#she also needs to be clever and a quick thinker

[everythingloveandanimated]

I remember thinking (and hoping) that Alín would be a good match for Murtagh. Once she gets some more real world experience and matures and grows up a bit, I think she’ll be a candidate for him. She did help him in the battle in Oth Orum beneath the village, so she’s not opposed to fisticuffs, but she definitely needs to be trained in combat. It doesn’t need to be at Murtagh’s level, but she at least needs to be able to quickly strike to incapacitate.

She also knows how to dance and Murtagh should have a partner that dances. Murtagh also needs moments to dance for the joy of it. (Party at Carvahall. If there is any talk, it’s about events outside the valley or business or family or town gossip. A far cry from political machinations of the balls he grew up in.)

She also has a good relationship with Thorn, which would be important for any woman Murtagh ends up with. Though I would feel better if she didn’t have such a deified perspective of Thorn. Murtagh’s partner should snark with Thorn. All three of them would love it.

I know many of you will most probably kill me if I say this, but I need to take it out: I honestly feel like Chris didn’t develop Murtagh and Nasuada the way he should have. I mean, their supposed relationship. It would be great if they were together in a near future, I’m not hating on the ship, but it felt as if out of absolutely nothing Christopher decided to put them together… Murtagh decides to convince Galbatorix to bring her to Uru'baen to save her from getting killed and they’ve only spoken once. It’s not like he was already in love with her. If it had been Eragon instead of Murtagh, he may have fallen in love more easily, but we’re talking about Murtagh. This young man has enormous trust issues and I highly doubt that just because he thinks Nasuada is fantastically fabulous he would fall for her. It would take him way more time to do that merely because of his upbringing and so forth. And then, when he takes her and Galbatorix forces him to torture her… Yes, they do get to talk and sort of befriend each other, but I don’t see how –also we have to understand they know each other very little from before their current situation– someone like Murtagh would go to the extreme of literally risking his life for someone he knows very little. I am the first one that wants Murtagh to be happy and I think Nasuada is perfect for him, but considering Murtagh's– and even Nasuada's– way of thinking… It feels like, in order for them to actually be in love with each other, they’d need to know each other way better… I don’t know….

[astrow0rldx]

Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump Astrology Reading (PART ONE)

Birth Charts, Synastry & The Astrology of the Election Day <33

Small notes: Humanitarian vs Money-Man?? 2 Clowns?? (not in a bad way. funny but could be 2 faced) Pretty Party Girl vs Popular Rich Man?? (THIS IS ALL FROM THE BIRTH CHART)

·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:· Experienced Astrologer for 7-8 years now. I'm new to networking, tumblr and having an astrology content account & paid readings so just follow my private Instagram account universalstarbaby00 for any inquiry ·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:·

PARTY GIRL. Kamala Harris Sun (Who she is/Self-Identity & ego) is in libra (love/romance/beauty/art/attraction) pretty girl! also an air sign so her personality & ego is just a loving, aesthetic, attractive, sensual girl who needs mental stimulation and is probably social & connecting. Moon (Inner self/what she does to feel comfortable & secure/Deal with her emotions) is in Aries. Adrenaline, Taking Initiative, Beginning/Starting, Daredevil, Doing, Risk-Taking. Also a fire sign. So to her inner soul, naturally acts as a fiery Aries for comfort & security within. Her Rising sign (outlook on this world, her perception & how others perceive her, her interactive body) is in Gemini clever, witty, funny. they can be either over thinkers, and cause a lot of anxiety & thoughts. or they can just be really quick, witty & clever because their mind is racing, & smart. likes to be mentally stimulated. Double Air & Ruled by Mercury she is definitely a great conversationist, writer, speaker, debater. That Aries Moon her natural self, and her mars planet being in the 3 house of where she has to communicate, process, think, speak. WHAT SHE SAY. if Donald trump has to say something SAY IT TO MY FACE. she wasn't playing, people tend to not take Gemini Risings serious sometimes & Look at them as clowns lol. (Donald Trump is a Gemini Sun also). they could have mask personalities, 2 faced, and their mind is crazy. but she is READY for a debate with Donald trump, that's just who she is. Her mars sign in that house, it's what she primally desires, and rules her chart so naturally comes to her.

Big 3 definitely makes her an exciting, stimulating, person to be around. that's her literal outlook on life as a Gemini rising. While her sun her core personality, will in this life, her sense of self & ego is placed in the area of life where her pleasures & joy is. sex, romance, creativity, partying, drinking, having fun, inner-child, getting loose. 5th house sun baby. Her literal chart ruler is in the 5th house (Mercury), and mercury is how you process, think, your mindset, how you talk & communicate, what stimulates your mind. Definitely seeing her in the spotlight more, we get a taste of how she campaigns. a dive into what makes her comfortable (her Aries moon behavior). but its expressed in the 11th house, of networking, Humanitarism. coming together as a group to revolutionize, invent, wishes. its the house of social media, politics. I SAY WE SHOULD TRUST HER. plus her libra sun she definitely makes it her motive to GET US. to come together, and she's very smart mercury ruled.

Her Chiron is placed in the 10th house. Your Chiron is your trauma & wounds that you become an expert to heal people on. In the 10th house of public image, reputation, social status, career, success, responsibility & place in this world. All while her North Node is your life purpose & who your here to become is in the 1st house of self & self discovery. FIRST BLACK WOMAN (POTIENTIAL) PRESIDENT!!! Saturn is your lessons, karma, responsibility, depression, authoritative, president. Placed in the 9th house of the god house, the house of faith & optimism, the house of mind expansion & learning, the house of traveling & experiencing. With her Lilith being placed in that house. Lilith brings destruction & trauma but it brings power, revenge & liberation!!

Okay Mr. Trump. Your birth chart comes with originally 12 placements (not including adding extra lots/parts, asteroids, etc) which is your planets, north node, & rising sign. WHY IS 6/12 OF THEM SITTING UP THERE, STELLIUMS IN HIS 10TH/11TH HOUSE. (His Sun, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, & North Node) All while having his chart be ruled by his Leo Ascendant. MANS MEANT TO BE FAMOUS & KNOWN & SHINE. I mean the other placements like Jupiter, Neptune & Chiron is all in his 2nd house of receiving money, material possessions, value & worth. Jupiter is where your blessings & prosperities. Your luck, optimism, & faith. While Neptune is your fantasies, inspiration, dreams, subconscious, spirituality. But your Chiron is that wounded healer, the traumatized that becomes the expert to help people. (which I heard from a debate, and a trump supporter showed data of him putting JOBS IN THE COMMUNITIES. He was president during the STIMULUS CHECKS I believe. His 10th house of public image, & reputation. your place in this world, responsibility, career & success. Is in his sun WHAT RULES HIS CHART (who he is, his will, his personality, his ego & sense of identity/self.) DUHHHHH mr. cocky popular. and his uranus in the 10th, uranus is freak, weird, inventive, revolutionizing stuff. thats definitely his public image is weird & different. His mercury (communication, mindset, processing skills, writing, internet, local environment, social media/neighborhood.) in his 11th house LMFAOOO. Bruh that's why the network & broadcast EVERYTHING THIS MAN SAY. you cannot change a news channel MSNBC, FOX, always quoting something or just talking about him in general. and that's why he's so good with his words, and connecting his mindset, communication & stuff to groups of people. His Venus is also there so he gets love from groups, communities. Really good at making friends & fans. But his Saturn is also there where his lessons, karma, responsibility, CAREER, PUBLIC IMAGE, is.

[raisedbythetv89]

Buffy has always been VERY intelligent and clever. She’s a quick thinker and very resourceful.

When Anya becomes a vengeance demon again Buffy doesn’t take action against her until she causes a massacre that also traumatizes a young girl so can we PLEASE stop this narrative of Buffy just easily and carelessly deciding to kill Anya?

Because not only was it not a quick and easy decision HER GOAL WAS NEVER TO KILL HER THAT’S WHY SHE GRABBED A SWORD SHE KNOWS SWORDS DONT KILL VENGEANCE DEMONS AS IS ESTABLISHED IN SEASON 6!!!!!

She recognized self destruction after heartbreak because of her own and Willow’s in season 6 and she knew talking with Anya would get her NO WHERE just like Spike trying to talk her out of turning herself in to the police when she thought she killed katrina because she believed she deserved to be punished and trying to reason with dark willow was completely pointless

She uses the fight to force Anya to confront the reality and what the consequences will be if she continues down this path while ensuring this fight won’t actually kill her. Buffy knows she can’t ignore this and she can’t waste time struggling with the decision of whether or not to kill her because she did that with Angel and so many more people died in the process.

BUFFY IS GROWN!!! SHE HAS LEARNED FROM ALL HER EXPERIENCE AND MISTAKES AND IT SHOWS!!!!!! But everyone is so used to her TORTURING herself over these kinds of decisions they’re unable to recognize she has gained the wisdom and experience to act instinctively and decisively even when no one else agrees because SHE KNOWS it’s right and that is always proven to be true!!!!!! She is finally not letting a bunch of people who are not the slayer tell her how to be the slayer because she never should have been listening to anyone else in the first place. She’s proven to be right time and time again with Spike, Anya, Caleb and y’all still are doubting her….. SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING!!!!! AND IT ALWAYS ENDS UP BEING THE RIGHT CALL!!!!!!! How anyone can watch her owning her shit as a leader and a slayer clearly demonstrating the last 6 years of suffering weren’t for nothing as she is now confident in herself and her judgement and think she’s heartless or stupid or careless or biased I just CANT. USE YOUR BRAINS!!! LOOK AT THE ENTIRE CONTEXT OF THE SHOW IM BEGGING YOU FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY

It’s also the perfect way to show xander how cruel and heartless him always telling/shaming/guilting her to kill angel is at the same time. He finally got a taste of his own medicine and he couldn’t handle it even a little. She showed what a fucking hypocrite he’s always been because everyone else? If you love someone who’s done evil you’re a horrible person and they need to die but if it’s someone HE loves it’s different even though Anya has definitely caused more deaths than angel and spike combined and was forced to be good rather than it being her own choice and went BACK to being evil of her own free will after he actually fucked up and caused all of this in the first place while never taking any blame himself even though he blamed buffy for angel and spike’s actions any chance he could even the ones directed at her when the blame never lied with her in the first place

Y’all see a woman not torturing herself over every little thing and being confident and you’re like wow what a cold heartless bitch and that’s GROSS and just absolutely reeking of misogyny

[imthepunchlord]

Marinette's Elemental and Miraculous Matches (Wu Xing)

Bagua, Zodiac

After much debate and going back and forth, as she's one of the harder ones to pinpoint cause I find a bit of everything to her, I'm suspecting Marinette's core elements are Wood and Metal, with Wood as her primary element and Metal as her secondary.

Wood plays off her leaping between being level headed and reasonable to her imagination just running wild. Wood works off her creativity and her means to think out of the box. It can play off her being curious and nosy, seeking to expand her knowledge of what's around her. It works off her being quick to support and help others, and her being a social butterfly. It works off her being open to learn and grow and seeks self-improvement.

Metal works off her desire for perfection. That she must put forth the best that she can create (one example being in Mr Pigeon where she drew a lot of good hat designs, but they weren't up to her standards), and for things to go as smoothly as possible. Metal also works off her as a thinker, working off logic, facts, and making quick evaluations. Metal also really works off her strong sense of self-righteousness and her dislike of dishonesty (as Metal does like things to be clear cut).

Wood and Metal plays off her being ambitious and aiming high for herself, her capability as a leader, and her tendency to meddle as Wood can be nosy and Metal has a desire for things to work out a certain way. These two elements work off her being very independent and self-sufficient. Wood and Metal also works off Marinette being her own worst enemy, as these two are elemental opposites, but it can also work off her great potential with Miraculous as she is tied to a yin-yang pair.

Of the Wu Xing, that makes Butterfly and Cat as her best matches, and Nooroo and Plagg are the most ideal kwamis to work off of her.

Butterfly's powers are something Marinette will be able to use well. She has the means to connect with others and knows what to say to work with them and offer the support. She also knows to let people thrive and do what they're good at, having faith in their capability. She'd be clever with making minor changes, and astral projection could work off her nosiness and allow her to move about stealthily.

Cat's powers are also quite promising for Marinette. She has the analytical mind that's able to evaluate how to use her destructive power, and be able to expand it's use than just straight forward destruction and malfunction. She naturally goes for stealth so traveling through shadows she would thrive with, and seeing through shadows can play off her nosy nature and wanting to unravel the world before her. And summoning shades to work with her works off her being a leader but able to work with others, listen to their wisdom and ideas.

Kwami wise, Nooroo and Plagg both have the big appeal of being a rock in the storm Marinette typically whips up. If she overthinks/lets her emotions run wild, they're able to bring her back with their calmness and logic.

Nooroo would work with her without taking over and telling her what she must do, work with her to figure out the best course of action. Through his influence, Marinette will gradually be calmer and more grounded, and would work off her strengths without turning it into a full blown Atlas complex as he helps implants the fact that she can rely on others, she just needs to branch out more than try to solve everything herself.

Plagg meanwhile rolls with the chaos, with Marinette probably one of the funniest humans he's be paired with (honestly these two would be delightful to watch). Plagg would have the additional perk to act as a foil to Marinette being a lazy and selfish kwami, countering her need to prioritize selflessness and to always be productive and busy. Through his influence, Marinette would find the fine line between productivity and breaks, and prioritizing herself and her needs to the needs of others.

By elemental placement, Peafowl, Ladybug, and Fox are viable Miraculous for her to wield. She wouldn't be the best matches, but she can pull them off and utilize them well, but there would be some sort of issue be it kwami or a struggle with powers. Power wise, she can become better with them, but there would be a learning curve. Kwami wise, something would need to be addressed. As Wood and Metal are next to the other 3 elements, there are no subpar matches for Marinette.

Peafowl Marinette can utilize well. As a time manipulator, this Miraculous requires strategy, resourcefulness, and being opportunistic. All things Marinette is covered for. She'd be clever in selectively rewinding time, would best utilize pausing time, and would work off resetting time to secure the best results or work off what would be the best route. The last power though could be the one she struggles with most as she would want the most "perfect" outcome, but I do see it as a quick lesson to learn.

Duusu is a kwami I do see getting along with Marinette and would bring something to the table in terms of growth. Duusu would work off her strengths like her skill in observation and quick thinking, and she can be bubbly, energetic, and just as animated as Marinette, so they can click and work off each other right away. The only thing I see as a major issue is that Duusu and Marientte could feed into each other's overreactions and both could spiral into a panic that will only end when they fizzle out. Now if this duo can learn to take turns in their overreactions so one can be the calmer one, or both learn to tone down their overreactions, this pair will thrive. Otherwise they're a ticking time bomb of spiraling panic.

Ladybug Marinette is set with power wise. She has the resourcefulness and creativity to work off Ladybug's two creation powers, able to utilize the generated item and secure she can have a complex and efficient Worker. She also can use the light generation and all it's possibilities well.

As backed by canon, Tikki at the core is the biggest issue with Marinette having Ladybug, as Tikki is set to work off personalities that are a lot more "fiery" and at times "problematic" than Marinette is. Marinette does thrive between Tikki support and affectionate, and doesn't mind Tikki's opinions when shared with her. The issue comes from Tikki insisting on prioritizing others and dedicating her humans to their duties, which is good for Fire personalities that can be easily distracted or selfish, but for Marinette who already is very dedicated and considerate, it just leads to an Atlas complex. Unless Tikki can learn to ease and realize she's piling too much pressure on Marinette, this could wind up quite destructive for Marinette.

Fox Marinette may struggle a little with, though the potential and promise is there. Power wise, Fox does work off Marinette preferring stealth, to dance around her opponents than actually fight them, being a meddler, her creativity, observation, and quick thinking. It can also play into her tendency to disguise herself, and with a power tied to it, should be a true master of disguise. Only issue is that Marinette is not a good liar, and most of the time she gets very lucky. I also can't speak for how good of an actor she is, so may give herself away when disguising herself as another. But over all, everything should be pretty solid.

With Trixx, I do see this as another fascinating kwami-holder match up as they both work off intellect and both can be meddling and know how to work off others and their strengths, and how to sway things their way. Trixx most likely would toe the line between Nooroo and Plagg, rolling with the chaos and enjoying the shenanigans, but also keeping up with duty and opening up her mind to work off others more, to have faith, and to help teach the means to secure things can go your way. Honestly, they'd probably be the ultimate scheming buddies. Trixx is probably the only kwami of the doable trio I don't see being an issue paired with Marinette, it just comes down to powers and how good of a deceiver Marinette actually is.

[msfbgraves]

What Hogwarts Houses would you sort Daniel, Johnny, Terry and Kreese into? Someone on Reddit had this theory of Daniel being a good Slytherin, and Kreese a bad Gryffindor which I found fascinating. Someone mentioned they liked Daniel as a Hufflepuffy too, since he’s hardworking, kind, and loyal. Or maybe Daniel is a Gryffindor, Johnny too…Kreese a Slytherin, and Terry a Ravenclaw.

Let's start with Johnny, who I find hardest to pin down. You would say Gryffindor because of the bravado, and he is daring, but if you see Kreese as a bad Gryffindor, which, applause, that's excellent, you could say these qualities were beaten and drilled into him, because that boy is a Hufflepuff! His most defining trait is loyalty. He's literally ride or die for Tommy and the Cobras, the strongest burst of strength he gets is when he does something for somebody else, when Daniel shows up on his doorstep ranting like anything, this doesn't motivate him into action, his reaction is always: "You need to calm. Down!" Johnny is very hardworking, too, if you ask me, moreso than Daniel in fact. And before anyone says anything about brains, I think Miguel is a Hufflepuff too.

You want a good Slytherin? You need someone smart, good at reading people, who is very strategic: Terry is a poster child for Slytherin gone bad, but first, I give you Chozen: he always plans his attacks meticulously, is very ambitious, can hold himself back if he needs to, is good at undercover work, a quick thinker. Another good Slytherin is Robby. The first thing we see him do is trick a customer. He does well with the Miyagi-Do style, that lends itself to strategy. Which is the first thing he does when he joins Cobra Kai: "If you want to defeat the enemy, you need to know the enemy's playbook!"

Daniel takes to Cobra Kai so quickly because "Strike first, strike hard" actually suits him! Who started that first fight: Daniel! He always runs into fights he has no idea he can win or not. He is very loyal, and he is very kind, but he's not very ambitious and though he has worked very hard in the past, he's seen coasting several times in his dealership and doesn't want to go to college because it's frankly too much work. He has to feel passionate about something to put the work in, and when that goes, he drops it. But he is very daring, proud, and he stands up for the little guy, see him saving Yuna and caring for the dog. We don't see too much else of that because often he is the little guy. He'd do well in Hufflepuff but he tends to get stuck in dangerous situations they'd avoid and Daniel and grunt work? Meh! He does it, but he complains plenty! And he just loooves to shine in a fight.

Terry, again, smart, manipulative, ambitious as all hell, games so long they can take decades. Poster boy Slytherin. I think Aisha is Ravenclaw. Much as she likes Cobra Kai, she was being very cerebral about applying its lessons. She's not a hothead and she's also not into playing people and she really enjoys learning for its own sake. Miyagi is Ravenclaw too! He's brave, but very conflict avoidant, and clever about it. Has a very original way about teaching karate, he's very witty. He's very upfront though, doesn't play with people's heads, but he will trick them.

Kreese as Gryffindor gone bad, chef's kiss, no notes!

[rainytypology]

Idol's MBTI Types pt 1

A short list of kpop idols and their likely MBTI types. I know most have "found" their type by using 16personalities, but it does not actually use MBTI. This half will focus on perceiving function doms (Ni, Ne, Si, Se).

These are just brief explainations as I did not want to make this post too long. I will provide more in depth analysis later.

Not an expert. Based on my opinion and observations. May change later.

PT 2

___

Functions:

Ni (Introverted Intution) Ne (Extroverted Intuition)

Se (Extroverted Sensing) Si (Introverted Sensing)

Te (Extroverted Thinking) Ti (Introverted Thinking)

Fe (Extroverted Feeling) Fi (Introverted Feeling)

___

INxJ (Ni - Je - Ji - Se)

Due to both INTJ and INFJ being Ni doms, both types prefer to have plans and goals prepared in mind before taking action. This can make them highly perfectionistic and sometimes slow moving. Ni processes information through the subconscious, piecing details together to eventually come to the right conclusion. The main obstacle INxJs may deal with is using their inferior Se. Se is focused on the present moment, taking in life as is, and overall is a realistic function. However, being in the inferior position, INxJs may struggle to live in the moment. This can also result in clumsiness physically and general daily functioning.

INTJ (Ni - Te - Fi - Se)

SF9 Chani, BTS Suga, P1Harmony Jiung

INTJs are strategic people with a plan for everything. They use their Ni to further their plans and goals (Te). Te is more focused on efficiency and tasks. They're often passionate individuals who will put in the work to obtain what they want. They may have a tendency to seem expressionless and "emotionless" due to their tertiary Fi, which is a very private function. Fi is focused on authenticity, so INTJs generally don't see the point of faking emotions.

Chani took on acting to support his family, wanting to give them financial security. He prefers to plan and is a bit of a perfectionist.

Suga always had a passion for music and pursued it despite his parents disapproving at first. He went through a lot in his life, but he continued to push through.

Jiung is great at strategic planning and has good use of his Te. He plans thoroughly and is not shy to implement routines and tasks. Very goal oriented.

___

INFJ (Ni - Fe - Ti - Se)

ATEEZ Hongjoong, BTS RM, TWICE Mina

INFJs use Ni and Fe to create meaningful change to better everyone and the world. Fe is focused on the values and beliefs of everyone else, often working towards social harmony. They can also be quite analytical and logical with their tertiary Ti.

Hongjoong is very driven in his passion for music. He wants to be a good role model to others and uses his music to influence others. My analysis of him.

RM is a careful planner and always seem to have the teamwork mindset. He's incredibly aware of other's opinions and words, causing him to be careful with his own words as to not offend anyone.

Mina enjoys deep conversations and thoughts. She prefers to blend in and get along with everyone, dislikes conflict (Fe).

___

ENxP (Ne - Pi - Je - Si)

Ne seeks out patterns in their environment and connect these details to create several possibilities. Often known for being creative and out of the box thinkers and problem solvers. Experimental types. Because of their very mentally energetic nature, ENxPs may be regarded as "unique" and "weird", quirky even. ENxPs may struggle to keep up with routine and sticking to the conventional due to inferior Si. They can be prone to forgetting things, such as taking care of their own needs, tasks, may accidentally make the same mistakes, etc.

ENTP (Ne - Ti - Fe - Si)

ATEEZ Yunho, SF9 Inseong, DAY6 Young K

ENTPs are witty and clever individuals, often quick thinkers and brainstormers. ENTPs observe and create with Ne - Ti, making them innovative. Their Ne and Fe gains inspiration from their environment and interacting with others.

Yunho is optimistic and witty, using his Ne - Fe to make the environment fun.

Inseong's Ne - Ti is very obvious - he's the brainiac of SF9 and incredibly intelligent, fast thinker too. My analysis of him.

Young K's Ne is very creative, he gets inspiration from his environment.

___

ENFP (Ne - Fi - Te - Si)

TWICE Sana, ONEUS Keonhee, SHINee Jonghyun

ENFPs can be bubbly and expressive. Can be stereotyped as "quirky" (the case with BTS' V, especially when he was younger) due to their unconventional minds and expression. Often optimistic and charismatic indviduals.

Sana's Ne is prominent in their reality shows, especially during problem solving. She also has the typical Ne optimism and curiousity.

Keonhee is honestly a very typical ENFP - having the creativity and "randomness" of Ne.

Jonghyun's humor and wit was always very Ne based, he was quite the chatterbox and "random", his Ne-Fi is especially prominent in his songs.

___

ISxJ (Si - Je - Ji - Ne)

Si dom types are orderly, detail oriented, and realistic. They stick to the familiar, not seeing the need to try something new. If it's not broken, why fix it? They rely on their past experiences to get through obstacles. Out of the other types, Si doms are the most in tune with their body - sensing functions are concerned with physicality and having an internalized sensing function focuses on their inner body and mind. Because of their preference to stick with routine, they can be uncomfortable with change and may struggle to adapt to new situations (inferior Ne). Abstract concepts may be difficult to understand or they may just not care for it.

ISTJ (Si - Te - Fi - Ne)

TWICE Jeongyeon, ATEEZ Jongho, EXO Xiumin

ISTJs seek order and structure, preferring to have efficient routines and plans. They are practical and systematic. They're the enforcers of organization and routine, which may be how they get called traditionalists. They're very loyal though due to Si - Fi wanting to stick to what they know and trust works.

Jeongyeon is the clean freak in TWICE. She gets upset when the others do not clean up. She keeps to herself (Si-Fi), not really having curiousity/interest in building more relationships or in the deeper meaning of life (inferior Ne).

Jongho is good at organizing his environment, knowing how to delegate tasks and order when he's in a position of power. But other than that, he also works fine behind the scene.

Xiumin is a neat freak too, very typical of Si doms. He's very task and result oriented (Te). He's quite reserved and tame with his emotional expression (Fi), with Chen even saying he's a bit mysterious.

___

ISFJ (Si - Fe - Ti - Ne)

ATEEZ Seonghwa, SNSD Taeyeon, TXT Soobin

ISFJs are patient and warm people, often willingly choosing to help others. They like to be of service and seem to feel the best when they provide care. ISFJs are responsible and natural care takers. Highly observant and organized like a typical Si dom.

Seonghwa is considered the "mom" of ATEEZ and even the members joke about it. He immediately took on the caretaking role for his members, having the traditional sense of being older and needing to care for the younger. My analysis of him.

Taeyeon likes plans, dislikes when things go off tangent, does not like new/unusual situations. She has the protectiveness and motherly nature of Fe.

Soobin seems to revolve a lot of his choices around others, showing concern and care for others (Fe). He has always lived in routine, does not question or stray from it (Si).

___

ESxP (Se - Ji - Je - Ni)

Se dom types live for present moment, enjoying and appreciating life as they experience it. Se dom types are realistic, straightforward and direct, always pointing out the obvious. They may be physically energetic people and have a good eye for details. Due to their inferior Ni, they can struggle with impulsiveness as they may not consider future consequences of their actions. Se makes them very opportunistic individuals who will just do it.

ESTP (Se - Ti - Fe - Ni)

Fromis_9 Chaeyoung, NCT Yuta, P1Harmony Keeho

ESTPs are often adventurous and bold, always wanting to experience the most of life. They're opportunity seekers who want fulfilment. Straightforward and honest people. They can also be quite charming and warm due to their tertiary Fe.

Chaeyoung is very spontaenous and open, very adaptable. She changes herself a bit depending on who she's with (Se - Fe).

Yuta has the Se adventurous trait. He's quite bold and always goes for what he wants.

Keeho's Se - Ti makes him realistic and blunt. He is quick to shut down "weird" comments, e.g "girl this is a white wall" using Se to point out the obvious and not going along with the commentor's antics.

___

ESFP (Se - Fi - Te - Ni)

TWICE Nayeon, BLACKPINK Lisa, NCT Haechan

ESFPs are expressive and direct people (Fi - Te), always go for what they want (Se). They're not afraid to show who they are, hardly ever shy to be their true selves (Fi). They tend to be eye catching in a way, whether it be from their personal style or their energy.

Nayeon's solo album showcased her styles and authenticity. She wanted to show her taste and experiment a little bit too.

Lisa uses her Se for her perfornances, always giving it her all. An amazing dancer as well.

Haechan is witty and quick on his feet (Se), reads the room well. He's very honest, always speaking his mind (Fi - Te).

___

Other idol analysis profiles list

___

Other blog:

Astrology + kpop side blog @rainy-astrology

[masterofrecords]

Angstober day 3: A Dangerous Gamble

In Love and Dreams

I’m putting this under a read more just to be safe for some derogatory language towards a sex worker. Please skip if that’s not your cup of tea. A continuation of last year’s Lie, Lie, Truth.

It is a widely known fact that Silvertongue Benny is a betting man. It is an equally widely known fact that Lord Silverline is a reliable partner in all sorts of mildly questionable business ventures.

It is not a widely known that Benny and Lord Silverline are one and the same.

Right now though, all he is is Joel – a husband and a father, a man who’s gambled too close to the sun and run out of aces in his sleeve.

Thomas is fine, he keeps telling himself. Joel had managed to get him out, if nothing else. That had to count for something.

“That was quite clever, my dear Lord Silverline. Sending your whore to fish for information? Should have been more careful to cover your tracks, I suppose.” Stapleton stands, a rapier aimed at a terrified Mari. “You also shouldn’t have thought you could cheat me.”

Joel is usually a quick thinker, even with two knives at his throat. He’s not called Silvertongue for nothing – but right now, instead of his plan, his head is filled with rage and Mari’s terrified face.

Stapleton fishes the locket hanging on her neck out of her cleavage, turns it over, ignoring her struggle against the man holding her. “In dreams and love, nothing is impossible,” Stapleton reads out loud. “How sweet. I have no idea how you two ever got away with it.”

They’d figured a ring would be too conspicuous for Mari, but the same engraving adorned Joel’s wedding band, now stuffed safely into an envelope and on its way to Joel’s brother.

Stapleton grips Mari’s chin with two fingers and she flinches away. She’s breathing irregularly, clearly choking back tears. So brave, when she shouldn’t be, when it’s all Joel’s fault.

“A shame,” Stapleton says. “Lady Doe was truly the pearl of the Lucky Star. But I guess I wasn’t the only one you cheated that way, hmm? Will be hard to do that without your pretty face to dupe the Johns.”

The daggers scrape against Joel’s throat as he strains against the hands keeping him kneeling in place. Stapleton raises his rapier, Mari screams, and Joel feels the beast raise its head, control slipping to let out the fangs and the auburn fur.

The men don’t expect the strength of his jaws, don’t expect the smooth skin of his neck to suddenly turn into coarse hair. He feels the flesh of the shoulder of one of them give out, and the other stumbles back, shocked at the transformation. Joel spits out, the sweet taste of blood bitter with sweat and wool of the man’s jacket.

His bones twist, and his spine aches where the tail regrows itself. Free, he can focus his gaze on the Stapleton man with a singular thought.

Suffer.

Stapleton bows in half, pain – imagined, unreal – rendering him useless.

Joel had never wanted Mari to see him like that.

There are more men coming, the whole small army Stapleton had brought with himself probably too much for Joel to handle, but he doesn’t care.

Mari. Mari has to get away.

She’s sniffling, clutching at her face and, to Joel’s relief, probably not seeing much from the blood and tears clouding her eyes.

“My love,” he pulls her in, careful not to grab bare skin lest she knows it’s paws and not hands touching her. “My heart, you need to run. Make sure Thomas is safe.”

She clutches at his jacket, “But you?..”

He hopes he’s not lying when he says, “I’ll be right behind you.” It’s a gamble, the last one, and if he wins, he promises himself to tell Mari everything and maybe even retire their little family to his brother’s boring farm.

Mari runs, stumbling blindly as Stapleton’s people surround Joel.

He knows he’s lost when the warehouse is set ablaze and he isn’t sure what will kill him first, the smoke or the stab wounds. He knows he’s made mistakes and he knows that regret will cling to his soul until the end of time itself.

In dreams and love, nothing is impossible.

Oh, what a wonderful dream it had been.

[riddlegecko]

actually i'm gonna talk abt my new pmd ocs anyway, choice is an illusion

so! these guys are called team zephyr! they're composed of an archen named riley, a hoothoot named sawyer, and a tropius named koa! details abt them below the cut!

riley (she/her) is our amnesiac human-turned-pokémon protagonist, in her case becoming an archen and waking up on the outskirts of a large, notoriously rough town called rumblerock city with no memories. riley is quite strong despite her timidness, but she's very insecure about her fighting ability (my sort of in-universe explanation for the archen line's defeatist ability). she has a strong fear of electric type moves- thanks to an unpleasant encounter with a violent luxray who threatened her, and she struggles a lot with being taken seriously as a flying type who famously can't fly (mainly bc her team works at a guild composed entirely of flying types, more on them later). but beneath all the insecurity is probably the most qualified mon to be the leader of her team, as she is a very quick thinker who can step up to get things done, and is driven by a strong desire to help those in need.

sawyer (he/him) is a chatty, inquisitive hoothoot with an insatiable desire for knowledge. being raised in a small, middle-of-nowhere town, sawyer was kept rather isolated from the rest of the world, and has only recently left in search of adventure. he was at the top of most of his classes in school, and that kinda got to his head and gave him an ego. plus, he can be rather impatient. as a result, he tends to come off as a blabbermouthed know-it-all with a swelled head and a short fuse to those who don't know him very well. but those who do know him well (like riley and koa) can easily tell you that he's also very resourceful and clever with a good sense of humor, and that he's a surprisingly capable fighter for someone so small and un-intimidating.

and koa (any pronouns) is a sweet-natured tropius with a heart as big as their stature. koa is the gentle giant of the team, soft-spoken, great with kids, and overflowing with compassion. they've spent much of their life traveling around with their herd, never staying in one place for very long until they teamed up with riley and sawyer. he's a big softie, occasionally too much of a softie, as he's very non-confrontational. she struggles to speak up for herself, and if riley and sawyer start arguing, then she has a hard time playing peacekeeper. but when things get rough, they're no pushover. harm a kid or one of her teammates, and oh buddy, i sure hope you like a sunny day + solarbeam combo from a pokémon with the solar power ability!

team zephyr operates from a guild in a town called windcall mountain peak, which- as the name implies, is a town on top of a mountain. the guild employs only teams composed of flying types ("sky teams", they call themselves, they specialize in missions on high-up places like mountain peaks and mystery dungeons that have formed in the clouds), and while most of the pokémon there are very kind, some of them are very haughty about what qualifies as a "real" flying type. and riley, being an archen, cannot fly until she evolves into archeops (and even then, archeops are better runners than fliers). so, she faces some opposition when team zephyr joins the guild. but of course, with the help of her partners, riley tries to prove the naysayers wrong, and hopefully recover her memories in the process.

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Lamorne Morris.

full name: Quincy Booker Asher-Thompson.

nickname(s) / goes by: Booker.

pronouns & gender: he/him, cis man.

sexuality: straight.

birth date: December 11, 1984.

birth place: Atlanta, GA.

arrival to merrock: local.

housing: suburbs.

occupation: pharmacist.

work place: The Medicine Counter.

family: Frederick (father), Adelle (mother), Darnell (brother). He has one daughter, Dina Gabrielle.

relationship status: single.

PERSONALITY

All in all, Booker is a good man and really wants to be the best father for his daughter. No matter what, she is his first priority. He is a logical thinker, driven and very focused on attaining things that he wants. He's quite intelligent and has always possessed a rather quick witted tongue but doesn't lack that light sense of humor to sweeten a little bit of the bitterness. He's learned to take one step at a time with every decision in life instead of doing everything on impulse. He hopes he has grown into someone his daughter is proud of. When he's not working, which isn't often, he can often be found coaching his daughter's softball team or grabbing a bite to eat at Paco's.

WRITTEN BY: Janessa (she/her), est.

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content: brief mentions of car accident, injury, medical talk, pregnancy.

Quincy Booker Asher-Thompson (don't ask him about why he doesn't go by his first name; he doesn't know either) and his story starts about forty years ago, when he was born in his father's hometown of Atlanta but only remained there for a number of months before the little family of three moved to Merrock, where both his parents found work - his father as a cardiothoracic surgeon and his mother as a dance teacher. Not long after the move, actually only ten months later, his younger brother, Darnell had been born and for the majority of their lives, the two brothers acted more like twins than anything else - they were joint at the hip.

As a kid, Booker had definitely been the more active one and while a little more mischievous than his brother, the two were a duo that were a force to be reckoned with. Booker was usually the one to get into more harmless trouble, but Darnell and their friends, they always kept him grounded, perhaps never quite recognizing just how much he truly needed their attention. He was always the type to stand in the center of the room, to say the last word and drag everyone out to play. Maybe he had his own agenda, maybe he was an attention seeker, but Booker had never been overbearing as a kid, there was something about his smile, his stupid jokes and that never-ending energy that made him who he had been.

As a student, Booker was brilliant. He always seemed to be a couple steps ahead of the other students, and class was rarely a challenge for him. Of course, if Booker wasn't challenged, he always found his mind wandering. That's how the prankster in him came out, something to occupy his time. For years, no one suspected him of the lavish pranks, whether it was the class guinea pig suddenly turning green, the glitter glue on the seat of the teacher's chair, or the poor girl who found a rubber garden snake in her desk. No one would expect the sociable and charming boy to be capable of the elaborate jokes. Eventually, he was found out, but that didn't stop him. Even with the teachers' suspicions focused on him, he was exceptionally clever. At least, for the most part, his pranks were aimed at making people laugh. They were harmless. Booker absolutely loved making people smile and laugh, it was sort of his thing. Due to his charming nature and his exceptional grades, he could basically get away with anything.

High school was an interesting period of time. It was when he got the reputation of being the boy next door disguised as the class clown, being the type that made someone someone feel good about themselves while also being the person that made someone laugh when they weren't supposed to. He let Darnell be the ladies man and only dated casually every now and again. He was an outgoing guy, but no one could say what group he was part of as he was somewhat of a social floater. His energetic personality was an annoyance to some while others were bothered by his constant pranks. Some thought that it was silly that he would stumble over his words because his mouth would move faster than his brain while others were jealous of his intelligence. Booker would say that his behavior would be the way that it was because he hated living in Merrock. He had always been someone who felt like he was more than his "stupid little hometown". In order to feel like he was doing something with his life, he tried out for track and field, ultimately joining the varsity team as a sprinter. He also played on the soccer team as a midfielder and was a photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook.

He needed to fill his schedule with extracurricular activities on top of the job he had as a waiter at the diner because otherwise he'd have to think about how boring and ordinary his life was and that just wasn't something he wanted to do. That's one thing about Booker that could be noted: he doesn't "do" feelings very well, preferring to push it all aside or focus on somebody else instead. Maybe that was why he decided to go into the medical field - helping people is a lot easier than helping himself.

Granted, Booker didn't really have a bad home life - he just didn't enjoy how he felt stuck in Merrock. In his mind, the one downside of living in a town with a small population was that all of your escapades ended up coming back to haunt you eventually, especially if your family was well-known. If he stayed out too late or did something he wasn't supposed to with his friends, chances were that his parents would find out. But despite being stuck in his small town, things were normal for Booker and he was just your average teenager. Though, that normalcy didn't last long. When Booker was entering his senior year of high school, his little brother and their friends were nearly killed in a car accident when the weather turned bad unexpectedly. The only reason Darnell and their friend group survived was because they were all wearing their seat belts. Booker had decided to skip out on the road trip earlier that day in order to hang out with a girl he liked. He barely said two words to Darnell the morning his little brother left for the mountains, too preoccupied with his own plans. It was that day that Booker realized that every moment counted, no matter how small or how big. It made him realize how much his brother really meant to him.

Even though Darnell survived the accident, it left him with several broken bones. In order to help his parents out, Booker decided to help take care of his little brother in any way he could. Whether that'd be taking him to doctor's appointments or helping him with daily activities while he recovered from his injuries, it was what he could do to contribute to taking care of his little brother. Though, he didn't mind because he still had his brother by his side. As he continued to help his little brother, Booker became the person that his mom had always hoped he would be - patient, attentive and unselfish. Safe to say, when he graduated from high school with honors at the age of eighteen, a few months after his brother's accident, he was a very different person. He was still a bit of a troublemaker, as some teachers would've been very keen to note, but he was also hard-working and put a lot of focus on his family.

After taking a gap year, he ended up studying at Vanderbilt University - a new drastic change of scenery, but he'd eventually grown used to it. He absolutely loved the city of Nashville and got accustomed to living on campus rather quickly. He became best friends with his roommate and started dating the waitress at the little restaurant down the street from the comic book store where he worked part-time. Of course, that relationship didn't last long, and then he started dating a girl in his anatomy class… and then a teacher's assistant… the list grew rather extensive as the years went on. The women he went out with were the few who found his goofball behavior endearing. Booker always enjoyed the physical bits of his relationships, he couldn't deny that, but the emotional side typically fell flat with him making terribly cheesy and half-hearted comments. If you were to ask Booker why it is hard for him to stay in a relationship, he'd say that it would be because of his taste in women, but it probably rather has something to do with his slightly flighty, childish behavior that so readily gets bored of the same-old same-old.

For a while, Booker was heading toward a career in being a surgical doctor like his father before him, looking at applying to medical school after he graduated. Though, he gained interest in being a pharmacist during his undergrad years at Vanderbilt. He knew his time at Vanderbilt was only a stepping stone to bigger and better things, he just hadn't decided what the bigger and better were yet. Flash-forward to dissection day in biology lab… and yeah, he almost passed out. That was the moment the light bulb went off and he knew that being a pharmacist was looking exactly like his kind of doctor. So, Booker graduated with his bachelor's degree in biochemistry and then was accepted into the PharmD program at the University of Southern California. He studied really hard to get through school, graduated, then studied extra hard to pass the NAPLEX and MPJE exams, and after all the blood, sweat and tears, he finally got to where he planned to be.

After being a pharmacy intern for many years, Booker finally became a staff pharmacist a few months after he graduated. He stayed in Los Angeles before moving back to Merrock two years later to help his parents after his father had a knee replacement. Moving back to his hometown ultimately brought him the one true love of his life. His daughter, Dina. Before the birth of his only child, Booker was optimistic to still be able to do exactly what he did back in Nashville and Los Angeles, dating around and having one night stands. But after a drunken hook up that happened between him and an old friend where she fell pregnant, he knew he had to put a quick end to any of that.

Even though he only planned to stay in Merrock for a couple of years, Booker has been still living in Merrock. And during the time he has been back, he's been raising his daughter with the mother of his child not too far away, being able to co-parent Dina without any difficulties. It had seemed like everything was working out for Booker - he was content with his life. However, it was only recently that things began to fall apart. Booker has become more head strong with his idea of moving Dina to some place bigger where she could experience more and have more opportunities outside of Merrock. It's put quite the strain on his relationship with the mother of his child after she overheard him talking about his plans. Truth be told, he once again has grown to hate being in Merrock and feels like the small town life is too monotonous. If Booker had it his way, he would have left a long time ago with Dina and never looked back but he's still here and becoming lesser and lesser every day. Time will tell if he'll just up and leave or if he'll learn to appreciate Merrock for what it is.

[evannakita]

Some last-minute Intuition theories

So Intuition is apparently coming out today, and we finally get to find out why Monarch hasn’t tried using the Snake Miraculous yet! That’s been one of my biggest questions about season 5—on the surface it looks like the perfect power for him, considering how often victory is snatched away from him by a last-minute surprise. And the episode summary suggests that Monarch understands this.

I haven’t been to the future yet, but I still feel like using these final moments before the episode’s release to try to anticipate what’s going to happen.

Spoilers abound; be warned!

Theory 1: Monarch already tried using it

We know the Snake Miraculous is difficult to wield well. Aspik failed to take down Desperada over twenty-five thousand times, and she wasn’t even all that tough of an opponent. Understanding everything about a timeline is impossible, and part of Ladybug’s reliable success comes from how she’s always able to react to anything that Monarch does, no matter how surprising. A time loop won’t change that, even if it does remove Ladybug’s ability to catch Monarch by surprise.

So what if Monarch already tried and failed to use Second Chance to manipulate an outcome through his advantage? That could have happened with a fight we’ve already seen, where the outcome shown was the one where he gave up continuing to try. Like Aspik, he’d have learned the hard way that a second chance doesn’t give you the ability to get things right. Viperion’s success was because he worked with the power rather than trying to twist it to work how he wanted it to. But Monarch’s exchange with the kwamis in Destruction shows that he has the opposite approach, and that won’t go well for him when messing with the timeline.

So if he already tried and failed to use the power, he’ll be reluctant to rely on it any time another power could work instead. And this would explain why he didn’t use the Snake Miraculous in any of his plans like the one in Deflagration, where he was closer than ever and needed every possible failsafe. Since he can only wield five Miraculouses, he doesn’t think it’s worth it to have one of them be the one he doesn’t understand.

Theory 2: Monarch is already using it constantly

While the first theory highlights Monarch’s weaknesses, this one serves as a reminder that even though he’s always failed to defeat Ladybug, she’s also always failed to defeat him. Because Monarch is cautious, to a fault—we shouldn’t forget how long he spent making the power transfer system for the Alliance rings to ensure he wouldn’t risk losing another Miraculous. And even if he doesn’t use powers as their kwamis intend, he’s very good at finding exploits and using them in clever ways. Just look at Optigami—we could be headed for a plan like that in today’s episode.

So if he understands the potential power of the Snake Miraculous as a failsafe, he might be very reluctant to use it at all recklessly. We don’t know enough about how the Snake Miraculous works to be sure if this could work, but perhaps he’s able to regularly make save points that he can go back to if he loses a Miraculous or if his identity gets revealed. He’d only need Sass to transform him if he actually needs to travel back, so that’d be why we’ve never seen him use that Miraculous.

Theory 3: Sass has been tricking Monarch

Even though the kwamis can’t directly disobey their holder, we saw in Destruction that there are loopholes to this, and Sass is a master of those. He’s a smooth talker and a quick thinker. Perhaps he always manages to convince Monarch that the Snake Miraculous isn’t worth using, or perhaps he’s encouraged misunderstandings of how it works. He’s the sort of person where it’d be surprising if he weren’t trying to undermine Monarch, and it’s just a question of how he’d go about doing that.

It’s also important to remember here that Sass has the ability to use Second Chance on his own. However, it doesn’t seem like something that could’ve happened offscreen considering the chaos that occurs when a kwami uses their power without a holder—and it’d also be hard for Monarch to not notice that, which would prompt him to order Sass to not use that power. Perhaps he’s simply already given Sass that order offscreen, or perhaps Sass just doesn’t have a good save point to go back to. (It’s unclear if he can only go back to the most recent one—would that still be the one in Ephemeral? Can he only go back to save points of his current holder? So many unanswered questions.)

A final note

One thing to keep in mind with all these theories is that Intuition chronologically takes place before five episodes that have already been released, and we haven’t seen the Snake Miraculous used in any of them. So whatever happens, this episode definitely isn’t going to cause Monarch to decide to use Second Chance more frequently going forward. And since he still has all his rings in later episodes, we know he isn’t going to lose the Miraculous today.

So I doubt today’s episode will significantly change the status quo going forward, but what it’ll hopefully change is our understanding of it—we’re about to know more about what Monarch’s doing and why, and that can have some major implications, including in episodes we’ve already seen. After all, when time rewinding is in play, the past can be just as full of surprises as the future.

[xbadgerbearx]

bird

word count: 1.6k

Can’t Sleep: [4] … [6]

Not too long later, Gaius Grieves revealed himself. Your little trio watched as Robert discreetly put a gun to his back and started talking. You weren't close enough to decipher what he said. Once he started moving your team got the cue to follow. However, everyone stopped in their tracks once soldiers were spotted.

"I thought Milton was supposed to be our lookout," you muttered as the soldiers started speaking Spanish to the patrons in the club.

As the soldiers got more aggressive in their search for Americans, Robert turned to Cleo.

"All right," Robert motioned to Grieves. "Take him out through the back, all right? Find my coordinates in the pad and meet me in half an hour," he ordered while handing Abner a gun.

"What?"

"Hey, did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, but-"

"Go."

Cleo hesitated before grabbing Grieves.

"Let's go."

As you were leading your small group to the back entrance, you heard Robert yell out, "Hey, calm down! There's no need to disturb everyone's night."

You could faintly hear Flag speak up as you found a door marked Solo Empleados.

"This way."

Unfortunately the door you opened was the dressing room for the dancers. You heard Abner say, "Oh, God," before a stumbling sound and a gun being handled. You briefly looked back to see Abner holding Grieves at gun pointing and ordering him to "Move it!"

Damn. That was a little hot.

Pushing your way through the dancers and out the door, you let out a small gasp at the soldier standing in front of you. Cleo, ever the quick thinker, used her device to have a rat crawl down his throat.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

You eventually made your way outside in an alley. Milton jogged over once he caught sight of you four.

"Your equipment manipulates animal behavior, clever," Grieves spoke out. "I'm working on something similar with humans."

"Be quiet, please."

"You are perceivably panicked. I'm guessing that you are not the alphas of this battalion."

"Do you want a dozen angry rodents crawling up your ass?" Cleo snapped.

"My answer might not be what you expect."

"Disgusting," you commented as Abner ushered Grieves to move.

You quickly made your way into the van. Milton took the driver's seat, Abner sat in the middle across from Grieves who still had a gun pointed at him, and you and Cleo took a seat in the back by Nanaue.

"Hello, friends!"

"Hi, yes, hello to you too, Nanaue," you said before pointing at Grieves. "Nom nom this man if I give the word."

"Okay!"

Cleo rummaged through DuBois bag before handing you the coordinate pad he spoke of earlier. Was that a picture of his daughter you saw? You couldn't get a good look since Cleo zipped up the bag. Coordinates in hand, you made your way back up the front to give Milton directions.

"Oh ho ho, what's this?" Grieves smuggly declared. You were too busy paying attention to the road to hear him.

"What's what?"

"I saw that little look you gave to your teammate."

"There was no look," Abner denied.

"Ah, but there was. How are you going to pretend you weren't just looking at their ass as they passed? You seem to have a school boy crush."

"Abner has a crush?" Cleo entered the conversation.

"No!"

Grieves laughed before answering Cleo. "You seem to have forgotten that I study people for a living, and I am very good at my job."

"Pet pet and Polky?" Nanaue piped up from the back.

"No! No Pet pet and Polky," Abner said with exasperation. However, upon looking at you and seeing how captivating you looked under the flashing lights of the street lamps, he followed it up with defeated, "Okay, maybe Pet pet and Polky."

"Dios mío!" Cleo exclaimed before she was hurriedly shushed. They both looked over to see if you heard.

"Okay, now take a right onto this street."

You did not.

"I'm happy for you, Abner."

"You seem to have forgotten you are on a mission. This isn't some little girl's slumber party."

Cleo slapped Grieves over the back of the head as Abner seemed to remember that he had a gun in his hand.

"Be quiet."

"Is- is that them?"

The team all looked at you as they looked out the window. Following your gaze, it landed on an upside down armored vehicle in a ditch.

"Of course it is, who else would be dumb enough," you sighed.

Milton slowly approached the area and parked the van. As soon as it stopped you jumped out to see if they were still there. Turns out you didn't have to wait long; the back door unlocked to reveal your three teammates scuffed but otherwise unharmed.

You wouldn't admit it but you felt relieved.

"All right," Robert grunted. "Let's go to Jotunheim."

"Nope. There's somethin' we gotta take care of first."

"What?"

Rick sighed out, "As much as it pains me to say, we gotta get Harley Quinn."

"Harley who?"

"Quinn. She was on Team 1 with me. Now that I know where she is, we gotta go get her."

"Fuck no."

"Come on, man." They made their way back into the van after you. "She's a valuable asset."

"I said no."

"Don't make me get Waller into this."

Robert thought for a moment. "Fuck, fine, alright. We'll go get 'er."

Everyone eventually got seated. This time you actually sat in a seat since you weren't planning on taking an impromptu nap—although that did sound nice. Flag filled Milton out on the details and directed him on where to go as you all got cozy. Robert and Chris were going at it again, Cleo was asleep, Nanaue was trying to get you to sit in his lap, and Abner was watching in amusement.

"No."

"Yes."

"I said no."

"Pet pet?"

"No, Nanaue."

Nanaue put on his best pout, "Please?"

You should not have turned around to look at him. Sighing, you stood up and made your way over to him.

"Hahaha!" He sounded like a giddy kid in a candy store. He gently picked you up and placed you on his lap. Immediately he started petting you again and hummed. Your legs were cramped and you felt like you were about to fall off his lap. Without saying anything, you sprawled your legs across Abner's lap. He just looked at you with a smile before adjusting himself to accommodate you. Resting his arms over your legs, he continued looking out the window.

"How fascinating."

"Hmm?" You looked at Grieves.

"You don't happen to also control animal behavior, do you?"

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Fair."

You heard a loud sigh from Chris. "Is this going to become a regular occurance?"

"What, you jealous? I'm calling it now, if we have another night during this mission I'm using him as my cuddle buddy."

"Whatever."

Although you said you wouldn't, you were almost asleep before Robert made the call for everyone to gear up. While everyone was rushing to get their gear on, you just yawned and leaned over to handcuff Grieves to a seat before making yourself at home on Nanaue again. You weren't exactly trained to fight with weapons, although you did grab a nearby combat knife to carry.

"You gotta be kiddin' me. You're gonna risk the entire mission for a mental defective dressed as a court jester."

"This is coming from a guy that wears a toilet seat on his head."

"We don't leave our own behind," Rick reminded.

"You're okay with this?"

"No, but I've been around Flag when he's got a rag in his mouth. Best not to tug it."

"Motherfucker!"

Just as everyone seemed almost ready, you hopped off Nanaue and gently nudged Cleo.

"Come on, gotta wake up."

"All right, let's go."

Everyone—besides Grieves—exited the vehicle before Flag announced his plan.

"All right, we'll enter through the third floor, go to the inner staircase, and then down to the cellar where they usually keep their detainees. Hopefully, Harley's still alive."

Still butthurt about what Robert said, Chris stubbornly muttered, "It's not a toilet seat, it's a beacon of freedom!"

Everyone got into position; Peacemaker somehow scaled a building to get a vantage point, Abner was down the street looking for traffic, Rick and Robert were beside one of the walls ready to climb to the third floor, you turned into a bird (much to the amazement of your team) so you could quickly enter the window Robert would open, and Nanaue—who forgot you turned into a bird—stared at you.

"Ratatouille, what do you got?"

"Third floor hallway's clear. Abner?"

"There doesn't seem to be any incoming traffic."

"Bird."

"Nanaue, that's Mimic you meathead- and stay off the comm!"

"Colonel, I got a clean shot on the only one in the office. Just give the word."

"Fire on three, two..."

"What're you guys doing?"

Rick looked at Harley, then DuBois, then back to Harley. "I... you- we're here to save you."

"You were gonna... save me?" Harley visibly looked touched.

"It was a really good plan, too."

"Well I can go back inside and you can still do it."

"That's patronizing," Bloodsport commented.

You saw Harley drag a big stick thing over to Flag and hug him.

"Uh, what's with the javelin?"

"I'm waiting for God to tell me."

"Jesus Christ..."

"Yeah, or Him. Or any of them, really."

You and Nanaue watched as Harley and Bloodsport had an awkward introduction.

"Never mind everyone, Harley is secure."

"What?"

"Meet me in the van so we can leave as quickly as possible."

Sighing, you morphed back into your original form. Nanaue made an audible gasp as he saw you sitting on the railing.

"Pet pet?

"Yes, Nanaue, it's me, Pet pet."

King Shark laughed as he started petting you immediately. Resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you swatted his hand away and motioned for him to follow you.

[sokkagatekeeper]

Do you think Zuko is stupid? It's just something I've seen a lot and always wondered if people truly believe he is or whether they were just making fun and myself being horrible with social cues just truly misunderstanding what they are saying.

ok i’m actually glad we’re talking about this bc i’ve been struggling to express my thots in this matter. when we (or i, for one and at the very least) say that zuko is stupid we are mostly referring to the fact that zuko is throughoutly socially incompetent in part due to his poor socialization, yes, but in part because he’s just a teenage boy. in essence, zuko is no more stupid than aang or sokka are.

the problem is that zuko faces ableism since he’s a child. he obviously has some brand of learning disability, and he struggles with reading people/putting his readings in actual words. zuko is often rash and impulsive, because he’s been pushed to the limit his entire life where he had to run for it to survive. this drives him to desperation to actually reach the level people expect from him, often contradicting himself, failing to make himself understood, or failing to understand others, being literal to a fault. another problem is that zuko needs plain explanations, and iroh, whom zuko spends most of his time with and relies on constantly, speaks almost entirely in riddles and proverbs. zuko’s “stupidity” comes mostly from his nurture, his circumstances, and the ableism he faced as a child.

but zuko is not stupid, rather his environment was not suited for the type of intelligence zuko presents. zuko understands how azula works perfectly fine. he does say, plainly, “azula always lies” even when this isn’t true, because azula manipulates the information she has in order to achieve her goals, which sometimes involves lying but not always. as zuko cannot put these thoughts in words, he settles for azula being a liar even though he knows it goes deeper than that (the mantra is also a reminder for himself and the preservation of his self-worth, since shown during “zuko alone” he associates azula’s lies with her telling him ozai was going to kill him, but that’s for another day.) zuko is actually very intelligent, creative, perceptive, and clever. he has the mind of an artist, he’s a quick-thinker, practical, he pays attention to the details of the smaller picture that other people often miss.

a clear example of this is zuko’s firebending. throughout the show zuko struggles with his firebending in the militaristic and industrial manner he was taught he should firebend. azula is excellent at this type of firebending, and she’s considered a prodigy because of this, while zuko is clearly the underdog in this situation and a big part of the reason we can safely assume zuko struggles with learning disabilities. but the thing with kids that have learning disabilities is that in most cases what they need is but a different approach to the subject. upon meeting the firebending masters, zuko learns a different, more spiritual, more artistic and fluid discipline of firebending. his technique and strength improve significantly after he and aang meet the dragons, so much that in fact he’s almost equal on foot with azula, which he had never been before.

zuko is stupid in the way teenage boys and gay people are stupid. he’d go on a suicide-prison break for a cute boy, he doesn’t know how to talk to people his age, his attention span and his patience are significantly limited, he contradicts himself quite a lot, he’s impulsive and he follows his heart more often than not. but that zuko is kinda dumb doesn’t erase the fact that he’s also... really smart

[imthepunchlord]

Can you elaborate on the Guardian Nino + Turtle and Alya getting the fox?

I understand why you don't like the rest, I don't like em myself but why are those bad in your opinion?

Just curious.

I will acknowledge that these are nitpicks and they are mixture of my own frustrations. Frustration that the miraculous that are assigned to Alya and Nino do not fit them as characters, and with Fu now confirmed to have 15 more miraculous with him, people will still default to those and won’t even consider changing things up. 

We will start with Alya as Nino would be a more lengthy answer. And putting this under cut as Alya got a whole lot more lenghtier than I originally thought. 

Now, I can get the appeal of Alya with Fox. Visually, its one of the more clever color coding designs for a miraculous, you have her big on learning secrets and sharing them with the world, Fox could teach her the importance of secrecy, though would still match that curious nature. And Darkblade shows us that Alya cna be sneaky and use underhanded tactics. Mr Pigeon also adds to this as she was ready to do something about Chloe stealing Marinette’s design. And while not aggressive, Alya is still a very direct and driven character and Fox could help teach her some subtlety, and to put some distance between herself and things, though the Fox itself is a risk taking animal. It can be a challenge of smart vs confidence. 

So there is actual appeal to Alya having Fox, particularly in symbolism and growth. But...

We got to see that the Fox’s power is Mirage, and that Mirage was one illusion and not the multiple that Volpina had initially set up. It not only downgrades the Fox miraculous, but this sets up difficulty for Alya. Especially with Kwamibuster revealing that how elaborate and complex an illusion comes out can depend on the user, and ultimately confirms that Marinette would be a far better Fox than Alya. Power wise, this really doesn’t set up Alya as a good Fox at all... 

Having one illusion to use, you want to make sure its used well. So the Fox would be better matched with an elaborate complex thinker who can make complex illusions that will misdirect their audience. You also want a character who can be more background oriented, if you’re going to be an illusionist, you don’t want attention on yourself as you play your audience. A skilled illusionist like this could even trick an akuma into “accomplishing” their goal and give up the butterfly as they are satisfied. 

Alya though does not meet those qualifications, not to say she couldn’t learn and grow, but if you need an immediate good Fox to help you, there are better picks out there. Marinette, Felix, Luka, and Nino all would be solid Foxes as they are elaborate thinkers, and can settle to be more background oriented. 

Alya though isn’t an elaborate thinker, she’s a very direct instead, so much of her illusions wind up coming out direct and basic. They still serve their purpose and do a good enough job, but there could better matches. Only time I found myself impressed with her illusion was Miracle Queen where she was under influence... that’s not good. And while Alya herself is an imaginative character, she can rival Adrien in recklessness and can latch onto the first idea she likes whether its a good idea or not. You don’t want an illusionist who’s going to latch onto the first idea that comes to mind and consider their options more. 

Now, if Fox had Volpina’s multiple illusions, this can give Alya more leeway to make mistakes and change tactics and allow a learning curve; it’d also work if Fox had other powers that could match her more, like a power of evasion, foxfire, hypnosis, transformation, ect. But its one illusion and how complex it is depends on the user and its not a good match for Alya.

And then there’s the matter with Trixx, and by extension, the issue with Lila: Alya is shown by s3 to be an easily manipulated character. If you are easily manipulated, that doesn’t set you up as a promising Fox. 

We see that Trixx is friendly and diligent, but also very manipulative and easily manipulates Alya. This makes their dynamic less interesting to me, I’d rather Trixx be paired with someone who can match them more mentally. 

And then Lila. Now, I myself wasn’t intrigued by the Alya vs Lila that the fandom was interested in as Volpina didn’t do anything to set them up, and you got the Truth vs Lies theme but Alya is supposed to get the Fox which is an infamous liar? It doesn’t quite match up as a rivalry, and canon proceeded to shoot that down even more as Lila easily manipulatives Alya in the accursed episode that sparked off many of salt fics and is actually still going. How can I embrace Alya as a Fox when she’s easily manipulated and accepts things at face value? I’ll also acknowledge that this is a similar issue with Nino who is easily accepting of Lila’s lies. I still think he’d be a better Fox than Alya, but Fox isn’t my top pick for him either. 

And then there’s the issue with Rena Rouge. 

You got her skin getting lighter and she’s now “sexier” as Rena. This does not add to the appeal of Fox Alya at all and makes me want it even less. 

Over all, there are better miraculouses for her to play off her being a more direct character. And by default, all miraculous would teach the importance of secrecy. 

Cat would really work as its a direct and aggressive miraculous but also requires some thought to it. Plagg can also be a fun and good counterpart to Alya, as he isn’t as invested in hero duties as her and could help her learn to calm down a little. 

She’d be a good Bee, would be smart with Venom and can teach her to be smarter around akumas. Can’t say how good of a match her and canon Pollen would be, she may help Pollen grow or Pollen will end up as an enabler. Pollen just might need a big overhaul as a character though, that might be best. 

She’d be a really good Turtle, its really keeps that support role of watching out for her friends and allows her to be in the front lines where she’d like to be, and can teach her some form of caution or not to be so reckless around akumas. I think of the 5, she and Wayzz could be the most interesting duo as Wayzz is quick to question his humans and can prompt Alya to start rethinking her strategies instead of going with the first idea she likes. But this isn’t a duo that would butt heads a lot as Wayzz is shown to be adaptable and will learn his users personality quickly so he can match Alya in her playful nature. 

And technically should wait to see powers, but, going off symbolism and headcanons, there’s a few of the Zodiac who Alya could use. 

Tiger has a lot of the similar appeals to Fox but with added aggression that could work with Alya better. It’s an animal more associated with the shadows and stealth, but it is a top predator. So if you want Alya to learn more subtlety and stealth but keep that directness, Tiger would be good. It would also keep that clever color coding, and perhaps match it more as Alya has “stripes” in her design. And the kwami we see is shown very curious and bold, similar characteristics that Alya has. 

She’d work as a Dragon, its also very direct and can be aggressive, but not exactly in your face like Cat and Bee. And power wise it has options so can allow a learning curve and can allow her to be direct or more subtle. It would also match that want to help and be a hero, as in the old Zodiac lore, the Dragon didn’t make first place because she kept stopping to help people. Shown to be poised, Longg could help with self-control, though she’s shown to be a rambler so that might get on Alya’s nerves, but could prompt the kwami to be more straight to the point. 

Goat can work as its a very ambitious but gentle animal. It’s also very clever, they are infamous escape artists. If you want another animal that matches in being direct, helpful, and cunning; Goat’s a good pick. The kwami is shown gentle and nice, by default they’d be a friendly pair. 

Dog, which should be a mixture of the appeals of Goat and Turtle, direct and helpful, but also be ready to be a protector and have people’s back. And the kwami is shown to be very on task which will work with Alya nicely. 

And lastly, Pig. While known to be aggressive (especially as a boar), in terms of Chinese Zodiac lore, this animal is actually known to be easy going, a symbol of prosperity and wealth, and in terms of Zodiac personality, is incredibly helpful. Similarly to Turtle, could teach Alya to slow down, and it has promise to be another direct support miraculous. 

Now, Nino with Turtle and by extension, him being Guardian. 

Now Nino with Turtle was never a match that I was ever really interested in, and there was less appeal there than Alya getting Fox. Nino’s not color coded for it, and the things Turtle can teach are things Nino didn’t need to learn or already had. 

One of the earliest suggestions made for Turtle Nino was to teach maturity, as Bubbler suggest Nino likes to party. Only Nino himself, at least the very little shown, is an over all mature and responsible character. 

He went up to Gabriel to request hosting a party for Adrien. 

Pixelator shows him taking over Adrien’s assigned job and doing his homework at the same time. 

Santa Claws he’s one of many to go look for Adrien. 

Captain Hardrock, was helping prepare the boat for the band. 

Not to say he’s mature all the time (no teenager is), but he doesn’t need lessons in maturity from Turtle. Turtle can also teach bravery and standing your ground which Nino doesn’t need either. He’s not the bravest of characters as he’s less inclined to face akumas, but that itself is not a bad thing, its smart to not engage with akumas. And Nino himself doesn’t have issues standing his ground as he was unafraid of Chloe in Lady Wifi nor was he nervous about changing the script in Horrificator. 

Turtle could also teach caution, self-care, and being more conscious of others and helping them. Which Nino also really has down. Much like before, he does watch out for himself with akumas and largely aware of the danger they pose; and he is an already helpful and supportive character, readily having Adrien and Alya’s back. 

Another factor is that Turtle is a direct support miraculous. It needs a user who is ready to be on the front lines and Nino is not that sort of character. He’d be better fit for background support as that’s where he would prefer to be and his strengths can lie better there, especially with his want to be a director who is a more background leader than having the core attention. 

And looking back at Anansi, there’s nothing there to solidify Turtle Nino, cause ultimately, Carapace was pointless. You can entirely cut out Carapace and very little would change. He doesn’t help fight Anansi but was there to root LB in the boxing match. Yeah, Shelter cut the web but, why couldn’t Chat just turn his hand and Cataclysm the web? This was supposed to be an ep to give Nino a “manly boost” but as a miraculous hero he did ultimately nothing and didn’t even need to be there. 

Canon really failed in making me want Turtle Nino at all. Only saving grace is that its for temporary use and not permanent. 

And as for Guardian Nino, this was playing off the headcanon that Turtle = Guardian, simply because Fu as a Guardian had Turtle which was a headcanon I never latched onto and seemed weird to me that this one miraculous was always assigned to a Guardian. But playing off this headcanon and Turtle Nino being popular, Nino got guardianship. 

Which to me was a weird thing to latch onto as, canon wise, there was nothing between Nino and Fu as characters, and Nino himself is incredibly removed from akumas and miraculous. If a best friend HAD to be a Guardian and not Marinette or Adrien, Alya actually would’ve made sense. Her whole thing is learning identities, but also learning the importance of secrecy. And you could play off her being involved but not in the forefront of things, not having full focus and attention, and you do see Fu in the background when Alya is in focus. 

But over all, I was more for Guardian Marinette as she was the most involved in the miraculous work and duties, did her job well, and was involved with other people and knew their strengths and weaknesses, could see potential and know they’re reliable. I am glad canon went for Guardian Marinette, though I wish canon had her passing the earrings onto someone else as she doesn’t need two vital roles to shoulder nor does the Ladybug miraculous teach her anything new anymore and Tikki is not a good kwami for her either. 

But Nino as Guardian just because its a popular idea of him getting Turtle, just doesn’t click with me and feels random, both in miraculous assignment and in role. 

And much like Alya, there are better fitting miraculous for Nino. 

Canon wise, plus being color coded for it, Peafowl would be good. It’s meant to be background support and not in the heat of things, so that matches Nino’s comfort level. This is a miraculous that can also help Nino learn needed observation skills, as that’s one of his biggest issues as a character. Any feelings of distraught can go over Nino’s head, not just in the case of Horrificator, but Nino is also oblivious to Adrien’s discomfort around Chloe and Lila, and has offered to wingman for both once (though Chloe he was an akuma). So a miraculous tied to emotions can help Nino become more conscious of others’ feelings. And giving him beings to command and oversee, this can give him practice in directing as he’ll need to learn to direct his creations. Duusu and Nino would probably get along well, and maybe spice up his life a little as she’s affectionate and expressive. 

By extension and for similar reasons, Butterfly also works very well. This is more designed than canon Peafowl to be on the front lines, but it isn’t required. And can still help Nino learn to be more consciously aware of others and still give him practice in directing as he’s then working with actual people then beings of his own creation. Nooroo and Nino would also be a very sweet pair, though a lot calmer and a tad boring. 

Nino would be a good Fox. Party Crasher shows he’s an elaborate thinker, and again, this can work in his want to be a director as he can learn how to put on a show and sway his audience. Fox can also help Nino catch the smaller details that he can wind up overlooking. And its a miraculous not set to be on the front lines and still works in his favor. Only issue is a similar one to Trixx and Alya, I do see Trixx easily manipulating Nino which doesn’t make them an exactly appealing pair. 

Zodiac wise, playing off headcanons and symbolism. 

Nino would be a good Mouse, as an elaborate thinker, this miraculous is up his alley as it’s about literal mirco management. And can still teach him observation skills as he has to be aware of everything while small. The little bit we’re getting of the kwami is that she appears quite the mischief maker, so she can spice up Nino’s life and we could get a funny dynamic to see. 

Ignoring canon’s take and working more off the Moon Rabbit, Nino would be a solid Rabbit, especially as a healer and support, and still teach him to be more aware of his surroundings and be more active in helping people. 

He could be a good Dragon, as it doesn’t appear to need to be too directly involved, and like (Moon) Rabbit, could teach him to be more actively involved in helping others. I can also see him being more patient with Longg than Alya. 

He’d be a solid Snake as an elaborate thinker, and this can give him the time he needs to think and decide on a plan. And still backs him catching details and encourage him in observing people and his surroundings. I see him and Sass getting along. 

Honorable mentions that can apply but I either don’t see them teaching Nino much or could end up being too direct than he prefer: Ox, Tiger, Horse, Goat, Dog, Pig. 

Soooo those are my nitpicky issues with Nino and Alya and their respective miraculous, plus the idea of Guardian Nino. But these are my nitpicks and issues, if anyone likes these miraculous assignments and the idea of Guardian Nino, cool. Its just one of many popular fanon ideas and tropes that just isn’t for me and I’d rather something else, especially in terms of miraculous assignment. 

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

I’m Always Curious Part Fourteen

Previous Part | Next Part |  Masterlist Notes: Not beta-read. I hope everyone has had a nice week! Warnings: Hoo boy...Cursing... Yearning? First Contact™? Let’s just say the gif is very deliberate Summary:  Before all of this, before Spargo, before Uthea C4, I might’ve been bummed that I was staying on the ship while Thaleh beamed down with the rest of the away team. 

The nice thing was that it was a contained incident.

The not-so-nice thing was... Well, that it was an incident.

A contained incident that had been witnessed by Una and Spock, two people who I knew would probably never let me live it down.

--

Koutov was a forest plant.

When I had occasion to translate Koutovian text during my dissertation, the substance of the text had been around an herb blend for tea. Koutovian tea was renowned in the quadrant; Spock had had it and spoken highly of it, which meant it had to be pretty damn good. Thaleh was going to take the lead on this particular mission. At least, Thaleh was supposed to take the lead on this particular mission. I had been pretty relieved about that. I was more than happy to take a step back after Larilia; she wanted me to take more of a hand in training Ensign Paledore, anyway. The beginnings of our journey to Koutov had been riddled with stops to other planets - Deneva, Kantare, Calder II, Valakis. Before all of this, before Spargo, before Uthea C4, I might’ve been bummed that I was staying on the ship while Thaleh beamed down with the rest of the away team. And then Thaleh had been ‘borrowed’ by Admiral Cornwell for a conference on Starbase 218, and I was left acting Lieutenant Commander. This was akin to when she had been on leave - but it was much, much worse; when Thaleh was on leave, the work had been more evenly spread between myself and a few other officers. This time, given my proximity to the Captain and the missions that I had been undertaken recently, Thaleh had entrusted me with more responsibility. I wasn’t upset with her - she hadn’t expected to be pulled off of the ship to assist Cornwell, and the fact that she had left me as acting Lieutenant Commander meant that she had an incredible amount of trust in me. But I was tired. I had never been so busy in my time on the Enterprise. Thaleh had left me briefings for the other stops to be made on the way to Koutov, but they weren’t complete. I spent my off-hours researching and filling in the questions I still had. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in, like, days,” Thira did sound a little worried as she said so, which was sweet of her. I shot her a thin smile from where my head was resting against the back of the couch in the lounge. “I’ve been kinda… You know. All over the place,” I waved my hands around, “It’s been busy down there.” “Are you going to keep covering for Thaleh, or-- I mean is she going to be back from the conference after Koutov?” I groaned, bringing my hands up and scrubbing at my eyes. “I have no idea, but I’m sure Captain Dimples will sort it out.” “What’s that, lieutenant?” “I said, ‘he’s the Captain, plain and simple, I’m sure he’ll sort it out’,” I fibbed. I kept scrubbing at my eyes, refusing to look through my fingers. When I did pick my head up and lower my hands, I found Pike and Number One standing in front of myself and Thira. I did my best to keep a straight face, though my cheeks were burning. The corner of Pike’s mouth was lifted, like he was trying not to laugh. “We’ll be arriving at Koutov in approximately six hours,” Number One informed me dryly. I nodded a little. “Okay… I mean, the population has a good handle on Federation Standard.” “I’d like for you to beam down with the away team, if you wouldn’t mind,” Pike said. I shook my head a little. “Of course, Captain.” He gave Thira a nod before he began to step back around the couch. He stopped just beside and looked down at me. “And lieutenant.” “Sir?” “Nice catch.” I frowned, brow furrowing, “Not sure I know what you mean, sir.” I could see Pike still fighting back a smile and hiding said dimples in the process. “Perhaps I misheard you,” He conceded. “You must’ve. Maybe you oughta get that checked out. I’m sure Dr. Boyce would be happy to test your hearing.” “Six hours, lieutenant.” “Yessir.” Pike strode away, leaving me alone with Thira and Number One. “...‘Captain Dimples’?” Una repeated once he was gone, arching a critical brow. I slid back down in my seat. “This is usually the part of the dream where the floor opens up and swallows me.”

--

It had to be because I hadn’t gotten much sleep, right? It had to be. Sleep deprivation and adjusting to the new atmosphere. Class M planet or not, it wasn’t as if Koutov had the exact same atmosphere as Earth, or the Enterprise. On top of that, my body was running on four hours of sleep. That was what was making my stomach twist was anxiety. That had to be it - had to be. But why hadn’t that feeling kicked in only half an hour ago?

We’d been beamed down to a botanical conservatory on Koutov - myself, Pike, Number One, and Spock. We’d been greeted by their Minister for Intergalaxy Relations, Bimao Nenreotov. Pike and Nenreotov had briefly discussed Koutov’s remaining in the Federation, the reason for our visiting the planet in the first place. Nenreotov had been incredibly forthright in the planet’s decision to remain in the Federation, and had been graced with one of the Captain’s wide, be-dimpled smiles. Even during that conversation, which was arguably (at that point) the most nerve-wracking part of our mission, I hadn’t been plagued by the anxiety.

Nenreotov had invited us to tour the conservatory. I hadn’t been plagued by anxiety then, either. As our tour began, we were each offered cups of tea. Spock looked pleased, and fell into an easy conversation with Nenreotov about Koutovian tea. He fell into step beside the Minister, with Una on his other side, leaving myself and Pike to bring up the rear, cups in hand.

“Well that went smoothly,” Pike had commented quietly.

“Certainly more smoothly than the last time I was beamed down to a planet,” I’d agreed, “Told you you wouldn’t need me.”

I felt Pike cast me a sidelong glance, “I was glad to have you along regardless.”

“Yes, I’m very good at sitting still and saying nothing.”

“That’s not true. You’re awful at sitting still.”

Pike and I had continued to hang back, sipping our tea intermittently and listening to Nenreotov tell us about the plants in the conservatory. An attendant had been along to collect the empty mugs from the group of us not long ago.

But now my stomach was twisting, and my throat was dry, and what was the Minister pointing out to us? Ah, Vulcan Mint, lovely. Of course.

I wrung my hands where they were clasped behind my back, careful to not draw attention to myself. I couldn’t be rude and ask to beam back to the ship. That would be rude to the Minister, not to mention another offense to add to the list of that day’s slip-ups.

“Are you warm? I’m boiling,” Pike muttered to me. I looked up at him and was surprised to find him a little flushed. I nodded, facing forward.

“It is a little warm,” I agreed quietly, doing my best to downplay my discomfort.

“A little? I feel like I’m back in Mojave -- Hang on.”

He cleared his throat, drawing the Minister’s attention as we neared a fountain.

“The lieutenant and I are going to sit for a moment and catch our breath.”

Nenreotov tipped his head to the side at the explanation; he looked between myself and Pike before nodding once, “Of course.”

“Are you quite alright, Captain?” Spock asked, brow furrowing.

“Sure,” Pike waved him off, “Just a bit warm. You all go on, we’ll catch up.”

Una had that look on her face again - the one she’d given me after Sandblossom. But now it was directed at Pike.

“Follow the path when you wish to catch up, we’ll keep it true,” Nenreotov gestured to the white marble path through the conservatory that we’d been following. Pike nodded. I lowered myself to sit on the edge of the fountain. Pike remained standing, watching the others go. I sighed, looking down at my hands. Why were my palms sweating? I rubbed them against my pants before I reached up, tugging the zip down on my collar a bit. I sighed at the feeling of air brushing over my throat. It was another few moments before Pike lowered himself down to sit beside me.

Maybe it was how warm I already was, or how warm he’d mentioned being, but it felt like heat was rolling off of him like a furnace. I looked to him as I heard him sigh, watching him tip his chin up and undo his collar. I let myself gaze at the bit of his skin that I could see from that angle before I quickly turned away, feeling Pike’s gaze shift to me.

“You alright?” he asked. Why was his voice so soft, so low? Did he always sound like that?

“Mhm,” I gave a quick nod. Anxious as I was, I suddenly wished I’d told Pike that I really wasn’t warm at all, that I was perfectly fine, and had left that Captain alone to open his collar and cool off.

“You’re an awful liar,” He accused, knocking his knee against mine.

“Oh, because you’re so great at it?”

“I’m better than ‘he’s Captain, plain and simple’.”

I groaned, tipping my head back; the sound was covered by Pike's laugh.

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you.”

“Absolutely not. You’re a quick thinker, I will say that for you,” He added as I lifted my head again.

“And that is about all there is to be said.”

“That’s not true.”

“Right. I also can’t keep still.”

“You’re also smart, clever...Resilient and…”

I chanced a glance in Pike’s direction and was surprised to see him looking at me.

“And…?” I pressed gently.

“Lovely.”

It was said with such a quiet sincerity that it threw me. I felt my breath hitch a little in my throat. I had to look away - I was staring, I was sure I looked like an idiot. Thing is, Pike was staring, too. Pike was staring, and his lips were twitching into a small smile.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, just… You’ve got a freckle on your eyelid. Never noticed,” He mumbled. I shook my head a little.

“Well, you don’t have many occasions to stare at my eyelids… Or reasons to want to.”

My eyes drifted to a bead of sweat that I saw slipping down the side of Pike’s face. It seemed to be sliding in slow motion - down his cheek, hugging the sharp curve of his jaw before it trickled down to his throat. I don’t know what possessed me, but I reached up, steadying my fingers against his neck and using my thumb to wipe away the drop before it could disappear. I found myself frozen again. I needed to move my hand - what the hell was I doing? I more felt than heard the hum that Pike made and that spurred me into action.

“I--Captain, I--”

“It’s alright,” He murmured, even as I began to shake my head, even as I began to pull my hand away, finally.

“I’m sorry--”

“It’s alright,” He insisted again, catching hold of my wrist. My stomach was a tornado of butterflies; my heart was beating faster than a hummingbird’s wings. I felt like I was going to explode. Why was he still holding to me -- I glanced down as I felt his thumb smooth reassuringly over the soft of my wrist, and then looked up again as I felt his other hand cup my chin.

“You’re still so warm,” He said quietly.

“So are you.”

I meant for it to come out defensive, but I heard the damnably breathless way that it left me.

Pike’s hand dropped away from my cheek, and I bit my lips to tamp down a whimper. I watched as he dipped his hand into the water of the fountain for a moment. He pulled his hand back out, shaking it off a little. He met my eye, looking for any hesitance or discomfort on my part. When I held still, he slipped his hand under my collar, cupping the side of my neck. My eyes fell shut at the rush of coolness against my skin - I couldn’t help the whimper that left me this time.

“...Christopher,” I breathed out; my wrist rolled in his hold to grasp at his hand.

And then I heard him murmur my name. My name.

Not my last name, not Lieutenant.

I opened my eyes to look at him. He was so, so close - as close as he’d been before in his ready room, as close as he’d been when he’d promised he wouldn’t let Spargo take me from the Enterprise.

It was the clicking of incoming heels that cut through the fog. I felt my stomach flip, the butterflies dissipate, the anxiety flood back in as I hurriedly pulled my hand from his. Pike didn’t rush to lower his hand from my neck, but he did turn away to see who was coming.

Number One and Spock were coming around the bend of the path. I could see from Spock’s single raised brow and the twist of Una’s mouth that whatever they’d seen was more than enough. Before either of us could explain or speak, Number One said, “We need to get you both to Medical.”

--

Fucking Koutovian tea.

To say that Boyce was visibly amused by the circumstance was an understatement. He kept shooting glances at the biobed on the other side of the Med Bay, where Pike’s vitals were being monitored by Nurse Chapel. I hadn’t been able to meet Pike’s eye since we’d been beamed back aboard and rushed to Medical.

The blend of spices that had been included in the tea that Nenreotov had given us included a strong amount of Susurrus Concalesco, or Whispering Flush - a plant native to Koutov. It was served to prospective mates on Koutov to suss out the viability of successful partnerships. Whispering Flush heightened the effects of the chemical components of attraction if they were already present in the bloodstream -- adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, testosterone, oxytocin.

Spock, Una, and Nenreotov had had the same tea, the same spice blend, and were totally fine. Pike and I were, well… A different matter. Apparently Nenreotov had pointed the herb out to Spock and Una on the tour as they’d walked on, mentioned its use in the blend we’d been given, snickered about our ‘symptoms’. 

“Your heart rate is still a little high,” Boyce informed me as he lowered his tricorder, “But that’s something that should wear off as the tea leaves your system. Go back to your quarters, get some rest. Come back in twenty-four hours if you’re still feeling the… Effects.”

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be delicate or trying to tease and make light of the situation to make me feel better, but either option sucked. I nodded and mumbled my thanks, sliding off of the biobed. I didn’t look at Pike as I left - I couldn’t. What the hell could I even say?

Thira was on-shift when I arrived back in my quarters, thank god. I was still overheated, still thrumming with nervous energy. A cold shower would help, right?

My mind drifted back to the feeling of Pike’s hand, cool and dripping, sliding under my collar and I groaned, closing my eyes. I couldn’t think about that. I couldn’t think about it now, I sure as hell couldn’t think about it later. I couldn’t just assume Pike’s interest despite the plant’s use. I had to put my Spock cap on. Pike could have those feelings for someone else, could’ve had those hormones in his system, and I was just the nearest body. And sure, maybe that wasn’t the kindest light to paint Pike in, but I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly when I was on that planet. I hadn’t exactly done a good job at keeping my hands to myself. I wondered how long it would take to get transferred to another ship. Maybe there was an opening on the Hiawatha? No. No. Spock cap. I was jumping to conclusions. I couldn’t make any rash decisions while this tea was in my system. Fucking Koutovian tea. 

Shower. I could start with a shower. A shower, and then maybe a Klingon poem. I unzipped my collar, pulling it away from my neck. I groaned as I heard my PADD beep. What now? Number One, ready with the lecture that had surely been imminent for months now? Or maybe it was Ensign Paledore with a question with the translation exercise I’d left him with.

I lifted my device and froze when I saw the message there.

Pike: I need to speak with you. Tag list: @angels-pie​ ; @fantasticcopeaglepasta​

[henlex]

Astrology pair request by @wrongnanab 💕💖💕💖💕💖💕💖

Onlyoneof: Taebin

Skip venus if you want to avoid dating

☆summary at the bottom☆

Sun:

main identity

Yoojung is Gemini: Air. Very flexible, curious, sociable, a bit of a chameleon. Not very quick to let people in completely. A little flighty, restless, and scattered which can make some people uneasy. Classic stereotype of two personalities because they can seem dramatically different depending on the circumstances, because of their adaptability. Enjoy the lighter side of life. Giving me those fairy vibes

Unfortunately that's very different than Kyubin's Taurus Sun. Earth. Very stable. Like comfort, predictability, dependable. Sensual (as in experiences through the senses, touch taste, smell...) They're hard workers, tho sometimes stubborn. They can be slow but they stick with it till the end. Like Kb saying it takes him a lot longer to learn the dances.

Some of them like the finer things (definitely him) Takes pride in their possessions. They need to feel comfortable and feel like things are theirs. This can lead to possessiveness tho. Which they can also by in relationships.

It's hard for them to change; opinions, locations...

So these two are kind of opposites because their signs are right next to each other. But they could really learn a lot from each other to become more balanced.

Moons

Inner emotional self

Yoojung is Pisces: uwu Water sign, so emotional, very compassionate/ empathetic, dreamy. A big softy. Really good a breaking down someone's emotional barriers/ seeing passed them. Which could be good for...

Kyubin is Capricorn: earth. This boy is very stable😂 They like to keep a level head, and tend to keep their emotions hidden to a certain extent. They need to be productive.

Mercury

Thinking/ communication

Yoojung is Taurus: Intelligent, Clever, Sharp, Meticulous, Sure, Confident. But can be slower and more stubborn. Takes a while to make decisions, likes to think everything through. Trustworthy and reliable. Uses all of his senses (like kyubin's sun)

Kyubin is Aries, which is a really interesting combo with his earth placements. So these are face paced, quick thinkers, small attention span, doesnt fully think things through. Like intellectual depth in others. Unique ideas, spontaneous. Can be too blunt. (I feel like a lot of these are calmed down because of the earths. I think this brash spontaneity would mostly show itself in his thoughts and words rather than actions)

Venus

Love/ romance

Yoojung Gemini: back to air. Playful, can be a bit of a tease😂 Very hard to pin down. Don't like to feel tied down in a relationship and will avoid them if they think it will be too boring/ comfortable. Wants lightheartedness in their relationships. You never know what to expect. They try to win people over with their diverse knowledge and interests to try and impress. Very curious and flirty. They crave variety.

Kyubin is Aries: They can be very direct and almost daring when they flirt😳 They can express their love in a "me-centered" way, but the right person will find it charming. They have an innocent aura, almost childlike. They like a chase but only when it's playful. They like to lead. They love spontaneous acts of passion. They almost try to show off by showing how independent and self sufficient they are. They can be impulse buyers (that really ties into the taurus, I feel like that's why he has so many clothes😂)

Mars

Aggression but also expression/ sex

Yoojung Virgo: Practical, goal oriented, have a lot of things going at once so can appear scattered. Very good at getting things done. Not aggressive, can be critical. When they do get mad they can become whiny/ complaining but it doesn't last long. They gain energy from their hobbies and projects, they get restless/ anxious without enough to do. They can be shy when putting themselves out there because they like to know what they're doing. Knowledge is very important to them.

Kyubin Pisces: this man confuses me so much

Not direct... they're very passive. They go with the flow and let life happen to them. They can seem charming because of their harmless demeanor. They need creative expression or else theyll be lost and aggressive. They may play games but even they might not know what they want😂. Their desires are fluid and ever changing, as well as their energy. Driven by love and compassion. Creatively expressing their emotions is imparative. They can be like chameleons. They prefer non verbal expressions of love. They are attracted to the needy

Bonus: North Node

(purpose in life/ what you're meant to grow and become. Kind of the opposite of your comfort zone)

Yoojung virgo

On the path to help and serve others without expecting reward or recognition in return. To learn to be humble in generosity and helpfulness.

Pisces south node means they are default head in the clouds, dreamers and in touch with spirituality. But this time around they need to learn to keep their feet on the ground. (Which honestly kb is so earthy he could really be great for that)

Kyubin Capricorn wow we really just said earth👏

Becoming self sufficient. Setting goals and achieving them. Finding your path can be hard (he really did get a late start😭) Finding balance between work and home.

His south node in cancer so his comfort is home and family😭💕

☆Summary☆

Sun: Kyubin calming yoojung when he's neverous and yoojung lightening the mood when Kb is overthinking. They could be very good for each other.

Moons. Kb could really benefit from opening up and letting his guard down around yoojung. And kb could keep yoojungs feet on the ground.

Mercury....they're exact opposites but reversed this time... This is very interesting. I feel like they could understand each other very well or not understand each other at all. But they could have very interesting conversations about literally anything.

*venus* ok these two are lowkey perfect. Yoojung doesn't want anything too serious and kb is perfectly that. They're both playful and light hearted in love. While kb is direct yoojung is playful and teasing, this could be a very cute give and take dynamic. Neither of them want to be bogged down and like to keep things interesting. Aries loves a conquest and yoojungs teasing nature could drive him insane but in the best way.

Mars: honestly a really good match, yoojung having many things at once while kb goes with the flow is perfect. Neither one argumentative. They could mesh really well because kb would be non judgemental and could calm yoojungs critical nature. Yoojung lowkey wants to be controlled and kb wants someone needy Bye

Nodes: north in earth, south in water for both. They're both meant to find stability but their comfortable in the emotions and comfort of the water. This is really cute and I think they can really relate to each other on some basic but also very deep levels

Okay that's all!! These two really confused me at first but omg they are so cute I love this relationship sm. I can totally see why they were paired together and where the chemistry comes from!

Thank you so much for reading💕 I am taking requests and will do the rest of onlyoneof next

Also check out @wrongnanab if you want fics because she's getting inspired by these and it makes me so happy

[girl4music]

‘Chariots Of War’ establishes Xena and Gabrielle as the Perfect Match.

I said I would write an analysis on why ‘Chariots Of War’ is one of my TOP 10 favourite episodes of the whole show and I’ve finally gotten the time to do it. 

Okay, so aside from the fact this episode deals with themes and situations very close to home for me in that it’s about compliance and expectations from relationships that affects our choices and perceptions of reality, which I’ve written about elsewhere and won’t go into in great depth here.... it does something very clever in how Xena and Gabrielle’s respective male love interests in the episode are written and honestly the writer, Josh Becker, deserves all the credit for this. 

Let’s put aside the fact Darius and Sphaerus are male for a second and instead look into who they are as people, what they want and care about, what their background is, even what their jobs are because this is what tells you not only who Xena and Gabrielle are as of the time of this episode, but also who they become in their character development throughout the show. As well as how they connect with each other as friends and also as soulmates.

Darius is a father of three children. He once went to war, left and then vowed to live only for peace. He lost his wife. He looks for work as a farmer or carpenter. He takes Xena in when she is wounded as of a result of trying to save his young son. He and his village are constantly attacked by a local warlord named Cycnus. He tries to tell Xena that fighting isn’t the only way to win a battle. By the end of the episode he realizes he wants a woman in his life again. He wants and needs to care for Xena. He wants Xena to stay with him and his children.

Sphaerus is a warrior in training. His father, Cycnus, is a warlord. Cycnus is constantly grooming and corrupting him and telling him that he does not have what it takes to be a warlord for Ares, unlike his older brother, Stantor, who was much more ruthless and was killed in battle in Corinth. He feels he needs to avenge him. He feels he needs to become him. He is later told by Cycnus that Xena fought against Stantor and killed him. He is pressured into doing things he does not like doing and is morally conflicted on doing them but feels he has to to earn his father’s honor and respect as a warrior, as a killer, as someone who will take his place. When he meets Gabrielle he reveals to her that he regrets the things he’s done. By the end of the episode, he is on the path of reformation and redemption because Gabrielle showed him the way. 

Now let’s look into their appearance and personality. 

Darius wears regular villager clothing. Although he was once a solider for Athens, there’s nothing even remotely threatening or dangerous about him. His attire is of a peacemaker. He has dirty blonde curly hair. His eyes are green. He has no experience with physical healing or medical skills. His children likes listening to stories, which presumes Darius often tells stories to them frequently. He is a caregiver. He is sensitive. He is kind. He is generous. He is soft spoken. He is very much in touch with his emotions and shares them with Xena. 

Sphaerus wears a warriors uniform. He is the leader of Cycnus’ army yet he does not have a killer’s instinct and does his damnest to avoid killing at all costs. He has long brunette hair that is braided. He has blue eyes. He is stoic. He is a good listener. Although awkward and skittish, he is clearly very mentally endowed. A quick thinker. Strategic. Meant to lead and teach. He is someone that has not yet realized his full potential because he struggles with his self-esteem. He is guilt-ridden. He isn’t happy being a fighter for the wrong side but doesn’t know how to change his ways. He really needs a moral compass. And Gabrielle literally falls into his lap.

Do you get it now? Do you see why this episode is written so brilliantly? At first glance, yes, it does look like an episode to push the narrative of two women getting close and falling in love away... but it isn’t... especially when you consider the ending. Both of them leave their respective male love interests and continue to travel together... Now knowing what each other want and need in their life.

Xena: “Do you ever miss your family?”

Gabrielle: “Sometimes. But not as much when I’m with you.”

In only the 2nd episode the writers set up the idea of Xena and Gabrielle being each other’s yin and yang before they even realize that for themselves. And they do it by using none other than their MALE COUNTERPARTS. Which intentionally appeases the studio censors at the same time. Ingeniousness!