#it's like that when you receive new information it's okay to change your opinion post

[dreaminginsteadofsleeping42]

Some of these responses to Taylor's playlists leave me highly suspicious that some people writing them have never actually lived normal human experiences.

[astrojulia]

Why big post about Aries in Aquarius season 😫 do one for Aquarius please

Hello dear,

It's because I need order.. if I don't have it I end up doing nothing, LOL. But I stopped to think and did something else... (okay, the Pisces Season just started, but whatever 😆). There's an old post of mine that I gave a good rework, I hope you like the new version.

They have free and unitary thinking - Even though they are the sign of the community, we cannot forget that Aquarius is the FIXED air sign, in addition to having been ruled by Saturn for many (MANY) years, so it understands that the community exists , but that there must be space between the self and the world. In this, in this space that Aquarians create between themselves and each other, what is most affected is their mind and consequently their worldview, this means that everything that passes through this person's mind first passes through their Aquarian lens, which changes all the information they receive by sharing their experiences and learning. Got confused? So let's go. The Aquarius man (or woman... or others) is that person who will listen to something and say something completely different, not because he is crazy, but because that said “something” triggers a series of experiences that these people have already had making A equals B for them… even if only in the mind, that's why weird dots get connect and it's not possible to control the Aquarian's reasoning.

They like the different - Wow, that's obvious Julia (← that's my name, okay), but it's true when we say that they are attracted to the different for simply being different, whether in fashion or in ideas, they will look for different plastic artists , clothing brands… Aquarians, however, will settle for something some time in their life. Once they are older,they have a more specific taste and that will accompany them for the rest of their lives, this could be a color, a band, a haircut… And this taste of theirs can even become a trend for a while, but when it doesn't, they'll still like it.

They are stylish - It is in my humble experience, women mostly. First, let's remember what the word style really means :“set of trends, tastes, characteristic ways of behavior of an individual or group”, that is, it is not what is in fashion. Having an Aquarius friend is seeing a piece of clothing and knowing it's going to like it because it's just like them. As I said before, they have a specific taste, even more so when they get older (young aquarius are still testing everything). At the beginning of their lives they do things to really shock, combining adolescence with Aquarian rebelliousness reminds me, and a lot, of the cyberpunk style, but after a while, they can continue wearing their Mohawks until they are 70 years old or simply, being in love with a cardigan, but you know THAT cardigan from your aquarius friend.

They have a creative mind - A creative mind in my view is one that will find a way to express their feelings, their soul in some way, so it's not surprising to see an Aquarius working in the arts or in more everyday jobs such as hairdresser and makeup artist. Aquarius have a taste for creativity, they have an artist's soul and the need for creation, you won't see every Aquarius with a watermelon around their neck, but maybe, when you go to see the character customization of one of their games, the character has hair green, purple mustache and orange vest (yes dad I'm talking about you)

They have a hidden side - They have something very similar to their former ruler partner Capricorn, which is separating the personal from the professional. They are one thing inside the house, another thing outside... but now this goes on to all other areas of their life, the emotional and personal of an Aquarius is hidden by their rational and social, the Aquarius will say what it believe to be the best for that moment, what it believe people need to hear and often leave their opinion aside, they do what they think will be more harmonious or what will bring more progress to their social bond. I've heard and read from several people (non-Aquarians)who see Aquarians as someone who likes to cause chaos and seek to "cause problem", but being honest, one of the greatest desires of Aquarians is to be accepted in society... do you think that they do this “by chance”? Or just to piss you off? You have a great ego, congratulations.

They give their best version - Out in the world, they always give their best, their brightest and most humanitarian side, but when they don't feel willing to be positive that day, they isolate themselves until they “return to normality”, soIt's super normal if your Aquarius friend doesn't see their cell phone for a while, they'll only answer you when they feel ready, not everything is ghosting ok.

They are selective - When you just meet an Aquarius it will talk deeply and a lot with you, but it's a test to know your commonalities and your character, if after that they don't have an affinity with you, you'll just be a colleague to greet, but you will not be their friend. Knowing this, yes, they are very annoying sometimes, even more so in societies where being extroverted is seen as a quality and being introverted is almost like a disease (I'm talking about you Brazil…), but they are there selecting what and who they will spend their energy on and many people will be left off the list.

“The Aquarius energy�� - I see this energy as the energy of humanitarianism. When you went through the selection of the previous topic, you see that the Aquarius person likes to raise the mood of any situation, I see this through two methods, being them being logical with the solutions to problems or being able to see the positive side of everything that happens, no matter the way the have choose, they want to see their small group well and mostly together. I see a lot of aquarius people going to events and places they are not a fan of, but doing it because their group likes it a lot and they are happy about it.

They always want that person who doesn't care about them... - For some reason, they always fall in love with that person who isn't giving them the slightest bit of attention, that they need to put up a sign saying "I like you" to their crush knowing they exist.. Aquarians are romantic people, especially women, and they like a challenge, so for some reason the idea of earning their own lover and going against all negative possibilities is something that excites them.

They are connected to sounds - Remember when I said that they have different taste, are stylish and selective… This happens a lot with music. That person who lives with headphones listening to music, who doesn't drive without it radio... Probably Aquarius. I see many having a favorite band, others who like only one style of music, but Aquarians are people who have a soundtrack to their life and their senses are very involved in the sounds they hear.

They are terrible liars - You probably don't know this part, but one of the symbols of Aquarius is the titan Prometheus who, even if he got screwed afterwards, brought fire to humanity. One of the representations of fire is truth, it is stepping out of the darkness and knowing what is real and that spark runs through all Aquarians. And well... the lie is the opposite of the truth, so people who are always looking for the truth don't end up becoming a good liar. I'm not going to say they don't lie, I do (and I'm an Aquarius) but they tend to blurt out what they really think rather than blurt out a lie that they end up screwing themselves over it. The biggest part of not being able to lie is not being able to lie to themselves, they can't deceive themselves to do something they don't like for example, because their nature does not allow them to do what they don't think is right. Also, they are good at detecting lies too..

They joke about everything - You know that person who makes an uncomfortable joke in the middle of a tense situation?…Nice to meet you, Aquarius. Many will be surprised and even irritated with them, and yes, over the years many Aquarians learn not to make jokes with people they don't know... but they are the kings of sarcasm, that's why they always put a joke in the middle of a tense situation.

They love to question - They are very curious and can't see an opportunity to learn more passing in front of them, so if they have the openness to ask and delve into the subject... they will ask and delve further into the subject... it is also a great strategy for them to strike up conversations and get closer.. so pay attention to this if you're into an Aquarius person.

They love change - Aquarius is a free spirit and air sign, so they don't like to put down roots and always change a little behavior to have a new routine, a new job or even go to a new country…. But we also cannot forget its fixed nature and its regencies. Being from Uranus, they always want to see new things quickly, for the world to change as quickly as possible, after all, chaos is the spark of creation, and with Saturn… they love change, but mostly in others, when others change to do something, because many times the Aquarius wants to continue doing the same and the make the other moves the gears of transformation.

They are liberal - Are they judgmental of others' behavior and beliefs? Yes. But for them. “Is this person's belief good for me?”, it turned out, what the other does (which is not illegal) is the other's problem. You'll see them in many different social groups, not wanting to change anyone's opinion if no one asked and will let you have your way... just don't forget that the Aquarius won't change them for you either.

They seek positivism - Aquarius always seeks to make the best of the situation and people, so they will always see the reason for what happened from the other's point of view and will place less blame on the shoulders of others, things happen because they have to happen, they don't always have a culprit.

They know how to take criticism - If you got a "no" from an Aquarius when criticizing them it was for two reasons, either you haven't known them for a long time or they don't see you as an authority on the subject, Aquarius knows that others will be able to see details they don't understand and seek help from those they trust for advice, especially in the field of love. Yes, we know that sometimes it is necessary to be more humble and accept the opinion of people that we see as laymen... but it is difficult LOL

They are magical beings - They have a different energy, they try to connect with the spiritual and with nature in some way because they feel the need to clean themselves from human connections from time to time, they are very affected by other people's energy, that's why they resort to various spiritual practices and alone time.

Magic hands - This is certainly the most curious one, Aquarians are tactile and touch sensitive people, so they have a lot of energy in their hands and can develop techniques like reiki and massage very easily and they are nice about it. Now can you understand a little why they hate agglomerations and hugging and kissing people?

Sources: Astro Elias - The 19 secrets inspiration Template by sorberts on tumblr PSD by wildfireresources on deviantart

[pomplalamoose]

headcanons: Luke Skywalker and a mentally ill reader🫂🩵

A/N: I received several requests for Luke with a reader that struggles with their psychological health and decided to do one big post instead of three small ones.

Since I'm heavily affected myself I have a hard time talking about it, meaning this will be shorter than what I usually do; thank you for understanding <3

Nevertheless it's an important topic that shouldn't be ignored so here we goooo

Luke comforting you when you're afraid of being a bad Jedi due to your mental illness

• like I often mention, Luke always has an open ear for you

• I think he's especially understanding when you tell him you struggle with your personal image as a Jedi

• because in a similar way Luke often worries about this as well

• is he doing the right thing? Did he make the right choices? He doesn't know

• more often than not he wishes for Obi-Wan or Yoda to be with him still, to guide him

• his insecurities might stem from a different place than yours but in many ways you are able to draw parallels

• just like you he's afraid of not being good enough

• I think he'd let himself be really vulnerable in sharing this with you, hoping that it makes you feel less alone

• he doesn't want you to think you are in any way failing him or yourself

• most importantly though he wants to prevent you from thinking he's without faults

• he wants to give you an opening to relax, to show you that it's going to be okay as long as you're genuinely trying your best

• he does his best and is he not doing a good job?

• he wants to relieve you of the burden of perfectionism

• both of you are human and that is very much okay

• additionally the both of you don't have much information about what a Jedi should or should not be and while that certainly makes things harder, it can also mean a new beginning

• Luke spends a lot of time thinking about the principles and teachings he wants to pass along to a new generation of Jedi

• and I think a big part of that would be to embrace one's nature and being as they are

• some things can't be changed, it's the will of the Force

• in this regard he is big on following his senses and his heart and how could you ever be a bad Jedi if he sees so much goodness in you?

• while it may be hard to see for yourself, Luke will do his best to show you that your personal struggles don't equal being a failure

• mental illness isn't a flaw that makes you less capable or less intelligent

• you are not your mental illness

• it doesn't define you as a person even though it often times feels like it

• he will list many wonderful character traits of yours, trying to convey how others may see you

• he retells situations where you were able to overcome or even use your struggles in order to help another person

• you are allowed to be yourself and he's glad to have you by his side

• he values your opinions and insights

• in many ways you are able to view certain aspects from a totally different point

• with your unique experiences you are able to offer comfort to those in similar situations better than Luke ever could

Not wanting to burden Luke with your trauma

• Luke is familiar with the notion of keeping ones struggles to oneself

• especially when it's done out of consideration for others

• I don't think you'd manage to hide your mental state from him though, not post ROTJ and not when you're force sensitive as well

• he might have been rather blind to his surroundings earlier on, but has long grown past it

• of course he respects if and when you want to open up at all and will put no pressure on you to tell him anything whatsoever

• however I think he prefers his family and friends to be outspoken about how they're feeling

• not only does he want to help but is also aware that it's only going to get worse over time otherwise

• he knows what can happen when one gets lost in an endless maze of the same recurring thoughts

• to be able to realease something into the Force, to let it go, one has to confront it

• how this is done varies for each person though

• you know best where your trauma stems from and only you know what you are able to take on in order to leave it behind

• as much as Luke would love to be able to simply tell you what to do, he can't

• it's a journey everyone has to go on for themselves

• he'll want to be your company though

• Luke is happy to let you take your time

• if the possibility to retreat is important to you, it's what you get

• he wants your healing to come from a place of security and with the knowledge that he's there to catch you when you're not able to do so on your own

• still he remains firm in his believes and will tell you so

• nobody said it was easy, he knows for a fact it isn't and he is ready to be by your side when you are

• depending on your relationship he might give you gentle nudge in the right direction or, alternatively, a kick in the butt if that's what you need

• he won't stand by and watch you destroy yourself

Dilf!Luke realizing you're not doing well mentally

• since he always has his eyes on you, he can tell when something is just a little bit different

• depending on how well you're able to hide your mental condition though, it possibly takes him a while

• unlike is child he can't be around you all the time and during your car rides home the both of you don't talk

• maybe he realizes how tense you grow when a member of your family contacts you

• maybe he overhears parts of a conversation either when you have to take their calls or when you talk with your friend

• I think he'd ask his child if everything's okay with you

• he doesn't want to seem overbearing or like he's invading your privacy

• since they are your best friend they wouldn't tell him any details but maybe mention you're struggling

• again it depends on you as a person

• are you open about your mental health or not?

• if not they will lie for you

• otherwise they know what they can share without revealing too much

• after all it's your decision what you want others to know

• either way he's worried

• he will offer his help right away

• if you need someone to talk to, he's there

• he's not a professional of course but he'll listen! A second perspective can change a lot!

• the house is easily big enough for one more person, he doesn't mind you staying for the night or a few more

• you can always come over when you need space or a place to rest

• he'll look after you

• have you thought about moving out?

• are you making enough money to be independent?

• are you seeing a therapist?

• "Dad please calm down, I can't tell them you said any of this!"

• your friend will give you a watered down version of what happened because they're kinda afraid that you'll be creeped out by Luke's behavior

• you aren't

• in fact there's nothing you want more than for Mr. Skywalker to take care of you

• he may ask you about it himself once you are better acquainted

• if you're comfortable enough to drop a comment or two he definitely catches on to them

• you are welcome to celebrate the holidays with him and his child, you know?

• he's sure they would be more than okay with it too

• it's your choice of course but he'd be happy to have you

[yooniesim]

Very quick question, simblr will post things like please tell me if I’m following someone sketchy, so someone goes around to give “heads up” or a “warning” but it seems like it’s okay to do so in some cases but not others. I was wondering when you think is the right time to do that, or if it should stop altogether. I know that’s it’s possible to have different opinions on someone or something (but I feel like simblr can’t fathom that.) Do we let people follow whoever or do we speak up? I guess as someone who’s new here I’ve seen this trend and it can be overwhelming when it comes to who I’m supposed to follow or not. Sorry if this is gibberish, and you don’t need to answer at all. Thanks for even reading!

Hey nonny, this is a complicated question that I'm not entirely sure of the answer.

I think, ultimately, it depends on your personal lines. Because we as people can't take on every issue and try to save the world. Not only is it exhausting, especially if you're part of a marginalized group that deals with this shit IRL to start with, but it's functionally impossible. And we can all only take so much. I have to say that again. We can only take so much. Ultimately, if fighting the so-called good fight on the internet is too overwhelming, you can just stop. In fact, you should. Dealing with shit on here combined with IRL took me to one of my lowest points in my life, and depressingly, it did functionally nothing in the grand scheme of things. Whether that grand scheme of things was in terms of the simblr community or the world a whole, it's the same; I accomplished nothing and nothing changed. Except I feel worse when trying to participate in the community and I certainly have a far bigger target on my back from bigots and anyone else that just found me annoying. It gave me a bad reputation for being involved with "drama" and I've endured so much vile shit being said about me on here that occasionally it makes me nauseous to think about. So was it worth the time and effort spent? Well, no. So from my experience, I would advise not to get too wrapped up in who did what and who you should block and the entire history of who did that stupid ass thing that one time. It's useless.

Instead, measure by your own lines, your own morals and triggers. I personally block transphobes, terfs, racists, etc, that have documented proof in their own words of bigotry, that have not apologized/changed. I don't go into others inboxes to inform them about these people, but I will reblog/boost informative posts with appropriate proof and tag them accordingly, so that my followers can be aware. I certainly do not take random anons as proof and do not share rumors or vague accusations. If you ever feel the need to inform someone about someone else, be sure to investigate fully and know exactly what you're talking about before you do so and provide links/screenshots. Simblr has the collective memory of a goldfish and mixes things up all the time, together with remembering rumors as fact or even completely switching around events. I have over 500 asks in my inbox, and have received "reports" about many, many people here. A good amount of them are inaccurate & misremembered, accidentally about someone else entirely than who they named, have two different stories mixed up, are sourced from bad faith actors (such as bigots), or are completely made up with no source. I've always emphasized reading comprehension, proper research, and taking where you're getting your information from into account, and now I want to stress that even more.

I also do want to emphasize that random people on simblr are not the beacon of morality, nor should they be the judge of who is good and who is bad. We all have bias, misconceptions, and different backgrounds and life experiences. We all have different follower counts and influence in this sphere. And in my experience, simblr's perverted sense of justice more so depends on how well you are liked, who you are friends with, and what you can give the community than the weight of your actual crime. There is a reason why simopeia (just one example, there are many) gets called out every other week and still gets hundreds of notes on posts. There is a reason why certain cc creators regularly rip off the community but are continously overlooked. There's a reason why popular simblrs can act like complete assholes and engage in bigotry and go on unchecked, but others get railed for minor infractions. And there's a reason why minority simmers are criticized far more harshly for their mistakes than their peers, especially the few that have taken up the white savior role.

Simblr is not a court of law. It's social media. And it's a social game more than anything else. Many people have been here for years and have personal history with one another. Some hate each other for being friends with or following someone they dislike. They will hold onto shit endlessly, bring old events up over and over out of context, even consider themselves some sort of online royalty with the power to exile those they dislike to Instagram or Twitter. Whether they find legitimate problematic behavior or just decide to make it up one day, they use and abuse their follower count on a whim without any regard for the effects they might have. It's an ego-fueled game with a fresh & shiny veneer of performative morality. And those that are good intentioned get swept up in it thinking that it is legitimate until they meet the harsh reality that it's nothing more than a fool's errand. It's bitter and sad, and in my experience, the people that endlessly talk about this either lack control in their life IRL & think they can change things in this smaller space (like I did) or simply have made being angry online their personality and can't find a way to break out of it. You do not want to become one of these people, trust me.

These are a lot of words for me to say, basically- judge for yourself, block who you need to, but don't get too wrapped up in it all. I wouldn't go out of my way to tell anyone anything, but if you feel you should (and they've expressed wanting to be told), be sure to do so clearly and appropriately with proof. Above all, protect your own peace. No one else will. If you don't want to engage with it or don't feel you have the mental space, then just don't. I certainly can't blame you for that.

[peach-astrology]

Jupiter in the houses

Jupiter in the first house:

1)Gives good advice,has a broad outlook and is quite lucky.

2)You have an optimistic outlook on life,and you give the impression of being cheerful,confident.You can cry at night,but try to do something again during the day.You are very strong personalities!

3)With bad aspects,it can be too trusting,careless and frivolous.

4)It is easy for this person to adapt to any place and society(but look at Mercury)Religion,culture,and philosophical generalizations will attract people,and they will want to master them.They will probably insert foreign words or quotes from various authors into their speech.

5)He is endowed with administrative abilities and is able to take power leading positions in the fields of politics,business and pedagogy.May be successful as a banker,doctor,judge,theologian,lawyer,or major government official.

Jupiter in the second house:

1)He wants to buy clothes of famous brands,fine furniture,comfortable cars,luxury apartments,etc.Such people don’t like to deny themselves anything.

2)The harmonious aspects of Jupiter attract financial luck.The work of the subject will be adequately paid,and investments will pay off well.

3)The bad aspects of Jupiter make a person wasteful and frivolous.He needs to realize that you can’t spend the last money on candy and that you need to earn only in an honest way.

4)You are very generous and can help your parents financially in the future.Financial well-being is very important.

5)He speaks very calmly,logically and pragmatically.

Jupiter in the third house:

1)Their circle of acquaintances is large,and they easily start relationships with a variety of people.A person can maintain foreign contacts and have many friends and well-wishers abroad.

2)He will make a very good teacher.Not only does he have a broad outlook,but he is also very respectful of other people's opinions.He is not stubborn and likes to constantly learn and develop.

3)The harmonious aspects of Jupiter will tell you about the easy and fast assimilation of educational material.The information you need to study will always be available to you.Others will provide such a person with good books.

4)The more Jupiter is facetted,the greater the intellectual potential of a person and the wider the opportunities for his development.

5)Stressful aspects may indicate congestion.A person wants to know everything at once.Their schedule is very unstable and it is difficult for them to study on schedule.

Jupiter in the fourth house:

1)Their parents were attentive to their studies.Perhaps such a child started reading or speaking early.

2)He likes to take care of his house.Quite hospitable,although it requires personal space.

3)It may indicate that a person will have several properties in the future.

4)These people tend to learn yoga,meditation,and other practices.They like to learn new things about foreign cultures.They like to watch travel blogs.

5)With bad aspects,serious scandals with parents,a tendency to frivolous behavior and waste of family wealth are possible.

Jupiter in the fifth house:

1)Indicates that the person will be a good parent.They understand children well,can have a lot of fun with them,but at the same time educate and spend a lot of time studying.Their children will be active and smart.

2)With bad aspects,a person can lead a debauched lifestyle and be frivolous.

3)People trust and are attracted to you.You give off good energy.You can often be appointed as a manager or director in a company.Be more confident in yourself and show all the strength of the Leo,just do not be too stubborn please.

4)This position is good in sports,because a person has competitiveness.He doesn't want to cheat,because he wants to be honest with himself first of all.Such a person,if desired,can train for days and nights.

5)When bad aspects with Venus can indicate a womanizer.

Jupiter in the sixth house:

1)With good aspects,a person easily recovers and has a good physical shape.With bad aspects,a person can often get seriouslyill,they often come across bad doctors or common diseases(colds)pass harder than others.

2)A mixture of creative freedom and discipline.Such people understand that inspiration comes when they want to.They perform their work conscientiously,can work in their specialty,and have good relations with their boss and colleagues.

3)The sixth house is responsible for pets,so most likely you are a good host,you can often walk with them or teach new abilities.Even cats near you become calmer and more well-mannered.

4)Your weak point is your hips.Please always look at your feet!5)Also,such people often overexert themselves,they strive to do everything in a short time.But they have good and influential bosses.They can work in one of the well-known companies.They respect statuses at work(but not in life)

5)Also,such people often overexert themselves,they strive to do everything in a short time.But they have good and influential bosses.They can work in one of the well-known companies.They respect statuses at work(but not in life)

Jupiter in the seventh house:

1)Oh,I hope your Venus is okay,because this Jupiter position is one of the best for marriage.It's like saying,"You'll be happy with him,baby,be brave"

2)Fair,friendly and caring person in communication.You like to listen to people's different points of view.You can even have smart friends who help with your homework.

3)Sometimes it points to a person "from dirt to princes".They can be much richer and more influential than their parents(if Mars is ok)

4)You are attracted to socially active people.You often support your partner in their endeavors and strongly inspire,rarely jealous.

5)Your karma is playing tricks on you.If you have offended a person,then with a hundred percent probability in a few days you will have just a terrible day.If you have done a good deed,then your finances can grow and luck will be on your side.

Jupiter in the eighth house:

1)As a child,such a person could do many things hastily.With age,such a person becomes more and more calm and risks little(especially money)

2)Such a person most often faces shocking situations in his life.Unlike ordinary people,he knows what to do and how to behave in difficult situations.

3)Sometimes indicates occult abilities.If there are favorable aspects,then be careful with the words that you say.Your insults can come back to you in the form of illnesses or other serious problems.Better not hold a grudge for your own good.

4)Good aspects create a kind of shield around the person,he is safe in any difficult situations.Bad aspects give even more problems to a person,and in what areas of life?You need to look at the planets that form the aspects.

5)8th house is responsible for the inheritance,so you will most likely receive it from your distant relatives,or from the person from whom you didn’t expect.

Jupiter in the ninth house:

1)Such a person may have several educations,or he will not learn in his native language.

2)Negative aspects indicate high self-esteem and lack of seriousness.

3)Very tolerant and versatile person.You can discuss literally everything with him.he may not read much,but he knows a lot.HOW?

4)Their family could be deeply religious or their religion was very important to them.The person himself rarely denies religion,but can change it if he rethinks his beliefs.

5)Just like religion,philosophy is important to them.Such a person gives good advice,he knows how to listen and has a good life experience.He has a lot to tell and listen to.

Jupiter in the tenth house:

1)A person sees his self-development in work.It can reveal his best qualities and inspire.They may have good working conditions, such as frequent bonuses or a lucrative contract.Sometimes indicates that their work is related to travel.

2)Most likely they will be successful after 30 years(due to the influence of Saturn,aka the 10th house)

3)Bad aspects point to the difficult relations with the authorities.A person can be too independent and listen to the opinions of others.Luck is not on their side.

4)Good aspects indicate a person's ability to communicate with colleagues.He has good business partners,has connections abroad and is constantly expanding his circle of acquaintances.Most likely,they were supported in their endeavors by their father or mother.Such a person becomes part of the team,often helps others(in a good way)

5)Air signs are most lucky in intellectual,research,and scientific activities.Fire signs are better to realize themselves in a profession that is associated with public activities or public performances.The main thing for Water and Earth signs is to show a creative streak,develop entrepreneurial inclinations,and the field of activity is not particularly important,they can achieve success in anything.

Jupiter in the eleventh house:

1)You have good friends who will help you with advice or financial assistance.You are sociable and have several groups of friends(but look at the house)

2)You can be inspired by other people through socializing, walking, or posting with other people's thoughts.If you want to get inspired, go to Pinterest or Tumblr.At the same time,you have a good imagination,you do not copy the others, but only get inspired by small things.for example, a color palette or atmosphere.

3)When the bad aspects of the person becomes materialistic.He looks for benefits even in friends and family.Their feelings become drier and angrier.

4)Such a person can become a successful programmer,politician,diplomat or administrator.He may be interested in space exploration,astronomy,and astrology.He likes the aesthetics of space and stars,he is ready to admire them for hours.

5)Good aspects give a person a friendly energy.People want to meet them,pay attention to them.Their money is reliable and sometimes grows.

Jupiter in the twelfth house:

1)He always feels that he is being underestimated.Whatever such a person does,his merits don't become public.He has low self-esteem.

2)A wonderful aspect for an astrologer,fortune teller or clairvoyant.A person literally feels the cards or energy of a person.They notice the signs of fate.

3)Bad aspects indicate a weak immune system.A person can catch a cold from a light breeze.It is necessary to monitor the level of vitamins and water levels in the body.

4)Good aspects indicate good friendships.Friends respect and appreciate a person's empathy and often ask for advice.Most likely,such a person has been friends for years and very rarely changes his environment.

5)A person gets tired of communicating with people and periodically needs to be alone with himself to restore his energy level.I really recommend that you make a playlist for a bad mood,because you will cry and your emotions will be released.Your condition will improve and you may be inspired.

[blzzrdstryr]

Like a fairy tale

Yandere!Diluc x maid!fem!reader

Wordcount: 1921

CW: Yandere and slightly suggestive themes.

You loved reading fairy tales as a child - they were magical and hopeful, a needed retreat for a child of destitute parents. They were a promise that if you were good and kind and beautiful enough, eventually some faraway prince would come by and save you from poverty. And you tried to be good - you were obedient and hardworking and you pushed your hardest in the local school, yet hardship and scarcity still trailed your every step - the meager earnings your parents made weren't enough to buy you nice clothes or let you eat until you were sated, which in turn made social interactions harder: some kids sneered and humiliated you, some tried to help you out of pity. You disliked both groups: whether they were friendly or aggressive towards you, they still looked down on you.

Thus you decided to distance yourself from your peers - there was no knight in shining armour galloping towards you on a snow white steed, yet a good education could be your golden ticket to a better rich life. It was hard at first - to work and to study and to help your parents all while ignoring the demeaning and insulting comments the bullies made, but you gritted your teeth and pushed forward, imagining how wealthy you’ll become in the future and in the end our efforts were rewarded - you graduated as the best student, that led you to receiving a scholarship from Sumeru academy. Sparks and shine appeared in your eyes as you read the letter, barely stopping yourself from outright squealing and jumping from joy.

The moment of happiness didn’t last long though, as a reality again reminded you that there’s no place for fairy tales in the real world - scholarship covered the full cost of apprenticeship, but only it - you still had to spend money on the journey from Mondstadt to Sumeru, a place to rent and food, and if you still could find a job after your arrival in the foreign country and pay off the later two, trip required mora that you never had. At first you had a mad idea to traverse Teyvat on your own two feet - it would be a slow and arduous process, but cheap nonetheless. You later gave up on this plan - archons didn’t give you any vision, nor did you have fighting and travelling experience to aid you on the trail that no doubt would be full of slimes, hilichurls and other dangerous monsters.

And that’s how you started job hunting - you took on any work that promised you a hefty pay, be it some boring reports for guild of adventurers or an exciting yet risky endeavor of getting information for an extravagant cavalry captain, which then led you to Dawn Winery. Head housemaid, Adelinde, posted a job opening for a maid, and the prospect of a stable salary, free food and comfortable bed was enough to lure you in there - two or three years ago the previous owner of the winery died in the accident and his successor left Mond for some reason, leaving the maintenance and management of the winery on the shoulders of the said housemaid.

After a quick interview, the head maid demanded you to show her your cleaning skills, which you effortlessly did, having to look after the house by yourself all your childhood. It seems she was satisfied, as she nodded to you and asked to follow her as she led you to your room. Compared to the other two maids here, Hillie and Moco, who preferred to spend their work time in idle chat, you came off as highly professional and diligent worker. This contrast raised both your position and salary in the winery, as Adelinde started to entrust you with tasks more interesting than simple sweeping and cleaning.

You were outside the winery the day you met Diluc - returning from the city and carrying several stacks of milk and wheat you got chased by the hilichurls. Monsters didn’t leave you, no matter how long and how far you ran. You were ready to drop all the goods and have Adelinde to scold you for wastefulness and dereliction when Ragnvindr appeared and stole a breath from you. He looked just like the prince from your childhood tales, impossibly pretty and strong, arriving just when the creatures caught up with you and then defeating all of them with a single slash of great claymore. And just like a fairytale prince he helped you to get up and collect the scattered baggage and asked if you were okay. Then you two headed for the winery, you didn't know that he was it's owner at the time, chatting and thanking him, as he carried purchases. Adelinde almost fainted when she saw the return of the prodigal master in your company. After hastily taking goods from his hands, she made you apologize for rudeness and insubordination, but Diluc interrupted you saying it was fine.

Ragnvindr heir returned back to the winery and life went on its own, except the unreadable glares Diluc started to send you when you both were in the same room. It started off small: the quick glances that soon grew into intense staring. With his impassive stone face it was impossible to tell why he was glaring at you so much, so you acted as polite and professional as you could in his vicinity - after all you didn’t want to get fired and look for a new job. The key to this riddle presented itself during one day.

It was a bleak windy morning when Adelinde sent you to the city again, and as you walked the sky darkened and rain started. You returned absolutely soaked and shivering, teeth chattering and limbs slightly numb from cold and when Diluc saw you he ordered you to change in a low commanding voice. Frightened by the possible dismissal, you hurried putting on the uniform. Because of the haste you pulled it too tightly, hiking up a maid dress a little. It wasn’t up enough to reveal your hips or thighs, showing just a portion of knees that was usually hidden by the wide skirt.

Diluc’s eyes were glued on the uncovered joints, a subtle blush appearing on his pale cheeks. You continued to work, feeling how he consumed your legs with his eyes alone. He is lusting after me. You didn't know what to do with that revelation back then, embarrassed and slightly scared of attracting master Diluc's attention.

Nonetheless, an answer quickly came on the next day as you found a bonus to your salary, so big that it could be considered a payment for the next month. Diluc, despite his usually impassive face, seemed to be ashamed of the thoughts he had yesterday, with the body language telling you of his true feelings.

A plan came to mind. You hated yourself for it at first - it was low and disgraceful, you felt like a stereotypical manipulative gold digger, yet still decided to realize it in life - you needed mora, as fast and as much as possible. Over the time you spent working at the Dawn winery you noticed that Diluc, despite his obviously high intelligence, wasn't really good at judging one’s character, so he fell for your scheme pretty easily. Design you had in mind was pretty simple - to stir him up with small, innocuous gestures and changes that would slip past the outsider’s eyes.

Sometimes you applied a thin layer of healing lip balm on your lips, that so conveniently happened shine and glitter under the light, sometimes you donned your dress a little bit higher, opening the view of two delicate knees and sometimes after cleaning and working all day you felt so hot that you had to unfasten one or two buttons to cool off. Diluc, despite not showing it on his face, was obviously distracted and aroused, hands clenched into fists and a shaky, barely controlled exhale escaping his nose.

He started to pile you with bonuses and prizes; “for a well done job”, he said one time, averting his gaze and masking the shame in his voice under a huff. He also started to request you to specifically clean the rooms he occupied, his eyes sizing up almost every inch of your body. You felt how the lust and desire radiated off him, how his hands itched to trace your skin and have you at his mercy, yet he stopped every time with his steel strong control and self-discipline. You sensed how it dwindled little by little.

Diluc, in some perverted sense, was that fair prince of your childhood daydreams that would save you from poverty.

You almost had saved up the needed amount of money when you noticed the loss of your most cherished possession - an invitation to the Sumeru academy and scholarship certificate. With heart booming in your chest you started to look for it in the whole winery, without giving out that you were searching for something. It seems that you were unsuccessful in your attempts, as master of the winery soon called you into the office.

Here, he was sitting behind the desk with a familiar paper in his hand - your eyes widened as you saw it and you had an urge to run up to him and snatch the invitation from him. You performed a curtsy instead, closing the door behind you and waiting for him to speak, eyes still on the sheet in Diluc’s hold.

“[First], you are a diligent and skillful employee, Adelinde has a very high opinion of you” he started from afar, a slight rosy blush dusting his cheeks at "skillful employee".

"So as your employer I wouldn't want any harm to befall on your person, and" he shaked the invitation a couple of times, "it came to my attention that you were planning on travelling to Sumeru. I advise you against this nonsensical idea".

You gritted teeth, careful not to insult him with the couple of barbed words at the tip of your tongue. Nonsensical idea? This was your goal, a main reason why you worked so much and allowed yourself so little.

“I am sorry, master Diluc, I am afraid I can’t abandon this idea”, you say, response flat and controlled, a thunderstorm of emotions hidden beneath the faux calm, “It is my goal, and the main reason why I work here”. So I can have a bright and secure future, in which I won’t have to worry about the tomorrow ever again.

“I also learned that you were born into a low income family and you had to struggle in your life because of that ” a sudden mention of your less than glorious origin makes your face burn from the shame you thought you buried a long time ago. You are stunned, so he continues: “I believe this little endeavor of yours is also motivated by your desire for a stable future. Drop it, I travelled all across the Teyvat and there are horrors that can easily destroy you both in body and spirit”.

He stands up from the desk, and gets closer to you: “I can look after and provide for you, just stay there and you won’t have to worry about the future again ”. His hold on the paper gets tighter, pyro vision shining with a dangerous glint. A faint smell of smoke spreads through the room - a warning if you remain stubborn and unyielding.

Who could have known that the fair prince was a greedy dragon all along?

[akiisame]

Genshin impact guide - how to into artifacts

How to into artifacts and team set.

A guide by me for my kawaii @stupidneko and whoever is in need.

Okay, so, as a word of introduction before well start with this long ass post, I’ve never wrote anything like this so be patient with me.

ALSO ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE SO SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR ANY MISTAKES

In my personal opinion artifacts are more important than the characters themselves, they can turn every 4* into a main dps (yes, even amber). 50% of your DMG will come from items, then the other 50% will come from weapon, talents and the character itself, but this is a story for another post.

First let’s take a look at what kind of artifacts do we have. Each and every character have 5 slots for artifacts:

Flower of life - or just flower, for short

Plume of death - feather

Sand of eon - time watch piece

Goblet of Eonothem - goblet

Circlet of Logos - head piece

Each of the pieces have two types of stats: main stats and sub stats. The first two pieces, flower and feather, always have the same main stat.

For flower it's HP

And for feather it's ATK

Then for the rest of them it can be anything, from good main stats like this:

(The following items have high stats because most of them are on max lvl)

... to less of a good stats, like this:

Goblets also are the only artifacts that has the possibility to have element DMG bonus as the main stats:

While head piece are the only artifacts that can have CRIT DMG and CRIT rate as a main stats:

... but they too can have less of a good stats like healing bonus or DEF.

Now, to the sub stats. They can vary from less appealing stats like HP, DEF and Elemental Mastery:

To a great stats like CRIT DMG, CRIT rate and ATK:

Unfortunately that's where the tricky part comes in. You cannot chose which substats the item will have. They will randomly appear. All that's left is to cry and pray.

But how do you get more stats on your item? That's simple, you need to level it up! We call it 'enhancing'. Depending on the rarity of your item( they vary from 1* (one start) to 5*(five stars) ) there are different max lvl cap. I'll mostly focus here on the 4* and 5* items. Max lvl cap for 4* is lv16 and for 5* is lv20.

Every artifact you'll get is always lv1. To enhance an artifact you'll need mora and another artifacts. The main stats will grow with each level, but the substats will update every 4th level (so for 5* item new substats will appear on 4th, 8th,12th, 16th and 20th level). Let's take this 5* feather: Bard's Arrow Feather

As all feathers it has ATK as a main stats and quite decent substats. You can enhance it by giving it other artifacts. You can also auto add artifacts of given level (1*, 2* or below, 3* or below and 4* or below)

Or you can chose items manually if you click on the gray '+' icon. Once you do it, there will be a list of artifacts you can use for enhancing. Only items that are not given to any characters will appear here.

Let’s enhance it up by one lvl (there’s limit of pic so I can’t show it ksmosjnwk). As I said, the main stats got better, but the substats didn't change because that was only the 1st level. So now let's enhance it to lv4. Once we choose enough artifacts to enhance it to lv4 we’ll see an information that one new substat will appear. (It doesn’t always have to be new substats. Sometimes the substats that the piece already have can get a boost).

Let's see what I'll get:

... Yea, I'm going to cry.

But for real now, that's how the artifacts work. Depending on your luck you can get a great items or a depression.

Usually people always aim for artifacts with ATK and CRIT as a both main and substats, but that all depend on you team composition.

But Akii, how do I chose good artifacts for my characters? How do I build my team?

I'm happy you asked. We can have up to 4 character in the team. Usually people aim for a team consisted of one main DPS, one healer and two supports, but ofc that all depends on your style of the game and your needs.

What is the most important in building your team and deciding on artifacts is the characters talents themselves. You absolutely have to check their talents and passives before giving them any artifacts, cause for some of them items with HP as a main stat could be actually good (like Barbara, since her role is only healing she doesn’t make more than 100 dmg on her normal attack but she heals a TONS).

Let's take my team for example, I’ll explain what their talents do and choose artifacts accordingly:

Razor as my main DPS

Qiqi as my healer

Xingqiu as my support

And Xiao that is none of the above but I just got him so I really wanna use him lmao

Usually I'd have Bennett in my team that would work as both healer and support, but yea, Xiao happen. Anyway, back to the topic

Since Razor is my main DPS I am focusing mostly on the DMG he can do. That's why when choosing artifacts for him I was aiming for the one with ATK/CRIT.

I do believe right now is a good moment to introduce artifacts sets. Each artifact has its own sets. There are plenty of sets to chose from. Now, the question is, does it matter from which set the item comes? Yes, it does.

Every set has all 5 types of artifacts to offer (a flower, feather, time watch piece, goblet and head piece). Depending on how many of the pieces from the same set you'll have you can get different stats. Let's take everyone's favorite Gladiator's Finale set. If you equip 2 pieces of Gladiator your get additional 18% of your base attack. IT'S A LOT!

But if you equip 4 pieces of Gladiator your normal attack (the single mouse tap, not the skills or the hold tap) will be increased by 35% IF your character has a sword, polearm or claymore (so it doesn't work on characters with books and bows, sorry Amber).

As I was saying, since my Razor is my main DPS and his role is to hit, not deal Electro DMG, I gave him 4 pieces of Gladiator's Finale just so he can have these additional 35%. But his head piece belongs to Wandener's Troupe. Why? Since every character can have 5 different artifacts, and the set's bonuses are only up to 4 pieces, the last one can belong to any other set. I chose Wandener's because it have CRIT rate as a main stats, so it's perfect for main DPS character. (The last piece doesn’t have to be the head piece, it can be any of the other 4 pieces).

You can check the character stats and the difference in the artifacts by going to your character menu and then clicking on the ‘details’.

For example here are my Xiao stats calculated with all the artifacts he has right now on him:

And here I have my Xiao without any artifacts and with 1* weapon:

DO YOU SEE THE HUUUGE DIFFERENCE?

Next we have Qiqi, my healer. One would think that, if she's a healer, then it would be good to have a set that is designed for healers on her, right? Wrong.

Let's take a look on Qiqi elemental skill (You can check your character skills by clicking on ‘talents’ in the character menu):

(APPARENTLY TUMBLR WONT ALLOW ME TO POST MORE THAN 10 PICS IN ONE POST SO ILL HAVE TO PASTE THE INFO FROM WIKI, THANKS)

When Qiqi hits a target with her Normal or Charged Attacks, she regenerates HP for all party members and all nearby allied characters. Healing scales based on Qiqi's ATK. Regenerates HP for current character at regular intervals. Follows the character around, dealing Cryo DMG to enemies in its path.

It's says that the heals she gives is based on her overall ATK. Which means the more ATK she has the better her heals are. That's why, in my personal opinion, it's better to focus on raising her ATK and energy recharge. Ofc, there's nothing wrong in having for example 2 pieces of Maiden Beloved (set's name designed for healers, 2-Piece Bonus: Character Healing Effectiveness +15%) on her. If those pieces main stats will be ATK then this will work amazing, but unfortunately I don't have any artifacts like this.

Next are supports, Bennett and Xingqiu. Since their role is not dealing DMG, but more of a supporting you can give them sets of a 2 pieces. Let's take a look at their elemental burst:

Bennett:

if the health of a character in the circle is equal to or falls below 70%, their health will continuously regenerate. Regeneration scales based on Bennett's Max HP. If the health of a character in the circle is higher than 70%, they gain an ATK Bonus that is based on Bennett's Base ATK. Applies the Pyro element to characters within the Field.

Basically you just ult and switch to your DPS (or whoever you want honestly). If the character you switched to (or Bennett himself, his ult works on him too) HP is below 70%, they will receive heals. If their HP is above 70%, the incoming healing with cease and they will get attack bonus based on Bennet BASE ATK (only when you have him c0, so with no constellations. On c1 (his first constellation is unlocked) there is no HP restriction, so his ult buffs the attack no matter of your character current health). So it’s not the same case as Qiqis. Base attack is the base amount the character have with weapon equipped but without any artifacts on, so the only way to rise base ATK is to maximize character level and to give them weapon with high amount of attack. Then we should focus on giving him as much of an energy recharge as we can so he can load his ult faster. Then it’s up to you whether you wanna make is a healer or side DPS. In healer case you should focus on rising his HP amount by giving him artifacts with that stats and substats cause, on the contrary to Qiqi, the heals he gives are based on his own max HP, not his ATK. In side DPS case you can focus on the overall dmg he makes.

Now let's take a look on my Xiao. His role is a dps, just like Razor. So one would think that it would be the best to max physical DMG on Xiao too, right? Wrong.

Let's take a look on Xiao's elemental skill and Elemental burts:

Skill:

Xiao lunges forward, dealing Anemo DMG to opponents in his path.

Burst:

Greatly increases Xiao's jumping ability. Increases his attack AoE and attack DMG. Converts attack DMG into Anemo DMG, which cannot be overriden by any other elemental infusion. In this state, Xiao will continuously lose HP. The effects of this skill end when Xiao leaves the field.

Both of them covert the DMG into Anemo DMG. Which mean that no matter the physical DMG bonus, if he doesn't have any Anemo DMG he won't be as useful as he could be. That why my Xiao has 2 pieces of Gladiator and 2 pieces of Viridescent Venerer that gives him +15% of Anemo DMG bonus. (y’all have no idea how long it took me to write this thing correctly lmao)

As the last piece i used Wandener's head piece again to give him that additional CRIT rate. (yes, his Anemo DMG can be scaled with CRIT rate, too). Ofc my Xiao still lacks a lot of power we can see on some videos on yt.

Okay Akii, I understand how does the artifacts works and what to which to chose when thinking about the character role, but how do I actually get the artifacts?

That's actually the hardest part. You can get them from domains. Each domain have two sets of artifacts at the same time, which means depending on your luck you'll get the artifacts from the set you want or the artifacts you don't want BUT can use for enhancing later on! Gladiator's and Wandener's don't have its own domain, but can be achieved by fighting bosses like cubes or regisvines and from weekly bosses like Dvalin, Andrius and Childe.

Now that you know everything you need to know about artifacts you can go and start doing the domains...

only to waste all of your resins and get tons of shit artifacts with DEF as a main stats and then start crying after your one good artifact with ATK as a main stat and CRIT as a substat gets shits like HP, DEF and more HP after enhancing. Have fun <3

[pompousbiscuit]

(Y/N) Meets Zeke Yeager at a Radiohead Concert In the Year 2012 (Yes, It's The King Of Limbs Hour For Sure)

(You-16 Zeke-17 Porco-16 Pieck-17 Colt-16 Yelena- 17)

I don't fucking know why I think of these things, but here I go, this is for all of you Superior-Music-Taste-Thom-Yorke-er- Radiohead-virgins out there B)

The year is 2012, (Y/N) is 16, and the setting is a Radiohead concert almost one year post-King-Of-Limbs-album-drop.

After working for a few months at your first part time job, you were able to save enough cash to buy concert tickets for you and a friend.

The location of the venue is about 2 hours from your hometown, and it's quite the road trip.

Either using your/your friend's car, or public transportation, to make the trip.

Zeke is 17, he's also at this concert with a group of his friends: Colt, Porco, Pieck, Yelena.

You're jamming out to all the hits, swaying your body to the sound of the music just right, and letting yourself go in a way you've only ever done alone in your bedroom.

King Of Limbs wasn't Radiohead's most well received album, but you love almost anything Thom, that droopy eyed bastard, and the other members put out.

Your friend that you came to the concert with is currently on a bathroom break, leaving you to your own devices in the crowded room.

"Separator" plays loudly throughout the concert hall; the drum beat feels like it has made it's way under your skin, and the melodic sound of Thom's voice feels as if it's an instrument in its own right.

Zeke is currently jogging back inside, he had left only for a moment during a run through of "Morning Mr. Magpie" for a smoke break.

(it's not particularly his favorite on the album)

"Separator" is one of Zeke's favorites comparatively, and he might hit himself after if he ends up missing the live rendition.

He sees a familiar slicked back head of blonde hair while peering over the heads of the crowd, and Zeke's relieved to see Porco turn around and wave him over.

Zeke makes a b-line for his friend, trying his best to shove through the crowd as politely, yet firmly, as he can.

Whilst making his way over, Zeke bumps into someone who's almost completely oblivious to his presence, until said person trips over themselves and falls to their feet.

You luckily brace yourself, your palms and wrists making contact with the dirty ground as to protect your face.

Normally, Zeke would most likely brush this off and claim the situation to not be his problem, and most likely continue on his path to his friends.

A change of heart? Guilt for being a catalyst in knocking you over? (as he suspects it would've happened eventually) Or maybe it's because he notices the way your ass looks in your blue jeans.

Zeke can tell a good ass when he sees one, and everybody has an ass to be appreciated after all, no consideration for gender identity or assigned anatomy needed.

Zeke pauses and decides 'ah, what the hell'.

Zeke crouches down and holds his hand out to you, flashing a boyish grin that suits his younger looking face well, as he begins to offer you an apology.

"My mistake for knocking you on your ass, I was trying to get to my friends... Need a hand?"

Zeke half yells this apology, and in the end it's still very muffled sounding due to the loud music.

You are wary of the boy in front of you, being very well versed in all the basic "stranger-danger" rules, the ones your care-taker/parental-figure drilled into you before you left.

But the slight tug of the left side of his mouth, the dimple in his cheek, his shaggy yet soft looking blonde hair, his stupid but admittedly cool glasses that hang low on the bridge of his nose...

He's cute, and you're too aware of the fact to deny his hand that he's offered to you.

You say a "Thanks", only letting yourself look him in the eye for hardly a second, as he accepts your hand into his roughly textured one.

You feel a flush begin on your chest and rise up to your face, ashamed of yourself for practically drooling at the feeling of just a grasp of a hand around your own.

Zeke assists you in rising to your feet, and he can almost feel your eyes tracing his form, taking him in.

He looks rather typical, a dark t-shirt with a faded "Kid A bear" logo printed on it, under a wrinkled rusty-toned flannel with rolled up sleeves, dark denim loosely encompasses his lanky legs that end with damaged and worn low-top skate shoes.

You only realize your hand is still in his own, when you catch the cheeky look in his eye, after scanning back to to his face.

You retract your hand from his, with suspiciously quick retreat, that has him grinning a little wider.

"Name's Zeke, do you have one?"

You can smell his last cigarette on his breath as he talks, you're both in close proximity due to the people around you.

The performance of "Separator" is almost long forgotten at this point, it's now just the background noise to your first conversation with each other.

You shift your weight back and forth to each foot, settling on leaning to your right side, before looking up to answer him.

"It's (Y/N), and it's okay, I was kinda in my own world for a minute there..." You answer honestly, but almost too bashfully, taking the blame for your tumble.

Zeke shakes his head and answers immediately, "No, I wasn't really paying attention to who I was knocking into, but I guess I was kinda lucky that you happened to be my first victim."

His voice has a slight rasp to it, though he's just 17 he admittedly smokes like a chimney.

His words also have an attractive cadence to them, you can already tell he's a smart ass by the way he's immediately putting the moves on, but you find yourself not really caring all too much.

Zeke starts again, "I also get like that though, in my head I mean, 'specially with "Separator"..."

You nod along and begin to talk to him more about your interest for the track, hardly noticing as the minutes roll by, and with the song changing into "Little by Little".

The both of you exchange words and information throughout the next song, like your ages, preferred albums, what other concerts you've been to.

Zeke completely forgets about his friends in the minutes he's conversing with you, and the same happens with you, until Porco loudly appears with Colt behind Zeke.

"Dude! I waved you over like 10 minutes ago! What the hell Zeke? You're dragging your ass and the other's are-" Porco's sentence cuts off as his eyes drift over to you, understanding the hold up.

Porco turns his head to Zeke and receives a glower from the taller boy. Whilst wearing a shit eating grin, Porco gives Zeke a curt nod and a slap on the shoulder.

"Whatever, just shoot me text in a few man,"

Porco's eyes catch your your for second, as he raises a hand for a quick sayonara,

"Nice meeting ya'."

Zeke pushes up his glasses as he shakes his head in annoyance and heaves a sigh.

As Porco gestures for a confused Colt to follow him back to the rest of the group, you catch eyes with your own friend.

They give you an apologetic glance but then notice Zeke near you, they hold up their hand and toggle back and forth between a thumbs up and thumbs down, silently asking if Zeke's presence was a bother.

You give a thumbs up, which they respond with a double thumbs up, as they make their way over to a group of people and easily start to blend in.

You turn back towards Zeke and offer a smile, finally free of interruptions, as the song ends and fades into "Lotus Flower". Commotion erupts throughout the crowd, as the majority cheer for one of the most favored songs.

Zeke offers you a smile as well, and shuffles a step or two closer, before beginning to speak again.

Ending it there! If I make a follow up then that'll be over here when the time comes: Part Two

I actually... I don't even... Why, that's all I have to say, just why???

Thanks so much for the notes on my previous post! That was my first time hitting over 100 notes!

Tbh... "The King of Limbs" is on the same level as "In Rainbows" for me, soz if you're offended by that statement dawg. Lmk your opinions!

I am Zeke Trash #1, and you're watching Disney Channel

EDIT:

OK, IN LIGHT OF THE NEW EPISODE HERE IS SPICY TEENAGER ZEKE

FUCK IT UUUPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!! imagine this bitch ass in some skater slouchy grungy garbage, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

zeke liking radiohead [zeke playlist] -> MONKE

[windblooms]

oh how about Diluc and Zhongli for character analysis?

sure thing!  i’ll answer this one and get back to working on other requests orz

diluc:

despite being known as a broody wine master and one of the few prominent characters that holds a negative opinions of the knights, he’s actually more sociable than the mondstadt storyline might imply.

diluc has multiple voicelines (if you get him through wishes) where he shows concern for traveler/mc, some being “all that matters is that you were safe last night,” “i’ll make sure you leave safely,” and “how about you take a rest while i go back [to the guild]?”  

so, yeah. he’s not as distant or aloof as his initial appearance played him off to be imo.  while he’s still on the professional side, he does readily show concern for traveler/mc, and presumably other people who work alongside him.

he knows he’s hot stuff – he evens says as much when clearing out hordes of hilichurls/abyss mages in the mondstadt storyline (”ah, there are you are.  dealing with you will be the easy part.”)  doesn’t openly flaunt his strength to other people, but, needless to say, is comfortable on the battlefield. 

also, remember when traveler and venti try to steal the lyre?  he says “for the record, i like your guts for trying to steal the holy lyre der himmel.  even if you are fools . . . but we don’t often get to see people like you.”

aka he’s also a smart ass.

he knew that venti and traveler had something to do with the lyre, and dismissed the knights that came in either because a) he didn’t think they would handle the situation appropriately or b) wanted answers first. 

while we (the player) knew that traveler and venti didn’t actually steal the lyre, diluc doesn’t seem threatened by either of them.  he doesn’t rush to apprehend them, and from the quotes above, actually thinks the situation is entertaining.  

the line “i like your guts for trying to steal the holy lyre” also reminds me of one of his quotes when he talks about jean (”her unparalleled sense of responsibility is the sole reason why she still hasn't found her true calling”).

while it’s not a call-back or anything obvious, diluc implies that rules/authority/strict codes have the potential to hold others back; therefore, i think he really meant it when he commended the traveler’s grit for trying to steal the lyre, because from the tone of how he talks about jean, he’s had his fair share of unorthodox behavior that’s gotten him to somewhere he actually wants to be. 

overall a capable man and one who values effectiveness of method.  while not one to uphold formalities (in a few of his voice lines, he says he’s “not interested in idle chit chat), he respects partnership and lets his dryness slip often.  i can go further into his voicelines in a separate post if you want anon. 

zhongli:

this is going to be a bit different than diluc’s analysis since, at the time i’m writing this, zhongli doesn’t have profile voicelines yet.

however i will be using voicelines from the liyue storyline plus the 1.1 update “a new star approaches,” so spoiler warning for 1.1 if you haven’t done the quests yet!

okay so

zhongli knows liyuen culture like the back of his hand because, well, he’s the god who created liyue to begin with.

when the traveler confronts zhongli, childe, and signora in the northland bank, zhongli explains his ploy calmly, which seems strange, since he had essentially traded his symbol of godhood for a ““vacation”” (i use this term sarcastically and will explain more below). 

when the traveler first comes into a liyue, many of the citizens make a point to say that, in contrast to mondstadt, their nation isn’t “godless” and show disdain towards mondstadt’s ways.

they believe in rex lapis.  yet it’s made clear throughout the storyline that, in actuality, there are large branches of people (see the liyue qixing) want to advance liyue further, often without the aid/overseeing of their deities.  quote zhongli at the northland bank: liyue is about to begin its “next age.”

meaning that, even though he said he was tired, that he had been guarding and overseeing the nation for thousands of years, he was able to tell that liyue was moving past its need for him, essentially that he wasn’t needed in the same way as he was in the past.

while many players kinda sorta really did not like zhongli after he admitted to staging the fight against osial (the sea monster), ultimately endangering liyue, he not only did it as a “test” to see if the liyuen people really were as advanced as he believed them to be, but also so that the adepti could become closer to liyue’s citizens.  

not saying that it wasn’t somewhat messed up, but his motivation behind such a scene was to make sure that, if he resigned as a god, then humans could take care of themselves from now on and he wouldn’t be putting them in more danger if he left. 

the adept, although hesitant and somewhat troubled by being more involved with humans, show a change of heart following the conclusion of the fight against osial.  so zhongli’s scheme makes the adepti see that humans are more capable than they give them credit for, revives their respect for one another, and leaves knowing that liyue is in capable hands.

as for trading the gnosis: it’s stated multiple times that zhongli doesn’t make unfair contracts.  obviously, part of the benefit on his end is allowing liyue to grow into a new age, but that can’t be the only motivator for him to give it away. 

tsaritsa wants to “burn away the old world,” and the story hasn’t been clear as to why yet.  but in making the contract, zhongli should be aware of at least part of her ultimate intentions.  my theory is that, in the end, the gnoses will actually prove useless to the tsaritsa’s plan (as in, they actually don’t help her achieve her goal despite their symbolism), or we’re going to receive the power equivalent to a gnosis in the future. 

tldr: zhongli’s plan is layered.  while we don’t have much more information at the moment, as can consider his character to be very thorough, resourceful, and self-aware.

again, i can write out more once he’s released.  these are just my thoughts, so take and pick what you want. ^^

[lemony-snickers]

what r ur opinions on the whole tumblr plus thing?

are you sure you want this, anon? like, i know you asked for it, but i don't think you really understood the extent of what my answer would be, lol.

i'm sorry. but if you want to read my opinion, i'll put it below the cut.

thanks for stopping by, anon. i hope you're having a great day! <3

tl;dr: i think it's a terrible fucking idea.

then again, i accidentally doxxed my maiden name just last night trying to send someone a ko-fi by not double-checking my paypal settings, so idk, maybe my dumb ass would be better off if i could just support my content creators through tumblr instead.

but. that (my dumbassedry) is a separate issue, so let's move on.

listen.

i get it, okay? some people put a lot of work into the content they put on tumblr. and i very much understand the impetus to want to be compensated for that work. and tumblr feeding into that desire makes total sense from the standpoint of both their business model and the feedback i'm sure they've received from some of their top content creators.

i also think paywalls flying across your dash will eventually spell the death of this platform as we know it.

i've been on tumblr on and off before, but never really committed to it like i did this time. and one of the things i genuinely like about tumblr is that i'm not constantly being shown "sponsored content" and that i can access the information and content i want pretty freely.

i've definitely seen other people espouse this as a good thing, too; that there is certainly a more even playing field for content creators here than on instagram or twitter.

pay walls are exclusionary by nature and therefore i fucking hate them. (lookin' at you, news organizations...) what happens when someone really wants to support you but can't afford it? what happens when people get angry that they can no longer see and enjoy the content they've become accustomed to? do we really want to make tumblr the sort of place where your economic status determines which blogs you can interact with?

because if we do, eventually those folks will leave the platform and tumblr will become increasingly insular until it's just an echo chamber for the highest level content creators to pat themselves on the back.

that is my opinion. maybe i'm wrong (i hope i am), but that seems to me the logical conclusion.

there's also the issue of fan content in general and what using paywalls to generate revenue could mean for our freedom to create fan fiction and art. as has been pointed out in many of the posts circulating about this feature, people like me are able to create the content we do because we do it for free.

there is a reason i feel queasy every time i see a writer offering to create fanfiction for a price. that kind of behavior can get you into trouble, and even a small cohort of folks doing that kind of thing can spell trouble for every fan creator out there.

there's a reason anne rice's works are super popular still, but there is 0 fan content available for them. i would hate to see fandoms i love like naruto or bnha be impacted because someone saw an opportunity when paywalls started going up around content that's based on other sources.

idk. maybe part of my issue is just that i don't like change. i don't want my experience here (which has overall been super positive) to suddenly change so that a few people at the top can make some money. (because let's face it, most of us could never hope to make a profit from this service.)

the thing is, tho, i don't really know what the solution is, either. because tumblr has to make money to survive. content creators are not wrong for wanting to be compensated for their work.

i guess my thought is just to keep reblogging and commissioning and using ko-fi (with the proper paypal settings, don't be an idiot like me my god) and hope that by making our content creators feel loved and appreciated we can stave off the slow and inevitable capitalist death of a platform that means a lot to so many people.

i'll get off my soapbox now. if you actually read this whole thing (MY GOODNESS WHY DID YOU DO THAT GO TAKE A NAP YOU POOR SOUL), then i'm sorry, lol.

mostly, tho, i look forward to seeing what y'all think about this service because i'll be honest, the reactions i've seen thus far have been overwhelmingly negative. maybe that's just the particular space i occupy, but i think it's going to be hard for tumblr to justify the service moving forward now that so many people have voiced their displeasure for it.

[endversewinchester]

Loved your post on Hunter! I was wondering if you have any spec as to when crosshair removed his chip? Thank uuuuuu

Heyy thank you so much, noonie! The answer is ABSOLUTELY!

Let's dive in below the cut, just so that it doesn't cloud the tag. Here we go

Okay. Now, let's take a look at what we have. In episode 1, the chip is 100% there and active, but fading in and out. It's when we have his exchange with Omega, about how she knew it wasn't his fault and he just couldn't control it, and also when Tarkin orders the Kaminoans to enhance it.

After that, he was fully out of control of himself, and tried to kill his siblings, all of which completely against his will.

We only hear from him again in episode 3, and by that point they are repeating the procedure, to ensure he keeps following orders. So to me, his actions in that episode, as well as anything in the time frame between episodes 1x01's ending and 1x03 was completely out of his control, including the refugees he murdered.

After that, crosshair is going to remain absent all the way until episode 8. We don't know how many times the procedure was repeated, nor do we know what he was up to in the meantime.

Sadly, we also don't have a specific indication of how much time passed since they last saw him. It could have been a few days, or even months. To me, all of those were spent with him completely under the empire's grasp, unable to stop himself or ask for help, and waiting to be rescued.

In episode 8, there's a change.

When the engine explodes, crosshair is flung backwards with such force the helmet is knocked out of his head, and he ends up with severe burns. These are both very relevant pieces of information because:

1- Inhibitor chips are placed on the clones' heads.

2- The wounds he sustained were serious enough to demand medical attention.

Now, the doctors in his squad manage to stabilize him, and he still frantically chased his team, before they managed to escape. What I'm interested in here, however, is the aftermath.

Crosshair sustained serious wounds. It meant that once he got back to Kamino, he was examined and treated, probably by a medical droid. Here, we have three options:

1) The kamino medical team tried to stabilize his chip while treating his wounds the best they could, but were not sucessful;

2) The droids prioritized his health over the inhibitor chip, which was exactly what happened to fives, and either did not try to restore it or removed it completely, in order to improve his healing.

3) Nala Se, who we've seen to be working against the empire from the start wanted him to break out and join his team, for she knew the 5 troopers together would be unmatched for the new TK troopers the empire was rolling out, and so Omega would be completely safe. Therefore she either removed his chip, or just deactivated it.

I'm personally more inclined to believe in options 2 and 3, due to specific plot points that we'd already seen under the clone wars, as well as in this show.

Whichever one of them happened, I firmly believe from this point on he was in control of his actions. But Crosshair was also hurt, and rightfully so.

His family never even attempted to come back for him, and when they did meet again, he was left behind for dead. Meanwhile, the empire had taken over his mind, but they were there offering him support, treatment, food.

I think it all severely impacted his views of relationship dynamics, and what being cared for truly was. So, in the time frame between 1x09 and 1x12, once healed, he kept playing along to their wishes.

It did not mean he stopped loving his brothers, though. Which we see in episode 12. Once he knows his squad is on Ryloth, he takes it up to his superior, because he wants an excuse to be able to go near them.

If the admiral got hold of the batch before he did, it'd be very likely they would be executed on sight. Which meant he needed to be smart, and find them first.

II'll be honest, I'm unclear if by this point he would try to escape with them or try to convince them to join the empire, as we've seen him do now on episode 15. However, he did not want them dead. And went as far as purposefully missing the shot (crosshair doesn't miss) to allow them to escape.

But with that, I think this is where heart truly broke. Now he's fully in control of himself, but his team still did not bother try going anywhere near him, or rescuing him. He thinks they see him as the enemy now, even though none of the things he did to them was his fault. It was definitely very upsetting, and it pushed him fully towards the empire, and the special treatment and protection he was receiving.

Clone troopers were no longer being produced, nor were they being assigned special missions. But he was front and center of a TK squadron, because of his inhuman shooting skills. Comfort, recognition and safety. All he needed from his family, but could not have.

Yet, he still wanted his family back. Because they were his family since he was created, and he truly loved them, no matter how much they were hurting him. He wanted them to be safe, and wanted to belong again.

The problem is, now his loyalty also lied with the empire. So the way he found to keep both was simply welcoming his family into this amazing (in his opinion) government that had always taken his side.

Anyways, this does far more than answer your question lol but I hope it clears up what I think his motives are, and why they're still valid even if he doesn't have the chip.

[rukiakwashere]

Chasing Last Summer

An amazing experience while working with talented artist for the @grishaversebigbang 

Corporalki: 

@gimmedafood

Materialki:  

@anubem (link to art), 

@bookish-ginger (link to art),

@wellwatersurprise  (link to art)

Summary: 

As Jesper is trying to settle down, away from cards on the Van Eck estate with Wylan alongside him as a work partner, wondering what to do with his father’s empire, they both start thinking of what they want. The Summer they left behind them went great so maybe it was time to get something serious going on. While busy reordering their priorities, Wylan receives a letter (more like hides it) and it all goes downhill after that...

Jesper boards a ship... The Wraith makes a visit and convinces some cane-dude to tag along... Some Grisha appear... And Wylan may or may not fulfil one of Kaz’s lifelong dreams

tl;dr Post-Crooked Kingdom Wesper making their best to figure out themselves and each other.

Ao3 Link : https://archiveofourown.org/works/33678499/chapters/83698627

[Chapter one under cut]:

Jesper looked at the clock on the wall for what seemed like the twentieth time in the meeting. He fidgeted on his seat looking left and right spotting both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Men and women, mostly old, everyone much older than he was.

Wylan was on his left, completely still and focused on the woman speaking loudly,  moving her hands animatedly to make her point. Jesper thought that her hands were too distracting, he really couldn’t make what the point was with so much waving around. Wylan on the other hand seemed to perfectly understand. He nodded a lot when anyone paused, he offered his opinion when asked and he conversed easily with all the businesspeople around him. It suited him, Jesper thought. Wylan Van Eck looked like a businessman in his own right. His young and calm presence made people trust him and his ironed black and white suit made them believe he was one of their own, refined elite. 

Jesper, on the other hand, didn’t know what to make of himself. His long legs never remained in the same place for more than mere seconds and his awkward posture as he tried to fit on the chair always brought on curious and sometimes annoyed stares. People weren’t used to seeing someone like him sitting on their expensive and elegant chairs. They simply weren’t made for him.

Still, Wylan never commented on anything. Sometimes he caught Jesper’s stare in a meeting and all he did was nod- like he was on autopilot. Jesper didn’t know what to make of it. Was he just another face in Wylan’s business-related crowd? Sometimes he wasn’t that sure if Wylan was only keeping him around because of the promise they had made months ago. Was he just pitying him? 

Jesper didn’t know if being Wylan’s secretary was the lowest or highest point of his life to date. 

Occasionally, he wondered what life would be like if he had never made that deal, not being Wylan’s eyes. Nina’s offer echoed in his ears. Ravka… Would he dare to leave home and become a Grisha? Probably not. 

He would have been back at the Barrel, sitting at a gambling table spending the money he had till it vanished. At least working with Wylan saved him from going broke again, he concluded. Still, was he happy with where his life was at now? Spending his days waiting for the next meeting, talking about things he had little interest in with people that didn’t interest him?

Wylan though… The ginger’s presence was steady and when they weren’t in a meeting, he was okay to be around. Jesper didn’t mind his presence, he rather enjoyed Wylan’s witty remarks and random facts. 

The past few days though, the ginger seemed less and less enthusiastic about anything. Dark circles seemed to have formed permanently below his eyes and he seemed to be sighing a lot – and it didn’t seem to be because of Jesper’s breathtaking presence.

“Wy?” Jesper mouthed, poking the ginger’s shoulder lightly. Wylan didn’t seem surprised, turning discretely towards him with a tired smile. 

“What happened?” Jesper read the ginger’s lips. 

“You cool?”, he mouthed back.

~~~

Wylan had the audacity to snort, suppressing his laughter at Jesper’s question. He opted for a small hands-up and a smile that nearly reached his eyes. Sincerely, he felt tired and spent.

He didn’t know business. Kaz had taught him the basics, which felt more like the principles of manipulation, bribery and theft – which Wylan had decided pretty quickly, were better than nothing.

His father had given up on him early on, realizing Wylan’s bad relationship with letters would make him a bad businessman and would let people exploit him freely. His father never imagined, though, his son would have found Jesper, the only person Wylan could put his trust on fully - and did so every day. 

Jesper was the one responsible for what came in and what went out, who might prove beneficial and who was to be avoided. He read stacks of papers daily, and even though his legs wouldn’t stop moving and tapping the floor, he read them all and reported every line he found even slightly useful back to Wylan. While all Wylan could do was sit and wait, pretending the numbers he could make out at the sheets in his hands were enough.

He didn’t understand why Jesper was still there. His awkward fidgeting at the meetings they attended together made it clear that he felt out of place. Wylan was sure Jesper was longing for action, his revolvers out, not hidden inside his jacket. Sure, they were sharing their profits but was Jesper missing the Slat? Did he want to go back to risking his life every day? To feel the thrill of chasing and being chased? Was Jesper still around him out of pity, trapped in a promise he had made while in action, when he wasn’t sure if he would make it out alive to see the next sunrise? 

Maybe, it was the same as his awkward confession, a stupid phrase that kept replaying in Wylan’s mind even though he had hit stop months ago. Maybe I like your stupid face. 

Wylan was annoyed with himself about how a six-word sentence that nearly insulted him made him feel so tingly and weird inside. He soon realized though, as the battle came to an end, as his dad backed off, as Kaz won whatever feud he had with Pekka Rollins, that some things that are best left unsaid can rise in the heat and uncertainty of a battle and what happened between him and Jesper had been one of them. 

We were fugitives, bounties on our heads. Of course, some emotions would be misunderstood, Wylan repeated in his head.

What happened with Jesper was one of them. Wylan was passable and the time they had spent together just- was like that. It meant nothing more. Jesper might have kissed him twice, or once – damn Kuwei – but as things calmed down and they went back to their lives, old and new, he didn’t approach him again in that way - apart from the occasional flirting - and Wylan… Wylan felt really stupid to have expected something more.

Wylan poked the side of his cheek, annoyed with himself. This wasn’t time for his thoughts to be drifting. The meeting… He had to speak with Lady Kadrir and make sure their agreement held,even though the head of the Van Eck family had changed and he needed to speak with that white haired man and give his condolences to that Lady and so many things he had never pictured himself doing ever before.

He never expected to be here. When his father still tolerated him, Wylan dreamed of a music school and maybe joining a theater orchestra with his flute. Even when his father decided otherwise, he still hoped for a demo-related work at the Crows or maybe someone reaching out and joining a traveling band… never business. His father had made it clear early on that he was not suited for that and it was the only thing Wylan and his father had agreed upon. He wasn’t sure he would like it… and he had yet to decide.

Business was… weird. Wylan’s perspectives of it had been two; one when he was growing up, seeing his father busy with paperwork he was always signing… and then, there was business the way the Dregs did it. Meetings under the fold of darkness, sometimes gunshots sounding along, a gambling parlor expecting tourists and sailors from far away…

Yet, what he felt he was doing on his own, was different. Sure, Jesper seemed to be writing and reading tons of stuff but Wylan thought of business as constant meetings, a lot of useless information in his head and a relentless bell ringing in his head reminding him to be polite yet entitled. That was the way. 

At first, he liked being good at it, memorizing estates, meeting people that didn’t look at him down their noses, because Wylan Van Eck possessed property the same way they did. He sat and talked and traded in the language they understood.

Still, that feeling had slowly drifted away, as the bell in his head rang louder and louder. He felt lost and disconnected, yet he wouldn’t stop. He was more determined than ever not to give up. Those meetings had come to be the only place where he felt like he proved his worth. The only thing he could be good at and be of use.

“Mister Van Eck.” 

It was his turn to speak.

“As my father retired and passed me on new property, I’ve made the decision to establish a reliable network around the Van Eck brand.” Words scripted and exercised in front of a mirror, delivered to an audience just like in a theater. 

It’s fine. I can work like this. At least that’s what he convinced himself as he went on with his speech.

~~~

[echodrops]

I’m obviously late to the tumble party... but I stumbled across your Notagami Essays posts and they are absolutely Fabulous! Love your writing and the amount of detail you go into :)

So I figured you may be a good person to ask - if you just had to guess (bc as far as I know it’s never been officially confirmed?) but if you had to take a guess or give a rough estimate, how old do you think Yato was when he first met Sakura? We know he’s estimated to be at least a thousand years old, we know he’s - from the start of the series to present - estimated to be somewhere between 18 and his early 20s (physically)... but I can’t find a single thing/discussion/post/stickynote/whatever where it talks about how old he might have been when he first met Sakura - let alone the emotional/psychological effects of Sakura coming into his life and introducing healthy mindset/morals/maternal-influence etc. etc. (obviously no mom and Father’s neglect played a big role in him not knowing how inappropriate it was for him to ‘accidentally touch’ and yell “boobs!” but you can also just say he was so young he didn’t know how inappropriate that was?) My point is: how old do you think Yato was (physically anyway) at the time of their meeting? and Do you know of any discussions or care to share your opinion on how being the no more than the age of blank affected his mental/emotional understanding of Sakura teaching him a new narrative?

Sorry this is a random out of the blue ask 😅😓 if I rambled on and you don’t feel like answering, I get it, just figured it was worth asking :)

I fell down a serious rabbit hole trying to see if I could figure out the answer to this question about Yato’s age but unfortunately I’m mostly coming up empty-handed.

The answer to this question actually depends on two different pieces of information which--as far as I can remember--we’ve never actually been given for certain.

1) We would need to know when Yato was actually born.

The manga has kind of hinted at a total (not physical) age for Yato in the flashbacks which showed him as a young child during the Heian era (putting him somewhere in the vicinity of a little over 1000 years old) and Father not making masks before ~1100 years ago, but the problem is we still don’t know how many years might have passed between this scene (the youngest we’ve ever seen Yato):

And the next flashback scene, where Yato meets Nora:

If gods age normally when they are children, these two scenes might be only a handful of years apart. But if gods don’t age normally, then these two scenes could be decades or centuries apart, which leads to the other missing piece of information (under the read more to save people’s dashes):

2) We would need to know the aging process for gods who are just born/reincarnate.

Up to this point in the manga, we’ve only seen two gods reincarnate--Ebisu (who reincarnated too recently to really help answer this question) and Takemikazuchi. The implication of Takemikazuchi’s backstory is that his shinki forced him to reincarnate and then hid his reincarnation from all of Heaven. The only way they could have kept other gods from noticing that Takemikazuchi had reincarnated would have been by not allowing him to go out at all until he had grown enough to match his previous reincarnation in appearance. This seems to suggest that gods probably do age normally when they are children--hiding Takemikazuchi away for ~20 years seems a lot more likely than being able to hide him away for centuries, after all... (I also feel like I have very vague recollection of some scene in the manga where someone comments on Takemikazuchi not having been around for a “few years,” but it’s been so long since I reread I can’t recall if this is a real moment from the manga or just me misremembering.) 

Overall, however, based on what we’ve seen in the manga, my guess would be that when they’re young, after just being born or being reincarnated, gods age pretty normally. This would suggest that, for the first few years at least, the physical and mental ages of reincarnated/newly born gods actually overlap; baby Ebisu acts like a little kid because he is, in fact, both mentally and physically a little kid.

That would mean that, for all intents and purposes, Yato’s physical and mental ages lined up when he was young and meeting Sakura, and he acted like a little kid because he really was just a little kid, god or not.

(Detour for a second though: 

This line always struck me as interesting in that it might, just might, give us a more specific timeframe for Yato’s “birth”: although the constellations, of course, are visible in the sky every single year, this particular combination of concepts (kanoto-tori, yin metal rooster) is known much more commonly as one of the sixty years on the cyclical Chinese calendar, also used in Japan. Counting back on the calendar, 961 A.D. was a yin metal rooster year and would align just about right for what we know about the timeframe in which Yato later met Sakura (~970ish). Just referencing constellations doesn’t mean Adachitoka was pointing to a specific year, but it might have been another hint as to the timeframe of the flashbacks.

Okay, detour over.)

Anyway, without 100% confirmation on either of those pieces of information--when Yato was born and whether gods age at the same rate as humans after reincarnating--I don’t think it’s really possible to pin down Yato’s “real” age (physically or mentally) at the time he met Sakura. We mostly just have to estimate. 

Personally, based on his size and behavior at the time, I’d put him somewhere between seven and maybe up to ten, but the way Adachitoka draws characters kind of makes it impossible to judge their ages by appearance; Yato is about the same size as Nora when he meets Sakura, implying that he and Nora were around the same physical “age” at that time; meanwhile, Nora is later portrayed as being roughly the same age as Yukine, suggesting she was maybe 12-13ish years old when she died. So, despite being drawn tiny, it’s possible Yato was meant to be anywhere from a little kiddo (6-7) to all the way up to Nora’s age by the time he met Sakura.

But all that said, I think what you were really asking about was more the mental state Yato would have been in when he met Sakura and how his young age would have impacted his ability to change his world views, right? The answer to that is... complicated and could be approached a lot of ways. Coming from a background of working with and educating social work students, there are several common psychological theories of child development that might apply here, for example. 

I’d recommend checking out Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development, though. 

(Pulled from here.)

I don’t have time to explain the entire theory with the complexity it might deserve, but the basic idea is that, as children develop, they experience a series of crises or challenges that they must overcome. Successfully overcoming each challenge results in successful psychological and social development; failing to overcome a challenge in childhood will result in long-term negative impacts later in the child’s life. (There are plenty critiques of this theory too, so don’t take this as gospel or anything--just a theory worth thinking about!)  

Given Father’s lack of interest in teaching Yato basic concepts of humanity, I would put Yato at approximately the “Initiative vs. Guilt” stage when he met Sakura. At this level of Erikson’s theory, children struggle with asserting themselves and developing a healthy sense of how their personal desires might conflict with the expectations and rules set out by others. In this stage, giving a child positive feedback for their actions teaches the child that those actions are “right,” while giving negative feedback teaching the child that their actions are wrong. In order to overcome this particular challenge, children need to begin taking initiative and aligning their actions with social standards; the child acts, and the parental figure reacts--through this process, children learn “I can do X thing but I cannot do Y thing.” 

When you hear things like “Children are cruel,” most often what people are referring to is that it takes time for children to learn empathy and to experience guilt when they cause harm to others; children do not natively understand the repercussions of their actions. It’s only through a process of testing the boundaries, of receiving praise or punishment, that children define what is “right” versus “wrong,” and begin to feel bad when they do something deemed wrong.

And this is pretty much word-for-word what we see Sakura teaching Yato.

If they have healthy role models and caretakers during this phase, children develop successfully. Successful children in this phase get their first taste of personal responsibility; unsuccessful children are (supposedly) plagued for years afterward by a sense of guilt and shame when their actions produce disapproval from everyone around them.

Yato... doesn’t exactly make it through this development stage unscathed, because he receives conflicting definitions of right and wrong from his Father an Sakura:

Which ultimately results in, years later, the Yato we know and love who still does his Father’s bidding to kill humans even though it fills him with a horrific sense of guilt:

Through his time with Sakura, I think it could also be argued that Yato moves into the next stage of Erikson’s theory as well, getting into the “Industry versus Inferiority” crises. 

Meeting Sakura brings out Yato’s true, deep down desire as a god: to help people. (I think it’s important to note that this isn’t something Sakura teaches him--it’s a quality Yato already possessed; it was explicitly Yato’s desire to please people that led to him murdering in his father’s name.)

Once he learns what makes people happy, Yato immediately pursues that with intense focus:

The primary goal of this phase of psychosocial development is to experience a sense of confidence in one’s actions. When children practice their skills, pursue areas where they are praised, and gain new skills and aptitudes through mentoring from healthy role models, they gain confidence in their ability to excel, to fit in with peers their age, and to create meaningful things. By encouraging Yato to pursue positive behaviors--playing peacefully with other children, appreciating natural beauty, and creating useful things like boots for the needy--Sakura moved Yato toward successfully completing this phase and developing a sense of confidence in his actions and his ability to achieve positive things in the world. 

Of course, Father cannot have that (because confident children with a sense of self-worth are much more difficult to abuse), so he puts an immediate end to Sakura’s influence over Yato in the most insidious way possible: although he clearly manipulated the situation to achieve Sakura’s death, out loud, he blames Yato, implying that Sakura’s death was all Yato’s fault, the results of Yato taking unwanted action “industry” and yet failing--creating a sense of “inferiority” instead.

This, of course, haunts Yato all the way to the present, as he--again and again and again--blames himself for things outside his control or failing to live up to expectations that no one in his situation (still being manipulated) could possibly hope to get “right.” 

Finally, you could say that Sakura’s presence is Yato’s life is ultimately what sows the seeds of the manga’s main plot up to this point, with Yato’s quest to create an entirely new identity for himself as a god of fortune instead of a god of calamity. Personally, I would say that Yato is currently still in this phase of development, still working out how to define himself and who he will ultimately become once he is finally free to decide on his own path in life. It was Sakura’s gentle influence--his desire to become the kind of god who could make her smile--that eventually sparked his conflict and finally led Yato to the brink of catastrophe. If he wishes to become the god Sakura told him he could be, he can no longer suffer his father to live.

So, long story longer, I think it can be argued that Yato meeting Sakura at such a young age is EXACTLY what made it possible for him to change, and exactly what has led to his crisis in identifying himself and redefining his sense of right and wrong. 

Uhhhh... I hope that answers your question!

[savrenim]

i am running thru ur tumblr to find ONE POST to cite for tvtropes, and i agree so hard with the soulmate stuff. what if my soulmate is an awful abuser, i want the choice to NOT be with them without some painful physical consequence or loss of perception if i don't date them just because the universe said we were "meant to be"... plus if it's just a magic thing it "feels" more justified in-universe that soulmates exist and less like an ass pull so you could justify getting 2 characters together

oH gods this is something that I have SO many feelings about that probably is slightly informed by my own orientation and preferences, but. feelings. this got long so it's going under the cut

so there are three and a half major things that I have a problem with in terms of general soulmate tropes that are "there is one person who is your perfect romantic partner" (which to be fair I've seen a number of soulmate AUs do that trope with the addendum "although it only applies to a certain percentage of the population / not everyone has soulmates / everyone has soulmates but not everyone has SUPER PERFECT ROMANTIC soulmates" which at least somewhat avoids the statistic inevitability of abusive soulmates if combined with Fate Can See The Future And So Your Fated Soulmate Just Won't Be) and these complaints aren't even from the "I'm poly where's my poly rep" kind of place which is a whole 'nother bag of worms, but let's go:

1. I aggressively believe that love is a choice. Love is something that is built, not predetermined before you meet someone. There might be initial compatibility aspects going down when you first meet someone, but, like. statistically there are more than seven and a half billion people on this planet. If there is only a single person perfectly meant for you, again, statistically, you are not going to meet them, I've seen the figure thrown that on average a person will meet on the order 10,000 people in their lifetime but let's even go 100,000, you will meet 0.001% of the world's population. Unless you think some sort of divine coincidence or fate is guiding you to a soulmate which throws free will out the window and then I can't help you but, like. discarding the math, I think it is actively harmful to a relationship to believe that it can be sustained on chemistry or predetermined 'but we're perfect for each other' alone. It requires work. You choose who is in your life, you choose who stays in your life, you choose who you want to be important to you based on what they contribute to your life and what you contribute to theirs.

(I am assuming this ask is at least partially in reaction to my soulmate post, which actually the fic in question, a buried and a burning flame, has since gone up. I highly recommend reading Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard first, but besides the setup for arson wizards that alas is never used because the fire mage with a soulmate in question is Responsible, I decided to both tackle 'okay soulmarks trope too let's throw it in', which leads to the not-really-a-spoiler passage that appears fairly early on about actually the full layout (albeit with less detail on the 'yeah for mages it just helps ground their magic, nothing romantic about it' part) of my Soulmate Rules:

Soulmates existed, both in the Empire of Astandalas and across the Wide Seas. They just worked slightly differently in Vangavaye-ve than the rest of the worlds.

The rest of the Empire seemed to view soulmates as a monolith. From what Cliopher had been able to glean, the tradition was grounded in their magic. Magi had soulmates, or rather, magic-workers would each have a soulmate. Cliopher wasn't clear if all magic-workers had a soulmate, or if magic-workers simply could have one, but there was always a mage in soulmate pairs, and it was always a pair. There were no marks, no visible signs involved, as soulmates were something that were sensed with magic. They were permanent, intrinsic, and to be recognized immediately.

To Wide Sea Islanders, soulmates were a choice.

The soul-marks, lana and lani-voa, would appear the first time you touched someone that you had chosen to love, with the full knowledge that you loved them. Cliopher had the marks of his mother and father, his sisters, Basil and Dimiter, Bertie and Ghilly. His skin was covered lovingly with the colors of his love, marks that he had gotten used to concealing with long sleeves in Astandalas when he had gotten tired of the constant staring at his 'primitive tattoos'.

Buru Tovo had been the only one to give him lani-voa, a greater mark of the soul. The pattern, with its thick lines and twisting design in a deep blue, extended over the entirety of his left arm and shoulder. They were the dances of his family pressed onto his skin, and he had traced them over with reverent and feather-light touch for months after he had received them. A lani-voa marked someone who had changed your life for the better in a deep and irrevocable way. It was a great honor to have even one.

And now, with the gold stretching up his right arm, new patterns that he didn't recognize stretching up from a handprint of pure gold that was expanding the longer he held that first contact with Tor—

now he had two.

(Buru Tovo is Cliopher's great uncle, for context. In fact, everyone listed there is either a familial or platonic relationship, with a single relationship that used to be romantic but settled into platonic.))

so. yeah. Love is a choice! The Biggest Of Moods! any soulmate lore that undermines that is a Bad Message, in my opinion.

The emphasis also on platonic soulmates leads into my second point:

2. I have found in my life that platonic relationships that I have are and have always been as important if not moreso than the romantic relationships. the emphasis of a single romantic relationship as the most important relationship that you can be in maybe fits for some people, but as a generalization to absolutely everyone I think is toxic and harmful. and not just for aro people! I'm not aro, but I would be miserable to write off my friends as Less Important And Meaningful to me than my parter, whom I love with all my heart! (I've actually ended up in my life settling into what I call the red/blue/gold system for 'relationships that I treat with the importance that society treats romantic relationships', but that's a personal thing). The standard soulmate trope tends to really solidly deliver the thesis of "there is a single romantic relationship that is the single most important relationship in your life" and I just think that's a very bad thesis.

3. Finally, I think the emphasis on permanent/forever is a harmful one for relationships in general. People change. you drift closer to people or further away from them. you move, they move, your schedules change, your interests change, your life changes. if you are living with a romantic partner you're going to keep seeing each other every day, but that doesn't stop you from changing as a person, which means see Point 1 Love Is A Choice; but even if you choose to remain together, you are probably eventually going to Ship Of Theseus your entire relationship. I think it is an important message that if that happens and it is no longer a relationship that is as deeply positive as it once was in your life, you don't...have to keep it out of loyalty to what it once was.

It's okay for people to drift out of your life that were once the most important person in your life. It doesn't invalidate how important and meaningful that relationship used to be, and it isn't a betrayal to let yourself and them and your relationships change and evolve. The idea that something has to be forever for it to matter I think is the idea about soulmates that I disagree with the most. Probably because that was the hardest lesson for me to learn as a kid and a teenager, and the life lesson that I am proudest for learning.

3.5 your point 'plus if it's just a magic thing it "feels" more justified in-universe that soulmates exist' is exactly on the nose, literally I am unable to write anything without attempting to write down a universal theory of everything for How The World Works. if something soulmate-wise is going down even if it never appears on the page you bet your ass I have either figured out the general cosmology and theology of "are there gods or divine forces who have instituted this policy? if so, why? what purpose does it serve", or in the case of abaabf which already has such interesting magic rules in the original canon of "is there an evolutionary reason for soulmates to exist" which I don't go tracing out full evolutionary biology for a fic necessarily mostly because I would want the full evolutionary biology in canon to make sure mine is compliant enough but that sure as hell does translate to "if soulmates exist and it's not for the reason of Because Godlike Beings Said So, there better be a practical purpose". I find at least long-form soulmate fics (ie things With Plot and a Developed Setting that aren't just "let's do a ficlet with this well-known trope") that Do Not Feel Like They've At Least Thought About Why Soulmates Happen To Exist hurt my soul. which I think slightly intersects with my "I hate it when the rules of the universe/ laws of physics are human-centric" instead of "the base rules which were not designed for humans came first, and how the human world works arose in reaction to them" and. yeah. consistent desire to know at least for myself why things are set up the way that they're set up which gods ifmlam is wild and completely bullshit and pulls from quantum multiverse philosophy I started writing that thing when I was like. eighteen? nineteen? but at least it's there so I can be consistent.

as a caveat for everything above: I don't actually think that fiction, fanfiction in particular, needs to perfectly reflect what A Good Relationship or A Good Message About Relationships should be. it is a very human desire in a chaotic and confusing world to want a simple, absolute, binary thing to hold onto. fiction is a place for escapism or wish fulfillment or even exploring things that you wouldn't actually want in real life, I think that the movement in fandom/fiction that all of the messaging in your story should match the advice you'd give for a real-life setup is a bad and harmful one. mostly my opinions on soulmates and hence desire to do inversions of the soulmate trope in my fic and things like the red/blue/gold system and heavy emphasis on platonic relationships in original work that I'm writing is about a desire to see representation for me and the things I love and find important and my sort of relationships in the stories that are a big part of my life. but I am really glad that in doing so I seem to have struck a chord in other people, who maybe want to see the same thing!

[tsukkisbean]

haikyuu nsfw alphabet series | ennoshita chikara

please block #claras steamys if you don’t want to see this type of content!!

warnings: sexual themes (implied sadism?) , mentions of (unprotected) sex, fem!reader

a/n: based on post time skip!! okay so i had to dig as much information as i could on ennoshita for obvious reasons before i went head first into any headcanons. would love to discuss about him bc i don’t see a lot of talk about him since he plays a pretty minor role!!

return to nsfw alphabet series masterlist

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

two words: sweet. heart. when you guys are done, he’ll give you a chaste kiss on the lips and tell you how well you did. will run you a warm bath, unscented, scented, rose petals whatever the hell you want. if you ask, he’ll give it to you. while you enjoy your time in the bath he’ll go get you a snack and once you’re done in the bath, he’ll help you dry off, get dressed and then you’ll snuggle under the covers together!!!!!!!!

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

i think he’d love your hands the most. just doing things like holding them, kissing your knuckles, or when you play with his hair. the feeling of your fingers touching him is just so comforting to him

on him maybe his shoulders or upper body in general? being a physical therapist i can see him taking pretty good care of himself and working out consistently to make sure his muscles and joints are in good shape.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

he’s into creampies and you c a n n o t change my mind whatsoever. probably stemmed from the one time where you guys were really desperate and short on time (a rare quickie moment)  and you’re okay without a condom. so he gets right into it and at the time all he’s thinking about is getting the both of you to cum that he doesn’t even consider the idea of pulling out. and when he does cum in you the feeling of you being full of his seeds just turns him on to the max

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

he likes filmmaking so he probably lowkey really wants to ask you if he can film you guys having sex but is kind embarrassed that you’ll be weirded out

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

hmmmm i wouldn’t say super experienced? probably had 1 or 2 serious partners before you but he learned most of what he knows now with you. definitely type of dude that knows where the clit is though, ennoshita big brain

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

missionary where your fingers are interlocked bc he loves looking into your eyes while he fucks you

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

seems like the type of guy to take sex pretty seriously in the sense that he wants the both of you to feel good. and that he believes its a pretty intimate, so all your focus should be on each other, no distractions

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

definitely well groomed. i would say something like still having full coverage, but the hairs are significantly trimmed, maintained regularly.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

INTIMATE!!! WILL TELL YOU HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU AND BEAUTIFUL HE THINKS YOU ARE INSIDE AND OUT AND HOW LUCKY HE IS TO HAVE YOU IN HIS LIFE BC YOU AER HIS LIGHT!!!!

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

after one particularly stressful day at work he just can’t seem to calm down despite his usual level-headedness. he can only think of one way to calm himself down but you’re not going to be home for another hour or two. desperate he jumps into the shower, making sure to lock the door in case there’s the slightest chance you’re back before he’s done. turning on the water, he starts to pump his shaft up and down, thinking about you while he does so. he thinks about the way your hand wraps around his cock, your tongue picking up all of his pre-cum

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

ngl probably has some sorta daddy/captain kink going on that developed from him being captain of the volleyball club in his 3rd year and having to take care of the wild kids (aka tanaka and noya). likes the feeling of having to take care of you and when you act submissive. low key (but really high key) likes the power.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

a bedroom man because he wants you to feel comfortable at all times!! maybe even okay with the couch if you guys have a nice big one that the two of you can fit on comfortably hehe

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

you being straightforward!!! like tell him you wanna suck him off or that you want him to eat you out and he’d get super flustered and blushy. even though he tries, he can’t control the blood rushing to his dick so you get what you want :-)

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

anything that has to do with pain (e.g. choking, spanking), doesn’t want to any sort of situation that could possibly escalate to you getting hurt, soft baby

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

giving!!! the boy is a giver and you can’t change my mind. he’s the type that you don’t even have to ask, once you guys start getting it on, he’s on his knees eating you out faster than you can process. will be lapping away at your juices whenever he gets the chance so that being said probably pretty experienced since he does it for you so often

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

slow and sensual, likes to take his time so that he tell you how much he loves you, how good you feel, and just appreciating you

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

pretty much never. as mentioned above, sex is an act of love to him so he likes to take his time to cherish you and your body and literally just everything about you

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

okay i know i’ve written him as a pretty vanilla guy but i think he’s definitely willing to experiment he just isn’t sure how to ask you. so you most likely have to be the one to ask him to try something new

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

i think because he puts his all into the first round he wouldn’t be able to do that many rounds. maybe 1 or 2 depending how much you guys get around to BUT the first round he can go on forever. pays to be an athlete!!

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

i’m not really sure for this one??? maybe a vibrator to use on your once in awhile

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

teases you a lot when he’s going down on you. like instead of giving you what you want, he’ll kiss your thighs, or just small licks here and there instead of fuckign you with his tongue like you want

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

not very loud, lots of grunting, panting, and breathy moans in your ear

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

your fingers are threaded in ennoshita’s hair while he’s going down on you, and when he hits a particularly sensitive spot you can’t help but yank on his hair in response. at first you’re worried you’ve hurt him but the two of you are shocked at the way he lets out a strained moan. he looks up from between your legs, a small smirk on his face and tells you, “do that again and i’ll keep going”

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

tbh i think he’s average in both length and girth, nothing super outta the ordinary

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

i wouldn’t say it’s super high. he’s a pretty level headed guy so i think he’d be able to control all his sexual urges. only occasionally if he’s stressed out from work will he get super needy

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

after he takes care of you, it’ll probably take him like 15-20 minutes to knock out his arms wrapped protectively around you

[sweetiepie08]

Rebel Z (Chapter 10 Final)

nvader Zim fanfic

While analyzing Zim’s PAK for weaknesses, Tak discovers strange coding that sends her on a search for answers. The clues lead her to uncover a conspiracy that governs all of Irken society. When the truth sends her on the run, she has no choice but to return to the one place the Tallest would never willingly go: Urth.

Meanwhile, Dib has noticed odd changes in Zim’s behavior. Has the invader simply grown bored of his mission over the last few years, or is there something more interesting going on?

People who asked to be tagged: @incorrect-invader-zim , @messinwitheddie, @reblogstupids, @cate-r-gunn

If anyone else would like to be added to the tag list please let me know.

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Chapter 10. 

Thank you for reading! I do plan to continue the story in a sequel fic, but I may take a short hiatus first. I hope you enjoyed this!

Be on the lookout for the next book in the series, RevolutionZ! In which Zim and Tak attempt to join the Resisty and gain new companions! Dib fills his gap year by joining an alien rebellion! Gaz gets dragged in too! And what happened to Zim in Death Melee is explained! 

However, I will most likely only be posting links to Ao3 than full chapters to Tumblr. Again, Thank you everyone for reading!

[-]

“So, what exactly the fuck was all that stuff with the punch about?” Dib asked once they were a comfortable distance away form the Massive.

Zim glared straight ahead at the stars. “It’s nothing that concerns you, human.”

“Bullshit!” Dib slammed his hand down on the control panel. “Your little stunt could have gotten us killed. Out with it!”

Zim gritted his teeth and gripped the steering mechanism until his knuckles quaked. Dib braced himself for the inevitable screaming denial. Instead, Zim let out a pained sigh. “Fine, if you must know, I figured out three Urth years ago that my mission was a sham and my leaders were trying to have me killed, so I took revenge. Happy?”

“We know all that,” Tak snapped. “And anyway, I told you your mission was a lie a long time ago. What I want to know is how you managed to betray the Tallest without your treasonous thoughts setting of your life clock.”

“Yeah, and who’s Spek?” Dib added.

“You wish to hear Zim’s tale of woe?” He clenched his fist and heaved out another sigh. “Fine. Three Urth years ago, the Tallest contacted me, telling me they selected me to participate in Death Melee, an inter-galactic event that all would be watching.”

“The one where they throw criminals on a planet together to fight to the death?” Tak deadpanned. “That was your first clue?”

“They told me the rules had changed and it was now a contest of elite warriors. For my partner, they gave me a Spek, a smeet just shy of his cadet years. He hadn’t even seen his first cycle yet…” Zim’s fists shook as he cut himself off.

“Since you’re still alive, I’m assuming you won,” Dib said.

“Yes, but…” his gaze fell to the floor. “Yes. Anyway, throughout the Melee, it became clear to me that the Tallest lied. This was still a game for criminals, but Spek…” Zim narrowed his haunted eyes, “he was only there to lessen my chances.”

Dib watched, mesmerized. He thought he’d seen the many moods of Zim. He’d seen everything from proud boasting, to spiteful rage, to pathetic schmooping. But this, this was something else entirely, something he never expected to see from the alien. True remorse.  

“On my journey back to Urth,” he continued, “I had too much time to think and when made it back to m base, I was done with all of it.” Rage grew in his voice with every word. “I knew they lied. I knew they’d been lying. For a moment, I thought, if they didn’t want my genius, maybe someone else would. And that thought was enough to set off my life clock. Instead of simply ripping out my feedback chip, I infected it with a virus that sends the Control Brains a loop of my Urth memories, preventing it from receiving new thoughts and experiences.” A bitter, satisfied smile came to his face. “As far as I can tell, it hadn’t noticed anything was off until now.”

“And the machines I saw you building?” Dib pressed.

Zim drew himself up. “I have a contract with the Resisity. I build them machines, they appreciate my genius and send me monies.”

“And that’s what you’ve been doing for three years?” Dib asked, voice sripping with skepticism.

Zim nodded and said nothing more.

Dib stared at him, trying to get a read on this whole tale. He wasn’t sure what to believe. Zim’s reason for existence seamed to be pleasing his Tallest. The little green monster talked of nothing else since arriving on Urth. He couldn’t imagine Zim wanting anything else and he’d fallen for the schmoopy act before. But this was not schmoop. It was too subtle, too quiet. And that betrayal of his Tallest couldn’t be denied. Something had truly changed.

Dib looked to Tak to gauge her opinion, but her face revealed nothing except careful calculation.

“I’d heard the Resisty had been growing and gaining power,” she mused. “New technology granted them upsetting victories and made them more of a problem than they once were. They could be the key. We need to fight if we ever want a chance of defeating the Control Brains and freeing our people, and for that, we’ll need an army. With your connection and my information, we could pose a real threat to the Empire.”

Dib expected Zim to launch into another tirade about how he wasn’t in it for the politics. That this was all a personal mission and he had no interest in going rogue. That did not happen.

Instead, Zim said nothing for a long time. He simply stared through the windshield in tense silence. But then, a grin grew slowly on his face. “I’m in.”

[-]

When they made it back to Earth, they found that Gaz made use of MiMi and Mini Mouse as gaming companions, Dad bought her excuse that Dib was hanging out at Zim’s house, and that he hadn’t even stopped home long enough to notice the two additional robots in the living room.

Dib went straight to his room and laid out all of his recording devices. He had the notes he took the night Zim and Tak rambled drunkenly on the couch. He had the audio recording of the old man Irken that he couldn’t wait to translate. And he had the spy camera he’d been wearing to capture the whole experience. He never got so much undeniable proof on one mission before, and no one, to his knowledge, had this much evidence of this quality ever. He’d be king of the Swollen Eyeball network if he showed even a fraction of…

His eyes drifted to the Swollen Eyeball emblem pinned to his bulletin board and he let out a sigh. The Swollen Eyeball… what a joke. They’d been reduced to a bunch of anti-science conspiracy nuts. The organization became a competition to see who could shout their wildest theory the loudest. What were they compared to a real evil alien empire, a real soul-sucking, Lovecraftian horror, and a real space alien rebellion?

No. This was bigger than some crack-pot conspiracy group. This rebellion universe-shattering consequences. And he was going to be part of it.

[-]

Out in his ship, Zim stared at his PAK connector with warry eyes. He wasn’t sure what held him back now. His stunt on the Massive already solidified his traitor status, but this felt different, more official. It was one thing to enact vengeance on those who betrayed him. It was quite another to completely detach himself from society.

He’d been unwaveringly loyal to the Empire since his conception, but they didn’t want him. He’d seen that years ago. So what was he waiting for?

He disconnected the PAK from his back and ignored the lifeclock in the corner of his eye as he plugged it in. He opened the hatch, clicked a pair of tweezers in his fingers, then reached them toward his feedback chip.

At a light tug, his computer’s voice gave an automated warning.

You are attempting to remove the feedback chip. Doing so is an act of treason against the Irken Empire. Are you sure you want to proceed?

Zim closed his eyes and pulled the chip free.

[-]

Tak’s footsteps echoed as she walked across the concrete garage floor. MiMi’s metallic feet clacked beside her. Apart from that, the room was silent. She was used to silence. One grows accustomed to it when traveling alone through space. But these last few days had been anything but. And with Zim as her dubious ally, silent moments like this were certain to be few and far between.

And yet, this moment, she felt the need to fill it with something.

She popped open the windshield of her ship and hopped inside. “MiMi, my disc please.” Mimi reached into her head and took out the Urth data storage disc. Zim wasn’t the only one with a secret stash.

Tak took the disc from Mimi and placed it in a tray on the ship’s control panel. “Ship, track six please.” As she hopped out, music began to play. Smooth, jazzy horns filled the air and the singer began crooning.

Maybe this time, I’ll be lucky. Maybe this time he’ll stay…

The song was from an Urth performance art piece. The vocalist sang about some male mate. That part didn’t interest Tak in the slightest. Still, there was something about it...

Not a loser anymore, like the last time and the time before…

The song continued to play as Tak opened the engine access panel and began her work. While manipulating the many gears and wires, she found a few interesting repair methods that the human implemented over the years. Many employed the use of an Urth bonding strip called “duct tape”, which she had to admit came in handy. The human didn’t do a bad job, even if it was pretty slap-dash.

All the odds are in my favor, something’s bound to begin…

She finally untangled a mess of wires and reconnected them.

It’s gotta happen, happen sometime…

She fused together the final wire and the ship hummed to life. Fuel Regulation Systems online.

Tak smiled, “Okay Mimi, looks like we’re finally getting somewhere.” She ducked back into the access panel as the song his its crescendo.

Maybe this time I’ll win.