#or to imply something else that is a combination or its own meaning from it?

[aria0fgold]

The nickname "Sunshine" is so commonly used yet I never get tired of it cuz it's just so poetic in its own way, it can imply so many things and I love it so much. Just imagine...

You are warm like the sun, bright like its rays. You burn so intensely with a light that brings life yet you destroy yourself at the same time.

You are life yet you bring upon death. You are what keeps me alive yet you are what destroys me just as you do to yourself. But even then I stay, gazing upon you like a sunflower that cannot look away.

You are the sun, and I am Icarus captivated by your warmth, blinded by your light. My wings set ablaze upon your touch and even as I fall to my death, I still love you all the same.

[minggukieology]

"Jimin and Jungkook's casualness isn't anything out of the ordinary but is still surprising"

'지�� (Jimin) Choreography Practice Sketch' write-up ✍️

Among Jimin's gruesome practice sessions and strict work ethics leading up to Face promotions, we were given a peak into a few moments out of Jungkook's visit on day 2.

What struck me (and even k-armys) is that they didn't even bother to pretend to be formal in front of the staff and camera + crew, which just goes to show how long gone are their age barriers in communication and behavior. Once again I know we are all well aware of this development between them, however it is still a bit surprising seeing that happen in front of strangers- especially at their workplace and during work, which is a formal setting. The significance of this may appear minimal to you but in Korean culture, the way you talk to someone but also what you discuss and how you phrase it is highly influenced by the age hierarchy. Allowing someone speak to you informally (even in the public or formal settings) means they now have the same rank as you and their word is thus referred to/significant on the same level as yours and they can express things way more directly. In a highly hierarchical culture with a strong respect for authority (or anyone above) this presents a disruption in an embedded way of thought and behavior that is in the minds of all Koreans from the very early age. 반말 (banmal) of course does happen among many people even those who are not 친구 (friends- meaning people born in the same year) but it is not something that is just expected automatically and in any social setting. (I am excluding family ties here)

Thus, what the international audience may see and perceive only reading the translated subs:

"Ah cool, Jungkook came and supported Jimin"

What the Korean audience (or anyone with just a little knowledge of the language and culture) sees and perceives:

"Oh wow they are speaking informally so naturally to each other, they seem so close"

JK: "I'll cheer for/ support (you)"

(*said in a form that implies promise to someone for the future, informal tone)

JM: "Come again"

(*said as an informal command or request)

Other fav moments:

JK: "Noo, do it once (for me)!"

(*주다 on its own means to give, gift someone something; in combination with other verbs like 하다 (to do) it implies doing something for someone; the most accurate but weird way in English to translate would be: "give a doing" Here Jungkook commands/requests Jimin to do the dance for him in an informal tone which sounds veeery casual, especially considering the dancers nearby 🫣)

JK: "It's awesome/ You're awesome"

(*Again informal tone, the pronouns are not stated therefore both you/it could be inserted)

JK: "Will be cheering (for you), myself"

(Informal tone, said in a form that implies promise to someone for the future + Jungkook added 내가 at the end of the sentence to emphasize he personally will be cheering/supporting Jimin on. Reminder- Korean sentences don't need pronouns, therefore you can tell he used it for added emphasis)

All in all, Jungkook didn't use the formal level a single time besides when he was leaving and told Jimin + everyone else in the room to "take care" (수고하세요).

Finally, to anyone trying to use Jungkook's informal "nope" to Jimin's direct requests to get his ass over there more frequently probably didn't catch just how """seriously""" both of them were taking that convo, as you can see from Jungkook's smirk hidden under the mask ㅋㅋ

Also just how long were they teasing and saying bye to each other if there is a cut and suddenly Jungkook is standing on the other side, still saying bye and holding hands with Jimin? 😆

This short edit of Jungkook's appearance tells a lot about their dynamic and reassures everyone that can perceive the tone of their closeness. I'm glad we could see a little bit of it in this video!

[another-lost-mc]

OMG THE ZEE FIC!! There's just something about yandere demon ocs that make me feral 🤭

Oh no, handsome demons being obsessed with you~

If the demon brothers and side characters can be a little sketchy, so can the OCs.

cw: yandere-ish themes and behaviours including stalking, implied violence and non-con magic/drugging to influence mc.

Karasu shares Levi's brand of obsessive jealousy and desire, easily concealed by his impressive connections and his naturally shy, passive demeanor. Being a social introvert has its advantages, after all. The amount of information as his disposal through the technology he created makes it easy for him to observe MC safely from a distance while gathering information about anyone else who attempts to get close to them.

Zee would be similar to Lucifer or Barbatos I think. Smart enough to know how much he can get away with, and he has enough restraint not to draw attention to himself in the process. Plus, like the other two demons, Zee has his own little tricks and conspirators that naturally help him avoid detection while keeping tabs on MC.

Azra and Belial are infatuation-at-first-sight types, where Azra is more jealous and Belial is more possessive when it comes to their love interests. Unfortunately, they both have poor impulse control and rely on their trusted associates (Zee for Azra, Shaitan for Belial) to keep things from getting out of hand and help them clean up any messes along the way. They're a weird combination of Mammon, Satan, and Asmo when it comes to their very boisterous affections for MC (and barely-restrained anger at anyone who gets in their way).

Tenebris has Solomon's magical tricks and Diavolo's nearly untouchable privilege. He's less inclined to use magic on MC, instead choosing to use whatever means necessary to quietly chase away or dispose of his competition. There's probably no surprise that he feels confident about escaping any real repercussions should his actions be discovered - his brother's not going to punish him the way he might any other demon (and if Diavolo is secretly taking part in the scheme, who could blame him, it's a fair compromise they both benefit from).

Simeon and the angel OCs have their sweet faces, pleasant personalities and natural charisma to help lure MC into their grasp. They're the wolves in sheep's clothing that stalk the tasty morsels in the flock. And what's even better - or worse, depending who you ask - is that many of the angels are willing to cooperate.

Metatron and Asmo will seem similar with their bubbly cheerfulness and how touchy-feely they are in MC's personal space.

Seraphiel, Gabriel and Uriel will seem similar to Lucifer or Satan with their calm, methodical approach to dealing with obstacles (and the incensed frustrations they hide behind sweet smiles, resolved later with sharp blades and split knuckles behind closed doors).

Habuhiah has Solomon's brilliance and Beel's warm, protective demeanor. She is calm and reliable, using her knowledge of magic and herbs to create to sweeten MC's affections for her and no one else. She spends most of her time working alone and far away from the Celestial Halls, and when MC visits, it's the perfect excuse to spend time together where the other angels are less likely to interfere.

[hunterthegrimwalker]

I think I've cracked the mystery of the red soul's trait...(yes really)

It's been years since the community is debating about the Red soul's real trait, since it's one of the game's biggest mysteries left intentionally up to the player interpretation. The most popular contender being of course determination despite the lack of evidences. However, after years of pondering, I think I might be into something thanks to my findings. Let's not look further than the only place that's supposed to reveal us every soul trait, aka the Ball Game.

The first message we get by interacting with this game is:

Curious how the only word that's written in red in the whole neutral/pacifist run (in narration i mean, not dialogues) is in a context where different color typing plays a crucial role in revealing every soul's trait. That's not the only thing that stands out with its typing. The word is capitalized just like all other traits:

It's also written in quotation marks, as if it is not supposed to be a literal hole or a metaphor for something else within the context of the Ball Game.

And finally, all of these specificities are gone once you exhaust the Snowdin's kill count and can't play the Ball Game anymore:

This strongly suggests that all typing specifities I've mentioned before are directly tied to the Ball Game alone, hence why they're gone when the game can't be played. It all feels too deliberate to be a coincidence, so it's likely supposed to be connected to the red soul's trait.

Hole is emptiness, which means that hole symbolizes the absence of trait, which more likely than not means that the red soul is the one every human is born with before developing their trait through experience. It's also interesting how Frisk pulls a flag from said "hole" by using different methods to win, as if they were pulling a trait from their soul by using different tactics to reach their goal. As if it symbolized how Frisk develops their personality using different tactics to reach their goal. Speaking of which, let's analyze the second word written in red in the ball game:

It's undeniable that the use of red text here is directly tied to the red soul as you get the message when you get the red flag, supposed to represent the red soul. "Ball Game" also has the same exact typing specifities as the "Hole" (capitalization and quotation marks). So "Ball Game" is very likely also supposed to symbolize the red trait that Frisk get by using the six other traits. Of course, Frisk doesn't get their trait just by playing a mini game but it works as a metaphor for Frisk's journey in the underground. They start as a little kid who's still figuring their identity and develop one throughout their journey in the underground. One that's not restricted to a single trait but is a combination of all these traits (I guess it only the case for Pacifist route since it's the true ending). So the red text for "Ball Game" either means Frisk's trait turns into a combination of all the 6 traits since they're parts of the game or that the entire Ball Game was supposed to symbolize Frisk's journey of figuring out their identity as it's implied by the second red flag's message:

It's important to note that Frisk only gets this message AFTER "winning" the Ball Game and getting the red flag for the first time, so it likely means Frisk already "developed their own identity", so all they do by getting the second red flag (which became their final trait) is to continue being themselves.

Here some other interesting facts. First, the wording for the first red flag's message make it feel like a much more definitive victory ("you were able to win at "Ball Game") compared to messages for the rest of the flags:

There's no sense of definitive victory unlike the message that Frisk gets when they get the red flag, heavily implying that the goal of the Ball Game was to symbolize Frisk's journey to develop their own identity. It's also suggested by fact that getting the red flag the first time gives you the highest award and is the most difficult flag to get.

It all ties way too beautifully for it all to be simple coincidences, especially given Frisk's role as our controllable protagonist with an ambiguous personality, appearance and expression. Dunno what you think of this little theory of mine but I'm 100% convinced that all it was deliberate as it fits just seamlessly. But to each their own, I guess.

[talon-dragonbeast]

Can I ask abt your dragon lore? lol. I mean like. more about your species? can they talk, are they sapient, behaviors, temperament, biology, etc. If u want to share! I just thought it would be fun to ask and I love learning abt how others experience dragonness. I was also curious abt how u awakened as a dragon? I’m questioning currently

yes!! sorry for taking so long to answer, but to be fair its a question which required a pretty in-depth answer lol. so here we go!

my species of dragon has similarities to both reptiles and birds (and a little bit of mammal too). im a reptile because im cold-blooded, have scales over most of my body, spines running from head to tail, big shield plates on my neck and chest, eyes with sliced pupils, a long strong tail, and my claws and teeth are similar to those of crocodiles. im similar to a bird cause i have feathers on my wings, my mouth resembles a beak in shape, i have bird behaviors like nesting, and my body is built for flying and thus pretty aerodynamic. and finally, i say im a bit mammalian bc ive got ears and horns, and bc of the general shape of my body, being quadrupedal and semi-digitigrade (my front legs are plantigrade, while my back ones are digitigrade), with long limbs and strong bones, and because i can make sounds like growls or roars that sound a bit like those of big cats.

i cant talk as a dragon and my species doesnt have a language, cant use tools and cant understand human words. im basically a very intelligent animal, like a crow. my species does have a society, but we're very solitary beings so its pretty rudimentary. we raise our young communally, and once they reach maturity they are encouraged to leave the nest and find their own territory. we have Roles which are our version of genders in humans, but instead of tied to a biological sex theyre more about your place in society. so for example, there are Protectors (who have a territory that they guard, typically associated to more solitary dragons like myself), Providers (primarily hunters, they bring resources for their mate or dragonets; very nomadic) and Carers (theyre by far the most social role; as the name implies, they are the primary carers of our young, but they also keep balance in a community). sex or gender arent that important to my species, but we do mate for life.

im an omnivore, my diet consists mainly on meat, fish, and fruits, but i can eat functionally anything (except straight-up leaves, which i cant digest). im primarily a predator and a hunter, but i also forage a lot of my food. im agressive as a dragon, so that combined with being very intelligent makes me pretty dangerous to both humans and other animals.

hmm, what else... oh! i can breathe fire! its not like in most depictions of dragons though, in which theyre used as a perfectly functional flamethrower; i cant really project it or aim it at anything, it only goes as far as i can blow it. i dont exactly know how it works, but from the way my instincts tell me to just blow in a specific way to produce it, i can guess its like a gland or something that contains very flammable gas, that when it comes in contact with oxygen it catches fire.

as for how i awakened as a dragon, i realized first that i was nonhuman in some way (like i viewed myself as not human, but wasnt sure what species i was yet) because i felt wings on my back since i was very young. first i googled "phantom wings on your back?" and came across the word otherkin in a very old blog run by a spiritual dragonkin. upon seeing that there were others like me who felt phantom limbs and saw themselves as not human, i began questioning my species. i thought i was a crow at first because of the wings, but i tried on the label and it felt just wrong, so i thought i wasnt nonhuman after all. i basically dropped everything entirely for a few months, but the wings i felt on my back were getting stronger and stronger, and on top of that i also started feeling other things like claws and sharp teeth. so for the entire summer i tried on different species to see what fit: avian (bc of the wings), angelkin (i immediately dropped this one bc religion makes me very uncomfortable lmao), harpy (bc of the combination of wings+claws+teeth, but it wasnt quite right), monsterkin (felt weird to call myself a monster), and finally in a fit of inspiration i had a random thought: "what if im a dragon?"

i immediately got a rush of euphoria from the thought alone. this hadnt happened with any of the other labels, so i decided to start exploring it a bit more. the phantom limbs i felt matched those of a dragon (though the feathered wings threw me off a bit), i had very draconic behaviors like hoarding, liking shiny objects, flying urges, instincts get to high places, etc. and most importantly, it felt so good to call myself a dragon. like i could see myself as a dragon perfectly, i could imagine what i would be like as a dragon, i could do dragon behaviors almost effortlessly. being a dragon never felt like i was acting or putting on a mask, it didnt feel like i was "forcing" myself to be that way; it just felt natural, like i was always this way. thats what finally made me start identifying as dragonkin i think: the easiness of it all.

good luck on your questioning journey! i know it can be hard to find out what species you are, but remember to not overthink it too much! it can be tempting to start analyzing absolutely everything about yourself in hopes of finding your species, but overdoing it can cause you to lose yourself in the process. take it easy and remember to follow what feels right to you, without worrying about what others might say or do. this is your journey, not anyone else's!

[lunavagans]

Decided to overhaul my Cult of the Lamb!AU because I started playing the game again. Scratch everything I‘ve written and drawn for it. I think I wanted to explain everything from the game so everyone kinda gets where I‘m coming from even if they don‘t know the game, but screw that.

Uhh I can‘t tell you to go play the game and then come back even though you‘ll probably understand the parallels only then, but like. I only go over what I deem relevant for the characters and the main gist stays faithful (hah) to canon. If you‘re fine with confusion, go off and go forward. Or don‘t, I won‘t know.

Genuine question, though: Do I tag this as Cult of the Lamb?? Is that a thing one does with AUs?

Trigger warnings: descriptions of gore, violence, death and injuries; drugging en masse that‘s implied to be at best dubiously consensual; general cult manipulation; vague description of war between multiple cults; a mention of cannibalism; vaguely referencing eggs and generally reproduction once; mild swearing that‘s not necessary but I choose to

MAIN CHARACTERS

Zelda

A feathered creature created by Hylia as her servant. Now that Hylia is pretty much dead and gone, she still carries out her duties, since she sees the sense in them (to not increase destruction by letting just anybody use the treasures) and nobody else will do it.

Said duties are to guard a vault of the goddess full of weapons, crowns, tomes and other objects of divine origins. Zelda has created a small army of mechanical soldiers (because hey, why not) to protect it so she has a bit of free time for once, not to mention the spells surrounding it.

The vault is in a place called the Lost Woods, but Zelda‘s abode is actually at the entrance of it, both she can keep an eye on who enters them and so she can interact with the unfortunate souls that somehow find their way there. Her abode might be safe for them, but the rest of the world sure isn‘t.

Reads tarot crads to travellers and uses them to prophesize.

Basically a combination of Chemach and Clauneck.

The Crowns

Created by the first generation of gods that Hylia and Demise belonged to, but the means of their creation were lost. Zelda knows how to do them, but she refuses to tell anybody. It wouldn‘t work anyway, the tools for it don‘t exist anymore.

Speaking of Zelda, most crowns are currently either in her or a younger god’s possession.

Crowns are weapon, tool, pet and adviser in one. They grant power over living beings in various ways (ingame, the bishops only exert their power over your own followers and are never shown shaping the land or something. Makes me wonder if maybe the power of the older gods was absolute like that.)

Devotion seems to be the fuel for all but the most basic of functions, these basics functions being: morphing into weapons and tools at its owner‘s convenience.

As they seem to possess a sentience, they can also mimic living beings. However, they‘re mostly focused on self-preservation and don‘t really act on their own except in genuine danger, which is difficult to get into with the abilities given by the crowns.

They also give anybody who‘s ever had one immortality, mostly for my plot-plotting convenience, but you can also spin it that just ever having had something from the old gods leaves a literally eternal imprint on you.

Same thing with giving every character that owned a crown at some point animalistic traits because of the game, and no humans existing there, and I think it‘s fun. Not gonna go full furry route because I don‘t feel like it, but I do like the idea of crowns blurring the limits between mortal species in exchange for removing all mortal needs. Like yeah you will never go hungry again but goodbye to staying in one coherent form without concentrating.

I love unintentional and casual shapeshifting so much. Like, it‘s not even shifting anymore. It‘s passively drifting between the forms while you go about your day. That‘s the shit.

The Old Faith

Founded during the war after the disappearance of the original gods, with new ones with crowns granting them power. The origin of the founders, gods themselves, is said to be a sacrificial ritual gone wrong, not only not killing the sacrifice, but splitting it in four. What everybody thinks: these fragments, making use of their new godhood, eradicated the ones wanting to kill them and went on to found the Old Faith.

The part that nobody knows: said four fragments fled from the furious mob and found themselves in the Lost Woods. It was a pure coincidence that they survived the robots, the spells and eventually found themselves in a chamber with crowns that accepted (or rather took over) them.

In time, the Old Faith consumed most other cults and assumed the top of the hierarchy in the lands. Their territory is relatively peaceful by now, divided equally under each of the leaders, who each have roughly identical doctrines with only few differences.

Map with the regions here, but also because while Hyrule itself isn‘t named that anymore, I do want new names for the singular regions:

Green: Darkwood -> Faron // Blue: Anchordeep -> Ranelle // Red: Anura -> Death Mountain // Vio: Silkcradle -> Hebra

I changed up the order of the regions because it would make more sense if Shadow goes south to north instead of south and north and south and west again. Not like the game‘s dungeon order is strictly linear, anyway.

Green

Replaces Leshy as the God of Chaos. Instead of a plant worm thing, his animal inspo is now a moose, both because I associate deer with him and because moose are aggressive woodland creatures. Aggression, chaos, etc.

Though I‘d say he wields his title as a tool more than an actual aspect of himself. It helps him keep his cult in line, but he doesn‘t enjoy it for the sake of it.

Also had his eyes gouged out by Ganon. I‘m not going to be creative with the parallels, because they work well. See no evil and all that.

So the lighthouse cult stays pretty much the same. Not sure where they‘d get their boats from that need the lighthouse, but there‘s enough countries other than Hyrule to choose from.

Blue

Replaces Kallamar as God of Pestilence (and it doesn‘t even refer to his resting bitch face). Not a squid/octopus anymore because of personal preferences, but a shark now, specifically a dogshark, pretty much the only venomous sharks out there! They’re so awesome and fit the sickness theme.

I like to think he keeps the rows of teeth out.

Ears ripped off, check.

I feel like he‘d forever be miffed that he got a crown discouraging direct combat and suited more for biological warfare. Would‘ve been Vio‘s thing, but alas.

You meet Plimbo in Anchordeep, so I think it was Kallamar that kept the rivers safe for travel, which would make it Blue‘s responsibility to guard those. I think he‘d enjoy doing it himself every once in a while, instead of his more capable followers. After Red probably one of the more approachable gods, if you define approachable only by ‚you can see him doing his own thing‘.

Red

Replaces Heket as God of Hunger (not fear, though, that‘s a different game. Funger AU idea?). I went through such a process trying to find a good animal to replace toads with, and I think I got one. So, Heket threatens her followers with starvation. Where does food come from? Harvests (among other things). What animals can destroy harvests? Rats, rabbits, birds, insects; generally anything considered a pest. I like the idea of Red reenacting Hitchcock‘s The Birds when things don‘t go his way with the cult, so bird it is.

Throat ripped out again, yup.

Okay, I wanna talk about menticide mushrooms. Red definitely uses them to keep everyone complacent. They can‘t complain and start a riot if they aren‘t even capable of orienting themselves. Only an emergency measure, of course. Most times.

No the ingame crown isn‘t yellow. What are you talking about. It‘s clearly red. (No but seriously I can‘t just rename Red so now I have to find a new name for Ganon‘s/Shadow‘s crown jfc-)

Since I‘m replacing Sozo with Tingle, I thought about wether to replace the mushrooms with fairies, but I figured I‘d only do so when they‘re for Tingle‘s requests. Everybody can do mushrooms, but there can only be one fairy eater! Smth like that.

Vio

Replaces Shamura as God of War and Wisdom (why do they get two things, anyway?). I originally wanted to keep the spider aspect because I do vibe with that, but after failing to draw the other four arms for his design, I switched to snake. They‘re both ambush predators, there‘s some level of consistency, though I might just change it again. A spider just fits so damn well. Also, I feel a bit guilty putting a snake on a snowy mountain. Do spiders fare better with cold? I don‘t actually know.

The cracked skull is also carried over, and since the ramifications are apparently more severe with Shamura than their siblings (at least while they‘re still gods), I thought a bit more about what exactly they might be. Ingame dialogue suggests that it‘s mostly their short term memory that‘s fucked (I think they talk about anything before Narinder clearly?), so their ability to strategise would be, too. Same with Vio.

The other three would also be a bit more protective of him on account of, well, one of his biggest assets being gone. He still puts up one hell of a fight when Shadow gets to him, though; not that it matters.

I feel like I should write something about the tons of eggs in Silkcradle and how I could translate that into the AU. I don‘t know what, though. Jokes about the ingame mating tent, probably. I understand, Vio, I also use that for easy follower production. No shade thrown here.

So, I have no idea who to make Midas. Like, there‘s Jovani from TP, but he gets a redemption arc and learns that gold is meaningless or something, and I don‘t want to make him the ruthless, greedy merchant with the laughing statues. I might keep him in, I might not. Who knows? Honestly, I hate Midas, so he might not get into the AU in the first place.

Ganon

Not a cat anymore, I‘m taking over the Twilight Princess boar idea.

Don‘t know whether he gets a full backstory just yet, so just assume he appeared one day with a crown and cult of his own, already being the God of Death.

Maybe he was already a worshipper of Demise, who was an enemy of Hylia which made Ganon and Zelda enemies by proxy, and Demise gave Ganon a crown because of… something. After the old gods‘ disappearance Ganon just carried on hating Zelda. She eventually allied with the Old Faith and the colours also became Ganon‘s enemies and it all snowballed from there. He never takes a break from being a hater, and if anything, the dedication is admirable.

That story is very much subject to change, though.

One thing I want to change from CotL pre-game-wise is that there, the aggressors are the Bishops who are afraid of the power Narinder will have if he actually figures out a way to expand his domain to encompass also its opposite, like theirs do.

In this AU, I want Ganon to be the aggressor who‘s grown inhumanely paranoid and unable to make any compromises on anything -> attacks anything and everything, but his power is literally death, so he always wins until the Old Faith get some rad relic from Zelda or smth.

As of yet unnamed cult of Ganon‘s that Shadow eventually takes over

This thing goes back to ancient times, we‘re talking when the old gods were still around, eons ago. Still, it might change idols every once in a while (Demise->Ganon->vessels like Vaati->Shadow), but the main idea behind it to revolve around death stays the same.

How the cult actually fell wasn‘t just because Zelda lent the Old Faith a relic; it was because the Faith, crown owners that they were like Ganon, exploited a mutual weakness of him, which is that the crowns require devotion to stay powerful.

Vio, as the one who’s region was the least affected by the war on account of being fucking cold and barely uninhabitable by anyone but those with his blessing, temporarily left the Faith to disguise himself as a follower of Ganon and learn more about their practices. The goal was to sow doubt, return to the Faith and appeal to those not completely satisfied with Ganon to convert them.

Yeah, he did befriend Shadow, who at the time was just amazed somebody spoke to him without giving orders.

His escape from the cult was pretty easy; the guards only watched for approaching figures, not fleeing ones, and the next morning nobody except Shadow wondered where he‘d gone. He didn‘t ask, though; it was common enough for followers to die unseen, either for sacrifices or missions. Ganon wouldn‘t like him asking after a specific person, anyway.

The strategy worked. It was a slow, but steady decline of the cult.

Shadow

I‘m not entirely sure if I‘ll choose one specific animal to refer to when designing him? Definitely not a lamb, but I could see the canon goat for him. Could also work as a sort of link between him and ganon, with the tusks and the horns? Familiar shapes? Idk. Kinda wanna play around with racoon inspo, though… Or maybe a ferret?

A follower of Ganon‘s that was very useful because of his outstanding stealth skills and thus, whenever he died during a mission, resurrected.

Not exactly sure if I want to define his backstory further back. Probably won‘t.

Ganon liked to show off his powers, so these resurrections took on the form of spectacles. Shadow has learned to hate the sound of cheers, to say the least.

When Vio came around into the cult as a ‚rescued‘ follower, Shadow mostly ignored him because that‘s what he was used to. Vio, deducing that the guy that seems to spend a lot of time around Ganon and be close to him should be a good source of information about the practices, tried to befriend him. Didn‘t work at first, because others tried that before with the motivation of gaining Ganon‘s favor through Shadow. Eventually, he came around after Vio ditched a ritual to talk with him.

Vaati

Way more chill than in the manga

Ratau replacement which tells you all you need to know

One of many MANY vessels before Shadow. He just managed to survive somehow.

Knucklebone addiction, but all money that‘s gambled with stays in his friend circle anyway because none of them go outside to shop.

Goes easy on Shadow whenever he visits because he feels responsible for him, in a concerned-but-distant-uncle kinda way. Since he had to lead the cult for a while, as well, he relates to the routinely struggles of figuring out your stance on p.e. cannibalism.

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

ok this time there ARE barbie spoilers but it’s just the things i didn’t like so feel free to ignore this if you had fun and don’t want me ruining anything! like seriously, i do not want to make anyone upset here because of how positive the fandom vibes are. i just wanna y’know, air out some dirty laundry i have with what i just witnessed

as a disclaimer i’ve only seen it once and it ended like 40 minutes ago LMAO forgive me for any name mistakes i suck with those

- ken never got closure and i get what they were going for, just having a bunch of guys repeat “ken is me” over and over isn’t cutting it. felt this way with the “hi barbie” intro. like yes, i get what it aims to accomplish, but god does it get grating

- SOME of the fourth wall breaks were good. most were not. weird barbie and all the discontinued barbies were funny, and the drinking water gag was great. but the narrator stuff was WAY too prevalent and i get that it’s camp, but it was a tad too much at times. i’m torn on the margot line because it wasn’t necessarily bad, i just think it ruined the moment a little

- SO MANY UNFINISHED PLOTLINES OH MY GOD. you’re telling me the travel montage was all it took for gloria and sasha to bond and fix their issues? we saw their conflict through barbie’s memory link, it was never elaborated on. not once. suddenly by the end they’re getting along. the same could be about weird barbie? she always embraced the weirdness so the apology and “un-outcasting” felt off because a) it seemed like she was secluded by her own will and b) the barbies were never necessarily mean to her, they just acknowledged she’s different? which she knew and was okay with and self aware of? idk i guess an apology is fair, but the way it was delivered implied a deeper conflict we never saw

- mattel boardroom. enough said. i get will ferrell probably has a contracted screentime for funny gimmicks but it was so grating and a waste of time

- in a similar vein, all the travel montages combined probably take up as much time as the real-world scenes. for a movie that advertised barbie in the real world at a seeming first glance, that basically never happened LOL maybe that’s on me for having expectations though

- listen, LISTEN. i know there’s a lot of conflict right now with the “boo forced feminism” propaganda spreading around and i swear on god that isn’t me. HOWEVER. i do think that the way they went about resetting free will and that super long montage from gloria was not handled as well as it should have been. do i agree with everything said in the speech she gave? abso fuckin lutely. but remember, SHOW not TELL. they created this brainwashing plot device only to immediately dismantle it with one #girlboss speech which imo, undermines the very point the monologue was trying to make. i just wish they did more actual empowerment and not cheap exposition via a shenanigans montage and a third party speaker reciting a well constructed feminist rant which was just… INSERTED into a feel-good scene. i was hoping for something more organic but that’s just me. like, the barbie feeling self conscious was on the nose, but it did its thing. it’s camp i expected that. by this point in the film however, i expected more

- last thing for now: the plot was just a mess i’m sorry. the beginning was slow and expositional sure i get it, maybe it dragged a little too long when you consider everything else they tried to shove into the runtime, but for a typical film that would be a decent portion of establishing a plot. the real world segment? god, so many open doors, most of them were ignored. 99% of the real world was gimmicks and throwaway lines. the bench scene was the shining gem in that pacing dumpster. mattel plot we already know i don’t like, minus the ruth part. i have a lot of thoughts on ken patriarchy that i don’t have time or effort to unpack right now, but it was funny. and then it went on way too long and became annoying but not in the good way, in the “i get this is camp but it feels stupid” way. gosling killed that musical number but for a film about barbie, that was a hella long ken segment. like, this was a ken movie with barbie having existential dread in the background. then a bunch of magical fixits happen and suddenly all conflicts are resolved through magical means and cheap jokes and imaginary character development!!! oh but they gave barbie a pussy we unironically stan that for her (i’m serious lol like i think the joke was such a lame way to end the film but it’s funny enough to say that this whole film all barbie wanted was gender affirming surgery. i’ll allow it for sheer comedic purposes)

TLDR: i have many many complaints but i don’t think the movie is bad. it’s just fun, not particularly good all around. IT HAS GOOD MOMENTS!!! I AM NOT DENYING THERE IS SOME QUALITY HERE! i just think its hit or miss and while not every film has to be a feminist manifesto, i think all the hype and expectations definitely oversold the actual film i just witnessed because it was not particularly good. but it’s fun! and it’s okay to just enjoy that, this is my initial impression but maybe i’ll grow to like it more. just wanted to put this out here in case someone else feels the same way and doesn’t want to take the fall for finding it mid

[katyspersonal]

What's your interpretation that the left hand of cleric beast is much bigger that the right?🤔

Well, like I've pointed out before, the only explanation I am seeing is blood ministration being done on the left arm!

However, this might get a little more interesting with the Cleric Beasts, because Emilia is also one, yet her arms are symmetrical!

My closest guess to why it happened is because of something Healing Church has been known to do with female bodies. Namely - do some sort of surgery/manipulation/operation on them in order to change their blood type into 'holy blood' one, which they are able to share with the hunters!

English localization team had to use term "groomed" instead of whatever this actually says, and this is definitely going into top 10 of my biggest headaches with mistranslations! As you can see from the Japanese script retranslation ( x ), the meaning is more literal, implying a procedure. I always felt like it would be a surgery on bone marrow, since this is where blood cells are produced, and doctors in Bloodborne could have learned to alter them into having impossible type of blood!

So, as a female cleric, Amelia might have had her first communion with the holy blood as a Blood Saint, instead of generic blood ministration treatment like apparently everyone else has!

I am still not sure why female staff specifically was the Blood Saints, since apparently blood vials are not menstrual blood, as we can learn thanks to Adeline:

Maybe it could have something to do with menstrual cycle, though, because of the whole cycle of moon vs menstrual cycle thing, and Laurence being affiliated with Moon Presence, and then Micolash also stealing his swag and basing his own institution on:

I'd say this is either some sort of deeply rooted superstition within the setting, or in fact, yes, the holy blood links to the Great Ones who put HELLA importance on blood and birth, so being biologically female is crucial for that link to take intended effects.

Ludwig is an interesting case, though! He was SUPPOSED to have blood ministration too, like Laurence or Cleric Beast of the Bridge! Why would not the first Healing Church hunter and the HEAD of their hunters do something so crucial? Especially since Cleric Beast of the Bridge drops the Sword Badge with which you buy Hunter Chief Emblem, implying that this beast is currently what Ludwig used to be? But his left arm is not bigger. In fact, it is even smaller. So I am trying to think of the variants of what had happened here:

1) Ludwig somehow merged with an actual horse, so his anatomy is simply no longer judged through the same lense

2) Ludwig is a leftie, and this is where he holds his Holy Moonlight Sword, so its effect would be a "remedy" for possible arm deformations

3) Ludwig is not a simple beast, but the one with a lot of Kin features, so his anatomy is simply no longer judged through the same lense (+horses are primarily herbivores, and Kin is associated with the flora in the setting, so maybe that's why he went horsegirl mode instead of getting something weak like antlers lol)

4) Ludwig is trans and actually was the first to get Blood Saint treatment rather than regular blood ministration (+we take Adeline's blood from her right arm, and notice that his right arm is a little bigger)

5) Ludwig is a cis man and was the first biological male who attempted to receive Blood Saint treatment instead of regular blood ministration, but that didn't take the intended effect because the gods Be Like That in the setting + his unusual visions and mutation might be the side effect of that and that's why Healing Church stopped doing that with male organisms. Basically, if a male attempts becoming a living factory for the holy blood, it will go "wrong".

6) Combinations of the above points

.....Okay, that went a little unfocused from the initial topic, but you see my points here! Thank you for the ask!

_________________

Bonus ideas:

- Whereas Ludwig is holding the Holy Moonlight Sword in his left hand, Amelia also is grasping the Gold Pendant in her left hand. So maybe nothing was special about her, but holding a special item in the "effected" hand will remedy the asymmetry effect, and had Amelia not been doing that all the time, she'd be asymmetrical too?

- Amelia using recolored model for Bell-Ringing Woman for her appearance might be not accidental, but a fuel for the headcanon that she has Pthumerian blood too, and Pthumerians might simply evolve differently, or traditionally have different way they' go for the blood communition. Off the top of my head, look at Loran Clerics having same sized arms:

Basically, I can answer why Cleric Beasts and the huntsmen have asymmetrical arms, but not why people like Emilia and Ludwig broke the trend despite being the first in line to have blood ministration normally... Because I just have too many ideas, and my preference usually falls towards the most logical ones, but when there are equally logical ideas I become helpless :')

[agbpaints]

I like a lot of battlemechs. Some of them look really cool, some of them play like absolute fiends, some of them are absolute piece of shit graft boxes. The Hammer isn't really ant of those, I like it because of its name.

Designed by Gibson Federated Battlemechs in Free Worlds League space and first rolling off production lines in 3053, the HMR-3M Hammer was intended to serve as a direct competitor to the Federated Commonwealth's popular Valkyrie battlemech in the light fire support role. It packs the same throw-weight in missiles, though it splits it into a pair of LRM-5s equipped with Artemis IV Fire Control and fed by a 2 ton ammo bin instead of a single LRM-10, drops the jump jets (though maintains a ground movement profile of 5/8), and carries slightly less armor than contemporary Valkyrie designs like the VLK-QD. It uses this saved weight for a fairly beefy set of sidearms- three medium lasers arranged in a vertical stack up the center torso and into the head. Interestingly, the arms of the design are free of any weapons, implying it has some want to be in melee which the missile racks really do not want it doing. As far as base models go, it's not super inspirint- as a Valkyrie competitor it lacks the mobility to quickly move to firing positions and as a fire support platform it basically serves as a budget Trebuchet, a mech that already sits firmly in Discount Dan's bin of mostly competent missile boats. It's biggest boon is likely its double ammo bins and low BV cost, which easily allows you to add weird LRM ammo like smoke and thunder rounds to a force without sacrificing an archer or something, and even then you waste the Artemis, tonnage which I think is kinda wasted on LRM-5s anyway.

Now, onto the thing that drew me to the Hammer, the variants. You see, each variant of the Hammer has a fun little nickname instead of just a variant code. That's character most mechs don't get outside customs and I think it's kinda cute. Anyway, the HMR-3S 'Slammer' is our first variant and by far the worst. This one pulls two of the medium lasers on favor of *another* 2 tons of LRM ammunition. This allows the Slammer to keep up its fearsome 10 damage barrage for 48 turns, long enough that someone else might have the sense to wander over and kill it dead.

Next, we've got probably the funniest variant, the HMR-3C Claw-Hammer. This is the compulsory 'oops all medium lasers' version of the design, pulling an LRM rack and its attendant ton of ammunition in favor of four more medium lasers. The heat sinks have been upgraded to double strength freezers to cope with the strain of being roughly 40% of a Nova, and to its credit it can more or less handle the heat of its guns.

Finally, we have the HMR-3P Pein-Hammer. Unlike the previous variants which had some long range firepower (even if it was only token like the Claw-Hammer), the Pein-Hammer is 100% a forward unit. It carries a pair each of ER medium lasers, small pulse lasers, and Streak SRM-4 launchers, along with a TAG laser designator for guided munitions and enough double heat sinks to more or less carry the load of its guns. This Hammer has a sort of annoying, weird anti-synergy with the rest of its ilk- despite being obviously a forward observing unit that LRM boats could benefit from, the TAG system it carries is wasted when combined with the Arty-IV every other model has. It does, however, pair fairly well with contemporary ANV-8M Anvil, spotting for the heavier mech's Arrow IV artillery piece.

I decided to get in on the action and make a pair of my own variants. The HMR-3ASC 'Sledge-Hammer' is an extremely low cost iteration on the 3M- rip off the expensive guidance systems of the LRM racks, along with a laser and a heat sink, and just add more missile tubes. 4 LRM-5s means that with Kerensky's blessing, you can deliver a knockdown at long range, while the lack of inbuilt guidance means special munitions are less feelbad.

The HMR-3AT Trench-Hammer is intended specifically for hunting battle armor. 4 jump jets keep it ahead of most of its prey. While the double SRM-6 rack can be loaded with Inferno munitions to make Toads die a firy death, or just regular missiles to soften them up before they get whacked by your force's bigger guns.

[gumi-writes]

for what it’s worth

source: touchstarved

wc: ~3k

summary: lunari weighs what it means for something to be valuable. (also, vere is there to be his usual bitchy (affectionate) self. go figure.)

contains: implied lunarixvere / usual bitchy dynamics / some lunari twauma / violence, but that's to be expected with the source material /

author’s note: hiiiiiii @laymes-art love you <3

Marketplaces were but an assemblage of allure. 

Many would think so, and Lunari was no exception, except the way in which she did held far more weight than it both rightfully should and comparatively, when weighed up against the opinion of an average person, that is. 

Her eyes, a gaze hazed over with a misleading glassiness, scans the crowds with an efficiency that bespoke a worrying amount of experience—at least, to her enemies. For Eridia’s marketplace, the amount of people either milling about or offering wares could be considered the norm for the hour; the late afternoon meaning it had just gone from being at its busiest to slightly less so.

Lunari’s fingers would always tingle at times like these, an itch that, while not to any degree approaching unbearability, was most certainly still there. It was the kind of restlessness present in the way her instincts meant that she was seeking out weaknesses wherever she looked. Which, while not done in a particularly active way—it wasn’t one of those days where she was actively looking out to exploit said weaknesses—was still something that had long since been inbuilt into her.

That merchant with all the blindspot around his wares. The woman with a dangerously dangling bag. The performer, with only a simple hat out for coinage.

It was most likely a good thing that Lunari was able to spot so many of these details—it meant that as a whole, the atmosphere wasn’t one that was breeding paranoia for the fellow man, nor was there an ongoing decay of trust, not a suspicion that one was always in danger of backstabbing—literal or otherwise. Sure, there were monsters, and paranoid certainly existed for them, as well as that damned fog that signalled their arrival, but at least it was fear of a common enemy and nothing else.

Must be nice. 

The thought isn’t a resentful one—at least not in this very moment. It is simply a passerby of a musing, a reaction without the drive to do anything other than to let it exist.

 ‘—wares! Get your wares here!’

She makes eye contact when Lunari goes to find the source of the noise, and a friendly merchant gives her an acknowledging smile. She did not begrudge him for what would no doubt be a sales attempt; a living was a living, and selling wares was only barely above the difficulty of selling yourself as a ware. Lunari would know.

So Lunari approached his stall—the man had a nice smile, and paired with features that, while nothing to write home about, were still pleasant to look at. His neat brown hair with matching skin and eyes were graced with an openness that was surely welcoming, a combination that was a boon to have in his particular occupation. 

‘Greetings, my good madam.’ He gives a bit of a bow when Lunari approaches him, one she feels at least some obligation to return. ‘Tell me, did you so happen to be in the market for hand-crafted woodwind instruments?’

Something in her stills, though it is only for a heartbeat. It wasn’t his fault—there was no way for him to have known, so she gave him a brilliant smile of her own, even if the soft quality to her gaze had steeled—not into anything particularly hard, but enough it served as adequate protection.

With gentle hands, she takes the flute, muted blue tracing over the meticulously carved lines and swirls as she turns it over in her hands—cautiously, attentively. Love and care had gone into this, poured into what had surely been a stiff block of wood until potential had been whittled into something more realised, into something more beautiful. Karu would have loved this, and had they had enough luck with their initial plans, perhaps Lunari would have bought it for him.

A wound, still raw. Quietly, it festered, though whether a sign of healing or of infection, it was too early to be truly determined.

‘The craftsmanship on this is beautiful,’ Lunari says, and she is being genuine. ‘Whoever worked on this must’ve really had a lot of skill.’

‘I’ll let them know.’ The merchant is beaming, smiling with enough pride that Lunari is certain that if he is not the craftsman behind the craftsmanship, then he surely knew them well. He knew them, and held a definite fondness for them. ‘They worked on all of these, actually,’ he continues, presenting neat rows of instruments with a flourishing arm. 

In lines of music and that which made them, Lunari thinks of those she’d lost on her way to Eridia. It’s not a long reverie—she’s not the type to let her thoughts entrap her for too long, but there’s a moment of vivid, plunging clarity, a singular bright flare before it passes. 

The flute is handed back, and Lunari offers an apologetic look. ‘I’ll have to return back, I’m afraid. But you’ll see me again, I’m sure.’ A commitment that is non-commital, a polite and well-mannered acknowledgement of his efforts. They both knew the game being played; one that surely the merchant must have danced the dance of before.

And he only bows, nothing in his expression indicating disappointment. ‘Of course, madam. I look forward to seeing you again. In fact, it would bring me much joy to see someone as lovely as you gracing my proverbial doorstep.’ 

With one last smile, she leaves him, walking past a few more stalls before ducking into a less populated alleway. 

A hushed sigh is all Lunari uses as an outlet, releasing all the tension in her body. She’s fine for the most part, of course, most definitely, but it was never nice to have a still healing, still recovering hurt of a thing prodded at while it stung. Lunari would have the bark to bite if there had been foreknowledge, but that was the thing—there wasn’t any.

There wasn’t any, and while there were many arguments to be made in regards to the type of person she was—morally upstanding was so far beyond her the thought was an absolutely laughable hilarity of one—she was not one to lambast the undeserving. 

‘All by yourself, darling?’

Lunari’s head whips up at the voice—unfamiliar, and while the tone is mild at best, something about it makes her skin crawl with unpleasant tingles. ‘Don’t look so alarmed, love. I won’t hurt you. Just thought you might like the… company, is all.’ 

The emphasis on the word is not lost on her, but a cruel, sneering amusement is beginning to bloom like an errant weed—Lunari might not be the type to lambast the undeserving, but she had no issues when it came to those that did not fall beneath this category. She did not. 

‘Listen, little man,’ her eyes bore into his, narrowed into frosty slits, even as she gave him a slight grin, one that bordered on a smirk. It’s a warning, even though she’s absolutely certain men like him wouldn’t take it as one. They never do, and her hand closes around a soothingly familiar coolness, hidden in the depths of her large sleeves. ‘Perhaps I would entertain you any other time—’ a lie, but he did not have to know that ‘—but right now, I am not in the mood.’ 

That seems to amuse him, and her grip tightens into readiness as she waits for the right moment. His features were similarly nondescript; black hair and dark eyes both in promise and in actual colouration—one man amongst many that Lunari was certain she’d forget within the week. There were always men like him. 

‘No? Are you sure I can’t convince you? Perhaps…’ and he begins to reach out, ‘I could help improve your mood—’

His last mistake. It takes once swift, brutal movement to break his nose, and another to smash her baton into the side of his head. The two were likely  enough on their own, but whatever lingering feelings from before had fused with her current annoyance, igniting into the exact kind of ire that had her bringing it down on him again. And again. and Again. 

‘Now aren’t we being a bit beastial today?’ 

For the second time in a short period, Lunari’s focus jerks from the mess she had made to the one she might make next—though that vastly depended on a variety of factors. 

Vere’s smile is a poisonous one—as pretty as it belied hidden fangs, metaphorical and literal. The irony in his words no doubt seemingly amused him—the bright amber gleaming with a certain glint that told Lunari he was incredibly entertained by the show he was being given. 

Perhaps out of a desire not to feed him more than he deserved, some of the fire within her dims. ‘Ah, another stalker. Just my luck, really.’

Something contemptuous curls Vere’s lips, even though his smile still remains in place. ‘Stalker? Don’t flatter yourself. You were making so much of a racket that it’s a wonder you’re not being swarmed by the guards right now. I’m only here because I had nothing better to do.’ 

‘How kind of you to imply that I’m better than nothing.’ The barb is a pointed one, but despite it, and in spite of the fact that Lunari would not admit to this fact under extended torture, she could feel something almost warm in her chest. Comfort. Or familiarity, at least—here, she found a place where the polite mask of Lunari could sometimes… slip. 

‘But if you truly have nothing better to do, I’m going to go back and explore the markets. You can go get your rocks off somewhere else.’ 

‘Then perhaps I shall join you,’ is Vere’s response, eyes sliding shut into something satisfied. Momentarily, for his eyes flash open once more. ‘Count your lucky stars.’ His voice is a lilt, one that seemingly bordered on a titter��implying a hidden joke that Lunari was never able to grasp. It was always like that with Vere—a push and pull that yanked and shoved, never letting her find a stable foothold. Maybe that’s why she hated him so much. Maybe that was why she didn’t. 

And to her surprise, Vere does stick around. 

She pays in jibes and taunts, in smart comments traded for anything she said or did—but strangely, Vere’s digs did not feel as deep. Perhaps a part of it was because he was sticking around, seemingly of his own volition, despite all that he had to keep leashed; perhaps the other part was because Lunari genuinely did not feel that the cutting remarks were as cutting. 

Though they definitely still counted as cuts.

‘You surely realise that keychain was disgustingly overpriced? Even I didn’t think you were that much of an idiot.’

For some reason, this unsubtle jab hurts the least—Lunari simply gives him an easy shrug as she affixes said keychain to her bag. It’s an adorable facsimile of a flower, colour matching the soft red shade of her jacket. ‘I believe I can make that kind of judgement, not you. Do you even have any money?’

Vere doesn’t bother answering the question, instead continuing his original thought. ‘Just look at it.’ A haughty sniff. ‘Poorly made; something you’re likely to lose or damage easily just going about your business. Hardly worth the display nor even the coin lost.’

‘Look, I don’t know if it’s because you’re incapable of empathy, but something like this was made to be seen and loved.’ 

Vere scoffs. ‘How very… sentimental of you. Well, if you’re going to find something as inane as that within something so cheap, I won’t stop you. I’ll congratulate you on having such low standards, even. We need more people like you in the world to accept the bare minimum.’ 

A few seconds pass in silence—maybe a heartbeat’s worth or two. ‘You know, Vere,’ she starts, and she feels the lines of his body piqued into a curiosity. Very, very rare was it that she said his name—it was far more likely to be an insult that would be paid back in kind, again and again until Vere grew bored. ‘I’ve touched some of the most expensive things in the world.’

She’d pocketed them too, not batted a single eye nor had it shed any tears as she pilfered rare items, artefacts, works of art—to name a few. To name very, very few, each passing her hands and staining them in a way that could not be washed clean. All for the sake of those that would not even spare her a single thought should it have come down to it, all for the memories that would never leave her. All for naught to show but bloodied hands and an even bloodied soul.

Vere had not said anything in the midst of her thoughts, not even the slightest of disparagings but he was still here, so she continued. ‘People can be so fucking stupid when it comes to money, you know. Absolute idiots. For every valuable thing that exists in the world, there are at least one hundred men vying for it. Wanting to pay in coin. Or in men. Or in blood. But you know what the thing is? They don’t even want the thing itself. It’s always about how much they can get for it in the future. That’s what it’s all about. A fake potential, not ever anything real.’

Here, she meets his gaze, steeled softness meeting glowing sunset. ‘I never want to be that fucking stupid. Maybe the keychain is overpriced. Maybe it will break, or chip, or lose its colour, and do it quickly. But it is far more real than anything those men and those before and after them will fight to kill themselves over, and at least this will last long enough for me to enjoy it.’

Lunari doesn’t stop to gauge Vere’s response. 

Instead, they continued on their way, glancing around and browsing until something caught their eye. People gave them a wide berth—likely because of the beastman at Lunari’s side, but she did not overly concern herself with it. Let them stare, and let them avoid her—it certainly was no skin off her back.

It’s not until they reach a fountain in the middle of the marketplace plaza do they stop. There, a man has a set up worth interest: pages of sketches lined up in neat rows on some kind of blanket, features etched with hands, gentle and a gaze even more so. There was a variety to the people he drew—children and the elderly and everyone in between, human and beastmen and even something that fell out of range of either. 

‘Hmm. Nice to see some talent still exists here, I suppose,’ is Vere’s remark of the minute, and while he could have worded it more nicely—then again, he could word many things more nicely—she is inclined to agree with him. 

Watching until a certain itch in her fingertips builds to boil, Lunari finds herself striding towards the artist until he looks up at her. Sleepy eyes seemingly belied his talent, and he gave her a small nod of acknowledgement before she found herself reaching towards her pouch. 

‘A tip, for your hard work,’ she says, pushing some coins into his hands. 

She hadn’t let him refuse, and it’s only until after they leave once more that Vere has an apt response. ‘I’m surprised. Thought you only liked ugly things.’

Her bark of laughter is a little on the derisive side, but there’s no true bitterness in it. ‘I never said that’s what I liked. If that’s what you got from what I said earlier, then maybe you’re also an idiot as well.’

‘I hardly expect an idiot to be the arbiter on who else is an idiot.’ 

‘Wow, how cutting of you. I’m truly wounded.’ Lunari holds a hand over her heart, but quickly drops it. ‘But you were wrong, so perhaps we shouldn’t go pointing fingers. Ugliness isn’t what I look for, nor is beauty something I find issue with. In fact, beauty is what makes something worthy, even if it’s not the obvious kind.

‘Alright. I’ll bite. What makes something worthy? What gives it value, hmm? Not that I don’t expect an answer that isn’t disgustingly tender-hearted.’

At this, Lunari smiles. Vere showed his interest in interesting ways, a curiosity disguised behind blithe and sometimes even cruel words. It was very much like him, which is why she does not bother calling it out. Instead, her hands reach for the flower dangling on her bag once again, and her answer is a simple one: ‘How much you love it.” 

Before Vere has the chance to respond, his ears perk visibly—a strangely endearing gesture, but not one Lunari focuses on, because she hears it too. Music.

Her body floods with excitement before she’s able to comprehend it completely, and immediately, she dashes towards the sound. From the well, sound of it, it’s a live band playing an even livelier song, a tune with woodwind and swing and a hearty singer to tie it all together. 

Quietly, Vere watches her leave him. He watches as Lunari twirls into steps so practised she must have had a past life before coming here, before arriving in Eridia. Something passes and flits through his gaze, a feeling he doesn’t bother to name, but it pricks in the moment he allows it to last. 

She’s drawing quite the crowd. He’d almost be impressed, but instead he takes it as a chance to slip away, not bothering with the annoyance of a proper farewell. He’d deal with her definite annoyance of appearing and disappearing the way that he did later—for now, he had something to immortalise in sketch and in paper.

Something that might some day hold some value.

[carnal-lnstinct]

All My Soul Within Me, Burning. - II

Content: dbz crossover - inspired fic ( fnaf inspired ). android saga "what if" au ( post cell games). memory loss / recovery. possession. drabble w/ little plot. not completely proofread. characters: au!android 16 / raditz, dende, piccolo Warning: canon typical violence, referenced character death, implied existential crisis, soft angst

I will put you back together. / Leave the demon to his demons.

How beautiful, how powerful, the bright full moon. She's useless for him now. inevitably, utterly useless. Its eminence could only be enjoyed with his eyes as it gave him nothing else. He dared to watch the moon long enough for nature to take its course only to come out of his thoughtless trance with an appreciation for the way the stars speckled the darkness from the Earth instead. There aren't many places he can remember carrying a sight like this. Except for one. The errors, the thing, inside struggling against his programming recollects instances of a sky where only the stars thrive. Enough to light the lands of Planet...It's gone.

Visions that come and go as forgotten thoughts returned to him when he least expected it, places and faces he could not know beyond his initial activation in Dr. Gero's lab and the intel he was programmed with. But all of the unknown was begging to be acknowledged, identified, and accepted. The same pattern of thinking that was shaken loose after the Brief's refurbishing and which brought him back to The Lookout over the Earth. Here is where he has mused upon the night sky, it's where it felt closer and more familiar. Watching the moon and waiting for his metamorphosis, but lacking the means to do so.

Dr. Gero is dead. Cell is dead. K̸̨̧̦̯̜͇͍̬̟̰̗̹̀͋̐̍̔̄̀̕͝a̷̲̙̥̟̪̼̳̺̳͇͛̿̈́͆͑͜͜ͅk̸̡͍͓̟͔̻͈̮͇̜͊͒̒̔̓̍̿͆̕͝͝a̵͕͖͚̟͓͐̈́͌̇̎̽̅̓̿̈́ͅr̸̛͍͋̊̂̈́͝ŏ̵̖͔̥̜̙̲͆͝ţ̶̠̟̦̥̹̠̝̹̳̱͇̔͑̔̊̆̊͂͂̍͂͛͘ Son Goku is dead. Android 17 and 18 are missing.

What happens now?

Perhaps he should return to Dr. Brief and Bulma. Those who made him useful again. Whole. There is some loyalty to that kindness. So...he will serve again. What else is there? What else is left...

It's just him.

And there it is again, suddenly, screaming and fighting and raging through the programming. The bio-android lowers his gaze from the twinkling sky and his hand is drawn to the lower part of his sternum where his skin and casing seamlessly blend together. He remembers his reflection, seeing the cold blue eyes staring back at him in the mirror as he inspected his repairs. He remembers his reflection...a dim illumination as he stared out of his pod's windscreen anticipating his landing. His other hand now reaches for the back of his head, tugging the ribbon binding back the long, wild mane and freeing it all in a swift pull. For once, the android empathizes with its intruder's struggle to exist. Dreaming of what it once was, and what it could continue to be given control. A purpose.

"..Me." Android 16 breathes and closes his eyes. A warmth fills his body and all the weight it carries with it, merging itself with him. What else is there, after all?

This trapped spirit refuses to let go of its body, watching his own corporeal form be pulled apart and put back together again and again, made into something he is not. Mocking its very nature. No longer content to serve those who abused his loyalty or those who stood by them. Unable to see past his agony anymore.

Despite what he has become, saiyan...android...an abhorrent combination of the two forced to live again, "It's still me". His soul makes that clear. It will not leave and it will not rest. Despite everything taken and denied from him...

"Android 16." The young guardian of Earth emerged onto the platform, unable to detect the body of the mostly artificial being standing near the edge so he was surprised that anyone other than Mr. Popo was here so late in the evening. "I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here so late?" Innocently asked in his unsuspicious approach.

The tall android tilts his head and looks over his shoulder, casting his piercing blue gaze down on the namekian boy. Reminded of his undoing; the one who caused his death while his so-called brother allowed it to happen. The catalyst of his unmourned fate. As his fists clenched into a tight grip, the vibrant color of his artificial eyes became pitch black, tiny white dots where his pupils would be stared down on Dende.

All he wanted now was his revenge. This desire, he will serve loyally.

"Namekian." He turned slowly, imposingly. A twitch in his head and his forearm. What Dende could not sense in his body, he immediately detected in the haunting leer and rough tone. Raditz making himself known. It was quick, the way he lunged forward at the inklings of Dende's retreat and lifted the boy off his feet, hanging him in the air by his large hand wrapped around his neck. Enough pressure and he would take their greatest hope away from them. The dismantling of their peace— defining his liberation from those who gained his "avatar's" solidarity— would stick.

The data perpetually computing in his mind made him aware of his risks, and compared his power to those who championed over Cell. But his rage could not fathom the warnings. He knows his limits and he would just take as many down with him as he could. No greater victory than the pain they can't undo as was done unto him. Tonight, he is immortal. Kakarot has already escaped his fury. But Piccolo, he will be sure to torment the most with this little one.

"Call him. Piccolo." He commanded with a strained, uneven tone with a grin rising in his features making the twitches in his body more menacing. "Bring him to me."

[ninhaoma-ya]

For the fic writer meme: 4, 16, 32, 39,54. 56

Thank you very much for the asks!

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

All over the place. Reading something else, cycling home, listening to a podcast… mainly I blame the cosmic inspiration rays, streaming through the universe, combined with my lack of protective gear to stop the pesky buggers.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Eeeeh… 94? <sweating>

And I’ll one-up the ask and share two! “How to win friends and influence people” for DoVio and “Chess game” for LawNa. And, of course, the rest of the prompts for this years Heart Pirates week which I will get to, eventually…

(And my latest reread of Discworld which had the unfortunate side-effect of inspiring me to start plotting a Moist von Lipwig-story…)

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

The list is too long for tumblr, but since I am in thesis hell, I lean towards hurt(/comfort) at the moment.

@chromatic-lamina for the Hearts (AO3 here)

@senlinyu for the angst (AO3 here)

@purplehairedwonder for that sweet, sweet whump (AO3 here)

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

Law grunted as he sliced through an enormous alligator, rearranging its parts with those of a nearby tree. Their path so far had been quite uneventful, but they were probably nearing the shade and good hiding spots of a ruined temple, if the increasing amount of beasts and just plain weird creatures were something to judge by.

“I’d say we’re nearing the main area,” Nico Robin said, echoing his thoughts, as she used her extra limbs to brush away greenery and peer through the undergrowth.

“What makes you say that,” Bepo asked, panting and surreptitiously clawing at the opening of his boiler suit. Law furrowed his brows – the mink sounded like he was suffering from the heat. He really should have left Bepo on the cool ship with Ikkaku and Franky, but Bepo had insisted… but what kind of captain was he if he didn’t put his crew’s needs before their wants? A quick Scan ensured him that Bepo was fine, even if he was running a bit of a temperature.

“If not for the increasing amount of things that try to kill us, which implies the presence of good hiding spots, such as could be created by a ruined temple," she said, pointing at a cracked stone tablet, “I’d say the sign that says ‘this way to main plaza and temple entrance’ in one of the ancient tongues of the island is a good indicator.”

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Writing. Also, my least favourite part is writing. It’s good you get to write, but then you have to write, y’know? But I really enjoy getting lost in the story and finding the right way to express something, preferably with at least two layers of meaning to it.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My multi-layered jokes and easter eggs and call-backs and puns and wordplay. It’s fun to just go off on a pun-tangent and drop weird-ass almost-acronyms and still somehow make it make sense (for me at least). I’m still inordinately proud of my “plastered enough to start their own construction company” as a way to describe really, really drunk people in StatSig, for example.

I'm still accepting (and hoping for) more asks as I try to procrastinate working on my thesis, so anyone reading this; feel very free to ask away! List to be found here.

Answered: 1, 2, 4, 9, 11, 12, 16, 25, 26, 32, 39, 54, 56

[singular-yike]

Tell me about Ink Twink Supreme (aka Tsubakura Enraku)

Oof, that's a tough one, as the name Enraku implies, they are truly a dark and mysterious bird...

But! Nothing ventured, so here goes: The "greatest prodigy in all of history", Tsubakura Enraku, the Loafing Monochrome.

The Enraku En-igma (I love bad puns lol)

Tsubakura is one of, if not straight up, the most mysterious characters in the series so far. So before we dive into them in any specific way, let's take a look at what makes them so unknowable

From an in-universe perspective:

As a character within the world of Len'en, we know so much yet not at all about them. Unlike characters like Yabusame or Hooaka on whom we simply lack information, JynX has practically bombarded us with little juicy bits regarding Tsubakura, yet has never elaborated on them. Here are but a few of them:

Is apparently not a complete stranger to Shinto shrine work (EE Tsubakura's Extra)

They own a sword, whose shape changes depending on their mood (EMS title screen & 2021 Interview with JynX Q154)

They're able to remodel their own body, e.g. to be cold-resistant (RMI Official Profile)

They've once accidentally made a nuclear weapon (BPoHC Scoundrel vs. Shion), although apparently the responsibility doesn't really lie with them (2021 Interview with JynX Q172) (Perhaps they merely oversaw someone else do so at their lab?)

They “dislike” Yabusame, and yet are constantly found together (AWTIF False Spirit Account)

They worked as the general chief researcher at a research lab under the EN corporate group (BotC EE Yabusame 3-4), although they were often a slave to their sponsorships (EE Official Profile)

I've only really picked one from each game, but we can already see that these are already plenty curious enough, and I haven’t even gone into their extremely contradictory personality and ways of acting.

From an out-of-universe perspective:

JynX has once stated that every character is based on something (in fact I would argue that everything in Len’en period is based on something), and while most characters can be tied to a historical/mythological figure, story or even just a concept, you can’t really tie Tsubakura to anything other than the vague concept of... scienceᵀᴹ.

This, of course, by no means detracts from the character at all. In fact, there are plenty other aspects of there character that one may inspect and analyse, like their design, character titles, themes, etc. But it does further the mystery of our favourite ink creature. (And it’s not even really ink...)

So yeah, the long story short is that there’s simply too much about Tsubakura that it’s impossible to go into them all at once. Although feel free to ask about any specific aspect of them, mentioned here or otherwise~

Tsubakura’s Name

Instead, I’ll specifically go into one of what I think to be the most esoteric parts of their character design, especially if you don't know Japanese (and even then it's esoteric, I'll be honest): The name “Tsubakura Enrkau”. (Please note that, for this section, I'll be using the Japanese name order, so "Enraku Tsubakura")

Enraku (燕楽) Tsubakura (玄鳥), the four Japanese characters in this name respectively mean "swallow (as in the bird)" (燕), "joy/fun/relaxed/comfort" (楽), "black/mysterious" (玄) and "bird" (鳥). Here we see possibly the most important part of their name, that they have a "Bird's Name".

In Enraku, we are able to split the word with its pronunciation exactly into "en" (燕) and "raku" (楽). When read, it shares the same pronunciation as a word for "partying/making merry" (宴楽), an allusion to their ability "to enjoy that which is enjoyable". In addition, as a bit of a bonus point, although rare, 燕 can be used as an alternative to 宴, so one can argue that "enraku" directly means "partying" as well.

Tsubakura is less direct, you will find that there is no way for the characters 玄 and 鳥 to give the pronunciation of "tsubakura". In fact, you will find that 玄鳥 is an existing combination that is regularly read as "genchou" to mean "swallow" (again the bird). "Tsubakura" is instead one of the possible readings of 燕, which we've already discussed, refers to the "swallow". Thus we see, that JynX mapped one possible way to say swallow onto a different way to write swallow. It's a bit of a stretch of an analogy but it'd be like if I wrote "football" but pronounced it "soccer".

And now for the most obscure part of Tsubakura's name:

In this image from JynX, they demonstrate by highlighting specific components of each character (in black or white) how the four characters in Tsubakura alternate between the secret meanings of "black" and "white", a reference to their monochrome colour scheme. (Common character for black: 黒; For white: 白)

楽 and 鳥 are quite direct, you can find 白 directly in both of them (Although I will be a bit pedantic and say that 鳥 does not actually have a 白 component, it just has a similar-looking part that you can dissect out of it)

燕 is the most obscure, the highlighted components combine to give 北 (North). In the Chinese philosophy of the Five Phases (五行 wǔxíng), water is associated with the cardinal direction of the north, as well as the colour of black, hence the hidden "black" in 燕.

Finally, as previously mentioned, 玄 can simply mean "black" on its own.

And that, I think, will do for this preliminary exploration into Tsubakura Enraku. Let us continue looking forward to their many exploits in the future :)

[sciencespies]

JWST found carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere – and a mystery

https://sciencespies.com/space/jwst-found-carbon-dioxide-in-an-exoplanet-atmosphere-and-a-mystery/

JWST found carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere – and a mystery

The James Webb Space Telescope has made the first clear detection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a distant world, and there is also an unexpected bump in the data

Space 25 August 2022

By Leah Crane

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet WASP-39b

NASA, ESA, CSA, and J. Olmsted (STScI)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has spotted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet 700 light years away called WASP-39b. This is the first time the compound has been found in any exoplanet, and the observations also revealed hints of a mystery within the distant world.

WASP-39b is huge. It has a mass similar to Saturn’s, and a diameter 1.3 times that of Jupiter. It orbits relatively close to its star, giving it an average temperature around 900°C – the high temperature puffs up the atmosphere, making it easier for JWST to see starlight shining through it.

When light from a star shines through a planet’s atmosphere, molecules in the atmosphere absorb some of the light in unique wavelength ranges. Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared light, and previous telescopes did not observe in the right range or with the appropriate method to pick out its signature. JWST observes in the infrared, and picked it right up.

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Natalie Batalha at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a team of more than 100 researchers examined JWST data, running it through four separate algorithms to make sure that no matter how the data was processed, the results were the same. All four showed the clear signature of carbon dioxide. “The carbon dioxide signature was just screaming at us,” says Batalha. “Processing the data was not hard – it was easy, it was straightforward, it was honestly beautiful.”

The result has a statistical significance of 26 sigma, meaning that the likelihood of finding such a signature as a statistical fluke is less than one in 10149. “It’s just exquisite,” says Eliza Kempton at the University of Maryland, part of the research team. “I’ve never seen anything like 26 sigma in this field.”

The researchers found that WASP-39b has more carbon and oxygen than its host star, implying that it did not form when gas around the star collapsed all at once, but rather its rocky core formed first and then accreted the gas that makes up its atmosphere. This is similar to how we think the planets in our own solar system formed, and studying the exoplanet’s atmosphere in more detail could reveal more details as to how and where it formed.

Aside from carbon dioxide, the researchers found another bump in their data, indicating that something unexpected in WASP-39b’s atmosphere was absorbing some of the starlight. “There’s something else there, some other molecule or some kind of cloud or haze – something that’s not predicted by the basic model,” says Kempton. The researchers aren’t sure yet what this mystery molecule may be, but they are working to figure it out with additional data from JWST and different models.

The fact that we were able to see carbon dioxide in this gas giant’s atmosphere is a good sign for our ability to eventually understand the atmospheres of rocky worlds similar to Earth, one of the main goals of JWST, says Batalha. It may also be useful in the hunt for alien life. “Down the road, it may be an interesting biosignature when found in combination with other molecules like methane,” says Jessie Christiansen at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute in California.

“This planet is not a hospitable place – it’s like what you would get if you took Jupiter but moved it really close to the sun and baked it,” says Kempton. “It’s not a place you would ever want to visit, but this is the first step towards characterising the atmospheres of habitable planets.” And characterising those atmospheres is perhaps our best bet at finding signs of extraterrestrial life.

Reference: arxiv.org/abs/2208.11692

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[nemesismyarse]

Mars conjunct Rahu opposite Saturn conjunct Ketu

I have this in my chart. It’s like a Mars on steroids

Cos it’s with Rahu/North Node which is compulsions and obsessions, future movement/direction you need to go in for soul development and it’s all converging on my desires and ability to take direct action (Mars) 

But it’s strained by the overwhelming pull/force of Saturn conjunct Ketu/South Node that’s my ingrained habits and tendency to feel limited/restricted, and fears. Saturn on SN is having a strong energy in the Saturn, that’s part of your basic habits and core energy. And that challenges (opposition) the whole Mars/NN thing. That’s why it’s more intense - nodes seem to stimulate things

And then on its own Mars opposite Saturn is like desires of Mars house in conflict with responsibilities of Saturn house (and for me it’s 1/7 so there’s massive energy pushing me towards myself and then energy that’s pushing away from others/the responsibilities of dealing with other people (Saturn in the 7th). But with SN there I also rely on them a lot, and there’s a tendency to resist independence too which is shown by Rahu in 1, but the Mars Rahu in 1 is also saying I feel a strong compulsive urge to go there, towards independence but it’s also scary so I avoid it

Without the nodes a basic Mars Saturn opposition is just like desires in conflict with responsibilities and inconveniences but without the extremity of future movement and compulsions towards something, that’s pushing you towards a certain thing (rahu is obsession and compulsions to go to the future).

The challenge of my NN/SN or Rahu/Ketu is to develop more independence but Saturn in 7th opposite Mars implies I also need to be more responsible re others too and accommodating of them.. but basically THIS IS WHY. THIS IS WHY ALL OF THE CHAOS HAPPENS FOR ME. BECAUSE I HAVE SUCH AN EXTREME energy set up and aligned in my chart (and therefore in my energy) that forces me to want to be compulsive towards being independent and away from family (in tropical Saturn rules my 4th) but also just others in general (7th) and be doing things on my own 

But it's scary and I struggle to do it as well because of my reliance on people (Ketu in 7). The biggest problem with any Saturn/Ketu conjunction is that you're comfortable with what you also can't deal with. Or rather, you feel like you need the thing that actually ends up draining you. Things always go better for me when I do things alone (Mars/Rahu in 1) but when I feel like I have to rely on others (I don't but the SN in 7 makes me feel like I have to) I tend to experience more delays (Saturn/SN in 7)

The compulsive desires of Rahu are in contravention with the habits we are comfortable with and so ingrained in our pattern with Ketu. So that’s why Rahu/Ketu are so extreme generally, because it’s an energy that really pushes you one way but you’re also not able to fully go there until you work through and acknowledge why you're still holding onto something else

That process is made EVEN MORE INTENSE by having planets involved with the nodes especially TWO PLANETS in opposition with each other

Saturn on Ketu - Saturn is fears as well as inconveniences, so with SN there it’s like we are rooted and habitual with our fears. Not inconveniences, because no one is really, but fears and restriction yes (example of how not every aspect dynamic and combination will mean every element of the planet, you have to interpret it accordingly).

Saturn on Ketu, I still experience my Saturn as an inconvenience and a chore, but with it on my Ketu/SN, whatever that inconvenience is, is also something I rely on at the same time that makes me feel safe and comfortable which challenges my NN, and Saturn is also fears which I’m more rooted in because of this energetic alignment that I was born with (rooted in because Ketu is my habits and my habits are with the planet representing fears). What the fear actually is can be seen through the sign its in. I use sidereal mostly, so I interpret it in Pisces. For me I'm afraid of merging and dissolving boundaries with others, but at the same time, will allow that to happen sometimes because of Ketu, and won't always try to take charge of my life (which my Rahu/NN wants me to do) and when I try its always very daunting! But I am very driven towards organising and creating boundaries (Mars/Rahu in Virgo).

[straynoahide]

bisexual and pansexual should all coexist bc there's no theory of all for LGBTIQ+, it's an artificial polemic from people with no queer culture or unpacked issues against genderqueerness and GNC people.

you like bi fine- don't force the label bi while pretending this is about defending from biphobia bc what this is isn't that, in fact it's the opposite, making the label pan something it isn't.

people can choose on their own which label applies and what that means to them, bc it may not be what it means to someone else, working from the classic distinction that was nothing on the lines of the gender binary, but rather bi being about experiencing attraction in different ways to people monosexuals tend to be singularly attracted to, while pan is about experiencing attraction as something that is more about the person regardless of their gender distinctions. none of this implies erasure or binarism of the other definition. i'm neither bi nor pan but i listen to queer people and i empathize so idk what you're all so pressed about with trying to get into other peoples' business.

as always these dropping the 'q' moments are adjacent to radfem-y "same-sex attraction" bs. "sexual attraction" is not 'determined by biology'..., that doesn't even make sense. you're not attracted to a chromosome or genitalia when you're turned on by someone or some situation. on the contrary it's heavily dependent on secondary sexual characteristics (which explains why straight men are into trans women and gay men aren't, and why most porn for heterosexual men focuses on the penis more than it does on the vulva)- but also on gendered semiotics (which are mediated by Culture, humans are civilizational animals, have gender on top of sex) and relational dynamics (not all attraction is about bodies, ace people exist, split-attraction people exist, sexual arousal is not the end-point or sole component of attraction let alone a sexual or romantic or another type of relationship).

so... for example, it's trans men that attract people who are attracted to masculinity, not """biologically male""" trans women "determining" who they're attracted to you all just say whatever as common sense when it's the most counter intuitive shit possible irl about how human sexuality works and then drop the q cos its too weird or sth

in general people are attracted to either femininity, masculinity, both, some combination or neither. many labels can describe that better or worse but 'bi' is not enough or else we wouldn't have made up more terms as a queer culture. not sorry for that, queer liberation also means rejecting bad ideas and reactionarism within the community.

I'm gonna get heat for this, but fuck the word pansexual. All it does is divide the LGBT+ community and allow bisexuals to be pinned as transphobic for being realistic about how biological sex works. I'm physically attracted to both sexes, not "all genders", don't you dare call me pan, it's just bi erasure, and in turn female erasure by pretending biological sex doesn't determine attraction.