#no this totally isn’t about interlinked

[calamitoustide]

sirius and james totally have a pact that if one of them goes to the other and says that they’re in a time loop they believe each other no questions asked

[crescencestudio]

May I ask what each of the LIs are like with someone who is touch averse? Just, like, really uncomfortable with physical contact, fighting to hold back a flinch at even the briefest of hand brushes? Maybe apologizing for being “weird” about touch too?

And maybe as a lil extra if you’re feeling up to it, later on in the relationship their reaction to the MC asking if they can try something and winding up linking pinkies with the LI? And MC telling them that their touch in that moment isn’t uncomfortable but kind of pleasant?

I’m a touch averse yet also weirdly touch starved person (“touch confused” as I unaffectionately refer to it) and would like some crumbs of comfort?

in general all the LIs would be totally fine with a touch averse (or touch confused!) MC. they wouldnt judge u for it or make a big deal out of it (and they certainly would make sure u don't feel weird).

while the specific conversation of touch aversion won't be covered in the game, you can still see how the LIs act around someone who isn't as into physical touch, which is mentioned here. i can answer the second part of ur question tho since that's a scenario that's not touched on in the game!

✨ LIs Reactions to MC Warming up to Their Touch

Kayn: blinks at you in surprise before smiling and swinging your hands together, pinkies interlinked

Druk: eyes widen for a split second before he looks away. he doesn't say anything bc he doesn't want you to feel self conscious but he is blushing pretty hard

Fenir: jumps a little bit, and his eyes flicker away. his pinky twitches against yours and he kinda tightens his little pinky's grip on urs to show he likes it

Etza: plays it coolest out of the cast since they don't want you to feel like it's This Huge Deal and unintentionally make u feel self conscious. tries to pay careful attention to how u act to make sure they're not holding ur pinky too long or making u uncomfortable

Kuna'a: his brow raises but he says nothing and you honestly might think he doesn't care. internally though his hearts racing and he's wondering what changed/if he did something for u to feel more comfortable. might try to recreate to see if you'll feel comfy to link pinkies again

Aisa: freezes before realizing you two don't touch much (i could see aisa having just subconsciously adapted without realizing ur touch averse/confused). looks at your intertwined pinkies in wonder, reveling in this small touch the two of u r sharing

[yoonia]

Hey Dia, I meant to add this to my last ask but have you ever had (or do you have) any desire to write a seven deadly sins AU at some point? And if you do, do you know who you would cast as who? And if it’s cool sharing with you, I have 2 different fic outlines; one I made back in 2020 and another one more recently (which is a remake more or less).

From what I’ve read in the past, a lot of times the members (as the embodiments of the 7 sins) are portrayed as being pure evil and stuff, which isn’t bad by any means. If I ever write my own fic though, I would probably do something slightly different. Like yeah, I’d likely write the members as the embodiments of the 7 sins (like other fics) and maybe they would appear evil at first, but I would also probably humanize them and then get redeemed. Another idea I’ve had in mind is writing them as separate stories with different OCs, but they would all be in 1 book and in the same universe.

As for who I would cast as each of the sins, I’m still figuring it out. Like, I’d probably cast someone with a sin that would either be the polar opposite of their personality irl, or just simply choose one that I think the members give vibes of. For example, I’ve thought about associating Yoongi with the sin of sloth because he’s known to be a hard-working person, which would make a nice contrast. But in more recent memory, now I think he gives off a lot more wrath vibes. I mean, look at his solo albums. He’s savage spitfire straight up, lol. But hey, that’s just my opinion 😉

I was inspired from a video I saw on a YouTube channel called “school of life”. If you’re curious, you should totally look up their seven deadly sins video. Even if you don’t have plans to write a fic on this au, I’d still give it a watch. It really goes deep in depth with how the 7 sins align from a psychological perspective.

Anyway, take care again!💜

(Actually, come to think of it, it’s good that I sent this ask separately because I tend to underestimate how much I tend to write when sending messages, haha…😅)

Don't worry about sending long messages haha I always love it when you come and share with me your ideas and stories since they're so creative. You know, I always love the idea of portraying the members as the seven deadly sins. I know I've read some of the good ones written in the past under this same trope.

I also love your idea about writing them as the embodiment of the seven sins but not at all evil. I think it'll be more interesting to write something more human out of this trope, since a lot what I've seen always lean towards a darker theme. Which is understandable since they are meant to be sins.

As a matter of fact, I did plan a series based on the seven deadly sins. It was published for a while (with only one story out) before I decided not to continue it. The series was called Ghostown which is now saved in my archive, and it was meant to be progressively darker as the chapters continue. I didn't specify which sins the members were in the masterlist since I was planning to do a little game with the readers and have them guess who was which, but things didn't go as planned because I've discontinued it since. Here's the overall role placements though if you're interested (under cut because spoilers lol)

Gosh, you got me opening an old draft again haha. I also only realised now that I named Jungkook's part as Dreamers...long before his song came out...and I mean looonnng ago lol

Anyway, I fully support you for writing this idea if you ever get the chance to. I also always love the concept of writing different stories in one universe. It just gives us a different kind of experience when you create an entire universe that way with interlinked stories made in it.

ps. Yoongi as wrath??? I'm seeing it. I think the character he portrayed in Hageum MV totally showed this side of him.

[catchyhuh]

Oh god I am so in love with the way you write these, I’ve smiled like an idiot reading all of them. I laughed aloud at the idea of Goemon returning someone’s kid only for them to suddenly be a master of stealth.

If by any miracle you catch this ask and feel like thinking about it; do you have any opinions on what jobs the gang might be keeping should they belong in a universe that is totally mundane? Are they all interlinked/do they keep well out of eachothers’ way, has Lupin ever managed to stay employed for over a month etc. etc.

:,) I’d love to hear your takes on this simply because I think about it a lot. I think it’s an interesting character study.

i pride myself on my thoughts either being true or funny so it warms the lupin sized hole in my lupin sized heart that i am hitting one of those notes at least SO THANK YOU SO SO VERY MUCH LET’S TALK ABOUT MORTGAGES AND SHIT

lupin:

lupin. does not change that much as a person. like demeanor, personality-wise, he's still loud, giggly, smug even when it's unjustified, he’s just slightly less main-character-y about it, but he’s still the guy that says goodbye to everyone in the starbucks before he leaves and for some reason everyone feels compelled to say it back

jumps from job to job BUT. there was ONE time he got employee of the month. he was a solid olive garden waiter. but maybe he was just getting those favor points for being too lazy to bother the table refilling water every two minutes, and the little magic tricks he did were cute, and frankly, lupin is just a memorable name that you’d bring up if someone asked about the service there. honestly he only worked there to sneak bites of the pasta and because he thought the getup was sleek

jigen was his neighbor as a kid, and honestly they didn’t immediately like each other until they were like 15ish and caught each other trying to sneak out of the house after they’d both been grounded for completely separate events. they thought it was funny and hung out that night and after that they started to ACTUALLY grow close. nowadays they’ve got that “we’ve known each other for two decades and we’re still as close as ever” type thing everybody wishes they had, and they catch up about a week on average if they don’t just normally bump into each other. they were prob even roomies at some point

jigen:

i can very easily see his like mundane normal life being oddly content. this is maybe weird but i’m getting like. an everything-repairman here. he still has that gruff, doesn’t totally want to be here vibe, but he’s so damn good at like carpentry and mechanics that his yelp review average is pretty good! like hey. if your washer works again your washer works again. it just took two and a half hours of perfect silence with this guy sitting in your home.

as a result, jigen is unusually the tie between fujiko and goemon to lupin. he did some work at their places of business, mentioned this woman who barely looked up to wave when he came in to fix the lights, and then this man who wouldn’t STOP keeping his eyes on him once he came in, watching him like a hawk, and lupin was like wtf. weird people. unrelated uh where did you say they worked and what were their names, heights and zodiac signs?

definitely the porch guy. y’know the neighbor everyone had at some point who just gets home and sits on the porch for like three hours. jigen is that guy. the funny thing is cuz of his hat (which. maybe is like a baseball cap now idk the fedora seems unfitting for standard average joe life) nobody can even tell he’s fallen asleep twenty minutes in and isn’t actually casually keeping watch over the street. classic jigen move

fujiko: 

the funny thing is. honestly aside from the theft and espionage her CURRENT life could translate pretty well. there’s no cap to the discord kitten grindset. BUT SHE’D NEVER STOOP THAT LOW LMAO she's probably just chatting up the usual camps of nepo babies trying sooo hard to impress people and old men that miiiight write her into the will

i think she’s got a gig at a bridal shop/just a formal dress shop in general. she’s very interested in the way trends change and the sheer amount of bank people are willing to lay down just because of a brand? like she got her boyfriend last year to buy her this prada bag but that was someone ELSE’S problem, not hers! 9 times out of 10 she’s just doing her job but if she slowly starts to actually click with a client she’ll guide them to where they can find some nice jewelry that’s still quality but not highway robbery

still in that schrodinger’s relationship with lupin, it’s just, slightly more communicated between them here. if you asked if she had a boyfriend, she’d probably say no, but after spending a bit of time talking to her you notice that she keeps bringing up this one specific guy she used to be with, kinda like she. is currently with him? and then lupin comes in like “hey bbg i brought you some panera for your lunchbreak! they were outta the soup you like at the first one so i ran by two <3” and she’s like “thank you darling just set it on the table over there!” and he leaves. and you just stare at her. no further conversation on the matter transpires

goemon: 

oh god it’s so hard for me to imagine him being some average guy. first thing that came to mind is his hair is still that long, he just keeps it tied back for convenience’s sake and when he lets it down everyone’s like oh shit!! he’s kinda rocking that! also tends to wear big cardigans and coats to like. evoke the imagery of his usual attire Wait those are more character redesign notes than anything let's get back on track here

what job would fucking OHHH A MUSEUM GUY?? not really the sharing history with people half but like, keeping artifacts clean, organizing displays, having all that knowledge in his head but just not really telling anyone lol IT’S NOT THAT HE’S BOTHERED by the idea of throwing a little knowledge on the patrons, he just gets into so much of the nitty gritty that the average person has no idea how they went from talking about wood carvings to erosion on the shore of shizuoka. on that note are we set in japan here? uhhhhhhhhhhhhh?hhhh?? maybe

only really consistently hangs with jigen, and really, it’s because of jigen’s repair gig. museums break a lot! goemon doesn’t really mesh with too many people upfront, so he’s very interested in why he has some gut reaction to jigen despite only having spoken to him for two hours total in the last month. over time they’d become actual friends, but it’d take a bit for him to reach the “this is my man lupin and the purse with legs is his broad” introduction and then the way he WORDS that introduction starts an entire fight that leaves goemon absolutely baffled at how these people are. maybe friends? in time he warms up to them though, but maybe it’d take some unusual bonding experience, like a camping trip that immediately went south

zenigata:

saying he’d be a cop is BORING he wouldn’t be a COP. … there’s a distinction between a cop and a private investigator alright? BUT NO REALLY LET’S HAVE FUN WITH THIS yknow what would suck but really be funny. boring job. 9 to 5 office shit with nothing to do all day. oh he’d hate it, he’d be like pacing the room and shit just waiting for an excuse to actually DO something cuz its so fucking DULL in this FUCKING BEIGE BUILDING. like that bob's burger's bit where he has a nightmare about working in accounting or whatever

the story in the og manga was that somehow lupin and zenigata (and i believe fujiko too?) met in college. which. hey man the numbers could line up and frankly it sounds hilarious so i’ll buy that. he runs into him time to time just organically and  still doesn’t like him a lot lot but it’s more of a personality thing than anything else. and without the occasional heroics their original life has, zeni doesn’t get to see the actual good potential for a kind person like he has before so despite them having less reasons to beef HE LIKES LUPIN EVEN LESS IN THIS WORLD. maybe he’ll come around eventually 

sorry to keep going on this train of thought but really he’d be so different from his actual self just because of the different circumstances that it's really interesting to me. internally he’s the same but being subjected to the crazy shit in the franchise (strangely enough) kinda softened him up externally, but THIS zenigata doesn’t have that. so he’s like, polite to strangers and all. holds the door open for you. but he’s just so BITTER inside about how much more interesting things COULD be, like there’s envy there about how the gang doesn’t seem bothered by anything and has fun almost every day he happens to see what they’re up to. how does that even make sense?! SORRY THAT’S NOT REALLY FUN I DUNNO WHAT'S POSSESSED ME HERE just give him some time, some weirdo event will happen and it’ll knock everything within him back into place as we know him normally. he just needs the right insane motivation to fire up that deranged part of him that’s been lying dormant for a few decades

it just occurred to me i never mentioned mortgages once. damn

[inspiteallthedanger]

Re: GB reception in mainstream storytelling...agreed, it's so so fascinating how people come to such vastly different conclusions from that one scene. I was talking to my (boomer) mum about this the other day and she also merely saw it as Paul being uncomfy bc he couldn't relate to George's spiritual enlightenment or whatever and I was just sat there like??? Have we been watching the same documentary???

But I'm quite convinced that a lot of the way the general public talks about JP has to do with the with the mythologisation of both John and Paul as people, and the Beatles as a whole. Bc my mum has NO qualms whatsoever speculating about Mick and Keith shagging or how she thinks Joni Mitchell is obviously queer, but as soon as anyone tries to talk about JP it's all "Not *them*😱😱😱" it's very interesting imo, how people don't really perceive them as real people anymore but as Symbols or whatever (I wonder if that shift occurred around Anthology and I can't help but think about what the JP conversation would like if the Beatles hadn't become such a Myth TM)

I agree that we're heading towards the whole "poor John pining for his straight bestie for 10 years" theme, though, and I personally think that's even worse than what we've had until now (bc I've seen it being used as a way to shut down any further conversation)

Thanks for this really interesting ask, I love hearing what people think about all of this.

Weirdly your mum isn’t wrong, but neither are we, I don’t think. The issue is how they presented themselves and also people coming at J&P from the wrong angle. I’ll cut it for length, but essentially, i agree.

I do think that why that scene goes from, “Oh, why Paul” to “God you can cut this tension with a knife” is a lot to do with George and the spiritual thing. Partly because Paul’s trying to deal with two separate tensions (and he’s not capable of handling even one). Which John knows, and I think that’s why he’s amused rather than anything else. Note that John sort of vacillates between helping Paul out to dropping him in it. But when it gets really bad he starts a sing along and Paul does a sort of relieved little nod in John’s direction. It’s telling that Paul is a little blindsided by George suddenly piping up. Paul seems to feel he’s on pretty safe territory joking with John about the spiritual learning stuff. But then John is like… “I don’t like the way you’re dismissing it all because it suggests that everything that happened there was invalid”.

So, anyway, your mum’s reading isn’t a non-valid reading of the scene. I just don’t think it explains why John’s reacting like he is. The things he brings up are what make Paul really squirm. And what he brings up kind of isn’t related to spiritual stuff.

I think you’re probably right about why people are so… uncomfortable. But. Also. The Stones especially (and I think Joni too, although I know less about her) did deliberately portray themselves as ambiguously queer. The Beatles did not. That was never their imagine. So, it does feel like you’re putting something on them that they didn’t want people to know. John obviously less so, but the majority of that comes after the split.

Totally agree with the new narrative being worse somehow. Although I’d love if you could expand on the it being used to shut down conversation point.

From my perspective this is coming from the way society views sex and power as totally interlinked. While everyone was convinced that John was the leader of the band creatively and personally, it was fine to say Paul pined over him. Because who wouldn’t? Now because of the last 40 years of extra Macca content, topped off with GB, people are switching that up. People think Macca’s the genius and gorgeous and cool. So, like, who wouldn’t love him? Add to that, the hit John’s reputation has taken recently it’s easy to see how you end up with: John was a liar and unfairly took all the credit, and he just couldn’t handle that Paul didn’t want him and quit the band.

Like. For whatever reason, people can’t seem to realise that the problem (and the magic) is that these weirdos were both obsessed with each other. They both thought the other was centre and controller of the universe. Partly because, for whatever reason, those stories aren’t told. We don’t have loads of focus of how often they were close. I’m not sure if that was because there was some sense that telling it like it was, was too revealing? Or if it was more that Paul and John instinctively didn’t want to talk about it? Especially when setting up the narratives post-Beatles (in Lennon Remembers and the Anthology).

It’s why I’m looking forward to the new book that focuses on just their relationship. It feels like we’ve always started with the perspective of the break up and applied that to the whole relationship that went before. While I think it would make more sense to look at why they fell in love and see how that explains the break up.

Using the break up narratives as a framing devise also just leads to loads of really annoying takes. Because the narrative isn’t they loved each other equally and actually that’s what made the band work as often as it was the problem, everything gets warped. John and Paul can’t just help George on a song, it’s actually a secret power play. Everything gets this weird overlay of confusion that makes both of them look bad, when actually the answer is they were weird about each other in a very specific way that’s about love and not disrespect or dislike.

Anyway. Any and all other thoughts so welcome.

[zukkacore]

Whitewashing in AtlaLok: the Western & Christian Influence on s2 of LoK

Ok, so i’m not a big brained expert on all things indigenous or even all things asian but I do think bryke's christian & western worldview seeps so far into season 2 of LoK that i think out of every season it’s by far the most unsalvageable out of everything they’ve ever done in the Atlaverse and is a very insidious kind of whitewashing. I know that sounds hefty but here’s what I mean

For the record, I’m a mixed filipino person & while there is religious diversity among filipinos, more than i think ppl realize or that the catholic majority is willing to let on, when we were colonized a large percent of the population was indeed forced to convert to catholicism so that’s my background, & i don’t know everything about taoism or the what the tai chi symbol represents but the way Bryke westernize the concept of Yin and Yang is honestly… kinda bewildering. They get so many details about yin & yang wrong?? & Yes, it’s possible they could’ve been trying to create their own lore that differentiates itself from the traditional depictions of Yin & Yang, but in the end i think it doesn’t matter b/c the lore they invent is a very obviously western interpretation of the concept of “balance”.

The most important and honestly worst change they make is that concepts of “light” and “dark” are completely oversimplified and flattened to represent basically “good” and “evil” (which, the light and dark side are a bit more complex than representing just “peace/order vs. Chaos” like the show might imply but we don’t even have time for that, but is funny how they get the genders wrong. Like. Traditionally, light is usually coded masculine and dark is usually coded feminine, but never mind that, that’s just a tangent). This really simplifies the nuance of the s2 conflict and makes it a lot less interesting, not to mention just—misrepresents a very real religious philosophy?

And for the record, a piece of media going out of its way to do "the show, don’t tell" thing of stating in the text that “oh, light and dark are not the same thing as good vs. evil” without actually displaying that difference through the writing is just lip service, and its poor writing. A lot of pieces of media do this, but i think s2 of LoK is particularly egregious. The point of this philosophy of balance is that you aren’t supposed to moralize about which side is “good” or “bad”, or even really which one is “better” or “worse”. Even if the show states the concepts are not interchangeable, if the media in question continually frames one side (and almost always its “chaos/darkness”) as the “evil” side, then the supposed distinction between “light vs. dark” and “good vs. evil” is made moot. And besides the occasional offhand remark that implies more nuance without actually delivering, Vaatu is basically stock evil incarnate.

This depiction of conflict as “defeating a singular representation of total evil” isn’t solely christian, but it is definitely present in christian beliefs. And I think those kinds of stories can be done well, but in this case, in a world filled entirely of asian, Pacific Islander & inuit poc, to me it feels like a form of subtle whitewashing? B/c you’re taking characters that probably wouldn’t have christian beliefs, and imposing a christian worldview onto them. Not to mention removes what could have been an interesting conflict of any nuance and intrigue… and honestly, sucks, because I do think s2 has the bones of an interesting idea, mostly b/c there are potential themes that could’ve been explored—I know this b/c they were already explored in a movie that exists, and it’s name is Princess Mononoke! It has a lot of the same elements—tension between spirits and humanity, destruction of nature in the face of rapid industrialization, moral ambiguity where there are no easy or fast answers and both sides have sympathetic and understandable points of view. (Unsurprising b/c Miyazaki is Japanese & Japanese culture has a lot of influence from Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, etc)

Bryke’s western & christian worldview also totally seeps into the characterization of Unalaq, the antagonist of the season which is a real problem. I’m in the middle of rewatching s2 right now and what struck me is that….. Unalaq comes across kinda ecofash AND fundamentalist which is 1) seems like an odd combination but maybe it really isn’t? 2) i think is a really tacky choice considering that the water tribes take the majority of its inspiration from inuit and polynesian indigenous cultures.

I honestly forgot abt this but Unalaq gives this whole lame speech abt how the SWT & humans as a whole suck b/c of their lack of spiritual connection & it was really eerie to me b/c "humans are morally bankrupt and they must be wiped out/punished for their destruction of the environment" is total ecofash logic bc it blames all of humanity for damage caused by those in power—be they capitalists or whoever. It’s a worldview that blames the poor and powerless for something they have no say in, and has real eugenics undertones bc with every implication of culling, there has to be someone who appoints themself the job of culling—of who is and isn’t worthy of death.

This belief also struck me as......... kinda christian in it's logic as well which is WEIRD b/c once again........ their cultural inspirations are DEFINITELY not christian...... The whole "man is inherently evil and must spend their whole lifetime repenting/must face punishment for it’s wickedness" thing and the way that christianity treats humanity as born with original sin or inherently corrupt—as well as above or separate from nature are really stronger undertones in Unalaqs worldview....... which isn't really an indigenous way or thinking.

I'm generalizing of course but from what I have seen from the indigenous people who speak on this is that (feel free to point out or correct me if i’m mostly generalizing abt Native Americans and not other indigenous cultures & there are some differences here) is that while native tribes are not monolithic and do vary wildly, there are a lot of common threads and that reverence and respect toward nature and your surroundings is an important tenant of indigenous beliefs. (I specifically remember the hosts on All My Relations saying essentially that we humans are a part of nature, we are not separate from it, and humans are not superior to animals—I’m paraphrasing but that is the gist of it)

So, yeah, I think it’s just really distasteful to write an indigenous character who is characterized in a way that’s way more in line with a christian fundamentalist & wants to bring about a ragnarok style apocalypse end of the world when that isn’t really a tenant of our beliefs? (btw, the way the end of the world is framed is also kinda fucked up? If i were being charitable, I could say that maybe s2’s storyline is a corruption of the hindu depiction of the end of the world, but even that sounds mildly insulting for reasons I won’t get into b/c i am Not The Expert On Hinduism. I will say that once again, the framing of the concept is all wrong, the show views the idea of apocalypse through a very western lense)

To wrap this up, I think the depiction of Unalaq could *maybe* work b/c he is the antagonist, so someone who strays from the NWT cultural tradition in a way that makes his view of morality more black and white wouldn’t be a *horrible* idea for the bad guy of the season. Especially because the introduction of capitalism to the A:TLA universe could probably cause a substantial shifts to… idk, everything i guess, b/c capitalism is so corrosive. Like. Sometimes people are just traitors. I do think it would be interesting to portray the way capitalism manifests in a society without white christians. Like… I do think there are a lot of ways secular christianity and capitalism are interlinked. But Unalaq is not portrayed as an outsider, he’s portrayed as hyper-traditionalist in a way that’s vilified? I guess rightly so, he does suck, but it’s just hard to conceptualize how a person like Unalaq comes to exist in the first place. In the end, I don’t really think it makes sense, in a world without white people, I don’t really know where this introduction of black and white christian morality would even come from in the avatar world?

TL;DR, Bryke applying western christian morality & world views to non-white characters in a world where white people have NEVER existed to affect our beliefs is a subtle form of white-washing. It imposes simplified “good vs. evil” world-views & cultural beliefs onto its characters. Any attempt to represent or even just integrate our actual beliefs into the A:tla lore are twisted and misrepresented is a way that is disrespectful and saps out any nuance or intrigue from the story, and alienates the people its supposed to represent from recognizing themselves within the final product. And Finally, on a more superficial story level, these writing choices clashe with the already existing world of ATLA--and is honestly just poor world-building.

[calpalirwin]

Australian Love Affair

Request: Based on that tiktok video @itjustkindahappenedreally​ sent me where the guys find out you’re dating Luke.

Word Count: ~2k

And away, and away we go!

__

When you had first met the boys, the inevitable question of if you had a partner was asked almost as soon as pleasantries were exchanged.

“So? You seeing anyone?” Calum asked. “Boyfriend? Girlfriend? That sort of thing?”

You laughed politely at the brown-eyed boy while his friends muttered the disapproval cry of “Dude…” under their breath. “Nope. Single,” you answered. “Happily so,” you added as an afterthought. You had just met these men, and while you assumed they were good enough sorts given that two of them were dating two of your friends, you weren’t interested in dating people you barely knew.

“Oh, thank God!” Calum laughed in relief. “Someone on my side, finally.”

“Hey!” the other three said in protest, the tallest of the lot specifically affronted. “I’m single, too,” Luke pouted, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“Yeah, and you’re bloody miserable about it,” Calum snorted with an eye roll. “I need someone who’s happy being single.”

“Well your search is over,” you joked, bowing dramatically. “Y/N, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

That earned a round of laughs, and a few murmured, “Glad to meet ya,”s before the group disbanded, Ashton and Michael in search of their girlfriends, and Calum in search of a drink.

“You don’t have to hang around the new kid if you don’t want,” you told Luke with a soft smile. “Like it’s a big party. If you got… I dunno… other people to say hi to, or something, that’s cool.”

One of his hands tugged at a blonde curl along the nape of his neck. “Kinda wanted to ask you something first, if that’s alright?”

You twisted your wrist in a motion of encouraging him to continue. “Go ahead.”

“Are you happily single in that you’re not looking to date? Or happily single, but you’d go on a date if you got asked?”

You brought a finger to your lips in thought. “Hmm… I guess it depends on who was asking.”

“Me?”

“Oh, Luke…”

“It’s fine!” he rushed. “I mean… no harm, no foul, right?”

“Right. And sorry. I just… don’t date people I don’t really know.”

“Yep. Totally cool. Friends?”

“Friends,” you nodded, shaking his offered hand.

A year later found you and Luke hanging out. “So, what are you in the mood to do today?” he asked from where he was lying across your couch.

“I dunno,” you called out from the kitchen as you grabbed drinks. “Something stupid?”

“I’m stupid, do me.”

You choked on your sip, stalling in the archway that separated your kitchen from your living room. “I- What?”

The blue eyes went wide, and his cheeks flushed, as Luke shot straight up into a sitting position. “I-I-” he stammered, “didn’t mean to say that out loud. Was a joke…”

“Mmm,” you said, recovering in the brief moment it took you to set his drink down in front of him. “Pity. So, you don’t fancy me anymore?”

“I mean… I’ve always fancied you. But you said you don’t date people you don’t know.”

“Well… I know you now.”

“Well… would you maybe wanna go on a date sometime?”

“I’m free today,” you pointed out.

“What a coincidence, so am I,” Luke giggled. “C’mon, let’s go then.”

“Wait,” you said, putting a hand on his arm.

“Let me guess, you also don’t tell anyone you’re seeing someone until it’s serious, and since this is just a date, you’d rather I didn’t shout this from the rooftops.”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “You wanna shout this from the rooftops?”

“Not if you don’t want me to, I don’t. Look, I’m not gonna make you feel bad for having hesitations, or wanting to take things slow. I’m fine with that. We can tell as few, or as many people we like about us when there’s something worth telling. Not that this isn’t worth telling! But, I-”

“Luke,” you interrupted. “You’re doing that thing where you ramble when you’re nervous.”

“Shit, sorry. Just-”

“I know. And thanks. C’mon, let’s go have that date.”

~~~

You chuckled quietly to yourself, catching Luke’s eye from across the room. He winked and you rolled your eyes, sparing your phone one last glance before locking the screen. “Oooo!” Crystal’s voice sounded next to you. “Got a secret admirer you wanna tell us about?”

You scoffed. “Pfft. Secret admirer. Yeah, right.”

“Mmm, so you just giggle at your phone all the time?” she teased. “C’mon, Y/N. I know how you look when you’re crushing on someone.”

“It’s nothing,” you mumbled, your entire face growing warm.

“‘Nothing’ aka Y/N for ‘I’m totally smitten, but we haven’t labeled anything, so I’m playing indifferent,’” Kaykay chimed in.

“You know what? Just for that comment, I’m leaving now.”

“Have fun with lover boy!” they taunted making kissy faces at you.

“Lover boy?” Luke asked when he got to your place ten minutes after you did. “Do the girls know?”

“No. Well, they think I’m seeing someone. But they don’t have any proof, much less any idea that it’s you.”

“Cool…”

You frowned. “That’s not a very convincing response.”

He gave a small shake of his head, like he was pushing back whatever he’d been thinking. “It’s nothing. C’mon. Let’s go to bed.”

You interlinked your fingers with his, but when he took a step forward, you didn’t follow. “No. What is it? What’s on that pretty mind of yours?”

“I- We’ve been doing this for like two months now. And I get that we’re still figuring shit out. And that you don’t like telling people that you’re seeing someone until you slap that label on it because of your past experiences. But, I’ve been used in the past. Kept a secret. And that’s not something I’d like to repeat. So, yeah. That’s where I’m at.”

“At the point where you want to label this? Or at the point where you want to tell people you’re seeing someone?”

“Mostly the second one. But, maybe the first one, too? So, we don’t have to time our exits from our friends.”

You rubbed your thumbs over the backs of his hands in soothing circles. “Yeah. Yeah, we could do that.”

He brightened. “Cool! But, um… not right this second. Need to do something light-hearted first. Too much seriousness all at once-”

“Stresses you out. I know,” you smiled up at him.

“You’re fuckin’ great, you know that?”

“Yeah. But I’m always open to hearing it again.”

Luke pressed a swift kiss to the top of your head. “The fuckin’ greatest.”

~~~

Your phone ringing shrilly had you both sitting bolt upright in bed. “Who is it?” Luke asked, his voice thick with sleep.

“Cal.”

“Well go ahead and answer it.”

“It’s a FaceTime…”

“Shit!” Luke laid flat back down in bed, pulling the blankets up over his head. “Okay,” his muffled voice called out. “Go ahead.”

You giggled, and hit accept, your phone screen splitting into 4 screens as Calum’s face appeared on it, along with Ashton’s and Michael’s.

“See? I told ya Y/N was still asleep,” Michael grumbled.

“It’s almost fuckin’ noon!” Ashton protested.

“Oh, shut up, and add Luke to the call.”

“No!” you blurted. “I- I mean… what’s up guys?”

“We had a question for ya,” Calum said. “Cuz they’re nosy little shits.”

While Ashton and Michael both pulled faces of being offended, you laughed. “What’s the question?”

“Crystal and Kaykay mentioned you were on your phone before you left last night,” Michael started.

“So we were just curious…” Ashton added.

“You bailing on being the only other single person?” Calum finished.

“You’re not the only other single person,” you pointed out.

Calum scoffed. “Oh, you mean Luke? Nah. That boy’s been bit by the lovebug. Which is great for him. Single life isn’t his style. But damn… I thought what we had was special, Y/N.”

“You were the chosen one!” Michael cackled.

“It was said you would mock the lovebirds, not join them!” Ashton jumped in on the joke.

“Oh, my God,” you giggled while you felt the blankets shake beside you with Luke’s stifled laughter. “But yeah. To answer your question. Yeah, I’m seeing someone. Sorry, Cal.”

Calum’s eyes narrowed briefly. “I’ll forgive you, on one condition.”

“And what condition’s that?”

“Tell us who it is.”

“Wow, way to make a real case for yourself. I think I’ll take being unforgiven.”

“Wow…” they all deadpanned. “Gonna do me like that?” Calum muttered in fake disbelief. “Just keep breaking my heart like that?”

“That would require you to have a heart first.”

“Ouch!” Calum gasped, while Michael mimicked in his best videogame voice “Finish him!” which sent Ashton giggling.

Ashton giggling made you giggle. “Wait, wait, back up a second. You said Luke was seeing somebody? And he didn’t tell us? Fuckin’ rude.”

“Yeah! Sounds like somebody else we know. How bout this? We get Luke on here to tell us who he’s seeing, and you can tell us who you’re seeing, too. Then it’s all out in the open about how you both ditched me for the dark side,” Calum tried to negotiate again.

“Aw, c’mon. Is it really necessary to drag Luke into this? I mean, he’ll tell us when he’s ready to tell us, ri-” you scrambled to diffuse, but got cut off when Luke’s phone started ringing on your nightstand.

“Shh, it’s ringing,” Ashton shushed, waving his hand.

“Wait… I can hear it…” Michael said, bringing his phone closer to his face to listen better.

“Yeah, me too,” Calum nodded, before his eyes went wide with realization. “Y/N… is Luke there?”

“What? Why would he be at Y- OH! OH shit!” Michael yelled as the pieces clicked in his head.

“Luke! Answer your bloody phone!” Ashton scolded.

“I don’t think Ash has figured it out yet,” Calum muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Me neither,” Michael said with a pity shake of his head.

“Oh, I did. Lukey! Come out and plaaaaaay!” Ashton taunted.

Beside you, the blankets flipped back and Luke’s head popped into view. “Hey, guys,” he greeted sheepishly.

“When were you gonna tell us, mate?” Michael asked, his question directed at Luke.

“When there was something worth telling.”

“Two months of you being the happiest we’ve ever seen you isn’t ‘worth telling’?”

“You’ve been at your happiest with me?” you asked in a small voice.

Luke chuckled, wrapping an arm around you. “Course I have,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“Aw! You’re gonna make me sick!” Calum cooed sweetly.

“What Cal means to say,” Ashton interjected, “is that we’re really happy for you guys.”

“Yeah. And if we did something that made you think you couldn’t tell us, we’re sorry,” Michael apologized.

“It wasn’t anything you guys, or Luke did,” you stepped back in. “It was me. It takes a lot for me to develop the trust where I’m comfortable saying I’m in a relationship.”

“Hey, you don’t gotta explain yourself to anyone, Y/N,” Calum told you. “We were just messing with you. And we’re glad you feel comfortable enough to tell us. Even though we did kinda force it out of you… in our defense, we didn’t know Luke was with you.”

You laughed. “It’s fine, guys. We were gonna tell you in a few days anyhow.”

“Alright,” Michael cut in. “Serious question. You two make each other happy?”

You and Luke nodded. “Very much so, yeah.”

“Then that’s all that matters. We’ll uh… leave now and let you get back to your morning.”

“It’s past noon!” Ashton screeched.

“Oh, shut up, and go make another pot of coffee,” Calum told him.

“I will! Anybody want some?”

“I’m down,” Luke grinned at Ashton.

“You know how to get in. Cal? Mike?”

“Only if food is involved. You know I don’t drink coffee,” Michael listed his conditions.

“Deal. Cal?”

“Ah, fuck it. Yeah, I’m in.”

“Whoohoo! Brunch at Ash’s!” you cheered.

“Y/N, you only get brunch if you bring that new guy you’ve been seeing,” Ashton joked playfully.

“I think I can arrange that,” you giggled, snuggling into Luke.

__

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[princekirijo]

BRO, YUKARI. 👀👀

OK HERE WE GO STRAP IN FOLKS IT'S YUKARI TIME! Also a lot of this is kinda salty? I guess? So just a fair warning I just have strong opinions on Yukari 😔

Ok so Yukari. I love her so so much she's one of my favorite characters in the series and one of my trio of comfort characters (the other two being Akihiko and Mitsuru). She's such an interesting and complex character that gets heavily misinterpreted by a lot of the fandom (*cough* cishet men *cough*).

Like ok first off people say that she's mean but while she can be very rude and one of her big flaws is that she doesn't consider others' feelings she's not entirely a bitch either? I think the best example of this that not many people I've seen talk about is how she's the only character who objects to the protagonist and Fuuka joining immediately and wants to make sure they're not being forced into joining. While ultimately both of those characters join of their own accord, Yukari asks them multiple times if they're ok with joining, something the others never do (Mitsuru is guilty of being quite insistent on them joining but that's a discussion for another time). She also feels incredibly guilty for spying on the protagonist at the start, pointing out multiple times that it is a violation of their privacy. Both of these show that she genuinely cares about other people. Pictures are from you lol <3

On that subject when Ken joins Yukari is actually the nicest to him out of all of them, often making sure that he feels welcome and making an effort to talk to him. I think the only other character that does that (if my memory serves me right) is Fuuka. In her social link too she helps out that little kid that was crying in the middle of Paulownia Mall, staying with them until she found their parents or that they were safe. And even in Ultimax her relationship with Ken is just so cute she's so nice to him, she really is like his big sister. So to say that she's just mean and just a bitch is wrong because there's plenty of examples of her being a very nice person.

And actually a lot of people hate her because of how 'easy' her social link is to reverse (I've seen people on YouTube mention this a few times so I thought I'd talk about it). I think it's either rank 5 or 6 there's a scene where Yukari loses her purse and goes back to get it. You find her surrounded by a bunch of guys who are threatening her and are very close to hurting her. The protagonist steps in to stop them and then chases them off. Now I think it's only in the male route this happens (again my memory is bad so sorry about that 😞) but she gets annoyed at you for helping her and then you're given a few options. The correct one is to leave her alone (or something like that) but the one that most people go for which reverses the Social Link is the option to hug her. And people (male youtubers *AHEM*) get annoyed about this because oh yeah of course in this scenario hugging Yukari is a great option and why the hell would she get angry and reject them like that. Like jeez I don't know definitely not the fact that she's very clearly shaken up by the fact that she was almost attacked by three men (who could have done god knows what to her if we hadn't intervened). And definitely not because she's said lots of times that she doesn't like to rely on anyone (particular men) given the whole situation with her mother. The other thing is that I don't think it's outright stated but I really wouldn't be surprised if Yukari was super touch averse given the situation with her mother throwing herself at random men all the time. And (as we discovered lol) there's a very high possibility that her mother was an alcoholic because of this she says in the answer after Junpei's past where he talks about his alcoholic dad:

So like if her mother was an alcoholic there is a high chance she could have suffered some form of abuse which would lead her to being very anti touch. So it really drives me mad when people get annoyed about her Social Link being so easy to break because if you think for a second before doing anything, you'll realize it makes sense that she wouldn't want to be hugged.

But that's enough salt, I love Yukari for a lot of different reasons but the main one is (predictably given that it's me) her relationship with Mitsuru. Regardless of how you want to view it, they are so important and integral to each other's character development. From the tension between them at the start of the game to the end where they're so close, it's honestly one of the best relationships in the game in my opinion. You can really see how much they grow to care for each other. Yukari is the only character brave enough to call Mitsuru out for her bullshit and you can see how Mitsuru grows to appreciate that (because as much as I love Mitsuru, Yukari is absolutely valid to call her out for some of the stuff she does and she needs Yukari to do that). Yukari also ends up being the catalyst to Mitsuru's ultimate persona awakening. At the start of the game too, we're made to believe that both of them are very different. But as the game progresses we're shown that they're actually quite similar. Something I love that the movie does is this scene here (again thank you for pointing this out to me):

The way Yukari finishes Mitsuru's sentence so to speak shows that they actually have pretty similar reasons to awakening to their powers (Mitsuru in order to protect her father and Yukari to protect her father's memory and find out the truth about what happened to him). Yukari also helps Mitsuru open up to others (she's the only other person aside from Akihiko that Mitsuru calls by their first name) and Mitsuru helps Yukari (in a way I can't explain because my brain is failing me) to not judge people as much. They're so important to each other and their character development is so interlinked I just love it so much and it's a big reason as to why I love both of them.

And my other reason as to why I love Yukari is that she's allowed to express her anger in a way that isn't fake or cute (I honestly can't think of another female character who is allowed to do this but I'm sure there's other examples). The best example of this is of course the Answer which I've spoken about before so I'll do my best to keep it brief. I think Yukari's anger in the Answer is a very real response to grief. She's upset over the loss of the protagonist (whom she's heavily implied to have feelings for but I don't think it's outright stated) and she's jealous of Aigis because she inherited his power. She wants to save him so badly because she really cared for him so now that she has a chance and the others are stopping her (in her eyes) she feels betrayed so of course she's going to lash out. Now I fully acknowledge that what she was doing was wrong and she is acting very rude but as I said it's her way of dealing with grief. Something P3 does very well is show how different characters react to grief (eg Mitsuru closing off even more from the others, Akihiko deciding to take it in his stride, Ken having a similar reaction etc). And Yukari's way is no expectation and it's not bad because there's no bad or wrong way to deal with grief. Something people forget as well is that she acknowledges and apologies to the group after the Erebus fight for her behavior and she explains herself (another example of how she is actually a nice person and not a total bitch). I just really related to how she dealt with the whole thing and I love her for that. I also think that some of the other characters in the series (Ann mainly) should have been allowed to express their anger in a more... Real way? Ugly way? I'm not sure how to describe it but I would have liked to see them get angry in a way that wasn't cute (somebody pointed out that the negative reaction to Yukari's anger is probably what stopped future female characters from doing just this and it was an excellent point).

OK so this was super rambling and if you got to the end then wow thank you. I just really love Yukari and it makes me upset how a lot of fans treat her, either as a typical oh this is my persona waifu uwu or she's such a bitch I hate her with no thought process. I honestly understand why some people don't like her but I just ask that people think about how she reacts to certain things and why she acts the way she does before just essentially watering her down to a bitch with daddy issues. She's my emotional support bisexual and I adore how she interacts with the other cast (especially Mitsuru).

[bluesfortheredj]

Different eyes.

Not. You.

The gist of the conversation you’d had with Gwilym moments before had basically been that the person he was fond of was undoubtedly not you, and now you were heading into the arms of someone comforting and familiar to try and heal your slightly wounded heart… and ego.

“There she is!” he grins as you walk towards his outstretched arm.

You wrap your arms around his torso tightly as you press your cheek against his shirt and close your eyes with a sigh, then he looks down at you with a slightly concerned frown and hugs you firmly as he leads you out into the garden away from the party.

“I’m gonna need a cigarette,” you huff once you’ve been pulled down onto a bench and tucked into his side.

“You haven’t smoked in years,” he says with a shake of his head, “I’m not going to let you ruin that.”

“Actually I had one a couple of months back so you wouldn’t be ruining anything,” you point out as you hold your open hand at the level of his chest and wait for what you wanted.

“You’d better not be lying to me,” he frowns.

You place your other hand over your heart, “I promise I’m not lying Rufus.”

“Fine,” he tuts, fishing the packet and a lighter out of his pocket and dropping them into your palm, “so what’s the special occasion then?”

“Uh… being surrounded by too many happy couples.”

“Well in that case I’ll be joining you.”

You and Rufus had become firm friends after he joined The Darkness what with you being their officially unofficial seamstress, and you barely left one another’s side when you got together like this. Your friendship had only grown when you were hired in the costume department of Bohemian Rhapsody, but you’d also got close to a certain tall brunette who had shot you down only moments ago, and of course Rufus was the first person you wanted to see after such a blow. He holds you tight, knowing you needed comfort for something but not quite sure what, and he keeps an eye on you as you inhale your cigarette; a sight he wasn’t used to seeing these days.

“So I heard about you and Gwilym...”

“Me and Gwilym?” you scoff, “trust me when I say there is no me and him.”

“That’s not what I’ve been told… apparently you two have been seen getting cosy together on multiple occasions and he’s quite vocal with his adoration for you,” Rufus explains as you sit up to face him after almost choking on your last drag of the cigarette.

“What?!” you laugh, “I literally just spoke to him about what his type is and I could not be further from the woman he’s looking for!”

“As if!” Rufus protests, “he must be fucking blind.”

You chuckle at his insistence that there must be something wrong with the guy then stub out your cigarette and slide your arms around his waist as you lean in and kiss his cheek.

“It’s the only logical explanation,” he continues as he flicks his own cigarette butt onto the floor before stepping on it firmly and returning your hug, “how about we move our deal forwards a little then?”

“By how many years?”

“Well, we said if we hadn’t found anyone by 40 we’d get married, so how about we change it to 30?” he offers.

“That’s next year!” you laugh.

“Fine,” he huffs playfully, “35.”

“Okay, deal,” you nod.

You shake your head with a smile as you think about what it would be like being married to your best friend, but unbeknownst to the two of you your tight embrace is being watched carefully by two people from the patio doors.

“So you were going to tell her how you feel and now she’s on a bench with Rufus looking very close…” Ben observes, “how did you fuck that up so badly?”

“Since when did she smoke?” Gwil asks absent-mindedly, completely ignoring Ben’s question.

“We shared a ciggy on a night out once but she doesn’t smoke regularly,” he explains, “...I need you to tell me exactly what you said because that should be you out there, not him.”

“It doesn’t even matter, I’ve fucked up and missed my chance. It’s too late. I’m gonna head home I think; I don’t want to see those two getting together because of me,” Gwilym huffs.

“Would you just answer my question?! What the hell did you say to her?!”

The tall man sighs and his shoulders drop before he turns to his friend and explains, “we were just chatting, it was going well I swear, and then it got a bit awkward. The conversation had finally got around to what we look for in prospective partners and I was basically describing her, or so I thought anyway,” he pauses as Ben nods to urge him on, “kind heart, witty sense of humour, blue eyes-”

“Blue?”

“Yeah…”

“They’re green you idiot!”

Gwil’s face drops at the sudden realisation that yes, yours were definitely green just like Ben’s, and he slaps his hand to his forehead, “I’ve totally fucked it haven’t I?”

“Not necessarily… but it’s gonna take some explaining to get out of this one.”

“Oh this is just bloody brilliant isn’t it? I’ve just thrown her into Rufus’ arms. Shit. Fuck. Maybe it’s for the best, I don’t know. Why would she want to be with me when she’s got him? He’s her age, and I’m guessing from all the staring at her he definitely knows what colour her eyes are.”

“Stop putting yourself down, they’re the same age as me and I’m not being funny but men mature a lot slower than women so trust me when I say she needs someone your age. Seven years is just the right amount I’d say; you’re more mature than him but still have that young sense of humour and can laugh at a poo joke.”

Ben looks over to his friend who smiles at his comment, but he sees it fade just as soon as it appeared.

“That’s it, we’re going in,” Ben states, dragging Gwil out of the house and across the green.

“Ben!” he whispers, “Ben! No!”

He lets go of Gwilym before carrying on over to the bench and striking up a conversation with Rufus who is soon peeled away from your side and guided back inside the house thanks to Ben’s natural gift of easy conversation, and you’re left sat out in the cold with no one to keep you warm until a familiar figure takes a seat with his coat clasped between his hands.

“Here,” he says, draping the warm jacket over your shoulders, “bit chilly isn’t it?”

“Thanks,” you say quietly, relishing in the feel of his lingering body warmth on the clothing.

There’s a slight pause as you wait for him to say something, and you pull the jacket around you a little more as you sit back to give him the impression you are more relaxed than you actually were feeling.

“So, uh, I realise I’ve been a massive twat,” he begins, pausing for a second just in case you wanted to confirm his finding, “and I just wondered if you could do me a massive favour?”

You frown a little in confusion, “okay...”

“Could you just ask me the question you did before? When we were sitting on the stairs inside?”

“Uhm… right… so, what do you look for in a prospective partner?” you ask, unable to face him just in case it still wasn’t you.

“Well, funny you should ask actually (Y/N), because what I look for is someone who has a kind heart, a witty sense of humour, green eyes, and someone who gives the most comforting hugs I’ve ever felt,” he looks at you and you slowly turn your head to meet his gaze, “and what do you look for? Please don’t say plays drums, has long blonde hair, and is related to Roger Taylor, because I will be devastated.”

You let out a chuckle at his last statement, “well that ruins my first answer… better go with plan B then… I guess my second choice would be tall, brunette, someone who can make me feel safe with just one look, someone loyal, trustworthy, and plays guitar would be a slight bonus.”

“Second choice?! That cut deep,” he groans, grabbing his shirt over his chest and grimacing.

“So did blue eyes...”

“I deserved that,” he nods, “that will go down in history as the absolute stupidest thing I’ve ever said out loud.”

“I take it you told Ben what you said?”

“Oh yes, and I will never hear the end of it from him either, trust me… so, uh, what happens now?” he asks almost nervously, his eyes moving from yours to his lap.

You couldn’t lie, you really wanted to kiss him; you’d watched those lips so carefully during every conversation you had, wondering what they’d feel like against yours, then against your skin as his slender fingers pressed into your body, trying to feel all of you at once. As if he could hear your thoughts his hand suddenly but gently lands on your thigh and you place one of yours on top of it until your fingers fall through the gaps between his and you’re interlinked.

“Maybe we could just stay where we are and…” you wave your free hand to suggest no plan in particular and Gwil smiles before rubbing your thigh and leaning over to kiss your temple.

His lips linger on your hair as you hold your breath then he moves down to your cheek where his lips press against your warm skin slowly, and finally he pulls back by only a matter of millimetres to wait for you to turn your face towards him so he can capture the lips he’d pined after for such a long time. You move slowly, savouring every second of the sensation of his breath against your skin, and when you connect in your first kiss it’s embarrassingly cliched as you feel, and even see, the sparks appearing between you both. The grip you have on one another’s hands tightens along with the kiss then when you reach maximum hold the kiss ends and you’re left breathless on the bench.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for that,” he whispers.

@winnielinleigh @queenslandlover-93 @excellentbecca @lovemarvelousfics @lovemelikeyou1997 @readinghorn @godohammers @timeandpixiedust @lv7867 @fuckyou-imspiderman @aynsleywalker @the-baby-bookworm @chlobo6 @drivenbybri

[project-paranoia]

Live Watch: Tomb of the Sea Episode One

The Grave Robbers Chronicles is a giant interlinking series of dramas in which three men and their variety of attractive friends make me scream every time they talk about blowing up artifacts. Along the way they discover that friendship is the solution and also their refusal to keep their noses out of ancient nonsense might be the problem. Each of the series has a tendency to have mini arcs that are wildly different, so how it begins is not always how it ends. That being said, let's check out Tomb of the Sea! Under this line is spoilers! You know the drill.

* This man has been buried under white sand and you can tell.

* Even in the desert plants can get angry

* There's a beautiful sort of unreality to this series, a smearing hand between dream and reality, a hyper reality as though things happen because they're supposed to happen that way and not necessarily through cause and effect logic

* The first of the deeply beautiful and artistic title sequences

* This series is eerie and this title music pins down that feeling, as do the shaky cam dutch angles

* There's always the feeling that Li Cu might be slightly drugged or half asleep, sometimes the scene is sped up or slowed down, proportions are off, faces are blocked off. It makes the later horror feel justified as well as playing with the themes of being "asleep" and "awake"

* This show has a huge cast of people to remember from previous shows, who are they? I can't remember

* White sand, Foreshadowing~~~

* Bro, why are you peeking? That seems like a bad idea

* This friend is not engaged being a goalie

* So all of this shows are kind of boy's wish fulfillment - which I'm not complaining about, they're a lot of fun, but that is really obvious here

* Challenged to a FITE

* Li Cu staring at things hours

* A want to know what the inspirations were for the framing of the shots and the mise en scene, the shapes and colours are excellent

* Dreamlike quality increases

* This boy isn't well

* These boys aren't well

* Poor dog never gets walked

* These shots were taken at totally different times of day

* These kids are neither dumb nor smart, but instead quite lucky

* The plot is waiting for you darling, go and meet it

* I love her night gown, squarely between cute and glamorous

* Get beat up, go have snacks

* Obligatory what's in the box reference

* When you unleash an ancient darkness into your head because you're curious

* Just what he needs, more angry dad

* A real bro, but not very good at distractions

* This kid cannot catch a break

* The Queen Has Arrived!

* To quote a wise man, it's okay to cry when you've been stabbed, everyone cries when they're stabbed

* Poor kid

* Lady, he isn't that hot

* Surprise tazer!

* It's interesting to see the hero of our story portrayed as the Mysterious Bad Guy, but it really works for this drama

[hominginstinct]

Ayo I read your essay and I hope you don't mind addition but IMO, I dont think Phillip and Roland are supposed to be parallel or Roland seeing himself in Phillip. Phillip's entire theme seems to just be him accepting his sorrow and sadness and act upon said sadness, this is reflected even in his corrupted Distortion form where Argalia noted that "poor thing, he just wants to cry" rather than a burning anger like with Xiao or Roland. Arguably the part of embracing sorrow could stretch to Roland since that man also has that things going on but ultimately they went on a complete different direction as character for me to feel said parallel imo which maybe for the best

And I think Roland kinda just generally allergic to the general mindset of "I sacrifice other people/myself for the better good" in general which said mindset is spoon fed to us before the Wedge Office reception which is understandable since the entire working of the Wings and the City is also just sacrificing people for humanity advancement which he himself loathes and has been hint to even be a victim of it one or few time so it would explain why he would not take well to Phillip without having to feel related to him honestly

yeah no i totally appreciate the addition! i don't necessarily disagree with your points. unlike xiao or yan, philip doesn't directly parallel roland or angela. but i do think he's still representative of roland, especially because he's part of the ensemble.

the rest of the post is under a read more because this one's even longer (and also quotes a few passages). also i'm gonna refrain from talking about the songs because that would turn into an entire essay of its own. warning for endgame spoilers under the cut.

the members of the ensemble all represent some aspect of roland (and the trauma of the city in general): deception (pluto), alienation (elena), a loss of control (jae-heon), conformity (eileen), his "that's how the world works" attitude (tanya), and so on. the sephirot represent an opposing point of view on the beliefs held by the ensemble members.

philip himself is juxtaposed against malkuth, who feels that she's responsible for, well, everything. believing that she would be helping carmen and the experiments, she only accelerated the lab's demise. being resurrected in lobotomy corporation makes her feel like she has to atone for her sins, but that only leads to covering up her guilt by adapting a "weakness is death" mentality. after her meltdown, malkuth finds the will to face her past, to see her mistakes for what they are and learn from them. meanwhile, what philip wants is to live in a world where he wouldn't feel desire or loss. a world without greed, where he wouldn't be hurt in the pursuit of happiness. a world without history, where he wouldn't have to confront his past or his mistakes.

in general, philip is set up as a foil to xiao. they both deal with very similar topics, like love, survivor's guilt, and greed/loss, but their situations end very differently. roland does directly resemble xiao, and his connection to philip is a lot more abstract (his agony is abstract and enormous, after all). i don't think philip is meant to really parallel roland in his entirety, but to instead represent roland's history and future, the conflict inside him, his choices.

at the end, his despair and greed could consume and distort him entirely, forever cutting off his potential for change. once he kills angela in his bad ending, he's just an empty husk with a gaping void -- there's nothing left of him but his sorrow. alternatively, he could let go of his grudges and make the choice he wants to, selfishly "abandoning" angelica so that he can move forward, like xiao did.

with regards to wedge office, i do agree that he's probably talking about the city, rather than thinking about his own motivations. however, i also feel that the distinction doesn't necessarily matter. from the wedge office pre-battle cutscene:

Roland: Few things are as dangerous and nasty as selfishness in the guise of “for the sake of someone else”…

Angela: I think I know what you mean. The determination to work for the good of others can be a dreadful and loathsome weapon.

Angela: Especially if one strongly believes that the justice they’re pursuing is worth sacrificing for…

Angela: They’re blinded by self-righteousness, and have no regards for their surroundings. They don’t care what happens to others.

Angela: They justify themselves for pressing forward pursuing their justice, crushing everything in their way…

Roland: Wow… This might be the first time we understood each other for real. I’m touched, man.

angela is definitely talking about ayin here, but ayin's cruelty is all she's ever known. she doesn't know how to live without hurting and taking things from others. roland is in pretty much the exact same situation in relation to the city. he despises the city and the cruelty it runs on, but he doesn't know anything else. that's the exact reason the ensemble exists in the first place; the city is structured to inflict trauma on its inhabitants, and they're forced to inflict trauma on others to survive.

roland is dangerous, nasty, and selfish, all in the name of someone else. up to this point, he's been making the excuse that he's living for someone else, telling himself that he's getting revenge for angelica's sake. he turns a blind eye towards his own feelings and mistakes, and tells himself that he's nothing like philip -- that's that, and this is this, after all. ironically, that only makes him more like philip.

i don't think he consciously recognizes philip as being anything like him. i do think that his hatred for himself and his hatred for the city are essentially the same thing. what philip's going through reminds him of his own guilt and trauma, of the ugliness of the city -- the same ugliness that festers within himself.

furthermore, angela knowing exactly what he's talking about, roland remarking that they see eye-to-eye for once... that one feels a lot different after roland's speech after the black silence fight:

Roland: A dimwitted egoist whose sight is limited by their own selfishness… A proper fool chasing after immediate results…

Roland: That’s what you are. And who I am…

Roland: The same logic that dictates us was bound to be our downfall one day…

Roland: If we really cared for ourselves… Neither of us should have made this choice.

Roland: It won’t last long that way… Being selfish isn’t about keeping an eye on yourself and nothing else.

Roland: We had to take a good look at the things around us and engrave them in our hearts.

Roland: Everything is interlinked, after all…

and sorry for pulling out philip's ensemble page again, but i do think that it beautifully describes the true ending, for both roland and angela.

Even the failures and misery of the past were all part of the voyage leading up to this moment, so I'm thankful that I managed to achieve something for once. I might have drowned in my own tears and sorrow back then, but ultimately, I'm grateful for the choice I made… and all the things in the world.

all this has really just been a messy and long-winded way of saying: that's this, and this is that. but hey, this game's all about the journey, right? hopefully this was an interesting read at least, haha.

[5hokage]

i wanted to ask about your post with kunoichi? what do you mean about a baby boom? i think that is giving the text some excuse regarding treatment of kunoichi. the writing was not very fair.

post in question

oh i absolutely agree the writing was not fair, and has considerably dated naruto as far as being a consumable media now vs first release. it was a product of the late 90s, after all. and especially when you consider the apparent working conditions of mangaka, plus the influence of character popularity on development and publisher intervention, it’s no wonder it just didn’t seem to... have an even playing field. as i said in that post too, the series has always kind of been very tell not show, especially when it comes to reassuring readers that sakura, for instance, is incredibly strong and talented, but we don’t actually get to see it.

but in regards to a baby boom: we’re told (again), that during the third shinobi world war, konoha threw children barely out of the academy at trained shinobi. they were literally just putting bodies on the battlefield to have numbers. i mean, the war was not a good move on konoha’s behalf, as hiruzen stepped down after claims of being weak for not seeking reparations, orochimaru felt betrayed about being passed over for hokage, fugaku and the uchiha clan efforts were ultimately ignored inciting their plans to overthrow konoha, itachi was heavily traumatised, sasori left suna shortly after, ao stole the byakugan from a hyuga clan member, kakashi rose to prominence after receiving the sharingan, and well. jiraiya’s best efforts to help a fledgling akatsuki do some good turned sour after hanzo’s intervention.

more down below ⬇️

so like. how the hell did konoha still manage to have shinobi after, because we’re told (again) that the death toll was so high, i think it was this particular war that even ended with the average lifespan being drastically lowered to around 30 due to the sheer number of child deaths, plus post war trauma. and then following this war the year after, the nine tails was unleashed on konoha. they didn’t really catch much of a break between all of this. (also, take a shot every time konoha is absolutely totalled?)

and too, the idea ultimately that a lot of clans exist around preservation and survival, especially of their own jutsu. i kind of get for the sake of constantly drawing chapters a day, the families do appear small/one child to two parents, and any sort of branches are vaguely referenced to, but i kind of figure that the more prominent clans we’re introduced to would have more members. like the nara clan especially would have dozens of members. they have a whole forest to themselves, are heavily involved in politics of the shinobi government, as well as the medical side of things in konoha (they own a book detailing cures to any drawbacks from jutsu, such as the akimichi clan). shikamaru may be the clan head, but i would figure there are many other clan members. 

which is why i kind of wondered about succession rights. it’s kind of implied i guess, or my takeaway was, that there was no real prominent ‘heir survival’ during the war. anyone who was able to fight, did. so either entire branches were shaved off clans, which you can also use as a basis of example of why there is only one present representative for the clans in naruto’s generation, it was more of a duty to continue the clan name that lead to some children being born, maybe there were succession fights following, or there was just a ‘well you survived so you earn the title’. kind of interesting too when comparing to the hyuga clan, who you would assume tightly regulated the byakugan (especially after hinata’s attempted kidnapping, and losing it to ao during the third war). in the hinted family scenes, they do seem to have a lot of family members. so either those are the remainders, since there is a generational gap (assumed via art lol) between neji and other side branch family members.

and like again, with the uchihas, not everyone was able to develop the sharingan. once someone did, their immediate family relations seemed to move up in prominence in the household. it is likely different again for bloodline based jutsu and release, yknow?

so in regards to kunoichi specifically, it wouldn’t surprise me if during naruto’s generation, how despite all these outward threats, they just wanted to kick off another baby boom in a few years time once they were all graduated and chuunin/jonin. especially when you factor in like, the last of the uchihas (assumed, at that time), and even if konoha’s older population had personal issues with them, they still valued kekkei genkai especially. and again, factor in one child per family, and how hiden jutsu are mostly passed on orally, they obviously want to keep their clan jutsu to themselves but to still have future generations...

i guess this also interlinks with the once existent concept of civilian government and the shinobi government. it kind of fades in and out, and we’re only really reminded of the daimyo and their power/influence when necessary, like during the chuunin exam arc, where they state the final showcase battles are to just prove that shinobi are worthwhile investments. gaara hiden also mentions how he specifically is seeking reparations for a post-fourth war, after defending the land of wind, and how the civilian government isn’t being generous. i know the movies aren’t all canon, but even like in the land of snow, they had such a small shinobi population that they ultimately had a civilian guided focus on technology development. so by boosting their population of potential shinobi, it would understandably mean they would also continue to have a reason to exist in the hidden villages. so encouraging rather traditional ways of attracting potential marriages... way to get that population boost kickstarted early.

even though it seemed that most of the shinobi we see who married just needed to get their asses handed to them by their future wives a couple of times lmao.

[elizawright]

Other Experiences

Interviews with other women with Aspergers

Source: Aspergers Uk Facebook Community

I noticed while being on the group most of the participants were men backing up the statistics that majority of the Aspergers community are male. This backs up my own theory that women find it harder to get diagnosed as majority of what doctors associate as “Aspergers Characteristics” come from male representatives. A good point from somewhen else in the group suggested that it also comes from the fact women are better at masking.

First Interview

Below is an interview I conducted with a lovely lady called Lauren, it was a very interesting read and supported what I already believed to be true through my own experiences. Women with autism are rarely represented in the media and struggle to get diagnosis or support from others as they show different characteristics to the majority of the Aspergers community:

Q. When were you diagnosed with Aspergers?

A. Feb 2009 age 13 nearly 14

Q. Did you find it difficult to get the diagnosis?

(Quite often women with Aspergers are refused diagnosis as they don’t show what doctors perceive as “characteristics”)

A. it was difficult and took about 8 appointments to get a diagnosis as lot of signs/traits were interlinked with other conditions I already had diagnosed

Q. Name 3 things positive about your Aspergers

(Eg, it makes me more creative)

A. I'm strict with time (not been late once), very well organised and creative

Q. Do you feel there is enough positive female autism Representation in the media? If no, how do you think we can improve? If yes, please provide an example?

A. No I was diagnosed with mental health before I had my diagnosis and a lot of people say to women because you can do eye contact or you have empathy/show emotions that they are not autistic when they are. People need to remember women are naturally brought up to be more mature/grown up then men so we learn things sooner than men would.

Q. List 3 things you struggle with? What could nurotypical people do to help change this?

A. Going out to busy/crowded places, meeting new people/socialising with new people and changes especially to routine. Neurotypical people should be taught about autism in school so less bullying happens and more support can happen even simple things like structured routine or explaining something in a different way or putting it into a real life prospect.

Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?

A.People need to realise that autism is a invisible disability and there isn't a certain look like down syndrome. People also need to remember that autism is different in every person so just because one person with autism is aggressive it doesn't mean everyone is going to be aggressive. Finally to remember autism comes in different levels and severities so one person with autism could live independently with a little bit of support while another person with the same diagnosis might need 24 hour care and support

Second Interview

Another lovely lady called Sophie bravely answered two of the questions for me:

Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?

A. I feel autism is based more around men. The way this could be improved is if people were more aware that autism can affect both males and females

Q. Did you find it difficult to get the diagnosis?

A. I didnt actually get diagnosed until I was 19 but I went to John Parkes when I was younger as ny mum thought I was different but they only said I am left handed but use ny right hand so it was left at that until I was 19 and my mum started working in a school and realised that I did a lot of the things that an autistic child at the school did

Third Interview

Lastly was a very helpful interview by a lovely lady called Ebony. I felt the most connection with Ebonys answers, pretty much everything she said I could relate to, specifically the struggle our mothers had to get a diagnosis, the miss belief in diagnosis of you don’t fit the stereotypes and the frustration with the lack of positive female representation.

Q. When were you diagnosed with Aspergers?

A. I was diagnosed at 8/9 years old

Q. Did you find it difficult to get the diagnosis?

(Quite often women with Aspergers are refused diagnosis as they don’t show what doctors perceive as “characteristics”)

A. My mother found it difficult to get me an assessment to get diagnosed because I have a genetic condition which they wanted to overshadow autism under. Even though they’re totally unrelated. She fought in court for two years before I was granted a full assessment

Name 3 things positive about your Aspergers

(Eg, it makes me more creative)

3. Aspergers makes me more observant. Aspergers allows me to focus specifically on and learn things really easily with things which I am really interested in, in detail, which is really useful for my degree. And Aspergers makes it easy for me to process visual information

Q. Do you feel there is enough positive female autism Representation in the media? If no, how do you think we can improve? If yes, please provide an example?

A. Absolutely not. Autism seems to be very much represented by men with the very typical characteristics (Big bang theory and atypical prime examples). I think there needs to be more female influencers who are on the spectrum speaking about it and also in movies, using autistic female characters as the main character instead of male

Q. List 3 things you struggle with? What could nurotypical people do to help change this?

A. Change. I guess just not changing things would be helpful but I think that’s just the way of the world.

People thinking I’m not on the spectrum because I’m not good at maths or science and I don’t have a breakdown every two minutes. Not assuming the stereotypes are true in everyone. My very black and white way of thinking. Sometimes this gets in the way of being able to think perceptively, as hard as I try, it can be very hard to understand why something is the way it is.

Interview 4

Interview with a lady who would like to stay anonymous. She has a very interesting story and in the past has done lots of work studying Aspergers in women.

Q. When were you diagnosed with Aspergers?

A. 2007

Q. Did you find it difficult to get the diagnosis?

(Quite often women with Aspergers are refused diagnosis as they don’t show what doctors perceive as “characteristics”)

A. I had anxiety n depression off n on for years. Worked as a advocate an had an abusive partner and it became worse. I went to a gp after reading about the condition and was dismissed by the gp. I took anti depressants n they made me feel so bad. Weight gain, hailing beginning to fall out n head felt like a racing feeling. Went back n was referred for cbt n refused to take meds as suicidal thoughts listed as side affect, which was happening. Went for cbt the lady had an autistic son. She picked up on traits n did n assessment n referred me to psychologist. I think I was quite lucky in my journey, in terms of a diagnosis. My mum said she always knew but she was always on meds. I’m not a fan on medication - personally

Q. Name 3 things positive about your Aspergers

(Eg, it makes me more creative)

A.1. I stopped hating or comparing myself to neuro typical people and what they do so easily.

2. It was ok to be different and I wasn’t stupid

3. I started to see myself and my traits and enjoy being me. If that makes sense

Q. Do you feel there is enough positive female autism Representation in the media? If no, how do you think we can improve? If yes, please provide an example?

A. I think when people are shown autism they are often shown the extreme. I watched a programme on the bbc about people with asperges and I couldn’t c myself in any of them. People always think of Chris Packham but we too are all v different as are NTs. The only other female I know of is Susan Boyle who was exploited in some way. But I believe she’s had support now and on the up bless her

Q. List 3 things you struggle with? What could nurotypical people do to help change this?

A. Too many people

Eating around strangers

Bright lights

In terms of how Nts could help is tough. I’m used to not having help so can be hard saying I’ve got a disability n then dealing with people’s preconceptions or struggling without help. Mentor ship in terms of study n maybe work place could be good.

Interview 5

This interview is another who would like to be kept anonymous, their family is very judgmental of their diagnosis therefor they don’t openly disclose their name.

Q.When were you diagnosed with Aspergers?

A. I was diagnosed in 2013, aged 36

Q. Did you find it difficult to get the diagnosis?

(Quite often women with Aspergers are refused diagnosis as they don’t show what doctors perceive as “characteristics”)

A. I was fortunate in that the clinical psychologist who diagnosed me was a specialist in the female autustic phenotype, which made the diagnostic process easier.

Q. Name 3 things positive about your Aspergers

A. Three positive things about Asperger's:

I stand in solidarity with my autistic kids, and understand them better

The way I think makes me good at writing essays

I think autistic people find greater joy in small things than neurotypicals.

Q. Do you feel there is enough positive female autism Representation in the media? If no, how do you think we can improve? If yes, please provide an example?

A. Autism in the media is usually male, which influences women's ability to get diagnosed and get help. There is a small but persistent push my autustic women to make autistic women and girls more visible, and we need to keep building on that

Q. List 3 things you struggle with? What could nurotypical people do to help change this?

A. I struggle with practical things, like maintaining a routine, using public transport, and following directions. Neurotypicals can help by recognising female autism, and simply being kind

[winterromanov]

and the story’s all over you - bucky x reader

PART ONE - VANITY FAIR

parts: masterlist

pairing: bucky barnes x (female) reader

extract: You’ll take this moment, revel in it for a while. Maybe this is some weird joke for somebody, maybe it’s someone you do know, maybe it’s absolutely anything. But it’s nice to think that someone loves you foolishly.

genre: soulmate au (+ roommates au, friends to lovers au)

taglist: @beautiful-aravis​ @chubby-tink​ @captainmaka​ @ninaminaromina​ @kindadeadinside235​ @to-the-road​ @verygraphicink​ @feistytravel​ @sagechanoafterdark​ @grumpylittledoctor​ @sunmoonandbucky​ (still open, reply/message to be added)

“My God, what is the point?”

You examine your figure exasperatedly in the changing room mirror, pulling at every wrinkle in the dark blue fabric of the dress you’ve just thrown on. The four other dresses hang limply on the rail, all decidedly okay but not wholly right. You have no idea why you’re putting in so much effort for a dumb Tinder date that will inevitably lead nowhere. They always lead nowhere.

“The point in what?” A voice calls from outside the curtain, a little distracted. “The point in wearing clothes?”

“No, dumbass. The point in even being here.” You throw open the curtain dramatically, making exasperated eyes at the figure waiting for you leaning against the opposite wall. Bucky’s eyes lift from his phone to your figure. You ignore the fact that his jaw drops a little, preferring to shove that deep, deep down. Bucky finding you remotely attractive is not a thing. Especially in this absolute state of a dress. “Greg, thirty-two, from Manhattan will buy me dinner and a drink. He’ll laugh at my jokes and my ego will be suitably boosted. We’ll probably go back to his apartment, he’ll take my dress off, but then he’ll see my mark. And realise there is absolutely no point in pursuing this encounter.”

Bucky blinks, shuffling his feet. “Maybe he isn’t looking for his soulmate.”

“Buck, if he’s not looking for his soulmate, he’s looking for an easy fuck. There is no in-between with men.”

“And you…don’t want an easy fuck?”

You scowl at him, turning back to the mirror. You watch his reflection as he tries to be nonchalant. “I want someone to see me and think, it doesn’t matter that she isn’t my soulmate. In fact, I think that would be more meaningful than actually finding my soulmate. To fall in love with someone that the universe doesn’t dictate for you.”

Bucky shrugs, which is a more mild reaction than you were hoping for. When you’d told your mother this, she’d looked at you with absolute horror, claiming that no love is real love unless it’s with the person who matches your mark. But surely real love is subjective? Your heart and your mark aren’t connected in the slightest, despite what all the romantics say. You feel what you feel. You want what you want.

But of course, Bucky is a romantic, through-and-through. He’s the most romantic person you’ve ever met. He’d waste his whole life waiting for his soulmate to fall into his life, even if that meant he spent his remaining years always alone.

It’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard. The odds of meeting your soulmate are one in almost eight-fucking-billion. It’s a statistical impossibility, and everyone should just get a grip and find someone they can tolerate before they grow old and die. Love is what you make it. Not what statistics command.

“I think if I ever found my soulmate I’d tell them to get fucked,” you say primly, straightening your posture. Bucky raises a bemused eyebrow at that. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I don’t want to be with someone because I’m supposed to be.”

“It’s not supposed to feel like that, though. It’s like a…murmuring, under the skin. Magnetisation. Something uncertain that keeps pulling you back to them, again and again. The marks are just a side effect.”

“Side effect, my ass.” A person comes out the cubicle next to you, eyeing you with suspicion, like you’ve been talking about robbing a bank or enacting a murder. Bucky grins. He’s used to you and your somewhat controversial views. “Either way. I don’t want a soulmate. Doesn’t matter who they are. I don’t want them.” You sigh at your reflection, hand trying to grip at a zipper that’s just out of reach. “Can you unzip me?”

Like the weary long-term best friend he is, Bucky accepts your demand. His hands are warm against the exposed skin of your back and you let out a subconscious shiver as his skin skims yours, right down to just above your tailbone. Then his hands inexplicably freeze.

“Is that…is that your mark?”

Your mark is small, and dark, and shaped like a crescent moon blurred by the haze of clouds. When your eyes catch his reflection, he’s frozen over it, like he’s been paused in a movie. You narrow your eyes at him. “Yeah. Why? Is there something wrong?”

He seems to snap out of his trance, but he gulps loudly. His smile looks strained. Which only leaves you more confused. You feel the pad of his finger swipe over it, like he’s checking it’s not just dye from the dress imprinted on your skin. “No. Nothing wrong. I’ve just never seen it before.”

“I don’t like to show it off.” His glare still feels weirdly zoned in on it, which makes you think… “Do you know someone with the same mark or something?”

His tongue runs across his lips. For the first time in this strange interaction, his eyes actually meet yours. They look bluer than usual. Blue, like the clear bright pools along the Cabo coast from your senior year graduation trip. “Would it change your mind if I said I did?”

You don’t like the way your heart feels in your chest at the possibility. It goes against everything you’ve ever wanted to feel, everything you’ve coached yourself into thinking, believing it’s easier if you just stop trying. But you’re too proud to be a hypocrite, even in front of the man you’d tell almost anything to. “No. Of course it wouldn’t. But I am interested, if you do know.”

His smile is tight and resigned, but there’s something else behind his eyes that you can’t put your finger on. “I don’t know, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“I guess.” His answer and his reaction don’t exactly match up, but Bucky is like that sometimes. “Now, some privacy, please.”

Bucky steps back, holding his hands up, settling back in his position against the wall. There is something off about him and he desperately tries to pretend that there isn’t, smiling like the last few minutes have been totally normal and not tinged with unease. You pull the curtain closed, letting the dress drop so the fabric pools at your feet. You turn so you can see your back in the mirror, the bare skin and freckles and the mark, like an inkstain, flecked on your flesh like a careless afterthought.

The universe was careless when it created soulmates. They cause more pain, more emptiness, than if they didn’t exist at all. The love is supposed to be exuberant and effervescent. But the loss—the loss stings like a bitch.

It’s a good job you have no interest in finding your own.

-

You remember the exact day you met Bucky for the first time. It’s easy to remember, because your first time turning up to a support group for royally fucked-up individuals is not a day you easily forget. He was riddled with war trauma. You were dealing awfully with the death of your older brother. The two circumstances don’t really interlink, but you found yourself drawn to him anyway, because he was quiet and reserved and emotionally vulnerable and you were (are) loud and blunt and also emotionally vulnerable. He was the only one who laughed when you told the other startled members of the group that you were sad when the bus that almost hit your bike didn’t kill you that morning.

Ever since then, you’d become kind of inseparable. He’s your partner in crime. He’d put his whole life on hold to help you. You’re also both pretty good at getting the other to remember to take their meds, as both of you care for others way more than you’ve ever done yourselves. Moving in to an apartment together just made sense.

(It also meant that it stopped your sister from worrying about you, his sister from worrying about him, and Steve from worrying about you both. That being said, Steve might as well be your honorary third roommate, he’s round here that much.)

You’ve rented your little place in Brooklyn for about two years now, just about managing to pay the rent between your two salaries (and the remnants of Bucky’s military pension). It’s pretty modest—two small bedrooms, a kitchen, a living space, one bathroom. You’re genuinely surprised that you’ve not accidentally seen each other naked before; the towel-wrapped walk from the only bathroom to either of your bedrooms is barely a few steps which, honestly, you’ve made a dash for totally nude in the past.

But you’re happy, which is saying something. Living with Bucky is a pretty sweet gig. For the first time in a long time, you feel like you’ve settled into something comfortable. Manageable. You won’t change, Bucky won’t change, and it will always stay that easy forever.

You say that into the mirror almost every morning as reassurance. You know it’s unhealthy, because as soon as Bucky finds someone (even his someone) he’ll be out of here and you won’t begrudge him his everlasting happiness. Even if it breaks your heart every time you look in the same mirror and see your smile not quite reaching your eyes.

The thought of you leaving him doesn’t even cross your mind, not really, because your love life is a tragic, warped car crash of a thing that is not aided by the presence of a soul mark. That is—that is, until the first letter arrives. Stamped, addressed, in a pretty blue envelope covered in biro-sketched garden birds and roses, stashed between utility bills and bank statements and a flyer for the pop-up ice rink coming to town in a few weeks. You would have missed it, if it hadn’t fluttered to the floor like a twirling autumn leaf while you were emptying yours and Bucky’s mailbox.

Brows furrowed, you’d teared into it carefully at the kitchen table. Inside is a note on matching blue paper, covered in capitalised handwriting, like the sender is deliberately trying to hide their real hand.

It reads a singular quote from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair:

It is better to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.

“Huh,” you say to yourself, reading the lines over and over again. It’s a love letter. Or a love quote, rather, addressed and posted to you. Someone has written you a freaking love letter.

“You look…perturbed,” Bucky says, snapping you out of your reverie. He’s just come out of the shower, his hair wet and messy, dressed in a clean t shirt and jeans. He glances over at you as he grabs a carton of milk from the fridge, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig from it.

You roll your eyes. You hate it when he does that, and he knows it. “I’m perturbed that you’re drinking communal milk like that, yeah.”

He sticks his tongue out at you and you respond by sweetly offering your middle finger.

“God, you’re so mean.” Bucky says, before gesturing nonchalantly at the paper you’re holding. “What are you reading?”

You quickly fold the precious blue paper and tuck it out of his eyesight below the table, even though you’re pretty sure he caught it in his periphery. You tell Bucky everything. It’s like—one of your rules, but this feels precious, private. For now. Bucky would be intrigued, wanting to find out the sender. In a world dominated by soulmate searching deeming any other sort of romantic interaction futile, this feels special. Arguably, you’re also interested in the sender of this snippet of romance—if this had happened to anyone else you might have thought it a bit creepy, but there’s just something about how delicate the paper is, the masking of the hand, that makes you think otherwise—but now… Now it feels like someone is interested in you regardless of the mark on your back.

You’ll take this moment, revel in it for a while. Maybe this is some weird joke for somebody, maybe it’s someone you do know, maybe it’s absolutely anything. But it’s nice to think that someone loves you foolishly.

You smile tightly, offering up one of the many unopened bills in their tidy brown envelopes. “It’s our favourite time of the month.”

If Bucky did see the letter you’re hiding, he doesn’t react or push you. Instead, he gives you a pained expression, dropping two slices of white bread into the toaster and pouring some coffee into a mug. “That reminds me. It’s Sam’s housewarming thing tonight. You going?”

“I think Sam might hunt me down and kill me if I don’t. He needs the numbers to prove to his neighbours he’s a popular dude.”

Bucky laughs, bringing the stripy mug to his lips. He winces as the hot coffee burns his tongue. “I’m under the impression the girl across the hall from him is a bit of a hottie.”

“God, imagine if they’re soulmates,” you remark, “That would be a rom-com in the making.”

“I’m pretty sure that is already a rom-com, (Y/N), and I thought you were all cynical and way above all that anyway.”

You raise a firm, solitary eyebrow, and he mirrors a look he’s all too familiar with by now. “I am. Smart ass. It was just a comment.”

Bucky’s grinning. He grins quite a lot for someone so awfully sad inside. “One minute I’m a dumb ass, the next I’m a smart ass. Don’t know where I stand with you half the time.”

“I like to keep you on your toes,” you tease, before jumping off your bar stool, note burrowed deep within your palm. You can feel his eyes on your back as you walk out of the kitchen and back to your room, leaving him stood barefoot by the kettle.

You will tell him about the letter, at some point, because you want to know what he’d say. You want to share it with him, even though he’d probably say it was stupid and weird because, factually, it is. But you’re happy being a disingenuous fraud who won’t take their own logic for just a little longer. You’re happy being someone’s favourite literary creation for one, two, three, four seconds. You’re happy knowing for half a moment, someone thought of you long enough to send you a letter.

There’s nothing special about you, and there never will be. But right now, following the ink with your fingertip, you feel like maybe there could be. Someone thinks there could be.

[russellacali]

What is Empowerment Technologies?

This blog, Empowerment Technologies, is an insight into what I have learned on our lessons about Empowerment Technologies: ICT for Professional Tracks, for 11th grade, under the teaching of Miss Shaira Denise Dela Cruz. The goal of this blog is to promote ICT and give you some insight into ICT

The first lesson that was discussed was, what is ICT? ICT is the abbreviation for Information and Communication Technologies. It refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications such as mobile phones, wireless networks, telephones, and other communication mediums. The current state of ICT is WWW or World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web(WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system where documents and other web resources are identified by Uniform Resource Locators, which may be interlinked by hypertext, and are accessible over the Internet. It has three versions which are Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0. Web 1.0 is the first version and most web pages were static or “read-only web.” 

The second and most used is Web 2.0, which allows users to interact and contribute with the page instead of just reading a page, the users are able to create a user account. Web 2.0 offers us five features: Folksonomy, Rich User Experience, Long Tail, User Participation, and software as a service.

The last is Web 3.0. Its aim is to have machines understand the user’s preference to be able to deliver web content specifically targeting the user. Web 3.0 hasn’t released yet as it still has some problems. Those problems are compatibility, security, vastness, vagueness, and logic.

Moving on to the next lesson which is all about ‘Online Saftey, security, ethics, and etiquette.’ 

The Internet consists of tens of thousands of interconnected networks run by service providers, individual companies, universities, and governments. It is defined as an information highway, which means anyone can access any information through the internet. That is why the internet is one of the most dangerous places, the reason why it is important how to keep yourself and your personal information safe. Some of the information that is in rick when spoiled on the internet are names of your immediate family, address, phone or home number, birthday, email address, your full name, and your previous and current school. It is important to keep this information top secret as cyber-creeps can use these to find you. 

To keep yourself safe:

Be mindful of what you share online.

Do not just accept terms and conditions, read it.

Keep your passwords to yourself, and make sure your password is long, strong, and unique.

Do not talk or meet up with someone you don’t know.

Never post anything about a future vacation. This can signal some robbers about which date they can come and rob your house. It is better to post about your vacation when you got home already.

Add friends you know in real life, don’t accept someone you barely know or met.

Avoid visiting or downloading anything from an untrusted website, make sure to check the icon beside the search box. *picture* According to DigiCert Blog, “How to Know if a Website is Secure?”, Look at the URL of the website. If it begins with “https” instead of “http” it means the site is secured using an SSL certificate (the s stands for secure). SSL certificates secure all of your data as it is passed from your browser to the website’s server.

Make your home wifi private by adding a password.

Make sure to install and update antivirus software on your computer.

Do not reply or check links from suspicious emails as it can lead you to an untrusted site and can hack your laptop or social media.

To give you more information, here are some of the internet threats that we need to be aware of and try to avoid:

The Malware, stands for malicious software. It includes virus, worm, trojan, spyware, adware, and ransomware. The virus is the most common malware. It is a malicious program designed to replicate itself and transfer from one computer to another (internet, local networks, FDs, CDs,etc.). Worms is a standalone piece of malicious software that reproduces itself and spreads from computer to computer. The trojan is a malicious program that disguises as a useful program but once downloaded or installed, leaves your PC unprotected and allows hackers to get your information. Spyware is defined by Webroot Cybersecurity as "malware used for the purpose of secretly gathering data on an unsuspecting user." It is a program that runs in the background and spies your behavior as you are on your computer. Adware is malware that forces your browser to redirect to web advertisements, which often themselves seek to download further, even more, malicious software. Lastly, Ransomware, also known as scareware. This is a type of malicious software from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim’s data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid.

The Spam, this is any kind of unwanted, unsolicited digital communication, often an email, that gets sent out in bulk.

The Phishing, is a cybercrime in which a target/s are contacted by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.

Lastly, before we move to the next lesson it is important to know ‘The Core Rules of Netiquette’ are excerpted from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea.

First, Remember the Human.When communicating online, practice the Golden rule:  Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Remember that your written works or messages are read by real people, therefore you should ask yourself, "Would I be okay with this if someone else had written it?" before sending it. 

Second, Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life. It is a must that your best to act within the laws and ethical manners of society whenever you inhabit "cyberspace." Standards of behavior may be different in some areas of cyberspace, but they are not lower than in real life. Be ethical. Don't believe anyone who says, "The only ethics out there are what you can get away with."  

Third, Know where you are in cyberspace. What's perfectly acceptable in one area may be dreadfully rude in another. And because Netiquette is different in different places, it's important to know where you are. Thus the next corollary: Lurk before you leap.

Fourth, Respect other people’s time and bandwidth. Online communication takes time: time to read and time in which to respond. Most people today lead busy lives, just like you do, and don't have time to read or respond to frivolous emails or discussion posts. It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.

Fifth, Make yourself look good online. One of the best things about the virtual world is the lack of judgment associated with your physical appearance, the sound of your voice, or the clothes you wear. However, you will be judged by the quality of your writing so keep in mind the following tips: (1)Always check for spelling and grammar errors, (2)  Know what you're talking about and state it clearly

Sixth, Share expert knowledge. The reason for asking questions online works is that a lot of knowledgeable people are reading the questions. And if even a few of them offer intelligent answers, the sum total of world knowledge increases. The Internet itself was founded and grew because scientists wanted to share information. Gradually, the rest of us got in on the act. So do your part. Despite the long lists of no-no's in this book, you do have something to offer. Don't be afraid to share what you know.

Seventh, Help keep flame wars under control. "Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion.g. While "flaming" is not necessarily forbidden in virtual communication, "flame wars," when two or three people exchange angry posts between one another, must be controlled or the camaraderie of the group could be compromised. Don't feed the flames; extinguish them by guiding the discussion back to a more productive direction.

Eighth, Respect other people’s privacy. Depending on what you are reading in the virtual world, be it an online class discussion forum, Facebook page, or an email, you may be exposed to some private or personal information that needs to be handled with care. Thus, Just as you expect others to respect your privacy, so should you respect the privacy of others. Be sure to err on the side of caution when deciding to discuss or not to discuss virtual communication.

Ninth, Don’t abuse your power. Some people in cyberspace have more power than others. There are wizards in MUDs (multi-user dungeons), experts in every office, and system administrators in every system. Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give you the right to take advantage of them. For example, sysadmins should never read private emails.

Tenth, Be forgiving of other people’s mistakes. Everyone was a network newbie once. So when someone makes a mistake, whether it's a spelling error or a spelling flame, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer, be kind about it. If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferably by private email rather than in public. Give people the benefit of the doubt; assume they just don't know any better.

The last lesson that was taught to us is ‘Advanced Word Processing Skill’. This lesson focuses on the software word processor the ‘Microsoft Word.’

A Word Processor is an electronic device or computer software application that performs the task of composing, editing, formatting,  and printing of documents.​

Microsoft Word is a word processor developed by  Microsoft and the first released on  October 25, 1983.​ Microsoft Word has features and functions which are not mostly known by others. These are the Auto-Correct, Grammar Checker, Read Aloud, Template, Thesaurus, Mail Merge, and Text Wrap. 

Advance Features of Microsoft Word are discussed. Beginning with the kinds of Materials we can have in Microsoft Word.

The first is Pictures. Generally, these are electronic or digital pictures or photographs you have saved on any local storage device.​ There are three file formats that pictures have which are JPEG or Joint Photographic Expert Group, this can support 16.7 million colors so that it is suitable for use when working with full-color photographic images, GIF or Graphics Interchange Format, this is used for computer-generated images that support animation,  can only support up to 256 colors., lastly, PNG or Portable Network Graphics, this is similar to GIF except it has smaller file size but does not support animation, it can display up to 16 million colors and allows the control of the transparency level or opacity of images.​

The second material is Clip Art. This is generally a GIF type; line art drawings or images used as a generic representation for ideas and objects that you might want to integrate into your document.​

The third is Shapes. These are printable objects or materials that you can integrate in your document to enhance its appearance or to allow you to have some tools to use for composing and representing ideas or messages. The fourth is Smart Art. Generally, these are predefined sets of different shapes grouped together to form ideas that are organizational or structural in nature.

The fifth is Chart. Another type of material that you can integrate into your Word document that allows you to represent data characteristics and trends.

The sixth is Screenshot. Sometimes, creating reports or manuals for training or  procedure will require the integration of a more realistic image of  what you are discussing on your report or manual.

Moving on to the most focused part of the lesson which is the Mail Merge. Mail Merge is a useful tool that allows you to produce multiple letters, labels, envelopes, name tags, and more using information stored in a list, database, or spreadsheet. When these two documents are combined  (merged), each document includes the individual names and addresses you need to send it to. The two components of Mail Merge are the Form Document, this contains the main body of the message we want to convey or send., and the List or Data File, This is where the individual information or data that needs to be plugged in (merged) to our form document is placed and maintained.​

It was demonstrated to us, how to use and make mail merge, and here’s mine:

Before ending this blog, I would like to show you some of my modules for the subject Empowerment Technologies(ETech): ICT for Professional Track.

First, the open forum about the “How can you promote Netiquette?”

Second, an assignment about “Cyberspace:  Share an experience that you have always tend to do but later did you discover that it is not a standard of ONLINE SAFETY, SECURITY, ETHICS, AND ETIQUETTE. “

Third, another open forum about “What is the importance of Microsoft office in your education?”

Lastly is another assignment, making an Infographic: Promoting your specific track/strand. My infographic is a promotion of my strand, STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Hope you learn a lot from this blog as I learn a lot from my subject teacher for  Empowerment Technologies(ETech): ICT for Professional Track. 

Let this day be filled with success in all the ventures you make today. Have a great day!

Photo Credits:

1

https://curatti.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/WWW-Image-1.jpg 

2

https://go4customer.com/articleimages/1581925569Safety_Internet_Day.png 

3 

https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/internet_attacks.jpg 

4

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fc/37/e1/fc37e162244d19115d88ab58e07ccc2b.png 

5

https://cdn.guidingtech.com/imager/assets/2019/05/226896/Image-Best-Microsoft-Word-Online-Tips-and-Tricks 2_4d470f76dc99e18ad75087b1b8410ea9.png?1558678050 

[galaksikadar]

Ovarian Cysts Side Effects

The side impacts of ovarian cysts incorporate extreme seeping at the hour of monthly cycle, blood from vagina, pain in the breasts and pelvis and that's only the tip of the iceberg. We should investigate these different side impacts:

Substantial seeping at the hour of monthly cycle

The chance of more blood stream at the hour of feminine cycle increments after an ovarian cyst medical procedure. The main period after the medical procedure may happen following a few months of the medical procedure. In different cases, it can take a more drawn out time. There is an expansion in feminine blood stream after a medical procedure from the pre-medical procedure state. There have been reports of certain women getting post-medical procedure periods following ten days of the first.

Vaginal dying

Unexpected seeping in women consistently causes concern and it ought to consistently be considered perilous. Aside from regular monthly cycle or an infrequent hefty period, some other abnormality can spell risk. It is important to comprehend the exact explanation for any abnormal dying. The cause of the blood ought to likewise be painstakingly examined. Blood may start from the uterus or an organ tissue. It is simply after an away from of the root of draining that measures to control and stop it ought to be settled on. Vaginal draining can be of a lethal sort and needs critical consideration.

Generally, an exemplary monthly cycle traverses 28 days. One can keep an edge of seven days. The time frame itself can last between two to seven days. The volume of blood and fluid released in an ordinary period is roughly 5 table spoons. This likens to around 8 or less doused cushions every day. The quantity of days when weighty release is enrolled ought not be more than 2. In the event that draining is still seen from the vagina after a period is finished, it might be called an abnormal or broken Uterine Bleeding. It is when there must be consideration on if the ovarian cyst exists. At times, entanglements during the time spent the hormone that starts the cycle of period and it increments to such an extent that it results in a total unevenness in progesterone and estrogen levels. This makes the body over produce the uterine progression of blood, which thus prompts an expansion in seeping from the vagina. Such inconveniences emerge because of the presence of ovarian cysts.

Vaginal draining has a double nature - it is one of the side-impacts of ovarian cysts and furthermore a symptom. When vaginal draining is seen, it is important to monitor it as it will help colossally in seeing how genuine the ovarian cyst is. In the event that blood is seen to spill out of the vagina now and again when the lady isn't in the period, earnest clinical consideration ought to be looked for. It might well demonstrate the presence of cysts in the ovary. Early consideration will help in determination and treatment, and appropriate medicine can be recommended before the circumstance deteriorates. One ought to consistently recollect that relying upon the holistic framework is the best choice.

Breast pain

Any pain in the breasts ought to be paid attention to. Delicacy in the breasts ought not be overlooked, as well. These conditions, whenever overlooked, can prompt intense outcomes, for example, ovarian cysts. Breast pain that emerges from ovarian cysts starts by causing them to get progressively delicate as every day passes. A brief finding is emphatically suggested under such conditions. Else, it will prompt further crumbling and inconveniences. The underlying delicacy prompts pain in the breasts. There can likewise be an extreme lopsidedness in hormone levels in the body. The estrogens' discharge connects breast pain and ovarian cysts. It is important to take restorative measures against ovarian cysts, as they will automatically deal with the breast pain. Whenever left untreated, it might even prompt breast malignancy!

Pelvic pain

Ovarian cysts influences copulatory organ in women. All things considered, they happen both because of treatment and its absence. It is accordingly normal that ovarian cysts are joined by pelvic pain. Pelvis remains the most noticeably terrible influenced part of the body. In managing ovarian cysts, the pelvis bears the whole weight and in this manner, is seriously affected. It is in this manner unnecessary to stretch the significance of taking most extreme consideration to fix pelvic pain resulting from ovarian cysts.

The holistic methodology

All the side impacts of ovarian cysts that have been examined so far are connected and interlinked. The best method of fighting ovarian cysts is by embracing the holistic framework which thoroughly focuses on generally speaking wellbeing improvement and prosperity using mysticism just as reasoning. As history has indicated us over and over, it is in every case better to begin at the exceptionally essential. What's more, this is the thing that holistic framework is about. In the event that one constantly follows the holistic methodology in restoring cysts, the side-impacts can be handily deflected.

The holistic methodology really is a methodology that verges on eternality. It fixes ovarian cysts in an individual, yet additionally builds up an uplifting demeanor forever. With the holistic methodology, one will never need to think back again. It will appear as though a supernatural occurrence to understand that none of the side impacts of ovarian cyst has truly contacted you and you are now headed to finish recuperation.