not Sparkle

No, I am Sparkle"

Both in her Myriad and Character Trailer, she is actively conflicting with herself.

In this moment. She shows opposition to "Sparkle". The physical constraint is interesting imagery as well. Maybe she feels trapped by "Sparkle"? Like "Sparkle" is against her? Why is she? Because she doesn't allow her to be Sparkle(/herself/her true self)?

She separates herself from Sparkle at the start but becomes her after and laments that she isn't her than at the end, and only then, her eyes have the same symbol this big eyes have in the back (Sparkles) eyes and she becomes Sparkle.

Which, um, IS SO INTERESTING!??!?!?!

I think at the end, she gives into her want to be Sparkle and fully embraces it. Fully embraces the path of elation.

And I don't think Sparkle isn't her. I think it's still her, just more free, unrestrained version of herself that doesn't hold back when the rest of society those.

Think like how different someone with social anxiety disorder is when they feel comfortable with summon and lets out their weirdness for example. We hold back on many actions because of societal perception but she stopped giving a fck and WILL set up a hundred "bombs" on a ship to fck with people for her own amusement.

Seeing life as a stage comes with seeing the absurdism of if all and choosing to stop giving a sht and have your own fun and entertainment. Play the roles you want to play instead of playing the part.

🌸As for my take on this part?

Yeah, maybe the whole thing wasn't her true backstory, but I think it's not 100% false either. Or maybe it is and she sees it as her playing another role. The role of her past self how is so so different it's her own character at this point, right? :))

It sure was more realistic than all the other stories going on in the background (like come on, Harry Potter, Sparkle playing Herta)

"Who is the real Sparkle"

Maybe the answer is all of the Sparkles are Sparkle.

Am I gonna elaborate? Mmm, nope. :)

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

*cracks knuckles* OOOOOKKK this turned out quite long Jesus (never put me to write something about a fictional character in a few paragraphs, that's physically impossible for me)

Don't worry though, I'm probably gonna make a part two soon 🙃 (analyzing her Character Trailer, her design, her in game animations, who knows what ales, etc etc~) (no we are NOT done, we. are absolutely. NOT done.)

Soooo can you tell how much I like Sparkle? She lives rent free in my mind actually.

There isn't enough talk about her more deeply despite how MUCH there is to ponder on so I have to take it upon myself to do it 😮‍💨

If you made it here..... will you marry me?🥹💍

NAH NAH NAH JUST KIDDING 🤭

But if you did then thank you for giving me the time of day and I hope this post spark(l)ed some curiosity and interest into this little hedonistic gremlin! :D

(also no, I don't ignore, justify or support her racist remarks)

I do these posts mostly for myself but someone else to respond back is really nice! :,)

Ok, I'm signing off for this one. See ya in part two 👋:)

[would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend]

Weavile, if it hasn't been done already?

Unfortunately, as fascinating as weaviles are, they won’t make a good pet for anyone but the most experienced caretaker.

To begin with, as always, these pokémon are far from too big to be a house pet. Weaviles are on the heavier side at 75 pounds, so getting them around won’t always be easy, but it’s far from as prohibitive as their other attributes. Wild weaviles live almost exclusively in cold regions (Diamond), so making them comfortable is going to depend on how cool an environment you can provide them. If you already live in a cold region, a weavile will enjoy spending time outside, but owners in warmer regions will need to invest in some solid AC to keep them comfortable.

Now, let’s get into some of the wrinkles in the pet hood case. For one, these pokémon are incredibly social. In the wild, solitary weaviles are extraordinarily rare; they travel and hunt in packs of four or five (Diamond) under the direction of one leader (Legends: Arceus). Being alone may very well make a weavile feel distressed. Like with any pack animal, I would recommend adopting at least two weavile, or bonding your weavile to a similar pokémon like a linoone, in order to provide them the companionship they’re used to. Depending on your space and finances, adopting more than one pokémon at once could be prohibitive. These pokémon are quite intelligent, which could always make caring for more than one a bit of a handful (Platinum).

The manner by which weaviles communicate with each other can also be problematic: in the wild, weaviles communicate with each other by carving patterns on trees, ice, and rocks with their sharp claws (Pearl, HeartGold/SoulSilver). While this behavior is certainly a fascinating thing to study — weaviles use as much as 500 unique signs to communicate (Shield)! — it could result in quite a bit of furniture and property damage, something unacceptable to anyone renting their home.

Despite their charming appearance, weaviles are exceptionally dangerous. Wild weaviles are cunning hunters; while they normally prey on smaller pokémon like Alolan vulpix and sandshrews (Moon, Ultra Sun), they have been observed working together to take down mamoswines (Sword)! If a team of weaviles can “easily” take down a 600+ lbs pokémon like mamoswine, they could easily cause harm to a human if upset or bored (or, perhaps, hungry). According to the pokédex, a single scratch from the claws of a weavile can cause frostbite (Ultra Moon), making deep-cutting moves like Metal Claw and Night Slash even more dangerous.

In the same way that I wouldn’t recommend a lot of the more formidable predators in our world as a house pet, such as a mountain lion or wolf, I can’t recommend a weavile. These pokémon are fascinating but incredibly dangerous in the wild, where they would be best left to explore and hunt with their own kind. Their pre-evolution, sneasel, may be a different story, but we won’t know till I get to that one in the future…

[windvexer]

different anon but would you be willing to give an example of two herbs that have the same abilities but provide different results? idk why i just can't like imagine what that would be like 😭 no worries if you're not willing, thank you if you are!

Hi! We are in reference to this ask.

My take on this is that we gotta ask ourselves WHY an herb has a certain correspondence.

WHY is spicy red pepper so good at banishing? I mean there are lots of ways we can explore correspondences, and lots of frameworks we can use to find these answers - but a popular reasoning we can apply is that capsaicin, the chemicals that make peppers so spicy, is a defense mechanism of the plant to burn and irritate many animals that want to eat its fruit.

Capsaicin creates discomfort, burning, irritation, distress, and even outright mindboggling pain when it's interacted with.

This is one justification for why it's such a good banishing agent - it causes active distress and pain to its target until the target chooses to leave, or is literally forced out by the snapping, biting hounds made of dripping, crystalline fire, conjured by the Witch and set loose upon the target.

So spicy red pepper banishes because if you're staying, you're getting burned.

Another banishing plant is bay laurel.

Bay Laurel is very closely associated with the Sun, Apollo, divinity, wishes, and oracular power. As opposed to spicy red peppers, it doesn't have irritating properties. But I find bay laurel to be an immensely powerful banisher.

I personally find bay laurel to be a powerful banisher because of its close connection with the sun and the celestial realms. When a Witch works over bay laurel, these virtues can be evoked to drive away shadowy and chthonic powers.

I don't experience bay laurel manifesting in a manner similar to fiery hounds. I find it to be like someone turned on a very, very bright invisible light - a light so bright that all shadows disappear, a light blessed with very celestial virtues. In the face of this high power, it's very difficult for incompatible presences to stay in the same area. It's not like screaming bloody murder and chasing after the target with an axe - it's more like the most revered magistrate just stepped into the room, and everyone stops talking and cleans up their act real fast.

Practically speaking, how is there a difference in manifestation? The following is completely hypothetical and I'm not speaking about any particular personal experiences:

I'm imagining I've got an unwanted houseguest that (due to Social Reasons) I can't ask to leave, but I want them gone. Which agent has a better chance of getting them to leave - an attack dog made of fire, or a celestial, far-seeing magistrate?

I personally might suspect that bay laurel is going to have a much better chance of banishing that houseguest's unwanted behavior (as opposed to getting them out of the door that very day) and putting them on track to making new plans and leaving ASAP. This manifestation might be less explosive, and fix ongoing problems, but it might also result in the houseguest staying for a longer period of time while they make new arrangements.

Bay laurel may also assist in banishing by causing people involved to have sudden insight into the reality of the situation, providing clarity, and helping people see the inevitable unwanted results of the houseguest continuing to stay. Perhaps bay laurel will banish by providing insight into new, helpful, and better housing circumstances for the guest. Perhaps it will also function to maintain order, clarity, and order within the household while these arrangements are put in order.

On the other hand, when people are being terrorized by invisible bitey fire dogs, they can experience a sudden onset of stress that makes them want to immediately get up and leave, like now - even if they don't have any other plans for where to stay. Bitey fire dogs might make that person get out of my house real quick, but this movement could be due to sudden intense upset, a blowout with family members, their behavior getting worse resulting in them being thrown out, or a temper tantrum or meltdown where they realize they've got to leave and make their exit post-haste.

Or, perhaps they could experience a feeling that they're completely unwanted in the house and it really, really irritates them to stay. Which, if I already couldn't kick them out due to Social Reasons, might bite me in the ass - maybe they're going to complain to family members that I was a shitty, unwelcoming host, and it tends up just as badly for me on a social level as if I kicked that person out.

Both of these plants can banish. To me, at least, they do not provide the same results.

[trigun-manga-overhaul]

I've always been meaning to ask- It's generally known that Wolfwood has a Kansai dialect in the original Japanese, which you've chosen to localize in English, but what I'm curious about is: does Livio have any sort of dialect or accent in Japanese as well? It seems the way he speaks in your translation has a some of the same quirks as Wolfwood, so that really got me curious.

Hey there and thanks for the ask!

Yes, it is 100% clear in the Japanese text that Wolfwood speaks with a Kansai accent. I remember reading in an interview long ago that Nightow imagined this accent to be southern or very cowboy in English, but I do not have it on hand so I can't back it up. Either way, we decided to go with the southern twang for Wolfwood, to ensure that his distinct speech prevails.

Now, Livio is a very interesting one with his language, as it goes through a metamorphosis during the time he has in the manga. It changes a lot, and that goes hand in hand with his character arc.

The first very obvious change that happens to Livio's speech, is his move from very polite, controlled and submissive speech as we meet him. Obviously this reflects his position as a pawn to the Eye of Michael. The key factors in this are the lack of dialect and his usage of "私, Watashi" to refer to himself.

This changes as he becomes Razlo.

Razlo's speech is pretty distinct. No, he does not have a thick Kansai dialect like Wolfwood, but he does pronounce words in certain ways. His speech is the kind that Japanese people would describe as vulgar; low class, gang-like. Razlo is a punk in every sense of the word when it comes to how he talks, both in the pronouns used towards other character, always the most hostile ones you can pick, and always speaks in a disrespectful manner towards anyone who isn't Chapel. This is also where we see "俺, Ore" used towards himself, a pronoun considered rude, or very masculine, if not used casually with your close friends.

When Livio is finally freed from Chapel and the Eye of Michael, he transforms more into his true self. He begins to use "俺, Ore" towards himself, his speech becomes more casual, occasionally playful, but also with some force. This is where it gets interesting.

Livio's speech pattern is reminiscent of the Japanese masculine stereotype of the Kyushu Danji, the macho man, or as would be perceived in the West, a core picture of toxic masculinity. However, since this is Nightow we're talking about, the idea is turned on its head.

Livio, despite being portrayed as a big, muscly, tough guy in almost every way he can be, is instead called Crybaby Livio. His emotions are on the outside, he's gentle, loving, and polite towards women. He even tries to imitate Meryl's very proper speech when he meets her, wanting to be respectful. He is everything that a Kyushu Danji isn't, yet speaks a lot like such a person when it comes to the patterns of his speech.

On the topic of this trope; Wolfwood tries his hardest to be a person like that, a Kyushu Danji, and it causes him mostly suffering. Wolfwood is indeed a victim of toxic masculinity himself, which makes it very interesting how this behavior is portrayed in the series. One suffers because of it, another turns the whole trope on its head and gives us the opposite.

Just more of those tiny Nightow things that I personally very much appreciate, especially for its time.

The short answer:

Livio does not exactly have the same written dialect in the manga like Wolfwood, however his speech is supposed to be crude, and "low class", something the Japanese often connect with the Kansai dialect. So, we decided on the team to give Livio a similar dialect to Wolfwood.

[mitskicodedwukong]

✨ REDSON, SIX-EARED MACAQUE, & SUN WUKONG WITH AN ADHD S/O ✨

» three-thirty (AJR) « 0:45 ─〇───── 4:07

╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝🍑╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗ AUTHOR'S NOTE ╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗🍑╔⏤⏤⏤╝ ➤ This is reposted from my old account, @nothyenlowz :3 ➤ These are headcanons. ➤ This is romantic. ➤ Reader is afab & uses she/her! ➤ I don't think I went as in depth as I could have been I still hope it's accurate and you enjoy it! ➤ TRIGGER WARNINGS include profanity, a little bit of angst, and minor violence. ➤ Word count: 1,361

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

❝ You wanna skip it if it's wordy, but fit the whole song in three-thirty .❞

╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗ REDSON 🔥 ╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝

➤ before he finds out you have ADHD, i imagine he's confused by your behavior at best and frustrated by it at worst.

➤ your daydreaming and procrastination can be annoying for him, someone who's always about work, work, work. when you're talking to him about your fixations, he gets irritated because either he 1.) has no idea what you're talking about or 2.) thinks you're making fun of him since he often rambles about his inventions in a similar manner.

➤ he just doesn't understand why you're doing those things and neither do you. it causes a lot of struggles for you both initially, leading to shit communication and hurt feelings.

➤ when you're finally diagnosed, redson listens very closely. now your quirks are starting to make sense, but you still don't have as much information as he'd like. he researches ADHD in AFAB people rather meticulously on his own time (sometimes interrupted by his own anger at the lacking information for females), and by the end of it, he has a much improved understanding.

➤ and boy does he feel shitty. hindsight is 20/20 or something.

➤ the idea that he blew up at you for things out of your control makes him feel ashamed, especially when some of those things (like info-dumping) are signs of affection. so you don't see him for a while, partially due to some unhealthy self-punishment on his end, and also because he's trying to come up with a solution—that being a way to make it up to you, of course, not "fix" you.

➤ when redson stops avoiding you, he takes you out on a date with all your favorite activities and thoroughly apologizes to you. he promises to adjust his behavior to accommodate and support you.

➤ (which might have made you cry, considering you've always been treated like you're the problem.)

➤ true to his word, redson changes a lot. he leaves little notes for you as reminders, sets alarms for you, helps you finish or do tasks you don't have the energy for, etc. he even starts prompting info-dumping, reading up on the source material so he can ask questions.

➤ he also does his very best to educate himself on masking and burnout so he can a.) keep you from going there or b.) recognize the signs when you are there and help you. i like to imagine he made a sensory room for you that has all your favorite things and you can just go there to chill and unwind.

➤ he's also super protective over you. if people make fun of your stims, say you talk a lot, undermine your sensory issues, etc., he will DESTROY them. no way in hell is he letting you be disrespected like that. verbal smackdown, here we come.

➤ ultimately, it's a learning process. but it's one he's more than willing to thoroughly explore for you.

╔⏤⏤⏤⏤⏤╝╚⏤⏤⏤⏤⏤╗ SIX-EARED MACAQUE 🔮 ╚⏤⏤⏤⏤⏤╗╔⏤⏤⏤⏤⏤╝

➤ HONESTLY i headcanon macaque as autistic, so i feel like he had a feeling that you were ADHD before you did.

➤ probably made jokes like "it's the ADHD lol" for certain behaviors until you decided to do some research on it and were like "🧍‍♂️ yeah so—"

➤ not surprised at all when you're diagnosed, obviously. he uses the opportunity to show you coping mechanisms he's learned (though some have to be tweaked for your needs since autism isn't ADHD), and even begins to unmask more around you (which was inevitable anyway tbh, but it's easier now that he doesn't feel so different from you).

➤ since macaque thrives under routine/structure, he often handles reminders. he also keeps you on track, verbally and physically, if you have things to do. ALSO is super on you about eating, since he likes cooking.

➤ macaque's experienced dozens of burnouts in his long life, so he knows how awful they are. he can sniff out a burnout a mile away so i'd like to think that you don't experience many while with him because he's really good at pacing the both of you/being aware of your emotional and mental state. the dojo's pretty chill like 90% of the time due to his own sensory issues so it's a good place to unwind and relax.

➤ you guys have picked up so many phrases from each other. he'll be working on a script for a shadow play while you're cleaning and he'll just hear you laugh and go, "wow, didn't see that one comin'." it definitely flusters him that he's included in your echolalia.

➤ macaque rambles to you about theatrical pieces from various cultures. if you introduce him to new ones, tell him something he doesn't know about a piece he's already familiar with, etc. he'll kiss you istg. anyway this is to say the feeling is mutual and he probably ends up getting into some of the media/hobbies you tell him about!

➤ you guys mutually bully each other lmao. you'll be trying to do some work, get to talking to him about whatever comes to you, and then suddenly it's three hours later. you're like "FUCK" and he just laughs at you (you get him back, of course, and it's all in good fun).

➤ he barely thinks beating anyone who talks shit about you is an overreaction, but if you don't like it then you'll just have a clone stick around in your shadow or something to scare the shit out of anyone who decides to open their mouth to you.

➤ in summary, macaque is very helpful and teaches you coping skills when it comes to sensory issues + overload.

╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗ SUN WUKONG 🍑 ╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝

➤ first off, i headcanon Wukong as ADHD, too.

➤ with that said, i feel like Wukong just... assumed you knew you were ADHD and rolled with it.

➤ like you guys constantly quoted/repeated each other/shows and stimmed at/with each other. you'd get in loops. you'd adapt each other's phrases/stims. neurotypicals don't do that.

➤ it's genuinely amusing thinking about you two just repeating the same things at each other. it's such a serotonin boost and it makes you both laugh. same for when you stim together, especially hand-flapping and jumping up and down.

➤ you're both trash at remembering stuff but fortunately you seem to have an awful lot of capacity for the other—meaning you remind wukong he has a session with MK today because he forgot, and he reminds you that you agreed to make noodles with pigsy today because you forgot.

➤ i don't think remembering to eat or drink is a big problem for you, since wukong is a big comfort eater and shares his snacks with you so you kinda just... roll with it lol.

➤ wukong has a bunch of homemade stim tools. once he sees that you're interested, he makes some more for you. even after your diagnosis, you don't try "professionally" made stim toys—you just don't need them when wukong's work so well.

➤ you guys spend hours talking about your interests, ping-ponging off each other. like: "OH, did you know x?" "NO, but did you hear about x?" x1000.

➤ you guys also bully each other. "Hey Great Sage you forgot do the dishes again, you crusty bitch"; "says the dumbass who started folding laundry and then did a fashion show with the monkeys".

➤ like macaque, wukong's had his fair share of burnouts. unfortunately, he's not super good at preventing them or even realizing he's in them until it's been a few months, but you guys take care of each other if the other is struggling. you're also very aware of the other's limits so if one of you is pushing it, you can help each other step back.

➤ wukong learned a great deal of patience and mercy from his journey, so people being unkind to him doesn't really bother him. plus, he barely leaves his mountain as is—but if one of those times, someone doesn't to be a dick while you're stimming or something? best case scenario, he has some very choice words—worst case scenario, bro's taking it upon himself to remind the public why you should be more considerate of who you're snarking to.

➤ basically, nothing changes after you get diagnosed lol. you and wukong are very happy ADHD gremlins who are celebrating your neurodivergency :)

❝ I thought I had the ADHD, but that's a real thing (and I'm just lazy) .❞

[vegantinatalist]

why do you think "wrong body feeling" is related to autism/adhd?

-some autism spaces are seeing such a massive amount of autistic children being harmed by gender ideology that they are finally speaking up and determining that autistic kids need to be protected https://ovarit.com/o/GenderCritical/620071/evidence-based-autism-they-ve-gone-gender-critical

-we know that doctors who are giving gender affirming surgeries are making absolute obscene bank, this is a multibillion dollar industry, we have seen their discussions with eachother where its clear their goal is to make as much money as possible and to get people on whatever treatments take the longest and cost the most. they have full incentive to manipulate as many people as possible into believing this will help them and the most manipulatable people are children, scared parents, and some neurodivergent people/pw mental illnesses.

-personal/anecdotal, but when i was a kid there was a school i didnt go to but my friend did and i visited once. it was almost entirely populated with autistic students and every single one of them used neopronouns or believed they were trans and it was very cultlike, it was weird how the school practically only accepted these types of kids and i think they were either trying to protect these kids or were grooming them to follow gender ideology religiously. they even had breaks mid class where they would talk about it daily. every trans person ive ever met was autistic and ive met many -i have multiple autistic family members and i know a lot about what they experience. autistic people often experience discomfort just 24/7 in general, often without them being able to tell exactly what it is. all kinds of sensory things can bother them. being unable to communicate/being misunderstood is a common thing as well. being perceived also seems to be very stressful for them in general, even if they arent abused when young. i have watched with my own eyes how they tried to cope with this across their lifetimes. ive seen them as children trying to explain it by claiming they actually must be dogs or aliens. ive seen them as adults putting their complete faith in all manner of random bs explanations in hopes it will bring them understanding and salvation from their unending discomfort and feelings of isolation and being misunderstood. it is not at all difficult to imagine an autistic youth or adult stumbling into gender ideology and being convinced that transitioning is the answer. much of this also applies to adhd and sufferers of cptsd who are struggling to gain a sense of control over their bodies and mind after being terribly abused.

Im not saying all people who identify as trans are autistic/adhd and im not saying autism/adhd being the cause of something means it doesnt exist. im just saying i think for MANY trans people the root of gender dysphoria is actually just related to their neurodivergence and there are better ways to treat it.

Another example of a similar situation, is eating disorders and bpd. We know pw bpd are very likely to have eating disorders and a common thing you get educated on when you are learning about how to help ppl with bpd or eating disorders, is that you should first find out if they are neurodivergent in some way and get them treatment for that first. its like step #1. or if you know they have bpd, TREAT THE BPD FIRST and dont fixate on the eating disorder, and likely not only will the eating disorder be relieved but the laundry list of other issues related to bpd will get better as well. this is a huge problem with bpd- it often comes with so many other behavioral issues and physical pains that people get distracted and never treat the root problem. i think the same thing is going on here with autism/adhd and gender fixation. its a very similar thing. "my body is wrong, i must do these harmful things because, although it hurts, it hurts more to do nothing". but there is a third option. and people are not considering it, theyre going backwards and considering this third option offensive/an attack. understandable, because a lot of people are religious self righteous pricks and act severely smug about telling others they know whats best for them. i consider those people just as much a part of this problem, so i want yall to know i dont think anyone has any right to force any specific treatment on you or deny you the right to do what you think is best for you. this is just my experience and my advice and the warnings i want to give, especially about these doctors. and im also here on this blog to say that while it is your right to do what you want to do with your own body, it isnt your right to violate sex segregated space rules, those are womens rights that i want to defend. your rights end where others rights begin etc etc.

[mobileleprechaun]

On Home, Wally, and their dynamic

Warning: Big Long Post! Rambly. Speculative!

In the early days of the Welcome Home fandom, it was often speculated that Home's role in the narrative was antagonistic, one defined by coercive control and abuse of Wally. This idea of a sinister, manipulative Home has inspired many AUs, pieces of fanart and has overall made a big impression on the fandom's perspective of Home as a character.

While this still remains very possible as an outcome, especially given that the series is still in its prologue, a lot of what I've observed in the latest update has painted a very different picture in my mind.

Below are some miscellaneous observations, both from the update and from information we had prior to the update.

Wally is excited about Eddie potentially being able to lift Home in the storybook recording, as he would like Home to be able to get a hot dog from Howdy's bodega like he and Barnaby always do.

Wally speaks often of his love for Home in the guestbook, and even writes Home's signature for it at the bottom of the page.

Home is shown, in a famous piece of art on Clown's Tumblr, to be the "plus-one" Wally would invite to a wedding, and he's shown smiling fondly at it through the window of the chapel while it peers in from outside.

This piece of promotional art, as well as this crayon drawing from the April Fool's Day prank where Wally briefly took over Clown's Twitter to post his drawings, show a big Wally cradling a small Home in his arms. This is an inversion of their actual relationship, as Wally is just a little guy and Home is a great big house. In the latter drawing, Wally has obsessively written Home's name over and over again.

In the bug vignette featuring Barnaby and Home on the page with the script, Barnaby understands Home perfectly when it speaks and has a fluent back and forth with it. Its responses to him seem amused and sarcastic, and it generally looks to be having fun bantering with him and sassing him. When Barnaby becomes concerned for Wally at the end, Home's noises sound concerned and urgent, like worried questions. It's concerned for Wally's change in behavior too.

Conversely, Wally is shown in his audio excerpts from the show to be socially-awkward and unable to comprehend things like sarcasm and turns of phrase. At his best, he sounds like he's saying things he's rehearsed before. At his worst, especially in the audio messages he leaves, he struggles even to speak, as though he cannot find the right word or that speech itself is hard on him. He begins to hyperventilate and lose his grasp on proper intonation in the latter recordings, likely out of distress or frustration.

In the Morse code message on the So Below page, most people interpret what Home is saying as either "help" or "hello". The former indicates distress on its part, while the latter indicates it trying to go along with Wally, as he introduced it in the previous audio message and explained (while struggling not to hyperventilate) that it makes noises.

In the picture of Wally and Home in "So Below", Home's eye is shuddering in seeming distress while Wally is knelt at its window. Although this is commonly interpreted as an act of worship, Home does not look particularly happy or powerful here. Wally's outstretched hand may be caressing it, or otherwise trying to pat or soothe it. Wally's eyes shudder in a similar manner in the "Stay Quiet" page.

The dark substance beneath Home has begun leaking to the point that it is now visible on the desktop version of the Neighborhood page. This is very likely the same substance mentioned on the secret, staff-only page, which apparently causes "nausea, dizziness and fatigue" upon physical contact.

The impression that I've gotten from this is that Home and Wally are more akin to intimate peers – siblings, very close friends, possibly even romantic partners* – than they are to an abusive guardian and their child. Much of what I'm about to say is speculative, and may not hold up after further updates, but it's nonetheless the vibe I'm getting.

Wally and Home have a deep understanding of one another, deeper even than Wally's friendship with Barnaby. They are bound so tightly that one can scarcely exist without the other. Home shelters Wally within itself, granting him the sanctuary of its own body. Wally, in turn, grants Home a purpose as its inhabitant and tends to its needs, always making sure to help it feel included in neighborhood activities. Both are seen doting on one another with the sort of fondness only years of intimate familiarity can bring. Each is attuned to (and interested in) the other's needs.

Neither Home nor Wally are doing well at this point in the narrative. Wally is audibly deteriorating when he addresses us (or the Question-Answerer) in the audio snippets. He's barely able to keep it together, and some sort of horrific distortion is slipping into his voice. Home, meanwhile, has only seen its sludge problem get worse, and does not seem able to do much at all besides the occasional response in Morse code. These utterances are few and far between, especially compared to how chatty and lively it seemed in the Barnaby vignette. It seems withdrawn, perhaps even exhausted. It is very likely sick.

Home has, up until this point, been "the strong one" in the relationship, as a house must be. In addition to bearing up its body as shelter for Wally, it may have carried the little fellow's social burdens, as it seems to hold its own very well in conversation. But now it's fallen ill. Gravely ill. It's unable to go and look for help, being a house, and is put in a precarious situation due to its immobility. None of the other neighbors are around to help it.

Wally cares for his Home deeply. He is grateful for its shelter and its friendship. He's the only one who can help it now – it's finally his turn to be strong. He wants desperately to protect it, to find help for it, and this is what drives him to reach out. But he doesn't know how one asks for help, or how even to describe the problem. His tranquil neighborhood never made him confront that reality, and he's now left floundering. Home can only watch helplessly, through a haze of sickness, as he humiliates himself again and again in his pained, futile struggle to be understood.

It's driving him mad. It's forcing him to feel emotions he can barely describe. Every attempt only serves to further terrorize the Question-Answerer and double his own anger and misery.

But he can't stop. He must be strong for Home. He will make his neighbor understand.

So TL;DR, I see it as less "Home has Wally trapped!" or "Wally is doing something bad to Home!" and more this heartbreaking nugget from Learning With Pibby. If Home is malevolent, I think Wally's going to be right there at its side. And if he manages not to be, I think it will be a tragic effect of the corruption rather than any innate badness Home has in it. I think we are shown how wonderful and precious this Home can be so it will be all the more heart-wrenching when that is no longer the case. At any rate, I am enthralled and am so grateful to be able to engage with this wonderful piece.

*I hate that I have to even say this, but – please don't misconstrue that I think siblings and romantic partners are the same thing, or any other implication therein. I'm an eldest sibling myself and find the idea abhorrent. I say this only because relationships in a text can be very ambiguous, and there are many flavors of closeness between people that share similarities.

Anyway, thank you so much if you read this far! Welcome Home has really given me the analysis bug again... heehee, bugs.

[void-detective]

I find it interesting and cool that Jacob really is that next in line to the tribal chief angle. If we think about how much cinema and things connecting again we can see a lot of similarities between him and Solo.

-----

"Everything I learned was from him"

Let's start plain and simple with Solo's half of this story with his similarities to Roman Reigns. This all began when his older brothers Jimmy and Jey advertently placed the dangerous idea that Solo deserved to be the Tribal Chief and much to Roman's amusement as I may put it. But that's not the only time because Roman also has placed this dangerous idea into the younger man's mind with his words about how he would be the next tribal heir to step up after him.

Everyone around him placed this idea that he deserved and was the next tribal chief even without realizing what this idea would do to him.

And now that he IS the tribal chief he is either subconsciously or consciously doing a LOT like Roman from mannerisms to talking. A lot of people have mentioned the 'tribal twitches' a nod to those moments of Roman being ticked off or peeved by someone or something. Like a lot of people have been showing he copied a lot of Roman's mannerisms and to me I believe they weren't on purpose as much as just something he picked up from being around Roman.

You know what else he picked up from Roman? How to manipulate.

During his beginning reign as chief he exhibited and showed his clear learned behavior from Roman in terms of how to manipulate and get people to be on your side. This is most prevalent in his actions around Paul and Jimmy with those tiny moments of playing sympathetic and knowing just what to say to fuck with people.

He knows things like that soft spoken tone is more intimidating then if he were to be yelling and showing off a temper. Which is something Roman did a lot towards Jey and Sami, it was a lot more effective to be soft spoken with these times and the how you word yourself to hold that control over those beneath you.

He also knew that by subtly threatening Paul and planting seeds of doubt would cause the Wiseman not to fight back because this wasn't something Roman did a lot. Unlike his relationship to the OTC there wasn't this much of an underlaying fear of getting on the receiving end of his wrath (even though it has happened).

Everything about Solo screams the direct words Seth told Cody about how Roman turned out, it plays right into how Solo ended up. There's always been this play that Solo WANTED the position and he wasn't happy just playing out as Roman's enforcer.

----

"Roman Reigns is to weak"

Towards the road to WrestleMania we see the culmination of Roman's emotional turmoil and his past catch up to him. We know to a T that Roman is a highly emotional and caring person even if it's under the guise of emotional manipulation. The one thing that set apart Solo and Roman was their compassion or lack there of on Solo's part. To Roman his manipulation and control over his family was in a twisted way trying to protect and love them in the only way he believed would keep them with him.

He has hurt and caused trauma to those he loved because of how badly one betrayal had left him. Without friends and with all the hate from the crowd it twisted what was a very compassionate man to a cold jaded man who saw that he could only keep that close connection by drastic means. Even if it meant hurting those he cared about the most.

That's what sets apart Solo and Roman because even if they are sharing those manipulative tendencies, it's all coming from two very different reasons.

Solo has only ever seemed to have a genuine connection to Sami during his time in the Bloodline, not even his own brothers who at most he seemed to tolerate. Any compassion or friendship he may have had died the day Sami left and turned which in my opinion was his own version of Seth's betrayal. He loved Sami in his own way as he was one of the second people in the Bloodline to have been befriended by the Canadian and maybe,,Sami's betrayal was the thing that truly snapped any semblance of trust he had to anyone.

----

"New faces, more family"

Hear me out, I kinda feel like Solo kicking out Jimmy from the Bloodline was a calculated move because he knew that this version of the Bloodline was weak. One made out of Roman's vision which meant it was weak and made it love. Which meant it wouldn't work for Solo.

I believe that bringing in Jacob, Tama, and Tonga was all a calculated move because he had new people he could personally manipulate. They wouldn't notice the tactics he learned and adapted from Roman like Jimmy or Paul would've which made it so much easier create a team that would believe his every word. Plus to him it would further push him knowing that he had learned all he needed to be like Roman.

In the new Bloodline there is none of that familial love even with the Tongans and Jacob being family. This is a team pretending to be like the old Bloodline but lacking any of that structure that made them work.

The only problem within the new Bloodline comes in the form of one man.

-----

"Jacob Fatu, step up"

For the past few months we have been seeing hints and glimpses of a similar situation occuring between Solo and Jacob that has happened before with Solo ans Roman. The whole being ignored and overshadowed has been played for part within the role of enforcer to the Bloodline and this is ever so true for Jacob. Ever since he became part of new Bloodline he has been within the back ever lurking and watching playing that "protective force" for Solo even when we all know those looks mean so much more.

Unlike the Tongans in many ways, Jacob has done and said things that show his role in the future of this storyline will be bigger. He's the only member who vehemently states at every situation (when solo is seemingly suspicious or actively looking) for attention he is the one to shout and express his love for his cousin. He is always going out of his way with his actions and words to push that knowledge that he loves Solo onto him even if it seems like the latter is becoming more and more paranoid by it.

Jacob has been working hard to gain his spot and the trust of the new tribal chief but where does his hard work go? No where. Not only did Solo strip the title off him (just for him to get out the boot not even a week later) he forced him to give it to LOA, he also "promoted" him to an enforcer instead of champion.

Why though?

It's all calculated moves by Solo because even with this new Bloodline and the loyalty of Jacob he is scared of being overlooked and or losing the control over his Bloodline like Roman. He is exercising his control much like Roman did to him so Jacob won't over shadow him, back in the day people WANTED Solo but now they don't.

So when someone much more experienced, intimating, and loved comes into the Bloodline and gets his attention? Oh does it ever so piss him off. Because when he looks at Jacob he sees everything that he isn't and can't be as a tribal chief. He sees someone that is above his level and could at the turn of a dime be exactly what everyone wanted him to be.

To Solo he sees a better version of himself in the Samoan Werewolf.

And that....

...scares him.

[my2phetaliaheadcanons]

i really enjoyed your yandere allie’s being broken up with post! could you do one for a yandere 2p axis as well? thank you in advance :) sincerely, a yandere lover

(Y/N) stood in the doorway, a bursting duffle bag digging into her left shoulder while her hands tightly grasped the strap. Licking her lips, she murmured.

“I-I can’t do this anymore. We’re over.”

Japan: Kurai’s dull, garnet eyes slowly drifted from the paperwork on his dark, cherrywood desk to his Sakura blossom. He noticed the crystal tears that threatened to bubble over like an unspoken plea for mercy, terrified quivers that made her shake and tremble like a kitten left to die in the coldest December blizzard.

A shark-like smirk split his face as he cooed her pet name. “We have only three days until we are wed, do you really want to dishonor your family by calling it off?”

Trying to leave Kurai’s web is like trying to pull a live rat off a glue trap. He will manipulate you into staying by pulling at your sense of duty. It starts by mentioning all the people who will be disappointed should you two split. If you continue to insist that you are done. Then it will begin to get violent.

Kurai drags you with a bruising grip to a hidden white room, the door locking as he leaves you in isolation. For two weeks all you see is white, even the very food and dishes become that vile color.

At the lock’s click and hinge's squeak, you hoped in vain that Kurai had come to his senses. Finally letting you leave this hell. In reality, you saw red. A lot of red, of much so that he claimed it was to shine the honor that your ‘threat’ had tarnished.

Germany: Groaning, Luther popped his neck with a loud crack as he raised his scarred body from the worn, leather couch. His blond brow raised in a questioning manner. “What are jou talking about?”

He watched with cold, tired eyes as (Y/N) took a deep breath before forcing the horrible statement again from her throat like a lion cub’s first roar.

Chuckling, Luther shook his head as he held his out his calloused hand.

 “Come now, Kätchen. Let’s nap on it before we do anything.”

Shaking her head, (Y/N) backed up. She screamed a loud no, before sprinting down the hall. Her bag swung and bruised her hip as slammed against the wooden door and fumbled with the slippery knob.

The click of the locking mechanism quickly became a loud slam as the door was forced to close again. (Y/N) now frozen still from the man she was trying to escape.

“Vhat made jou think I was asking?”

Luther is quick to forgive. A simple bow to his demands will quell his anger in ways that could be used against him. IF, he wasn’t already suspicious of all behaviors leading up to your foolish declaration. The missing objects, full cardboard boxes hidden in the closet, and failed attempts at distancing yourself from him.

Your announcement is what causes the iron fist to finally drop.

Similar to the ‘fighting and married’ bit, he begins with house arrest while retrieving all the items you’ve sneaked out. Any found attempts of planning to escape will lead Lutz to become more controlling and to harsher punishments.

What makes it worse, is that even on the darkest nights, locked in the rusted, gilded cage and draped in heavy, silver chains, Luther will remain outside the door. Murmuring promises of a better life and love, if only you agree to stay and obey. Forever.

Prussia: It had been two weeks since Wilheim let (Y/N) go. Two weeks of hoping she would return, of hoping she would realize how deeply their souls were intertwined. Fourteen days he had been pained by a wounded heart, that felt like each weak beat may be its last without his Maus.

He could bear it no longer when he watched as she set off with another man. The bright laughter and innocent blushes told him all he needed to know. With the flutter of his cloak, Wilheim set out to reclaim what he had lost.

Wilheim’s long, blood-stained life has taught him a lot. One such lesson is the use of free will. He hopes by letting you go for a time that you will come back, but as the time goes on without even a text from you, Wilheim begins to crack.

His cracks start small by stalking and recording. But as he hears how happy you are to be away and the proud compliments from friends about escaping the abuse, they become large fissures within his psyche

The last straw is your attempt to move on. That was the night he drags you back once the date is done. Questioning you on why you would betray him, did the time you spent together mean nothing?

With eyes like a burning ocean, Wil will force you into a small cell. Its tight walls only allow you to stand or sit. As the days wear on, you’ll find yourself taking comfort in Wilheim by your own volition.

He is the only one to open the door. So, doesn’t he deserve your love?

Austria: Jon cocked his head in a similar fashion to his little bat. Observing her intently as (Y/N) shuffled. She, at first, might have thought it was cute until a demonic laugh erupted from his pale throat. Heavy heaves for breath causing his chest to sink in showing his ribs in the tight, red shirt before expanding outward like an organic balloon, that no one could properly fill.

“That’z a funny yoke meine Queen.” Jon wiped a tear from his red eyes. “But, vhile jou here, did jou pick a place for dinner?”

(Y/N) shook her head quickly and muttered a no. “I-I’m breaking up with you, don’t you understand that?”

A loud sigh came from Jon as he stood from the leather couch. His heeled boots clicked against the wooden floor as closed the distance on the cowering woman.

“Of course I do, but” he looked at his shiny, black polished nails. “if jou really vant to, zhen go for it. Juzt don’t be zurprized vhen zomeone dizappearz.”

Jon lives in an odd mix of delusion and reality. He will take the smallest acts of obedience and view it as you submitting to and loving him. Every moment of rebellion shows him how far he still has to go until you are ready to be his Queen of the Night.

Since, you’ve decided to walk out the front door, consider the threat now a prophecy. He will start with the disappearance of a close friend. At first, you may dismiss it, until a body is found and the red words ‘come home’ are painted on the alley wall.

During your mourning, you try to tell the police of the possible lead. That Jon may be the cause of it all. Yet, it all falls on deaf ears as they explain that man doesn’t exist.

You, wanting justice, decide to confront him and run to his home, expecting a fight. Instead, you find an open door that reveals a dark house. Stepping inside, you feel a cold chill and gasp as the door shuts behind you, locking you in. Before you continue your forced path forward, you notice the shadows move like dancing snakes.

A quick glance and scratching at the light switch reveal no working lights. You scream when you feel the first shadow latch onto your ankle. Attempting to pull you through the floor. Shaking and pulling doesn’t help as more attach, eventually pulling you into an inky blackness. Ensuring that Jon’s pale skin is the brightest thing you see in your world of eternal night.

Spain: Armando’s eyes slowly lifted from the stacks of paper in front of him. His quill rested limply against his rough fingers as he took (Y/N)’s form in wholly.

 He noted her straight lip tremble at its edges, the subtle scrapping of her nails over the nylon bag straps as his silence continued. She shuffled an inch back whenever he twitched or breathed too loud, before shakily regaining the lost ground. Though, she remained tense, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.

His question shattered the silence like a hammer to a mirror.

“You want to leave me?”

“Y-yes, I do.” She nodded as her heels dug against the wooden floor.

“Well,” Armando stood before walking to a large glass and oak display case. His hand gripped the wooden handle as he opened it, reached in, and pulled out a large, silver axe. “I think that we should let a simple game decide our fate.”

This man isn’t going to let you go. End of story.

But! That doesn’t mean it will be a simple no with slices to disable your legs. No, Armando doesn’t work that way. He’ll have fun by forcing you to play a game, his favorite to be specific.  Axe throwing.

If you are one to see the dark side of his world from the beginning, then you’ll know that your chances are low, even if you have thrown axes before. He won’t play fair, offering damaged axes and using a target that is just a little too far out of reach.

Most likely, you were kept in the dark. Not fully knowing the amount of blood that stained his hands. Your axes are sharp, but the target itself is dry, hardwood. Your muscles were never meant to throw with the power to dent such a mass, and it didn’t. You could only watch in fear as Armando hit consistently a bull’s eye each time from a different angle.

Depending on how badly you lose will determine what comes next. If Armando absolutely destroyed you, then he’ll keep his punishment simple. A quick snip to one of your Achilles tendons and being locked in a room with minimal contact for a couple of weeks with only him to rely on will help subdue your fire without snuffing it.

If you presented a challenge to him, then it would be worse. A debilitating injury to hinder your chances of escape mixed with a strict schedule of labor on the farm and obedience training. This mix will drown any thoughts of rebellion, leaving behind a fearful shell of yourself that is easier to control.

Italy: The silence of (Y/N)’s statement reverberated off the walls as Luciano set his wine glass on the dining room table. His leather-gloved hands came together to intertwine as a chinrest while he leaned back into the wooden chair—a large grin on his face as he sized up his darling fiancée.

“What made you think that was your call? When you agreed to be mine,” He stood, slamming his hands down as he leaned forward on the table, the taunting smile turned to a vicious snarl in a mere blink. “It meant until the day the world stopped turning when Italia would be wiped off the map and forgotten about by the fragile minds of mortal men. NOT because you got cold feet! NOT W-“

“I NEVER AGREED TO THE BLOODSHED!” She sobbed; the dam of emotions finally bursting. “You are nothing more than a monster that feeds off the mutilated flesh of your victims. Always looking for an excuse to kill again!”

(Y/N)’s declaration shocked Luciano like he had been bitten by a hidden viper. His eyes were wide as his focus never left the woman he loved.

She backed up a few steps. Hesitance caused her frame to tremble, before she turned her back to him. “I’m leaving, goodbye.”

It was only a few steps before the sound of maniacal laughter accompanied the sound of whistling metal. 

(Y/N) gasped, before collapsing. As the laughter came closer, she saw three knives embedded within her flesh. All lay within her lower half, making the mere thought of running from the mad Mafioso impossible.

“Oh, Tesoro.” Her head snapped up to view the smiling Italian. “You’ll be staying with me forever.”

After your shouting match and injury, Luciano will decide it's time to retrain. After all, you’ve shown him that your loyalty was false. Nothing more than a piece of tin that needed to be forged into something stronger. Something steadfast.

He will take the time to rebuild you. Each step toward what he wants means healing, rebellion just creates additional injury. Eventually, you’ll either break into a creaked and numbed doll, or you’ll be the perfect wife, trustworthy enough to join Luciano in the flames.

Romano: (Y/N)’s stomach flipped as Fabrizio stepped closer, his questions ignored as she turned her back. She was ready to run, pushing her legs to their limit as she forced her stride to be at its max.

It wasn’t enough.

A small dart with a fuzzy tip, no thicker than the graphite of a #2 pencil and no longer than a standard ballpoint pen, had sailed into her thigh.

The mosquito-like sensation caused her to pause. Gingerly, (Y/N) tapped the object, before pulling it free. As she stared at it the world began to blur and sway. One dart became two, then four and more. Her attempts for balance failed as a numbing sensation crawled from the hit point.

Falling due to weakened legs, (Y/N) gasped as the marble floors caught her. She heard Fabrizio speaking, his voice muffled as blackness started to flood from her periphery. As the drug took its hold, the last thing she felt was the warmth of her devil’s hands.  

To Fabrizio, it was a sin to end the relationship. He has done so much for you; creating fabulous outfits, spoiling you with various luxuries, and most important of all gifting you something precious, his love. When you ended it, allowing him no time to rebuttal, he threw away his dramatic flair. A quick shot of a special sedative, and you’re down and out.

As you’re fainting, Fabrizio will give his monologue. He rants about how he won’t allow one of the purest things to grace him to just walk away. No, it was time you learned your place.

When you finally awake, the world feels off. Firstly, you’re upright with legs bound to steel bars. Secondly, it’s a new, strange room. Your stand is surrounded by glass-encased mannequins, all dressed in outfits from many different eras. Some outfits go back further than the Dark Ages.

A subtle tightening sensation on the chest would distract you. Taking away from the strangeness of the room. Looking down you would see a white, velvet corset with silver steel rivets. Your breath quickened as the constriction continued, while your arms felt paralyzed. Black spots would reappear in your vision as a hushed chuckle brushed against your ears.

“Mia Bambola, it’s-a time you learn to listen.”

[blueberrymuffinmassacre]

So The Amazing Digital Circus has latched onto my brain like a particularly stubborn tick so now I gotta share a theory of mine from the Pilot.

Considering it's all, indeed, digital and the mental health of its occupants ties to their stability, I bet their avatars are near direct reflections of themselves and their issues/flaws, albeit with a filter to fit the Fun, Child Friendly Aesthetic of the Circus.

Pomni is a classic rendition of a Jester. A Court Fool. Her eyes are incredibly expressive and even change to scribbles, hollow circles, or pure black depending on her mental state.

She likely views her life as a joke, or views herself as the punchline of a joke. She's a Fool. Whether this is due to perceived incompetence, an inability to "grow up", or simply considers herself to be lesser than her peers.

I do however use the above picture on purpose. She's an absolute nervous wreck 99% of the time, but stops while being chased by a monster and is stunned by her own reflection. That isn't a look of fear or confusion, it's awe. Something about her avatar struck a cord with her and seemed right. I personally subscribe to the theory of her being transgender and experiencing a small bout of gender euphoria amidst the horrors thanks to a post made by one demilypyro.

Jax is a Cartoon Rabbit. Not really terribly much to say about the design itself other than it being very rubber-hose animation in its proportions and the seeming default smug expression.

Jax is an asshole. He plays pranks in bad faith, is incredibly snarky and dry even to someone in distress, and doesn't seem to overly care about the others well being.

"I'm fine with doing whatever, as long as I get to see funny things happen to people." It makes sense his avatar would take a similar look to another wise-cracking cartoon rabbit we all know. He also seems the most content to actually be in the Circus itself. Considering it can let him do all manner of things to others, from the lethal to the physically impossible, he might consider it better than reality.

Ragatha is literally just raggedy ann. A patchwork doll.

She seems to be the most outwardly kind of the individuals in the circus, showing patience and understanding with Pomni even when in distress, though she clearly has a limit to said patience.

I think it's safe to assume Ragatha has been through a lot of shit for her avatar to make her seem patchwork. Which is to say, damaged multiple times and repaired each time, leaving clear marks of the repairs like scars.

Zooble is a mess of individual parts slammed together in an approximation of a humanoid shape. Like someone took dozens of pieces from all sorts of toys and put them together into an amalgam.

Gooseworx has stated they have no idea what they're even suppose to be. This can and likely does include gender, but probably includes their entire identity as a whole. Or rather, their lack of one.

For whatever reason, be it alienation, isolation, or any number of potential causes; Zooble doesn't know who they are or what they want to be. No ambitions, no dreams, no real self identity. This makes their avatar manifest as a mess that also doesn't know what it wants to be, so is a little bit of everything.

Gangle is most insubstantial, their body almost entirely a ribbon. The key part of their avatar is the mask: Comedy and Tragedy. And it seems in the few instances it's not broken, they always try to wear the comedy mask over top the tragedy mask.

Gangle's behavior makes me think she's the youngest of the individuals, at least mentally. As for the masks, something about her circumstances in life made her feel the need to put on a facade of joy. Maybe to live up to expectations, or to hide her true feelings to avoid worrying others. As an avatar, this seems to have become literal: She seems to only be happy with the mask on and discontent at best with it off/broken.

Kinger is a White King Chess Piece.

He's a forgetful paranoiac who, according to the characters, has been present in the Circus for the longest amount of time. He seems to forget where people are and what he's doing quite a bit.

In a moment of lucidity near the end, he goes in depth about how the food they eat is just simulated, and how they provide the sensation of eating despite not being real. It's also worth mentioning the ground floor of the circus is a Chess Board.

I believe Kinger is/was at least partially in charge of creating the Circus. His avatar is a walking symbol of authority, a reflection on his standing within the digital space rather than his current mental state. Perhaps the avatar was more fitting when he first entered the Circus, aware of its intricacies and rules, but has long since forgotten such things.

We don't see Kaufmo while he's uh. Normal. But we do see pictures of what he did look like: A Clown.

From the dialogue of other characters like Ragatha and Gangle, he seemed to actually try and play the role of clown during his time in the Circus, even if he wasn't terribly funny.

Kaufmo likely found himself to be a clown in reality. Maybe he was a clown in the literal sense. Or maybe he just saw himself as a funny, quirky guy to be around even if he was none of those things.

Finally, we have what happens when someone goes completely plum insane.

The Avatars are based on mental scans of the individual made to fit the aesthetic of the circus. an Abstraction is what happens when said software tries to read a mind that has no logic or reasoning left. There's nothing to find, no basis of personality, no base to work with. So in confusion the avatar becomes a glitched mess, trying and failing to find a shape within the madness to settle into.

Kinger seems to be insane, yet they're stable, because there is still an individual underneath the neurosis. There's nothing left of Kaufmo at this point: Just a cyclone of emotions inside a broken human mind.

That's the theory, anyway. It's a fucking pilot I could be entirely wrong.

[cyberbun]

lotte, my girlfriend and I (F) are having a rough patch. We've been arguing a lot as of late and I don't know how to handle it anymore. I can't go into details because of her privacy but small arguments are starting to accumulate a lot. I love her so much and I'm getting worried that we might be on our way to breaking up. What can we do about this?

Talk to each other. Openness and communication are key in any relationship. Even if it's scary, things you leave unsaid will fester with time and eventually come out.

I was having a similar conversation with miss knight about a similar topic not too long ago, and she explained this in better terms than I could: you wanna have those conversations while you still have control over the situation, rather than when it becomes a necessity to do so. In other words, you wanna sit down, go through what's causing these issues, and hash them out now that you're cognizant that there's a problem rather than later when said problems come to a head and you're forced to confront them at a time where instead of "we're fighting a lot lately" you're just sick of each other.

As for how to do that... I find that using the "This is how I feel -> This is why I feel that way -> This is what I want to change" framework is a good way to be emotionally open in specific and workable ways. Take some time to reflect on the things you and your partner fight about and then try and see if there's a root case to them, something they have in common or some behavior that makes them happen. Of course, not knowing specifics, I can't help you with this, but hopefully that provides a useful way to frame your thoughts in a productive manner.

Big sis is rooting for you two, I'm sure you'll make it work. Don't be afraid of a painful conversation, better to have it now than to have it later, when it'll hurt more. Kiss kiss !!!

[sporkdoesclasspect]

could you do a general analysis of a prince of void, since we are discussing void? its one of the aspects im most interested in, but i dont see a lot of people discuss it.

sure! void is a very cool aspect and i am totally not biased at all >:3

as we know, princes are destroyer classes. similar to knights, they weaponize their aspect very effectively, but where knights wield their aspect in order to fulfill their duty, princes are more suited to attacking, dealing damage, and generally destroying, with all of these things being both literal and metaphorical.

i feel like they tend to be loners, but at the same time they desire connection and belonging - or if that's not your jam, they could have some other conflicting sort of nature relating to their aspect. either way, they're very contradictory, and will usually be self-sabotaging as a result. this internal conflict will ultimately be their downfall if they can't overcome it, their aspect very ironically destroying them in return.

for a prince of void, i think "lone wolf who craves connection" is actually really well-suited to the title. void players in particular often heavily repress things - roxy with her feelings (romantic and otherwise), equius with his overall weirdness, horuss with his negativity as per meulin's suggestion. however, this repression is never fully effective, and these things slip through and cause various neuroses; unconscious attempts at coping, atypical behavior and unintentional revealing of the very thing they're trying to hide. in other words, they try so hard not to think about or address certain things that they actually bring those things into focus.

it's like a black hole, kind of. you can't actually see it, but you can see the effect it has on the things around it. a void player repressing something probably talks around it in conversation, thus bringing attention to it via the obviousness of its absence. it's a very interesting intersection of light and void, where they can both have the same qualities and effects, but go about it in different ways.

void players will sometimes cling to the familiar - tradition, nostalgia, social norms, things that are tried and tested - in an attempt to find belonging, security, or any manner of thing they long for. in a world of uncertainty, these things can bring comfort. unfortunately, they can also do harm - see equius' hemoloyalty for a... D-> STRONG example.

with a prince of void, i'd expect void's themes of isolation to play a big part. to me, this could be a person who feels deeply alone or insignificant, and tries to compensate for this by being aggressively sociable, though they might not quite understand how to do that in ways that are acceptable. we see this kind of behavior in roxy, who is similarly lonely and desperate for interaction and affection.

a prince's problems, though, might not be so direct - it may be that the prince of void doesn't even realize just how isolated they really are, or maybe they just don't see how much of an effect it's having on them. this seems like a prince trait to me: their aspect has a ton of influence on their life, but that just means they're so used to it that they might not think their situation is that atypical until it's pointed out or they're otherwise forced to come to terms with it. that can probably apply to a lot of the homestuck characters, but with princes being destroyers, i think it's fitting for them to have to first figure out what it even is that they need to destroy.

regardless, i can see them being clingy and overly people-pleasing. this could be attempting to destroy Void As In Lack/Absence, or destroying themselves With void - self-minimizing and denying their own desires so that people will like them, kind of like horuss. the thing with horuss is he believed himself to be "everything and nothing" (a blank Page, so to speak), and so he let everyone else decide who he would be.

a prince of void could be similar, but less in a "letting people tell them who to be" way and more in a "trying to be everything for everyone" way. they might switch up their behavior and persona depending on what the person they're talking to responds the most positively to, entirely ignoring their own wants and suppressing their inherent traits. of course, if this sounds too much like a prince of heart to you, there are other ways it could go! (though i think this would be a very good direction to take for prince of void who was raised by or otherwise greatly influenced by a heart player.)

a prince of void could destroy void-as-mystery, making them the kind of person who aggresively uncovers the truth. they may refuse to tolerate lies, or even try to force people to be upfront and honest even if they're not comfortable doing so. or they might just bring clarity to situations, making any uncertain elements or variables into definite ones - think of a super observant detective with incredible deductive abilities, filling in the gaps in their knowledge by determining what most likely happened at a crime scene. i could see this prince playing that sort of role, and combining it with the truth-seeking idea, maybe they're really good at interrogation, using a combination of social deduction and intimidation to get someone to confess.

in that case, their struggle could be similar to something i mentioned in the seer post. the prince might be this cool, skilled and intimidating detective, but they might be an overthinker, even kind of paranoid. they think everyone is lying or hiding something, when in reality, the thing they're missing is that there's really, genuinely Nothing there. they're so caught up in Mystery and Secrets and Hidden Things that they don't even notice the complete Lack of an actual problem, the Absence of guilt. perhaps their whole investigation was false from the start, either as an intentional distraction orchestrated by some enemy or just turning out to be a paranoia-fueled overreaction that the prince was totally convinced was legit.

on the other hand, a prince focused on nonexistence/potential might be the type who builds or creates things to try and fill a void in their soul, or something like that. or maybe they feel their existence has no meaning, so they desperately reach for any shred of importance or relevance they can find. they might destroy things just to try and make an impact on the world, lashing out because they want to make a difference, they don't want to be forgotten. you can combine those concepts too: a prince of void who's an artist of some sort, but they're underappreciated and feel their work is worthless, so they decide there's more value in destroying things than in creating them. if they can't go down in history for their art, then they'll just have to be immortalized as a villain. vandalism could be a good option for that, especially since things like grafitti, while destructive to property, are still an act of creative self-expression.

honestly, though, there's so many ways to do this i feel like i could go on forever. do tumblr posts have a character limit?? i dunno, but i bet i'll find out one day. :p

i mean, hey, maybe the prince of void is just a full-on brawler who beats the shit out of people empty-handed. or maybe they use deception and secrets to destroy, breaking down group cohesion from the inside by spreading lies and blackmailing people. and they could always be a ninja! ninja is always a valid approach. :3

powerways: roxylike summoning of items via destroying their nonexistence, or complete obliteration of items via destroying through void, effectively vaporizing them by dispersing matter (creating empty space). maybe even deleting things from the timeline entirely, making them retroactively nonexistent, like they were never there in the first place. scientifically inaccurate but really cool looking black hole attacks. they could have the ability to erase things, but only when no one else can see them? like, they have to be the only observer.

and that reminds me of schrodinger's cat... if void is potential, maybe they can even do some really weird quantum physics stuff that i don't super understand and force certain outcomes so long as they haven't been confirmed or decided yet, by destroying the potential alternatives? destroying uncertainty, like making it so a coin will land on heads by destroying the possibility that it will land on tails mid-flip. i'm not a sciencer or anything, and that's kinda out there, but it sounds like a fun idea to explore!

i hope this is interesting! i think i may have focused more on the void part than the prince part... sorry if it's not what you were looking for. princes aren't my strong suit, i always have a lot of ideas for them but i struggle putting them into words for some reason. -u-