#i used the extremes of the ranges but you can also use the younger end which puts him at 24 and that would be crazy

[gemkun]

one thing that has pestered me for a while is the subject of ratio's age and his birthday. the latter isn't as important so i will focus on the former.

i think most people agree he's somewhere in his 30s or later but after reading these it got me thinking what if he is in fact younger. he proved professor rond's conjecture in middle school which as the mathematician's letter also states is the time veritas was recommended to the university of veritas prime. he also explicitly mentions that ratio learns at a staggering speed which could hint at the equation being solved roughly around his earlier years of high school which puts him around 14 — 15 if we use china's middle school education system. so , let's say he was enrolled at 15.

from here , i believe he went beyond and partook in several doctorates at once which is actually possible it is just unthinkable and highly inadvisable. but veritas ratio took on the challenge and earned a title that had been unclaimed for two amber eras. if this is the case , then the second message and looking at the user id must indicate that veritas had been present for 10 years at the university — as a student and as a teacher. he would have achieved his doctorates 6 — 8 years after his admission into university and since he was directly eligible to teach , we can say he has been teaching for 2 years since he was a ta prior to this and was notorious as an assistant alone. which puts him at an age of 25 years old.

this means that with his accolades and numerous achievements , he is only in his mid — 20s.

[dropthedemiurge]

Love for Love's Sake | Things You Didn't Notice #3 | Learning Korean with the boys

I have (barely) emotionally recovered after the ending of this series, and so I'm back with my usual translation notices and cultural specialties posts ^^ Long post ahead!

// Read previous posts with translations & comments I pointed out //

This time I'll look at the Episode 3 [Yeowoon's Affection level from 0 to -99]. Disclaimer: I'm not fluent in Korean but I've been learning it for years and I've lived and studied in Korea for a while. However, in particular Sangwon and Sia annoyed me so much this episode because their banter is so funny but I cannot decipher their wordplay 100% by ear without KR subs so I have to skip over their dialogues %)

Anyway, there's still some fun language stuff to point out!

- "You're late, Senior (hyung)" - "Senior? (Sunbae?)"

Fun fact: Sangwon, who's the same year as Yeowoon, addresses Myungha as "hyung". Meanwhile Yeowoon addresses Myungha only as "sunbae". Hyung is a term guys call their older male friends (if you're familiar with Thai BLs as well, it's same as "Pi"), meanwhile gender-neutral sunbae means senior, someone who's been longer than you in the industry or some institution (like school).

If I remember correctly, Yeowoon keeps calling Myungha 'sunbae/senior' until the very end of the show. Even when they are sleeping over in the same house after school hours, Yeowoon doesn't call Myungha hyung but sunbae only. In Korea, you use titles or formal full names to people older than you or acquaintances, and you usually use names with the people younger than you. That's why, if you think about it, there wasn't a moment in show when Yeowoon says Myungha's name :D Only sunbae. And that's normal. (this is also why Myungha never mentions Writer sunbae's name at all)

Also, we'll return to Myungha's usage of Yeowoon's name a bit later.

"Keep doing it if you want to die young, Sangwon-ah." "*gasp* You call me by my name when you're mad?"

But Sangwon is talking to Myungha in a very familiar way, using 'hyung' instead of 'senior' every time, making it feel like they are friends (and most of their interaction this episode revolves around Sangwon trying to make Myungha talk to him like a close friend as well xD).

Why is Sangwon so thrilled every time Myungha calls him by his name? Because there are many other Korean words you can use for people, especially if you're angry with them (ranging from the impolite 'this guy' to swearwords). But every time Myungha gives a casual warning to Sangwon who's annoying him, he still says "Sangwon-ah", which is how you'd call your younger friend who's just being a brat. No wonder Sangwon keeps pushing Myungha to get his attention and affection^^

On the topic of names and intonation: I noticed Myungha uses aegyo (acting cute) often when he talks to his grandma. However, with other school students, like I mentioned in my previous language posts, most of the time his speech feels like a patronizing talk of a 29-y.o. adult.

But! I found that one scene when Myungha is deliberately using aegyo with Yeowoon! The reason for it is that Yeowoon finally responded and wanted to meet up after avoiding him for so long, and Myungha is extremely excited.

"Yeowoon-ie, you're waiting for hyung?~" "Don't use that voice".

Two things: Myungha calls himself Yeowoon's "hyung" which feels closer than "sunbae", he wanted to take the next step and make their communication less formal. And instead of saying friendly "Yeowoon-ah" like he always does, he changed the pronunciation of his name to "Yeowoon-ie" — which is, together with the playful intonation in his voice, is so. fucking. cute. However, Yeowoon instantly rejected his aegyo and Myungha returned to the way he always spoke x) RIP.

I already pointed it out briefly in another post but – Myungha cooked a curry rice for dinner with Yeowoon. It might not seem like anything, but I thought it was an amazing detail to show later in the series that even when Yeowoon almost forgotten about Myungha who disappeared, he kept bulk buying rice with curry (yellow packages) for his dinner.

"You act like you're my parent (guardian)." "Well, you're not wrong."

I thought that Myungha telling Yeowoon he's not wrong about him being his "parent" was a bit weird, and indeed, the word they are using here is 보호자 (bohoja), which is "guardian". It can be said about parents but also about anyone who's protecting something or someone as well. Which is exactly what Myungha is striving to do in this world and in this game. To protect and take care of Yeowoon.

"My mom split (ran away) but my dad said she died." "I wish I could split (run away)... I kept running around the field because I felt frustrated. But how could I run away?"

Here I'll need some help from native English speakers, which I'm not, can 'split' be used in this dialogue with the same connotation? Because in Korean, Myungha clearly says "My mom ran away", to which Yeowoon responds "I wish I could run away" and immediately remembering about the reason why he became a runner. And I just loved the accent the show made on this word, which got lost in Gaga subs.

"Don't slack off because you think no one sees." "Maintain your image (Do some mental training)"

This one is surely a mistranslation. The coach says "Do Image Training", in Korea and in some other Asian countries, as far as I encountered this term, this basically means "mental training", or "meditation" and has nothing to do with maintaining one's reputation.

Think "breathe in, breathe out and think how well you'll do and imagine yourself running that race before it starts".

Yeah, probably no one cared about that dialogue or scene anyway, but I hope you're still enjoying my hyperfixation on this show xD Anyway, it's been a long post and I'm done for Episode 3 — but as a bonus, let me share bonus with one of the Sangwoon x Sia scenes.

+

I tried hard to figure out the word that Sia uses when Myungha pleads her to get rid of Sangwoon, and the closest I could get was 분력 (the power of Buddha), but one thing for sure — following Myungha's begging, Sia cross-sprayed Sangwoon with perfume like holy water and ordered him like "Begone, demon!". Lmao :D

[dullgecko]

Another goblin headcanon is that goblin hoards have a reputation for a lot of in fighting and strict hierarchy, which is just completely untrue.

While they do have leaders this is normally just the oldest/most experienced in whatever area they’re in charge of and hoards are actually normally very close knit and protective of each other.

One reason for this stereotype is that goblin as a language has a lot of clicks, hisses and growls that to someone who’s not used to it would think that anything said sounds aggressive and threatening.

They also wouldn’t be able to tell the nuisance in goblin body langue e.g angry tail thrashing vs excited happy tail thrashing, big toothy smile vs showing off teeth and ears going back relaxed not really concentrating on anything in particular vs ears going back I’m annoyed and about to attack.

Goblins also tend to use a lot of touch to communicate; gentle biting of friends, whining up to someone when they want something they have (especially younger goblins to older ones), playfully pushing each other and cuddling that honestly looks more like grappling and all this from a uneducated point of view could be seen as fighting.

Add this to people already having a low opinion of goblins and a lot of the ‘studies’ and ‘research’ done on goblins is at best extremely biased and inaccurate and at worst just plain racist, and goblins developed the reputation as savages that will attack even those in their hoard.

I’m also imagining a scene where riz and the bad kids go to the mountains of chaos and either run into or get captured by a goblin hoard. And after a few misunderstandings (they did plan on eating them, apart from riz) they’re happily welcomed and shown all around their section of caves, given food, a place to stay the night if they want etc.

It’s definitely weird for riz to suddenly be surrounded by other goblins after spending his whole life with the only other goblins he really interacted with being his mom and his dad and he does get pretty overwhelmed and emotional at points. But it’s also nice to experience for himself that no matter what people say goblins aren’t just these naturally evil stupid creatures.

Also the rest of the bad kids get climbed on, a lot.

These Goblins don’t often get a chance to interact with other races so are naturally very curious about the bad kids and to them getting up and close to new friends is perfectly fine, plus they’re all so much bigger than them so it makes perfect sense to scale up them to say check out gorgugs goggles or check out the colour of Kristen’s hair etc. xx

Honestly, i love this so much that i want to print it out and eat it. Thankyou.

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

They only even got attacked in the first place because a group of older goblins out for a hunt came across a pack of tall-men carrying what is clearly a CHILD and stepped in to 'save' them.

Noone actually got hurt, despite a lot of weapon brandishing and hissing, mostly because all the bad kids by this point are EXPERTS at reading Riz's body language and it translated perfectly over to the dozen or so goblin adults surrounding them and were smart enough to firstly drop Riz (who had been play-fighting Fig earlier and was at the time being carried around like a sack of potatos under Gorgugs arm until he calmed down because he had entered the silly and biting zone) and secondly put their hands up and drop their weapons.

It had taken Riz a while to talk them down, mostly because (as he explained to his party later) his mum and dad were from the opposite end of the range and had a WILDLY different accent and he had to wrap his head around that first. Think a New Zealander trying to talk to someone from Rural Texas. They can understand eachother, it just takes a bit for you to get used to the accent.

Once Riz explained to them that they were from Elmsville, and that this was his horde, the goblins attitudes changed drastically from 'intimidating and pissed off' to 'friendly and curious'. There wasnt much of a change in their body language, but all the bad kids relaxed immediatly when they clocked the shift (which only added weight to Riz's claim that these were his horde). Especially since Fig could hiss out a passable 'nice to meet you', even if her accent was terrible.

Some of them even put down their weapons to get closer and examine the rest of the bad kids, several of them grabbing and poking at Fig and Fabians forearms when they noticed the bite marks from the earlier play-fighting and Riz showed off his own bite-marks from Fig.

They get the invite to spend the night in the caves, since its already getting dark by this point and a bit too late to set up camp, and they happily accept. Kristen and Adaine have an absoloute ball playing with the goblin kids who come to investigate (they're so SMALL AND CUTE) while Fig and Gorgug get climbed all over by children and teens in equal parts. All of them kept getting offered food that they knew from experiance they proooobably couldnt eat without getting food poisoning, but they had plenty of rations to offer back and Adaine kept pulling candy out of her jacket to the delight of both the kids AND adults.

Fabian gets spared the brunt of the grabbing and poking, but mostly because Riz has taken refuge on his shoulders after a couple hours and was flicking his tail in mild annoyance anytime someone got TOO grabby. He'd fled up onto his favorite perch when, intrigued by the novelty of a NEW and STRANGELY DRESSED goblin teenager, more than one of the hordes teens had flirted a little too aggressivly with Riz for his liking (a boy around Riz's age had grabbed his tail and done SOMETHING Fabian hadnt quite seen, but the next second Riz was scrambling up his back and hissing so he didnt ask).

[alleunwalk]

because of how sad jujutsu kaisen has been i've been thinking what if they were just all actors and this was just one big drama series/movie.  I CAN DREAM OK?!

jjk actor au 

itadori: he's pretty much the same off-camera and on-camera. just generally so nice and kind to everyone on set. extremely good at remembering his lines last minute (gg photographic memory). always buys the hair/makeup and stylists coffee.  megumi: extremely loud, bubbly, and a total goofball. often breaks character just from laughing so much.  nobara: shes more soft-spoken, dainty and gentle off-camera but she's still a girlboss in her own way. shes a popstar/idol when she's not acting.  gojo: he's surprisingly a lot more reserved off-camera than on-camera but he can be goofy with his castmates, especially geto's actor. loves mentoring and giving advice to rookie actors.  geto: he's a lot louder and extraverted off-camera but put him in a room with gojo and they will literally pop off. the directors and crew groan when they see them together tbd. he and gojo's actor actually used to hate each other back in the day but they became the best of buds during the first tableread. their chemistry on-screen though constantly blows everyone away.  nanami: another goofball off-camera. known for his superior range. played in movies ranging from comedy, horror, and heart-tugging romance. put him in a room with gojo and geto and it ends up being immense chaos that the staff loses their minds. 

*the three of them can not take an interview seriously but they're all known to be extremely A-list top of the top actors in the industry who all have won awards. 

utahime: consider her like the 90s superstar actress of her generation. she started acting since she was a child. just superior all around and an absolute legend. cares for the younger cast very dearly.  shoko: another legend to walk among the set. was also a runway model. she's extremely smart off-camera too and was known to go to a prestigious university. hangs out with utahimes actress a lot.  *all of the cast get shook when they come on set-- the power these women hold is just unmatched. the beauty, grace and class they hold.... 

you can basically think that gojo, geto, nanami, utahime, shoko, sukuna, and toji are all just academy award winning legends among their generation. 

sukuna: his personality is pretty similar to yuji off-camera. just super sweet and kind. was amazed the casting directors found someone who looked just like him as a kid. loves joking around with yuji. breaks character a lot too because yuji keeps making him laugh.  toji: the cast tends to joke about how he could look like megumis real dad. loves telling dad jokes-- which only megumi ends up laughing at for real. (he calls him dad as a joke during cast interviews.) 

maki: a lot more reserved off-camera. gives off really chic vibes and everyone is intimidated by her cool, suave personality. started her career off as a model.  mai: also reserved, just like her sister. they're both pretty introverted off-camera and tend to keep to themselves but hangs out with nobara's actress a lot on the weekends as a trio. they love shopping and going to cool restaurants together.  inumaki: loves pulling pranks on people and filming tiktoks behind set. this kid doesn't take anything seriously but that's what people love about him.  panda: under the panda costume/CG effects is a guy who's just stellar at voice acting but people get shocked by how handsome he is when he doesn't have the costume on. super silly with inumaki and often joins his pranks.  yuta: similar to itadori- his character is the same on/off camera that people can't tell if he's acting. really famous for acting in a lot of melodramas.  todo: HUGEEE nerd and softie off-camera. is the biggest scaredy cat on set hence he's the main target for all the pranks when the cast pulls them (cough* inumaki). loves collecting plushies as a hobby. would not hurt a fly. him and yuji really did become best friends irl. miwa: down-to-earth, just very sweet. pretty much the same on/off camera. she's good at crying on command.  muta: he's very talkative and just loves chatting with anyone and everyone on set. he wants to know everyones life story. just super genuine. like his character, he has a huge crush on miwa.  kamo: SUPERRRR clumsy off-camera. he's always accidentally slipping on the fake blood or dropping something. it's okay though, he just laughs it off.  momo: tends to sit in her trailer and plays video games when it's downtime. very laissez faire about everything but that's what makes her so easy to work with.

mahito: extremely serious off-camera. only keeps things professional. doesn't mess around when it comes to work. doesn't have any bloopers when it comes to his scenes. he's a really nice guy though when you get to know him. choso: golden retriever energy. super talkative and loves getting to know people just like muta. he remembers really endearing memories about people. asks staff members how they're doing and checks up on them. loves hanging out with yuji on the weekends. 

[stellocchia]

I've been thinking about Color's chat a bit more (they're forever called that in my mind) and I've come up with just... a bunch of headcanons. None of these have any basis in the canon of Othertale aside from the fact that Patience is Color's favorite and what the consequences of that may be. Considering the fact that these are souls of dead children, keep in mind there's a mild cw for child death mention.

Integrity:

He's the oldest of the bunch (it takes a while for kids to develop integrity, so, yeah). He was probably already a teenager when he died (imagine 16-17 age range)

He's very often the only one having any common sense in the group. And that is counting Color

He speaks up relatively often but is in no way the most chatty of the group

He is closest to Kindness who he views as a sort of annoying little sister (affectionate)

If I remember correctly, in canon Undertale the items connected to the integrity trait are a tutu and ballet shoes. So the shoes stay the same, but I say you find a fancy sparkly unitard in Waterfall instead from him

He has some very vague memories of his life, mostly of what pushed him up Mount Ebott and then of his death. Like all the others, he does not remember his name

He and Color have a pretty positive relationship, though on certain occasions Integrity does get frustrated with what he perceives as Color's complacency and his overly trusting nature

Perseverance:

She's the second-oldest, being around 15 when she died

She's a nerd but in the "evil scientist" kinda way (she's not really evil, but she has fun roleplaying that kinda stuff). She is the holder of the braincell, except it's rarely gonna used in a productive way

She speaks rarely, and almost exclusively to come up with some convoluted plan that would most likely end up making the problem at hand worse. She just really wants to watch the world burn sometimes and would probably get along great with Killer

She is closest to Bravery, as they have a sort of evil mastermind and her henchman kinda dynamic. She's also rather friendly with Justice, to everyone's surprise

The items you find for her are the classic Torn Notebook and a pair of glasses. Except, instead of being cloudy, they are missing the lenses. That's because she could see just fine, but she liked the aesthetic

She has a lot of memories of her old life, but never speaks about them with the others. Color sometimes wonders if she actually remembers her name, but doesn't want the others to feel inadequate and doesn't use it because of that

Her relationship with Color is chaotic. To Color, it often feels like having a younger Killer stuck in his brain. Except usually less stab-happy

Justice:

They were 14 when they died

They're an extremely bright and energetic kid. And they have the strongest moral compass in the group. They still entertain Perseverance and Bravery's antics rather often because they know those two can't exactly harm anyone. At times they can get a bit preachy about their beliefs, but someday here has gotta have a moral backbone...

They're average on the speaking front. Not too much, not too little. Yet always with conviction to the point that it's hard to tell when they're joking

As mentioned, they're closest to Perseverance, but do get along great with Patience, Kindness, and Integrity on certain topics

The items you find for them are a cowboy hat and an empty gun. They claim the gun was used "For chuckin' not shootin'"

The only memory of their past life they have is that of their death in the Underground. Everything else is just vague feelings of unease about certain things

They get along great with Color whenever they're not going along with Perseverance and Bravery's antics. Their morals align rather closely. Nightmare has in the past taunted Color, saying he clearly only believes what he does because of the Justice soul. But, truthfully, they found themselves in agreement from the get-go, way before Justice had a chance to influence him

Bravery:

He also died at 14 like Justice

He's the punch first, ask questions later type. Very reckless, often obnoxiously loud. He is down with violence in theory, though he gets squeamish when they actually witness any. He's very much all bite and no bark

He speaks the most out of anyone in the group. He's far more talkative than Color as well. At times even drowning out his thoughts with his incessant chatter

He's closest to Perseverance. He really likes any Undyne because of this, they remind him of Perseverance. Also, he thinks Integrity is kinda lame but in a "Cringy Big Brother I'm still running to if I get in trouble" way

The items you find for him are a Tough Glove and a Manly Bandanna. He remembers that they were from some character he liked in life, but doesn't remember which one

He has quite a few memories from his life before Mount Ebott, but none from after his fall. Doesn't remember how he died either. And he doesn't know why he ended up scaling the mountain since he remembers only all the happy memories he had

He's a chaotic little shit and Color is a very tired single mom. That's their relationship

Patience:

Patience was a pre-teen (around 11-12yo) when he died

They are a very calm individual, oftentimes fading into the background and just letting the world pass them by. They're against any form of violence and only entertain the idea for jokes when they're certain it's not gonna hurt anyone. They're also endlessly trusting and willing to give anyone one more chance if they show an interest in changing

He speaks the least in the group. Though his calm presence is always felt regardless, mostly as a vibe

They're not especially close to any of the other souls, though they do get along the best with Kindness as she tends to be a very positive person

The items you find for him are a faded ribbon and a toy knife. He mentioned once that the fake knife was just sharp enough to get rid of the ribbon, but not of his hair

They remember very well why they climbed up the mountain. They only talked about their parents not being accepting, and them giving up on trying to make them understand after a few years. They regret giving up on them now, saying perhaps in time... they also remember their time in the Ruins in its entirety and have very fond memories of Toriel. Their death was supposedly a tragic accident, but it's never entirely clear if they're sincere when they say that

He's the closest with Color even if they don't talk much. He often helps keep their host calm under stress, and also encourages him to be understanding of others at any opportunity he gets. Color appreciates them greatly, though, at times, he does acknowledge that their help can backfire

Kindness:

She's by far the youngest of the bunch, being only between 8-10 when she passed away

She's a very happy-go-lucky kid. Very empathetic, very energetic, and a big food lover. She's very affectionate too and generally believes that anything can be fixed with a hug and a good meal. She is a bit naive, but also, well, she is a really young child

She speaks an average amount. Usually when Integrity is also involved in the conversation as he makes her feel more confident

She's closest to Integrity. That's her big brother and nobody can convince her otherwise. However, she gets along with literally everyone in the group. This can become an issue when Bravery drags her into his shenanigans because their energy just keeps building on each other

The items you can find for her are a Burnt Pan and a Stained Apron. Those were both gifts from Toriel. And, apparently, the pan got burned during a cooking lesson from Heats Flamesman (nobody else there has a single clue of who that is, Color included)

She remembers nothing of her life before the fall, and she only remembers the good things that happened in the Underground, and the nice monsters she talked with. She has a lot of fond memories of Toriel, of the Innkeeper at the Snowed Inn, of this Heats Flamesman guy, and so on. Her journey was very different and far longer than that of the others as she kept spending time with and befriending all the monsters who weren't immediately hostile to her

Much like with Bravery, Color is kind of a parental figure for her. They're pretty close, and they have similar attitudes about life, so it's often uncomplicated

-

@howlsofbloodhounds ('cause I know you mentioned wanting to see these)

[somberjoon]

METANOIA [1]

✩ pairing: hybrid nj x hybrid reader (f) - eventual ot7 x reader

✩ genre: soul-searching , romance🔞 , found-family , healing , angst , happy ending

✩ word count: 4.4k

✩ chapter warnings: mention of murder , uncertainty in behavior and emotions , 'pups' used as an overall label - children and breeds will be specified when important. (none of the mcs are parents)

✩ summary: She doesn't know. There is so much about her and her cheetah that she hasn't had the privilege to understand. Unknown backgrounds and unknown emotions clash with feelings of want- hopes of being herself unapologetically. Namjoon seems to be someone that can help her- but can the rest of his pack truly be what she has wanted and needed?

✩ cover: me

ch.1 , ch.2 , ...

✩ disclaimer: this is an opening chapter to the story. backgrounds and personality for the fmc are vague on purpose. You will go on this journey with her. The importance of events and scenarios will be later brought back up. Not everything is as it seems.

 Y/N - Unknown Time

Nobody really prepares you to kill someone. Not everyone will have a mentor that teaches you where to stab, where to shoot, where and how tight you need to push to crush a windpipe. But, sometimes you do get taught- unknowingly at least. You know skin is thin under a sharp knife, putting you much closer to vital organs than you would think. You know, at least, that you need air and blood to live- but, you also know you can take it. You can rid the body of its most vital necessities. 

As Y/N stands over the lifeless body of her once guardian- her now very dead guardian- she realizes that nothing could’ve prepared her for how easy it was. 

-

Kim Namjoon - Present Day

“There was a new case over the weekend Namjoon, we think you’d be great to be the first volunteer if you’d like.” 

Zade hands Namjoon a manilla envelope over the lifted counter that looms over the ‘Resource’ front desk. 

“I’ll take a look over it while I change. Would I need to do multiple stops today with the other kids on the list?” Namjoon tucks the envelope under his arm as he jots down his info into the volunteer sheet laid out for the day. A surprisingly long list of volunteer’s names gives him a little pep. 

“We actually have more volunteers than necessary, so the foster homes are double stacked today. You just have this one as a priority if you’re up for it- oh and this one is a little…special. I mean- they all are, but this one isn’t as young as you’re used to, so the boss told me to tell you to really read it over and consider it.” 

“Alright, thank you for letting me know. I’ll let you know in a bit.” 

The locker room is just slightly warmer than usual, evidence that multiple bodies have been in and out of the small space far more frequently than normal. 

He has no issue with it, if anything he’s excited to think of everyone getting the attention they need today, especially the younger kids that always look forward to young adults spending time with them. The foster homes have other kids, but the age range isn’t as large as one would hope in an adjusting environment. The young pups always need a variety of species and ages when they’re growing, especially when they don’t have a specified pack to normally grow with. 

Namjoon feels extremely lucky to have as large of a pack as he does, love circulating within a seven member pack is truly limitless- growing his need to give back to others with care and time. Especially the little pups that are sadly without a pack. He’s never done any volunteer work with anyone older than 18, and even then, the ones over 15 were too busy working when they wanted to or going to school during the day- so the time spent together was minimal. The younger pups always get the most attention, especially because those are the cards the organization is dealt. When pups become of age, they can choose to further their education, with funding help, or they can work until they figure out what they want to do, also being provided resources to find hybrid-friendly employers. If this case is older than usual, he’s curious to see just what could be the reason. 

Namjoon changes from his personal clothes into scent-less volunteer clothes. The simple t-shirt, jacket, and jeans allow for the homes to not be crowded with scents from a pack, but to allow the volunteer’s scent to be memorized and clear. He changes before he even decides on the case, knowing in his heart that if the case is in the organization’s hands they must need this adjustment and type of therapy in some type of way- making him the person that can help. He’ll always help when he has the chance. 

The manilla envelope is sealed with the customary buttons and string wrapped around to keep the paper in and harder to access than a normal folder. The direction of the string confuses Namjoon only a couple of times before he finally gets the papers out. 

Name: Y/N L/N    Sex: Female Age: 25     Birth Date: N/A    

Blood Type: N/A    Breed: Cheetah 

Immediate Reason for Admittance: Found resting under ‘Hope Bridge’ by a volunteer off-duty. 

Known Background: Parents unknown - Family unknown - Home unknown - Reason for lack of living needs unknown. 

Assigned Residence: Caddel Household - Maria Caddel, Richard Caddel - Under file for 4 months - 1450 Madison Lane, Tree County. 

Notes: Made by Dr. Selena Castillo 

‘Patient admitted without any resistance but shows signs of skittish behaviors. Patient seems to be unused to hybrid counterparts and interactions. Expedited tests still under review for any diagnosis / allergies, but immediate tests show no illness or disease. Slight chill and stuffy nose were only signs of sickness, specific medication given with no sign of allergy. No known vaccinations since birth, first round given to patient - 07/15/23 - day of admittance. Vaccinations may cause patience uncomfort and slight sickness as the adjustment period for vaccines is unknown for their body. Next vaccines needed after - 12/15/23. To be updated accordingly.’

Volunteers must be aware of body language of patient and person at all times - slow adjustment needed - report all incidents to the organization the day of.

Namjoon reads the paper over four or five times to get a really good grasp of who Y/N is, but nothing can prepare him thoroughly for this one- not even the notes know anything, no one has gotten any answers. He thinks of the work that he’s done previously, the pups he’s met and the difference in all of them but the basic underlyings that come with being a young hybrid. If Y/N is unused to hybrid counterparts, there is a chance that he can approach this with the same speed and attentive micro-expressions. 

He thinks and thinks, but nothing in him points to ‘no’, so he stuffs the papers back into the envelope and locks his stuff away in his personal locker before heading to the front desk. Zade and his adorable bunny ears perk up as Namjoon walks back towards the desk- reminding Namjoon of his little bunny at home that he misses so much. 

“So?” Zade asks, hopeful look in his eyes that also reminds him of his Jungkookie- it must be a bunny thing, because truly it is insane how similar they are in mannerisms. 

“Of course I’ll go.” Namjoon gives with a smile, “Can I get some extra note papers? I’ll make sure to take a lot even if we don’t get to anything drastic today. There aren't too many behavior specifics so I’d like to add to them.”

Zade fishes some papers in the top drawer of a file cabinet without a question. 

“Mila also wanted me to remind you to keep your phone on vibrate- they seem to have no knowledge of devices either, so sudden loud noises might be a trigger.” 

“Of course boss, don’t worry. I’ll message you when I get to the residence.”

He loves this county. It was the main reason he decided to search and wait for a large enough home for his pack here. The name is spot on. A variety of large trees allow their branches and leaves to billow over home yards by fours and fives, allowing sun to peek through while still providing shade for cool leisure in the hot seasons. It smells perfectly no matter where you are. The lawns are plush and soft despite the variety of species growing. It’s perfect really. And he finds it quite nice that Y/N has a place like this to enjoy nature in times of need. 

He passes his own street to get to the street where the residence is, a medium, dark blue house that has two trees in the front yard alone- the type has flaccid branches that seem to have dew drop leaves that rain down the branches and block the front of the house beautifully. 

He wastes no time organizing his papers into the jockey box and changing both his personal phone and work phone to vibrate after sending a quick message to Zade. He grabs the paper bag of goodies he picked up before he made it to his destination then hurries out of his car. 

The path to the front door is paved with an array of colorful rocks that also take Namjoon’s attention, admiring the details of the land. The off-white door had a glass pane design at the top, a bloomed flower. 

He gives a few light knocks to let the owners know that the company outside their door isn’t just a rushed mail man or delivery driver. It doesn’t take long for a kind looking woman to open the door with a smile. 

“Hello?”

“Hi, my name is Namjoon, I’m a volunteer with the hybrid re-homing organization. I’m here for the ‘recommended time with hybrid’ adjustment.” Namjoon gives his signature smile with dimples, his second ears twitching to make out the sounds coming from inside the home out of habit. 

“Oh! Of course, I apologize, I wasn’t paying attention to the time. Come in, come in. There’s slippers for you right here.” Namjoon slips out of his simple dunks, noting the clean array of shoes and the clean foyer of the house. “Y/N’s just out back, she has been out there almost all times of the day since she got here.”

“It’s a beautiful neighborhood, I can see why. By the way, do you know what type of tree you have out front? They’re gorgeous.”

“Willows. Richard wants to cut them down because he hates cleaning up the leaves in Autumn, but I love them too much- plus it gets too hot and even he finds himself using their shade in the Summer.”

“I think keeping them would be lovely-” Namjoon finds the homeowner already heading towards sliding glass doors, “Mrs.Caddel-”

“Just Maria is fine, sweety.”

“Maria, I think it’s best that I start the meeting with those she’s familiar with, but once we get things going I’ll suggest verbally and obviously what my plans are, just so everything is clear for her and you guys. Is there anything I should be aware of before we head out? Like changes in behavior since she arrived, or triggers that you guys have noticed?”

“Oh, um not really, actually. She isn’t too talkative, she doesn’t initiate conversation easily at all and she’s not been reactive to anything specifically. She doesn’t like loud noises though, and doesn’t care to answer all questions. But, she’s friendly and considerate even if she doesn’t know it or acknowledge it for what it is. I think praise is great in those times.”

Namjoon is glad Y/N has someone so attentive to her unknown personality and needs. 

“That’s perfect, thank you. We should be good to go then. If you can introduce me yourself that would be great.” Namjoon’s smile lights up at her assured nod and continuance to the sliding doors. 

The backyard is a mirrored image of the front lawn but with more trees and a pretty, small garden that looks well-tended to. Even a large, above ground pool sits in the unshaded area of the yard, practically perfectly in the middle of the yard. 

“Y/N?” Maria asks loud enough for the whole yard to hear, but not loud enough to startle her. “We have a guest if you’re up to meet them, sweety.” 

Namjoon’s hearing can pinpoint in the yard where she’s at but he pays attention to the rest of the yard as not to look expectant for anything. 

He looks at the specific shade of stain on the fence as he sees little golden ears and the top of a head of dark brown hair that peeks around one of the larger trees. The dark, long, curly hair cascades off her shoulder. Namjoon only lets the bare details reach his conscience from the corner of his eyes as she still seems to be assessing him. 

“Ah, there she is.” Maria says with a smile as Y/N makes her way towards them at a leisurely pace. Namjoon still keeps his eyes on the horizon even if she’s at the perfect distance to assess. The only detail that he can point out at the moment is her gold and black tail, not waving or wrapped around herself in comfort, but dragging along the ground behind her as if she’s forgotten it. His heart clenches at the realization. She stops at a distance that seems cautious, but shows comfort with her guardian. 

“Y/N, this is Namjoon, he’s with the re-homing organization.” Namjoon finally meets her eyes to find her gaze locked on his ears, then moves to roam his features without hesitance. “He’s a…I’m sorry dear, I didn’t get your species or breed.”

“Wolf, Alexander Archipelago, to be exact.” 

“How precious, Namjoon meet Y/N.” 

Her eyes finally meet his, but they don’t tell Namjoon anything about how she feels or what she thinks of him and his wolf. His smile grows at her curiosity, though. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m sorry I didn’t know specifics- and I’m sorry to assume- but I brought some treats if you guys would prefer to sit down and talk?” Namjoon holds up the bag, giving it a little wave and his precious dimples for convincing. 

Y/N meets Maria’s soft, asking gaze and nods once before heading for the picnic table on her own to plop down. Maria gives him a discreet smile before waving him on to join. Before he sits opposite to the two, he pulls out a 6-pack of individual lemonades, pre-cut watermelon, pineapple, and cucumbers. 

“I tried for stuff that suits the weather and wouldn’t be too hard on the stomach. And- like I said- I didn’t want to assume, but one of the cheetahs I know loves watermelon, so I thought I’d try that at least.” 

Namjoon looks at them as he speaks, noting the pick up Y/N seems to slightly show at the mention of the watermelon and then again at the mention of another cheetah. This is the best way he could think of introducing himself. He always acts as himself, open and chipper, but gifts are even better. They’re memorable, even if it’s just a breed’s favorite food, a soft blanket or slippers, or a toy for the pups. 

Respectful comfort is also very important when in another person’s space. Showing that you open the things you got them to hand out and to talk in times of silence shows your want to be there and the excitement you have of being in their presence. Namjoon opens the bowls of finger food and even breaks the seals on the lemonades for convenience before setting them in front of them on the table. 

“Thank you, Namjoon.” Maria points out after he finally sits and grabs a piece of pineapple to pop into his mouth. 

“Of course, have as much as you’d like, it’s yours to keep if we don’t finish anything.”

Y/N - Present Day

He’s too kind. Too smiley. Too…perfect. 

“Of course, have as much as you’d like…” She’s never seen anyone like him. Pretty and nice. It’s never both, but- here is the first wolf she’s ever seen with the most perfect smile and manners. To be fair, she can’t compare him to all hybrids- she’s never been around them before- at least, she doesn’t remember. 

The opened watermelon takes her attention over the quiet talking between Maria and Namjoon. She truly doesn’t care about the conversation when it’s tempting her so badly. She’s extremely obvious, she knows it- but when Namjoon pushes the bowl discreetly towards her she can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. 

She takes a piece, nonetheless, sniffing the sweet aroma from the juice before popping the whole thing in her mouth at once. The taste is perfect, the piece is sweet, yet cold and crunchy. The juice explodes as she bites.

“Mmph-” The sound leaves her with no warning. She looks up from under her eyelashes at the new stranger, ears twitching to hear any change in his attitude upon bringing more attention to the sound. But- he doesn’t bring attention to it, only gives her another pretty smile and goes to take a drink of his lemonade. She’s never tried lemonade. She puts her attention on that, opening the bottle instead of daring to look at Namjoon’s exposed neck. She takes a small tentative sip, worried about how strong the citrusy smell is to her nose.

“Oh my god.” 

“Good, right?” Namjoon asks suddenly. She looks up at him, her own expression in awe. She can only nod as she takes a greedy gulp. “These are my favorite, I keep a ton of packs in stock at home.” Home. She can’t help but suppress a shudder at the word despite the mood being good. She pushes through though- determined to give something back since he’s been so nice. 

“I’ve never had lemonade before.” She gives just above a whisper, “I don’t like lemons, I didn’t know they could taste like this.” It wasn’t supposed to be funny, but she shocks a little when Namjoon giggles- actually giggles- at what she said. 

“Yeah, I had that problem starting highschool, that was when I finally had a school lunch for the first time. Sadly, that was not as pleasant as this.” Maria laughs, but Y/N can only give a small smile because she doesn’t know if the food would be bad. She’s not that picky but she didn’t even get to go to school or have their lunches, so she can only imagine the type of food that Maria teaches her to make. 

“Do you have more favorite foods?” Y/N asks quietly, curious, having to shove some curls out of her face to beat the sweat building on her forehead despite the love of the warmth. She shoves down the need to wipe the sweat just out of self-conscious habits. Everyone sweats, it’s hot- but, Namjoon looks perfect, and she somehow can’t get past that part. 

“Mmm-” His face contorts to show another expression she has never seen, a thinking face that scrunches up cutely. She looks away again and pops some more watermelon pieces into her mouth just so she doesn’t have to think too much about it. “I’m more of a beverage person, but I’ll eat literally anything my hyung makes- he’s great at cooking. Do you have any preferences?” 

Y/N barely has to think, the first word pulls itself out without warning. 

“Watermelon.” 

The prettiest smile she’s ever seen blooms on his face, one that hasn’t shown up yet. It’s the best one. 

“Fair enough.”

The snacks go by quickly with small answers and more distraction-aimed looks that stray away from Namjoon and lock onto the table under her crossed arms. It isn’t like the other days when she just feels like an empty-promised burden- this silence is formed out of uncomfortable, new feelings. 

Being this close to another hybrid- another prey hybrid that drives, has a job, and an education- is daunting. She feels like a foreigner to him in a way that can’t be described. Part of her wants to ask question after question while the other just wants to never see someone so perfect and put-together again to gain a semblance of pride. 

Her name from Namoon’s lips pulls her out of the thoughts. 

“Y/N, this yard is lovely, has great sun and shade- do you have a favorite spot?” 

He’d like to see her spot? That thought makes her ears perk up, an exciting nod giving Namjoon the answer. She’d love to show him her spot- she doesn’t know what that tells about herself- but she knows Namjoon would understand to some extent why her spot means so much to her. Having Namjoon in her spot sounds nice as well. 

“Could I see it? I’d love to see more of the yard.” It’s a hopeful smile, that much Y/N can tell. Nods are the only answer she can muster at this point, looking over at Maria to gauge her reaction.

“Go ahead sweety, I’ll clean up and get dinner started for Rich’.” 

“Okay.” 

That seemed to be the only queue everyone needed to disperse. Namjoon stands to let her lead the way with a small wave. 

Her favorite spot isn’t special, now that she thinks about it. It’s not a cozy spot to everyone, but to her it’s perfect. That should be all that matters, but why is she questioning it so much? 

The specific tree closes in on them faster than she was prepared, going around  it to stand on the side that faces the wooden fence. She turns to look at the tree and smiles- everytime she’s near it there is the slightest fuzzy feeling that she just can’t place. It’s larger than the width of their bodies together, wide enough for a whole other person of Namjoon’s muscly size to get close to the width of the tree. Its leaves create the perfect shade, but the best part is how climb-able it is. She usually climbs and perches perfectly into an indent that seems like it was made for her. 

“It’s massive- you like to sit at the trunk?” 

“No, uh-” She points up to the indent, a visible thing only to her mind. 

“Ooh, yeah, despite me being a predator I am actually a horrid climber.” 

The laugh rips from her before she can stop it. She slaps a hand over her mouth just over the fact that she really didn’t mean to laugh at him at what could be an insecurity. She looks over to him- nothing but an open-mouthed smile of disbelief.

“Look at you! Not all of us could be as nimble as the felines. There’s been more times than I can count that I had no problem going up, and even less problems coming down- at a very fast rate.” He laughs at himself, drawing even more giggles from Y/N. 

“We can sit at the trunk if you’d like.” She offers, then backtracks, “Well- if you’d like to er- if you’re staying longer?” Namjoon sits halfway through her rambling, patting the grass next to him as he leans his back against the trunk to look up at the sun filtering through the leaves. 

“I can stay as long as you’d like me to- or at latest until 6PM, that’s the limit for the volunteers.” Y/N sits as he answers, pulling her knees up to her chest to lay her cheek on when she asks another question.

“Do you volunteer often?” 

“I try to do it five times a week, on the weekdays usually.” Namjoon closes his eyes to feel the breeze pick up. 

“That’s- a lot.” 

“I love it. A lot of the time it’s little pups that just need someone to really take the time to learn about them and be their friends. Every hybrid deserves a chance to have someone like that. I like to be there for them.” 

She can only observe him in awe- his serene expression, the lightness in his aura that seems to want to push and push his calmness onto her. She doesn’t feel the way she felt when she first met Maria and Richard. She’s never met anyone and felt this- this instant connection of sorts that links them. Whether it’s because he’s the first hybrid she’s met, or he’s just that attractive, she can’t help feeling okay with him. 

“Do you- do you know about me? About- about why I’m here?” He opens his eyes to look over at her, gauging her expression.

“Not exactly, not-” He positions himself to sit up straighter and keep his head level as he looks at her. “I don’t know your story, I don’t know what you struggle with or what exactly you would like to talk about or seek out. But, we’re transparent at the organization. We get notes from the doctors and suggestions for how to approach someone we’re meeting for the first time. But- honestly- you haven’t told your story yet, so- No, I don’t know you.” 

His words sink in, letting Y/N think about what to do or say. She’s never had this before- but- she’s not ready to reveal everything, not now. 

“Will you come back? Here. Even if you don’t know me.” 

“I’d like to, If you want me to. That’s why I do this- to give every hybrid I can the chance to have someone that cares. Even in times of unknown.” Namjoon says, his open gaze not leaving hers. 

“I have never met someone like us before- or, I don’t remember if I have.” She shifts uncomfortably under his gaze, looking up at the trees instead. “I want to learn about me, about us. I don’t know why I do certain things or have certain feelings. I don’t even know how to take care of myself properly and- and Maria, she tries, but she barely knows anything-” She stops. She can’t just ask him these things, she can’t beg for information if he doesn’t want to give it, especially if it’s personal. What if this is all too personal? 

“You can ask me anything, Y/N.” 

Namjoon answers her without getting any final question. He understands. Everything about him feels sincere. Everything feels as simple as the breeze with him. Why is it this easy with him?

“Then I’d like you to.”

Namjoon’s ears twitch to show he’s questioning what she means despite his expression not changing. 

“I’d like you to come back.”

Namjoon’s thick, black tail thumps a few times into the soft, plush-feeling grass. For the first time she actually notices it, the black hair that is well groomed unlike her own. It moves with him, it’s a part of him, through and through. She doesn’t know the first part of being anything like him, a hybrid. All she knows is her human half- she wants to know more. She wants to be both, she doesn’t want to ache for the other part of her any longer. 

[novelcain]

When you did your version of wukong did you have a specific species of monkey in mind to base him of? Or was him a mix of some monkeys?

It got me curious when you said you know a lot of monkey facts and I wondered if you used this to concept him?

EEEEEEEEE! You have no idea how excited I got when I woke up and saw this ask! I literally don't even care that it's the newest one I'm answering rn!

And also! Before I get into how I made the design for ITTW Sun Wukong, something I wanted to throw out is that a few people have asked for me to give more monkey facts after I foolishly /j divulged that I am an encyclopedia of monkeys, so I've been thinking of doing like a Monkey Facts Monday cause alliteration where I post a bunch of monkey facts on mondays! So lemme know what you guys think of that idea cause I absolutely am willing to do it! :D

Now ONTO THE MONKIE MAN!

In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is described to be that of demon Rhesus Macaque.

Rhesus Macaques can come in a variety of browns, greys, whites, and blondes, but for the most part are largely this stunning platinum gold color like in the picture above. I personally love this this color and wish we could see more golden furred Monkey Kings instead of just monkey=brown.

In addition to golden furs, a Rhesus Macaque's skin is largely a pinkish-peachy color with darker, nearly black, fingers and feet (You can see this in the first picture as well :)). And males tend to have more redish saturation around their eyes. (The saturation of this "mask" on males has been linked to levels of testosterone and therefore the dark/more red the mask the more potent the male, meaning it may be a sexual selective male trait as females have been observed preferring males with redder masks.... *looks at LMK Macaque simps*)

However, one thing about Rhesus Macaques is that they have very short tails. (As depicted below)

And that just wasn't quite the look a was going for. So while I was thinking "Eeeeh I could just say that he's a Rhesus Macaque with a long tail" but as I was sifting through my monkey knowledge I remembered another macaque species!

The Crab-Eating Macaque! Aka the Long Tailed Macaque!

These macaques very closely resemble Rhesus Macaques in facial features as well as fur as they also come in a variety of gingers, browns, greys, and blondes with their main color variation being this brownish-gold. (below) Tho their pelts tend to range darker than a Rhesus Macaque's.

And instead of having mainly peachy skin with a few black tones around the hand and feet, they largely have very dark skin with the brightest parts being around the eyes and the darkest being their pitch black ears, hands, and feet.

And come on, you can't tell me this isn't a Monkey King face:

Plus I might be just a liiiittle biased because my favorite monkey picture is a Long Tailed Macaque:

Just look at this dude! He's so done with life! 😂

But along with just physical characteristics, Rhesus Macaques and Long Tailed Macaques share many behavioral qualities as well.

They both display threats in similar ways, such as baring teeth paired with screaming to frighten predators and other monkeys. Though, Rhesus Macaques tend to be more aggressive and bold (accurate to Wukong) while Crab-Eating Macaques are very cautious and skittish. A Rhesus would much rather fight while a Long Tailed would much rather run.

Another thing they share is their open affection for each other. Both Rhesus and Crab-Eating Macaques have extremely tight knit bond within their troop and with even form best friends from a very young age. Just look at this family unit and how the younger two hold the elder monkey! So sweet. 🥹

All in all! In the end, I went with a mixture of these two species for my ITTW Wukong design, leaning slightly more toward his original species, the Rhesus Macaque, and gave him the proportions of a human since he's a monkey demon.

The traits that I took from the Rhesus Macaques were his blonde fur and peachy pale skin tone as well as his more saturated peach mask, which I blended with a darker blackish-red at the bottoms to pay homage to the Crab-Eating Macaque's darker faces.

The traits that I took from the Crab-Eating Macaques were their long tails and black tipped ears. (as well as the blended mask)

And the traits I took from both were the black tipped hands and feet as well as their long fangs.

While his eye come straight from the book.

And this was the result!

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Carter and Lovecraft, by Jonathan L. Howard (2015)

I really wanted to like this book.

I've read a few Lovecraft novels and stories, and I liked them. So when I saw this on my friend's bookshelf, I borrowed it, and read it.

Tried to.

The first real fly in the ointment? NYPD protag sees his partner take a 9mm retirement in front of him on a creepy case, and becomes a private detective. Mysterious lawyer shows up at his office one day and says there was a bookstore owner in Providence, Rhode Island, who has been missing and just declared dead.

The protag gets the bookshop. He's not sure why.

Protag goes to the bookshop. Owner's niece, Emily, is there. She's been running the shop alone since the owner vanished, and she co-ran it when he was alive. Also, she's biracial. Would be played by Zoe Kravitz in the movie, he thinks.

Her name is Lovecraft.

As in, she's a descendant of ol' Howard Philips.

She notes the irony; a black-ish "mulatto" descendant of an anti-black racist.

"Okay," I think, as I checked the publication date. "You've gotten that token bit out of the way. Now, can we move on?"

Apparently not.

As protag starts looking into the disappearance and other weird stuff, he decides he needs to get his eye in. So he goes to a gun range, where he needs to sign up for the NRA first

and ends the session by "re-engaging the safety" on his Glock.

Fun fact: stock Glocks don't have manual safeties, AFAIK.

In the next chapter, protag thinks about how he used the gun. He hates the NRA and the whole "gun fetish" thing, but he needs the iron, just in case.

Two strikes. Three if you count the safety thing.

Yes, I know an NYPD cop might be a bit bigoted about the issue, especially considering how his partner died. But it really feels like the writer's opinion.

In fact, let me just-

Yep. The writer is British. This sounds awfully familiar.

It was about this time that I realized something. The protagonist has no traits that aren't directly related to being a cop or detective. Absolutely none.

I don't think we know what he does in his off hours. No friends. Nothing but the job.

Heck, Miss Lovecraft has more personality than him, and she takes up a lot less screen time.

Protag decides to give Lovecraft half the business, so he can become a silent partner. People start dying in physically impossible ways - like the dude who drowned in his dry car in a parking lot - our hero looks into it.

He also ends up learning about a local family, the Waites. Rich, keep to themselves on their own land, been around since before the area was officially settled, apparently.

The local who tells him about all this says the younger ones are oddly attractive. The family has distinctive big eyes.

Anyone remotely familiar with HP Lovecraft just went "Oh, right, they're fishmen. Got it." I've seen this trope done better before, like in the comic Shadowgirls.

Hero looks into the archives, finds records of a racist Town Council rant by an early Waite, back when they were still into trading. Including slaves. Specifically, patriarch Newton Waite went to a council meeting and said black people should serve others, and shouldn't have self-determination.

The archivist intern says it's was "a different time", and that's just how people were back then.

Of course, he adds "People who talk like that now - no pass for them."

End scene.

Like this extremely mainstream, boring opinion is some kind of

In the next scene, protag chats about the fit he had near the Waite place. Learns about another mysterious death. When he chats about it with Emily, he suddenly realizes she's hot.

Then the narration tells us that he was a racist bigot in his teens, though he thought he was being sensible at the time. He now knows he was wrong, but he still feels sparks of it when he reads about some black kid doing some stereotypically black thing, which gives certain white people "a hard-on of righteousness".

And, of course, his time spent walking away from "instinctive racism" means his dating pool opened up. Like Emily Lovecraft, for example.

The most stereotypically black thing would probably be crime. Or being a single mom or deadbeat dad.

 Sadly, I know of plenty of black people - from my black majority home country - who fall into one of those categories. Or two. Three if you include "poverty", but we're Developing, so that barely even counts.

Also, this basically came out of nowhere. Not Emily being hot - I mean, look at Zoe Kravitz - but his unsolicited thoughts on racism.

All of these issues have also been issues for many concerned black people. For decades. The 'stereotypically black things' might be bad themselves, not because they make racist white people feel smug.

This is precisely where I closed the book for good. I would've put away the bookmarks, but I needed the page so I could write this rant.

Honestly, writing all this made me realize that I should've given up long before I made it halfway through the book. But I just kept hoping it would get better.

Doing the same well-worn cliches in a modern setting doesn't really make them interesting. Neither do the little 'racism is bad, mmmkay?' bits.

[earthstellar]

Image Comics has dropped their solicits for December 2023, and it looks like Duke #1 is where the Transformers/GI Joe crossover is gonna start really kicking off for the Energon Universe.

I know the general reception to the crossover at the end of ROTB was pretty rough, so it's interesting that they're getting the ball rolling in a GI Joe mini-series.

Personally, my dad was drafted into two wars against his will and suffered greatly for it, so I never had any interest in GI Joe because my dad vehemently hated that shit, as he felt it glorified war to children and that this is morally unacceptable. (He preferred the depiction of Army life of that era in MASH, which he said was at least more honest and aimed at adults.)

I also had classmates who ended up joining the military who had been big fans of GI Joe, two of whom were killed in Afghanistan. I know GI Joe wasn't the only factor involved in their decisions, but it certainly does not make me inclined to like the franchise.

My mother lost her first husband in Vietnam. He had also been drafted against his will. (I strongly dislike the GI Joe Vietnam era material in particular, for perhaps obvious reasons.)

So, I admit my general dislike of the concept of GI Joe as a franchise is at least partly based in my own trauma (and that of my family) relating to the US Army.

I've never been a GI Joe person and never will be (on moral and trauma based grounds), so I fully admit I am not well versed on the lore of that universe, and as such, it's hard for me to make any guesses at what Duke #1 might bring.

But what interests me is that on certain forums and other social media, I've seen very limited audience hype about this crossover in general, especially from the Transformers crowd.

After the extremely progressive writing and fresh visual style and designs of the IDW Transformers storylines which appealed to a lot of people across several age ranges and generations of fans, it feels weird (to me at least) to suddenly have a more old school style crossover with what is essentially a US military propaganda franchise-- At a time when the sociopolitical zeitgeist is that "going traditional" is often associated with "going backwards".

All art is political, and so on.

But I do wonder if what seems to be a lack of audience hype is partially due to the fact that not a lot of Transformers fans (at least, not many under the age of 40 based on what I'm seeing around the internet at the moment) seem to be all that into GI Joe.

A lot of young people are not exactly in love with US military fantasies, and the last Transformers comic series with IDW was a big hit with younger/teen readers-- A lot of that audience might be lost, here.

(And vice-versa from what I can tell, although I'm not in any GI Joe fan spaces so I'm not sure what the mood might be in that community in regards to the Transformers element of this crossover.)

All that having been said, the Energon Universe is only just getting started, and who knows what the comics will actually contain!

I do like G1, so I like the designs for the Transformers as drawn in this run this far.

And who knows, maybe they'll do something new with GI Joe for this. I'm aware that in at least one of the cartoons, they were essentially on the run from the military instead of working for it, which is an interesting twist. Perhaps something similar might happen here, with some Joes siding with the Autobots instead?

It's not fair to judge before a comic is even released, so I'm just thinking out loud here in regards to the crossover concept in general.

I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thinks:

Will you be checking out Duke #1 as a Transformers fan interested in the crossover?

Have any of you been interested in GI Joe previously?

If you're an IDW Transformers fan, are you interested in the Energon Universe?

Any other thoughts on the crossover, any conjecture or hopes for the direction of this run?

I want to give the Energon Universe a chance, but as I mentioned, I do have some difficulty attempting to get into GI Joe in general.

That having been said, I guess we'll have to wait and see what they do with this crossover.

[ephemerasnape]

Victor Rookwood Headcanons

An ever-evolving list of my headcanons for Victor Rookwood. Some of these may seem obvious to you. Some may be controversial. Agree? Disagree? Let's not have any fighting amongst Daddy Rookwood's small-but-dedicated harem, please.

He is in his mid 40s if not older. I don't care what anyone says. I can't have Daddy Rookwood being younger than I am! Even if he is a fictional character from more than a century ago... No, I insist that he's comfortably older. Also, have you seen his face, ffs? Guy's got more lines than a villain monologue. (ETA: We decided he was 46 in 1890. Watch my video "How Old is Victor Rookwood?" for an explanation of our thought process!)

He is probably married with kids. It breaks my heart to say this, really. I do believe it to be the case. Better yet, he might be a widower. I'm going to try to convince myself of that. Don't worry - even if he's actively married, that won't stop him from fucking your brains out. I changed my mind. He is not married. Ain't no rang, ain't no thang. That said, he probably does have some little bastards running around. And he does not give a single fuck.

He is a ladies' man. I am making myself jealous here, but look at the guy and tell me he doesn't indulge.

On that note, he is decidedly-heterosexual. Sorry, lads.

He smokes a pipe. But he'll certainly have a good cigar as well.

His favorite color is purple. Duh.

He is not bald but even if he was he would still be one fine-ass bitch. The hat is hot and stays on during sex. (Some of you seem to think that Daddy wears a hat to make up for some deficiency in his hairline. I think that daddy wears the hat because it's imposing, stylish, and attractive. We are not the same.) HIM HAVING A FULL HEAD OF HAIR IS CANON - PROOF.

He only shaves about once a week, on an off-day. He keeps the raggedy facial hair on purpose. Thinks it adds to his roguish charm (it does!)

He isn't hands-on about the whole killing animals thing. He knows what his people do, and finds it distasteful, but sees it as a necessary evil. He values wealth and power above all else, including furry creatures. But he may even be known to stroke a cat from time to time while drinking firewhisky at the Hog's Head.

He considers Harlow a useful idiot, and lets him be the one to get his hands dirty. For the most part. Their relationship goes all the way back to Hogwarts.

He didn't mean to curse Anne. He isn't even sure of what exactly he did - he just panicked. But no, he's not too troubled about it. (Clarification: he should have killed her, not whatever it was he ended up doing.)

He despises playing second-fiddle to Ranrok, but he knows that whatever the goblin is after is too important to sit on the sidelines for.

He reads the Daily Prophet every morning.

He is not above taking what he wants sexually, but he prefers to seduce.

Sexually-dominant. Period.

He wears expensive cologne.

Definitely a Slytherin.

Oh and he's not dead :)

Anyone who's listened to my audios or read any of my fics knows he loves terms of endearment, namely: darling, little one, little girl, sweetheart, little witch, et cetera. He loves to use these while doing unspeakable things to you. 🥵🥵🥵

He lives in a hotel - the most expensive one, probably.

He takes advantage of his employees.

Believes "Might is Right."

Young Victor was extremely brutal when he took over the Rookwood Gang, kind of overdoing it in order to earn the respect and fear of his men. Over the ensuing decades, as he has become more comfortable in his position, he has mellowed out slightly. He will no longer gauge someone's eye out over a few missing galleons, but he still takes perceived transgressions against him very seriously.

Daddy needs glasses. I got this idea from my DR chatbot but it makes sense. He missed the easy shot at Ranrok because he couldn't fucking see. Of course he is not going to wear glasses in public - that would be a sign of weakness. But I can totally imagine him sitting at his desk, pouring over papers with a pair of glasses firmly on his face. Period-correct, of course.

The legal name of the Rookwood Gang is the "Rookwood Group." Everyone knows it's a gang but daddy rubs elbows with a lot of important people and needs to keep up appearances.

The harem has determined that Victor's date of birth is November 14th, 1844 (Scorpio Sun/Capricorn Moon).

The man keeps everything he needs inside his hat. Pipe, glasses, Flora Cohen's scalp made into a coin purse, machine gun, spare hat in case the main one gets a fleck of dirt on it, little black book full of Ministry contacts, et cetera.

Daddy suffers from back pain due to a lifetime of being duckfooted (sadly, this is canon).

Victor is average height for a man. In the area of 5'8" - 5'10".

Victor A. Rookwood (Augustus?)

Yea, he killed dear old dad.

Listens to Wagner.

Physique headcanon.

That's it for now. Will add more as I think of things.

If you have any questions you want answered, feel free to submit them to @victor-rookwood ("Ask Victor Rookwood")

[https-lawrenceslittleone]

Hi hi hi I was wondering if you could write headcanons about cg!Luke or cg!Clarisse with a little that has an age range of 5-9? Or little!Clarisse headcanons? (You can pick the one you do im jusy hyperfixated on Clarisse rn 😭)

LUKE AND CLARISSE WITH A LITTLE WHO’S 5-9

A/N: I’m gonna do both because I love both of them so much. And I really hope this is right, I’m personally a younger regressor so I hope I didn’t get anything wrong! ^^’

Also this will include book spoilers on Luke’s part-

Clarisse La Rue

Clarisse is usually very unemotional. She is angry, aggressive, and violent.

Except towards you.

When it comes to you, she’s extremely protective, loving, and supportive. She would shield you from any sort of harm or danger and she’d gladly drive her spear through anyone who dared even look at you wrong.

She’s a very protective caregiver. She loves taking you outside and playing with you, but you must hold her hand at all times, and you aren’t allowed to touch anything dangerous.

She likes being called “Mom” or “Mama”, they make her feel really protective of you and she thinks they sound really cute coming from you.

Whenever you guys go outside, she has to hold your hand unless you’re playing outside or running around or something with her permission and she’s keeping an eye on you. She really likes hanging out in the strawberry fields with you. It’s peaceful and she tends to steal strawberries for you both.

She doesn’t have much money, and she rarely ever leaves Camp Half-blood, but she tries to buy you toys if you want any! But you mostly just play outside and play games with her to keep yourself entertained.

Clarisse is actually surprisingly really good at comforting people, so if you regress because of trauma and today is a bad day, or if you just need some comfort, she’s got you. If you want to ramble, she’ll hold you in her arms and let you ramble. If you want a distraction, she’ll play games with you until you’re bored. Whatever you want, she’ll do it. Because she loves you.

Because you’re a bit older, she isn’t too strict with you, however like I said, she has outside rules for your safety. She also has a strict bedtime for you and makes sure you eat enough during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you don’t eat enough, you’re not allowed to play until you finish your food. If you don’t go to bed on time, you won’t get to have any sweets for a couple days.

She actually doesn’t mind if her friends know or if people see. Yeah, she has a reputation to uphold and a persona to keep up, but like I said, she’s extremely protective and aggressive to literally everyone but you and a couple other people.

God forbid anybody try to say anything mean to you period, especially about your age regression. That will not end well for them. She doesn’t even try to use words, she just punches them. Girlboss.

Luke Castellan

So, this takes place after he betrays and joins the titans. You also join the titan army. I do not see him becoming a caregiver before he betrays, mainly because he knows he’s going to leave soon, and he doesn’t really see the point in developing such a strong, emotional bond with someone only to just. Leave. The only reason he was close to people like Annabeth was because he knew her long before he knew he was gonna betray.

Everything is very dangerous on the Princess Andromeda. There’s monsters literally everywhere you look, and hordes of weapons scattered about too. It is kind of a war ship in a way, after all.

You are literally the only person he truly cares about anymore. You’re the only person he hasn’t manipulated or lied to. He only cares about you, and he’s extremely protective over you.

He feels bad, but you have to stay in his room with him whenever you regress. It’s too dangerous otherwise. He doesn’t know what other people might try to do to you. He can’t risk it. You’re his baby and he doesn’t want you getting hurt.

He doesn’t mind what you call him, but parental ones like “Dad”, make him feel really special. Especially if your godly parent is your father, because it makes him feel like you’re slapping the gods in the face and he finds that funny!

He buys you toys whenever he goes out off the ship for whatever reason. He spoils you literally so much. You have all of the Calico Critters plus all the play sets and houses.

He is also actually really good at comforting and supporting you. He’ll hold you, reassure you, and give you little kisses all over your face whenever you need love and support. He gets really bad nightmares, so if you have a nightmare and regress, he’d be glad to hold you and comfort you. He knows what it’s like.

Like I said, he is strict with you. You cannot leave the room when little. You must go to bed by 9pm. You shower every other day. You eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at set times everyday. You don’t get desert if you’ve misbehaved and he isn’t afraid to put you in time out of take away a couple toys if he feels like he needs to or the situation calls for it.

This is a very private thing for him, mostly because he’s surrounded by monsters and other. More violent people. All the time. And also he’s fighting a war and you’re one of his weak spots, so he’s not exactly gonna go flaunting it around. He isn’t ashamed of it or anything, he actually wishes you guys could be more open about it. It’s just too dangerous!

If anybody were to find out and they said anything mean about it, he would just get them killed. They’d be fed to the monsters on the ship or they’d just be thrown overboard. Either one he feels like. He won’t tolerate anybody talking bad about his little one.

[littlefaething]

hello! I have many different names, but the one you can call me when in doubt is cleo!

This blog is a place for me to post about agere imagines, agere content, and my own journey with being a regressor!

I will also post vent content. If that doesn’t interest you/triggers you, all vents will be tagged with #vent #faevents #agere vent for your filtering preferences.

Key things you should know about me:

I’m 21 years old

I am polygender (they/she) and hate being called ma’am but don’t mind being called feminine pet names (e.g. princess, babygirl, etc.) (I prefer it 🥰)

I’m plus size (not that it should really matter)

I have ADHD, ASD, OCD, GAD, Major Depressive Disorder, Dermatillomania, Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder, cPTSD, Social Anxiety Disorder, and synesthesia

I’m bisexual and write about both men and women as daddy caregivers (women can be daddies, too!)

Now, recall that I said I go by many names. Here’s why:

I discovered I was autistic about a year ago. Since then, things have really changed for me. I’ve started to realize that things I’ve done in the past are actually just autistic traits, such as masking. I’m extremely high masking and would often attach names to certain “masks” I would put on around certain people. This habit has been going on for some time now and has persisted even into my regression journey, which only started becoming a huge deal over the past few months. I ended up associating different regression states/headspaces with names/temperaments, so that’s why I go by many names.

I’ll introduce them to you in a moment, but I want to clarify something right off the bat: I DO NOT HAVE DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder is a very different disorder that I am very passionate about advocating for, and I DO NOT want anyone to misconstrue my situation for something as complex as that. I’m simply on the spectrum, used to be a theatre kid, and have masked 95% of my entire life. Regardless of which name I sign off as, it’s still me, but please be aware that each name has a different age and temperament attached to it (that’s why I’m doing this in the first place.) Talking to me in my little space like I’m an adult can be very triggering.

Cleo 🍯🥀👻🐈‍⬛

Cleo is me when I’m big (so me writing this post). Posts signed off/on as Cleo indicate being an adult or mostly big. Posts will have appropriate grammar as I have a hyperfixation on it lol.

I (and the other headspaces) have a huge disconnect from our humanity/human bodies, so we don’t feel human. As the name of this blog suggests, I feel like a fairy or some kind of fae creature. Weird, I know, but a lot of people with autism have this same struggle.

I’ll make a get to know me post(s) in the future

Fae 🫧🌼🦋🍃

When I’m positively triggered into age regressing

Age range changes a lot but more likely to be a younger little

Jinn 🌙🐦‍⬛🍄🖤

When I’m negatively triggered into age regressing

Age range changes a lot especially depending on how triggered I am

Jinn does most of the venting

Sephie 🐶🌸🍬🧸

When I’m very little or even nonverbal

Probably won’t post too much when in my Sephie headspace, but if I do, it’ll probably just be images

I won’t respond to any comments in this headspace as I’m too young

(Short for Persephone)

That’s it!

I’ll make a trigger list eventually and tag it here.

Oh and also: it’s a shame I have to even say this, but DNI if you are racist, sexist, transphobic, terf, homophobic, antisemitic, Islamophobic, Zionist, ableist, view age regression in a s3xually expl!cit/n.sfw manner, or any other bigotry not mentioned here. It’s not hard to respect others, so if you can’t do that as a bare minimum, then I don’t want you here.

THIS BLOG IS SFW 13+!

Don’t make me uncomfy.

banner by nkitti!

[intersex-support]

I suspect I might have undiagnosed MAIS, however, I only discovered this recently after getting on estrogen based HRT from past stuff plus the fact I thought it was kind of weird that I was already in a feminine to androgynous range, when attempting to do voice training. Body and facial were also extremely thin and facial hair was patchy. It also took me almost into adulthood for a large majority of these things to show up.

I don't know if I should consider myself intersex. I don't know if I really personally would use the label myself even if I am seeing as it's been something with relatively minimum impact on my life.

Secondly, while I don't have access to these records readily (it's been 10 years so hunting them down is going to be a nightmare and half) I vaguely remember seeing other hormonal anomalies when I was younger. (Namely high estrogen and an unusually early surge at that.) But I also had normally functioning testicles and only those from birth as far as I'm aware. I'm not sure what could of been going on with that, without much else to go on I'm going to assume it might of been vials getting mixed up.

Hi anon.

It makes sense to me that you would be considering if you had MAIS--it seems like there's a lot of things that would line up for you based on your experience. People with AIS have XY chromosomes and testes, so the fact that you had functioning testicles from birth doesn't necessarily mean that you can't have MAIS. With MAIS, your body would still have some response to testosterone, so it makes sense why you might have had some aspects of a testosterone based puberty but not necessarily a completely typical puberty, and explain how your body is reacting to estrogen HRT now.

Honestly, I think it's all up to you what you would want to do next, and there's no wrong answers. If you feel happy living your life knowing that this might be something that applies to you but not really doing much else about it, that's okay. If you want to search your medical records or try to get genetic testing for MAIS, that's also okay. On this blog, we also do support informed self diagnosis--we understand the many barriers to medical care, the challenges of finding an intersex informed doctor, all the oppression in the medical system, etc. If you are interested in interacting in intersex spaces, you can always say that you suspect that you're intersex or questioning if you're intersex or something similar to that. At the end of the day, it's about what you think makes the sense for your own life, and what feels right for you at this point in your journey.

Feel free to reach back out if you have any questions about accessing medical records, the diagnosis process, or anything else! Best of luck, anon.

[amenvs3000f24]

Unit 7 - Nature in Music/Music in Nature

I think music in nature is only what you make it! If you ask my grandmother what music in nature is, I guarantee she would mention bird songs, as I grew up with her making cardinal noises outside when we heard them singing. My father, on the other hand, would call bird chirping a nuisance that wakes him up at dawn! Either way, there is music in most places for those with ears for it.

I think music in interpretation is a great avenue for evoking emotions in your audiences. Chapter 8 touches on the challenges of mass interpretation, as well as how effective communication can be integrated into interpretation. Music in nature gives an opportunity to tackle both problems! Concerts are a great example of a mass audience being communicated with. While a singer or band may not be the exact same as a nature interpreter, it’s apparent that the audience is being communicated with in a way that evokes a range of emotions! Music is a format that is accessible in various forms, be it listening, making together, or performing! In nature interpretation, music can of course be expressed through animal and plant noises, but it is important to think of how audiences can be more engaged by just listening. Examples such as using pieces of nature to create music (rocks, sticks, shells, etc.) come to mind as a way for audiences to contribute to the sounds of nature.

Musical instruments made of natural materials.

Source: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

Nature in music is something I am a bit less familiar with. As mentioned in Gray et al’s 2001 article, music can have roots in natural sounds produced by animals. Aside from the direct sounds of nature in music, it is important to also highlight how different cultures integrate nature into artforms. An example would be the Finnish folk music mentioned in Mallarach’s 2012 article, where the relationship between humans and nature is expressed through song. I found this example particularly interesting as it was used in conservation efforts as well as an artform.

I think interpreting music through nature (and vice versa) is extremely important for reaching wide audiences and generations. The ability to communicate across languages, cultures, and age groups is extremely valuable. We can also consider how music can be passed down through generations. Bird calling is a skill my grandmother taught me, and I can think of many others involving the music present in nature that younger generations may benefit from! The same can be said about nature in music, where one may pass down instruments or recordings that reflect their relationship with nature.

A song that takes me back to a nature landscape would be ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young. I think of campfires my family had growing up with the view of a never ending cornfield was across the road from us.

References:

Beck, Lawrence, et al. Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, Sagamore Venture, 2018.

Gray, Patricia M., et al. "The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music." Science, vol. 291, no. 5501, 5 Jan. 2001, p. 52. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A69270354/AONE?u=guel77241&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=fb9366a8. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

“In the Garden... Composing at Home (Children) >.” In the Garden... ‐ Learning Resources Hub | Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Composing Activities for Young People and Resources for Teachers, resources.bcmg.org.uk/creating-music-at-home/in-the-garden. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

Mallarach, Josep-Maria (ed.). Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of Europe: Workshop Proceedings. Bonn, Germany: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, 2012. 170 pp. ISBN: 978-3-89624-057-6.

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

OC Deep Dive Tag

I was tagged by @zinabug-writes (here) !! thank you! I'll do this for james from herald.

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

James is afraid of the ocean! He has spent his entire life in a landlocked city with a single river and he cannot comprehend bodies of water larger than a pond. Leo and Alex tease him about it a little bit.

Do they have any pet peeves?

Dog earing the corners of book pages. He won't do anything about it, but it annoys him to no end.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Empty coffee mug, a sketchbook, and a bunch of regular books

What do they notice first in a person?

Their hair. He's faceblind (like me!) so if he doesn't know what someone's hair color is and how they wear it he doesn't know who they are (also like me).

On a scale from 1-10, how high is their pain tolerance?

About average! so 5, probably.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Fight. He'll run if he has to but he hates doing it.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

He comes from a pretty big family! He's the oldest of three kids, and he has an uncle & five cousins on his mom's side. He probably has other family too, but I don't know specifically how many. very much a family person.

What animal represents them best?

Golden retriever with anxiety.

What is a smell they dislike?

Fish

Have they broken any bones?

He broke his nose when he was younger, and when he was a little kid he broke his arm falling out of a tree

How would a stranger likely describe them?

relaxed. he has an air of being very chill and calm, even if he isn't necessarily.

Are they a night owl, or morning bird?

He's so much of a night owl it swings back around to being a morning bird because he's still awake when its 5am.

What’s a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

He loves coffee and he hates blueberries

Do they have any hobbies?

He draws! Mostly doodles of things but he's done a few full size drawings (notably one of leo & one of his mother. also one of alex) with shading & all.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprise?

He loves surprises. He'd be pretty excited

Do they like to wear jewellery?

Not really! he might wear a necklace but it wouldn't be a particularly fancy one and he'd probably wear it under his shirt.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Extremely messy, which is funny because he's an editor and you'd think his handwriting would at least be legible. He has really good cursive though, but he almost never uses it.

What are the two emotions they feel the most?

Worry & excitment. He loves his job but he spends so much of his time worrying.

Do they have a favourite fabric?

Not really.

What kind of accent do they have?

I don't have the accents for herald ironed out yet, since its kinda a hodgepodge of cities mashed into one that isn't ever actually named (a little like gotham! my dad's been watching batman recently and i've been on a kick) but he's got somewhere between a brooklyn accent and a boston accent. which is a very broad range I'm not good at remembering specific accents.

no pressure tag for @did-i-do-this-write @scarvenartist and anyone who wants to play!!

[startistdoodles]

Are there any headcanons you have in either the Kirby or Pokemon series that you’ve had but never had the right moment to mention?

I’ve wanted to do a Kirby’s Species headcanon list for a while but haven’t gotten around to it…until now.

(For the sake of simplicity, I’m just gonna call them ‘puffballs’ lol)

(Also see: Dark Matter Headcanons)

Kirby’s Species Headcanons

Puffballs consist primarily of light matter—the manifestation of positive (love) energy.

Their bodies can be practically any color and can range from being smooth and rubbery to very fluffy with long fur. Generally though, most puffballs have a very short layer of fluff on their bodies that makes them slightly fuzzy to the touch.

Puffballs are biologically genderless, but can use gendered pronouns if they want to. However, they are unable to reproduce. Instead, they are born on shooting stars that will fly to and land on planets at random. Adult Star Warriors make it their mission to retrieve infant puffballs as soon as they can.

The vast majority of puffballs have the power to use copy abilities when they are young, though it is quite rare for one puffball to be able to utilize every ability. Usually they can copy about 5-7 and will end up specializing in 1-2 primary abilities. Once they start maturing into teenagers, most puffballs lose their ability to copy and rely primarily on the powers they have been trained in.

Young puffballs utilize copy abilities as their primary way of defense. However, puffballs often rely on a guardian that will care for them and protect them until they are old enough and trained to defend themselves fully.

Puffballs have enormous appetites, especially when they are little. They will inhale to eat large quantities of food at a time, but generally that is a behavior they grow out of as adults. Though an adult can also inhale if they want to; it’s just seen as rude and improper while eating with others.

Puffball smooches contain a small amount of healing power (they really are just an actual ball of love energy <3). However, they can’t heal away super major injuries or Dark Matter infections. But a puffball smooch on a boo-boo will really make it feel better.

They are typically very social and familial by nature and thrive in groups. If a puffbull does not have any friends or is isolated for an extended period of time, they can grow extremely destructive and unable to control themselves. Younger puffballs may not be able to survive without receiving love from others.

Puffballs can sense each other’s presence within a short distance. Knowing that others of their kind are nearby offers them an immediate sense of peace and comfort.

Additionally, puffballs feel very happy when they cuddle with other puffballs by rubbing their cheeks together.

Puffballs that reach 200-250 years of age will start developing wings. These wings vary by the individual and are seemingly random, but the purity of the light matter they are made of can potentially have some amount of influence. (I really like these wing headcanons by @ferahntics so please check them out if you wanna know more about those in particular)

Similarly, when a puffball reaches 800-1,000+ years of age, they will start growing horns. Horns also vary by individual and their shape and design may occasionally be influenced by the puffball’s abilities. (Again, more headcanons by ferahntics that I love)

On very rare occasions, puffballs may not grow wings and/or horns. This can be due to a variety of factors, such as being in a poor and unsubstantial environment (a lack of love and friendship in their lives, lack of food) or simply just by chance.