#i hope i answered all of your questions and interpreted them correctly

[hannieehaee]

hey ;)) could you write a svt reaction where they're being interviewed by foreign singer reader, who is too flirtatious and which is the crush of all of them and they can't help but look amazed at her and a little nervous too <3

also, I'm a big fan of your work, I love it! Thank you very much! 😔🤌🏻

being interviewed by their celebrity crush

content: afab reader, fluff, reader is a lil flirty in some of these hehe, a lil second hand embarrassment, etc.

wc: 2215

a/n: agsjsk loved writing this tysm for reading and for requesting!! idk if i understood ur request 100% correctly so i just did a reaction for each member i hope u enjoy! <3

masterlist

seungcheol -

even as leader, he would try to pass on the title to someone else for the day, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of you and the cameras. would be consistently teased by the guys through every sentence exchanged between the two of you. cursing both joshua and vernon in his mind for refusing to help him out, he'd power through the interview, trying to keep his heartbeat as calm as possible as you smiled and giggled at his cute demeanor towards you. would be so in awe of you at the way you paid full attention to his responses, not minding the extra wait as the translator interpreted his answers. would come out of the experience even more in love with into you, kicking himself for not taking a leap and asking for your number or something. would be very pleasantly surprised a few hours later at finding out you'd had your manager give his manager your contact info, instructing that it was specifically for seungcheol to use.

jeonghan -

jeonghan wasn't one to really wear his heart on his sleeve when it came to liking a person. he'd probably have the ability to remain calm even if facing you, his one and only celebrity crush since predebut. he'd have it all planned already; just stick to the back and nod at vernon and joshua's answers. would not have expected his members to throw him into the wolves, taking advantage of seungcheol's absence and informing you, the celebrity interviewer, that he was the stand-in leader, and that all questions should be directed to him. would only be caught off guard for a few seconds, soon being able to keep up with you (thanks to the translator) and even turning up the charm a little bit, enjoying the back and forth between the two of you. would still be a bit surprised when you approached him after the interview, blatantly flirting with him even through the language barrier.

joshua -

so excited to finally meet you, having looked forward to this since the moment he heard seventeen would be attending an award show you were scheduled to conduct celebrity interviews for. would've thrown your name around many times any time discussions about collabs came around, but being disappointed it never really did anything, thus preventing him from meeting you until now. now that you were finally meeting, he'd take advantage of being one of the designated english speaking members™️ and take up the entirety of the screen time in the interview flirting with you in the most lowkey way he could. would maybe trade numbers with you by the end of it.

jun -

he knew he was a handsome guy, but he'd still be incredibly flustered the moment he caught you, his long-time celebrity crush, making eyes at him from across the red carpet, practically inciting him with your stare as the group approached you for their turn at a quick red carpet interview. would be twice as flustered upon noticing you stood as close to him as possible as you conducted the interview, throwing him a smile every so often. he'd feel kinda disappointed at himself afterwards for not having spoken to you at all during it, having felt too shy even if you had showed blatant interest in him. his day would improve, however, as soon as his manager approached him a few hours later, letting him know your manager had given him instructions to provide him with your contact info, even with a cute little handwritten note form you requesting he call you sometime.

soonyoung -

do you guys remember that one interview with that one rlly pretty interviewer where he started singing spider and just wouldnt stop even as the guys kept dying of second hand embarrassment? he'd do the exact same thing with you. if you happened to mention anything related to him in the interview whether it be a solo song or his part in a new cb or some choreo he made, he'd instantly try and show off to you like a little kid, not realizing the second hand embarrassment the rest of the members were feeling. if you were any tiny bit flirty though, he would probably go into shut down mode and just giggle at everything you said, zero thoughts in his head as he nodded and agreed to everything you said in complete awe of his celeb crush even acknowledging him. would be so excited at the interaction he'd approach you afterwards hoping to get you to follow him on instagram and physically cheering the moment you followed him back, even directing him to message you sometime.

wonwoo -

so shy and reserved. he has a tendency of blending into the background, always being talked over during any type of show or interview that involved all members. this time he had been kinda grateful for it, feeling too anxious to interact with someone whose music had impacted him so much (and also someone he might kind of maybe have a thing for). he'd feel extremely touched at you going out of your way to get his responses during the interview, claiming you were a fan and had always noticed he sat back sometimes, wanting to hear from him specifically. would not be able to stop looking at you in awe after that, wishfully thinking that maybe his favorite artist had taken some type of interest in him. when you approached him after the interview, shyly trying to start conversation, he'd muster all knowledge he had in english to communicate with you, hoping this would be the first of many conversations.

jihoon -

would be so shy and easily flustered. do not dare even speak to him directly because he will break. he's been crushing on you since forever, not just admiring you as an artist but being so unbelievably attracted to you he had no idea how to even make eye contact with you. the moment he heard you were gonna be the one interviewing them he started looking into flights to get his ass back to korea. under no circumstance was he going to embarrass himself in front of you. if you dared even try to compliment him (don't even mention the word flirting to him rn), he would turn bright red and stumble over his words, making the guys cackle behind him as he tried to work his way through a sentence. would reach an undiscovered shade of red the moment you approached him after the interview, asking for his contact info under the vice of interest in his producing skills, but your flirty tone would have him thinking otherwise, causing him to heat up even more.

seokmin -

embarrassment is usually scared of seokmin. he can do anything, anywhere, anyhow, and not feel a single ounce of shame at it. but this was the exception. upon hearing he'd finally be meeting you as you interviewed them for a special celebrity interview, he was beyond embarrassed in advance. he knew there would be no way for him to act normal around you. he was in love with you! okay, maybe that was too much, but he did have a huge thing for you, even having fantasized about your first meeting many times before. nothing could have prepared him for the moment the interview started and you revealed (with no warning whatsoever) that you'd been a carat for a few years now, biasing none other than him. the teasing from the members was the least of his problems as he attempted to formulate some type of charming response to you, ultimately settling for an uncharacteristically quiet 'thank you' as his ears burned. would muster all the courage within himself to approach you after the interview, coaxing vernon into acting as interpreter as he expressed his liking of you as an artist. both him and vernon would widen their eyes in surprise the moment you asked vernon to let seokmin know he was welcome to contact you any time if he ever wanted to get to know you in the future, handing him a note with all your personal contact info.

mingyu -

even though he was a little nervous at the idea of meeting you after all these years of crushing on you, he would still be 100% down for it, loving the chance to finally meet you face to face. would go out of his way to be the main one you interact with the entire time you're in the same room, even if there's a language barrier between you. after getting a bit comfortable around you, would do his best to flirt even if you two couldn't understand each other very well. would make his interest be known, hoping maybe this won't be the last time you two interact. not too surprised when you began to show interest back, using this opportunity to hand over his phone with a new contact popped up, acting visibly giddy upon seeing you register your number, winking at him and instructing him to call you.

minghao -

at times he tends to be a little reserved and quiet during interviews, and i think thatd be specially the case during a foreign interview. if the interviewer happened to be you, his celebrity crush of many years, he'd still keep silent, hoping quietly to himself that none of the members would bring up his crush on you to embarrass him. would try to keep his interest in you lowkey, even if it was hard to keep his eyes off of you now that you were finally in the same room as him. would be a little surprised when he noticed you making eyes at him off camera, and even during the interview. would be twice as surprised when you came up to him afterwards, boldly asking for his contact info the best you could through the language barrier. even as flustered as he was, he'd hand type in his instagram @ on your phone, feeling like he was on top of the world.

seungkwan -

despite being super outgoing and extroverted, would shut down the moment his manager informed him you would be conducting a celebrity interview for seventeen. he'd try to keep himself as small as possible, hoping you don't notice him among the 12 other members. would try so so hard to keep his eyes off you, knowing he'd turn red as a beet if you even made eye contact with him. he'd spent one too many nights already fantasizing about meeting you, his favorite singer and celebrity crush, refusing to ever actually meet you in order to avoid ever embarrassing himself in front of you. would be caught so off guard when you approached him after the interview, telling him you'd seen some of his covers and fell in love with his voice, asking if he'd be interested in ever doing something together. vernon would have to intervene after a full minute of shocked silence from seungkwan, taking your contact info for him and excusing his friend, earning a scandalized smack on his chest from him at his reasoning of 'sorry, he just really likes you.'

vernon -

he had never wanted to not be fluent in english more than in this moment. being one of the members who spoke fluent english, he knew he had some responsibility to take charge of western interviews and be the one to answer most questions during interviews, but the moment he heard you were the one who would be interviewing them on the red carpet of some awards show, he immediately wanted to take his ass back to south korea. even after mentally readying himself for a few days, nothing could've prepared him to see you in that outfit, so pretty and so close. if you showed any type of flirtatious behavior, vernon's mind would go blank, being unable to respond to your questions as his brain could not even process what you'd said after the word 'handsome' came out of your mouth. joshua would have to take over to salvage the situation. luckily for vernon, you'd found his reaction to be adorable, deciding to ask for his socials once the cameras were off.

chan -

the moment he heard you were interviewing him and the members, he would pray to god none of the guys would go out of their way to embarrass him in front of you, knowing he'd been crushing on you even since predebut. would be in absolute awe of you from the moment you walked in the room, heart going a mile a minute as the time for the interview approached. would internally curse the guys for making him sit closest to you, meaning you instinctually would direct most questions at him. would sometimes miss a question because he'd be too distracted staring at you with moony eyes. would have to be nudged by the guys to focus, causing you to giggle at him, probably realizing he might have a lil thing for you. he was lucky he was cute, because that would lead you to seek him out after the interview, with chan dragging vernon over to awkwardly third wheel as he translated your flirtatious comments to chan.

[deathbxnny]

hello!! platonic dr ratio with a teen!student reader who excels at one particular subject but is bad or average on the others? also lacks social skills

(kinda insprired by me lol 💀)

This is so relatable, Anon. I felt like I was reading an ask about myself for a sec there, LMAO. The only subject I was ever good at was English (a shocker, I know), so I know how this feels.

Content: Reader is only good at literature/philosophy class in this, mentions of bad social skills/anixiety, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not proofread))

Ratio always kept his eyes on all of his students and especially the quiet ones like you. You barely ever spoke up in class and when you were forced to, you'd begin to tremble and have a hard time answering any questions correctly, except in one particular class. Philosophical Literature.

He first noticed your special interest during a required reading assignment in which you had to pick a book of your choice and write a long essay on it's meaning and different interpretations. It was alot of work, alot of work most students failed to focus on. But you were seemingly different in the way you so suddenly bloomed in that particular class. Your assignment was completely flawless as well.

This very much sparked his interest in your rather limited yet still grand capabilities. He had heard of geniuses who only ever excelled in one subject and therefore decided that you must've been one of them the more time went on. Your shyness and inability to interact with anyone properly did prove to be a challenge, but he figured that you'd grow out of it.

He eventually makes you take private lessons with him so that he can foster your talents further. He understands the value of talent when he sees it and indirectly makes your confidence grow over time the more he mentors you. He doesn't see it necessarily as a problem that you're only good at one subject, as long as you're acceptable in the others.

Even if all the effort he puts into you overwhelms you at first, he knows that you'll eventually thank him for it one day.

I hope this was okay, Anon, and thank you for the request!!<33

[edenfenixblogs]

hey, gentile here. just came across this post of yours and, first of all- it's SUPERB. it showed me a perspective on being a jewish ally that i really wouldn't ever have considered by myself, made me more confident in my choice to put combating jew-hatred above the friendships I've recently lost, and gave me a really useful direction on where to go as an ally to jewish people onwards. that being said, there's a few details about it I'd like to press you about, if it's not too much trouble.

this point is probably worthy of an eyeroll as i'm a culturally christian atheist (making a concious effort to not be *that* kind of atheist), but: when you refer to G-d as the creator of all things, you stress that that includes evil- but that, in so doing, G-d is not evil themself. now, I'm asking this with the express purpose of you correcting me, so: why does this G-d- as a G-d fundamentally distinct from the Christian conception of God as a Super-Mega-Ultra-Perfect God Who Can Do No Wrong Ever- create evil? i, personally, have been led to believe by @/spacelazarwolf that it is simply because G-d, too, makes mistakes just like any human being, but the way you worded it in this paragraph (which I've included as a screenshot below) had me interpret G-d creating evil as a concious, intentional action. did i just not read it correctly? and, if i didn't, then is the reason G-d creates evil part of this central struggle you went in detail into in the same paragraph, and as such, a very individual part of Jewish belief that no two jews agree on? and if that is so, would you be comfortable with sharing your version of it?

a few paragraphs after that one, you dedicated many words to make it absolutely crystal clear that, in the process of unlearning and combating jew-hatred in the society around me, i should, in spite of the vitriol that they propagate, love the former friends i lost to antisemitism. how- and *why* should i love the people who, on an early october 8th morning, actively celebrated the news of a massacre of Israeli civilians? who mocked- and still mock- the survivors and the families of hostages? who wield the memory of the holocaust as a baton against Jewish people's right to self defense? who deify terror groups who are up to their necks in atrocities? who make an active effort to spit on the face of *reality?* How could i possibly look at the face of a friend who chose allegiance to a terrorist group she did not even know existed four months ago over me- who she had actively interacted with for much longer?

would you rather we called ourselves "gentiles" or "goyim?" I've been calling myself a gentile for the longest time because i see jamming a word from a language i don't speak at all in an otherwise english sentence to be disrespectful and constitute appropriation, but you and other jumblr blogs have given me the impression that that is not the case. furthermore- i believe it was @/bambahalva who pointed out the usage of the word "gentile" in antisemitic segregation policies.

that is all- i hope this message finds you well. oh, yeah one more thing- what do you think of The Forward news network? i came across them by chance and next thing i knew I'd gotten into their newsletter.

WARNING: I HAVE FINISHED WRITING THIS AND IT'S LONGER THAN I EXPECTED AND ALSO MORE JEWISH THAN I EXPECTED LOL! I have done the most Jewish possible thing I could do and answered all of your questions with questions. I'm sorrryyyyyy! This is what happens when you grow up surrounded by rabbis and future rabbis! LMAOO

Oooh! What a good ask! I love this ask. OK, so! Let's go in order.

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words. And thanking you for backing your words with the action of prioritizing kindness over hatred. It matters. More than I can ever explain. Thank you.

You know, it's funny. People ask me a lot of questions about i/p that they think will have simple and straightforward answers that just don't. And I end up writing a lot of essays because of this. The questions you wrote me seem like they should be complex, but feel relatively straightforward to me.

Now, to your first bullet point: I don't know. I truly do not know. I think that G-d is fundamentally just...G-d, and in so being, G-d is truly unknowable to me. I think many Jews have many different interpretations on why G-d creates evil. I'm no rabbi, but one of my BFFs is and so is her mother and great grandfather. That doesn't give me any kind of authority. It just means I've spent a lot of time thinking about theological questions like this. As for my perspective, I'm a progressive/reform Jew, not a humanistic Jew. I do actually believe in G-d, but I vibe with the community philosophies of Humanistic Judaism a lot. So that's the perspective I'm coming from here:

I'm not a particular fan of the Book of Job, because I think it gets twisted and interpreted in Christian ways more than most Hebrew books and it can too easily be twisted into a "Don't question G-d, because G-d is perfect" narrative that I find to be fundamentally at odds with how I practice Judaism. Also, it's just a very sad story about how a good and kind man lost everything, and it makes me sad to think about. HOWEVER, that traditional "Don't question G-d" narrative is not how I learned to think about that book. The way I learned it, I believe the Book of Job describes this issue most explicitly. After Job loses everything he holds dear and talks to all his friends and begs again and again "Why? Why did G-d do this to me? Why would G-d do this to me when I'm a good person?" And basically G-d hears everyone answering for G-d with various reasons, "Maybe you were bad." "Maybe you should make an offering" Maybe this. Maybe that. And eventually G-d responds from within a storm (paraphrased of course) 'Why the fuck do you think it's your business to know? I made the whole universe! I made everything you see. I made the world that gave you your family in your first place. Why do you think you get to question my motives?'

The way I always interpreted that is: I don't fricking know! It's not really my business. What am I gonna do? Stop G-d? How does my knowing why G-d creates evil help anything? It doesn't mean we don't question G-d. It means we should instead focus on what we CAN control. I can't make 10/7/2023 not happen any more than I could stop The Holocaust or form an ocean. That's divine business, not human business. What I CAN do is make the world better now. What use is it challenging things that we cannot change? Things that are in the past? What's the point of asking why bad things happen when we can instead focus on stopping more bad things from happening. G-d named us his people when Abraham fought with G-d to stop the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham repeatedly asked, "But are you sure? But what if there are 100 good people? 50 good people? 10 good people?" And G-d kept responding, basically, 'I mean, there aren't. I know this cuz of how I'm G-d and know all the things. But knock yourself out looking.' My interpretation of this was that G-d doesn't get mad when we do our utmost to help our fellow human beings. G-d gets mad when we waste our energy that we could be using to help our fellow man to instead be angry and rage futilely against the past. I say this as someone with PTSD as someone who attempted to stop a tragedy from occuring and failed and can never understand why. What informs my trauma and what makes it so hard to get past isn't that G-d allowed it to happen. It's that people did. It's that I begged for help before it happened--over and over and over to dozens of adults in various positions of authority in order to prevent this terrible thing from happening (no, I will not now or ever disclose what that thing is). And all the people who could have helped failed me, and now two people are dead. Because someone did an evil, evil thing. And a bunch of other people let it happen. I'm not mad at G-d. I'm mad at people. And yet, I also know that hating people and finding reasons to dismiss them and despise them is what leads to more tragedies like that happening. So, despite my rage, truly the only thing to do is to love people. It's the only that helps. It's the only thing that repairs the world. It's the only thing that we can control. So, in short, my answer to "Why does G-d create evil?" is "Why should I spend my valuable time on earth trying to answer that question when, instead, I can spend that same exact amount of time asking millions of people, 'How can I help? What's wrong, and how can I help make any part of it better?'?" We don't need to understand G-d to make the world a better place. I'm fine leaving G-d stuff to G-d and spending my time on the human stuff.

Now, your second bullet point. Love their souls. You don't have to love what they've done. But they are human beings, as are we all. I think this can also easily be twisted into the Christian framework of "Hate the sin, love the sinner," but that's not what I mean at all. People's evil deeds are a part of them. They need to take responsibility. There is no divine absolution for crimes that people do unto each other in Judaism. If you harm a person, G-d cannot forgive you for that. Only the person or people you harmed can forgive you. And to a certain degree, we are all defined by our actions toward others. And so, no. I do not forgive the terrorists who woke up and decided to kill a bunch of Israelis and Israeli-adjacent humans. I do not forgive those who celebrate the deaths of Israelis because of some misguided sense of justice. I do not forgive the people who continue to send me hatred and death threats day after day after day after day. And I do not love the parts of them that did and do those horrible, unforgivable things. But my goodness. They were babies once. They either had parents who love(d) them, which is so sad, because they have this life of love and they chose instead to fill it with so much hate. Or they didn't have any parents or loved ones or anyone to guide them and, my goodness. That is so sad. How terrifying and alone that must feel. Maybe they have friends and family who love them and are instead wasting their precious time on this planet directing their energy at raging against me and 15 million other Jews they've never met. Or maybe they don't have anyone who loves them and they think that hating me and harming me will bring them some sense of purpose and joy. What a horrid way to live.

My Grandpa died last year. I have a wonderful family for whom I'm very grateful, and I even have good memories with my Grandpa. But he was not a good person. He came from an abusive home, and weaponized that abuse on his loved ones until he drove them all away. He was a narcissist. Not in the pop psychology sense. But in the actual clinical sense. He ruined every relationship that ever mattered to him--personal and professional. And in the end, because of his own actions, he died alone. He had pushed everyone so far (often with legal threats and action) that when he died, he laid on a slab for weeks because nobody could figure out who to call, because he had no one left. (For reference, Jewish burials are supposed to happen rather quickly and two weeks is...not good.) He was the only person in his generation who was not born in Israel--my family on his side has lived in Israel since looooong before even the British Mandate and he was the only person in his family born and raised in the US. As far as we can tell, the family on that side has been in Israel for as long as Jews have existed. He was religious. And while I've never been to Israel or met any of my family there, he did go. And he kept in touch with his relatives there before driving them away too. He was a wealthy man, but convinced himself that everyone only wanted him for his money and then decided to horde it instead. He left nothing to his children or to me. He left all his money in an endowment to his university--a place that uses that money to fund anti-Israel organizations now. He died alone, without his family that lived nearby, and with a legacy that will now cause active harm to the family that lived far away. He could have died surrounded by the loved ones from around the world who wanted nothing more than to be near him and loved by him. His story is a tragedy. The story of every person who chooses hatred over love is a tragedy. The story of someone who woke up and chose to murder others or to delight in the death of others is a tragedy. I love the soul in the center of these people. I loved my grandfather. I could not be around him. I cannot forgive some of the things he said and did. But I love the person he could have been. I love the part of him that gave me some good memories. I love the family he gave to me.

No, we do not all need to love or forgive those who have wronged us or terrorized us or murdered our loved ones. But that is different from mourning a human soul. From loving the potential of a human soul to do good in the world, and mourning the loss of that soul and its potential. Every human being--every single one no matter what they have done in their lives--has the potential to create goodness and make the world a better place. Every moment of every single day is a new chance to meet that challenge and do our best. Sure, not all of us have it in us to try our best every single moment. Sometimes life is hard and we're sad and tired and hungry and angry. And that's ok, because we have tomorrow, and an hour from now, and a minute from now. But the moment someone chooses to take action and decides that action should be to cause another harm or celebrate the harm that was caused? That's a tragedy. And when a life is extinguished, that is a life that loses its potential to try again and do better. We shouldn't love people because we deem them worthy of love. We should love people because they are people. And so are we. And how wonderful is that? I could choose to hate them. It would be so easy! But why should I do that? What do I gain? What do they gain? And isn't it so wonderful that I chose to love instead? And isn't it so wonderful that you can, too?

As for your final bullet point: I have no preference. I say goyim cuz it's easier for me. Goy/gentile/non-Jew are all fine to me. I have some icky feelings about the word gentile for a variety of linguistic reasons I won't bore you with. But some other people don't like when non-Jews appropriate Yiddish words. Others (including me) find it wonderful when non-Jews call themselves goyim. All my closest non-Jewish people call themselves goyim, including my sister! Non-jew is the most neutral in English and least likely to offend anyone. But it still separates Jews as an other whereas "goy" is a way to distinguishing yourself from Jews while also being an acknowledgment of our culture. As far as I'm concerned as long as a goy is being a goy (ally, positive) rather than a goy (derogatory) I don't mind that they call themselves goyim. LOL! Idk, friend. Do what makes you happy! What do you prefer?!

Regarding The Forward news network: They are a reliable Left-Center source with a high credibility and reporting rating and only one failed fact check in the past five years for which they issued a correction. I would consider them a reliable source. They cover legitimate issues of people who support Palestinan self-determination ostensibly being punished for their stances. They publish Op-eds critical of Netanyahu, who is terrible. And they address how antisemitism is harming diaspora Jews. They seem to consistently emphasize the humanity of everyone, which you can tell based on the rest of my post is very important to me, but they also avoid over-editorializing on news that is not in the Op-Ed section. I'll never endorse any source as perfect or guaranteed to be free of problems or harm or bad takes, but they do seem to make a genuine effort to be factual, clear, and wholly truthful. Note: I highly recommend that everyone installs the Media Bias/Fact Check extension on their web browsers. Get in the habit of checking and evaluating sources critically. It's a skill that will serve you your whole life.

@clawdia-houyhnhnm I hope this helps. And thank you for your thoughtful ask and commitment to intercultural understanding. <3

[newlondohollow]

And after a truly shameful amount of time since the Year of the Snake started, here is that post about Mytha I promised! @hollowwaterfairy and @dwdim5 (it wont let me tag you ive no idea why im so sorry..)Yap stands below the cool fanart.

(By Carsondrewit)

Despite what that misinformation-spreading scoundrel that is Gilligan says, Earthen Peak and Harvest Valley aren't part of Drangleic, but of Alken, the domain of Old Iron King, which makes Mytha the Queen of Alken (i've already mentioned this in the post about mistranslation but istg gilligan saying theyre in drangleic is so stupid like DOES THAT HALF SNAKE HEADLESS LADY LOOK LIKE NASHANDRA TO YOU MY DUDE?)

Either way, Mytha's husband is therefore the guy who's described in every item description as a hedonist, insane ass tyrant, so things aren't exactly looking good for her. In fact, the sorry state this section of Alken is in may very well have been caused by him.

If i recall correctly the game says somewhere that the mines have released toxic waste all over. For it to have spread that much the workers must have continued digging through the initial discharge of toxic matter, and guess who orderded them to do that? Yeah. The dude so obsessed with the metal they were presumably extracting that he has it as his epithet.

Speaking of Iron King, Gilligan actually says something right about him (ignoring that he calls him "prince" that's just mistranslation): that he did NOT love Mytha, and loved someone else instead.

The someone else in question was the Queen of Venn (current Lost Sinner), the post about mistranslation that I mentioned earlier also talks about that whole tragedy so I won't go into it here. Nevertheless, after the Lost Bastille Incident™ it is evident that OIK had completely gone insane, and perhaps this is when Mytha decided to, sadly for her only physically, distance herself from him and settle in Earthen Peak. Wether or not the place was already rotting is entirely up to personal preference of interpretation.

Now, unlike her shit ass husband, Mytha DID love him, and she likely kept loving him through and after his incredibly bad-ended affair. Gilligan is surprisingly useful to us again, and informs us that Mytha was using the poison to make herself more beautiful, in hopes that she'd eventually become good enough for that fucking basta- i mean for her king, to love.

Here in Earthen Peak, Mytha proceeded to also fall into insanity, and do things such as: behead whoever looked at her (mannequin mask desc), possibly force the workers to keep extracting poison for her to use, and apparently send some dudes to attempt to murder goddamn Vendrick or someone else in Drangleic Castle... and ok that last one needs explaining there we go on a tangent.!

Two of her mannequins are there, I'm supposing that she, in her madness, thought that doing that would get her husband's appretiation, seeing he likely despided Vendrick due to the second Lost Bastille Incident ™ (that would be Vendrick conquering the Bastille, i have a tiktok video on that but perhaps i should make a post of it here too).

So, what exactly caused her to go mad? To answer that, we have to take into consideration the effects emotional neglect from a loved one has on one's mental health, a delusional obsession (in Mytha's case that of becoming more beautiful) that shuts away your perception of reality, the Undead Curse overall making everyone paranoid as fuck and the toxic matter itself likely being damaging to the brain. Those are the reasons why Mytha went insane.

At some point however Mytha saw the real effects the poison was having on her and cut her head off, to save it from also being snakeified. As to why the poison had that effect on her alone, there could be many reasons: perhaps she mixed it with something or slightly changed its properties with magic.

Either way, her having turned half snake surely has a symbolic meaning: snakes (in DS and real life) are associated with excessive greed or vanity, which are the abjectives everyone around her, witouth looking into it, would use to describe Mytha.

This character is the DS2 classic of someone destroying and dehumanizing themselves in the name of love. Ironically enough Mytha is a parallel to Vendrick himself, and I will now proceed to go cry in my ds2 hyperfixated corner.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello! A therapist friend of mine is wondering if you have any recommendations for games that have 2 players with a focus on collaboration/teamwork or exploration/socialization. If it's very rules light for their sessions, that would also be super amazing. Thank you!

Theme: Duet Collaborative Games

Hello friend, I’m hoping that I interpreted your request correctly, although I feel like I’ve been able to pull up a good variety of games. I’m also including a link to Lark Brigade’s Itch.io Duet games archive, which you might be able to scroll through for more options.

Lark Brigade’s Archive

Knots in the Sky, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

Knots in the Sky is a quiet, surreal game about a floating labyrinth and a traveller that have waited a long time to find each other. This tabletop role-playing game is designed to be played in a single hour-long session.

I like that this game has one person playing a traveller and one person playing a location - the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth playbook is very descriptive and focuses on world building, answering questions about its architecture and design. The Traveller is focused on exploring the labyrinth, and discovering what is within. This game definitely has the exploration themes that you’re looking for, and looks to be played easily within a short session.

Spaces Apart, by efarrisgames.

Everything was fine until all at once only the two of you were on the shuttle, all at once only the two of you drifting through endless space, all at once only the two of you unsure of where you'll land if you ever land at all.

This is a GM-less game for two players about astronauts stranded in space. Or perhaps it is a game about asexuality, about queerness, about finding where you belong. Things can be many things. 

While the creator made this game as a reflection of their own experiences, I think this game is flexible enough to make it meaningful for whoever plays it. The questions your characters will ask over the course of play might revolve around feelings of guilt, loneliness, regret, companionship and much more. You’ll also meet challenges as a duo, ranging from mechanical failures on the shuttle to negotiating with ghosts on the ship. If you want an intimate experience in the cold darkness of space, this might be the game for you.

shadow / giant by PsychHound.

It don’t matter how you got here. Don’t matter what the destination is. At some point, somehow, against the odds … Shadow felt safe with the Giant. And the Giant, though they mighta sworn off it before … cares for the Shadow. There’ll be threats. Always will be. But, maybe, you can get through. Find safety. Together. As long as it takes to get there. And through those long days, cold nights … the tears, the fears, the fighting … someone, somewhere … might just mistake you for a family. Well. Wouldn’t that be somethin.

Shadow / Giant is a duet roleplaying game about finding care, safety, and family amidst a malicious and unaccepting world. In it, one player will play as the Giant – a gruff and jaded adult who thought their care for the world was long gone – and the other will play the Shadow – a child with magical abilities who now relies on them for protection.

The game is asymmetrical: both child and guardian have different rules they play by, and different ways of interacting with the world. They must work together to rise to the challenges of living in a world that doesn’t seem to want them in it. But both can push their mission to the breaking point. All you want to do is find somewhere safe to go.

Even though the rules for each character are different, neither ruleset is very complicated. The Giant has a set of skills they’ve already acquired, and their chances of success depend on what they have at their disposal and whether or not Shadow is willing to go along with the plan. The Shadow, however, is in flux; their skill fluctuates between being eerie and being soft. This is a game about found family, about struggle in a dangerous world, and about reaching a safe destination. I heavily recommend this game.

Horse and Rider, by SmallRedRobin13.

Horse and Rider is a 2-player game about a horse rider taming, and forming a bond with, their horse. One of you plays the horse, the other the rider.  This game is inspired heavily by various cultures around horse-riding in Australia, from pony club girls to the modern-day cowboy.

The bond between a horseman and their horse is built on trust. Using trust-building mechanics inspired by real-world horse training techniques, two players will work together to build that bond with each other. The horseman will learn the different methods that go into training a horse while the horse reacts to these attempts and will show its growing (or falling) trust as they train together. 

I don’t own this game, so I don’t know exactly what the game covers, but I would expect that you could set up a premise for the game to be something that the horse and rider both need to overcome by learning to trust each-other. The game includes a braiding technique, representing the way a rider might braid their horses’ hair. If you want a game about learning how to interact with another creature, this game might be for you.

Into Blue Midnight, by Kienna Shaw.

The expedition was going so well, but at 3,000 feet below the surface, when the ocean turns from blue to black, everything goes wrong.

Something cracks. Water starts to fill at your feet. The crane at the surface jams. The radio line goes quiet. And now the two of you are alone, only a few layers of steel and a quartz window to keep you from death. You have one hour of oxygen left.

Conserve breath, repair the bathysphere as much as you can, record what you see in the blue midnight of the ocean…and hope that you will see the surface again.

Inspired by the voyage of the bathysphere and the world's first deep sea dive, Into Blue Midnight is a GMless two-player Wretched and Alone game that lets you play out the last hour of two scientists within the bathysphere when everything goes wrong. 

This is a game that comes with a lot of warnings, as it covers themes of death, desperation and despair. You are two members of an underwater expedition that is more likely than not going to kill you. Until that happens though, you will see things in the water around you, and take notes about how they make you feel. You’ll answer questions about who you are and what memories you carry. You’ll answer questions about what is both your sanctuary and your prison, and you’ll answer questions about your relationship with your crew-mate.

This game is designed to play within one hour. It’s about connecting with yourself and the person who you’re trapped with, but it’s also about discovery a new (if dangerous) world. If this game sounds promising, it should be introduced with the full knowledge that your characters are more than likely going to die.

Unfamiliar, by Ash Can Games.

You are a magical creature, a magician’s un-bonded familiar. You have been pulled into the underworld as soon as your magician died; you can feel your attachment tugging you forward, prompting you to journey through the underworld. As you travel, the Underworld will reveal your memories that you lost when you started down here, culminating in a question that your magician will have to answer truthfully once you find them again. What will you choose to do?

Unfamiliar is a 1-4 player storytelling game that uses a tarot or other image-based deck to guide your creature's story. The game also includes the option of playing with a personal talisman that you wish to empower with assuredness and confidence.

I listened to the duet version of this game on Party of One, and it was both touching and magical. Memories are recalled by drawing cards from a tarot deck, and interpreting the images you see. I think this game might be an interesting way to navigate confronting someone after reviewing your history with them, or exploring a relationship that you have, while placing the context in a magical and strange location. If that sounds up your alley, then check out Unfamiliar!

[herefortheships]

Oi tudo bem?

você acha que BJ poderia ter alguma piscopatia ? Veja bem não falo de Lydia e toda aquela polêmica mas sim da maneira que ele mata sua ex é terrível não sei se a palavra pode ser usada aqui então troco por outra ele massacra Dolores e ninguém sabe se ela estáva viva ou não quando acontece aquilo com Dolores ele precisa ter uma grande frieza amo Bj mas não acho que ele seja doce ou anti herói para mim ele é um vilão tô cancelada ?

Hi lovely, since I don't know Portuguese, I used Google translate to answer this one, I hope it's okay! (I do understand Portuguese to some extent reading it, because my native language is Spanish, but to make sure I did understand the question I also translated it with Google translate. I hope I understood correctly!) I'll post the translated answer under the Read More cut, in case the translation is wonky 😅.

I don't think you are wrong in your reading of Betelgeuse as a villain at all, and no, don't worry, you aren't cancelled at all for seeing him that way. It's part of the appeal that he's a wildcard, and also a sleazy, twisted goofball; you never know what exactly he'll do next. He is originally presented as a villain in the first film, too, though a very complex one, as he falls in a gray area. And even though his character seems to have evolved to some extent (even though Tim Burton would probably not admit to it in interviews), into a gentler, less prone to act out kind of character, he still can be unpredictable and wild.

What he did to Delores, though, was something he did in the heat of the moment, but it does reflect he has (or had while he was alive) a deep darkness inside him. He had a rough life, and he thought he finally found happiness. And then he found himself betrayed and used, and the happiness he thought he found was a lie. He was dying, murdered by the first woman he trusted and believed himself in love with in a very long time (he did say his heart had already withered long ago, before he met her). He killed her in cold blood and took his revenge right there before finally collapsing with the poison. One could read his reaction as him being cold-blooded and unhinged, and while that's understandable, he was also deeply hurt and dying. I personally don't think he was ever in love with her; it was more of a lust thing, but of course he did trust her and ended up being taken for a fool, used, and killed. He didn't let her have her way with the ritual, and the entire affair ended bloody.

The way he killed her by hacking her into parts reflects he does have darkness inside him, though I don't think he's prone to explode that way under less extreme circumstances than literally being murdered by the person he had just married.

Whenever Betelgeuse has presumably killed again in both films, he's done it in a goofy, cartoonish sort of way; so while he is completely capable, I don't think he's icy cold as a killer. He could have also killed Rory on the spot, but instead he made him expose his true intentions to Lydia and everyone else present at the church (and made him watch and participate in the wedding afterwards. Better revenge if you ask me 😂 gotta love BJ). So while killing is as easy as a the snap of his fingers to him (he literally just stared at the influencers to trap them in their phones; they may not be dead and gone, but Betelgeuse is that powerful to empty out an entire church of people just by staring at them!) he doesn't appear to resort to killing unless he has to do it either as part of a bioexorcism or to save his butt etc.

Anyway, Beej can be so "adorkable" sometimes, it's easy to forget he's immensely powerful and dangerous.

He may not be really cold-blooded and prone to snap and kill, but that he can be villainous, scary powerful, and willing to kill, there's no question about it. The fun thing with Beej though, is that we can see him as an anti-hero or a villain if we want, and I think both interpretations can be correct. He did heroic actions in the second film that in my opinion placed him in the role of the hero in that film, but his readiness to kill and discard people (like the influencers, whose fates we aren't sure of at the end), and his willingness to sacrifice others for his sake (like he dressed up Bob in his outfit to confuse Delores), makes him more an anti-hero (with solid villainous tendencies) than a hero.

The fact that he's an unpredictable anti-hero (or complex villain, totally valid as well), and yet would never harm those he truly loves, like Lydia and now her family, is part of the great, lovable appeal of Betelgeuse currently. 💜 Let us not forget he could have very easily forced Lydia to marry him at that church despite the code violation, as the immensely powerful demon that he is, and yet, he let her banish him away. He could have also forced himself on her at some point, but always respected her (except that one insta-pregnancy lol but that was an illusion, so does it count? 😅). He could have threatened Astrid to make Lydia accept his terms, too, but Astrid was always safe with him.

Tl;dr: yes, it's totally valid to see him as a complex villain, just as it's valid to see him as an anti-hero. The important thing is, all of that frankly terrifying power that he has, is literally in the palm of Lydia Deetz hands, and we love him for it.

(Portuguese answer below!)

Google translated Portuguese answer (I hope it's correct!)

Não acho que você esteja errado ao ler Betelgeuse como um vilão, e não, não se preocupe, você não está de forma alguma cancelado por vê-lo dessa forma. Faz parte do apelo que ele seja um curinga e também um idiota desprezível e distorcido; você nunca sabe o que exatamente ele fará a seguir. Ele também é originalmente apresentado como um vilão no primeiro filme, embora seja muito complexo, pois cai em uma área cinzenta. E mesmo que seu personagem pareça ter evoluído até certo ponto (mesmo que Tim Burton provavelmente não admitisse isso em entrevistas), para um tipo de personagem mais gentil e menos propenso a atuar, ele ainda pode ser imprevisível e selvagem.

O que ele fez com Delores, porém, foi algo que fez no calor do momento, mas reflete que ele tem (ou teve enquanto estava vivo) uma escuridão profunda dentro dele. Ele teve uma vida difícil e pensou que finalmente encontrou a felicidade. E então ele se viu traído e usado, e a felicidade que pensou ter encontrado era uma mentira. Ele estava morrendo, assassinado pela primeira mulher em quem confiava e por quem acreditava estar apaixonado há muito tempo (ele disse que seu coração já havia murchado há muito tempo, antes de conhecê-la). Ele a matou a sangue frio e se vingou ali mesmo antes de finalmente desmaiar com o veneno. Pode-se interpretar sua reação como sendo de sangue frio e desequilibrado e, embora isso seja compreensível, ele também estava profundamente magoado e morrendo. Pessoalmente, não acho que ele algum dia tenha se apaixonado por ela; era mais uma questão de luxúria, mas é claro que ele confiou nela e acabou sendo tomado por idiota, usado e morto. Ele não a deixou seguir o ritual, e todo o caso terminou sangrento.

A maneira como ele a matou, cortando-a em pedaços, reflete que ele tem escuridão dentro dele, embora eu não ache que ele seja propenso a explodir dessa forma em circunstâncias menos extremas do que literalmente ser assassinado pela pessoa com quem acabara de se casar.

Sempre que Betelgeuse presumivelmente matou novamente em ambos os filmes, ele fez isso de uma forma boba e caricatural, então, embora ele seja completamente capaz, não acho que ele seja um assassino gelado. Ele também poderia ter matado Rory na hora, mas em vez disso o fez expor suas verdadeiras intenções para Lydia e todos os outros presentes na igreja (e o fez assistir e participar do casamento depois. Melhor vingança se você me perguntar 😂 tenho que amar BJ ). Então, embora matar seja tão fácil quanto estalar de dedos para ele (ele literalmente apenas olhou para os influenciadores para prendê-los em seus telefones; eles podem não estar mortos e desaparecidos, mas Betelgeuse é tão poderosa para esvaziar uma igreja inteira de pessoas apenas olhando para elas!) ele não parece recorrer à matança, a menos que tenha que fazê-lo como parte de um bioexorcismo ou para salvar sua bunda, etc.

De qualquer forma, Beej pode ser tão “adorável” às vezes que é fácil esquecer que ele é imensamente poderoso e perigoso.

Ele pode não ter sangue frio e ser propenso a atacar e matar, mas pode ser vilão, assustador, poderoso e disposto a matar, não há dúvida sobre isso. O divertido com Beej, porém, é que podemos vê-lo como um anti-herói ou um vilão, se quisermos, e acho que ambas as interpretações podem estar corretas. Ele fez ações heróicas no segundo filme que, na minha opinião, o colocaram no papel de herói daquele filme, mas sua disposição para matar e descartar pessoas (como os influenciadores, cujos destinos não temos certeza no final), e sua disposição de sacrificar outros por sua causa (como ele vestiu Bob com sua roupa para confundir Delores), o torna mais um anti-herói (com sólidas tendências de vilão) do que um herói.

O fato de ele ser um anti-herói imprevisível (ou vilão complexo, totalmente válido também), e ainda assim nunca prejudicar aqueles que ele realmente ama, como Lydia e agora sua família, faz parte do grande e adorável apelo de Betelgeuse atualmente. 💜 Não esqueçamos que ele poderia facilmente ter forçado Lydia a se casar com ele naquela igreja, apesar da violação do código, como o demônio imensamente poderoso que ele é, e ainda assim, ele deixou que ela o banisse. Ele também poderia ter forçado ela em algum momento, mas sempre a respeitou (exceto aquela gravidez instantânea haha, mas isso foi uma ilusão, então isso conta? 😅). Ele poderia ter ameaçado Astrid para fazer Lydia aceitar seus termos também, mas Astrid estava sempre segura com ele.

Tl;dr: sim, é totalmente válido vê-lo como um vilão complexo, assim como é válido vê-lo como um anti-herói. O importante é que todo esse poder francamente aterrorizante que ele possui está literalmente na palma das mãos de Lydia Deetz, e nós o amamos por isso.

[cheesus-doodles]

Hello, it's been a while since I visited your blog, as the end of school and the beginning of adulthood have taken up more of my time recently. Nevertheless, I'm glad to revisit your blog and see new posts. It brings back memories of the old days when I was in the tokyo revengers fandom, spending weekends reading the manga and some fanfics on tumblr.

I don't think this question has been asked before, but I've always been curious about the personality of the author. I know there are descriptions in your posts, but I'd love to hear more about it in your own words. It seems more intriguing to me.

I'm not sure when you'll read this or what time it is, but I hope you continue to be as creative as you've been. Your posts motivated me to return to writing and develop my talent in that. ♡︎

hello again anon! welcome back to this little corner of the internet, I'm glad to you thought of here enough to return ^^ ahh the transition from school to workplace is definitely not easy, remember to be kind to yourself! super nice ask, yes I most definitely will keep writing as and when I have time, and I'm super happy to hear that my rants into the abyss have motivated you :) take care of yourself anon!

Also if I'm interpreting this correctly, I think you're asking about the personality of the reader? Do let me know if I'm wrong though, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have!

Masterlist

A Friend in Me: Chapters 1 | 2‎ | 3

‎

‎

I have done the personality of Boss from the Red Dragonflies AU here previously, so I'll talk more about the nameless reader from A Friend In Me/Going Home here!

I always imagined reader to be this rather socially awkward and emotionally sensitive individual, yet very friendly and easygoing person. Its not like you don't want to have friends - its not easy being the outcast in school, having to be the one looking in all the time and knowing that you weren't going to be picked for teams during physical education class, having to eat lunch alone. Not because the rest of your classmates and schoolmates hate you per se(before the arrival of your Toman boys and their interferrence, at least), but rather because barely anyone knows you exist.

You have never been very good at putting yourself out there despite wanting to know people and make friends, and when you do, you're always nervous and anxious. And this would lead to you believing that even the mere act of reaching out to others makes you a burden. You can't quite trust others on their word even when they were happy to make friends with you, continuing to think that they're putting on an act out of sympathy for you, and at the end of the day, you're simply troubling them.

Of course your confidence increases by leaps and bounds after meeting your Toman boys and seeing that you are actually capable of being sociable and putting yourself out there, and even after the same delinquents you called friends stripped you of your newfound confidence around your schoolmates, this doesn't deter you from attempting to find your own way in the world, much to the boys' chagrin.

In general, you would also be a pretty carefree and easygoing for the most part, happy to just be included in whatever that is going on. The reader I have in my mind when writing is always up for anything that her boys suggest, and despite your rather quiet nature, your sense of adventure hasn't been lost. Be it motorcycle rides in the middle of the night, or something more gut-sinking like watching the boys spar, you never really said no. And though you said you were okay with it, the Toman founders would try never to pick a fight in front of you - god only knows how you would react and they wouldn't want to have to deal with that.

Most definitely an easily manipulated person, you rely heavily on the emotions of the people around you to try and tell if you are being a good friend and if they liked you enough to keep you around. Which makes you susceptible to being influenced by the merest suggestion of unhappiness or anger at your actions, falling over yourself to correct yourself in a bid to stop that friend from leaving you. Even when you do eventually start to stand up for yourself - e.g. when you have someone to defend - enough pressure usually can still get you to fold like a wet paper towel, and it would be interesting to find out when you will finally draw the line.

It is pretty unfortunate that being the pushover you are is part of the reason why the yandere Toman boys like you so much (because you do whatever they want without complaint and pamper them in return for the bare minimum), so it will be a balancing game to try and prevent temper flaring; these are delinquents that you are dealing with at the end of the day, and even if they would hesitate to turn their fists directly at you, the darling of their world, everyone else around you is free real estate the moment you start misbehaving in their eyes. And boy, it'll be a matter of whether you give in first, or someone dies first.

[bluethepineapple]

If Harry had told Ron and Hermione about Snape's Worst Memory, what would their reaction have been?

Sorry for the delay anon! Here are my thoughts!

RON:

I think he will come swinging in defense of James and his friends - but especially James. Not only does he heavily dislike Snape in general, Ron also responds most keenly to Harry's emotional state. He will sense almost immediately just how bothered Harry is by seeing his father act in such a manner, and he will move to comfort him by arguing for why James did what he did and how Snape may have deserved it anyway.

Ron's sense of justice is also very relationship-driven and immediate. Minus the obviously immoral things, he has to see and know the person themself and their plight before it moves him, especially if he starts from a position of dislike. The fact that he doesn't see the memory at all is important then. It means that that bullied Snape is not actually a reality for him, only a hypothetical. All the misery he has had to endure because of him would color his judgment, and he would give that (along with Harry's distress over his father) more weight than a far-off story.

You add the fact that Snape called Lily "mudblood" even after her attempts to help him and it would mean he would come swinging in favor of James.

HERMIONE:

Hermione is a bit more complicated. Her first concern would be (like in canon) that Harry no longer has occlumency lessons. She is a pragmatist and is a problem-solver before she is a caretaker. Not having any more occlumency lessons would be what would strike her as the bigger priority because this leaves Harry vulnerable, and she understood far earlier than he did how dangerous those visions are.

On the memory itself, James's actions would horrify her. Her sense of justice is such that the sheer violence of the attack and Snape's helplessness would make an impression on her. Her sense for power imbalances is strong, and she never fails to advocate for the weaker party when called to question. In this case, her personal feelings for Snape (which are complicated in their own right with or without this memory) are immaterial in her judgment. He is very obviously the victim in this scenario, and she would feel for him.

I do think though that she would sense Harry's discomfort, and she would try to comfort him. But Hermione is a bad liar and cannot hide her feelings well. Her silences would be loud, and Harry would, nonetheless, interpret them correctly as her judgment over his father.

On the use of mudblood, I don't think she would be all that surprised tbh. She already knows that he was a Death Eater, so his bigotry wouldn't be all that shocking to her I don't think. It would certainly not be enough to overcome the fact that he is currently fighting against Voldemort on their side and that Dumbledore trusts him wholeheartedly. She would honor this change, and she wouldn't hesitate to remind Harry and Ron of this should it come to that.

(Tangentially, OotP is crucially the year she spends advocating for Kreacher, even as he called her a mudblood as much as he could. For as much as this is a slur against her, she does not react very strongly to it (Harry and Ron often has more violent reactions to this word being used against her). She is not yet at a point where "mudblood" feels quite so personal or frightening. The oppression she experiences is not quite integrated to her psyche. I don't think this changes much - I doubt her reaction to Snape would change all that much even if she did take it more personally - but it is worth noting where her feelings on "mudblood" are at this point in time.)

CONCLUSION:

Basically, Ron's approach to justice is very relational and emotional while Hermione's is much more cerebral and big-picture. Ron's feelings about Snape and his desire to comfort Harry would lead him while Hermione would set her (and Harry's) feelings aside to look at the situation more objectively.

Hope this answers your question anon!

[immortaltale]

is it me or i think no one is acc taking what is happening with guardiola seriously ? like first his head scratches and him saying he wants to hurt himself, how he answers in press conferences like someone is holding a gun to his head, his marriage fell apart and the way he was just crashing out at ortega vs brentford. but still everyone is treating it as a joke like ??i genuinely think this man should just retire atp

hahah first of all thanks for the ask!

i think you're right in that people tend not to interpret pep correctly most of the time - a lot of times he says things seriously and people assume he's joking, or he makes a joke and people assume he's serious. for the "harm myself" thing, i was actually quite concerned around that time (luckily there was a group of people around social media who were too), but i think the PR statement his team released the day after that assuaged most people's fears since they were then able to brush off his words as a joke.

for what it's worth (me as an armchair psychologist or whatever), the cut on his nose does seem to have been an accident, but i still think that his head-scratching (which has occurred multiple times since that feyenoord game) is a compulsion which is probably not the most healthy thing to say the least. it probably can be classified as a more minor form of self harm, but again because its minor, people are more willing to let it go as a "spur of the moment" thing.

for the press conferences, i think you're correct that he probably doesn't enjoy them, but i think he's also aware that it's part and parcel of his job. i think they're probably made even worse when your team is on a bad run of form and you're forced to answer all these negative questions - it would make you feel worse as well. tbh i wouldn't describe it as "gun to his head" but the other week i did actually go back to a presser from last season and was surprised at how much more light was in his eyes, lol.

as for his marriage: i don't want to speculate Too much on rumors, but both the original article and follow-up reports said that he and cris are still on good terms, and that it was more them growing apart than anything. of course it will still take a toll on you to change something that has been part of your life for 30+ years, but i think (and hope) that because it was amicable he will be okay eventually.

and i didn't see the ortega brentford moment, but i saw in pep's post match presser he had only compliments for ortega. i'm sure pep knows that city still aren't entirely out of the mud yet, so he's very on edge about the results, and maybe his interactions with the players reflect that.

this is a whole lot of words to say really nothing, so i'll sum it up i suppose. i do think pep is most likely tired. i won't forget that in the summer he basically thought this was going to be his last season at city, but then injuries and their bad form hit, and he signed his contract extension. i think pep feels the responsibility to bring them out of this rut, and he also has enough love for the club to not abandon them in a shithole, so he renewed. it probably is even tougher on him now, but he is the type to stay determined and get through it no matter what, even if it hurts him.

my hunch? city have seemingly already started to work on their rebuild, which pep will oversee through the 25/26 season. if he is satisfied with where the team is after that point, he will probably feel assured that he can finally leave. definitely not getting this trajectory from a certain other manager...

[somenamewithepineapple]

✨G’day, mate! It’s ya buddy, HEX anon again!✨

Thank you for your amazin’ reply to my previous message. Am I right to believe that Silrah being (like) a married couple is your headcanon as well as how you view their relationship? I kind of put two questions in one but got one answer for those, so I’m not entirely sure I understood that correctly 😅.

Now, I got some new questions for ya:

Could you tell me your top 3 in fic genres?

Would you prefer a fic with just Farah and Saul, or could I potentially add some side characters? If I can, are there any you wouldn't want in there?

What are your feelings about Farah’s nap? Are you a “fixing it with a resurrection” gal, or a “she’s been alive all this time” gal?

How do you think Christmas is celebrated in the Other World? Is it still called Christmas? And which member of our beloved Silrah pair would be most likely to act like a Scrooge? Or would neither of them?

Please be as elaborate as you'd like, I’m here to get to know you and figure out what would be the best present for you, so I need all the information I can get! Give me aaaaall the brain rot, don’t hold back 😀

Just for fun: Tea or coffee? Fairy lights or candles? Paper book or ebook?

See ya! Yeehaw! 🤠

I see someone is checking the event channel on discord. Blink twice if you're currently online :D

Yes. you're right. I mean I also did give one answer to two questions so I'd say I definitely see their relationship in the show as something like a soulmate bond (ugh this is so cheesy but whatever) and my headcanon would be that while they're not married, they basically have been behaving like a married couple for the last 30 or so years. They themselves probably don't even know if they're married or not because you know it's been so long and who knows what they signed when they got drunk at the campfire together? They certainly don't.

My top 3 are: (no particular order btw, I don't have a favourite child)

Enemies to Lovers babey whoohooo (is that a genre? I don't think so but I am also known for interpreting questions however the fuck I want so I'm sorry for misinterpreting your question to tell everyone how much I love this kind of fanfic lol)

AUs (the possibilities as well as the "I will love you in every life" gooooodness how beautiful is this? Am I right??)

Angst (but not the sad ending please don't kill anyone it's Christmas!!! however I'm always in for some drama and I'm 1000% certain Farah tried to hide all her severe injuries from Saul because there were more important matters according to her which resulted in Saul trying to gently tell her that a stab wound is in fact a matter of importance)

You can totally add however many side characters you want as long as it is not Dane (who the fuck is Dane anyway?)

Farah's nap... honestly I can do both, although I'd rather lean towards "She's been alive all along" because I refuse to believe in stupid/boring deaths. Also S2-Saul's non-reaction supports my theory

I know I know Christmas is a first-world holiday but what about mulled wine and fairy lights and christmas trees? So while I think they probably don't celebrate Christmas (or maybe became a thing some years ago) I always pictured the otherworld having some sort of winter solstice and new year's celebration with loads of cringe family dinners and gift-panicking and kissing under the mistletoe. What should I say, I'm a romantic. And speaking of romantics, I can picture Farah as an accidental Scrooge-Grinch but without the "messing up the holiday for everyone else" part. Of course our dear Saul would make it his mission to make her enjoy the days.

I hope my brain rot was helpful!

And:

Tea and coffee, depending on my mood and sometimes both at once

Fairy lights probably, mostly because I don't have to get a lighter for them but I want both on my Christmas tree! Because real candles are the real deal!

Paper books 100% except for when I'm travelling because that's when ebooks are more convenient.

Hasta the next time, HEX anon 😊☄️

[miss-littevi]

Hiyaaaa!

I'm just going to pop in with all the asks because I think your characters are adorable, and I'd love to hear more about them.

Answer for whichever characters you like, even your cyberpunk ones! I just like to enable people to chit chat about their OCs.

So, I have all the prompts, I look forward to reading it!

♥ - family headcanon

♡ - romantic headcanon

∇ - old age/aging headcanon

Hello and welcome to my inbox. Thank you for your interest in all my OCs. I decided to stick to my FFXIV-OCs for now 😊

The answers are in (post got a little bit longer but that's okay I hope ^^):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ - family headcanon (for Yorina)

Yorina is the mother of a little son, Florent. He was born towards the end of Shadowbringer and after his birth it became incredible hard for Yorina to leave home to do whatever the Warrior of Light has to do. In consequence, she showers little Florent with love, attention, and gifts whenever she is at home and became one of those “I can’t see my child cry for more than 2 minutes”-moms faster than she could notice it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♡ - romantic headcanon (for Yorina)

When you think about romantic people, Yorina wouldn’t be the first person that comes to your mind. But the people who know her better, especially Aymeric - her husband – know she has a romantic side that shines through when they are alone, watching the night sky. Those quiet moments under the open sky when no one except her loved one is around, are her version of a perfect date.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♡ - romantic headcanon (for Ilmie)

Ilmie can get really flirty and seductive if she wants to, but she wouldn’t call that romantic by default. For her, ‘romantic’ is the intimate familiarity and closeness “when the show is over and the spectators are gone”, when “songs and souls mingle”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

∇ - old age/aging headcanon (for Yorina – because I still haven’t decided on what will happen in Ilmie’s life after the current MSQ ^^’’)

The thought of aging and growing old frightens Yorina so she tries her best to not think about it. She loves to travel the world, visit archaeological excavation sites (what a word… hope I looked it up correctly xD) and ruins, salvage antiques. She has no idea how she could live a happy life once her body will be too old and/or weak to do all those things she loves dearly. Living a life as an old noble lady, sitting in front of the fireplace in her ishgardian residence, gossiping with other old ladies of the nobility, is unthinkable for her by now. (don’t know if I interpretated the prompt/question right, but that is the answer for now)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you again for the asks and I hope you enjoy the answers I could give you <3

I enjoyed answering them, that much I can say 😊 (even though I am not sure all my words make sense for somebody who isn't inside my head ^^'')

[empressofthewind]

Would female Near perceive her feelings for Mello as being an intense want of being fem Mello's friend? Would fem Mello see Near's attempts of getting close to her as Near just wanting to be friends?

Thank you for the ask!

To me, there are two layers to this question. First I’ll give my reading of the characters based on how they appear in the series, then I’ll answer the fem aspect.

Near is portrayed as someone who is very in control of himself. On account of that, I imagine he is self-aware when it comes to his internal thoughts and feelings, and he uses that insight to manage their influence on his behaviour. It’s also stated in Volume 13 that he’s sensitive, which I think is true to an extent, but he allows himself the time to process his emotions to limit how much they affect him.

As a result, I see him as the kind of person who would rarely misinterpret his own feelings. If he feels any kind of attraction to Mello, he will either recognise it immediately or spend some time reflecting on that feeling and what it means. Point being, I think he’d be aware that his feelings are romantic in nature.

On the other hand, Mello frequently misinterprets Near’s behaviours, and is less inclined to engage in extensive self-reflection. He believes Near is arrogant and thinks of everyone, especially Mello, as less than himself (case in point, Mello believing Near saw him as a tool in the confrontation at the SPK HQ). On account of the fact that Near doesn’t have any friends as is, I don’t think his immediate assumption would be that Near wants to be his friend, but rather that by trying to get close to him, Near is taunting him or attempting to sabotage him somehow so Near can stay number one.

In addition to all of this, because of Mello’s insecurities, he doesn’t like to think that he could be wrong about anything, so there’s very little chance he’d pick up on signs that Near isn’t actually the cruel, cunning villain Mello thinks he is. He’d find ‘proof’ in every interaction that his skewed interpretation is correct, and ignore all evidence to the contrary.

Then there’s the matter of whether them being female changes any of this.

Personally, I tend to imagine the main thing that changes in this instance is how they are treated by others, but that fundamental aspects of their characters would remain. How they experience and perceive their own emotions are key aspects of both characters, as well as one of the main differences between them. How Mello interprets Near’s feelings towards him is an important element that shapes many of their interactions. And of course, the inferiority complex has to stay, otherwise Mello becomes a completely different character.

I feel I should also acknowledge the tendency for sapphic women to interpret attraction to women as a strong desire to become friends with them (something I have also experienced myself). It’s hard to answer how much this would play a role given that it comes from an ingrained belief that straight is the default, so it depends on how much that belief was pushed by Wammy’s, but this is something I see more realistically impacting Mello than Near. I could still see Near correctly identifying her feelings despite this.

So in short, I think everything I mentioned above would still apply. Female Near would be equally as calm and controlled as her male counterpart, and definitely no more outwardly emotional, so she’d recognise the romantic nature of her feelings. Mello would woefully misinterpret everything Near says and does, and would likely jump to the conclusion that Near’s affection towards her is part of some evil plot.

Having said all of this, one thing that may change this is their ages; Mello being more mature or having spent more time with Near may help her better understand Near. I find it unlikely that she’d assume Near has feelings for her, but she may assume that Near wants to be her friend.

Hope this answers your question!

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

So… I’m in a relationship with a man. I’ve only recently started getting into radical feminism over two years into our relationship. The biggest issue is that he is muslim, and I am a bisexual female, and an atheist of course. He has always treated me fairly throughout our relationship. He doesn’t watch porn, he agrees with my position (and reasoning for that position) on it and sex work, along with most radical feminist beliefs actually. However, obviously, as Islam dictates, he is against homosexuality. I have told him that him being against homosexuality is the same thing as me being against Islam, which I know deep down it isn’t, as religion is a choice, whereas sexuality isn’t. He also tries to tell me that Islam is not truely sexist and that men simply use it as an excuse’ to be sexist.

I know the obvious answer is to leave, but I don’t think I am financially or medically in a position to do so. As well as this, it is hard to throw away two years of love as I hope you can be empathetic with. He helps with the cooking, does almost all of the cleaning, we both are interested in the same hobbies, other than his religion, I genuinely believe he is the best mate possible for me. He has told me that he never expects me to convert and will not force me to veil or anything even after marriage, but it’s still the fact that he believes i’m going to hell that I can never seem to get out of my mind.

I’m sorry that this got kind of ranty, but I was just wondering if you have any advice at all other than ‘just leave him’? If not it’s okay but if you do I would appreciate it so much.

Hi anon, thanks for the question! It’s a challenging one. I’m going to opt not to comment on your partner’s beliefs, opinions, or actions, and just focus my attention on you. I’m also going to respect your request not to suggest ending your relationship.

If I’ve interpreted this correctly, you’ve been with your partner for two years. Within that time you’ve become, to some extent, financially and medically dependent on your partner. I believe all women should aim to be as independent as we can be, and when we need to depend on others (as all people do) to aim to avoid being dependent on men, particularly male significant others. This is because that dependence hinders or prevents your ability to leave the relationship if that did become necessary. Also, even if you remain in this relationship for the rest of your life, becoming tied together isn’t healthy and puts pressure on both of you and your relationship.

With this in mind, my recommendation to you would be to try and regain your capacity for independence, and/or redistribute necessary dependence to a broader group. Obviously you’re the only one who can know what that looks like, but it might involve looking at your income and outgoings and making small changes, looking into the available evidence on your health concerns to see if there’s anything you could be doing to self-manage or improve them, or enlisting elements of support from (chosen) family or friends rather than your partner.

It sounds like you two are living together, but aren’t married yet. If your relationship continues long-term, I’d suggest holding off on marriage for as long as you can, both so you can be sure you want to do it and so you can investigate how you can maintain your independence within that legal/religious structure. Also, so you can be sure you are able to leave in a good position should that become necessary at some future stage.

A relationship should be a choice freely made and maintained, and the only way a choice can be made is to have multiple choices available. I feel you should work to maximise the choices you have available to you, so you know your choice is freely made. I hope this is helpful, and good luck!

[genshinemblem564]

I am curious who is your favorite oc in feh.

I don't really think about favorites often, they just happen, so I'll list the ones that stand out and the reasons they do so. Sorry I couldn't answer your actual question, I hope this will suffice.

• Alfonse: His reason for remaining distant from summoned heroes was understandable. Just because they're here now doesn't mean anything. They will eventually have to return to their worlds and fulfill their roles. After learning about Zacharias however, my heart broke. He's self isolating due to trauma and grief, Anna and Sharena are hurt too, but he took it the hardest by a mile, and it's only made worse after the reveal. I never wanted a character to be real just to give them a hug more in my life, our boy needs that hug bad.

• Bruno: Man is loyal to the end. He fakes his death, takes on a new identity, and tries to get his best friend to kill him because of a curse on his family's blood where he's not in control of his own actions, all the while searching for a way to lift said curse for the sake of his sister.

• Veronica: I was always confused about how loneliness leads to wanting to destroy a nation, but after Bruno's explanation, I believe her actions may not be her own. This is only proven further by Brave Veronica since she holds no animosity towards the summoner, and now I just feel bad for her. Also, I love how Xander joins her willingly for the reason that she reminds him of Corrin. I think my teeth rotted from too much sweetness.

• Fjorm: Her story is a sad one from start to finish, and she still has the strength to press forward. Unless I missed an event, I'm fairly certain her contract with the summoner is the only thing keeping her alive, as I believe it's stated in game that Breidablik can revive heroes, even ones not summoned if I've interpreted the light's blessing mechanic correctly.

• Laegjarn: She is such a great character. She spent every day fighting to survive Muspell's cruelty using her smarts rather than her brawn. She was never as cruel as her father, only seeking combat because it's an order, wishing for peace between the nations of fire and ice. Even in her final moments, she thinks only of her sister's safety.

• Helbindi: Typical meat head, that's what I thought at first, I was DEAD WRONG. From his motivations for fighting to his betrayal of Surtr, he is a phenomenal and tragic character. I also headcanon that he acts as a second older brother to Ylgr, at least I think it's a headcanon, I can't remember if that's their in game dynamic or not.

• Lif: I haven't played book III yet, so I can't say much other than "I like his design." I mostly try to avoid spoilers unless I'm researching for my writing.

As for FEH original characters beyond book III, I know next to nothing about them, as I've been playing in a linear fashion, despite not needing to. I actually beat book II on my first account, but it wasn't linked to my Nintendo account, so it didn't carry over, but that's why I'm able to give my opinion on book II original characters, in case you were wondering after what I said for Lif.

Regarding Fjorm's section, FEH is honestly almost as bad as Genshin when events are involved. The only thing making them better is that you can rewatch event cutscenes, but only ones you unlocked or that occur naturally, such as openings and endings. I know Fjorm has one regarding the rite she underwent, but I forget its name and category.

[jiminsass-istant]

"But I really feel that to understand jikook, you have to look at them from a best friend POV first. How much they mean to each other. Then these kind of gestures like the tattoo and GCF T wouldn't be such huge topics of discussion.

Would I make a video of my bestie with a romantic song in the background ? Sure!"

Previous anon here again. What you just said remembered me of a convo I had with my boyfriend about Jikook. He’s not an Army per se but likes some of their songs and he’s watched some content with me over the years, especially Run episodes. I ask his opinion about Jikook from time to time when something new drops because tbh I tend to trust guys pov way more on this issue. He’s more convinced that I am than Jikook have a thing, it’s not really a question for him he usually just say "it’s obvious". I prefer to leave some place to doubt personally. GCF in Tokyo was one of the things that got him so sure about them. I’m probably over generalizing but I think it comes from differences between how men and women navigates their friendships. I could make a cute vlog about my best friend with a romantic song in the background and people would mostly think it’s cute, but two guys doing the same? Most people would find it ‘sus’. Hence the fandom’s general attitude regarding Jikook imo. Not that guys can’t be close to their bestfriend and if they are they’re automatically dating but in the realm of male friendships it is mostly perceived that way it seems. My boyfriend has no problem being touchy with his guy friends and flirting as a joke but there’s some boundaries they would never cross, like making a vlog with a romantic song in the background lol. For the most part I think male and female friendships vary and unfortunately guys have less ‘freedom’ in that department, if that makes sense. I’m not sure I’m explaining my opinion correctly, I think there’s much more to say about this but I would go off topic probably. And I guess I could get canceled saying more as this isn’t exactly in alignement with today’s populars opinions, probably.

Sorry I'm a bit late to this ask. I really liked your POV and wanted to read it properly before answering. You are right that men and women view friendships differently. And if we add the skinship difference in cultures, then again people view things differently. For example, when I got into kpop first, the skinship between male idols was very new to me. I didn't find it sus, but it made me raise eyebrows sometimes. Over time, i understood that it was common behaviour. But if a guy friend from my community sees a skinship compilation they would just go " that's hella sus or hella gay".

I guess what you are trying to say is that filming your guy friend and adding a romantic bgm is a big deal for guys more than it is among girl besties. So you do admit GCF tokyo was romantic, right? Lol. I hope so, because to me it was. And also to the countless locals in the comments. Because let's call a duck, a duck. It's art and free to interpret and most of us interpreted it as romantic.

Also, aren't we viewing things from a gender binary perspective, here? I wish I had more exposure to all perspectives.

I just find it very amusing and endearing that jk had no problem with his work being seen that way. Feel free to share your POV anon, you won't be cancelled as long as you are polite. Get behind me.

[canayams-art]

yikes ik it's been a while, and trust me ive been meaning to talk more about qianqing, but the uni exams started and now i FINALLY found some free time (and a sticky note at the back of my brain reminding me) to talk 😭

also before anything SEASON 2 LOOKS SOOOO FREAKING GOOOD!! like in absolutely in love with mq and i thought i couldn't love him more but i was fortunately proven wrong ! also it dragged me back into fengqing so there's that hensndkeknd it only took few hot shots of fx and yeah i hate that i love them again but i do and there's nothing i can do about it but accept 😔✊ I HAD SUCH HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR LQQ AND HE MET EVERY ONE OF THEM SJDJDJD HE LOOKS SO BABY and speaking of him, im sooooo curious what was your favorite lqq scene??

you seem to have read my thoughts when you answered my last ask because THOSE WERE EXACTLY THE SCENES I IMAGINED THEM IN!! mq nagging lqq about paperwork, friendly sparring, lqq sticking around mq during events in the heaven iejejekejej gods i wish i have more time so i can write something for them because this hasn't stopped itching my brain for weeks 😭

i also raise you that they go on missions together, because once mq gets comfortable and once he notices that lqq keeps inviting him, even if he doesn't need the help, he would invite lqq simply for the company!

lqq meeting fy on his purse of revenge could go into sooo many different directions!! like does lqq figure out fy is out on defending mq's name quest and is conflicted because he wants to help but also killing qr takes priority rn? does he try to convince fy to work together?? now i wanna explore every crevice of that meeting and make like thousands fics for it!!

(it's not out of the question, ive done aus out of my own aus! im sure if i find the time i could do this as well😭)

the thing about qiurong for me, as it is with many ships in big fandoms, it feels very forced ig by the fandom? i don't think im wording it correctly, but for me i usually don't end up liking many of those ships because it feels like people would just smush two characters together because they ran out of characters they can pair them with. and it's not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case the most im seeing from qiurong is fluffy family aus, which would never come to mind for me when i think about qr and lqq in a room together. again not a bad thing, not a bad ship, but personally not my cup of tea.

i do have to admit tho, im always kinda leaning towards more canon characterization, so i do have a particular tastes in ships i do ship and in definitely not one of the people who would read anything they can from the ships i like. so i think i wouldn't have gave up so quickly on quirong if i found something that suits my taste, because i do like both of their characters separately.

EXPLORING THE SIDE CHARACTERS RELATIONSHIPS IS ALWAYS THE BEST PART IN ANY FANDOM FOR ME!!! especially as someone whose faves are usually the side characters lol the creativity and the freedom of interpretation, diving deeper into them and putting them into situations and having to think about how they would act in them sjsjjsjd makes me crazy every time!

IVE SEEN YOUR LQQ/SQX ART AND OMG I WAS KICKING MY FEET ON MY BED LIKE A KID! EJJEJEEJ IT WAS SOO PRETTY!! GENUINELY LIVED IT! 😍😍😍

WELCOME BACK QIANQING ANON!! Best of luck with your exams! Make sure you find time to take breaks and rest your brain when you can!

For real though season 2 has been such a treat so far— visually stunning and so fun to watch. I know what you mean about sinking back into fengqing hell while watching it. I’ve been in the same position— once you go fengqing you can never leave fengqing. They’re still so important to me 🥹🥹🧡

ALSO LQQ IS JUST AS ENDEARING AND CHARMING AS I HOPED HE WOULD BE. The way he’s so expressive and always so honest— he wears his feelings at all times and it’s always been one of my favorite qualities of his. Also asking me to choose a fav lqq scene is cruel— I love them ALL!!! From his intervention in the gambler’s den and subsequent fight with Hua Cheng, to the way Xie Lian still wrangles him like they’re still teacher & student, to lqq’s “if I hadn’t stepped in, nobody else would,” to the anger and pain in his voice as he broke his own arm to make a fair duel against xl,,,,, there’s so many good scenes!!!!

I’m bouncing all of these qianqing scenarios around in my head but I’m also especially intrigued by a fy & lqq encounter. If lqq was already close with mq when he was put under house arrest, I don’t know if lqq would be able to ignore that— even if he was still hellbent on revenge against qr. Maybe lqq doesn’t recognize mq in fy’s form— his decision to help would come across as so much more sincere like that, I think. Mq isn’t even present but lqq— who is still so jaded by his own quest— still thinks so highly of mq,,,,,,, I think mq would be taken aback by the gesture. Meanwhile lqq knows what it’s like to be wronged and want to set things right— he can empathize.

I’m shaking your hands on the qiurong sentiments— again, I think it’s fun for people to explore ships however they want. I don’t really like it so I don’t really engage with it. They don’t scratch the right type of enemies to lovers tropes that I usually like and that’s okay! I’ll be peddling my lqq content off in the corner while people have fun in their spaces.

I think it’s okay and important to be selective about how you enjoy your media! Not every piece of art or fic was made to be universally enjoyed and that’s okay! Personally I’m with you on focusing on characterization— If I feel like my silly lil guys would not say the words being put in their mouths then usually I put what I’m looking at down and move onto something else.

We’re alike in side character enjoyment too LMAO. Not to analyze it too hard but— for me at least— I think it comes down to how much they have or have not been explored and the intrigue that comes with that possibility. In more deranged words: they’re chewier! It’s like you said— it’s fun to try and figure out how they would behave in unwritten scenarios.

I’m glad you liked my autumn wind piece!!! I’d never drawn sqx before so that was exciting. I’ve been quietly enjoying people’s reactions to it while hiding so many other lqq rarepair ideas in my pockets 🤫😂