#like. that's not a trait she considers extraordinary it's just her Default

[mechieonu]

i'm in the middle of the mooncass arc and y'all who was gonna tell me miscommunication hurts like this

[cajolions]

19 27 and 41 for mito :)

19. What were your character’s deepest disillusions? In life? What are they now? 

It’s very hard to make Mito believe that anyone might be acting out of ill will (womp womp...) Even when she accepts the possibility of someone harboring ill will, getting her to believe that this person might not be willing to treat her as a equal is just as hard. Likewise, she tends to believe that everything has a solution-- not a perfect solution, but an adequate, effective solutions, and that those solutions are worth finding. This is something that has been purposefully used against her in her time in Ganeiian politics, but this fact hasn’t shaken the belief one bit. 

On a different note, one of Mito’s early beliefs was that her being transported to Ganeii was a test for her to make her way back home. She’s gradually eased into the idea that she will never return to earth, but when her powers start to inch into the realm of the extraordinary, the hope of returning home makes a silent, dangerous comeback. 

Overall however, Mito has not really made to be shaken in her certainties: part of the difficulty of her situation is that she is the perfect person to be the Passer in the time of Ganeii’s philosophical revolution: invested in abstract rationality, process-oriented, stubborn, clever. She’s been placed in a niche designed as if to fit her desires as a precocious 12 year old. Whatever she learns is merely learning, and what things she believes deeply are hard to pull out of their own systems of logic. (The exception to this being of course her relationship with Chadanaiy, wherein the difficulty lies in Chadanaiy’s unwillingness to ever make her critiques of Mito’s assumptions explicit in word.) 

27. How do they relate to their appearance? How do they wear their clothing? Style? Quality? 

Mito has politely accepted that she is beautiful. She doesn’t quite believe it in the absolute (she retains the memory of being the awkward, dumpy nerd in middle school) but understands that her position in Ganeii’s beauty standards is it’s own unique thing: assessments reflective of those who project it upon her. She knows which of features are considered to be striking, and takes this knowledge with the same anthropological curiosity she takes most things. Describing human western beauty standards is one of her go-to teachable anecdotes, and she’s gradually exaggerated it into absurdity as she’s grown older and continued to tell it. She also takes a kind of pride in the neutrality with which she sees her own traits.

However, these are ideas of beauty Chadanaiy has never reflected to her, and it makes her nervous. She’s often tempted to ask Chadanaiy for her opinion on her appearance, but knowing that Chadanaiy has come to accept herself as the opposite of beautiful, holds back on that line of questioning. Instead, she questions Chadanaiy on the beauty of others, the beauty of objects and craft, nature and design. 

Clothing, however, is rooted in agency, and is her playground. She loves to dress up, and treats outfits like experiments-- her outfits are diverse and eccentric. At times she’s requested to connect weavers from different regions and get them to collaborate, or gone to tailors to inquire about producing new attire, often under the excuse of practical study. When deciding to dress up, she wears whatever most fascinates her at the time (usually maximalist, cluttered, extravagant stuff) but uses a series of default Passer’s red/magenta-colored tunics as a transitional outfit, sometimes with a set of jewelry or a headpiece. 

41. Is your character aware of who they are? Strengths? Weaknesses? Idiosyncrasies? Capable of self-irony? 

Self-evaluation is a strange topic for Mito. On one hand, she has a comfortable knowledge of her abilities and has no issues recognizing her faults. She also welcomes commentary on her person and makes it her job to consider those exterior evaluations in her evaluations of herself. However, she is at times oblivious as to her effect on others-- being unusual is the background radiation of her life, and the extent to which the context in which her choices and way of being exist impacts their meaning is something she has not been ready to fully understand. Her weaknesses and strengths are amplified, become topics of conversation, deconstructed and resonant in the mouths of the people who surround her, but this is a fact that she pushes away. She’s capable of tremendous amount of self-irony surrounding her extra-ordinary status, but her humor about the topic makes light of something that is more serious than she would like to recognize.

[aethelfleds]

29?

Rant about your favorite topic:I'm all about medieval women. All of them. The ladies who stayed behind the castle walls and did the sewing, weaving, and administration for the entire household are every bit as valuable to history as those who had cause to take up arms and fight for the rights of themselves or their children. Traditionally, the women who "acted like men" are the ones who get the most interest. We like women who we can stick the label of "badass" on, but what is the criteria a medieval woman has to meet to be considered badass? Why, she has to reject all traditionally feminine activities and traits of course! We have to stop thinking of the women who were ordinary in their time as being useless, because in truth they were all extraordinary in their own ways.It took so much skill and hard work to run a medieval household, no matter how small. A wife was extremely necessary, not just for bearing children (it's still a deeply misogynistic society of course), but for keeping the place up and running. If the household was small there was a ton of manual labor done by the wife. If it was larger, she would have to oversee the running of the household and delegate whatever work she didn't undertake herself as a lady (still the middle ages after all). But keeping her own family as well as a retinue of servants, retainers, and often guests all properly fed and clothed? When all the sewing/textile making is done by hand and made from scratch is the default for food? It's a pretty big and never ending project. AND not to mention if her husband was away on crusade or at war with France, the defense of the house would often fall to her. So yeah, I'm kind of tired of the belief that medieval women were useless if they didn't pursue typically masculine activities. Of course I still admire women like Æthelflæd and Matilda because they were brilliant. I just don't think medieval women should have to prove their value to those who do not value women unless they fit in such a narrow spectrum.Sorry if this is all over the place. I'm laying in bed trying not to die from cramps.

[jedwashere]

A Billion Years Away - Chapter Two

All Of The Stars Are Fading Away

***

‘Cos all of the stars are fading away,

Just try not to worry, you’ll see them someday.

Take what you need and be on your way,

And stop crying your heart out…

***

The Enterprise.

When Jallistra entered the Bridge, she took her chair with practiced ease, staring at the view screen with an inscrutable smile. The bridge was arranged, as per Jallistra’s preferences, almost like a conference room: the Captain’s chair at the top of the room, slightly raised, with her XO’s chair to her right, an empty “advisor” chair to her left, helm slightly ahead and to the right of the XO chair, OPs ahead and to the left of the advisor chair, tactical against the wall to the right and a science station opposite it. Behind the Captain’s chair was a row of stations occupied by other bridge crew.

From here, Jallistra could see every station, and every station could turn to see her. She liked the dynamic: the fact that it allowed debate, discourse, suggestions, opinions… it opened the floor for her crew to give her their best, and for her to consider all options.

“Time to Harlak?” she asked calmly.

“Five hours, twenty one minutes, fourteen seconds, mark,” her helm officer, Liam West, said, tapping his console. The blonde-haired officer looked up at the screen. “Dropping to impulse in five hours, sixteen minutes, mark.”

“Thank you, Liam,” she said, nodding. West was certainly accurate and eager to please: the latter was not necessarily a trait she wanted to encourage, but it seemed harmless for the moment.

Leaning back in her chair, Jallistra glanced to her left. Her XO, a pale-blue-skinned Andorian named Hy’ron Thenn, was frowning. This wasn’t in-and-of-itself unusual - his default expression was a frown, actually - but Jallistra always took it seriously nonetheless.

“Well, Exec?” she asked quietly. “What do you think?”

“I think when people send the Enterprise to investigate an anomaly, it’s trouble,” the Andorian replied grimly, his voice gruff and humourless. “We should be prepared for anything.”

“Good advice for life in general,” Jallistra said, still smiling. She turned to the OPs station.

“Maria, what do we know about the Harlak system?”

“There’s one colonised planet, called Erlös,” her OPs officer, a pale-skinned, golden eyed woman - an Android - named Maria Doe said. “The people living on it are a technophobic sect of the New Deus movement. Friendly, but they prefer their isolation.”

“They wouldn’t have been responsible for an anomaly, then,” the tactical officer - a young red-headed human Lieutenant named Faye Reddin - said.

“Nothing is beyond the realms of speculation, Lieutenant,” Thenn said darkly. He sighed. “Did Admiral Paris have any knowledge of what sort of anomaly this is?”

“None that she shared,” Jallistra said evenly. “Which doesn’t exactly inspire feelings of optimism, I must admit.”

Thenn chuckled mirthlessly. “No, it does not. Still: this is the best crew in the fleet. Whatever we face, we will destroy it.”

Jallistra raised an eyebrow. “You expect a fight?”

“I always expect a fight,” Thenn replied. “It’s what made me a good tactical officer.”

“That’s true,” Jallistra said, nodding. She frowned ever-so-slightly, and leant towards him slightly. When she spoke next, it was softer. “There is something about this that troubles me.”

“What?” Thenn asked.

“An anomaly over Harlak? Near a planet of technophobes?” Jallistra said slowly, raising both eyebrows. “There is something extraordinary at work, here.”

“But for good or ill?” Thenn asked.

Jallistra smiled again. “That’s the question, Exec. And one we’re going to have to find the answer to.”

“Captain,” Doe said from her station. “We are receiving a message from Starfleet. Priority One.”

Thenn and Jallistra exchanged glances. The Andorian’s antenna were twitching.

“I don’t like this,” Thenn said unnecessarily.

Jallistra simply smiled, before standing and heading back for her ready room.

You and me both, Exec, she thought to herself. You and me both.

***

Erlös.

When the next knock came at his door, Lorca didn’t even look up. “Come in.”

Just as he’d expected, Laurien shuffled inside. With her, she carried a small suitcase.

“You were in need of clothes, sir,” she said quietly. “These are fitted to your Starfleet’s standards. We, uh…” Lorca looked up to see that she was blushing, and he resisted the urge to grin mischievously. “We knew your size from your medical examination.”

Lorca gave her what he hoped came across as a friendly smile. “Well, thank you, ma’am.”

She placed the suitcase on the dresser, and smiled back at him.

“I will wait for you outside,” she said, inclining her head slightly. “Eloise has asked to speak with you once you are presentable.”

Lorca nodded, standing. “I’ll, uh, be just a minute.”

With that, Laurien bowed and left, leaving Lorca alone with the suitcase. Wasting no time, he went over to it and popped it open, before raising both eyebrows in surprise.

This is not what I was expecting, he thought.

Gently taking the uniform out of the case, Lorca let out a whistle, examining the material and the uniform carefully. It consisted of an undershirt, a jacket, trousers and boots. The main body of the jacket was scarlet, which he presumed to be a command division colour, with a white band across the shoulder. A badge - the same symbol he had worn, but subtly altered, with a polygonal golden backing underneath it. The undershirt was also white, and high collared. The trousers was black, as were the boots. A brief examination of the badge showed that, rather than being a simple duraplast pin, it was an integrated signal device. A communicator? And the jacket’s closure wasn’t a zip, but rather… some kind of magnet? He didn’t recognise the closure at all: it was like a new kind of technology.

This, Lorca thought with a less-than-cheerful expression, is new.

New was bad. New meant that he didn’t know what to expect, that he didn’t know…

I don’t know where I am, he realised. This one change… it could mean anything.

Still: these were clothes, and they were (supposedly) appropriate to his (assumed) rank and station, so he started putting them on. Fortunately, his host hadn’t neglected underwear or socks.

Thank heavens for small mercies, he thought wryly.

***

The Enterprise.

“Authorisation Jallistra, Three Six Beta Upsilon.”

Jallistra sat in her ready room chair as the Federation symbol was replaced by the image of a text message. She frowned: a text message? Not a recording, or an actual transmission? Her curiosity piqued, Jallistra began reading the message.

Communique from planet Erlös. Claim to have one Captain Gabriel Lorca of Starship Buran on planet, recovering from injury. Ascertain truth of matter, bring Lorca to Starbase 93.

- Lizbeth Hayne, Commodore.

Jallistra sat back in her chair, pondering the message. The Buran? There hadn’t been a Starship Buran to Jallistra’s knowledge since the mid 25th century. And she definitely wasn’t familiar with this Captain Lorca that Commodore Hayne had brought up.

“Computer,” she said after a moment. “Search Gabriel Lorca, Captain.”

Immediately, a file popped up: the image of a man in a blue two-piece mid-23rd century uniform.

What?!

Jallistra blinked, wondering if there was more than one Captain Gabriel Lorca.

“Computer,” she said, “is this the only record of a Captain Gabriel Lorca in Starfleet?”

“Confirmed,” the computer's cool tone replied. “There are no other Gabriel Lorca’s listed in Starfleet’s databanks at the present time.”

Jallistra felt her lips purse involuntarily. Something was very wrong here.

Captain Gabriel Lorca, she thought, looking at the man’s picture again. How could a man from centuries ago be here, now? Only one way to find out.

Taking a breath,  she began studying the record.

The symbol on this Lorca’s chest was the then UESPA symbol (this being before the UESPA symbol was adopted for the entirety of Starfleet). He had been exploration fleet, then, or at least his ship had worked under those auspices. The uniform was the same one used during the Klingon war of 2256 through 2257, which meant that - exploration fleet or not, he was likely a military man, a veteran of that war. The man himself was pushing fifty, maybe already there: he had an intense blue gaze that seemed to reach across the centuries. His list of commendations was small but noteworthy, the most prominent being a Legion of Honour - wait, no, the commendation had the word “suspended” next to it in brackets.

Jallistra frowned. A suspended Legion of Honour? Now that was unusual.

What was more unusual was that much of the file was redacted.

“Computer,” she said, “show redacted portions of Gabriel Lorca’s file.”

“Captain’s authorisation or higher required to view classified files,” the computer replied coolly.

Classified? After all this time? Why? Whatever the reason for his being here was, Jallistra realised, it had to have something to do with the redacted portions of his file.

“Computer,” she said, “show redacted portions of Gabriel Lorca’s file, authorisation Jallistra, Three Six Beta Upsilon.”

A moment later, the black boxes were replaced by text. Jallistra read the text slowly…

… and her eyes widened in horror.

***

Erlös.

He tugged the front of the uniform jacket down as he stepped out, feeling oddly self-conscious at how thin the material felt. What even was this material, some kind of synthetic thing?

Still, it was comfortable. He supposed that was something.

Laurien was waiting for him, and she smiled as he stepped into the outside of his room. They were in another wood-panelled room, this one large and empty. There were doors leading to other rooms, and one set of double doors that seemed to lead outside.

I’m going to have to go outside, he realised, already wincing in anticipation. This is going to be fun.

“You look very regal,” Laurien said, bringing his attention back to her. “I can see that Captaincy suits you.”

“Uh, thanks,” he said, trying to play modest and ending up with self-conscious. Either worked, though. “You said Eloise wanted to speak with me?”

“That is correct,” she said quietly. “Please, follow me.”

Laurien immediately headed for the double-doors, and Lorca followed. He winced again as she opened the door, but fortunately it wasn’t too sunny outside. Rather, it was overcast and grey. There were a number of small, primitive wooden houses around them, as well as one large building that looked to be a battered old prefab of some sort.

“Are you alright?” Laurien asked him, noticing his wincing.

“I - yeah,” he said. “Old injury.”

“I understand,” Laurien said sympathetically. “I hope your own people will be able to help you heal that injury. I regret we could not do more for you.”

“You did plenty,” Lorca said, smiling. “I’m here, after all.”

They continued on, until they reached the prefab. Once there, Laurien stopped.

“You will have to go in here alone,” she said. “I am not allowed within the hall of technology.”

The way she said it indicated that some of those words really ought to have capital letters. It was strange, alright, but Lorca just nodded: he wasn’t here to judge these people.

I’ve got better things to do, he thought, entering the building.

Inside was a reception manned by a boy no older than thirteen, with a shaven head and black robes on. There was what looked like a computer in front of him, though it looked primitive to Lorca - like something you might have found on an NX-class ship. The boy looked up as Lorca entered.

“Oh!” he said. “You are the Starfleet Captain, yes?”

“Uh, yes,” Lorca said.

“Excellent!” the boy said. He tapped a control on the computer. “The Captain is here, Dannik!”

A moment passed, and then another man walked into the reception area, along with Eloise. The man wore the same black robes the boy did, and had the same shaven head, but he was much older.

“Ah, Captain!” he said. “Greetings. I trust the uniform matches your needs?”

“It does,” Lorca said, tugging the front of the jacket down slightly. “Very comfortable.”

“I am glad,” the man said. “Forgive me, I am Dannik. I am the keeper of our technologies.”

“I figured,” Lorca said, smiling. “I’m not familiar with your culture…”

“That is just so,” Eloise cut in. “We prefer to keep outsiders away.”

Lorca nodded once. “That’s fair.”

“So,” Eloise continued, “you can imagine our surprise when you arrived.”

Lorca nodded, swallowing. “You’ll forgive me, ma’am, but I’m not sure how I arrived, exactly. What happened?”

Eloise looked at Dannik, who cleared his throat.

“There was a kind of spatial anomaly in one of the fields,” he said, almost intoning the words. “It stayed there for three days, and when it abated, you were there. You were badly wounded.”

“We did not expect you to survive your wounds,” Eloise added quietly. “Given their severity and the limited resources we had, we feared you would perish despite our help.”

“I do have a tendency to pull through when people least expect it,” Lorca said with a mirthless smile. Oh, yes, I do at that. “Have to admit, that last scuffle had me think I was done for, though.”

Eloise raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Lorca felt his smile waver. “I… well, it’s a long story.”

“We have a great deal of time for you to tell it in,” Eloise pointed out with a beatific smile.

Lorca nodded, taking a breath. “Well, let’s start with an obvious question. By Earth’s calendar, what year is it?”

Eloise frowned. “What year?”

“Indulge me,” Lorca said with another winning smile.

Eloise nodded, her expression softening. “It is 2507, I believe. We haven’t used that calendar in some time.”

“You’re right,” Dannik said with a nod. “March of 2507, at that.”

There was a momentary pause while Lorca processed that, his eye twitching.

“Twenty… twenty five oh seven?!” he blurted.

Eloise frowned again. “Is something the matter, Captain?”

Three hundred years. Michael. Gone. Stamets. Saru. Cornwell. Georgiou. Gone. All gone. Everything, gone.

“When I left,” Lorca finally said, his voice strained as he ran a hand through his hair, “it was the year 2256.”

There was a pause. Eloise looked at Dannik.

“There… there is precedent among the Starfleet people for such things,” the robed man finally said. “I believe. I would be forced to look thoroughly in the records for any such incidents not categorised as classified materials.”

“I could accept a shift in time,” Lorca said, his voice quiet, “but… two hundred and fifty years. That’s insane.” Michael… Michael Burnham… gone. Gone forever. “Everyone I served with, everyone I know… they’re gone.”

There was a long pause as Eloise processed this.

“But,” she said finally, “you are here. And by grace or chance, you survived grievous injury. That must mean something, don’t you think?”

“That’s a reassuring thought,” Lorca said reflexively, without really meaning it. Positives, Gabriel, positives. We’re alive, we’ve beaten the odds. The thought was hollow even in his head. He took a breath. “Well, I’m grateful your people found me.”

“Perhaps you could demonstrate that gratitude by telling us how you came to be so wounded,” Eloise said with a small smile.

Oh, you’re good, Lorca thought, smiling back at her. It felt hollow on his lips.

“Where to begin,” he said quietly, thinking over this story that he had been cobbling together in his head.

“The beginning?” Dannik suggested.

Lorca smiled mirthlessly. If only Lorca actually knew the beginning, that might have helped. What really would have happened to the other him, back in his universe?

He’d be dead, was the first, cruel thought that came to mind. But no, somehow, Lorca didn’t believe that. He’d read his own file: Gabriel Lorca was a tough, hard man in any universe. Sure, he’d been more into his Federation’s ideals, but that didn’t stop him from being a survivor. Lorca had no doubt that, if his other self had been aboard Discovery, much would have been the same. One difference notwithstanding.

Michael, he thought again, closing his eyes.

After a moment, he let out a sigh, and began.

“I was… I was trapped.” Throw in some hesitation: it was horrible, sell it as horrible. “Trapped in another universe. A parallel one. The people there were… well, ‘hostile’, to be charitable.” Very, very charitable. “I was stabbed and thrown out an airlock into… into some kind of spatial anomaly. Honestly, I’m surprised I’m not dead.”

It lacked specifics, but he didn’t imagine these people needed any. He just hoped he’d sold it well.

His audience digested his story for a moment. None of them had immediately pointed fingers at him and called him a lying bastard to his face, so he supposed that was one positive.

“Does Starfleet often deal with… ‘parallel universes’?” Eloise asked Dannik after a long silence.

The old man shrugged. “I don’t know. I suspect the Captain would know more than I.”

“In three hundred years? God only knows what the Federation has experience with,” Lorca said quietly. “I didn’t experience anything like it before, and I’d never heard of anyone else experiencing it.”

“Well,” Eloise said, still seeming uncertain, “I realise these circumstances are… are not ideal. Nonetheless, I am sure there are positives to be had. Somehow.”

Lorca smiled again, but there was no joy in it. “I’ve learned ‘ideal’ stuff doesn’t happen all that often.”

After all, he thought bitterly. ‘Ideally’, Michael would have… I would have…

He stopped, trying to curtail that train of thought before it could get started. After all, he’d never had time for regrets before.

He didn’t like it at all.

***

Previous Chapter

[catboythorfinn]

I’m finally done, but this is my fatesona, Jerelyn!! or Jere, for short. I’m still working on her story and other details so her story may change over time but here’s some info about her that I currently have under the cut:

HER BIO HAS BEEN UPDATED AS OF 3/31/18 !!!

So some of her info, including age, birthday, height, appearance, and some personality traits are all based on me, so yes it is a coincidence that she shares her birthday with Siegbert lol

Name: Jerelyn (ジェレリン, Jererin)

Alias: Jeremy (before recruiting) (ジェレミー, Jeremii)

Age: 18

Gender: female, but disguises herself as male first

Pronouns: she/her (he/him when disguised)

Birthday: May 28th

Orientation: Bi/Pansexual

Class: Troubadour

Generation: First

Appearance: Jerelyn has fair skin, dark brown (almost black eyes), and has glasses. Her hair is black with red streaks (it’s not too out there considering Peri has blue/pink hair) and is a little on the short side. Her body type is short and slightly curvy, but due to her small bust, is able to easily disguise as a male. She is female, both biologically and her gender. Her outfit is the basic male troubadour outfit with different shades of red and black, and she wears glasses. Her left boot is a darker red than her right boot. (explained below)

Personality: Jerelyn is an introverted person and likes to keep to herself, and is assumed to be someone shy and quiet. It’s hard for her to open up people; and instead likes to insult, be mean, be rude, and push people away when someone shows an interest to her. Before joining Corrin’s army, Jerelyn was very close to someone, eventually dating them. Said person became abusive and toxic towards Jerelyn, completely destroying her confidence and self esteem, among many other issues. After said event happened, Jerelyn swore that she’d never get close to someone again and, having a low self esteem and a (now) raging inferiority complex, became someone she hates: someone rude with no respect for others, which in turn, caused her to not make any friends in Corrin’s army. Jerelyn has a short temper and gets irritated easily, which makes her snarky and sarcastic when she’s in a bad mood. She loves to play pranks on others for laughs, mostly to cheer herself up. She also swears. Like a lot. Her favorite hobby is drawing, she’ll draw landscapes, her horse, even people in Corrin’s army just to pass the time between battles. Jerelyn seems to focus on her tasks too much, such as her chores, her duties, her drawings, etc., which causes her to not be self aware of her surroundings and a generally clumsy person (not as bad as Felicia though), which explains why she’s always wearing a different colored boot (She explains how in her defense, one is barely darker than the other and no one would really notice it anyways). She’s practically blind without her glasses, so once she loses them or they break she can’t go out and battle or else she’ll get herself killed.

Relationships: Father: Mother: Siblings: Levi (younger brother) Relatives: Happy (family cat), Titania (horse), Rin and Emiko (children if she achieves an S Support)

Family Line Of Work: Her parents are teachers Family Background: Nohrian Best Friends: Fatesona Supports Friends: A+ Supports Love Interests: Corrin lmao, also she’s had a crush on every fatesona mentioned below

Extra Information:

>The reason why Jerelyn joined Corrin’s army in the first place was because Corrin wouldn’t stop pestering her to join, so Jerelyn reluctantly joined (but secretly was glad that she joined, as she’s always alone and thought a change of environment would help her overcome her heartbreak/broken trust). Corrin’s reasoning was because they saw the good in Jerelyn, how caring she is and how much she seemed to enjoy helping others. ((M!Corrin also just thinks she’s cute))

>Even though Jerelyn has a large distrust of others, her reasoning for joining the army is her want of helping others, which overrides her want to distrust others. Corrin reminded her of someone she was close to…

>Her reasoning for disguising as a male is she wanted to reinvent herself. After the heartbreak, she cut herself off from her ex and decided; she’s going to totally reinvent herself. She cuts her hair really short (her hair previously was a similar length to female!Corrin’s default hair) to symbolize a new beginning. She also dyes her hair red, to stand out and not be recognizable from her previous image. She chooses to crossdress specifically because she doesn’t like the female troubadour outfit; and decided to go the whole way with being male by also faking having a deeper voice, trying to seem taller (and failing), and trying to act “manly” and traditionally masculine. This act is put to a stop once she joins Corrin’s army, after they discover that she isn’t actually male.

>With the whole idea of reinventing herself; Jerelyn also vows from that day that she will never, ever, ever become close to someone again. She will refuse to trust any new person she encounters, thinking that they will take advantage of her when she’s most vulnerable and hurt her again. She insists that “they aren’t really being nice to me, they’re just pitying me. They’re just trying to be nice. They’re planning on taking advantage of me.” etc. She becomes less trusting, less optimistic, less nice. She instead turns into someone pessimistic, with a bleak outcome on life. She pushes people away (as shown when Corrin tries to recruit her), she becomes rude and insults others to get them away from her. She fears that she’ll be hurt again by someone she loves.

>Jerelyn has a scar on her right breast (two scratches) that come from the person who betrayed her (exact cause of scar is unknown). Aside from that, she has some scratches and scars due to her brother’s cat biting and attacking her.

>She’s really really picky and if the mess hall makes something she doesn't like, she probably won't eat that day. Her least favorite foods of all time are vegetables and tends to eat preferably sweets.

>A (main) reason for Jerelyn being a healer is because (metaphorically), she didn’t have anyone to heal her own wounds when she was going through a toxic/abusive relationship. She acts this way in the hopes that others will treat her the same.

>Jerelyn is NOT a morning person at all, she hates rising early and is a Night Owl. If she could she would stay in bed/sleep till 3 pm. It also explains why she’s always grumpy on early missions, she just wants to catch up on sleep.

>Jerelyn actually hates bathing in front of others and will often try to bathe when everyone is asleep (so ranging from anywhere between 11 pm and 3 am). She will sometimes sneak around the mess hall around these hours to eat or look for a snack. Because of these habits, Jerelyn has bags under her eyes and doesn’t have a proper sleeping schedule.

>Her horse’s name is Titania, she’s had her since Jerelyn was 11 years old.

>Jerelyn’s family consist of her parents and her younger brother, Levi (15 years old), as well as Titania and her brother’s cat, Happy.

>Jerelyn will sometimes have nightmares about her past relationship and the abuse, or of her family being disappointed in her/disappear when she arrives back home. Due to these nightmares she is unable to sleep most of the time, which is why she’s always napping on her free time.

>She has a short temper as mentioned before, and Jerelyn is the type of person to cry when she’s angry. She hates people seeing her in that kind of state so she either isolates herself in her tent or rides Titania to a “secret” spot where she cries and eventually tires herself out onto a nap or calms down and draws something (( cough cough Corrin cough cough ))

>In said “secret” spot, apart from crying Jerelyn goes there to draw, to just ride Titania, or to nap. There's an amazing view of mountains and skies and it helps her focus on her drawings.

Good Habits: She likes to help people and is one of the reasons she became a healer, she wants to help others and can’t stand seeing a person who is hurt or without help, despite how mean she acts. She is actually really caring for others in Corrin’s army despite her though exterior.

Bad Habits: She (was) a bit too trusting and the feeling still lingers on, gets irritated easily/has a bad temper (and thus begins to make snarky and sarcastic comments), her clumsiness can lead to bad situations sometimes, she swears a lot, she pushes everyone away, she has a inferiority complex and believes to be inferior to the other healers in her army, and just inferior to everyone in general. Jerelyn is also someone who gets jealous easily.

Likes: drawing, sweets (such as cakes, teas, and candies), playing pranks, the rain, cold weather

Dislikes: the heat, her height, rude people, coffee Hobbies: drawing/painting/art in general, watching the clouds, napping, playing pranks Fears: heights, insects/bugs, abandonment/loneliness, broken trust, heartbreak, being found by him again, death Favorite Food: Meat, Cakes (would love to try Hoshidan dishes given the chance), SWEETS!!!! Favorite Drink: Tea Favorite Animal: Cat Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Season: Autumn

Dreams:

>She honestly wishes she could spend the rest of her life with someone she loves, and that they’ll treasure her and won’t betray her

>If not a Significant Other, at the very least she’d like a best friend she can trust and tell anything to without them backstabbing her in the future.

>One day she wants to give up being this mean person and be back to someone more positive

>To be remembered as someone caring, someone who is extraordinary at healing/art, not someone who was rude/mean/uncaring

>Not necessarily a dream; but after the war if she ends up with a SO or a Best Friend, her distrust instinct slowly goes away and is able to willingly trust others now. She also grows out her hair the way it used to be and is much happier with who she is and the people she surrounds herself with. Origin: Jerelyn comes from a pretty normal family, nothing really wrong with it. Despite her very rocky relationship with her parents, her family has never had any problems. She had always been curious about healing and medicines, and decided from an early age that she was gonna be a healer, since she felt like she wasn’t a strong enough fighter. Jerelyn has always had an inferiority complex growing up, always feeling like she was never enough and that her best efforts weren’t good enough, which slightly skewed her perception of herself. Upon meeting a boy when she was around 16-17, she fell in love with him and they soon began dating. Their relationship however turned abusive and toxic, with her boyfriend abusing her mostly emotionally and mentally, sometimes physically (note her scars on her right breast). He made her feel worthless about herself, he made her feel as if no one would want her, he made her feel like he was the best she was ever gonna get. The relationship eventually made Jerelyn somewhat dependant on him, and was a very unhealthy relationship overall. This relationship, her first relationship, left her with an unbelievably low self esteem and no self confidence whatsoever, as well as boosted her inferiority complex and made her believe that she will never be good enough. By the time she was 18, after one instance where he attacked her physically (gaining her scars on her breast), she had decided that enough was enough, she wasn’t gonna take any more from him. She felt robbed of her first relationship, this isn’t what a normal and healthy relationship should look like. She ran away in hopes of cutting him off of her life for good, leaving her past behind her. She never told her family where she was heading, and the thought about her family’s reaction to her disappearance, and thoughts of her family in general still lingers on and keeps her up at night sometimes. Once she ran away, she reinvented herself as a brand new person, chopping off her long hair into a short boy-like hairstyle and dying red in her hair in hopes of never being found. She disguises herself as a male, going as far as crossdressing (male troubadour outfit) and deepening her voice to try and fool others. She even went as far as to give herself a new name for the time being, Jeremy, instead of Jerelyn. Something something about Corrin finding her and shit and then she joins the army.

Reason for joining Corrin’s Army: Corrin would not stop pestering her Husband/Wife/Significant Other: M!Corrin ((solely for indulgence purposes)) A+ Supports: Felicia, Peri, Beruka Setsuna, Kagero, Camilla, Elise S Supports: All Nohrian/Neutral Guys, Kaden, Hinata, Takumi Neutral Girls, Peri, Charlotte, Beruka, Selena, Camilla Setsuna, Kagero

Other Supports:

Alexei (@iavenjqasdf) (A+) Friendship Seal: Mercenary

Clarke ( @hexlockspear) (A+) Friendship Seal: Wyvern Rider

Felix Friendship Seal: n/a

Rosamund ( @news14 ) (A+ / S Support)

Friendship/Partner Seal: Knight

Mika Friendship Seal: Kinshi Knight

Nero ( @utsuges ) Friendship Seal: Spear Fighter Personal Skill: --- “Canon” Promotion: Strategist Master Seal: Strategist, Maid Heart Seal: Outlaw Route: Conquest/Revelations Child(ren): Rin and Emiko, Depends on Father

(( Kana + Rin and Emiko ))

Rin: Jerelyn’s son, younger twin brother of Emiko. An anxious and introverted troubadour who prefers to keep to himself. He’s awkward and has trouble making friends due to his shyness and anxiety. The complete opposite of his sister.

Emiko: Jerelyn’s daughter, older twin sister of Rin. A loud, extroverted dark mage who loves to prank people. She’s much more outgoing than her brother and has no problem making friends with the other kids of the army. The complete opposite of her brother.

Quotes

Critical Hit

"Don’t underestimate me!" "Let’s see what I can do!" "You're so annoying!" "I'm sorry to do this...!"

Jere crit quote: (muffled giggling as she places their hand in a bowl of warm water) - terk

Dual Support:

"Don't die on me" "I can heal you after this!" probably a sigh/annoyed sigh "Let's finish this"

And others to come

Classic Mode Death Quote:

“I’m… useless…”

Retreat Quote: “I gotta pull back… there’s enough healers [[Avatar]], just go on without me.”

Enemy Defeated:

"Weak" "That went better than expected" “Sorry…” “Hah!”

Bad level up: "What was I supposed to expect?" Okay level up: "I'll take what I can" Good level up: "Who's the weak one now?"

Class Change:

“I could pull this off.

Alternatively, when reclassed to maid: "WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS???"

Confession:

“I… I love you. I’d never thought I’d ever say those words again. Promise me you’ll hold me tight and never let go… Please?”

[venus-is-in-bloom]

quick chuubo's arcs for as many UT characters as you want

oooooh hm

i’m actually not all that good at assigning arcs so this will be pretty simple, but i’ll do my best to explain my reasoning!

Undyne

Undyne is absolutely on a knight arc, and i think not her first. i think she started out on a mundane arc, but graduated to the miraculous level (become somebody) through her extraordinary resolve and force of will—and i feel like she’s fairly new to the miraculous level, probably only on her third arc when we meet her.

on all except the no mercy route, the human represents the challenge of knight quest 3 for her—defying her purpose as defender of monsters against humans; quest 4 represents how she deals with that, if she does at all; becoming queen or going on to live on the surface post-pacifist would fit into quest 5.

in the no mercy route i think she’s actually busting out the arc power unstoppable to temporarily become Undyne the Undying—but apart from that there’s very little sign that she’s bending the things or people around her to her will, so if she does have a high arc rating she’s very conscientious about using her extraordinary powers to uplift others, and is careful to let her friends walk their own paths.

her truth is that she is strong-willed and resolute; her failing is her recklessness; and her role is captain of the royal guard.

Asriel

Asriel is kind of complicated because there’s… so much we know to his life story, but i’m p sure his childhood with Chara would constitute one or more mundane shepherd arcs, with Chara as the new responsibility—a sibling he feels the need to support, love, and care for. this abruptly shifts into a miraculous otherworldly (child of the ash) arc when Chara starts talking about wanting to go back to the surface, and their plan culminates in the kaiju form of a beast of unfathomable power. quests 3-5 of this arc comprise events after absorbing Chara’s SOUL, mostly Asriel grappling with Chara’s frightened, vengeful will, losing to it in quest 4, but ultimately regaining control in quest 5, at the village, where he stops both of them from killing anyone. his realisation that he can’t go through with this plan, no matter what Chara says, is quest 5′s reconciliation, and the reward for it is that they manage to reach home before dying.

i’m unsure about this, but i think Flowey’s time in the underground is largely or completely emptiness arcs. the tone and themes of emptiness (accursed) fit very well i think, but i can’t quite find a suitable world-breaker’s hand or sanctuary in Flowey’s known skillset—i think probably his ability to SAVE, and the garden where Chara is buried, respectively.

regardless, the first emptiness arc would cover Flowey’s first run—he escapes Alphys’ lab and tries to live a normal life with Asgore, but in quest 2 he becomes fixated on his inability to feel anything, quest 4 ends with his discovering the power of determination, and in quest 5 he puts a decisive end to that run and tries something new. further emptiness arcs would probably cover a number of everyday moments, getting fixated on something, exploring it, confirming a “truth” about the world that adds to his cynical worldview, and deciding he’s done.

then i’m 90% sure Flowey’s last arc is a storyteller arc. possibly just a mundane one, although if it’s miraculous then i’d go with creature of fable, primarily for between the boundaries and cut the soul. storyteller quest 1 is about Frisk’s arrival as well as their journey through the underground. Flowey manipulates events subtly until the very end, when he kills Asgore—taking control as per quest 2. in a pacifist run, sparing Flowey initiates his quest 3, as the mystery of who Frisk is intensifies. (in a no mercy run i’m not sure he gets that far, or if a storyteller arc even fits.) quest 4 is then his ascension as the absolute god of hyperdeath (i think both photoshop Flowey and the absolute god of hyperdeath are expressions of kaiju form with some story-specific augments), and quest 5 is his mourning Chara and accepting his reversion to soullessness. after that, who knows?

Alphys

Alphys… hm… is also complicated. i feel like aspect arcs would be a default for her, but becoming royal scientist would have been a knight arc—probably closing out at quest 3 with the challenges of mounting stress, rising expectations, and new responsibilities preparing Alphys for the beginning of her next arc. i initially thought this was mundane, but i actually like the idea of her picking up reality syndrome, with her hack being human-inspired technology (cell phones that can change into jetpacks, living anime robots, &c.). i don’t really know what her shared experience would be in that case, though.

the story of Alphys and the power of determination is a mundane bindings arc. quest 1 is Alphys getting to know the captured human SOULs, quest 2 is Alphys realising she can resuscitate monsters that have fallen down, and quest 3 is Alphys deciding to do that… with the catastrophic results we all know about.

(a very similar arc structure would i think work for our empty hands au!! except the bindings arc would continue past 3.)

the bindings arc then ends, and Alphys falls into a series of emptiness (accursed) miraculous arcs that revolve around her trying to care for the amalgamates and keep them secret. quests 1-3 repeat indefinitely, a cycle of uneasy normality, obsessive catastrophising, and panic attacks, with the occasional inclusion of quest 4 to represent material struggles to stop things from getting worse. her world-breaker’s hand is determination extract, and her sanctuary is the true lab (she could probably get there from any bathroom, because if there are other bathrooms in the underground then they’re probably ones that she installed).

it’s entirely possible that other arcs are interspersed among the emptiness arcs—when Frisk comes along, for example. i feel strongly that that’s a storyteller arc, closing at quest 3 with the realisation that the friend Alphys really needs is Mettaton, not a human child she barely knows.

i think ideally (unless it’s cramming too many arcs into too short a time, which it might be) Alphys’ story in the pacifist run should be bookended—i think there’s a mundane bindings arc where she revisits her relationship with the amalgamates: quest 2 is her pacifying the amalgamates approaching Frisk, and resolving to fix this situation; quest 4 is coming clean to the world about the amalgamates, and quest 5 is exploring how the amalgamates are living now, reunited with their families.

then, conceptually, another knight arc, taking place largely post-game on the surface, in which Alphys resolves to build a new life and purpose for herself, makes mistakes, deals with them, and succeeds.

(the fact that most of Alphys’ arcs are really short in terms of quest length until the very end is… evocative.)

Frisk (& Chara)

Frisk has… kind of a variety of possibilities based on what course you the player allow them, which i think is interesting.

i feel like no mercy is definitely an emptiness (accursed) arc, maybe with the ability to kill anyone being their world-breaker’s hand and their sanctuary being the dark place with wind that is before every RESET. just like Flowey, they follow the simple pattern: be intrigued, investigate, be satisfied, RESET. emptiness quests 1-5.

while this is happening, i think Chara undergoes a miraculous mystic (primordial) transformation. lost and alone, they receive the portent of Frisk’s arrival, and slowly begin to interpret and reinforce Frisk’s actions in light of their new principle—LOVE, on their road to becoming the demon that comes when you call its name, tied to the element of numbers. quest 2 provides some opposition in the form of Undyne the Undying, but quest 3 deals with that being overcome. after that there is only the slowly dawning cold of quest 4. quest 5 has multiple possible applications—it could be the decision to RESET, it could be Chara enforcing consequences despite a RESET, it could be Chara asking politely for another route at the end of a second no mercy…

because of the headcanons i have about the children, i’d consider an aborted no mercy run much closer to a shared otherworldly arc? both of the children struggle with their own anger, fear, and compulsions, are overcome for a time, but eventually resurface as themselves and reconcile with each other. in this case, and in the next, you’d have to gloss determination as a mundane or magical skill rather than a miraculous power, or else infer that one or both children have an existing emptiness (accursed) arc trait.

there’s a variety of neutral runs, but for pacifist and for runs close to pacifist i think Frisk and Chara are both experiencing mystic arcs—Chara’s is similar to the one i just described for no mercy, except it’s a mundane arc because the transformation is not quite so violent, and the principle they are following is love, and their quest 2 foil is Flowey telling them kill or be killed. meanwhile, Frisk follows the principle of determination, the will to continue on—their portent is that they have survived the fall they took, and ended up in a world of monsters. their quest 2 foil is Toriel telling them to stay where they are, because they will die out there. Chara faces quest 3 when Flowey reveals he knows about the SAVE power. Frisk faces quest 3 when they leave the ruins and Toriel abandons them.

although i don’t believe the principles of a pacifist run are betrayed by the Asgore and photoshop Flowey fights, i think they’re suitable for representing the confounding moment of Chara’s quest 4, where they truly doubt that the path of saving everyone is possible, because they’ve reached the end of their journey and this is it. Frisk has their quest 4 trigger around the same time, when Asgore dies and his SOUL is destroyed. in this moment of simultaneous despair, holding on to each other is all the children have—but as it turns out, it’s just enough.

quest 5 for Frisk and Chara is the final stretch of the pacifist run, helping, healing, and holding on despite everything. and after that, who knows?

Toriel

Toriel definitely starts out with a high knight (become somebody) arc trait. i imagine she’s also picked up some of shepherd (a keeper of gardens), since while she’s around she can use superior land-rule to prevent the creatures of her domain from harming Frisk.

taking care of Frisk is also a shepherd arc all on its own—a mundane one, i think, although the idea of Toriel getting shepherd (sentimental) benefits around her children sounds… nice! i like the idea of Frisk living with her a while, making room for quests 1 and 2. wrestling with her conscience and ultimately, perhaps against her better judgement, letting them leave, makes a good quest 3—although i would argue it isn’t really finished until she goes to catch up with them and meet Asgore.

venturing out onto the surface, setting up a new life and new kingdom there, and making it possible to settle into that life would be suitable either as a quest 4 and 5 or as an entirely new shepherd, knight, or aspect arc.

this was… shorter than i thought it would be given how much i have to say about Toriel?

—

anyway, those are all the characters i’m doing for now! thank you for the question! ♥ ♥

[engazed]

1) Yesterday and the day before yesterday I watched the last two episodes :-) After finished the second one I understood that the creators wanted to show us that the image we have of John was more perfect than the real one, and I really think the final scene was so touching (his confession and the hug). I loved it because of the emotional charge, but my rational side tells me that it does not fit the story because John would never do that so the remorse was a tricky resource.

2) The last episode was darker than usual and it made me wonder if a person really can forget such an important part of his life but I loved how the relationship between Sherlock and John was healing. (and also Mycroft´s development. I am glad we could know him better) To me the ending was perfect because since the first season I have always pictured them living together. Their friendship is so strong that before Rose was born, I think Sherlock was the most important person to John. 

3) And I think that John keeps being the most important person to Sherlock. My favourite season is still the second one, but I love how the characters have grown during the episodes. It saddens me that their story has ended but perhaps it is the best. It is difficult to maintain the quality in a long series. (Forgive my mistakes. English is not my first language). Looking forward to your thoughts :-) I have read all your posts about creativr writing and I have learned a lot :)

Thank you for your patience while I’ve formulated my thoughts. 

The primary objections I have seen regarding John’s extramaritalflirtations/emotional infidelity have come under two categories: (1) For John,whose core characteristic is loyalty,this is out of character; and (2) it makes no sense with the story. Although Ihonestly didn’t like to see John going down that road, I will take exception toboth objections and here argue within the context of the show—not widelyaccepted head canons—that the John Watson of series 4 was not, in fact, ‘out ofcharacter’, but the groundwork for this type of behaviour has beenlaid in previous series. If you cannot manage sympathy for him, it is my hope atleast to engender a little understanding of his very ‘human’ nature, asSherlock calls it. I will also argue that it makes sense within the context ofthe series 4 storyline.

What do we know about John Watson? Where do we get the ideathat he is loyal? This character trait may be inherent, but let’s not pretendthat John is some slathering, obsequious disciple. He’s not. He’s prickly, quickto anger, ready to go for a long walk when Sherlock gets under his skin. Mycroftmay think he’s quick to follow (‘You’re very loyal, very quickly.’), but John’sbrand of loyalty is considered and deliberate, not a default position. In the beginningof his relationship with Sherlock, what does he really stay for? In those earlydays, it’s the danger. The fondness and affection (seldom expressed, we note toour own aggravation) for Sherlock as a partner and flatmate comes later.

But there are two indelible characteristics shown to us in ‘AStudy in Pink’ that we ought not forget. The first is that John is a danger addict.As Mycroft shows both us and John,John misses the war. It’s when John realises this himself, and stares at hisown un-trembling hand, and smirks to himself, that he decides yes, he’s goingto stick by the madman. Sherlock’s life is dangerous, and it’s what he likes. Though that phrase isn’t put to him untilseries 3, it’s evident from the start.

Okay, so he likes danger. What else? He likes romance.He’s high on adrenaline, about to return to Baker Street and continue hisadventure, has just collected his pistol, and what does he do? He makes a playfor Anthea, not once but twice in the episode. So not only is he interested inwomen he perceives as possibly dangerous (she’s working for Sherlock’sarchenemy, of course she’s dangerous!), he’s not shy about flirting with them.

This isn’t a one-off, either. Essentially, it’s in hisplaybook. He’s intrigued by Irene Adler (just look at his face when Mycroftsays dominatrix), although hisannoyance with her quickly overrides any impulse to flirt. And when a strangewoman on the street just outside the flat appears to be flirting with him, hesays he willing to ‘heartlessly abandon’ any other plans to spend the eveningwith her. Just days before, he had broken it off with Janine, and—as Sherlocktactlessly points out—she’s just one of a string of women (probably boringones; he doesn’t pay much attention to them when they’re boring, so it’s nowonder he forgets and confuses the details, and moves on from them all ratherquickly, until Mary). The point is, he likes the attention of women. He likesdanger. He likes dangerous women.

Series 3 went further with this, suggesting that John hassomething of a sixth sense for dangerous women, and that he can’t control hisattraction to them, even if it’s hidden below the surface. Initially, Marypresents herself as innocuous, normal, rather the opposite of what John is actuallyattracted to (only, she isn’t, as his sixth sense picks up on: she’s exactly what he likes). We knowthat John trying to have an uncomplicated life is mostly a coping mechanisms.But he’s not very good at it. He keeps finding himself drawn to the extraordinaryand perilous, as if his subconscious radar knows exactly where to find it,despite himself. It’s how he is drawn to Mary, an ex-assassin, who ‘wasn’tsupposed to be like that’ (one of the most heartbreaking things John eversays).

In marriage, these two key aspects of John’s character (needfor danger and romance) don’t simply melt away. He’s still attracted to dangerouswomen, maybe especially to those whoappear ordinary but have something dangerous simmering beneath, and certainlythose who express an interest in him first. And in the context of the show,there is no woman more dangerous that Eurus. It is entirely keeping in linewith John’s history and character that he should be drawn to her.

Imagine, for a moment, that in T6T, John is not married. Basedon my above argument, I conclude that it is entirely unsurprising that heshould be drawn to the woman on the bus. She’s attractive, she’s paid him attention,and there is an element of danger to her that draws John in, subconsciously atleast. But the thing is, he is married,and he loves Mary. However complicated that love may be, there’s no doubt thathe loves her. He has no desire to be disloyalto her. But John, like all people, is complex, and there are other desires arework. We do not have the same John Watson here as existed in ASIP. Experiencesadd dimensions to a man, layers, complications. What remains true to hischaracter are the first two elements I’ve presented. What has been added arethe relationships he has established with Mary, with Sherlock, with himself.

I’ve been in dialogue with my fellow fic writer and friend,Fang’s Fawn (how’s that for alliteration?), about this very issue, and with herpermission, I quote from her observations on where John sees himself at thestart of series 4 with respect to the two most important people in his life:

Mary and Sherlock bothshow a tendency to marginalize John – quite without meaning to, I’m guessing,because it’s obvious they both adore him, but that scene where John leaves aballoon in his chair, while funny, is really rather sad when one thinks aboutit, if it’s an indication of how he thinks of himself. And then Mary andSherlock comparing him to the dog later…of course, they were teasing him, butwhen your spouse is supposed to be firmly on your side and gangs up on you withyour best pal, well…And then Mary’s tendency to make decisions without evenconsulting John…I get the sense that her character, as portrayed in the show,is rather like Sherlock’s in that she hasn’t had a lot of experience with closerelationships. I feel like she and Sherlock both are clumsy in their affection.John points that out when they catch up to her after she goes on the run. Ithelped restore my faith in him when he broke off the flirtatious texting and itcertainly sounded like he was getting ready to confess to Mary and perhapsinitiate a conversation about how he was feeling when she, tragically, gotcalled away by Sherlock.

I add my own view that John, perhaps feeling a little like hismoment in the sun has passed, is flattered by the attention of the woman on thebus (having no idea that it is not a chance encounter but that she’s, well,hunting him). Perhaps he is surprised to have attracted notice at all. I thinkthis a very human thing to feel, when you’re no longer in the dating scene,when you’re married, newly a parent, knackered every minute of the day. Wait,someone noticed me? She’s giving me her number? Can I still turn heads? Fang’sFawn agrees:

Suppose the woman on thebus hadn’t been Euros, but only what she appeared to be – a nice,ordinary, uncomplicated, and attractive girl who seemed charmingly taken withJohn (and who could blame her, right?). Is it really so far outside the realmthat even a good, loyal, faithful husband would be flattered by such attention?I’m middle-aged myself and very happily married, but I have to admit I’d beflattered if a reasonably attractive man flirted with me on the commuter train – inpart because I feel like I’m past the age where a random stranger would slip mehis phone number, and it would be a boost to my ego to think I’m not. Butgetting an ego boost doesn’t mean I’d dream of cheating on my husband (in fact,I’d probably brag to him about it!).

John knows he shouldn’t keep her number. His first impulseis the right one: to throw it away. But John weakens, keeps the presumablyharmless slip of paper, and sends a presumably harmless text: Hey. Of course, all infidelities startout harmlessly. We don’t throw our necks in a noose; we weave a flaxen cord,thread by thread. It’s a mistake. It’s disappointing. It’s heartbreaking. Thisisn’t the John Watson we want to see.We want him to be above reproach, loyal to a fault, blameless in a sea ofsinners, the victim not the victimiser.

I, too, have set him on a pedestal, denying him his humanity,and humanity means to fuck up, sometimes badly. ‘I fear we all might be human,’Sherlock says. He knows. He’s fucked up quite a lot. John has forgiven him. Heneeds to be willing to forgive himself. Even John Watson is human.

But let’s not imagine, either, that he is a villain. Let usnot forget: he breaks it off. He isn’tcoerced to do so. He isn’t caught and thenbecomes repentant. No one knows, outside of him and the woman, and still he chooses to end a relationship that isnothing but texting, despite his own interest and desire, because he does knowit is wrong. His moral compass is not shattered. For a moment, yes, he lookedaway, stuffed it in his pocket, ignored it. But he looks back, and he does theright thing in the end. And yes, he was going to confess it to Mary, notonly to ease his own conscience but to ease hers as well, for she believed shewas sinner and he saint, and he couldn’t let her believe that. That, in myview, is noble.

And maybe his confession came too late. But it came. And itcame in the presence of perhaps that only person who could really understandand help him. Sherlock knows what it feels like to disappoint people, to betraythem, to hate oneself, to feel worthy of punishment.

I quote at length from Fang’s Fawn, who expounds further onJohn’s emotional state as the third wheel the John-Mary-Sherlock trio:

Mary didn’t really treatJohn very well. We already know she married John under false pretenses, lyingto him from day one about everything, even her own name. When the truth startsto come out, she panics instead of coming clean and tries to cover everythingup. Few things can do more catastrophic damage to a relationship than lying –the breach of trust is hard to get past. John forgives her, but it would benaive to think things weren’t still at least a bit raw during the timeframe ofTST. Then there’s Mary’s relationship with Sherlock. Mary andSherlock seemed like a very close brother and sister to me in TST, similar intheir humor, the way their minds work, and their world views. Having yourspouse and your best friend like each other and get along great is fantastic;having them form a sort of mini-clique, exclude you, and make jokes at yourexpense together is definitely e scene with Toby the dog made me wince– Sherlock calling Mary without telling John because “she’s better atthis than you,” Mary showing up and handing the baby off to John, tellinghim not to wait up, then the whole exchange where they compare John to the dog,saying he’s “handy and loyal,” and wondering if they should “lethim come with us.” Obviously Sherlock and Mary were just teasing John in whatthey clearly thought was an affectionate way and didn’t mean a word of it, butif I were in John’s place I’d find it pretty hurtful and also disloyal…

Then there’s the baby. John confidently introduces her as“Catherine” to Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock and Molly, but Mary immediatelyinterjects with “yeah, we’ve gone off that.” I get the sense thatMary probably wanted to name the baby after herself (her former self?) almostas soon as she learned she was having a daughter, probably as a promise toherself that THIS Rosamund’s life would be better. But instead of talking toJohn about it, she clearly manipulates him into going along with it unawares.Then he figures it out on his own, and now his daughter’s name will serve asone more deception on the part of her mother. Is it any wonder John might look at his crazy, complicated life and thensee what appears to be a simple, smiling, uncomplicated person looking at himand wonder, “what if?”

John’s story arc in series 4 is a hard one to watch; it’s thelowest we’ve ever seen John—morally, emotionally, feeling sorrow and betrayalto a painful extent. But it is also beautiful and redemptive. I personally amhoping for a series 5, maybe a few years down the road, where we can see Johnis a much better place, having healed from all his hurts and having forged ahappy, healthy life with his daughter and best friend. I love John Watson—alwayshave, always will—and this latest series has not diminished that. In fact, themore time I spend analysing the storylines and his character particularly, themore I love him. He’s loving, brave, funny, intelligent, and loyal, perhapseven more so, now that he’s been through the refiner’s fire. Sherlock Holmesgot it right in calling him the kindest, bravest, wisest man he’s ever known.But those kind of people don’t arrive in the world fully formed. The question,really, is how did he become that way? Well, that’s precisely the story we arebeing told.

[hectorgamesmksq846-blog]

4 Dirty Little Secrets About the Full Version Games Industry

Control-shift-C-"motherlode." It's a series of commands that every Sims player knows, this infuses your level account with precious simoleans for accepting the fanciest lamps, lay down the plushest carpet, and landscaping with the most extraordinary of shrubbery. Few sports become thus described near their own cheat codes, yet if you want to budge a digital camera children in the expensive abode without giving dozens of hours to building up support, this policy is your ticket to affordable maid mass with lush window treatments.

This approach pay for The Sims as a dollhouse, a role the Sims 4 fulfills with some aplomb. If you want to build but prefer certainly not to micromanage the details, the game comes with various prearranged spaces that you can well together like Tetris pieces, yet if you're devoted to the knack of architecture and interior mean, you have the chains most improved set of acquire and body tools still. Accept and Form modes share the same program, making it plain to combine foundation and honor rather than forcing you to consider each exercise as an opposing section with the same simolean. Expanding and dragging walls in properly modular rectangles? This so straightforward as seeing how to use a mouse and keyboard. Uncertain what class a chess set falls below? Just form a keyword into the search subject with go for the best match. Cause the conflation of two methods into a single, also the amount of categories to strain done, The Sims 4 make a creditable profession of managing you true for the aims with devices you're seeking.

On the surface, there would appear to be sufficient types with goals from which to choose: sofas of appearances with colors, tiles for making your bathroom as 1970s-era-tacky as you'd like, and other course of personalizing the addresses regarding your small computer people. When the time comes to build a energy of amusement, yet, the borders become more rigorous than they first grow. The Sims 3's Create-a-Style options, that allowed people texturize with color your floors and fabrics in elaborate approach, have been dropped, leaving only predetermined colors in their place. Color can make a great throughline for aesthetically linking various conditions and approaches, but should anyone gun for an eclectic interior, you immediately find that objects don't have the same kinds available among them. Mixing and meeting can make a room appear more casual than refined; the Create-a-Style option provided a means of connecting disparate decor, and its loss diminishes creativity.

In fact, The Sims 4 as a rule feels diminished when compared to even the vanilla description of The Sims 3, before this produced the benefit of add-ons to allowed anyone be a ghostbuster and live in high-rises. Much experience recently been made of the functions to performed meet the reduction, but even if you don't have a list of those features on hand if you show, the squashed purview is apparent. I completed mind the small group I originally laid right to until I decided to splurge on a telescope, an entry to at one time was compact enough to fit in a small area in the garden. By contrast, The Sims 4's starting telescope, a vast monster which the majority amateur astronomers would eliminate to have, might in shape, then I finally erected it on the public lot, in front of the library. Previous Sims modders (and a Sims 2 expansion) had created microscopes to the mix, but I had no area for the lab-quality colossus in The Sims 4. Limitations, limitations, limitations. That remained The Sims I had become used to over the last several years.

The Sims 4 doesn't just take away. It has presents to give, too, such as different kinds of social relationships, objects, and other charming detours that make keeping a close watch next to your own sims a large joy. Multitasking are at the head these changes: sims greet visitors without putting overcome the cereal serving and chat while gardening. Working with the potty is also no event the sims have to fully target, also I laughed heartily when the digital variety of myself remained on the john while enjoying activities upon his drug; it really was like peeking here with a little me. The sim daughter, meanwhile, felt it was correct to swallow her fruit juice while peeing, a combination of activities I happen not sure I can help.

I happen not sure I should share our misgivings with the little lady, although. In The Sims 4, sims are relatively moody, getting embarrassed must people send one sim to the shower after another is seated on the bathroom, also obtaining randy when they're in the vicinity of their spouses. You're constantly pushed to take advantage of these moods, earning positions for small successes that an individual waste in incentives to produce temporary buffs (get energized immediately!) or permanent enhancements (never make shot!). Sims and get gate to modern kinds of social interactions if they become moody--angry sims want to get in fights, embarrassed sims need reassurance, focused sims want to show chess, and so forth.

Switch in feelings are combined with predictably ridiculous exclamations in the gibberish language known as simlish. One sim I strongly held was especially mischievous, fooling neighbors with a side buzzer and insulting anyone to dared assemble in the club while she drew behind a nightcap. I might cover her get enjoyment associated with some other sims' clothing, which the girl performed in an adorable snotty tone, causing her prey to start in horror by the girl obnoxiousness. I presented to even sim the superior trait, and choice a default walk life which held her brain tilted upwards so which she may seem down her nose at the plebeians that challenged walk the same World. Watching her walk her material was constantly wonderful, even if she was there the only digital person worth keeping an eye on: little everyone would handle publications as puppets, frank with finishing them like gates and mimicking what they could about by cracking them friendly and basically reading. Enjoying your sims in action means having a frequent smile stretched across your face.

Try these personal activities into long-form stories isn't so compelling as it was in The Sims 3, however. The previous game's open world, that allowed for smooth travel and easy multi-sim control, has been supplanted with smaller lots divided by filling screens--a scheme that will harks to big games in the sequence. Having to stare at the loading screen when you want to travel to the square is distracting enough; moving to your home lot to maintain other loved ones and getting them put stiffly in front of the house, waiting for the commands rather than naturally move regarding the affair, becomes even more so.

The deeper you wish to try, the new roadblocks you arrive at. Perhaps this sensible that the game with no large freedom to cross would not feature bicycles, although I even miss drive around town, moving over rise and complete valleys until I access the churchyard and pursue the ghosts there. Not solely is moving left, but so are the hills and valleys, all of them smoothed out into a uniformly flat surface that doesn't support basements or terraforming. Elsewhere, the emphasis on specific tasks detracts from the freeform noodling. While offer the former birthday organization, for case, I happened subsequently focused on fulfilling assigned jobs like doing drinks i did not notice how differently The Sims 4 handled birthday cakes than its predecessor. I skipped being able to simply buy the cake, spread about some balloons, and have a wonderful moment. When I got never choose the wedding woman, I didn't air as though I received given everyone a good enough time--I air like I took clicked for the actual factors in the moral direction. It is wearing that distinction that you find the disparity between The Sims 4 and its predecessor.

In short, The Sims 4's biggest issue is how the Sims 3 is, and telling wherever that lands by necessity means peek in where the series has been. This is a lovely and energetic up for in which generates constant smirks, but The Sims 4's moments never feel like part of a larger picture. Improvisation is bound in turn, that creates us to that huge telescope now sitting in front of the library. Looking at the stars means undergoing a charge screen, although I grasp the top-level commands that I can problem to family playing with different lots, simultaneously spending period with additional sims means enduring even more loading screens, or making my family to travel together. I love glare by and listening to The Sims 4, yet those tiny digital people stay so fascinating https://elamigosedition.com/party-games/ like to hold me hooked--not when a decked-out story of The Sims 3 is much more inviting.

[mischiefandspirits]

Humans: Mysterious and Terrifying

Part 7: Humans Can Only Use One Hand?

Note: The Humans: Mysterious and Terrifying series is a group of random oneshots and drabbles based around those “Aliens find humans weird or scary” theories (because I have no self-restraint).

Find the rest of the series here

Also on: AO3 and Fanfiction

Another odd trait many Earthlings, humans included, display is a preference for one side of their body over the other. The most obvious display of this is what humans refer to as being left-handed or right-handed. For reasons still under investigation, most humans are more competent with their right forelimb than their left, with few being the reverse and even fewer being capable with either hand, locally know as being Ambidextrous. There are even some who can only do certain tasks with one hand and the rest with the other, a condition known as cross-dominance or being mixed-handed. It is not yet known why humans show such a widespread disability, though they do seem to be able to grow out of it when forced.

- An excerpt from A Guide to Humans by Driniv of Xebnec 9

“Why can’t I just hop into the cryo-replenishers?” Lance whined, picking at the bandages wrapped around his hand. “I just pop in and zip-zap, I’m fine.”

“Zip-zap?” Keith asked as the Garrison trio walked into the command center. “What are you talking about?”

“Lance hurt his hand helping Hunk with some repairs and now he’s being a baby about it,” Pidge explained.

“Is the Blue Paladin alright?” Kolivan asked, turning away from the map he had been looking over alongside Allura, Coran, and Shiro.

“‘Tis but a scratch,” Hunk announced.

“Just a flesh wound,” Pidge agreed, nudging Keith, who gave her a bemused look. Pidge’s eyes widened and she gasped, “You’ve never seen Monty Python!”

“The horror!” Hunk grasped his chest and leaned against Lance.

“We should have known you were an alien,” Lance sniffed, glaring at the Red Paladin, who just rolled his eyes.

Allura and Kolivan were watching the teens’ dramatics, puzzled, so Shiro said, “Ignore them. Lance’s fine.”

“Fine? Look at this!” the cuban huffed, waving his hand about. “It’s useless! What happens if we get attacked? How am I supposed to pilot Blue?”

“As it happens, the lions are capable of being piloted with a single limb if necessary. You might not be as smooth as usual, but you’ll be fine,” Coran said.

“Well… What if I have to get out and fight? I can’t shoot like this!”

“Come now, Lance, you’re blaster isn’t that big. Surely you’ll be fine one-handed,” Allura chided.

“Yeah, but my right hand’s the one that’s bandaged up!”

“So?”

“So that’s my shooting hand. I can’t shoot with the other one.”

“You were only taught how to shoot with one hand?” Kolivan questioned. “Who trained you like that?” The Glara looked over at Allura and the other paladins.

Allura shook her head and Keith shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I always train with both hands.”

“We all can’t be ambidextrous Keith,” Shiro snorted, knocking their shoulders together.

“Actually, I trained myself to be ambidextrous,” Hunk said. “It helps when I’m working on stuff. Besides I was already left-handed.”

“I tried that once but I kept forgetting,” Pidge said, shrugging.

“What’s ambidextrous?” Coran asked.

“It’s when you’re able to use either hand equally well. Like, both your hands are the same strength,” Hunk explained.

“Don’t question it,” Allura muttered, though Kolivan didn’t seem to hear.

“Why would one of your hands be weaker than the other?”

“That’s… just the way it is. You’re either better with the left hand or the right,” Lance said.

“Or you can use both like Keith and you get to rub it in everybody’s faces.”

Keith pushed Shiro back. “I never rubbed it in your face.”

“Wait, so your people need special training just so you can use both hands?”

“Humans are weird,” Allura said, with Pidge and Hunk mimicking her in the background.

“You get used to it,” Pidge said.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Allura sighed.

“So Ambidextrous is, like, the default in space?” Lance asked.

“Of course. How have your people survived this long with such a species-wide disability?”

“If you think that’s crazy-”

“Nope,” Shiro said, grabbing Lance’s shoulders and pushing him towards the door. “That’s enough for today.”

“But Shiro-”

“No, Pidge. I said that’s enough. We want to keep the Blade as allies, remember.” Her grabbed her arm as he passed.

Hunk chuckled and followed the other paladins out. “One word, tattoos.”

“Hunk!”

Allura sighed and rubbed her forehead as Kolivan watched the four disappear through the door. “Uh-”

“Don’t ask,” she said.

“Humans are extraordinary creatures,” Coran said.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Keith chuckled. “Another is crazy.”

Allura had to agree.

If you have any ideas for things about humans you want to see aliens freaking out over, feel free to leave them in my ask or message me.

Just a note: I’ve been going through the reviews and keeping track of who’s requested what so next chapter I should be giving credit (no one actually requested this one as far as I’m aware, I just found it on a Tumblr post by atalana). I haven’t been replying to most of the reviews though lately since most really didn’t need replies and there were a ton to go through since I let them pile up. Sorry. I would like to make note of a few that I’ve been getting a lot of requests for that I have no plans to write on. If you don’t care about reasons, you can just skip to the end for the TLDR.

First is pets. As of season 2 we have seen two different pet-like relationships on the show with both prey animals -- the mice -- and what I interpreted as a predatory animal given its (her?) behavior -- Laika the yupper. I was on the fence about this idea before, but season 2 really confirmed it for me. The thing is, having pets is really just a form of symbiosis, no different from cleaner fish or those tarantulas that have “pet frogs” or clownfish and anemones. Etcetera. Obviously symbiosis isn’t an Earth only thing so the idea that other sapient species have pets as well is hardly far fetched.

Another one I’ve had requested, an extraordinary amount of times, is periods or the like. I think earlier I did say I was considering this, but I have no idea why. To be clear, I am not female. THAT is something I really don’t prefer to think about if I don’t have to, for personal reasons. So as of now, I will not be writing about such.

Lastly, I will not be writing about LGBT+ themes. Honestly, with how often I hear about “Thoran” or “Corandwich” or “Dads of Marmora”, why on earth are any of you asking me to write about aliens not understanding LGBT+ themes?

TLDR: I won’t be doing LGBT+ themes, periods, or pets. Sorry to any of you who requested these.