#pd evolution

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Lol.

This will be short. I’ll go on a little tangent but I’ll tie this back to Jungkook and BTS at the end.

You know, I was mostly ambivalent about the feud between HYBE and Min Heejin until I heard her call Bang Sihyuk and his sycophants “bastards” for ‘overpaying for garbage and forcing everyone to eat it because they think the price makes the music good.’ - I’m paraphrasing a bit because her language was more crude. That made me sit up a bit, because her sentiments mirrored my thoughts about the direction Bang Sihyuk has been taking the company in for some time now.

Another random connection is that, to me at least, it seems clear BigHit is still trying to make the HYBE America investment worth it, given:

1. The unnecessarily long credit lists filled with Scooter-linked writers that appear to have become a fixture of most HYBE releases. Bang PD is clearly taking advantage of Scooter’s connections although it’s yet to yield any significant improvement in music quality, and in terms of chart performance the results are mixed at best;

2. The fact that in addition to HYBE paying US$1.05 Billion in cash for Scooter’s company, essentially overpaying for Ithaca Holdings by consensus estimates (a deal Min Heejin also openly criticized as being hare-brained), HYBE America still generated hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as of the last fiscal year, two years after the acquisition was finalized.

But this is old news, we all knew that.

The thing about Min Heejin’s comments that concerned me is that, despite what is now clearly an underperforming investment both in terms of Scooter Braun himself and the man at HYBE that arranged the deal in the first place, Lee Jae-sang, rather than work to correct course and minimize losses, Bang Sihyuk appears to be doubling down on the deal by rewarding these two men in particular with more music and business opportunities within HYBE, even if the music quality suffers as a result, even if HYBE continues overpaying for shit, and even if the artists/idols are negatively impacted in the process. And according to Min Heejin, one big reason Bang Sihyuk allows it is because those men are adept at greasing his arse and eating it out.

Basically, it’s become an expensive joke. But he’s brute forcing the deal to work because so long as BTS is involved and so ARMYs are involved, it’s a joke that Bang PD is guaranteed to take laughing all the way to the bank.

This is where I say I realized shortly after Jungkook’s fan song for Festa was announced, that I wasn’t excited to hear it. I’m saying this only because now that the song is out, it’s confirmed everything I expected. And also because that apathetic feeling was so at odds with how I’ve been feeling about Jungkook as a person for the last year. If it’s not been clear from my reblogs and gush posts, I’ve been spending the better part of this hiatus loving Jungkook extremely. Jungkook is an empathetic songwriter, an emotive vocalist, a talented producer.

But nothing about Never Let Go is exciting. Who wants to listen to a fan song written by people who’ve never had fans? And on top of that, Jungkook is making less money from that song than any fan song he’s written before. Meaning, the song is mediocre, it feels blatantly insincere in ways only a crowdsourced fan song can be, and Jungkook has to split his revenue from the song with about 10 white people. Just look at this.

I’m actually laughing typing this out, but this turn of events is at least a little tragic.

Golden worked as a concept album because it was a collection of songs Jungkook felt represented his taste, he could take on the challenge of putting out a full English album with some help from the writers, and he showcased new vocal techniques and styles that only showed an evolution from his prior work in BTS. The songs themselves were just okay, good decent pop, but as a collection it worked.

Everything about Never Let Go feels almost audaciously soulless. Not quite a slap on the face but it’s like someone coming all up in your face with a bad case of halitosis and their nose barely touching yours, daring you to do something about it.

I have no issue with HYBE working with Scooter-linked writers or producers if it means something actually good comes of it. But it seems HYBE seems to believe their work is better simply because they slap on as many foreign names in the credits as they can fit. It betrays a worrying mentality about the head honchos in the company. Looking at the peak quality in FACE by Jimin, or in Right Place, Wrong Person by RM, which included acclaimed Korean, other Asian, and Black talent supposedly hand-picked by Jimin and Joon themselves, it’s clear HYBE has access to remarkable home-grown and foreign talent that could improve the work of the members. But what I’m seeing with too much frequency is HYBE picking off the bottom of the barrel in the unending list of Scooter’s contractors and otherwise choosing to do the bare minimum.

And that’s how we end up with a Festa fan song with a topline that sounds like an AI-generated jingle written by a soccer team of hired help.

Or idk, maybe I’m being just a bit too full of it. Maybe I’ve been brainwashed by the witch Min Heejin, maybe this was just one more song Jungkook worked on with his Golden team as he had no time to write a proper fan song, nothing more. And maybe as a silver lining, there are no glaring grammatical errors though I found the ones in My You very charming, and honestly part of the appeal. To hear the way Jungkook sees the fans who have been with him till now, even if in English it didn’t quite make sense.

I said this would be short but I’ve rambled, as usual. Sorry for that. When I started out writing this post, I did intend to keep it short.

To end things on a somewhat lighter note, for me the only thing I’m excited about this Festa, is SeokJin coming back. I’ll be working on a deal during the fanmeet so I didn’t bother participating in the raffle, but I’m happy for the ARMYs who get the opportunity to hug Jin, and for Jin who gets to spend time with his fans after so long. With him returning, things are starting to feel more right, even though there are worrying signs in high places. We’ve got about 1 year left to endure most of the members enlisted and then, the crew will be rounded up again.

Now more than ever, I find myself looking forward to that.

[goldenhickeysandramen]

Evolution of their narrative

I admit it. I also get confused as to what kind of couple Tae& Koo is supposed to be to their shippers.

When I first joined the fandom they were the “hidden couple”, and jikook was “fan service”, cause is what the masses demanded from BH/Bang PD.

It didn't take me long to realise that the "masses" in this fandom are actually the taek00kers (humaluvre is bigger than the majority of the most famous JK's focus accs) … So I've never really understood who the masses-asking-massively-for-"jikook"-content were 🤷‍♀️

Then, I read them that the big proof that taek00k was real was, precisely, that they couldn’t do all the things that jikook could do so well (you know, travel together only the two of them, stare at each other in rapt attention, sucking ears and necks, treat each other as a married couple, support each other to the fullest, holding hands whenever they have the opportunity…). The reason of them not doing all of these things was South Korea, since it is an homophobic country.

That’s why the company edited the content and didn't let them interact. It was all cuts and so on. Everything they did was private, and that's why there was no evidence, other than some witnesses of people with telescopic sight and facial recognition (maybe they were androids?)

I had more or less understood the narrative, until the LOVEGRAM era started, and that's when it all blew over!

Their insta accounts were no longer professional accounts (like twitter or weverse), but personal… and from then on, their selfies were some short of engagement pics or couple confirmation and their funny comments about boxing hooks were actually whipped messages of love.

Btw it seems South Korea was no longer homophobic at that time.

INSTAGRAM WAS THE LAW

When JK closed his Instagram account (forced by the company 😌) we were already in chapter 2. The lovegram didn't matter anymore…because Jungkook hanging out sometimes with Tae and wooga became the confirmation of what Instagram -in reality- failed to confirm. Never mind that their hanging out concentrated during some months when they both had more free time or that they actually just did what good friends do: having fun at the movies, bowling or skiing together with other friends… but hey, those tiny details don't matter in the great love story that is told.

And from there we move on to the part where the CHAOS really started, when the COMPANION SYSTEM news dropped

And guess what? Korea became homophobic again

Some said that they were forced to part ways (the company, the government, themselves because they wouldn't last a second without f?….). Gays dont enlist together they said.

Another line of argument was that Jimin had asked JK to enlist with him… I guess because he was going to be terrible at the military. LOL

But we all can sense that the most extended opinion was "I can't understand this plot twist for shit".

(Maybe the problem is they never understood their favs but that’s for another post)

And in the midst of CHAOS it was no longer possible to think of a new narrative...that's why the strategy became "attack". If they can't prove that their favourites are a couple, they'll go and debunk the rest.

At this point they don’t seem to care if ta3k00k is real or not… they simply choose not to surrender and ignore some facts. If they freaking ignored Jennie during a year, they will do the same with jikook being glued for 18 months.

So in the next months, we'll probably see part of fandom (solos and tkkers) attacking jikookers, and another part trying to ignore us. I fear the chaos will continue… pretty sure some toxic ones will watch the travel show just to diss jikook..

But we shouldn’t care too much because as we have seen, Jimin and Jungkook will never stop taking their decisions and behaving with authenticity

The boys have chosen their own path this year, not to please the majority of their fandom (jikookers are not the mass), but because they wanted to.

At the end of the day, they care about their fans, but we don’t own their lifes and they have shown us. And I applaud 👏 them

And yes, maybe their country and the careers they have chosen dont allow them to be fully free…. but they dont prevent them to stay one next to the other. They know how to choose the battles worth fighting for.

Don't you think it's beautiful and says a lot about the quality of love and respect that Jimin and Jungkook have for each other?

I think so

"standing in the fire next to you"

💜💛

[manie-sans-delire-x]

Asking out of real interest, what do you mean by “PDs aren’t just bad behaviour”? I know there’s neurological differences and all, but I feel as if there must be some element of choice for ASPD? Obviously it’s not a choice to have the personality disorder, but the behavioural aspects confuse me a little. Like what compels someone to lie pathologically, exploit, manipulate, be horrendously irresponsible etc. in daily life? Also: is it daily? How severe/frequent does this type of behaviour have to be to lead to dx

Yeah its a complicated thing isnt it? It really comes down to the discussion of whether humans have genuine free will at all, or if we're just animals at the mercy of our brain chemistry. Honestly, the more I study psychology, and evolution, the more I become inclined to believe the latter, even if it may sometimes be a "cop-out" excuse. But I don't believe humans are in control of ourselves as much as we like to believe, we are just animals, perceiving and reacting based off innate predispositions and our environment around us, neither of which we can control. Nature vs nurture? We cannot control either, and twin studies show nature/innate genetics actually determines who we are a little bit more- about 60% to 40%. Actions are decided based off thoughts and feelings, again neither of which humans can control, only try to manage after it has already come into existence and awareness. Unfortunately, whether its true or not, society can't really function on that premise. Society HAS to function on the premise that humans have total free will, or we couldn't punish crime or hold people responsible for anything. Even if its scientifically proven that humans dont have free will, I dont think humans are willing or capable of accepting or fully understanding that about themselves.

Also, its the same conflict with other disorders- people with anorexia "choose" not to eat. People with depression choose to not bathe. They are perfectly physically capable of it, but they are "unable" or at least its deeply difficult to do so because of internal factors, even if they want to recover. Is that truly free will? Are they under control of an illness that has co-opted their brain? Does a drug addict have full control over themselves when the drug has changed their neurochemistry? A person with schizophrenia may understand that they are being paranoid or having hallucinations, but they cannot stop being paranoid and having hallucinations.

You say that you know there are neurological differences and people with ASPD dont choose to have that, but aren't our actions determined by our neurology? Our thinking, our emotions. Brain chemistry determines it all doesnt it? Isnt that why medication works, that thoughts, feelings, and behavior strongly changes once brain chemistry changes? Isnt that why brain damage can completely change a persons personality and behavior? We know that physical damage to the brain often causes severe aggression, seen in many serial killers like Richard Ramirez and even in odd cases like Phineas Gage. So is it so different from that, whether the damage to the brain is cause by a physical outside influence, or abuse and trauma? We can see on scans that abuse and trauma changes the physical structure of the brain- its smaller, has less neural activity and less volume of gray matter.

Ultimately I don't know, I dont have the answers. But it sure is a fascinating topic!! Stanford neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky argued the same thing- that free will doesnt exist. I havent read it but he wrote a book about it.

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"Like what compels someone to lie pathologically, exploit, manipulate, be horrendously irresponsible etc. in daily life?"

Thats another complicated but very interesting question! But ok lets ask this, what compels someone to NOT lie? To tell the truth, to treat people well, to be responsible and show up at work everyday even when they dont actually want to. I think its the same answer- genetic personality and upbringing. Basically, maybe we are all just trained dogs. We all act based on what we are shown, what we are taught (and genetic predispositions). People do what they believe is best for themselves, what they deserve, what others deserve. People act on how they expect others will act- an abuse victim being aggressive and attacking first because they expect to be attacked due to prior life experience. Most liars think other people lie. People who scam justify to themselves by saying the fault is in the victim for being stupid, and separate themselves from the victim by believing they would never fall for such an obvious scam (whether thats true or not).

People can justify anything, most people dont think of themselves as a bad person. Even rapists and murderers justify it to themselves, and they can even be horrified by the same crime committed by someone else. Humans have a blind spot when it comes to themselves, especially humans with ASPD or NPD. Even though they are PDs, there really is an element of delusion in it, same as psychosis. They are not fully living in the mainstream "reality". Breaking free of that delusional state and realizing that they are the monster, they are the bad guy, that they are the problem, can be a huge shock. Its a complete change of perspective, their world turning upside down. Most arent capable of ever even reaching that break through point, because its too painful, and would ruin their self image and narrative of their life. Or they are not naturally insightful enough, or versed in psychological and philosophical thinking enough. I'm speaking from personal experience here, when I had my moment of "I am the monster in this story" when I was 19 it was very shocking because I was delusional, I did not see it like that at all, I was viewing my life from my perspective, naturally. Suddenly I saw two mirror realities of my life and myself, both equally real and valid, but very different perspectives. But I'll just say this- it makes total sense at the time. It makes total sense to lie, or manipulate, or kill, or rob. It all just comes down to perspective. I dont think people can fully understand something without experiencing it themselves. To understand a murderer, you have to commit murder. But then it really does make sense.

Most people with PDs are victims of childhood abuse and trauma. It warps your thinking, your ways of feeling, and thus your actions. You dont relate to other human beings the same way healthy people do. That basic bond and care, the recognition of the self in the other is damaged. Trauma makes your brain shut off your empathy and connection to others to better survive, so you dont have to carry the pain of others on top of your own suffering, so you can prioritize your own survival.

I think it can be very hard for a victim of abuse to admit when they are NOT the victim this time but instead the perpetrator in a situation. And I think thats because they have not been properly validated yet. Their trauma needs to be fully acknowledged first, or else they end up just feeling defensive, angry, resentful. "Well what about MY trauma? No one cares about that but everyone cares about my victim? NOW people care?" They need to be fully validated first, then work to acknowledge that a person can be Both a victim and a perpetrator.

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"Also: is it daily? How severe/frequent does this type of behaviour have to be to lead to dx"

It just has to be severe and frequent enough to meet the diagnostic criteria in the DSM or ICD. Yes its daily because PDs are a consistent thing, not episodic. PDs are serious disorders and can be harmful or even dangerous to others, but I also dont want you to have the wrong impression that most people with PDs are like these lurking scheming villians who plot all day. Most people with PDs, even ASPD and NPD, are just people who are really suffering and struggling to live day to day. Most have co-morbid mental illnesses, or addictions, and a history of trauma. The PD is considered a disorder because it negatively impacts their own life so much, and who in their right mind would choose that? As a mental health practitioner, I operate by the belief that the person with the disorder is always the one suffering the most. Its important to remember that when compassion fatigue is setting in.

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These are topics I find fascinating, and I'd love to hear what others think. I hope this answer wasn't too rambling, I'm a little high. I'm also going to post something I've been working on- I call it "thought perspective" and basically it's just an effort to understanding mental illnesses from the inside out, to see specifics of thinking. I think it may help you understand what I mean more, about people with PDs and/or severe trauma just operating in a different reality and how their actions make sense from their perspective. Thanks for the ask!!

[thlayli-ra]

how do you cope with no punk for months and end???? how did ANYONE who likes punk around 2013-2019 get used to the lack of daily punk promos and matches to be excited with??? i feel so deprived.....

i miss this goof too much!

Dude! My PDS hit in fucking 2015! By which time Punk was retired and hiding away in a gym training for UFC all day - I had nothing! I lived off scraps for years! I used to refresh the CM Punk news tab on Google every day for something, anything new - an interview, a trailer, a tweet, somebody bringing up his name, a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g!

Like, I remember the most prosperous times for us Punk fans during those years was when the Evolution of Punk was dropped on YouTube (I watched it on repeat), when he did promo work for Girl on the Third Floor and his trial (somebody posted notes from it daily). It was brutal lol!

So yeah, I'm missing him too (and Drew as well!) but I can deal with a month or two (or even nine). How do I cope? I write, I draw. There's real-life Punk and then there's Thlayli's Punk, my own little doll to dress up and play with (and stab with pins and torment) however I want. A little stand-in until I can get the real thing again and here's hoping we don't need to wait much longer (we miss you Punk! ❤️)

[ihauntyoursocks]

hi im sending u an ask instead of talking in the tags

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!!! Overlord and the other villains are a team rocket kinda situation but instead of one big group it's more individual villains (also le frog would have all of the poliworl evolutions. I don't think I spelled that right but I hope u know what I'm talking about)

also ashe being possessed by a pokemon would be super sick because it means they might fight like a pokemon (being able to use moves n such) don't need a pokemon team when u are a pokemon!!! trickster would either be a legendary or (hear me out), we could design a fakemon for it??? maybe??

maybe instead of having powers, the heroes are just. really good trainers??? nah that's kinda boring... but their powers would have to be more pokemon related I think.. because they would do pokemon battles instead of just fighting like normal people

uhhhh gonna think of more stuff later but it's really hot rn and my brain doesn't wanna work

this is a super fun idea!!!

(Appreciate the ask, I can’t use commas in the tags lol) Agggghhhh yes yes yes, also YES TO LE FROG HAVING ALL THE POLIWHIRL THAT WAS MY THOUGHT TOO, and Trickster Ashe being able to fight like a Pokemon!!!!!! (Maybe at some point they have to fight their own Pokemon… hmmm) and yeah figuring out what the heroes should be is tough, but also I was thinking… in the anime (at least in the XYZ finale) the gym leaders and champions come together to face a big threat, and in general champions and gym leaders seem to act as a a force of authority, so maybe the heroes could function like that, an elite force of trainers dedicated to stopping villains and their Pokemon? And the PD are heroes in training still? But also maybe instead of the heroes having specific powers… it’s their Pokemon? Maybe they have a special link with them that gives them a power? (Dakota’s are super strong and fast, Tide’s are even more in control of their water moves, Lightspeed’s are incredibly fast?) idk just a thought. Also yeah I get the heat, it sucks lol, stay safe!

[rafaelsilvasource]

9-1-1: Lone Star’s Ronen Rubinstein and Rafael Silva on TV wedding and the beauty of queer love

9-1-1: Lone Star fans will finally see TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) get married in the two-part season four finale

BY REBECCA LEWIS | Hello! Magazine, May 2023

After four years, some false starts, and far too many near-death experiences,  9-1-1: Lone Star fans will finally see TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) get married in the two-part season four finale on Tuesday May 16, 8/7c. But it's not going to be smooth-sailing, as fans have already been promised a tragedy that will strike — and change the trajectory of their lives forever.

"It's a blessing to be given these storylines," Rafael, 28, says on the set of HELLO!'s digital cover shoot in Los Angeles, "It's not every day that you get a story like this with juicy scenes where you have to focus and step up."

Fans already know that Lyndsy Fonseca will return as Carlos' best friend Iris, but the two episodes will see other surprises on-screen as TK and Carlos — known by their portmanteau Tarlos — lean on each other as they work through the shocking complications.

Ronen and Rafael met in 2019 when they were cast as TK, an NYC firefighter who moves to Austin with his father, Captain Owen Strand (Rob Lowe), and Carlos, an openly gay Latino police officer in the Austin PD.

Their relationship has become the focal point for the Fox drama, and a beloved character all its own, and the decision to have them finally wed means so much to so many, especially at a time in the US when conservative legislation has been attacking the LGBTQ community, making this wedding all the more poignant and important.

Over the past four years, the two actors have built such a bond on and off-screen that even among all the "chaos around us on set," as Ronen describes it, they are able to stay focused on telling their stories.

That connection also helped Ronen, 29, come out publicly as bisexual in 2021; he credited Rafael at the time as one of a few people, along with wife Jessica Parker Kennedy and stylist Chaise Dennis, for encouraging and supporting him to live his truth.

"I shouldn't be here," says Ronen. "Little Ronen's from the slums of Staten Island, growing up as a degenerate and fighting, doing drugs, and not going to school, we don't really get to come full circle to this sort of position."

Truth and love are what Rafael and Ronen both hope is the lingering legacy of this show, and these characters, no matter how many more seasons it stays on air. "I hope this inspires people, in the simplest way, to say, Love yourself," said Rafael.

When you think back over the last four years, and see the growth of Tarlos as a couple, and TK and Carlos as individuals, has there been anything that has truly surprised you?

Ronen: Not surprised, but I am most proud of their communication skills! We've seen the evolution of these two, and what were terrible communication skills!

I mean, Carlos made TK a beautiful dinner and then he stormed out like a little bitch! But it's all thanks to the writers; the fact that they were able to connect all the moments up to this level of communication which we saw in episode 16, when Carlos says, "Even if you don't remember who I am, I will stay in this, and love you and stay with you and support you and I'll introduce myself, 'Hi, you're TK and I'm Carlos and we're soulmates.'"

How have TK and Carlos changed you as actors?

Ronen: I don't even know where I would start. It's changed me as a person but as an actor it definitely has taught me speed and efficiency. After Lone Star, I'll be ready for any sort of set in any sort of situation. We're on this massive production, but sometimes it still feels like you're in an independent film when you get a script the day before.

This show has also given me the opportunity to provide a life for myself, and my wife, that I didn't necessarily have growing up.

I shouldn't be here. Little Ronen's from the slums of Staten Island, growing up as a degenerate and fighting, doing drugs, not going to school, we don't really get to come full circle to this sort of position. It's a blessing.

Rafael: I wanted to go to grad school before I booked Lone Star, but God has a way of showing you that life is your school. When I booked Lone Star, I felt so inadequate but now I realize it's healthy to have some doubt — and I love the fact that I talk about this now without any sense of feeling like an impostor, because if we don't talk about these things, we dehumanize these very human experiences.

Carlos has allowed me to learn a lot just simply by watching, listening and playing. I'm extremely grateful that it has changed me as a professional, and also the way I see myself, and the kinds of stories I want to tell. Now I say, 'Know why you're doing something and don't be shy to be yourself, go for the truth,' and I think that's something that this show has truly required of Rafael.

What would you say to 2018 Rafael who cried in the bathroom after his audition?

Rafael: Do exactly what you did and be exactly who you were. It's OK to feel all of those feelings — like you don't belong here because that is what you were being told, but you had to be that person in that moment in order to be this person here today I don't think there's such a thing as a coincidence.

Jim Parrack (who plays Judd Ryder) says, "Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous," and for me it's a sense of trusting life and the work  —  and when I speak of this, it comes from a place of humility and not necessarily any attachment to religious indoctrination that is going on today to put others down.

I want to make that very clear, that it comes from my relationship with God, [and] a world where everyone belongs, everyone has a place, everyone has a voice and no one needs to close themselves off or hide.

Ronen, what has it been like building your relationship with Rob Lowe?

Ronen: I walked into the audition room for our chemistry read, Rob went to shake my hand and he looked me right into the eyes and he said, "Yep, that's it." We had a spark from the moment we met, but when Rob's on set, there is no time to mess around, everybody brings their highest game, and that's also why I love our father-son scenes so much.

We're very lucky we get given really special storylines; from the moment we meet those two, the bond is so strong and it's just been a beautiful place to build from - and now he's my best man at the wedding.

Does the pressure of the meaning of 'Tarlos' to so many, and what it has become outside of the show, get to you?

Ronen: No, I don't let it get to me. I feel like a lot of pressure is self-made; I don't know if this is just the way I was raised but I am able to compartmentalize really well. I stick to the root of things:the character, the story.

I do appreciate seeing what the fans think and and feel, and this actor-fan relationship is becoming really beautifully interwoven, especially when you get to meet the fans, but I'm able to separate the two. The core of everything is always the work, because if these characters aren't fully lived in and we're not giving our everything, we're not giving our heart and soul to these characters? Then I don't know if fans would necessarily connect with them as intensely.

I won't share what me and Rafa talk about, but the beauty of this whole situation is that I've been able to lean on Rafa, and Rafa has been able to lean on me through all this, because nobody knows what we're going through except for us. Fans can feel that we really care about these two guys — and we care about them maybe more than anyone because it literally is on our shoulders.

But I'm just very lucky to be on this journey with Rafa, because this could be really stressful if you're working with someone that you don't get along with ,or vibe with, on a professional level.

Rafael: As soon as you start making it about you because you were listening to people's opinions, or the critics… As an actor I need to stay focused because at the end of the day, the reason why Carlos and TK get so much attention is because the focus has always been on the character.

In theater, it's always about making it about the other person. When you're doing a scene, always make it about the other person, and that's the work that as actors we need to do with our characters, make it about the character. Forget the noise.

What do you hope the legacy of Tarlos is?

Rafael: I hope it inspires people, in the simplest way, to say, Love yourself.

We had these two broken characters that reacted very differently to their brokenness. One of them abused substances, the other one isolated himself, and both were responses to trauma. When you neglect who you are it's because that's what you were shown from your closest people, so we had two broken characters who came together because I think they were both yearning for a deep connection, not only with each other but with themselves.

I can only hope these two characters and their love can inspire you to, if not completely love and believe in yourself, but to start that conversation with yourself.

[that-cartoony-villain]

the CR cast not knowing their fantasy children's ages are the funniest shit ever

but i have to say this otherwise i might explode because it's my biggest pet peeve, which is people not knowing how to portray certain ages, and i dont mean the cast specifically, im talking about fiction in general

like, i love baby gwen so much, she is my dear child BUT the taldorei reborn de rolo picture was taken in like 832 PD or something, so at the current time of BH campaign (843 PD), Gwendolyn would actually be around 12yo....

anyway i still love it when they dont know the ages cause we get funny shit like Luc being in his teenage years, around 13 to 23 yo

this is all to say, if you're gonna write children in your stories, pls try to at least research their evolution, a 5yo won't be talking wike a wittle baby, they have very developed brains and copy adults so they will be little pricks and wont shut up about things they like!

[ladyalienist]

What is your position on trauma-related conditions/personality disorders?

Hi! I’m really glad you asked because this is a thing I wanted to make a post about.

So, let’s first start with a bit of general context, shall we? I’ll try to make it as short as I can.

Psychologists and psychiatrists are different in many ways, but they both take care of the same kind of illnesses, distresses and problems, and hence need to communicate between themselves and create a taxonomy of the most common kinds of problems they face. In that taxonomy (DSM, PDM, you name it) it is understood, generally, that people might react to traumatic events in an acute way or in a persistent way (what we usually refer to as PTSD).

In that same taxonomy, personality disorders (PDs) are not seen as trauma responses per se: they are something different. Personality is defined as the unique and fairly consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that distinguish a person from others. When something in the development of personality goes wrong and those patterns become consistently dysfunctional and hurtful to the person and/or to others, we have a PD. There’s currently about 10-15 of them that have a specific label, all with their specific characteristics: I’m not diving too deep into that because else this thing will become a whole essay and I’d have to charge you money to have you read it.

Now, one thing that seems intuitive but apparently was absolutely not to psychiatrists is that thought/feeling/behaviour patterns are not formed in a vacuum, and require a lot of interactions with external influences to be moulded into a specific shape: hence, a thing that isn’t that obvious is that personality disorders come usually (not always, but very often) from a deeply traumatic childhood.

Especially when it comes to the most (in)famous and debated personality disorder: the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which many feminists (me included) view as an evolution of the so-called hysteria psychs would diagnose women with in the 1800s.

It is, on many levels, the very same situation: we have young women who react to horrifying and prolonged abuse by becoming “bad women”, “untamed women”, and hence need to be corrected with sedation and institutionalization.

Many ladies here on Radblr are unwaveringly anti-psychiatry, or at the very least critical of psychiatry and of the BPD diagnosis altogether: they think that it is a pathologisation of natural responses to the horrific treatment little girls go through in way too many cases, and a tool of oppression in the hands of a patriarchal paradigm of health and science.

Now let me be clear: I understand those critiques and they are in many ways grounded and valid. This is a diagnosis that gets often given without an understanding of the personal history of the woman who displays symptoms, or gets given way too soon (PDs should not get diagnosed before adulthood and many women receive a BPD diagnosis when they are still adolescents).

I am myself… not exactly enthusiastic about psychiatrists and colleagues alike, and I do not appreciate the modern paradigm of mental health, but you already know that, for you asked this specific question.

The fact is that in other ways it is a myopic view of a complex and nuanced issue. My first problem with the General-Radblr-Critique-of-Psychiatry is that many many people do not understand a simple fact: psych language is edulcorated as fuck and a competent psych keeps that in mind. When a psych writes “difficulties in keeping care of personal hygiene” (non-political random example of a typical consequence of severe depression) it doesn’t mean “eh, haven’t showered yesterday because I didn’t stink”, it means “this person hasn’t showered in months because they cannot find the energy/they do not want to see themselves naked/they are actively trying to rot while alive and are succeeding”.

Another problem is that many people are not aware that PD diagnoses are actually… not that gendered: while it is true that BPD is more often female and Narcissistic PD is more often male, and socialization brings wildly different levels of destructiveness, there are men diagnosed with BPD and women with NPD, and they are not a statistical rarity!

The third and last problem is a direct consequence of the first: a thing many do not understand is that a PD diagnosis is not given because you’re a moody teen who is angry at misogyny.

It is mostly given when you are a fucking menace to yourself and people around you.

A person should get this diagnosis when they have a consistent pattern of destructive behaviour and uncontrolled emotional responses. These are people who self harm, who have risky behaviours (reckless driving, substance abuse and addiction, violent relationships) and who can and will treat others like shit with little to no reason.

Now, it should not be given to adolescents and this happens. It should not be given without addressing the causes, which often include sexual trauma or prolonged abuse, and this happens. Medication should be prescribed very, very carefully and this doesn’t happen. This is malpractice, and it is way too widespread. I will not deny that.

But here are just some funky tales of things people I know with that diagnosis did:

Set fire to the car of one of her ex BFs. Gleefully told me. The poor guy had done absolutely nothing wrong except leaving her, which was well within his rights. She absolutely could not understand why what she did was unacceptable.

Kept a merry-go-round between three different partners. Two of them were abusive pieces of shit. No amount of telling her that they were pieces of shit would have her convinced that they needed to be excluded from her life and that it wasn’t a good idea to keep fighting with A, calling B for sex and company, fighting with B, calling C for sex and company, fighting with C, calling A, and so on and so forth. This kept going on for years, I cannot stress this enough.

“I only like violent sex” (multiple people, on multiple occasions).

Cheating and then becoming flabbergasted at the partner’s anger, which was seen as cruelty towards them (multiple people, on multiple occasions).

Had a partner who absolutely loved and cherished her. Her response to compliments was, on average, “can you not?”. She would complain that she was ugly and no people would want to have sex with her: confronted with the fact that she did, actually, have at least one person wanting her, she blurted out “you don’t count”. Had the same reply for “I love you”.

Proceeded to find a partner whose opinion apparently counted: you guessed it, an abusive piece of shit. Could not wrap her head around the fact that the previous partner did not exactly want to stay friends.

All of this has to be added to the typical description: labile sense of identity, difficulty in understanding the limits in interactions, volatile emotions, black-and-white thinking, destructive rage, deep sense of void, self-harm and risky behaviour.

Does this look like something that should not be treated as pathological? Does this look like something that can go away with just some more compassion for trauma?

In conclusion: while I do agree that this is a diagnosis that can and does get used as a tool to silence the reality of gendered/sexual abuse on girls and women and it has an ugly stigma to it, I do not entirely discard it as useless either. What I’d like to see is a different paradigm in mental health, where people who have experienced earthly hell can find ways to heal (people can and do get a lot better!) and learn more constructive ways to deal with the world, but in order to do that we need to have a precise frame for the problem.

I hope I did explain myself, and if I didn’t please, let me know. I’ll try to be clearer.

[schizotypaldisciple]

The WWWWW&H? of Schizotypal Personality Diorder -or- S✝PD

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What is S✝PD?

S✝PD is a classified schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, as well as a classified personality disorder.

The 2025 ICD-10-CM describes Schizotypal Personality Disorder as:

Diagnostic Code F21:

"A disorder characterized by eccentric behaviour and anomalies of thinking and affect which resemble those seen in schizophrenia, though no definite and characteristic schizophrenic anomalies occur at any stage. The symptoms may include a cold or inappropriate affect; anhedonia; odd or eccentric behaviour; a tendency to social withdrawal; paranoid or bizarre ideas not amounting to true delusions; obsessive ruminations; thought disorder and perceptual disturbances; occasional transient quasi-psychotic episodes with intense illusions, auditory or other hallucinations, and delusion-like ideas, usually occurring without external provocation. There is no definite onset and evolution and course are usually those of a personality disorder."

The 2022 DSM-V-TR describes Schizotypal Personality Disorder as a Cluster A ("unusual & eccentric") personality disorder, and states:

Diagnostic Code 301.22:

"(S✝PD..) is characterized by a pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits, marked by extreme discomfort with close relationships, cognitive and/or perceptual distortions, and eccentric behaviors; often including odd beliefs, magical thinking, and unusual perceptual experiences, all beginning by early adulthood."

Personality disorders are a specific class of mental health conditions - characterized by long-lasting maladaptive patterns of behavior, thinking, and internal experience, which are present across many contexts, and which deviate from what is usually deemed acceptable by the individual's culture.

According to the DSM-V-TR, to receive a Diagnosis of S✝PD, patients must present with:

A persistent pattern of intense discomfort with, and decreased capacity for, close relationships.

Cognitive or perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behavior.

This pattern is shown by the presence of ≥ 5 of the following:

Ideas of reference (notions that everyday occurrences have special meaning or significance personally intended for or directed to themselves) but not necessarily delusions of reference (which are similar but held with greater conviction).

Odd beliefs and/or magical thinking (ex: believing in clairvoyance, telepathy, or a sixth sense; being preoccupied with paranormal phenomena).

Unusual perceptional experiences (ex: hearing a voice whispering their name).

Odd thought and speech (ex: that is vague, metaphorical, excessively elaborate, or stereotyped).

Suspicions or paranoid thoughts.

Incongruous and/or limited affect.

Odd, eccentric, or peculiar behavior and/or appearance.

Lack of close friends or confidants, except for 1st-degree relations.

Excessive social anxiety that does not lessen with familiarity, and is related primarily to paranoid fears.

(Also, to recieve a Dx, these symptoms are required to have begun by early adulthood.)

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Who experiences S✝PD?

The lifetime prevalence of S✝PD in the United States (US) has recently been estimated to be just under 4%, with slightly higher rates among men (4.2%) than women (3.7%)

Likelihood of S✝PD is greater among black woman, among those with a low income, and among those who have experienced separation, divorce, or have been widowed.

The odds of being Dx with S✝PD are lowest in Asian men.

After adjusting for sociodemographic parameters and comorbidities, S✝PD remained significantly associated with:

Bipolar I & II Disorders

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Additionally, even after adjusting for sociodemographic parameters and Axis I and II comorbidities:

Patients with S✝PD had significantly greater disability than those without S✝PD.

Patients with S✝PD have been shown to be less likely to live independently or have obtained a Bachelor's degree, than even patients with Avoidant Personality Disorder (AvPD), as well as healthy control participants. (both patients with S✝PD and AvPD earn a lower hourly wage compared to healthy control participants, however)

S✝PD patients demonstrated lower functional capacity than patients with AvPD, as well as healthy control participants.

Similar to the role of cognitive dysfunction (working memory, processing speed, executive function) as a major determinant of functional outcomes in schizophrenia, functional capacity in patients with S✝PD is shown to be significantly correlated to a composite measure of cognitive function.

Cognitive function among S✝PD patients is shown to be poorer than among healthy control participants, and even patients with AvPD.

While a diagnosis of S✝PD is associated with less likelihood of employment than in patients without, this difference is found to be primarily determined by cognitive impairment.

Even after adjusting for cognitive function, however, a diagnosis of S✝PD was associated with employment at jobs involving less social contact.

Identifying S✝PD and associated traits in the clinical setting can be challenging, as manifestations overlap with many other more well-known psychiatric conditions, or may simply be qualified in colloquial terms (ex: "loner") without further diagnostic attribution.

Common complaints of patients with S✝PD or schizotypal traits are related to attentional/cognitive difficulties, social anxiety, difficulty “connecting” to others, and longstanding interpersonal complications related to suspiciousness/paranoia.

Superficially healthier S✝PD patients may present with characteristic anxieties or ‘neurotic conflicts’ that are, in a more latent manner, determined or exacerbated by underlying magical ideation, odd beliefs, or overvalued ideas.

S✝PD patients are not uncommonly first diagnosed with ADHD (inattentive type); Social Anxiety Disorder; Autism-Spectrum Diorder; Dysthymia.

Additionally, the role of an underlying odd/magical belief as an aggravating factor of a concurrent symptom disorder (ex: Anorexia, OCD..) may be overlooked, as well as what appears to be anxiety-related complaints or other symptom-related disorder complaints, may be overlooked.

Many of the cognitive/perceptual disturbances that schizotypal patients can bring to a clinician's attention can be quite dramatic or alarming, and even though these phenomena are not associated with a patient that has a fair degree of intact reality testing, these patients may nevertheless receive a diagnosis of a formal psychotic illness.

Clinically significant schizotypy can exacerbate the treatment of other clinical syndromes that may be the primary area of focus.

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When & Where was S✝PD first recognized/recorded as a disorder?

"Schizotypy" wasn't officially recognized until the latter half of the 20th century, however it's associated symptomology was first observed in the early 1900's, where common behavioural characteristics in relatives of schizophrenics were observed.

S✝PD is a recent psychiatric nosological concept developed by Spitzer at the end of the 1970s, based on the analysis of the characteristics of relatives of schizophrenic subjects included in the adoption studies carried out in the same decade (by Kety, Wender and Rosenthal). However, this entity is based on older observations at the beginning of the past century.

The status of S✝PD within our current nosography remains dubious, sometimes classified among personality disorders, sometimes in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

It is interesting to present the origins of this concept that stem from two complementary approaches: a family approach, and a clinical approach of sporadic cases; then to redefine the framework within, which the diagnostic approach was based, and its continuity, up until our current classifications.

Basically, the historical origins cannot summarize S✝PD, and it is apparently important to more precisely redefine the multidimensional characteristics of this disorder.

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Why & How do humans develop S✝PD?

Etiology: the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition.

Etiology of S✝PD is thought to be primarily biological, because it shares many of the brain-based abnormalities which are characteristic of schizophrenia. However, studies have provided evidence that S✝PD is determined by both familial-genetic and unique environmental factors.

The COMT Val158Met polymorphism is one of the best studied candidate schizotypy genes.

S✝PD is more common among 1st-degree relatives of people who experience schizophrenia or another primary-psychotic disorder.

Unique environmental factors (i.e., those not shared among all siblings) are strongly suggested to be involved in the development of S✝PD, schizotypy, and specific schizotypal dimensions.

Similar to findings in schizophrenia, prenatal insults, such as influenza exposure during the 6th month of gestation (specifically, week 23) have been associated with higher scores of schizotypal traits in an adult male population.

A number of forms of psychological trauma and chronic stress have been associated with S✝PD. The effect of trauma on the development of schizotypal symptoms, however, appears to be dependent on genetic background.

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I will continue to update this post with relevant information as it is made known to me. I welcome submissions, suggestions, and information from both personal and professional sources.

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S✝PD

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(Sources: google.com - https://icd.who.int/browse10/2016/en#F21 - https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/personality-disorders/schizotypal-personality-disorder-stpd - https://www.icd10data.com/ICD10CM/Codes/F01-F99/F20-F29/F21-/F21#:~:text=F21%20is%20a%20billable%2Fspecific,ICD%2D10%20F21%20may%20differ. - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4182925/ - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5337114_The_schizotypal_personality_disorder_Historical_origins_and_current_status)

[tarlossource]

9-1-1: Lone Star’s Ronen Rubinstein and Rafael Silva on TV wedding and the beauty of queer love

9-1-1: Lone Star fans will finally see TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) get married in the two-part season four finale

After four years, some false starts, and far too many near-death experiences, 9-1-1: Lone Star fans will finally see TK Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) get married in the two-part season four finale on Tuesday May 16, 8/7c. But it's not going to be smooth-sailing, as fans have already been promised a tragedy that will strike — and change the trajectory of their lives forever.

"It's a blessing to be given these storylines," Rafael, 28, says on the set of HELLO!'s digital cover shoot in Los Angeles, "It's not every day that you get a story like this with juicy scenes where you have to focus and step up."

Fans already know that Lyndsy Fonseca will return as Carlos' best friend Iris, but the two episodes will see other surprises on-screen as TK and Carlos — known by their portmanteau Tarlos — lean on each other as they work through the shocking complications.

Ronen and Rafael met in 2019 when they were cast as TK, an NYC firefighter who moves to Austin with his father, Captain Owen Strand (Rob Lowe), and Carlos, an openly gay Latino police officer in the Austin PD.

Their relationship has become the focal point for the Fox drama, and a beloved character all its own, and the decision to have them finally wed means so much to so many, especially at a time in the US when conservative legislation has been attacking the LGBTQ community, making this wedding all the more poignant and important.

Over the past four years, the two actors have built such a bond on and off-screen that even among all the "chaos around us on set," as Ronen describes it, they are able to stay focused on telling their stories.

That connection also helped Ronen, 29, come out publicly as bisexual in 2021; he credited Rafael at the time as one of a few people, along with wife Jessica Parker Kennedy and stylist Chaise Dennis, for encouraging and supporting him to live his truth.

"I shouldn't be here," says Ronen. "Little Ronen's from the slums of Staten Island, growing up as a degenerate and fighting, doing drugs, and not going to school, we don't really get to come full circle to this sort of position."

Truth and love are what Rafael and Ronen both hope is the lingering legacy of this show, and these characters, no matter how many more seasons it stays on air. "I hope this inspires people, in the simplest way, to say, Love yourself," said Rafael.

When you think back over the last four years, and see the growth of Tarlos as a couple, and TK and Carlos as individuals, has there been anything that has truly surprised you?

Ronen: Not surprised, but I am most proud of their communication skills! We've seen the evolution of these two, and what were terrible communication skills!

I mean, Carlos made TK a beautiful dinner and then he stormed out like a little bitch! But it's all thanks to the writers; the fact that they were able to connect all the moments up to this level of communication which we saw in episode 16, when Carlos says, "Even if you don't remember who I am, I will stay in this, and love you and stay with you and support you and I'll introduce myself, 'Hi, you're TK and I'm Carlos and we're soulmates.'"

How have TK and Carlos changed you as actors?

Ronen: I don't even know where I would start. It's changed me as a person but as an actor it definitely has taught me speed and efficiency. After Lone Star, I'll be ready for any sort of set in any sort of situation. We're on this massive production, but sometimes it still feels like you're in an independent film when you get a script the day before.

This show has also given me the opportunity to provide a life for myself, and my wife, that I didn't necessarily have growing up.

I shouldn't be here. Little Ronen's from the slums of Staten Island, growing up as a degenerate and fighting, doing drugs, not going to school, we don't really get to come full circle to this sort of position. It's a blessing

Rafael: I wanted to go to grad school before I booked Lone Star, but God has a way of showing you that life is your school. When I booked Lone Star, I felt so inadequate but now I realize it's healthy to have some doubt — and I love the fact that I talk about this now without any sense of feeling like an impostor, because if we don't talk about these things, we dehumanize these very human experiences.

Carlos has allowed me to learn a lot just simply by watching, listening and playing. I'm extremely grateful that it has changed me as a professional, and also the way I see myself, and the kinds of stories I want to tell. Now I say, 'Know why you're doing something and don't be shy to be yourself, go for the truth,' and I think that's something that this show has truly required of Rafael.

What would you say to 2018 Rafael who cried in the bathroom after his audition?

Rafael: Do exactly what you did and be exactly who you were. It's OK to feel all of those feelings — like you don't belong here because that is what you were being told, but you had to be that person in that moment in order to be this person here today I don't think there's such a thing as a coincidence.

Jim Parrack (who plays Judd Ryder) says, "Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous," and for me it's a sense of trusting life and the work — and when I speak of this, it comes from a place of humility and not necessarily any attachment to religious indoctrination that is going on today to put others down.

I want to make that very clear, that it comes from my relationship with God, [and] a world where everyone belongs, everyone has a place, everyone has a voice and no one needs to close themselves off or hide.

Does the pressure of the meaning of 'Tarlos' to so many, and what it has become outside of the show, get to you?

Ronen: No, I don't let it get to me. I feel like a lot of pressure is self-made; I don't know if this is just the way I was raised but I am able to compartmentalize really well. I stick to the root of things:the character, the story.

I do appreciate seeing what the fans think and and feel, and this actor-fan relationship is becoming really beautifully interwoven, especially when you get to meet the fans, but I'm able to separate the two. The core of everything is always the work, because if these characters aren't fully lived in and we're not giving our everything, we're not giving our heart and soul to these characters? Then I don't know if fans would necessarily connect with them as intensely.

I won't share what me and Rafa talk about, but the beauty of this whole situation is that I've been able to lean on Rafa, and Rafa has been able to lean on me through all this, because nobody knows what we're going through except for us. Fans can feel that we really care about these two guys — and we care about them maybe more than anyone because it literally is on our shoulders.

But I'm just very lucky to be on this journey with Rafa, because this could be really stressful if you're working with someone that you don't get along with ,or vibe with, on a professional level.

Rafael: As soon as you start making it about you because you were listening to people's opinions, or the critics… As an actor I need to stay focused because at the end of the day, the reason why Carlos and TK get so much attention is because the focus has always been on the character.

In theater, it's always about making it about the other person. When you're doing a scene, always make it about the other person, and that's the work that as actors we need to do with our characters, make it about the character. Forget the noise.

What do you hope the legacy of Tarlos is?

Rafael: I hope it inspires people, in the simplest way, to say, Love yourself.

We had these two broken characters that reacted very differently to their brokenness. One of them abused substances, the other one isolated himself, and both were responses to trauma. When you neglect who you are it's because that's what you were shown from your closest people, so we had two broken characters who came together because I think they were both yearning for a deep connection, not only with each other but with themselves.

I can only hope these two characters and their love can inspire you to, if not completely love and believe in yourself, but to start that conversation with yourself.

[lilydalexf]

👽 X-Files Crossover Fic Recs

The theme of International Fanworks Day in 2023 is When Fandoms Collide. So here are a bunch of very good X-Files crossover fics. Enjoy! Abner by Anonymous Mulder and Scully are assigned to investigate a possible serial killing in a small, very suburban neighborhood. The Beast Within by Yahtzee Also from the department of twisted crossovers comes this story – but I’ll leave the crossover for you to figure out as you go. Mulder and Scully’s journey to a troubled Louisiana town leads Scully to an encounter with a far more troubled man. Birdsong by @chekcough The plot of Silence of the Lambs, with Dana Scully replacing Clarice Starling, and a younger Agent Mulder, working in the B.S.U, assigned to help her. It is not at all necessary to have seen/read either 'The Silence of the Lambs' or 'The X-Files' to enjoy this. The Glimmering Girl by Tesla Mulder works a child abduction with Frank Black, while Scully is away for the weekend, but very much on Mulder’s mind. Homicidal Tendencies by Swikstr What begins as a typical ritual murder case with supernatural overtones for Mulder and Scully in Baltimore becomes something else as the two are forced to interact with some of the unique personalities on Charm City's murder squad. Scully's developing connection with a Baltimore homicide detective has far-reaching consequences in the evolution of her relationship with Mulder. Interagency (Mulder and Scully Meet the Director) by pinebluffvariant "You're wanted on a task force." Leap of Faith, parts 1 and 2 by Livengoo Sam Beckett has to keep Fox Mulder from becoming one more abductee, but when he leaps into Dana Scully's size fours he finds that might not be such an easy job. Letting Go by Joann Humby Mulder goes solo on a case in San Francisco. But when the killer isn’t what he was expecting, he needs the SF PD and the FBI’s finest to help him out. Lucky X in the City by @lilydalexf Samantha Jones meets Mulder in a bar. Fox hunting ensues. It’s more serious than it sounds. Samsara by Alicia K. Crossover of sorts, MSR of sorts. I don't want to say anything more, so we'll just let it go at that. Out of the Little Grove by @slippinmickeys I got an anon Tumblr prompt asking for an X-Files/His Dark Materials crossover in which Mulder & Scully were detectives in Lyra’s world. There may be some small liberties I took within the HDM world’s canon to make this story work for M&S, which I ask you to please forgive. Road Fools by denynothing1 Only one of the reasons that the X-File on a little town in Kansas is so thick it occupies its own drawer in the filing cabinet. She's Beauty, She's Grace by @sunflowerseedsandscience I was asked to write a Miss Congeniality/The X-Files mash-up… so here goes nothing. Travelling with Children by @seepunkrun and Sab In the armory we have: one revolver, some rope, a candlestick, a knife, a wrench, and a fork. Twilight, parts 1 and 2 by Shannon A serial killer is on the loose in Baltimore. Mulder and Scully are called in to assist the Homicide Squad in profiling and finding the killer before he strikes again.

[paperanddice]

Paper Drake

The magical evolution of paper drakes is a mystery. They originate from a land where paper first became more common than vellum and parchment. It seems, awkwardly, that they have edited their own history from all records, making detailed knowledge of them quite rare. They are a bane of historians and spellcasters, removing ink from pages by eating and leaving nothing behind. In other cases, they will compulsively correct errors in text or speech, which means that when bribed well they can perform editing for scribes, allowing mistakes to be fixed by removing ink.

Some paper drakes have been tattooed with magical runes, which grant them greater and more esoteric abilities, such as stamping text or images with their feet, manipulating images, and even erasing memories of written words from the mind.

In their regular form, paper drakes are about four feet in length, and are incredibly light at an average of 30 pounds. They are white or tan when young, and develop a brown or yellow tone as they age, liked aged paper.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Paper Drake Creature 2 Small, Dragon Perception +7; darkvision Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven Skills Acrobatics +7, Stealth +7, History Lore +10 Str -2, Dex +3, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +1 AC 17; Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +5 HP 22; Immunities paralyzed, sleep Speed 40 feet, fly 100 feet Melee fangs +9 (finesse), Damage 1d8+2 piercing Melee tail +9 (agile, finesse, reach 10 feet), Damage 1d6+2 slashing plus Knockdown Draconic Frenzy [2 actions] The paper drake makes one fangs Strike and two tail Strikes in any order. Refold [1 action] (concentration) The paper drake refolds its body into a new shape. It can increase or decrease its size by one category, to a minimum of Tiny, or a maximum of Medium. Its stats don't change when it changes its size. It can also fold itself into a flat form that it can use to hide itself on a bookshelf or among other books. It has an automatic result of 17 on Deception checks and DCs to pass itself as just a book or sheaf of paper. While disguised as a book, its speed becomes 5 feet, fly 5 feet.

13th Age

Paper Drake 2nd level troop [dragon] Initiative: +7 Paper Cut +7 vs. AC – 5 damage. Natural 16+: The target also takes 3 ongoing damage. Flyer. Limited Escalator: The paper drake adds half the escalation die to its attacks. Speed Surge: 1/battle, the paper drake can move as a quick action. It doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks and can’t be intercepted when it moves this way. AC 18 PD 16 MD 13 HP 30

[beeffilledshark]

Ok, I saw a twitter user post about how Witch From Mercury focuses on the implications of the hero gundam unlike past gundam shows and I am obligated to defend my babygirl Iron-Blooded Orphans because this is slanderous.

I also want to preface that I have yet to watch much of any UC series (I’m planning to grind through the Chamuro divorce saga after I graduate with a friend), but I have watched IBO, 00, 08th MS team, and Unicorn among some other movies and series. I have an unpopularly negative opinion of 00 so I don’t feel equipped to analyze any of the implications/themes of the show, but I loved Trailblazer so I’ll probably come back around to it eventually.

ANYWAYS, I fucking love IBO. Not as much as WFM, but it’s absolutely my second favorite series from what I’ve watched so far. Yeah, it’s one of the darker series and it doesn’t have any of the trademark Gundam characteristics about space empathy and the evolution of humanity, but it makes for a wildly interesting mafia/pirate/found family story that targets a BUNCH of my weaknesses. However, it fucking NAILS the overarching theming of the universe and how the Gundams are portrayed and perceived in a very unique way.

The Post Disaster timeline is clearly one of the most unique timelines as it’s literally a post apocalyptic setting after Mobile Armors tried to blow the Solar System up. UC kind of plays with something similar with Operation British/the Colony Drop, but it’s clear that even though half of humanity on Earth died, it’s still a relatively put-together setting. In PD, Mars is completely saturated with war orphans and impoverished people with almost no one wanting to fix the world outside of a naïve teenage hedge fund girl who was literally nicknamed the Princess of Revolution for wanting to play out a fairytale with her as the hero. Even though she succeeds in her objective of gaining Martian economic dependence, at the GREAT cost of Tekkadan mind you, season 2 reveals that despite this, nothing has changed. She succeeded in claiming Martian half-metal for Mars, but it simply enriches a different external entity (Teiwaz in this case) while the poor and homeless continue to suffer. It’s an acute summation of this world where naivety and “hope” will often lead to either net neutral or negative outcomes (insert images of Shino, Mika, Orga, Akihiro, the Dort protesters, and all of the people who died because Kudelia wanted to change the world and Orga wanted to take the shortest path to an easy life for everyone). Regardless of how pure your intentions are, the PD universe will always clap back and fuck either you or the people you’re trying to help over (even Naze and the Turbines suffered this fate).

MOVING on, I bring this up simply to demonstrate how fucked up the setting is and to illustrate why PD Gundams, literally forgotten demons that saved the world from the apocalypse, fit very well in this setting. Barbatos is a perfect encapsulation of this setting. When piloted by the World’s most autistic, driven teenager, it’s capable of unimaginable power, even by the standards of Gundam timelines with drastically higher power scales. This leads to some of the coolest fights ever animated by Sunrise (cradling Barbatos vs Hashmal in my arms like my child) and people turning off their analytical brain to go “ooh big robot” which is a valid way to consume the show. However, the ramifications and effects Barbatos has on the universe is earth-shatteringly important. The extraordinary power Barbatos demonstrates when he and Mika defeat Hashmal awakens something in McGillis that Bael finds worthy, thus leading to Bael;s reemergence which would uproot the entire power structure of Gjallarhorn, the main military power of the system. it also instills a fear in Julietta and Gjallarhorn that these demons are still around and capable of taking squads of Mobile Suits on their own and pushes Iok into bringing the Dansleif (A LITERAL WARCRIME WEAPON) into the field and Causing The Latter Half Of Season 2 to go wrong (oversimplification but I just think it’s funny).

What I’m trying to explain is that the protagonist Gundam of IBO is a potent manifestation of what’s wrong with the PD timeline. To survive, Mika has to sacrifice body parts to let Barbatos off its leash and destroy insurmountable opponents that would be undefeatable without every Dainsleif Gjallarhorn has. It sucks that most people will watch IBO and see really cool mech fights and the Kudelia-Atra-Mika polycule and simply chalk the series up as a mecha shonen because I feel that label does a MASSIVE disservice to the show (I won’t get into it now, but as a poly bisexual, the Mika polycule could have been amazing if any of the writers had met a woman once before this show). Aerial is completely bait for me (they finally made the Gundam A Character) and I love her for how unique and utterly intriguing she is for a Gundam, but Barbatos and even Unicorn and most of the Gundams in 00 are a joy to pick apart and analyze in the context of their respective universes. Just because Aerial has eleven space oomfies in there doesn’t automatically make her any more of an amalgamation and representation of Ad Stella than Barbatos does of Post Disaster or Unicorn of the Late-UC period.

Anyways, watch WFM and IBO.

[go-to-two]

Do the other CPD cast have more bargaining power now that both Jesse and Tracy are (soon to be) gone? I wouldn't be surprised if Patrick Flueger is the next to go (also wouldn't mind a Sargent Atwater in the future) but it would be so hard to continue storylines with Marina without him. I feel like they would have to write them both off like what fire did with Kara after Jesse Spencer left. They didn't feel there was much story to tell with her after he left and I feel it would be similar with Kim without Adam.

I'm not sure! Negotiations are all a pretty individual process and without being in the room, I can't really say what leverage any of them have. PD especially has kind of surprised me (Jason with an EP credit when no other actors in One Chicago even have producer credits, I don't think) so it all depends on what they value and what actors push for as they negotiate.

Honestly, I've thought Paddy would be next to go for years. I thought he'd be next to go even before Jesse and Tracy left. Maybe he's good to stay, but I'll say that news of his departure will never shock me.

I actually think I disagree with your Kim/Sylvie comparison. I was talking about this recently, and I think (should they have to) Kim and Kevin are the best pairing to kind of rebuild the show around. They work so well on screen and they would have flexibility in storylines since they aren't paired romantically to each other. It would be like the story coming full circle with the OG patrol partners being veterans in the evolution of the unit. I don't know how they'd write Adam out if he wanted to go. Like most exits of that nature, there wouldn't be many great options and there would be a lot of really, really bad ones. Good thing it's all hypothetical. That said, if I were tasked with completely rebuilding the show after an exit, Kim would 100% stay and she and Kevin would be the foundation.

[myobsessionsspace]

[PART 3]  10 Years with BTS & ARMY.  The Evolution & Reality of the relationship between BTS, ARMY, The General Public and The Company

This is the third and final part to what I had to get out of my head and heart whilst celebrating 10 years since debut with BTS. Throughout the day I have enjoyed walks down memory lane on social media, watched the live performance of Take Two from Bangtan to us and still carried on with my day to day responsibilities (all while streaming, it is possible). I have also felt the burning need to write down my previous two posts and this post. all three were written together but evidently too much for one post. I'll now finish with the last of it.

The Company:

I’m not going to sugar coat it, how BTS see ARMY is *not* how their entertainment company/agency see ARMY. I cannot see any different given all the examples they’ve shown with their growth and evolution.

How the company see ARMY:

ARMY = ₩ /$$

The relationship with ARMY is true for the group, for the group it is ARMY they think of who will be the ones to listen to their music, because they know it is them who will seek it out first before the GP even knows anything is due to be released. They know it is ARMY first who will be looking forward to summer, winter packets, year end memories, albums, merchandise etc before any general public. YES ARMY is always first on their minds when they do anything, because they know we seek that from them. 

However do not be misguided into believing they do not also know of their responsibility to the company that ‘raised’ them from trainee days, the company that tells them where to go and what to do, the company that fed, clothed and housed them for years. 

This is why I covered in my earlier posts about their trainee days and their management. 

It is the company above ARMY that they have to truly consider first and foremost, because it is the company who can shut anything down in an instance, who can give opportunities and take them away, who can back any endeavour or road block it. 

It is their company who they have chosen and in comparison to recent information coming to light about other companies, the far lesser of all evils. It’s come to light about some companies signing their trainees even before they have debuted to 5-12 year contracts, which would start AFTER they debut, bare in mind debut dates are never guaranteed and some trainees have been know to be trainees for company’s for as long as 7 years before debuting. Then these companies have been known to a few years into debuting coercing their idols to sign on further contract renewals for an addition 12-18 years after their first contracts run out. In essence trying to keep the idols for all of their working years.

 All companies have their faults and questionable practices, but who could have given half of the creative autonomy that BTS had with their company. JB & Jackson from GOT7 have spoken numerous times about the constant struggles their group had with one of the Big Three Companies JYP in regards to management, how their fans were treated, how they were treated, creative control and autonomy etc. EXO are currently going through a lot, another Big Three company group, a group known as a pillar in k-pop. Key from SHINee has been vocal about head butting issues within his company and making a clear distinction between company and the ‘the company is my family’ as through his 15 years long post debut career he has a wealth of experience. I don’t want to make this about how dark, fatal and far it can go within the industry but it needs to be remembered how all consuming idol life and being apart of the k-pop industry is. 

That’s not to say Bang PD Nim & the members do not have a good relationship. The members were definitely given more freedom with Big Hit than they would have had with *any* other company during their trainee and debut days, however this in comparison with the closest western equivalent, such as American Idol, Pop Idol, Nickelodeon, Disney etc is still very limited in comparison. This in part was due to limited funds and resources and is still due to cultural differences and the difference in ‘idol’ culture in comparison to others.

However it was built over time, with a professional hierarchy still having to be maintained irrespective of anything else as he had not just them to look after but other employees and a company to grow. We can also see the changes with their growing success, global demands and growth of the company. 

Nothing is sacred within the k-pop industry and BTS *are* apart of that industry, though there have conquered the global market successfully, that is part of the k-pop diagram. To the letter, trainee, debut, music shows, college festivals, awards, Japanese market, Chinese market (if the group has enough Chinese members to form a subunit and cross over), acting, MCing, reality shows, advertisements, touring, western market repeat all the formerly mentioned. BTS are not unique with any of the formula, which is why it baffles THE WHOLE industry who they have reached the levels that NO ONE has been able to achieve. 

*an example of one of the opinions on the model for k-pop success. Not fact, not the only model, just a visual example*

BTS are literally one of a kind, all they have done from the formula, many before and after have to do different degrees of success. The Tannies are special. Plain and Simple. Even the people that invested, trained, ‘made’ them can’t replicate them. There hasn’t been and will never be another BTS. 

BTS have a relationship with ARMY as their number one supporters, their contstant companions, the ones they know look forward to anything the do and want to hear their thoughts, words, music. Want to follow them from country to country and cheer their performances on tour or watch them on lives and respond to them on sns etc. BUT BTS also know they have a responsibility to their company and in turn the General Public as well as ARMY, because though ARMY may help maintain their longevity and help with a baseline of income in regards to supporting them with buying their merchandise, membership & music, it is the General Public that will help with securing advertisements & sposorships that pay the company staff and fund their work, tours, security, overheads etc. 

Yes ARMY helped in their western crossover with getting their music to the right ears etc. but General Public is necessary to *keep* them growing, to bringing new fans who turn into ARMY. Remember ARMY is made of people that were the few sending them letters and reading their online blogs and watching their logs at the time they were made, ARMY were the ones they were on the streets brake dancing to getting their attention to watch their small show in ‘American Hustle Life’ who went from giving them a chance with one performance and becoming ARMY and ARMY are also the ones who found them when they were already multi Daesang winning, multi Billboard Number 1, AMA Award winning, Grammy nomination artists. ARMY are their companion and General Public is their constant goal. 

If you don’t take anything away from this just take the fact that ARMY and BTS do have a love and respect, but BTS also have a responsibility, to not just ARMY but themselves, their company and its staff and the General Public. Always keep all of that in mind, keep their history, their training, their surroundings and responsibilities in mind and it will go a long way in grounding you and understanding them. 

아포방포 💜