#i have no reason for them to act in this irrational manner

[fawni333]

i hate being in constant fear of my parents looking through my phone. i’m good, i have nothing to hide but they’ll always find a problem and assume the worst in me. it’s so exposing

[cazshmere]

Synastry Observations Pt.2

materialist🔖

DISCLAIMER: These are just my personal observations and are meant for entertainment purposes only; it may not resonate with everyone due to the nuances of astrology. Please respect my work and avoid copying or stealing it. Enjoy reading!! 🍊⭐️

🍊 Mars in the 12th house synastry has got to be one of the worst things 😭. It’s confusing and exhausting. The Mars person seems to harbour some sort of irrational animosity towards the house person in a very passive-aggressive way. The house person can sense this too, but they are unsure if they’re making it up or not. Also, it’s such a blockage; you could be really close to each other and know of each other, but the conversation WOULD TAKE AGES to start because neither the house person nor the Mars person wants to initiate conversation. It’s like there’s an invisible barrier between you guys 🥲

🍊 Venus in the 8th house/ in Scorpio’s first romantic relationship or situation always ends up hurting them. I’ve seen this countless times where their first experience with romance either ends in heartbreak, unrequited love, or just a missed opportunity. This heartbreak helps these individuals immensely transform, and they might prefer to isolate themselves from anything romance-related for a long period of time. Honestly I think this is a canon event for every Scorpio/8th house Venus that I’ve met, including me lmao and especially if there are Venus-Saturn hard aspects, dear lord, sending love to all my scorp/8th house placements fr🫶🏻🥲❤️‍🩹

🍊 Something I’ve observed with Libra placements, especially the moon, is that when they’re in a relationship, it becomes the focal point of their life. They might go as far as changing career paths to be closer to their partner, altering their style to match their partner’s preferences, or adjusting their personality to be more appealing to their partner (yes I’m sure most of us do this to some extent but it’s a bit excessive for these peeps😭). Their relationship becomes such a central part of their identity that if anything goes wrong, it can feel devastating for them. For instance, I have a friend who is a Libra moon, and she always refers to her partner as “my boyfriend” instead of his name, even though we all know him personally, like gurl come on he’s got a name haha😭

🍊 Moon in the 12th house synastry can equate to the house person opening up to the moon person or just feeling extremely vulnerable around them. They’d share things with the moon person that they dare not share with anyone else. This synastry could also mean staying up late in the night and throwing your sleep away just to talk to each other 🧿

🍊 12th house synastry could also have undertones of enemies-to-lovers (the lovers part only if you ever get together, that is) because there’s this energy where you don’t know why the other person acts hostile/passive-aggressive towards you, ignores you, or sends you mixed signals that makes you dislike them but at the same time, you can’t stop fantasizing/dreaming about them in all these romantic scenarios or them showing up in your dreams outta nowhere like??😭

🍊 7th/8th and even 10th (to some extent) house synastry could indicate that one of the two, either the house person or the planet person (mostly the house person), copies the other, be it mannerisms, clothes, slang, or even certain traits of the other’s personality 💀. It’s because they notice how much attention or admiration the planet person garners, so to obtain that same kind of attention and recognition the house person might try to emulate the planet person 🫤

🍊 7th house Mars synastry can be very annoying and tiresome (especially for the house person). The Mars person could be a bit too much for the house person. The Mars person could get very petty and passive-aggressive towards the house person for no reason (this could go vice versa too). Yes there is sexual attraction and y’all could motivate/support each other through stuff but at the same time it’s draining asf, a big no no for me when it comes to synastry 🥲

🍊 Moon square Saturn synastry can cause delays when it comes to emotional attachment between two people, but once these two finally connect, it’s ride or die typa relationship fr 🥺🫂

🍊 Moon/Mercury in the 1st/5th/9th house synastry is very exciting and fun-loving, with lots of playful teasing and bantering with each other 😋🥰

🍊Moon /Mercury in the 2nd/4th/8th/10th/12th house synastry makes both parties very sensitive to each other’s words because these houses reflect our self esteem/self worth, the deepest parts of ourselves, our core, our reputation etc. A little bit of critique can also be taken personally by either party. Even harmless jokes could be taken in the wrong way and arguments could occur (especially if there isn’t 3rd/5th/9th/11th house synastry or any easy aspects in the synastry chart)

🍊 When someone's planets fall in your 8th house, they intuitively sense your true and deep needs related to that planet. For example, if someone's Venus is in your 8th house, they will know how to love you in a way that makes you feel unconditionally loved and appreciated. If their Mercury is in your 8th house, they will understand how to communicate with you on a profound level, meeting your need for deep and meaningful conversation. If their Mars is in your 8th house, they will instinctively know how to meet your sexual needs and desires and please you in bed🖤❤️‍🔥

© cazshmere 2024 [All Rights Reserved]

banner credits : @anitalenia <3

[shinraelectricpowercom]

I mean, that’s not a bad analysis of one way the situation could have played out, but I was specifically thinking of “why did the Fëanorians move straight to Let’s Do A Kinslaying so quickly after the Sack of Menegroth instead of waiting to see if they could improve their odds of success before acting, when they had besieged Angband for centuries and never felt the need to attack it head-on to retrieve the Silmarils sooner instead, and had also not made any moves to retrieve Beren’s Silmaril, either by requesting or by threatening or by attacking anyone, up until that point”, and my analysis is not that “concern that if they don’t get it soon, Morgoth will get it first” is a pretext for why they moved quickly; it is the specific reason they chose to attack immediately instead of trying more diplomatic (and slower) methods or, idk, allying with the remaining dwarves of Nogrod and then attacking, or whatever else

is it a good reason to attack people who haven’t done anything to them? no, but i’m not arguing about the purity of their motives or the morality of their actions, just that their actions were motivated by a logical assessment of how best to achieve their main priority (ie, getting the silmaril and also, as a corollary, preventing it from falling into Morgoth’s hands again), and not just anger or garden-variety impatience

has anybody done the meta on how the second kinslaying was probably also motivated by the knowledge that with the Girdle fallen, Morgoth’s forces WOULD make it into Menegroth sooner or later, and they’d kill everyone there and then take the Silmaril, and then the Fëanorians would be Right Back Where They Started (morgoth 3, them 0) but actually in a worse position than before on account of the Multiple Crushing Defeats the Noldor had suffered since arriving in Beleriand

[awakenedsalamander]

It also turns out one of the reasons I don’t talk about Chronicles of Darkness much is that I really struggle to talk or think about anything else once I start.

So, Promethean: The Created, huh? God, what a fascinating game. One that really merges some very compelling themes with an already intriguing setting, and then gives you all kinds of fun character options to play around with. Also one that no one really knows about…

For those not up to speed, Promethean is a game about beings— Prometheans— created by humans to be human, or close to it, for one reason or another. Some people who create Prometheans do so by stitching together corpses and animating them just like Frankenstein, others create golems and other constructs, and some Prometheans don’t seem to have a creator other than the whims of the Divine Fire, which is the force that animates all of the Created.

Here’s the thing: Creating human life through magic is actually pretty tricky, and so the resulting Prometheans are invariably off, somehow. It’s a little different for each Promethean, some of them are just really disturbing and creepy in their movements and occasionally mannerisms, others are uncannily graceful, and some are just kinda vaguely alien. It doesn’t even just come down to most humans having an irrational fear and hatred of Prometheans (which is called Disquiet), nature itself seems to recoil from the Divine Fire— the weather twists and the air and water is tainted, until the area becomes a Wasteland.

So the goal of the game is simple: Find out how to become human, in a process called the New Dawn, so your Promethean player character can transcend their limits.

And god, what to say about this game! It’s about interrogating what it is to be human, or perhaps more accurately a person, and how “trying to be a person” is both inherently kind of silly— you’re already a person!— and also kind of the only thing any of us can ever do.

Prometheans complete their journeys through understanding the ways humans act, sure, but they only get there by finding the human that’s already in them. And yet, at the same time, they really are transforming— physically, mentally, and spiritually. To be human is to change, to grow, to wither, really.

This is a game about asking player characters some of the hardest questions— What does it mean to live? What is the purpose of being? What would you sacrifice to find out? Is it worth pursuing at all, anyway?— and then just letting them go on a metaphysical road trip where they struggle to answer them, making mistakes all the while, and maybe learning that being able to ask the questions at all is what matters.

I don’t know, I just wish more people knew about Promethean! It’s a painful game to play, really, what with every character being a rootless wanderer instinctually hated by most humans, so I understand why it’s a hard sell.

But there’s something so gentle, fragile, and beautiful about the game, at least to me. It’s nice that in a setting full of monsters, dark magic, and misery upon misery, you can know that somewhere, a group of vagabond outcasts are working to help each other be human, with all the joy and pain that comes with that.

[mamayura]

Massive fear: Between the new trailer implying that Marinette is gonna spy on Adrien while he's jogging with a new character and season 5 having brought up Marinette invading people's privacy again by going through Socqueline's Alliance ring, I'm begging this show to not make Marinette an over controlling girlfriend for some stupid Cerise reasons

Like, Cerise for example helping the friendship between Adrien and jogger girl (since Marinette is jealous, jogger person is most likely a girl) doesn't at all justify Marinette spying on them. All it does is repeating the Kagami thing where any girl that isn't Marinette's friend first and isn't "approved" is being treated like a threat or downright a bad person Adrien needs to be "protected" from because he's too "naive" to make his own friends.

It's the exact same thing that's being hinted at here. Please don't do that, oh my gosh, we went over this.

Or in the same manner, Cerise in any identity whatsoever befriending Adrien and texting with him doesn't justify Marinette going through his phone whatsoever. I hate that this is still a very plausible thing to expect now because Marinette's own character flaws hardly were taken care of in season 4 and 5. Just endlessly postponed.

And I hate it the most that I can't find any reason to believe this won't happen because it's now Cerise's JOB as the new 'worse' villain to do things like this. To wanting to ruin Marinette's life.

Why wouldn't she befriend Adrien in her new identity (or identities) when it would perfectly serve her intentions of hurting Marinette by having her act like an irrational and over controlling girlfriend who sure won't ever tolerate any of the same energy being shown back to her?

By all accounts, Cerise doesn't even need to do something bad, she just needs to exist in the most inconvenient way and it would be in character for Marinette to be a bad girlfriend about it. It's especially likely because it would very well continue the Lila and Kagami plot from season 5. Kagami having fallen for Lila's manipulation didn't came out of nowhere, it was rooted in how badly Marinette treated Kagami in the beginning which Kagami forgave but not forgot.

So if Marinette goes into bad and controlling girlfriend mode in season 6 and treats the 'new girl/s' just as badly as she treated Kagami because they committed the crime of being near Adrien without Adrien and the girl always prioritizing that Marinette is comfortable with everything happening first

Then, bro, im gonna side with Kagami and Adrien when Cerise continues the season 5 manipulation! I hate that I can't find a genuine reason to convince myself that this is unrealistic and bad faith. It's perfectly in line with what we've seen so far and I'm annoyed at that :/

[simsandchesscrossover]

More in-depth descriptions of the kids for my kidswap below the cut!

NOTES ON CHANGES (KIDS)

At the start of the story, JOHN has recently been abandoned by his brother, who has given up on training him to save the world. He now resides in a foster care facility. In the first act, he has a rather violent breakdown as a result, and decides to express any and every emotion he pleases. This results in a unique typing style where he often forgets to add punctuation and emoticons to his texts and adds them on later.

Contrary to Rose’s passive-agressive battles with her mother, JADE is frequntly and plainly aggressive. She lives in the woods outside her house and refuses to go inside unless pre-planned and mutually agreed upon- as she puts it, she and her mother have their own territories, and their relationship relies on them staying out of each other’s way. This mindset means that she is exceptionally frustrated when her mother is sober and tries to convince her to come back, saying that “children aren’t supposed to live out in the woods” and “it’s dangerous”. Can’t she see Jade is being the bigger person here?

On the subject of ROSE, she is both more secure and far more paranoid. Actually interacting with other children, the majority of whom found her pretentious and strange, has made her overly defensive, and she has taken refuge in what she views as her areas of superiority. Given her father’s more balanced approach to parenting, she doesn’t believe everything he does is an attack, but when she encounters something odd enough that it seems like one, she spirals.

DAVE deals with his enviroment perhaps the worst out of any of the children. He doesn’t cope well with what he phrases as “living on this bumfuck island with my grandpa until he shot himself because taking care of me was just that bad i guess”. On top of that, he’s constantly hounded (ha!) by a dog-like creature that he used to think was the one that killed his grandfather. Now, he isn’t sure if it’s even real or some sort of grief-induced hallucination. This has made him exceptionally anxious, and although he tries to hide it, his very limited social skills aren’t up to the task.

The Alpha session is a bit more complicated. JANE was raised on a series of recordings from her brother, all intended for a boy named Dirk. Given that she was entirely alone, she had no reason to think that that wasn’t her. Rose gets a vision of the changes to the timeline just in time to send out one final message explaining the truth. A key component of Jane’s worldview is that she deeply resents Dave for that and not being there, and is completely aware that it’s irrational. Conciously or not, she rebels against his post-ironic movie star lifestyle by leaning into suburbia. She sews dapper suits out of t-shirts and practices comedy. Once she discovers that she is not, in fact, Dirk, her idea of mild-mannered perfection shifts slightly. It’s undeniable that this house wasn’t made for her, but some aspect of being a “cool dude” still calls to her more than her new matronly ways… (it’s the transgender)

JAKE CROCKER is the heir to the Crocker corporation, and he’s also a media darling. Despite his father’s attempts to keep him out of the public eye (mainly due to the assassination attempts), the PR department has taken their chance, and his celebrity status is sure to make the population of Earth unwilling to resist their new Empress. Besides, Jake’s got his crackshot aim, a dashing smile, and two-inch-thick bulletproof windows, through which he can wave to his adoring populace before going about his business. What could go wrong?

ROXY spends her days chatting online and experimenting in her grandmother’s laboratory. She may be the only human left on her island, but she’s far from the only creature! Her beloved Gcat is always by her side, at least when he’s hungry. The rest of the island’s animals are wild, but the ones she makes love her. They barely try to eat her even a quarter of the time. But mostly, she wants to figure out a way to get off the island- just for a quick vacay!- and explore the world, meeting all the people and seeing all the sights.

Roxy-DIRK-Lalonde-Strider- whatever his name is now, it doesn’t matter- is wrong. There was some great cosmic error, and he came to this city of carapacians instead of a single apartment in the middle of the sea. He’s always known he didn’t belong here, but he assumed it was just some innate, destructive quality of his. Ever since the day he killed his own pet cat (in an unfortunate robotics accident), he’s known he was a monster. He’s done his best to counteract that, helping the carapacians in any way he could, but it isn’t enough. Everything in this home reminds him of his mistakes, and he makes no effort to change that.

[wholesomefluffdaddy]

Wednesday's new court mandated therapist is having her keep a journal of her thoughts and feelings. Wednesday finds this to be a complete waste of time and decides instead to use it to record her observations of her unusual roommate Enid Sinclair. Wednesday POV.

——————————————

Entry 6

Current Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous 🌖

Enid was most apologetic following the events of the Hunter's Moon. I was dismissive of her apologies as I explained countless times it was my own fault which caused the misadventure of that evening. Either way, Enid was determined not to leave my side for any extended period of time without informing me of her whereabouts and time frame for returning. This eased my guilty conscience and irrational fear of her suddenly disappearing. I find it most irksome that I will likely have much to discuss with my therapist at our next meeting.

Yet again I find myself getting off topic. The waning gibbous moon, with its close proximity to the full moon and comparative fullness to the waxing gibbous moon, has had an interesting effect on my werewolf subject: resource sharing. Enid has taken it upon herself to fetch sustenance for me with or without my request. Could this be a concomitant of the Hunter's Moon? Perhaps she wishes to ensure that the members of her pack are well fed. However, if this is indeed the case, then I appear to be the only member of her pack as of present; for she did not fetch food for anyone else as to my knowledge.

Regardless of the reasoning I thanked Enid each time she brought me sustenance. This seemed to delight her most greatly as her face lit up every time I did. Her smile-

During an instance in which Enid was not at my side I slipped away to the library to conduct research on 'scenting' and other such werewolf mannerisms. If I am to be a pack member I feel that I must be informed. From what I gathered 'scenting' is used to denote territory, possession, and a sort of kinship among werewolves. I use the term 'kinship' loosely as I found a significant lack of information surrounding the 'scenting' of peers. The only literature available indicated that werewolves 'scent' close partners or mates.

I can only assume that other publications go more in depth on this subject and include the act of 'scenting' to extend to family and pack members. I shall have to observe Enid closely during the next Family Weekend to confirm my hypothesis. In the meantime I may consider reciprocating 'scenting' to affirm our bond as packmates. Perhaps I should also consider demonstrating my hunting prowess and bring Enid a token of my gratitude for the deceased squirrel she gifted me the night of the Hunter's Moon. Speaking of which, I shall have to remember to stop by Uriah's Heap to check on its taxidermy progress.

Dear Diary,

I feel terrible! 😣 Willa has been an anxious mess since I escaped the Lupin Cages during the last full moon. I never meant to hurt her. 😥 I keep trying to apologize but she just won't hear it. She keeps blaming herself. I'm trying my best to make it up to her. I've been letting her know where I'm going and when I'll be back. I think that's helped?

I still feel the urge to hunt but at least that instinct can be managed by 'hunting' down snacks at the cafeteria. 😋 I've been giving these snacks to Willa. She seems to really like them. She gets this cute little embarrassed look on her face and says thank you - but of course in her own very Wednesday-like way of 'Your acquisition of sustenance on my behalf to ensure my continued survival is greatly appreciated.' Willa. Babycakes. A simple 'thank you' is enough. 😅 I swear I've seen her blush a few times too!

Anyway, I think I want to take her out somewhere nice and creepy to apologize for making her cry. 😥 I was thinking of like a cemetery or something but then I remembered Tyler 😡 took her to one on a 'date' once. My claws itch just thinking about him. I swear to god if he ever goes near my Willa again- Sorry about the ripped pages Diary, I kinda wolfed out for a moment.

Thing recommended going to a play at the local theatre in Jericho. They're putting on "Macbeth." I think Willa would like that. Speaking of things Willa likes… I think she's flirting back? I don't know! 😖 She brought me a dead spider in a box. 😳 What does that mean? She said she was 'returning the gesture.' I think she was talking about the dead squirrel I brought her? (Which important side note - I don't know what she's done with the squirrel. 😰 I can't smell it in our dorm room anyway. Hopefully she tossed it. I don't know what I was thinking. It was all wolf brain.)

Um also! I know I've joked about Wednesday acting like a grumpy cat but she's starting to act like one more literally. 🙀 She's been, um, rubbing up against me. I'm not going to lie - it's cute as hell and I just can't! 😫 It gets me too worked up and I just start wolfing out and I want to squeeze her! I feel bad because I can't help but start scenting her aggressively after. At least she seems to tolerate it. I am so sorry Willa! 😭 Please don't bring me more spiders!

[slippery-domjot-balls]

DS9 S4 E11 Homefront & E12 Paradise Lost, slippery thoughts

Wow....let me catch my breath. That was a wild and tense ride. Nice scenery too. Obviously these are just my opinions, but I wanted to share them because Star Trek makes me happy and passionate. I want you to be happy and passionate too!

Given the intensity of these two episodes I completely forgot it started off with Jadzia pulling off the most specific pranks on Odo.

Jadzia: I sneak into my coworker's private quarters and move his furniture by 3 cm every couple of days.

Quark: That's weird. They would not even notice that change.

Jadzia: Oh, no no no. He sees it every time and it drives him insane.

Audience: Oh you silly worm!

And I loved that we got to see these two besties playing pretend. We need more Miles and Julian aviation adventures. Super cute pals.

R.I.P. Clive

Playtime is over now because the changelings have basically infiltrated Earth and are ruining everything all the time and it isn't fun anymore....or are they? They are, but are they? Possibly. Probably. Perhaps.

To me this kind of episode is the pinnacle of what Star Trek writing has always been about. We see a complex evaluation of choices in conflict. It is not about an obvious "right" or "wrong", but one decision versus another. This is a battle between perspective and reason. All sides contain some merit. This episode also shows good intentions taken too far and taken beyond the ethical reasoning that initially inspired the action.

If this episode were to have a villain it would be fear and paranoia itself and not any particular character.

Vice Admiral Leyton was an amazing character. It was brilliant to establish that he had a close professional history with Sisko early in the episode because it immediately made me trust him. You sneaky writers!! But that was the whole point. The story that was unfolding to the audience purposefully made us feel betrayed with Sisko. We co-experienced in real time the feeling seeing a close friend commit treason.

Enter the most powerful man on Earth. He can move the most stubborn hearts, calm the most irrational mind, and fill up the most starved stomach. Replicated foods beware of Grandpa Sisko. I see where Jake gets his style too! It was so believable that these three were family. You could see how cadences, mannerism, and behaviors in Granddad Sisko were passed to Ben and then passed down to Jake, but in their own naturally developing ways in each generation.

*Spoiler Alert* Grandpa Sisko also saves the day.

Just when I thought this episode had all the ingredients for perfection Nog the keeper of all things pure and innocent shows up. Look at that smug Ferengi. He knows that he is the best thing at the Academy and so do we.

A great thing about these two episodes is that every character acts as an essential part of the story. Nog will lead Ben on the chase with his talk of the Red Squad. A+ Nog!

This ain't your normal seagull. This one loves Bajoran women.

Around this point we have all the main details of the episode. Admiral Leyton and Captain Sisko are working together to protect Earth from a suspected Dominion infiltration and invasion. The President of the Federation is against the proposed worldwide security changes but reluctantly allows their implementation.

With security personnel, blood tests of all crucial Starfleet staff and family members, and martial law practically in effect everywhere we are ready to repel any Dominion attacks. After all, the wormhole was winking at DS9 a lot so perhaps a cloaked invasion fleet is on Earth's doorstep.

HERE WE GO! Papa Sisko challenges Daddy Sisko's paranoia. Ben is seeing changelings in his sleep and not the Odo kind either.

So we start to see the episode present one of it's many challenges:

How far should we trade individual autonomy for protection?

And THIS is why I love Star Trek. Grandfather Sisko is absolutely correct!! And yet, Ben Sisko is also correct. Both want to protect what they love, life ad they know and perceive it.

We search for the highest good in each situation. Ben wants to secure and save everything he loves on Earth. He wants to protect his family, his home, and everything therein. Grandpa Sisko wants the EXACT same thing. The methods to achieve their shared goal is in conflict.

DS9 writers have a candy bar on me. Well done!!! (engage smooching sounds)

This very moment is crucial for Ben. His paranoia is pushing him toward the type of dictatorial control that Admiral Leyton is calling for, but Ben has found that not only is something odd happening in the background but this entire movement smell stinky.

Nog is such a good cadet. I love him with all my little heart. He provided critical information about Starfleet Academy's unofficial super special secret mean girls club Red Squad. This little snack of information sets Ben Sisko on the trail of breadcrumbs leading to the smorgasbord of treason committed by Leyton.

Smug Shapeshifting O'Brien is a gift. Enjoy every second of this hilarious goop boy. Colm really did a great job. We do see that there is a Dominion changeling on earth (saw it earlier in Homefront as well). We understand how real the threat of their activity can be. We especially see how terrifying a changeling can be when Dominion version O'Brien has a little chat with Ben. It might only take one hostile changeling to completely destabilize an entire world.

I do wish we figured out how the fake changeling blood was created to trap Sisko. Clever girl, Admiral.

I felt bad for Leyton. He is someone caught in a difficult position of authority and personal fears. His own paranoia drove him to the utmost extreme. I imagined that maybe he has a cute little family with a kid back home. I imagined what it might be like in his shoes. It would be hard to live thinking that your lack of effort led to the death of your child or friend or family member or significant other. It would be hard to go to bed knowing that the person you once shared it with prematurely died because of that you thought you failed to do. Even in much of the two episodes his facial expressions show a man full of internal strife and conflict. It is as if he kept questioning his actions as he made them.

What if his fear of failing his community drove him to radical dictatorship? He wanted to keep all that he loved safe, but he betrayed everyone he loved. He demanded that all his loyal friends trust him. Trust is a two way exchange though. He abandoned trusting his friends and confidants. That was the beginning of his downfall.

Leyton wanted to protect society at the cost of society itself. He could not see beyond his fear of losing society to war and enemies abroad to the point of blindness. He became an enemy of all he cherished, and I honestly think that he knew that too. He was just so scared that he desperately dug in to the one aspect of his life that he thought he could control, which is so relatable. We all can act irrationally under stress and pressure. This is not justification or approval. This is accepting that life may not have as many villains in it as we are told to believe. People are just trying to be people, meet their obligations and responsibilities while preserving what little bit of life exists to enjoy.

We are all prone to brash behaviors in order to protect what we love, but sometimes it is healthy to set down the admiralty bars and accept that you can't do it all, especially alone.

Remember that everyone in this episode wanted the same thing. Leyton wanted to protect life. Sisko wanted to protect life. Grandpa Sisko wanted to protect life. Everyone held the same belief and motivation.

I appreciated how solemnly Leyton gave in and how respectfully he surrendered. It actually felt less like defeat and more like he was relieved of a burden that he was too overwhelmed to carry alone. He didn't need to carry it alone but chose to go alone. In a symbolic way by removing the admiral bars he set down his fear and moved on.

The amount of time taken for these shots impressed upon me the symbolic significance of it. Sisko also lets go and moves on with Leyton. By setting the phaser down he too lets go and agrees it is time to move forward from this conflict. He is still betrayed and disappointed, but he is not stuck or trapped in the past. He sets down his weapon and joins Leyton in facing a reality outside the oppression of their own paranoia.

I loved that Paradise Lost ends with the restaurant opening up again. It is the resolution these episodes needed. It was closure showing that being open to others and not letting the world cloud you of the humanity in others is fundamental to life.

Despite the many differences in all these characters, regardless of where they were in the progress of their own lives, no matter the goal or intention, we all essentially desire the same things.

Star Trek is the future I hope for!

If you made it to the end of this post and are reading this then 10,000 sweet kisses to your forehead. If you didn't make it then I am still giving your forehead tender kisses, you are just not aware of it.

[bestworstcase]

I urgh, made a reblog earlier on your post about The Shallow Sea, asked a question there which you might have seen and then accidentally deleted it (oops!)

Anyway I wanted to ask do you think the fanus’s struggle for equality will be involved somehow in salem’s villian-to-hero arc? Because fanus and salem (and grimm) are just so heavily connected. She actually had a very great chance with sienna but unfortunately adam killed her.

And also if you could elaborate this salem being the god of animals thing, did she actually created fanus or it’s more about symbolic connection?

An additional note which’s just something I found very interesting. In the opening of v6, adam appears as the leader of white fang while the song goes ‘the river knows to reach the sea’. Besides the chronological order goes cinder-adam-the rest of salem’s force. (Added that rising is a salem song)

oh i. i think about salem and the faunus and grimm only a normal amount. there's more that i've written on the topic than that (among others, i have a relevant post about tyrian and his worship of salem somewhere but i cannot for the life of me find it) but tumblr, u know. 

not directly faunus related but the god of choice post is salient because rwby handles divinity in a very polytheist way, and while the recent alchemy post was just for fun it does also lay out the thematically essential death/resurrection element of salem's immortality with more clarity. 

(my other mythology tin hat is that salem was the original inspiration for 'the warrior in the woods') (<- tangent). 

TL;DR: i think she is the literal, though possibly indirect, creator of the faunus (through her combination of human + grimm into own being; the faunus descend from this harmony of opposites in some way) and that at some point in history, she belonged to faunus civilization and the mythical figure of the 'god of animals' arose through a combination of worship of salem herself + stories she told about the brothers in relation to her transformations.

(notice that the god of animals in 'the shallow sea' resembles darkness in character, and the one in 'the judgment of faunus' resembles light, but both versions are also unrecognizable as the brothers because they interact with their chosen people in a reciprocal manner—faunus choose to be changed in both stories. where ozma uses myth to guide humans toward what his god wants them to be, salem used myth to uphold her idea of what the brothers should have been and what kind of gods deserve reverence.)

the narrative has not ever been shy about making symbolic connections between the faunus and the grimm—like, blake reveals her ears for the first time whilst gazing at and identifying herself with the beowolf trampled underfoot by human huntsmen in beacon's statue. the white fang wear grimm masks because "humans wanted to make monsters of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." qrow in the faunus WOR episode more or less explicitly describes faunus as in-between humans and grimm.  

(<- which is not necessarily accurate because qrow's narration is chock full of obvious subconscious bias—to the point of straight up saying "honestly, it's not too hard to sympathize" with the perspectives of humans who hunted down the faunus like animals because "seeing something that looks like you and acts like you walk out of a forest and reveal a pair of fangs can be… upsetting" and in no way are we meant to take that as an objective statement; in V1 weiss is unambiguously portrayed as the one in the wrong for hating faunus on the grounds that the white fang is at war with her family's company, a reason that is a lot less shaky than "fangs are upsetting" and yet is (properly) framed as irrational and bigoted.

but qrow's perspective is meant to reveal cultural attitudes, not objective facts, and his overt placement of faunus between humans and grimm is interesting in the context of everything else the narrative does to draw a connection between faunus and grimm)

salem is "your grace" to her followers and ghira is "your grace" as the chieftain of kuo kuana, implying that salem might outright self-identify as a faunus. she wants to secure  sienna khan's alliance (<- a genuine activist) and drops adam (<- a terrorist) like a hot potato after he murders her, she explicitly has no plans to attack menagerie, and menagerie doesn't… seem to have a grimm problem… like at all. zero grimm attacks in kuo kuana across two volumes there and not a single character in menagerie mentions them as a problem.

so rwby is not exactly being subtle. 

generally, i do not think the heavy emphasis put on the white fang arc was solely being overambitious about doing a Racism Subplot; i don't think it's coincidental that the narrative completed the white fang arc and then immediately launched the "salem backstory" arc with the lost fable. the white fang arc sets up for the lost fable and salem's arc is inextricable from the faunus-persecution narrative because she, in every way that matters, IS a faunus herself.

and i think that is very much going to eventuate in V10+ yeah. it's already beginning to—the affirmation of jabber's personhood and overt sympathy afforded to neo and the cat, in tandem with blake's arc in V9 being toward vocally embracing and taking pride in being a faunus as the culmination of her journey out of shame in V1-6 and quiet figuring-herself-out in V7-8, points strongly in that direction. 

[tkfanz428]

Dudes, I am bored as I currently work on another drawing. So I might as well give you all my Scott Pilgrim, Seven evils exes head cannons.

Matthew Patel

Lee: despite being the lowest ranked ex, he’s not really weak in this manner compared to others. But he’s a target for the rest due to his overly dramatic reaction to tickles. Friends he’ll let tickle him until his limit, for strangers and enemies he’ll try and fight back, regardless of that they all share one characteristic, it completely restrains him from using his powers. From how I see it, he needs to be fully focused on what power to use and it seems he can only summon some powers with specific hand movements. One, moving around like that will require him to expose his worst spot( the sides), and two, he becomes more irrational once tickled and takes a lot of ignoring to get his powers back on. His main lers are Roxie, Gideon, Todd and the twins.

Ler: oh boy, you better pray he doesn’t choose you as a target, because he can and will summon his demon servants to assist him. And he is surprisingly skilled without needing to tickle often, likely memorizing other’s techniques. His main targets are Roxie, for being besties, and Todd to get even with.

Lucas Lee

Lee: this guy is certainly something else, he can hold in his laugh all he wants, but the rest of his face shows his real reaction. He never laughs so he doesn’t “break character”. But surprisingly enough, he trained to not laugh, not to tear up, yes he tears up when you hit a good spot. Weakest spot would be his shoulders, I see that the buff guys are typical weaker to tickling. He doesn’t fight back since he likes looking tough. Main lers are Todd and Gideon, the two string enough to get him.

Ler: He’s the kind of guy that only tickles his close friends and partners. He’ll definitely be all cocky after he’s done, and continues on with how he’ll do it all over again. He’s a teaser, he likes playing games that include this, because even Romona doesn’t notice his liking to being a tickler. Main targets would be Gideon he may be ruthless as a Ler, but he still respects boundaries, so he’ll keep close eye out for anyone’s limit.

Todd Ingram

Lee: doesn’t trust most people when the topic of tickling comes up. The last couple of people didn’t know the term boundary, and ever since then made him extremely cautious about something ridiculous. You’d have to have known him for a good while before you can lay a tickly stroke on him. The first two knew him first, which gives them some opportunities to tickle him, maybe like two minutes until he stops them. Any other person and he’s gone like that, vegan portal, and woosh, gone. If you were somehow able to tickle him, he’d jump, like literally, but be warned that his arms are strong AF, one slip up and he’ll send you to the next life. I’m really not joking.

Ler: in reality, he knows nearly nothing about being a Ler, since he was given the chance to as a kid. Only one he feels comfortable tickling is Matthew, for being his first friend, secondly since he knows Matthew won’t be a hypocrite about this topic. He mainly aims at the belly since he doesn’t know if he can hurt people in other places, he’s honestly a little dull, saying nothing. After one ask to stop, he immediately acts like nothing happened.

Roxie Ritcher

Lee: She lets her guy friends tickle her, but only for a maximum of three to five-ish minutes. And she’ll let her girlfriends tickler her all they want, the reason for this, is cause… well, it’s more of a turn on for her, and she can weird afterwards. She’s lucky that her weak spot is her knee, cause then her lers always avoid that spot. When this one knows tickling is in the picture, you better be a national seeker champion to find her, either that or look in the more unlikely places. Matthew is one of her main lers since the two are so petty about Pirates and a Ninjas being better than each other.

Ler: she is the all time champion when it comes to tickling, despite being tickled quite a lot, every tickle game she’s been part of, she’s won, period. Outside of that she likes to startle her prey by lurking in the dark, her ninja like attributes make it impossible to detect her before she surprises you. She likes to pin down her lees with ninja stars, one for intimidation, two as a point that she’s better than her lee *cough* Matthew *cough* . Main lees are Matthew, girlfriends and best friends.

Katayanagi Twins

Lee/r/s: the two are very different from one another in this manner. Ken is really ticklish everywhere really, and Kyle is more known for being dead, figuratively. Ken isn’t really tickled much since he gives off an aura saying “I hate this game, don’t bother.” But he can feel jealous since Kyle is often chosen over him. The two often play fight a lot. Kyle typically starts it, when he feels like Ken outdoes him in front of a date or friend, he tickles him to show the weaker side of Ken, making him look better in a way. Ken can feel embarrassed about this, since it’s a very common tactic than Kyle uses to boost up his reputation. I can see Ken eventually developing some type of ninja sense that allows him to detect danger in unlikely places, making it harder to catch him off guard. Kyle can hate this for the reason that Ken has a funnier reaction when he’s caught off guard. As Lers, the two like ganging up on one person, as it’s easier to pin them down. The two like do this, sneak attack, it starts with Kyle putting his arm around the victim, Ken then follows after Kyle signals him. Ken and Kyle then subtly cross over one leg to trap the victims lower half. To alert the victim about what will happen then, Kyle leans in for a hug, squeezing their side, when the victim attempts to leave, then they’re screwed. They use their twin telepathy often for such situations, to when and where they plan striking next. After building their robot, I kind forgot his name, they wanted to test out the possibility of an AI sharing five senses, so they began the tickle topic more for research really. When it’s one on one, that’s more for fun. Main lees are nearly every evil ex, besides Todd. And main lers are each other.

Gideon Graves/Gordon Goose

Lee: he is the real weakest one out of all of them. His sensitivity is just higher since he wasn’t really tickled much and was a very rare occurrence. People barely found out about this when he lost his company, Julie would often tickle him to both cheer him up and to be a b!+ch. Lucas ended up finding out after accidentally stroking a finger up his back after Gideon got hurt with the skate ramp. He never knew how sensitive he was really, since this kind of topic he brushes off or has no experience of it.

Ler: he may not have been tickled much, but he is a talented Ler, he can read people like a book, already telling where their weak point is. He could tickle anyone if he wanted, but unfortunately with little time on his hands, most he can get is during a fight.

[gumballavocadoharry]

Harry teaching his baby; Headcanon:

Ik I haven't done these in awhile, but last night, I wrote out a bunch of ideas for several and this is one of many!!!!

Compassion. The first person alongside you to show them compassion and understanding. That would be evident in their teen years when they start making more serious mistakes. Harry would always be there and make sure his tone, words and expressions were all in tune with his deep concern and love for them.

Intelligence. Harry is a very smart and wise man. No doubt, common sense is essential for him and making sure his children have it is one of his goals.

Kindness. Is a big one for him! Treat people with kindness is his motto and what better example than to treat his own child with kindness. Spoiling them at times, but speaking kindly, mildly, generously and patiently and acting on it is what he knows his child will look at.

Patience. When he needs to repeat things over and over, or when they're throwing a tantrum....he tries hard not yell or scream or say something irrational. When disciplining them, he's mild and reasonable and firm.

Humbleness. He listens to his children and takes their feelings into consideration always. He'll ask their opinions and will make choices with them.

Boldness. Harry has a natural outgoing personality, but when he notices his child lags behind in courage, he's right there to guide them and give them that self boost.

Affectionate. Harry's a HUGE example in this as he loves to smother his child in kisses and hugs, especially when they really need it. Words of encouragement and "I love you's" are always said daily and so are notes of what his child likes for their meals or as a present. He is vocal and physical about his love and his children never have to wonder.

Thankful. Harry does this by telling his children that he's thankful for them everyday and that they are the best gift he could've ever asked for. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm so grateful for you and you make me so proud to be your daddy everyday."

Positive. He teaches this by being positive about the little things in life. Like the flowers or a sunny day.

Classy. By having manners and showing courtesy to others, he sets an example of being a gentleman.

Silly. Harry's a natural goofball anyway so it comes easy for him when he makes funny faces or blow raspberries on their tummy. He jokes around and it raises their spirits on a bad day.

Free expression. Harry wants his children to express themselves and never feel hindered to keep things inside. He especially wants them to come to him and talk about their feelings.

Honesty. Harry makes a point to be honest and truthful with everything, so he expects the same from his child.

Self-aware. He's been through honest self reflection of himself and no doubt wants his children the have the same thing. To know and discover who they are and what they expect from themselves.

Loyalty. Harry keeps his promises and so when his child promises something that they can't keep, harry teaches them how to make it up.

Self-control. As hard as it would be for Harry in keeping them in check, he would have to let them see that they need self-control in their emotions, wants and needs. So despite them screaming or crying they're heads off for a toy, he's calm and reserved in showing them that they can't always get what they want.

Ethics. Harry has strong morals in certain things and he sticks to them even in the face of pressure. So he would teach his child how to be strong and firm with theirs.

Strength. In times of pain or pressure, Harry no doubts wants his kid to be strong enough to stand up to the trails.

Love. The most important lesson of all Harry teaches them. To love themselves, others, animals, flaws and all. He teaches them to have respect and kindness towards people and to be humble and sufficient in holding onto meaningful relationships and their dignity. To be happy, healthy and mature topped off with character is what makes Harry the most proud.

The best teacher he could be is their father in showing them that there is NO ONE in this world he could or would love more than them.

[ateezscupid]

I saw your Ateez prompt fest. Can i request choi san angst 28 + smut 57? Xoxo

28. “please! please, don’t leave me here alone!”

57. “i want everyone to see that we belong together.”

ATEEZ PROMPT FEST

𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲 ✦ 𝖼.𝗌𝗇 𝗑 𝗀𝗇!𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

plot - your boyfriend lets everyone know that you’re only for him to touch.

genre + warnings - very slight angst, suggestive, (attempted?) harassment, mentions of cigarette and alcohol use, reader is over 20, possessiveness done right

wc - 1.27k

tags - @felixs-voice-makes-me-wanna @starillusion13

you’ve heard all of the insane things that have happened at nightclubs, and it only added onto your fear about going to one. you were very different from your boyfriend, san. he wasn’t scared to go to nightclubs, which is why he normally went every other weekend. you, of course, didn’t have a problem with it until he asked you to go with him.

“you want me to what?” you cross your arms. “i told you i don’t wanna go to a nightclub. they’re filled with weirdos and alcoholics. i’m not going to one.”

“but it’s yunho’s birthday and he wants us to come. i’ll be there with you the entire time so you won’t have anything to worry about.”

“san, it doesn’t matter!” you sigh. “even if you were with me, bad things can still happen!”

“baby, do it for me.” san placed his hands on your shoulders and looked you dead in the eyes. “if we go, we don’t have to stay that long. and once we leave, i’ll buy you a milkshake and some cupcakes. so come on? it won’t be that bad.”

you pout and roll your eyes. really, you were nervous for no reason. nothing bad has ever happened to any of your friends when they went to the club, nor has anything bad happened to san when he went. maybe it was paranoia? you didn’t know nor did you have time to try and figure it out. yunho wanted you two to come to his party, you couldn’t ditch him because of some irrational fear.

“fine, i’ll go. i just get really nervous around big crowds of people like that… and it’s loud! if you’re calling for me or if i’m calling for you, we won’t hear!”

“i’ll be by your side the entire time. in fact, i’ll make sure to give you my jacket when we walk in so everyone knows who you belong to.” san pushed some of your hair out of your face as you blushed.

“well isn’t that sweet.” you roll your eyes playfully. “still, as scared as i’d be, i can handle myself.”

“and i believe you baby, but i want everyone to see that we belong together. you’re mine baby, i don’t want anybody else to have you.”

“no one else will have me, baby.” you lift your arms and wrap them around his neck. “before we go, can we…?”

“of course, sexy.” san puts his arm around your waist and lifts you up, carrying you to the bedroom then throwing you on the bed. “but we have to be quick.”

“you ready, baby?” san looked at you as he parked his car in the garage near the nightclub. you were still a bit nervous, but decided to go on with it anyway. it was only one night and it wasn’t like you’d come back.

“yeah, i’m ready. can you hold my hand?” you look at him. he could never get enough of your doughy eyes.

“yeah, of course. i’ll find where yunho is sitting and i’ll tell him about you feeling nervous and stuff, okay? he’ll understand since he used to be just like you.” san laughed at his own command and got out of the car, rushing to your side and opening the door for you. san had the best manners out of every guy you’ve been with, he acted like he was your prince charming.

“your highness,” he playfully bowed as you exited the car. you punched him lightly in the stomach and closed the door, holding your purse in your hand.

“come on so we can get this over with. i’m gonna give yunho his gift, you do whatever you were gonna do, we stay and then we leave.”

“y/n, try to have some fun while you’re here. don’t have your fear ruin a potentially fun night.” he once again puts his hands on your shoulders to try and comfort you. “i already told you that if you ever feel uncomfortable, i’ll take you home without hesitation.”

“but i don’t want your night to be ruined because of me, i just want you to have fun.”

“who said my night would be ruined? making sure you’re safe and comfortable is my number one priority. if anything bad happened to you, then my night would be ruined.” he placed his hand on your cheek and caressed it gently. “i love you.”

“i love you too, sannie. now hurry up, i still want a sprite.” you grab his hand and drag him out of the garage and down the street to the club. at first you were intimidated by the bright lights and the music from inside the building being so loud, you could hear it outside, but san’s calmness through everything helped you feel calm.

he leads you inside the club, his hand holding onto yours tightly while he made his way through the large crowd. it took a while to get through the horde of drunk zombies until you both made it to the back, yunho and everyone else sitting at a table talking.

“san! y/n!” he shouts, standing and squeezing past people before going up to san and hugging him. “i thought you two wouldn’t come because of…their situation.”

you hold out a paper bag and yunho takes it, thanking you repeatedly and looking through the bag. he dug inside and took out the present. he assumed it was a notebook or a scarf, anything that always gets on his birthday, but no. this was much different.

"a rolex... well, thank you! if this is what you get me for my birthday, i can only imagine what you get san."

“don’t worry about that.” you smile. yunho places the gift with the rest he received and grabs his glass, taking a large sip before sitting it down. he and a few others walked away to go to the middle of the club while you and san sat down. it didn't seem like the others who didn't leave with yunho and everyone else weren't paying attention to you two.

“hey, i’m gonna go dance with yunho, okay?” san planted his hands on the sofa preparing to get up, until he felt your hand on his wrist.

“please! please, don’t leave me here alone!” you pout. “i-i don’t want to be here alone, please.”

“baby, you promised. i’m not going to be out that long either, i—“ he paused seeing. you were confused to why he stopped talking. he was staring into the crowd, his eyes narrowed and his chest heaving slightly. when you looked the same direction he was, you understand why he was looking that way. a man, who seemed to be drunk out of his mind, was staring directly at you.

the man stumbles over slowly, carrying a glass of alcohol in his head. san tugs you closer to him as the man comes closer, a weird look on his face. you immediately scoot closer to san.

”are they yours?” the man slurs, almost falling over. “dude, let me… let me talk to them.”

“no.” san says sternly. “they’re mine, don’t even think about talking to them.” the man scoffs and slowly turns around, stumbling back into the crowd before disappearing. that surprisingly went better than you expected.

“i’m sorry, baby.” he sat down next to you. “now i’m thinking this was a bad idea.”

“no, san it wasn’t your fault! it’s okay, i’m still fine? untouched. don’t worry.”

san smiles and wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close and peppering your face with kisses. you didn’t expect him to become clingy so quickly, but you loved it.

[paisholotus]

Chapter 7

Narrative 

Nerves formed in the pit of Mikayla's stomach as Carlise and Catalina led them into the living room. Dinner was quite good, but they knew there was a lingering question in the air. What were the Laytons?

"Mikayla, I know you'd like to know why we invited you all over for dinner. Those pies you gave us weren't regular pies, were they?" Catalina asked. The Layton family looked around at the Cullens, staring at them, waiting for them to answer. They didn't look mad or upset, just curious. Except Rosalie, she glared at them. If they were what she thought they were, and they could be a possible threat. 

Mikayla switched to the left in the chair to get more comfortable. "I suppose you found out about the pies rather quickly. She told them, smiling. 

"Well, only a special kind of....being would be able to tell." Rosalie said, glaring at her hard. "So, what kind of being are you?" Bella asked quietly. 

Cassie glared back at Rosalie. She didn't like how she was looking at them, like they were the bad guys. Even though they had every right to be curious. What was the point of the Cullens inviting them over if they were just going to be rude?

Mikayla cleared her throat and smiled gently. "We are just like you. But, the reason you couldn't tell immediately is because we're only half. Half-human, half-vampire." She said, shocking everyone instead of Rosalie. She scoffed and crossed her arms.

Cassie clenched her jaw and gave her a deathly glare, waiting for her to try something. Carlise and Catalina exchanged apologetic glances with Cassie. And, told Rosalie to stop and control herself. 

"H-how is that possible? We've never heard anything like that. How were you turned?" Carlise asked lowly. 

"Well, we were born while my mother was still human. We were born in 1783. Our father was a very powerful vampire.....the very first vampire created." 

They were so perplexed. Never have they heard anything like this. Their father, the first ever vampire ever created? Carlise and wondered if Volturi knew about this. They must have powerful abilities.

The Layton family told the Cullens more about themselves, down to the last detail. Except for what happened to their parents. They weren't ready to tell that. The Cullens seemed to be very fascinated by them, again, except for Rosalie. Maybe she was being a little bit overprotective, but she thought something was off about them.

Cassie pov

It was finally time to go. We made our way to the door to express our gratitude for the meal. It was now 10:00 p.m., and we needed to wrap this up quickly because I was truly irrated. I'd like to say I had an enjoyable meal, but my mood had shifted from sour to enraged. 

This is because Blondie's dirty looks and slick comments towards Mikayla, as though we weren't paying attention. Still, for the sake of Mikayla, I dismissed it because she didn't want to disrespect their home by starting a fight.

But, just as we were saying goodbye, i heard Blondie down by the steps saying, "I don't trust them. Something is off about them. And that main speaking one, I'm not buying that nice act!" This was enough to send me over the edge. For one day, I was done with her disrespect. She was going to learn what respect was today. 

"Wait, What Did You Say!?" I said, with venom in my voice. All had turned to me at that point, terrified by my sudden shift in attitude. Mikayla grabs my hand and pulls me around. I, on the other hand, snatched myself free from her grip. Isabella protectively kept back her rude ass wife as I hurried down the stairs.

"BITCH, I'VE BEEN PUTTING UP WITH YOUR SHIT ALL DAY! WHO THE HELL TAUGHT YOU MANNERS?! I DON'T KNOW! BUT, YOU BETTER DO SOME SELF- EVALUATION AND REMEMBER YOUR PLACE!" There was complete silence. Behind me, Mikayla, is holding me back so I don't do nothing drastic. But we all know that if it comes down to it, this rude ass would be dead in the matter of seconds. Isabella gave me a cold glare while still clutching onto her wife. 

"Mikayla is the sweetest, nicest woman you will ever meet. She cares for people of all kinds. That's how she was brought up! That's how we were all brought up! YOU ARE GOING TO SINCERELY APOLOGIZE! AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHEN, AS LONG YOU DO IT! IF YOU DO NOT, YOUR WHOLE FAMILY IS GOING TO SEE A WHOLE DIFFERENT SIDE OF ME. CATALINA AND YOUR WIFE WILL BE ANGRY AT THE LOSS OF A DAUGHTER AND WIFE! YOU WILL APOLOGIZE! DO I MAKE MYSELF EXTREMELY FUCKING CLEAR!?" Rosalie, looked at me in horror, perhaps it was because it wasn't me talking, but Bessi, and she was about to tear her to shreds. 

Isabella had a frightened expression on her face but continued to look at me hard. 

Mikayla had trailed behind me as I took a step forward. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? NOD YOUR HEAD YES!" Nodding her head quickly saying yes. I took a step back and turned my head in disgust, looking at the rest of them. But I looked at my family, especially Mikayla, and signed that her day didn't go like she wanted. And, I went off walking into the woods because I could feel her taking control. And, once she came out, there was no pulling her back in until she wanted to.

Mikayla's pov 

I didn't know what to say, so I just looked at Catalina and Carlise apologetically. I looked at Edward, who gave me a small smile. I turned to Isabella and gave her a half-smile. But, I didn't feel bad about Cassie's behavior. I was dissatisfied with her wording, and she should have said it more calmly, more maturely. Still, in the end, it had to be said because I don't like the way Rosalie made me feel. She made me feel as though I was a threat to them. I wouldn't dare hurt anyone intentionally. Human or vampire. 

I took a step forward looking at Rosalie. "I accept that her tone was harsh, but I don't like how you talk about my family and I. I'm hoping you will apologize. Because, if it came down to it, Rosalie, if you or Isabella or anyone in your family was harmed, I would be the first one to volunteer to help, despite you not knowing me well. Just keep that in mind." She turned away with an blank expression on her lips. Isabella and Alice gave me a sad look as they followed Rosalie back in the house. 

I approached Carlise and Catalina apologizing quietly. And I turned to Edward, who extended his hand to take, hugging me, whispering not to worry about it because she'll come around. 

I let go of the embrace and turn to Jasper, who smirked at me and nodded. I chuckled, and turned to say Farwell to the family once more. Mariah turned to Alex and gave a small wave, which he returned. Mariah and I walked towards the car and got in. 

Edward approaching the window. "May I have your number?" I grinned, and said yes, giving it to him. He also asked if he could have Cassie's number to give to Jasper. I thought about it, biting my lip, what harm could it do? I mean I knew I was gonna hear her mouth, but there's nothing wrong in trying. So I gave it to him.

We said our final goodbyes and left the cullen residence. Making our way home.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for not coming back "home"?

I'll try to be brief, but there is a lot to explain so I'm not sure if I will be. I (23F) was attacked by someone at 10 years old and thrown into a river. Miraculously I had survived, but I was miles away from home. At first I tried finding my way back, but found it too difficult and gave up. I instead decided to lead a new life in my new home as the leader of a group of rogues.

Long story short, the guy who attacked me at 10 came back to attack me again (he had a grudge against me and my family) and I passed out and woke up in my mothers home. I could tell she was affected emotionally by me suddenly being “alive”, which I can't necessarily blame her for. My twin brother missed me too, of course. He's been very gentle with his words and mannerisms. He had never acted that way before, so I assume it is either due to the passage of time or he missed me that much.

At some point I went out alone and met this demon looking thing. It looked a lot like a skeleton of our species, with weird black strands of hair along its spine. While my memory of our conversation is a little fuzzy, one thing stuck out to me. It asked me, “Why didn't you come back?”. I didn't know what to say. Why didn't I come back?

My only explanation is that I was afraid of my family finding out who I've become, that if they knew who I was now they'd reject me. But that has no logical standpoint. I'm supposed to be a fearless leader, I don't have time to worry about stupid things like that. Besides, my family is just as supportive now as they were back then, so why would I think such irrational thoughts?

So I think there was no reason. Me not returning to them was purely out of my own selfishness. Although, making judgements about your own self always has a hint of bias, which is why I am asking for an outsider's opinion. Am I the asshole?

Edit: Talked to my family about the demon. Apparently it is technically also my brother. As in, a part of my brother split away from him and took the form of whatever that was. I still don't fully understand, but knowing it was him all along makes me feel even worse.

[behindthewox]

Criticism is hard

I've been quiet for a while to allow some time to pass and the EU site leaders to work out the kinks (but also due to IRL commitments) and from what I've heard the opinions are still pretty mixed.

The new site leaders published a feedback form a while back, which is a great idea and honestly should've been done sooner, but instead of just taking the feedback to heart amongst themselves they have now publicly responded to it in a notice board post. Some users in the comment section are very appreciative of this but based on my tumblr inbox there are those who disagree and think it's pretty bad and I kind of agree that it doesn't look all that good.

Yes, it's important to respond to feedback. But it has to be done carefully and at the end of the day it's the actions that really count, not the words you respond with. Actions like arguing against the critics and dismissing opinions as lies or untruthful speaks very loudly, and throwing blame on others is just plain disrespectful and unprofessional. The lack of actions speaks loudly too, and the choice of what feedback to act first on sends a clear message about priorities.

So how do you respond to criticism?

There's no simple answer, but in my experience the following points are generally agreed upon:

§ Humility is key when responding to feedback and criticism. Pride and arrogance will only screw you over and no matter how superior and infallible you think you are, you're not. § Be honest and truthful in a neutral manner. Don't make empty promises and if you want to share your feelings try to be genuine. § Your words mean nothing if they are not backed up by action. If there's no concrete suggestion on how to do it better, ask for advice on what you need to do differently in order to improve or make the changes your critic wants to see. Asking for more input is a great first action to take. § Be objective, try to look at the matter from both sides and see if you can relate to the critic. § Don't dismiss the concerns that your critic expresses, unless you can back up the dismissal with solid reasons for dismissing it. § The feelings and opinions of your critics are not wrong: feelings and opinions are personal and subjective, there is no right or wrong there. A critic can be incorrect but you should never imply that they are wrong in what they express to you. § Your own feelings and opinions generally don't belong in a response to feedback. Feelings can be irrational and when it comes to feedback and criticism it's not about what YOU think and feel, it's about what OTHERS think and feel. § Apologies are good - in moderation. Use them wisely and phrase them carefully. Remorse and regret is overall good for responding to criticism, but keep it minimal and professional. § Explanations can easily be interpreted as excuses, so sometimes it's better not to explain yourself but rather offer to explain it upon request. Critics are usually not objective and will actively look for flaws and weaknesses. § Don't share more information than necessary and always respect and protect the integrity and/or anonymity of your critics. Don't give them more reasons to criticise you. § Don't bring other people into it, especially not to put blame on them. There is absolutely no need to put other people in a bad light, if anything it just makes you look bad. § Don't pose yourself as the victim, even if you feel like you're the victim of unjustified criticism. If your response is more about you than about the critic, it's a bad response. § Read up on terms and concepts like "gaslighting", "victim blaming", "guilt tripping", "discrimination", "self-vicimization" and "minimization/downplaying (psychology)". Not everyone will recognise and identify it but to the people who do it looks really, really bad and they might accuse you of manipulation and (depending on the severity) even verbal and emotional abuse. Learn to recognise it so that you don't do it by accident to others.

Results may vary and what works in one situation might not work in another. The advice above is pretty generic but there will be always be nuance and exceptions that generic advice can't account for. Ultimately you should ask someone to look over your response and help you identify potential issues with it and help you finetune it before you hit send.

You will inevitably get it wrong sometimes and that's okay, as long as you learn from it and put in the time and effort to improve your skills over time. There will always be flaws and weak points in what you do and say but the goal here isn't to be flawless, the goal is simply to dodge as many bullets as possible and keep the damage to a minimum.

Criticism isn't easy and it takes a lot of practise but it's an extremely valuable skill to have in life. Both giving criticism and receiving and acting on it. I'm still learning and I might never fully master the art of criticism, but I'm pretty confident that I've got the basics down and I mostly know what I'm doing. Mostly. It's a work in progress :P

NOTE/CREDIT: This post is based on an anon submission where the anon criticised the Feedback Response on WoP EU and provided a few pointers on what they did wrong. I decided to take the rather harsh criticism and flip it into something less negative and more constructive that can be helpful to everyone, not just the individuals adressed in the submission. It's a mix of anon's original points (credit goes to them) and my additions with what I've learned over the years as well as personal experience, preferences and beliefs. I'm not an expert but it should align pretty well with the general consensus among the people who actually are experts in the field. Thanks for your submission and I hope you don't mind that I Frankensteined it, Anon. Please let me know what you think about this submission-flipping experiment of taking something negative and making something more constructive out of it.

[yuukei-yikes]

What’s your opinion on Harushin (Haruka and Shintaro)? Can be either platonic or romantic

i love that u had to clarify who they are LMAOOO

hmm well i don't like them romantically. when it comes to the yuukei quartet ships I'd put them at the bottom 💔 mostly cuz i just dont ship haruka with anyone other than takane (but for some reason i pass takane around like a blunt) and also it means a lot to me that the reason haruka recognizes he loves takane is bc he defines shintaro as a friend but feels sad putting takane in the same category bc of the different feelings she entails.

and I HAVE THIS PET PEEVE that is a bit silly and nuanced. and it implies a lil bit of jin bashing so TOTAL AND COMPLETE DISCLAIMER i love jin's work and his characters and i immensely respect everything he's done for this franchise he shares with us and clearly loves. that said fuck his misogynistic fucking writing

i could go on and on and on abt that but to answer this ask specifically, i just HATE that shintaro is so nice to haruka and he's just a total ass to ayano and takane for no goddamn reason. takane was SO nice to him at first, could u imagine the good buddies they would've been if shintaro was fucking normal. and shintaro LITERALLY stands in a 2 hour line at the festival just to insult her😭😭😭 he didn't even KNOW her. he's like "u act like this big shot bc all these ppl fawn over you" as if takane hadn't been literally sobbing miserably the whole afternoon precisely bc people were fawning over her and she found it mortifying. bc ofc he didnt know that!! LIKE WHAT WAS THE DAMN REASON HE DID THIS HES CRAZY i will never know what was going thru jin's mind writing that bit but ig all i can do is imagine shintaro was like GIRLS CANT PLAY GAMES *SHAKING* i know im always talking abt shintaro and takane's friendship and how much i love them but god the writing in the hs days is just inexcusable like shintaro is so damn unlikable. i hate when they put him and takane in the same level of irrational arguers bc truly takane is just fucking defending herself. how would u treat a person who didnt even give u a damn chance and just says all that shit to u first meeting. and she's also speaking for ayano too cuz her ass wont defend herself. and also haruka wont say anything. like takanes fighting for her life in here i 10000% support her actions as ene cuz man fuck that guy i find it insane she still cared for him anyway

and it pisses me off that then we see him in novel 6 being totally capable of being a decent fucking person to haruka. like seriously what's his damage. also idk japanese but i THINK shintaro speaks in a polite manner to haruka and not to ayano and takane. obligatory joke im gay not bc i like men but bc i hate women etc etc etc

i could rly go on abt how much it annoys me haruka and shintaro's friendship is super developed opposed to ayano and takane's pathetic dynamic that doesnt pass the already stupid bechdel test (i actually ranted a lil bit abt it on my side twitter a few days ago if you wanna read it LMAO) (it starts as a thread abt harutaka but then i get sidetracked cuz...yeah) BUT THIS IS ABT HARUKA AND SHINTARO SO. yeah u could excuse it with shintaro being the protag and ofc getting a lot more focus on his relationships but still. i kinda resent this aspect of their dynamic so i don't like the ship teehee i just... i think haruka is way too good for him sorry shintaro my man. i say this while shipping shinaya i know but to be fair i make them go through hell in my mind before they can properly be happy together if at all. bc when i start going off abt all this stuff i also start resenting shinaya LMAOOO sometimes i say i like it out of nostalgia but then their whole story together and how theyre literally always destined to find each other (holds head) ok. thats aside the point. i have a complicated relationship to shinaya. it's all abt drawing the line between author and creation and how much u can say augh author is being annoying and augh character is just an ass on purpose. and compared to the pov of all the other kagepro characters, u can indeed see that sexism shit in all of it (i could whip out examples in a second)but on shintaro it is noticeably worse LOL

and again im not blaming fictional characters for author's misogyny, like someone is writing this duuuh which is why haruka never points it out but FROM MY insane perspective i interpret it as haruka recognizing the pattern but he's so damn spineless he can't bring himself to stand up for ayano and takane. he probably makes some comments that shintaro just dimisses and haruka is too nervous to bring them up again *me going off abt the internalized misogyny of fictional characters headcanoned based on the author being misogynistic*

ERM. ANOTHER REMINDER I LOVE KAGEPRO AND I RESPECT JIN FOREVER BC HE IS THE CREATOR OF ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS. but also lol. doesn't mean i cant point out some of this stuff yknooooow

uhhh soooo platonic wise i love them. but its also not my favorite dynamic to explore, id repeat some of the stuff ive already written, it does bother me shintaro is Normal to haruka and not to ayano and takane and haruka acts like nothing. it's just a big thing that annoys me generally abt them lol and i find it tough to separate from author like i normally would with these weird things he includes because this bit is just a whole dynamic you know?? i could.... go on abt this but um. sorry ive been talking for a while. its definitely something im kinda bitter about in the writing.

but still they're definitely sweet, and i understand the appeal completely!!! these are just My thoughts i think its 2023 and i wont get death threats for not liking a ship anymore but also haruka is shintaro's bisexual awakening that is for damn sure. i like entertaining the onesided concept. shintaro being like hahahaha what if we kisssed like ayano and takane apparently did and haruka is like No thanks.