#starting to think recognition is the problem. wanting to be recognized but only in a good way

[soracities]

Tessa Hadley in "Would You Want to Be Friends With Humbert Humbert?: A Forum on “Likeability” (pub. 2013)" [ID'd]

[thagomizersshow]

Apes are a kind of monkey, and that's ok

This is a pet peeve of mine in sci comm ESPECIALLY because many well respected scientific institutions are insistent about apes and monkeys being separate things, despite how it's been established for nearly a century that apes are just a specific kind of monkey.

Nearly every zoo I've visited that houses apes has a sign somewhere like the one below that explains the supposed distinction between the two groups, focusing on anatomy instead of phylogeny.

(Every time I see a graphic like this I age ten years) Movies even do this, especially when they want to sound credible. Take this scene from Rise of the Planet of the Apes:

This guy Franklin is presented as the authority on apes in this scene, and he treats James Franco calling a chimpanzee a monkey like it's insulting.

But when you actually look at a primate family tree, you can see that apes are on the same branch as Old World monkeys, while New World monkeys branched off much earlier.

(I'm assuming bushbabies are included as "lorises" here?)

To put it simply, that means you and I are more closely related to a baboon than a baboon is to a capuchin.

Either the definition of monkey includes apes OR we can keep using an anatomical definition and Barbary macaques get to be an ape because they're tailless.

"I've got no tails on me!"

SO

Why did all this happen? Why did we start insisting apes are monkeys, especially considering the two words were pretty much interchangeable for centuries? Well I've got one word for ya...

This the attitude that puts humans on a pedestal over other life on Earth. That there are intrinsically important features of humanity, and other living things are simply stepping stones in that direction.

At the dawn of evolutionary study, anthropocentrism was enforced by using a model called evolutionary grades. And boy howdy do I hate evolutionary grades.

Basically, a grade is a way of defining a group of animals by using anatomical "complexity". It's the idea that evolution has milestones of importance that, once reached, makes an organism into a new kind of thing. You can almost think of it like evolutionary levels. An animal "levels up" once it gains a certain trait deemed "complex".

You can probably see the issue here; that complexity is an ephemeral idea defined through subjectivity, rather than based off anything truly observable. What makes walking on 2 legs more complex than walking on four? How are tails less complex than no tails? "Complexity" in this context is unmeasurable, therefore it is unscientific. That's why evolutionary grades suck and I never want to look at one.

For primates, this meant once some of them lost their tails, grew bigger brains, and started brachiating instead of leaping, they simply "leveled up" and became apes. Despite the early recognition that apes were simply a branch of the Old World monkey family tree (1785!), the idea of grades took precedent over the phylogenetic link.

In the early years of primatology, humans were even seen as a grade "above" apes, related but separated by our upright stance and supposed far greater intelligence (this was before other apes were recognized tool users).

It wasn't until the goddamn 1970s that it was recognized all great apes should be included in the clade Hominidae alongside humanity. This was a major shift in thinking, and required not just science, but the public, to recognize just how close we are to other living species. It seems like this change has, thankfully, happened and most institutions and science respecting folks have accepted this fact. Those who don't accept it tend to have a lot more issues with science than only accepting humans as apes.

And now, we come to the current problem. Why is there a persistent idea that monkeys and apes are separate?

I want to make it clear I don't believe there was a conscious movement at play here. I think there's a lot of things going on, but there isn't some anti-monkey lobby that is hiding the truth. I think the problem is more complicated and deals with how human brains and human culture often struggle to do too many changes at once.

Now, I haven't seen any studies on this topic, so everything I say going forward is based on my own experience of how people react to learning apes (and therefore, humans) are monkeys.

First off, there is a lot of mental rearranging you have to do to accept humans as monkeys. First you, gotta accept humans as apes, then you have to stop thinking in grades and look at the family tree. Then you have to accept that apes are on the Old World monkey branch, separate from the New World monkeys.

That's a lot of steps, and I've seen science-minded zoo educators struggle with that much mental rearranging. And even while they accept this to an extent, they often find it even harder to communicate these ideas to the public.

I think this is a big reason why zoos and museums often push this idea the hardest. Convincing the public humans are apes is already a challenge, teaching them that all apes are monkeys at the same time might seem impossible.

I believe the other big reason people cling to the "apes-aren't-monkeys" idea is that it still allows for that extra bit of comforting anthropocentrism. Think of it this way; anthropocentrism puts humans on a pedestal. When you learn that humans are apes, you can either remove the pedestal and place humans with other animals, OR, you can place the apes up on the pedestal with humanity. For those that have an anthropocentric worldview, it can actually be easier to "uplift" the apes than ditch the pedestal.

Too make things worse, monkeys are such a symbol of a "primitive" animal nature that many can't accept raising them to the "level" of humanity, but removing the pedestal altogether is equally painful. So they hold tight to an outdated idea despite all the evidence. This is why there's often offense taken when an ape is called a monkey. It's tantamount to someone calling you a monkey, and that's too much of a challenge to anthropocentrism.

Personally, I think recognizing myself as a monkey is wonderful. Non-ape monkeys are as "complex" as any ape. They make tools, they have dynamic social groups, they're adapted to a wide range of environments, AND they have the best hair of all primates.

I think we should be honored to be considered one of them.

[icyg4l]

PAC: Is This Relationship Salvageable?

Hello beautiful people! I know I said that I wanted to upload this last night but I honestly forgot about it lol. Today’s topic will be for those who are deciding on whether or not they should save a relationship. This could be a familial, platonic or romantic relationship. This reading is inspired by real life events. As we enter a new season, some of us will be going through physical and spiritual upgrades, which means that some people will stay and others will go. Sometimes we have to learn to leave people behind. In other instances, we have let go of our egos and face the music. Also, if you would like to book a personal reading with me, I will leave the link to book here & my guidelines here as well. Personal readings are officially open until further notice! Now without further ado, please select your pile to find out whether or not your relationship is meant to be salvaged! 

TW: mentions of abuse & addiction

Top Left-to-Bottom Right: (1-6)

Pile One: Some things are better left unsaid. This relationship feels romantic, but not exactly. Perhaps a fling that turned into something serious but wasn’t supposed to be serious. Maybe you are in a year’s long situationship.. Free you my heart. It’s definitely time for you to let go of this person. I heard predator and prey. This person is sneaky and selfish. They will do whatever to keep you around them for the money that you have. Your financial resources/benefits are the only reason why they keep you around. The sex is a factor too, but you could get good sex anywhere. You could have recently got a promotion or got hired at a new job where you will be making more money. This person could either be buttering you up a lot right now & it’s become an annoyance to you, or this person could also be starting fights with you. Either way, they are jealous of what you have going on. If you do not get rid of this person, they will end up sabotaging your finances. So please, move accordingly. Move like you got some sense. You know what this person is capable of. Don’t be blinded by the history that you have with this person. Use your pattern recognition to help you recognize the toxicity that they bring into your life. You are not making the wrong decision by kicking them to the curb. 

Cards Used: 6 of Swords, 8 of Cups, 5 of Wands, 4 of Discs (RX), The Magician (RX), The Hierophant, King of Wands 

extras: jody and yvette. cardi b and offset. “the lies! the lies!” “money don’t grow on trees.” hobosexual. unfolded laundry. aura cleansing. user. polly pocket dolls. collector’s edition. birthday gift. 

Pile Two: I feel like this pile struggles with addiction or some type of trauma that is not so hidden. I feel like this trauma has affected your reputation, but the person you are asking about has stuck by your side. I do not think that you and this person can’t make up. Some things were said that you didn’t really mean. In the heat of the moment, you just said whatever to make them feel bad. I think that this relationship can be rekindled, but there needs to be a cool off period. This person could be your mentor, sponsor, friend, etc. This person has seen you at your lowest and right now, you could possibly be at a low point right now. This person is very empathetic and knows exactly what you’re going through but dealing with your mood swings can be draining. If you’re going to put in the work to better yourself, then do it. Words without work are just broken promises. If you need to go on medication, then contact your doctor and do that. Get to the root of the problem, Pile Two. If the roles are reversed, just know that you cannot save everyone! This person is just as grown as you are. At some point they have to mature, so let them do that. Focus on yourself for the time being. As time goes on, you two will have a better relationship but the dynamic will be different (in a good way). 

Cards Used: Ace of Wands, Princess of Cups, 4 of Cups, The Devil, Death, 4 of Swords, 8 of Discs.

extras: rue and ali. piscean energy. failed test. please please please by sabrina carpenter. struggles. drinker at parties. PDA. “rinky dink.” molly. seinfeld. just dance. dancing with the devil. 

Pile Three: You and this person have been in each other’s company for a long time. However, it seems that you two need to go on separate piles in order to grow. You will miss this person a lot. You may even run into this person a couple of times but hey you have to do what you have to do. Whenever you two do make up, you two will click like nothing ever happened. This could be a best friend or a lover, maybe even a cousin if you are close to them. You have known this person for a long time. Sometimes you need space from these kinds of people because at the time, you may be outgrowing them. But it’s like that one pair of pants in your closet, you can’t just get rid of them. You’ll always come back to them when you lose weight or gain weight. You’ll always come back to your person! There is a deep soul connection that you have with this person, which is why it’s hard to let go of them. But it is very well-needed. Focus on yourself. Your future is bright and so is theirs. Learn to create and enjoy a life outside of them. 

Cards Used: 7 of Wands, 10 of Discs, 6 of Cups, 5 of Cups, 8 of Wands, 2 of Swords, 8 of Cups. 

extras: lawrence and issa. raw indian hair. shark tales. squeeze. great rapport. miley and lily.

Pile Four: If you feel like the connection is one-sided, then please do not hesitate to drop this person. It feels like this person isn’t necessary in your life. They’re not meant to be in your circle. Perhaps, they could be your associate. I don’t believe this person is as close to you as they once were. This does not mean that you have beef with this person. It just feels like you need to decenter them. They are doing their own thing and you need to start. You will not be close with everyone that you come across and that’s okay. There’s no long conversation that needs to be had. You just need to accept things as they are. Find people that are on the same wavelength as you, Pile Four. You can reach out to this person and they will reply, but the conversations are likely going to be brief. However, there’s no hard feelings. Just be ready to adjust the energy for this person in your life. Reciprocation is something that you are looking for, and does not lie within them anymore. It is somewhere else. 

Cards Used: 2 of Wands, Prince of Swords, 4 of Swords, The Hermit, 6 of Wands, The Hanged Man, 4 of Cups, 

extras: hidden jealousy. unanswered texts and calls. turtles. salamander. 

Pile Five: Right now, you’re leveling up. A lot of the things you used to do, the places you used to enjoy going to, the people you used to be close with are not resonating with you anymore. It’s a time of maturity for you. Those who understand that will be empathetic to that, especially if you have recently become a parent. But those who cannot accept the fact that you are changing will simply have to be kissed goodbye. You could be converting to a different faith, going through a dark night of the soul, or you could be grieving. You could be known for being a party animal. You could be known for being a fighter. You could be known for having lots of sex. It’s okay to change, but what’s not okay is expecting people to stay the same for your comfort level. The person/people constantly expecting you to be your past self need to kick rocks. Those are not your kind of people anymore. It doesn't matter how long you have known them for. It doesn't even matter if this is your own mother/family member. You have to put yourself first and they’re just going to have to deal with that! You cannot control the reactions of other people. You can only control how you react.

Cards Used: 5 of Swords, 7 of Wands, The Emperor, Knight of Wands, 6 of Discs, 3 of Discs. 

extras: healer. no hard feelings. moving boxes. man in the mirror. picking up new hobbies. “working on my aura.” journaling daily. freedom. changes ahead. 

Pile Six: This feels very twin flame-ish. Right now, you may feel embarrassed, maybe even helpless. You could be on the receiving end of someone’s callous/cold behavior. But yet, you still feel tied to them. Baby, it’s time to do a cord cutting ritual and be done with it. It’s time for you to explore some different connections. Your energy is similar to Pile One, but this is a spiritual connection rather than a material connection. Your twin flame will get what they are owed. It is not right that they continue to get away with treating you wrong & being sneaky behind your back. When someone shows you who they are the first time, BELIEVE THEM! Don’t fall for their bullshit again. You know better. “Fool me one time, shame on you” is what I heard. Be ready to find some new hobbies, babe. You’re going to need them. 

Cards Used: Ace of Swords, Ten of Swords (RX), The Fool, The Devil, The Magician, Justice, Judgment (RX), 7 of Discs.

extras: new underwear. stocky. lavender. clues. body language. divas. stephanie mcmahon. goofball. hand sanitizer. in need of new lip gloss. stressors. working the late shift. catching z’s.

[chugging-antiseptic-dye]

who in seventeen would believe in astrology🔮:

kind of believes it's real: (vernon, hoshi, minghao, dk)

starting of with vernon, our favorite cinephile and well known astrology non-truther but for someone who says he doesn't pay attention to zodiac signs, he sure yaps about it a lot. i feel like vernon believes in astrology on the basis that he can pattern recognize quite well and what is astrology if not 2600 plus years of pattern recognition of character traits and habits? his very visible aquarius sun and mercury would agree with me 🤓👆

hoshi for me is someone who 200% thinks he is a gemini. HOWEVER, he doesn't really get what it means and actually to what degree he is his atrocious chart is what actually got me into svt. i just had to see who this disaster man was. as he once said, he is the type to do all, buy all, and then regret it. so, i don't think any belief in celestial forces can stop him from doing whatever he wants.

i know the minghao being in this group is kind of a surprise but i just know he is a spiritual sort of person !! (trust me, he is my best friend). minghao believes in karma, energies created by intent, and superstitions. so, while he won't exactly be into astrology, he would still pay attention to what it says and verify it with the information he already has. his scorpio sun is really prominent but it is his aquarius moon that makes him tolerant (or even encouraging) of the more esoteric points of view.

dokyeom for me is a coin flip of 'yes, he thinks astrology is real' or 'no, he doesn't'. he is a person who tries to see other people's point of view and build a emotional connection with them, trusts everything until proven wrong, and tbh not a skeptical sort of person (like woozi or joshua). on the other hand, he is a very subjective person (that cancer moon is hella prominent). if someone who wrongs him thinks astrology is neat, he is going to hate it to death :3. until then, he thinks it's interesting in a 'ohhhhh, you can also perceive people's personality like that' way. let's hope no astrologer gets on his bad side lmao man can hold a grudge

mostly doesn't believe it but willing to entertain the thought : (seungkwan, joshua, jun, dino)

honestly, i am 50/50 about seungkwan believing in the stars but i feel like if it makes sense to him only and only then he would totally be an astrology gurlie. HEAR ME OUT !! seungkwan is someone who knows his own personality inside out and is very logical. A person like him wouldn't be everyone's top choice as an astrology truther however, he is an open-minded person. he turns over new information in his mind and then decides if it makes sense to him or not. a perfect synergy of his capricorn mercury and aqaurius mars. he also likes connecting intellectually with people and learning new things. so, all in all, like the answer to any complex problem: it depends. its up to him but in my head, he is a believer xd

joshua, j o s h u a, JOSHUA, i just like his name is a very practical person. he is neat, organized, and realistic. so, will he believe that he is a capricorn sun, taurus moon? probably not. but he will still hear out everything in astrology that's about him and try to match if its real or not. at the end of the day, he is someone that cares a lot about his image and what people think about of him.

jun, when he is not in a public or social setting, is calm and grounded (as much as his gemini sun can be). he can stubborn as a bull about his goals and get something of a tunnel vision about it. taurus mars works overdrive in his case. cause look at how he practiced the card magic trick for two hours in nana tour until he got it right. this is why, i feel like he never thought about astrology in any way and won't even know it exists until one day he just stumbles on it. and even then, he is the type of person to say, 'oh, that's cool' and move on. unless it is something he is already interested in, man doesn't care lol.

as for dino, he is someone who likes using every resource at his disposal. therefore, he would sort of believe in astrology if it can help him in someway but he won't live his life based on it. and since dino is very independent and opinionated (aquarius sun and mercury like vernon), even if there is a chance that he is 200% an astrology gurlie, he would make his own decisions based on his own judgement. however, dino is a really sweet and genuine person. if he was friends with a person who likes astrology, he would try to bond with them using it. as a result, he would soak up astrology facts real fast without even trying (that sagittarius moon of his is no joke)

absolutely would not believe in it and lowkey judge people who do : (scoups, wonwoo, mingyu, jeonghan, woozi)

would scoups believe in astrology? nope. does he like hearing people compliment him using astrology? 10/10. for a proud man like choi seungcheol, astrology can seem like it's limiting his potential. but he would always indulge his loved ones if they like it as a true leo sun, leo venus person.

okay, for wonwoo, if he was into astrology, he would have been obsessed with it. but, as we all know, his poison of choice is video games. so, he doesn't give a shit about the stars lol. as expected of a gemini venus and mars.

as a stem major coded person, i don't think mingyu would believe in something that can't be dissected and put together again. he systematically moves forward towards his goals and his mindset doesn't allow him to wallow in failure. thus, he will wave away any astrological explanations with his ' i make my own destiny ' attitude. love our rational king 😎😎😎 go wild with that aries sun virgo mars, my son francis bacon would have loved you rip

asking jeonghan to trust anything that he cannot analyze the hell out of is too much to expect. he won't ever believe in it but he will play into it if he gets something out of it if you know, you know 🤷. asking a libra dominant person to NOT be analytical with human interaction? now THAT'S the eighth wonder of the world.

unlike the others who are willing to keep their disdain for astrology on the down low, woozi will not hesitate to state his opinion. he doesn't believe it's real and finds the people who do sort of weird. it's never going to be his thing i fear. he is too much of a gemini moon sagittarius mercury.

[wirewitchviolet]

That thing about 'the arc of history bending towards justice...'

I'm pretty sure I've gone on about this before, and I'm pretty sure I'm preaching to the choir, but I just had a well-intentioned acquaintance try to give an inspirational speech about American trans people's fears right now, and his heart was in the right place, but all his facts were wrong, in some really important ways. I feel like the perspective he has is the same one as... basically every decent person who isn't like, intimately familiar with WPATH, so please spread this around, and please if you only read one rambling history lesson from a trans person about the current state of things, make it this one.

So here's the big problem. Trans people get brought up in the mainstream media a LOT these days, but the framing is totally wrong. The impression people get is that there is presently a big push for new trans rights, where we want proper government recognition, and trans women in particular want to be able to use public women's restrooms, and play on girls-only sports teams, and a dozen other things. That is a lie you are being fed. These are all rights we ALREADY HAD, for decades. Possibly centuries depending what we're talking about specifically and where we're talking, even. The big issue right now is that a bunch of bigots just woke up one day about 10 years ago and decided that nothing else they were angling for was getting them anywhere with the general public, so hey let's make a boogieman out of this minority of a minority nobody knows the first thing about and act like all the horrors they're inflicting are just them enforcing some totally fictional status quo.

Speaking personally, I can say that The Trans Agenda in like 2014 was something like: 1- I'm gonna make a nice big pot of chili. 2- I'm gonna maybe replay some old video games from the '90s I haven't taken down off the shelf in a while. And OK maybe 3- It'd be cool if it weren't just the medical professionals who specifically specialize in trans stuff had enough of an education to know that when there's a difference in how a drug is going to effect men vs. women, it's for reasons directly tied to the levels of various hormones, or would at least trust their trans patients to know what we're talking about and not give us the wrong doses of things and maybe kill us as a result. And also like, treat us for regular things like broken arms (real example) without weirdly panicking about some prescription we're on they don't recognize.

There was absolutely not a point where some trans woman started petitioning the government or whatever to let her pee in a toilet with a little placard of a stick figure in a dress in front. We've just been doing that the whole time. Nobody's ever had a problem with that. You didn't know we were in there? OK. If I'm like at a restaurant and have to use the bathroom, I don't know how many of the other women in there have like, type O blood. I also don't care, and I think everyone would agree it was weird if I suddenly did care, and demand they post a guard out front asking to see driver's licenses. Just completely out of the blue some nutcases from the UK started foaming at the mouth and writing weird tabloid articles about their completely unfounded fears that... I don't even know. Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs might put on a wig and follow them into the bathroom, dose them with chloroform, and drag them to some basement dungeon through some series of secret passages or something.

This was based on literally nothing at all, to be clear. Like, people pushing for this went and did serious research for anything even anecdotal to back them up on this, and didn't actually find anything. Then they started walking into public restrooms with cameras throwing doors open on people and going "see? See? Some creep could totally do this if we don't ban trans people from using bathrooms!" And... somehow this got traction? I figure it's because coincidentally there was this whole other thing going where people were looking at how every building had equal numbers of men's and women's rooms and saying "you know, like, 90% of people who come in here are the same gender and we end up with really long lines, what if we just took the signs down and told everyone to just use whichever?" which... when it's happening at the same time Chicken Little is ranting and raving about the boogieman wearing a cheap wig, wires got crossed? And suddenly we've got waves of legislation passing all over about who's allowed to use what bathrooms with weird standards that'd involve like DNA tests to actually enforce properly. Absurd stuff.

Meanwhile, your average trans activist at the time was just like... sitting there eating a sandwich and going "huh, they're making a TV series based on Fargo? That's an odd thing to happen out of the blue. And yeah we started going "hey, what the hell?" when this stuff started passing because like... yeah that's what you do when you see an article in the local newspaper that says you can't go to the bathroom at work or whatever without swabbing your cheek and waiting for lab results for 3 weeks first or whatever.

Same deal with sports. Major sports organizations like the Olympics have been weirdly paranoid about men pretending to be women since 1950. And there have been, to the best of my ability to research... zero men who have actually done this. And while the weird standards used for this have been used to kick a good number of women out over the years, none of those women have been trans, for what that's worth. Really, the whole gender testing thing has only ever been used for horrifying stuff like forcing women to strip in front of random creeps, or let them do "invasive internal exams" and of course so many incidents where some woman who isn't white wins at something and people move the goalposts to in some way to get her specifically banned. You may be thinking, "wait didn't I just see a whole bunch of news coverage about someone getting banned after some gender testing thing? She was trans right?" No. You're thinking of Caster Semenya. She's a woman. A cis woman. F on her birth certificate, born with standard issue female genitals, has periods, all that. People are just being weird racists there and crossing the streams with random transphobia. That and just... half-reading stories and making stuff up.

To the best of my knowledge, the total count of trans athletes who have competed in the Olympics would actually be... three nonbinary people, who so far as I can tell all competed against people with the same gender they had on their birth certificates, nothing done medically, so, nobody should have any problem there. Caitlyn Jenner, who didn't come out as a woman until like... 40 years after competing, on the men's team, and Laurel Hubbard, the first and only trans woman to compete at the Olympics as a woman, who placed... dead last, flubbing all three of her lifts.

If we just look at sports in general, OK, there WAS one big famous where a trans woman wanted to compete in a major sporting event, was banned from it, took the organizers to court over it, and the eventual ruling was there was no reason at all she shouldn't be allowed to play against other women. Renée Richards. And this was all the way back in 1976. Nearly 50 years ago now.

And of course in more recent years, again, after a bunch of random bigots just completely out of the blue started losing their minds about trans people with no prompting and started lobbying for new laws banning us from all kinds of things nobody had had a problem with us doing forever, there was Mack Beggs, a trans guy, who was forced, by one of those aforementioned baffling reactionary new laws, to compete on his high school's girl's wrestling team. He didn't want to be there, they didn't want him to be there, but the law said hey, F on your birth certificate, we're classifying you as a girl despite how clearly wrong that is. And then there's been a bunch of other weird cases like that like one state banning trans girls from playing any sports with other girls which only affected one single girl in the entire state, who was playing lacrosse on a team that wouldn't have even existed if she hadn't personally organized it.

But the point here is, trans people aren't asking for anything here. We're just standing here, and people are flipping out and banning us from doing all these things without any prompting. And hell, I THINK this one got shot down in higher courts, but when Florida got the brain worms on this and started passing all the anti-trans legislation they could think of, they actually included a ban on us just standing there! The wording was something like (and I apologize that I can't find it, search engines are useless now), "if a child can potentially see someone who was assigned male at birth who is wearing women's clothes, it's considered sexual assault."

It's important to understand what's actually going on here, both because what's going on here is just plain terrifying, but also because there is this huge segment of the population who has this weird idea that people's rights only ever get better, there's just some weird arbitrary ratcheting where you have to take a number and get in line. Like, "hey, used to be only white men could vote, then eventually the Progress bar filled enough that we let white women start voting too. Then we had to wait for it to fill up again, hey, we're ending this whole segregation of black people thing. Gotta give it another 30 years or so to fill up, now hey, gay people can get married! Don't be impatient trans folks, you just need to stay in line and wait for it to fill again for your turn!"

That's not how anything has ever actually worked. It would frankly be absolutely insane if it actually did, but like, this is an idea people get in their heads because history textbooks really like to gloss over all the stuff that makes the country look pretty bad and promote this whole "stuff is just always getting better!" vibe. But no, sometimes, things just straight up get worse for people. Ten years ago I could go to the damn bathroom, I could have social media accounts, I could access all the medications I need to live, I could safely set foot in any given state in the country... at least if I kept some witnesses around at all times to verify I was not in fact hitting on my would-be murderer in any of the black states on this map.

The problem is NOT that with Trump in power, the pause button is getting hit on trans people climbing towards some state of finally getting to be regular people. We were (largely) already there, and there's been a huge push over the past decade to strip that away from us. And Trump plus the rest of the Republican party in general have made very specific promises to make that way worse real real soon, including several things that will straight up kill a ton of us.

Like, when I'm talking about losing access to necessary medical treatments, I'm not talking about "THE SURGERY" and magic pills that give you boobs or beards. A lot of trans people are trans because there's weird medical stuff that in addition to messing with what does and doesn't grow mess with things like whether your blood flows properly and whether various organs do what they should. Just one of those many things the average person doesn't know, because everything written about us is from deranged bigots making crap up.

[bibibbon]

Loved the idea of dabi having to coach Shig... except I can't see him helping Shig at all...they are frenemies, emphasis on the enemy part.

But jokes aside....this make me think how Izu doesn't fit in any group or in any arc. I know I started this with a silly joke but ...when it comes down to it...Izu is not important, not really. There no connection to him nor an attempt.

Shiga in MVA got an army and the entire arc felt smth fro ANOTHER MANGA. There no mention of Izu. "Oh you wanted people to talk his name in every conversation" not that, I wanted people, the villains in this case, to recognize how powerful Izu is as it seems only the villains give credit to Izu.... but it's like he doesn't exist.

Shiga got an army and does .... nothing!

Shiga got money and does.... Nothing!

What happened to Daika is glossed over. We don't even know if Izu saw what happened in Daika (by tv or internet)

And it's a pattern since day 1. Izu is not allowed to really have connections, to bond with people...to grow.

MHA is a story where the mc is sidelined in his own story for no reason and he still gets blame in the story and fandom.

Hey @mikeellee 👋

I see where you're coming from with the whole Dabi and shigaraki are enemies first and friends second but in a situation where shigaraki is well more developed and actually proves and earns his title as the league of villains leader while utilising the MVA resources I feel like he would help Dabi with his revenge.

Hmm the point you bring up about izuku is interesting for sure. To me him not fitting in or not making genuine connections with other characters feels like an unintentional writing mistakes by horikoshi.

In the earlier parts of the series it's evidently clear that shigaraki was really interested and amused by Izuku. The guy literally had a picture of izuku, watched the sports festival and went to izuku for advice (the mall scene) he also showed interest and regarded Izuku's opinion about why people listen to stain and not him. Before shigaraki got the league Izuku was the closest person he could talk to and that simply disappears after he gets the league which is weird because shigaraki doesn't ever get a proper arc that shows him and the league bonding or becoming close rather he just promises them that he won't take away things they like as long as they work for him. Shigaraki in my opinion also doesn't earn the role of leader in the league neither does he do much to earn their trust which is why his line of caring about the league felt so underwhelming to me.

In the earlier arcs izuku and shigaraki had some built up but that was sidelined and even when shigaraki had resources to conduct research on izuku and maybe even reach out he chose not to. The MVA had a lot of potential and it's a shame that horikoshi doesn't tie izuku into it especially because it's not only shigaraki that's interested in Izuku but also toga. The two of them could of looped and included Izuku and we also seem to forget that izuku strangely has a lot of parallels between the villains just in general!!

In my opinion the whole shigaraki and izuku sharing memories thing was a horrible plot point and was used to rush the build up between shig and izuku which was almost non existent at this point. One of my problems with it is that it really doesn't show much of anything from Izuku so all it did was have Izuku learn about shig and not shig also learning about izuku.

Outside of the league Izuku's relationships in general aren't really any better either in terms of development. Izuku could of had a great relationship with various characters but they were either sidelined, not developed enough or overall horribly built.

A lot of the time Izuku only receives recognition from loved ones when he does something for them as evident in the vigilante arc. Also due to the lack of academia and academic/ filler type arcs in the series there really isn't a huge bond with Izuku and the rest of 1A

[it-happened-one-fic]

Rivals - Jamil

Author Notes: This fic was almost wholly inspired by how annoyed I got with Jamil while doing those fights in the Ignihyde chapter where you don't get to select your cards and just have to deal with what the game hands you. He was awful in those. I've always sort of liked the idea of Jamil and the prefect snipping back and forth at one another, so this was sort of fun to write. As per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ fluff/ flirtation (kinda?? I guess???)/ Reader and Jamil bicker/ Spoilers for Scarabia and Pomefiore chapters

Word count: 1807 words

You didn’t know exactly how you’d reached this point, but you were here now, and you certainly weren’t backing down.

The problem at hand was quite simple really, and it even had a name you could put to it.

Jamil. Jamil was the problem. Because at some point, the two of you had become rivals. 

Looking back, you were fairly certain it stemmed from the entire Scarabia incident during winter break. It was strange how you’d been able to forgive the other overblot victims for their crimes with only a few biting comments. But something about what Jamil had done had rubbed you the wrong way.

Oh, it was true; you completely understood his thinking and longing for recognition. And you even felt he deserved to be recognized for his many talents. 

But the fact that he, not anyone else, had been the one to drag you into that whole debacle was what really upset you. 

With all of the other overblots, it had been Crowley, your friends, or even your own feelings that had caused you to become embroiled in another dorm's drama.

But the situation with Scarabia, had been different. Jamil was the one who’d brought you to Scarabia and he was the reason you’d ended up involved.

Locked up, being worked to the bone, and eventually escaping before returning with help in the form of the Octatrio. It wasn’t an experience you would forget.

You had, to a degree, forgiven Jamil since it was true that he was dealing with years of stress and buried feelings. But you would always wonder what on earth had caused him to decide to hold you hostage when you wouldn’t have discovered his little plot if he hadn’t dragged you into the situation.

It made very little sense for such an otherwise intelligent young man to make such an obvious mistake. It was almost like he’d simply wanted you to be there for some unknown reason.

And now you’d reached this odd relationship with Jamil, filled with snide remarks and the determination to one-up each other.

If you had to put a name on your dynamic with Scarabia’s vice-housewarden, then ‘frenemies’ would be the closest thing to accuracy that you could think of. Because you didn’t hate Jamil, but you certainly did bicker with him enough for the two of you to easily be categorized as foes. 

And it went both ways. You weren’t the only one who held irritation towards the other one.

Jamil hadn’t backed down in the slightest when it came to your interactions. And at this point, the relationship had swelled out of control.

And it had all started so simply too. Shortly after winter break had ended, you’d been paired to work with Jamil in a magical application test that involved defense and attack from the pair opposite you. Namely, Ruggie and Azul.

You didn’t think you’d ever forget the smug look Jamil had cast your way, “Don’t worry. Everything will go smoothly.”

Smoothly, the assuredly attractive fool had said. Perhaps it would have gone smoothly if he and Grim had both listened a bit more to your suggestions.

A tiny part of you regretted that you’d snapped at him as you shoved your soaked hair out of your face. It wasn’t truly his fault.

 Grim had been underfoot when he’d panicked and had definitely worsened the situation, causing Jamil to stumble over the yowling feline and pitched directly over into you.

You’d both landed hard on the ground, turned muddy by Azul’s torrent of water magic, and you’d looked at the young man sprawled across your lap with a huff of not entirely fair venom, “Smoothly, huh?”

Those words had been like a nail in the coffin that had been the potentially budding friendship between you and Jamil. Since then, all of your interactions had been almost exclusively filled with biting comments and impressive levels of snarkiness.

It was true that it wasn’t an entirely irrevocable situation. After all, Jamil had protected you during Vil’s overblot, and you’d saved him from bugs countless times now without ever having made a single comment on his fear.

But it was also true that there was little to no love lost between you and the Scarabia vice-housewarden.

Which was why you were surprised when it had been Jamil who had darted so quickly with such a panicked expression across the potionology classroom solely to put up a barrier between you and a potion that had gone explosively wrong in your pot.

You’d been tugged impossibly close to the young man as he made some form of magical shield that blocked both the explosion and the gooey liquid that steamed on its surface before sliding down into a gruesome pile on the floor.

As always, Crewel reacted in record time as he caused the offensive mass to simply disappear before whirling on your fellow potion-maker, demanding to know what had happened since it apparently had to be something to do with the flow of his magic.

You stepped backwards, exhaling a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding before looking up at the young man who was watching your classmate get chewed out by your shared teacher, “Thank you.”

Your voice came out surprisingly quiet and was met with a half shrug and a noncommittal, “Don’t mention it.” The young man glanced over, giving your person a quick scan that you’d seen him give Kalim numerous times when he was checking for injuries.

“Viper,” Crewel’s voice was sharp as ever and had both your and Jamil’s attention snapping over to him.

The teacher sighed, brushing his two-toned hair back as he eyed the young man next to you, “Good work. If you hadn’t reacted quite so quickly, I fear Y/n may have suffered great injury.”

Jamil inclined his head, having stiffened slightly as soon as the classroom’s attention had fallen on him.

“If you would, walk them to the infirmary, they will still need a check-up simply for safety reasons. Inhaling the fumes could cause them to pass out so…”

There was no need for Crewel to finish since Jamil was already nodding, efficient as ever as he grabbed your hand and agreed to do as requested, “Of course.”

A single glance was thrown your way before he pulled you along after him, out the door and down the hall, with him leading the way.

His grip was tight, you noticed, as you let him tug you along in silence as what had just occurred slowly settled in your mind. Perhaps Ace was right and you were danger-prone…. But then you really felt like the exploding potion would count more as bad luck. It wasn’t like you’d caused it after all.

“If you start to feel dizzy, let me know,” Jamil’s words snapped you out of our silent reverie, causing you to look towards him with slight surprise.

His words made sense, but…. Well, Jamil was seldom quite so gentle. Especially not with you.

“I… Yeah,” You faltered slightly, not sure of what to say to him. To be honest, you wanted to thank him again, but you also didn’t want to start parroting the exact same words. 

Past that, your mind was a garbled mess of slowly fading shock and confusion as to Jamil’s actions. 

It wasn’t really that odd that Jamil had stepped in to protect you. It wasn’t like he was so horrible or that the relationship between you two had become so vitriolic that he would wish you harm. It was odd that he’d looked so desperate when he’d run across the room, though.

And you wouldn’t have even known that was the case if his cauldron hadn’t been right in your line of sight when the explosion had happened.

You felt yourself get pulled to a stop and glanced over to see the young man in question looking at you worriedly, “Y/n… Are you alright?”

You blinked, startled, before you realized that being zoned out right after having a potion whose fumes might cause you to pass out explode right in front of you probably was concerning.

“Oh, yeah… I guess I’m still just a little shocked from the potion’s explosion,” You frowned as you thought back to the potionology classroom once more, “Do you reckon my partner’s okay? Professor Crewel didn’t send him to get checked up….”

Jamil snorted at your soft words, giving your arm a tiny tug as he started leading you towards the infirmary once more, “I wouldn’t worry about him. You should worry more about yourself.”

He glanced back at you, a glint in his grey eyes, “You are the one who nearly got hurt after all, not them.”

It was a step back into his usual commentary. Snarking at you about your innate ability to get yourself into risky situations. After all was deemed well, he’d probably be scolding you just like he had right after Vil’s overblot.

He let out a sigh as you looked at where his hand was still gripping yours, pondering why he was still holding your hand since you were obviously perfectly capable of walking and still lucid.

“We’re here,” He gestured to the door that was coming up on your left side, a smooth smirk working its way onto his face. “Try not to get into any more trouble in there, hm?”

And there was the smug tone you knew. The one that reared its head only when you were around, and he wasn’t putting on his old act of subservience. Two things that coincided to an almost suspicious degree.

“Sure.” You chirped out your reply before holding up your hand that he still held clasped in his hand, “But why are you still holding my hand?”

His eyes widened at the sight of your hand in his, and you grinned in triumph. You’d been right. He’d totally forgotten he’d been holding your hand.

He dropped your hand like it was on fire before realizing how incriminating that was and leaning forward, “Can't have you getting me in trouble for not taking proper care of the patient.”

His words only made you grin more because while they would be a fine comeback from most people; they were sloppy coming from him. Which meant one glorious truth. He was flustered.

So you did what you did best and fired back, leaning closer to him so that you were a mere hair’s breadth away, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Crewel you took wonderful care of me, Jamil.”

He made a face at you before stepping away, “Just take better care of yourself. I might not be there next time.”

He turned on his heel, walking away and leaving you standing there frowning to yourself thoughtfully. Because it was odd to have your rival be quite so concerned for your well-being. 

Wasn’t it?

[deepmochi]

დ .•*””*• hiiiiiii •*””*•.დ

what do you think about mars and pluto in 1st and lilith in 8th?

thank you!!!!!!

Hola

I will not talk about Mars because I have a whole post dedicated to Mars in the 1st house. You can check out my materialist.

I tried to write this thrice, and it didn't save it. I'm not suprise of this Scorpionic energy at all.

If you have Pluto- Asc or Lilith in Scorpio, you could resonate with this post too.

Just take what resonates.

⚠️Trigger warning⚠️: Mentions of sex, and I don't sugar coat.

═══════☆

Pluto in the 1st house

═══════☆

ꗃIt´s obvious to others like any other placement in the 1st. This recognition happens in a unconscious way.

ꗃA very dominant and passionate persona. It's them against the world.

ꗃTheir body has physical or evident scars. However, these scars can be on otheir behaviors as well.

ꗃDepending on the signs, the traits of that sign will be very evident to others. For example, water signs, this person is considered emotional intense but closed. Fire signs, ego problems and anger issues. Earth signs, ambitious and goal oriented. Airy types detach and unreliable in emotional situations.

ꗃTransformations affect directly their path, appearance, or aura

ꗃStrong physically, they don't feel pain easily as others. They can endure pain well.

ꗃThey could live under the impression that they don't deserve love.

ꗃThey have much trauma that makes them who they are

ꗃThere is an issue with sexuality; others may sexualize the individual often.

ꗃA very magnetic person, they attract reflectors with their strong presence.

ꗃthey will hide their emotions; detest sharing their feelings so easily.

ꗃA very independent native that suffers from insecurity at times.

ꗃ This native remains me of many purple characters. They look tough, but they are so soft when you get to know them. It's quite hard to open up for this person.

ꗃ Their persona is viewed as cold or too hard to get to know.

ꗃ People think they are mysterious or cold.

ꗃThe same as others 1st house placements, people would provoke a reaction. It's like a unconscious way that people do it.

ꗃ Dark eyes or intense eyes, you know when they are mad at you. It's scary. Mars is close in scary because they look like a volcano, but Pluto is plotting your end without giving you clues.

ꗃ People will obssess with how they look. Some can even try to touch them.

ꗃThey could be misunderstood because they look too friendly.

ꗃ Their lifetime path involve being proud of their experiences.

ꗃ They may prefer loneliness and cold weather.

ꗃ Something about wearing black and dark purple makes them stand out.

ꗃ Looks that can kill you.

ꗃ When they like someone, it is evident. Their vibes are intense with them.

ꗃ They have a cold beauty or they look good in black or dark purple.

ꗃ They are the crush of someone right now. Their whole aura is so mysterious

ꗃ Intense stares and killer eyes, especially when they're mad.

ꗃ Again with their eyes; they are very observant with how people behave.

ꗃ It seems like they want to control how to react to things. They don't want to be perceive as weak.

ꗃ It will not surprise if they were class president because they look too serious. People trust to more mature than them.

ꗃ When they recognized their weaknesses, it's the moment where they become at peace with themselves. They will give them a new power. Mistakes happens and as human we need to learn from it.

═══════════════

Lilith in the 8th house☆

═══════════

❥Fear to open up to others, but get mad when others don't do it with them.

❥People want to see them as sexual objects only, especially men. It's possible that they start early with sexual intercourse, really young.

❥Society views and rejects their sexual input. They can popular for it, but society will reject them later on.

❥Lilith here will try to search revenge when someone hurts her.

❥Lilith knows pain really well, so she tries to avoid vulnerability, even in love.

❥Be careful with obtaining money form others; the consequences are there. Nothing is free, mental health too.

❥When Liliht is bad aspects, they should be careful with loans and dangerous contracts.

❥Men will try to steal their money or their sexual energy.

❥Sex is addictive, so be careful of it.

❥ Lilith will try to ruin someone finances by seducing them.

❥ They have inheritance goodies and from their female counterparts.

❥ Being sexual active can be liberating or inadequate. They should decide what sex represents to them.

❥ Sex intercourse can be traumatic or a beautiful experience.

❥ From a young age, they know others' fears. They can be so good at manipulating others.

❥ They have a strong magnetic presence; others fear and obssess over them.

❥ People may stalk them or be obssess with who they are with.

❥ They may perform for the male gaze very well. However, if they do it for instant validation, this would cost them their mental peace.

❥ Lilith is a seductive being, yet her body and her choice are link to be desired, which to an extend they should be careful with that idea.

❥ They think they know the best, and lack an objective take, especially when they are hurt.

❥ While writing this, it was so hard to save the info. I have to wrote two times. It's almost as this placement doesn't want to be explore. Ooh shoot, Lilith detest being exposed.

❥ During Scorpio season, many issues could arise and old skeletons come to visit you. Also, you may spend more. Transformations may come too.

❥ there is a issue with control. People control you in your first half, and now you want to control them. Wrong idea of love.

❥Sexual repression is a thing, and enjoyable sex is shameful; sex is viewed as painful. Sex was taught as non enjoyable act more if you are a woman. For a man, you shouldn't have feelings.

❥ They can sell their body through OF, pxrn or other places. Their genitalia is attractive. They could very popular. However, society will reject them for it.

❥ Water could help them to feel better, go to the beach or stay hydrated. Also, blue shades may look good or make you feel good.

❥ Be aware of contracts, also with partners. In the adult industry, be careful of unfair treatments.

❥ You know how life works, your gut is telling you things. Please listen, revenge is not always the answer.

❥ They don't forgive easily.

❥ If sex makes you feel empty, why you keep sharing your body? Go to therapy or stop giving your energy and life away. Your body is a temple.

❥ Exploring sexuality and sexual themes constantly.

❥ Jealousy and envy arise when their emotions aren't listen to.

❥ They have trust issues with themselves and others, more with partners.

❥ They use sex as a way to lurk others.

❥ Dharma and karma, you know how they work.

❥ Lilith may try to ruin her reputation and rebuild it again, like a cycle.

Idk why but I got this message, so maybe someone needs to hear it

I just want to say that don't judge yourself for the past. Love yourself with all your dark aspects. If you are a woman, sex should be enjoyable. Sending a virtual hug.

Take care💚

[qiu-yan]

why did the wen remnants all have to stay in the burial mounds together?

potentially stupid question incoming, but i've been wondering about this for a while.

after wei wuxian busts the wen remnants (wemnants) out of the qiongqi pass camp, he takes them all to the burial mounds, which he then shields from the outside world via a series of powerful arrays and also a zombie army. afterwards, he and the wen remnants simply continue to live in the burial mounds together (until everyone gets killed by the rest of the cultivation world).

we are told that this is necessary because it is only the threat of wei wuxian's demonic cultivation and the danger of the burial mounds keeping the rest of the cultivation world from attacking and killing the wen remnants. which is fair, that makes sense.

however--would it truly have been impossible for any of them to sneak out of the burial mounds, shed their old names and identities, and try to live ordinary lives elsewhere under new names?

from what i can tell, even though the wen remnant party included cultivators, none of them seemed particularly famous other than wen ning and wen qing. and this story isn't set in the modern age, where technology like cameras and facial recognition and the internet exist, or where every citizen is supposed to have an official ID and background checks can be performed--so it's not like a random wen remnant who left the burial mounds, changed into something else, and called himself by a different name would be immediately recognized by the public as a wen. rather--given that in xianxia/wuxia settings like that of MDZS, it's entirely normal for wandering rogue cultivators with unknown backgrounds to show up at some village or other one day and just set up shop--a random wen remnant who did as thus would probably instead have a high chance of going unrecognized, probably for his entire life. and this chance of going unrecognized and thus surviving would only increase the further he moved away from the jianghu; after all, it's not like four great cultivation sects rule over the entire earth.

thus, to me, it seems as if it should have been entirely possible for the burial mounds party to start sneaking people out of the burial mounds, so that they could assume new identities and go live quietly somewhere else. wei wuxian, wen ning, and wen qing probably cannot avoid attracting attention--however, it should still be possible for the less recognizable wen remnants to slip away and resettle anonymously elsewhere. did the jin brand all of them on the face with a wen sigil or something? or have the jin really grabbed the villain ball so hard that they'd be willing to spend extra money funding manhunts for every individual runaway wen?

if this is the case, then the next problem becomes actually getting out of the burial mounds without detection. is the burial mounds under constant surveillance? if so, lan wangji's visit must have caused a huge commotion that happened entirely offscreen (which to be fair is not impossible); if so, perhaps the jin did in fact know about jiang cheng and jiang yanli's secret visit, and simply decided to be nice about it. would it really be impossible for wei wuxian to sneak a small party of wen remnants out of the burial mounds and to a different location, where they could then escape on their own?

does the idea of slowly and subtly resettling the lesser known wen remnants elsewhere ever come up in the book? i honestly can't recall.

i can think of one main reason why the wen remnants might refuse to do this: they wanted to stay together with their family, and they wanted to keep their family name. perhaps the people who did want to leave did in fact leave, and everyone still in the burial mounds is there in part because they chose to stay. perhaps the other wen remnants knew that wen qing could not leave, given that she was too well-known, and so chose to stay with her as family.

i personally think that sneaking out of the burial mounds and living under a new name would be much safer than sticking around in the burial mounds with wei wuxian and wen qing. thus, if the wen remnants chose to stay, that means they all chose to risk their lives in order to keep their family name and stay with their family. which is honestly pretty admirable.

anyways i cannot for the love of god recall if any of the above was discussed in the text of MDZS, so if someone knows, please tell me. the answer is probably super obvious and i'm just not thinking of it at the moment.

[uniqcreep13]

My personal takes and headcanons on the characterization of Sonic characters (Post Frontiers):

Sonic:

In his early 20's .

Bisexual.

A more mature version of the character, still has a youthful energy and the attitude of a snarky teenager, but is a lot more reflective about his actions and the consequences they have.

Runs at problems just as often as he runs FROM them.

Seeks comfort in the status quo of his life, but as he ages he starts to understand the weight of his choices.

Never wants to slow down, and growing scares him.

Sees the best in people and tries to give them the freedom he yearns for.

Scared of compromise because he feels it would tie him down.

Lighting based powers.

Older brother figure for Tails, very protective of him, which is why he took so long to grow out of Sonic's refuge.

In love with Amy, but constantly avoids her advances out of fear of commitment.

Friendly rivals with Shadow.

Frenemies with Eggman.

True Rivals with Metal Sonic.

Eggman:

In his 30s-40s

Deeply respects Sonic's skill, but hates him still

Values the loyalty and efficiency of machines, and normally thinks that life as a whole would be better off if he could control it and make it work like his machinery.

He dislikes the idea of having living/human henchmen, as he doesn't want the chance of someone betraying him like the ones before, only put into question when Sage enters his life.

Maniacal and egocentric.

Despite his selfish nature and actions, sometimes his more human side comes when the topic of family is brought to the table, although he will never admit it.

VERY protective father, would torch a city for Metal and Sage.

Tails:

12-15

Still unsure about his sexuality, likely straight.

Little brother of Sonic.

His flight speed allows him to catch up to Sonic, but he is still pretty slow on his feet.

Lived under Sonic's guidance for so long he struggles to see his flaws, or to think of himself as anything else but Sonic's sidekick.

Has self-confidence issues.

Wants have a chance to be a hero of his own.

Despite being an inventor, he sometimes feels like he compensates his lack of skill with his machines, which prompts him to train harder.

The strategist of the team, tries to keep tabs on everything and everybody.

Often overworks himself.

Night owl.

Wind based powers.

Friends with Shadow (Nerds)

Sort of friendly rival with Omega.

Rivals with Eggman on who can be the better mind, often outsmarted by the doctor.

Metal Sonic:

Behaves like a teenager, around 15-19

Exists as an AI interconnected to the Eggnet, but chooses to remain attached to his original vessel.

NEO is a spare body, and not a different version/upgrade.

Views Eggman as a father figure, and his diligence to protect him is not rooted in his code, but in his own will, which is why he will run to his aid even when it is an irrational or actively harming move.

Despite suddenly having stopped being an "only child" with the appearance of Sage, Metal isn't bothered or envious about Sage, but rather shares an odd sibling bond with her as she can properly relate to him.

However, instead of jealousy or hatred towards Sage, he often feels self conscious and suffers from identity crisis, as he is split between being Sonic's double, an AI, an Eggman's son, and often has Sage comfort him on his doubts, much to his own shame.

Is deeply starved for recognition and praise by Eggman, and his outburst as NEO are attempts to surpass him in order for Eggman to recognize Metal's achievements, although this only annoys him.

CAN talk in all forms, but chooses to remain non verbal for a majority of the time, only letting out scarce comments here and there, speaking to Sage almost all of the time in binary/through the Eggnet, and reserving the monologues and speeches for his NEO form.

Unlike the other Robots who rebelled against Eggman for their will and identity, Metal wants everyone to recognize him as the apex of efficiency that Eggman seeks in his machines.

HATES Surge and Shadow for mocking him, and often goes out of his way to fight them.

Rivals with Sonic, has a deep hatred for the Hedgehog, and considers him the copy, regularly starts fights with him and challenges him to races.

Amy:

In her early 20s

Pansexual.

Has tried to follow Sonic's pace since childhood out of her love of him, but has slowly grown out of her love quest an into a development of her own.

As or even past Knuckles in physical strength, and damn near Sonic in speed, could duel Shadow to a standstill.

Still deeply in love with Sonic, but she recognizes that Sonic is too free spirited to allow her to have a chance, and has since attempted to move on from her childhood crush, much to Sonic's dismay.

Wants to have her own adventures and make her name before settling down.

Hard working, and very versatile, a good leader.

Kind and welcoming, is often the one to try to introduce people, and the one who taught Sonic and Shadow to forgive and give their opponents a chance.

Her hammer grows in weight by a small margin every day.

Can swim.

Learnt how to intimidate people from Vanilla, and can even make Shadow nervous when she has her outburst.

Is often the therapist and confidant of the group.

Calls Sonic by his legal name when angry.

Water based powers.

Doesn't get along with Rouge.

Tries to be an example to cream, and a figure to rely on for everyone else.

Hangs out with Mecha Sonic on the occasion.

Is one of the few people that Blaze can let loose around.

Knuckles:

Mid 20s

Straight

Is still the Guardian of the Master Emerald, but yearns for an opportunity to do something else with his life.

Is still introverted, but being around Sonic and the others has put his loneliness into perspective.

Works as a bounty hunter every so-often, taking interest in ancient relics and artifacts.

Amy's personal trainer, always happy to help someone with physical training.

Quick to get into a fight, never backs down from a challenge.

Simpleminded, but not ignorant.

Is actually very knowledgeable about archeology, history, and geography.

Dating Rouge (When Team Dark and Team Sonic fight they sneak off to make out).

Still close friends with the Chaotix, often asking them to guard the Master Emerald when he is gone.

Fire based powers.

Shadow:

Mid 30s (Mentally)

Aromantic

He acts edgy and full of himself when he is relaxed, but cool and collected when at work or when the situation calls for a levelheaded attitude.

Still uses guns, but only when the situation calls for it, and only against robots, often using his hands to incapacitate criminals.

Works with G.U.N. alongside Rouge and Omega, having made ammends with the organization after the invasion of the Black Arms, finding a mutual understanding with the commander, and choosing to work together for the better of the world.

Team Dark is still together, and work as a special agent division for G.U.N., being tasked with specific high importance missions.

Shadow still remembers Maria, but rather than letting himself be controlled by the past, he uses Maria's words as a compass to go in the side of good, not trying to obsess with his promise or his origins, but trying to grow into a better person.

Has trouble expressing his emotions, and often has people misinterpret his words with sarcasm.

The few people who can actually read his emotions are Team Dark, Sonic, Knuckles and Amy.

Has nightmares of Gerald, Black Doom, and Mephiles.

He loves latinas.

Tries to be a father figure/mentor to Silver, often teaching him practical knowledge and training his abilities, but has troubles establishing an emotional bond with him.

He is close friends with Knuckles and Amy, as Amy is someone he can emotionally rely on, and Knuckles understands his solitude and trouble expressing himself.

Friendly rivals with Sonic, often playfully teasing him or challenging him, but still holding a great deal of respect.

Rivals with Mephiles. Shadow lays awake at night, fearing that he returns.

Silver:

18

Straight.

Was always a dork, but having lived in the hellscape of crisis city had him on edge at all times, not allowing him to properly develop.

A far descendant of one of the other 2 hedgehogs.

Has a crush on Blaze but is unable to act upon it, since he doesn't want to ruin the relationship they have.

Uses the timestones to travel through time, but tries not to abuse their power to avoid causing problems in the timeline.

So far removed from his original future that it does not exist anymore, with Silver being a creature immune to the flow of time.

Is close friends with Blaze, being a good confidant and partner for her when things get rough, often visiting her to chat or hang out.

Psychic and Light powers.

Has nightmares of Mephiles.

Is Shadow's student, often asking him to help him train to use his powers and to further master abilities like Chaos Control.

Is Rivals with Infinite, being one of the few people that can undo/bypass his time travel with the Phantom Ruby's reality warping.

Super Transformations:

Super Sonic: Still the most reliable transformation, although Sonic has tried to avoid using the emeralds to not rely on their power too much, wanting to grow his own strength instead.

Hyper Sonic: The most powerful yet unstable form for Sonic, far surpassing that of Super Sonic and even SS2 but costing a massive amount of power from the Emeralds and lifeforce from Sonic himself. Knuckles advised to avoid using that power again, and Sonic forbade the others from trying to reignite the Super Emeralds.

Super Tails: Tails is still not strong enough to handle the power of the Emeralds, and while he can transform, the energy consumption pays a heavy toll on his well being, which is why he often avoids using the Emeralds.

Super Knuckles: Knuckles is no stranger to transforming, and regularly uses the Master Emerald to transform when Eggman or another powerful foe tries to attack Angel Island.

Super Amy: Amy can transform, and is in fact very powerful when she does, but often chooses not to, as while she can handle Chaos Energy just fine, she lacks the necessary contol to make use of a super form, often shooting large energy blasts and afterimages unintentionally when swinging her hammer.

[apollodarling-writes]

I know you haven’t put out the original Lucien hcs but…. Worshipper Lucien…. That’s all

WORSHIPPER! YANDERE! LUCIEN HCS

tws: stalking, confining, lucien treats you like a mindless pet, lucien is desperate and kinda pathetic, no shame at all tbh, perv! lucien again, noncon implications, kinda ?? religious themes, nsfw themes but nothing super explicit

i still havent reread acotar so it might be off the mark. im pretty sure the fae in acotar recognized the cauldron as the mother, so i think it counts as a religion??

lucien as a worshipper yan is infinitely worse, but on the exact opposite of the spectrum. in the original hcs he was more violent, but as a worshipper yan, he treats you like you hung the stars in the sky.

worshipper yan! lucien will completely disregard the cauldron as the religion he follows and instead will place you on that pedestal.

worshipper yan! lucien will do anything and everything for you. he lives for your praise and recognition and will do absolutely anything to receive it. if you told him to lick the soles of your shoes in public, he would.

worshipper yan! lucien is still a pervert. he still steals your undergarments and still uses them to get off, but he cares a lot less about getting caught. if anything, he would get hard when you’re visibly angry with him and calling him all sorts of names.

worshipper yan! lucien looooves to monopolize your time. while he might not be violent with you, he has no problem eradicating anyone who gets in his way. that includes his mate. luicen will outright reject her and refuse to make contact with her every again. he only has room in his heart for you.

worshipper yan! lucien dotes on you. absolutely spoils you. he only gets you the finest things— jewelry, clothes, soaps, spices, foods, anything you enjoy will be the best of the best. his treasure deserves it after all :))

as time goes on, he grows more bold. instead of stealing your undergarments, anything you ask him for, he will demand some form of intimacy in return. it starts off with kisses, then makeout session, and so on.

worshipper yan! lucien will still throw you in the cauldron to make you high fae and to create a mate bond, but he would actually be crying while he does it. its subtle, but you can see it in the way his bottom lip quivers and the way his eyes squint and become glassy. lucien grips the cauldron while he waits for you to be spit back out. he doesn’t leave your side at all.

while he might not seem so bad, he absolutely will not let you do anything yourself. he dresses you, speaking to you like you don’t have autonomy and a mind of your own to choose what you want to wear. he bathes you and tucks you into bed at night, and absolutely refuses to let you go anywhere that he isnt.

worshipper yan! lucien also had a bad habit of dumbing the simplest of things down. he only wants to show off and receive your praise, but if you know what hes talking about, it never fails to piss you off.

worshipper yan! lucien also never stops talking. he’s pathetic in a way that gives you secondhand embarrassment. does he have no shame? it actually kind of sad.

all in all, he’s embarrassing, violent towards everyone but you, and has absolutely no shame.

[the-overanalyst]

ena shinonome character analysis

bc she's my favorite and i have some Thoughts

core desire: forever insatiable

it would be easy to dismiss ena as just an attention seeker, and while she definitely is to a certain extent, there's a lot more to it than that. she doesn't necessarily draw for attention, she wants attention for drawing. she clearly has standards, otherwise the clout she gets from her selfie account would be enough to satisfy her. instead, it's just a coping mechanism, something that gives her short term ego boosts while being ultimately unfulfilling. art is what truly matters to her, so it's the one thing she wants to be recognized for. not only is it her great passion, but it's what she pours hours of hard work into. more than anything, i think she wants her effort to be acknowledged (more on this later)

the "on this blank canvas" event story shows that ena has always had a bit of an ego when it comes to art, seeking and even anticipating praise from yukihira. this event was largely about her inability to deal with criticism. when her dad basically crushes her dreams, i think this is what he was (very poorly) trying to tell her, that she's too sensitive and it's going to hold her back. but of course, he only made the problem worse, making her even more senstive to the point where she ran away from yukihira's class, cutting herself off from further technical improvement. her desire for meaningful attention and validation of her efforts is at war with her fear of criticism and rejection.

self image: a blank canvas

being an artist is an inextricable part of ena's identity. her art is an extension of who she is as a person, so of course she takes criticism as a personal attack. wanting to be recognized for her art means wanting to be recognized for her true self. she tries to quit drawing upon hitting her lowest point in "insatiable pale color," but she can't. after her dad told her she should quit, it sent her into a crisis, and when yukihira assigned the prompt of "self," she couldn't think of anything to draw. if she's not fit to be an artist, then what is she?

but ena doesn't question her self image like that, instead she pushes back against those who questioned her. "now i wear this ribbon" shows her desperation to prove her father wrong because she herself needs to believe that art is what she's meant to do. it's interesting that before the incident, she seemed to take pride in being the daughter of an artist, but now she's very insistent on being noticed only on her own terms, for her own merit and hard work. she doesn't even want to link her art account to n25 because she thinks it would be an easy way out. she has a very individualist view of her success or failure as an artist, but that's understandable given how long she's worked and struggled and fought all on her own with no one she could rely on for support.

growth: beyond the morning

ena's character arc during the main timeline (as far as en server has gotten) can best be traced through the following three events

"insatiable pale color" gives us her starting point and, as i said before, her darkest hour. her crisis in this event is ena at her worst: clashing with her father and getting hurt because of it, not getting the recognition she wanted and trying to give up, lashing out at others and isolating herself. by the end of the event, her primary motivation is still to get validation, but she’s decided the validation she gets from the rest of n25 is enough. this is an important first step because, as i said before, feeling like no one in her life supported her was a big reason ena became so desperate.

"on this blank canvas i paint" is where ena achieves her biggest milestone: returning to yukihira's class. this a huge turning point because she doesn't do it for validation at all. on the contrary, she willingly subjects herself to the harsh criticism that made her break down back in middle school because what she wants now is to improve. she no longer lets her fragile ego hold her back from becoming a better artist and person. she recognized what her problem was and she's taking the steps to fix it.

since then she's been in a stable state of steady growth, and i think the event that best demonstrates that growth is "paint what i love," in which ena teaches honami to draw. there are a lot of little moments in this event that show how far she's come. she talks about talent and lack thereof in art without resentment. she's careful with her words so as to not hurt honami, despite having an impulsive nature, which shows that she's breaking the cycle of her father's harshness. perhaps most importantly, she's rediscovered how to actually enjoy the process of art instead of just doing it out of necessity.

parallels and foils

kanade: both are following in their fathers' footsteps, ena not well enough and kanade too well. largely because of this, they both have a slightly toxic, obsessive relationship with their craft. that's probably why ena doesn't resent kanade like she does mafuyu. they're both authentic and honest compared to the others in n25. ena's promise to wait for mizuki mirrors kanade's promise to save mafuyu.

mizuki: their most striking parallel is the idea of "running away" and how that's prevented them from getting what they want. ena ran away from yukihira's class and lost the chance to improve her art. mizuki ran away from school and basically all of the outside world and lost the chance to connect with others. if my analysis of ena's self image is accurate, she also shares with mizuki the desire to be seen and accepted for who she is.

mafuyu: these two contrast the most. ena is very sensitive and hot tempered while mafuyu is unaffected by everything amd never shows emotion. and as ena always brings up, mafuyu is naturally gifted but doesn't care while ena obsesses over her art but still isn't considered good enough. one thing they share is the experience of awful parents, but even here there's contrast. mafumom's expectations of her daughter are too high while shinodad's are too low.

akito: i swear they only hate each other because they're too similar. obviously they both believe they're not talented and need to work harder to compensate, and they'reboth uncompromising in the standard to which they hold themselves and others. however, they have contrasting responses when confronted with inadequacy, essentially fight or flight. he chooses fight, pushing himself to ridiculous extremes to get better as seen in "stray bad dog," while she chooses flight, quitting the class or trying to give up art. i'd say that he's internalized the idea of "not being good enough" more than she has. they're both pretty emotionally intelligent when it comes to other people, as he has shown with toya and an and she has with mizuki. they both have a gruff demeanor but are capable of acting polite when they need to.

◇◇◇◇◇

thanks for reading all the way to the end. here's my low effort, low quality take on the "blank canvas" event card, drawn from memory

[rebeccadewinterthinks]

Good omens The Book of life Conspiracy theory Part 4

the previous parts of this theory you can read here: part 1, part 2, part 3

4. Is he lying or not?

I'm not an expert on brain function, but when Gabriel comes to the bookshop, he behaves like a person who has lost their memory. You believe that he doesn't know who he is, where he is, and what he's doing here. He reacts and behaves like a curious child. At the same time, he has a vague sense of anxiety and a vague sense of recognition of Aziraphale, and all of this seems quite natural. However, at a certain point, it started to seem to me that Gabriel is lying. Let's start with the fact that he suddenly stopped asking questions, he no longer asks: who am I? how do you know me? who are you? what miracles are happening here? A person who has lost their memory is only interested in book trading and gravity, really?

Review the listed episodes. Don't you think the same as I do?

« – And now I will make a noise when I move around…»

He is clearly trolling Aziraphale, smirking and walking away, very pleased with himself, it's obvious. He's not a child, but a self-satisfied bastard [06:25 Ep.2].

Aziraphale talks to the Archangels on the street in front of the bookshop [12:45 Ep.2]:

The door opens, and Gabriel appears, loudly and joyfully declaring that he is Jim, the bookseller's assistant. Why would a person who has lost their memory, who knows that something terrible awaits him, loudly come out onto the street in front of strangers? Maybe because this is Gabriel-with-memory, who, of course, recognized the ones who came, understands that a hiding miracle of immense power has been performed, and is now simply testing the limits? When the miracle passes its final test (Michael doesn't recognize Gabriel up close), he mockingly calls after the angels:

« – What...what about me? Uh, guys, shouldn't you keep a close eye on me too?»

very recognizable audacity and self-assurance.

there is a theory that an angel cannot be punished outside of Heaven. After all, in the first season, Aziraphale had to be kidnapped first and then executed by Heaven. So, Gabriel, having regained his memory, must realise that with all his powers, he is practically invulnerable on Earth. This is indirectly confirmed in episode 6 when representatives of Hell and Heaven demand that the escapees be handed over to them. It seems like they are right in front of you, punish them all you want. By the way, humans don't have such problems, only Crowley's intervention saves Maggie and Nina from immediate transformation into salt pillars.

however, it's possible that Gabriel is just a very audacious son of a bitch.

there are more obvious signs that the fugitive is mentally sound: you can't fool Crowley so easily [21:24 Ep.2]. He carefully listens to the nonsense that Gabriel is spouting and says:

I think at that moment the Archangel realizes that it's better not to push Crowley further, "shines" his eyes, and delivers a biblical phrase. Think about it, if ALL his memory is in the fly, where did this piece come from? Well, the trick worked, and they back off.

Gabriel blurts out a prophecy about the Second Coming [38:45 Ep.3]:

«– There will come a tempest, and darkness, and great storms. And the dead will leave their graves and walk the earth once more. And there will be great lamentations. Everyday it's getting closer.»

Is this a conscious attempt to warn? Or a random trigger on the word «tempest»? The only thing that's clear is that his memory is with him again.

conversation with Crowley [41:35 Ep.3]:

« – You have no idea the trouble you're causing, do you? - No. Or yes. Or...no. - Yeah, I'll tell you something Jim, or Gabriel, if you're there somewhere. If any harm comes to Aziraphale because of this, I will…»

And Gabriel listens. VERY carefully. And he looks like he understands everything.

Crowley comes into the Archangel's room [14:20 Ep.5].

The demon openly berates him. Gabriel is visibly nervous. When Crowley says that Aziraphale wasn't at the execution, Gabriel asks in surprise, «He wasn't there?"». Not the reaction you would expect from someone who doesn't understand what's being talked about, right? And it becomes even stranger when Gabriel almost jumps out of the second-floor window. For a person, with or without memory, that's guaranteed injury (the floor is high, and there's asphalt below), and the action is completely senseless. But for an Archangel, such a jump poses no threat, but it's an excellent way to escape from an extremely unpleasant conversation. Then Crowley demands that Gabriel remember. He replies:

«– I don't have my memory. – Well, where is your memory, then? – In a matchbox. No, I took it out, first. I took it and put it in the box and I brought it here… And now it's everywhere.»

First of all, how do you know all this? Secondly, what do you mean, everywhere? It's no longer in the fly? You don't want to admit that you've already got it back, do you? I have a theory as to why the memory (partially) could have leaked back into Gabriel's head. And also why he doesn't hurry to get away from the bookshop, even though Heaven is already on his heels.

the part 5 is here

[aisquaredchoco]

Hey all, especially to those who left comments on my long post that I hope is the last of that kind...I appreciate everything you've said, and I was proved wrong when I thought I felt invisible during those times. So thank you for that! I'll never leave them unresponded though, but work went a little busier lately and now's the only time to reply to them all..

@kevinvoncrastenburg: "I'm glad you're back! I appreciate your transparency and the way you expressed yourself. I can only speak for myself but I really appreciate you and your content. Nonetheless I see your pov and think you found a healthy way for yourself to kind of slow down a little bit and focus on what's more important to you and the future of your blog. I will always be looking forward to new posts by you. Wishing you all the best and again: You ARE appreciated! 🙏🏼"

-- Thanks for the reassurance, and knowing someone's still looking forward to my stuff is more than enough. I still love my craft, that's why I'm not deciding to leave. I'll get tired, but I won't quit..

@pudding-parade: "I long ago determined that to be a "popular" CC creator, you need to do things with clothing, accessories, and hair. I'm guessing the reason is that some people don't even play the game. They just make sims and then dress, pose, and take pics of them to edit. I've never wanted to be "popular" because, frankly, it's a pain in the ass to have eyes on you and what you're doing, so I guess it's a good thing I never liked doing things with clothing and hair. LOL But yeah, it's just how it is. It doesn't mean that the things you DO share are unappreciated, though. I appreciate your TS2 conversions, in particular. :D"

-- I also figured that simmers I follow spend more time with sims and mostly show CAS cc, so I once thought "why not make CAS stuff too?" but held back because I know making them is more tedious than buy/build. I realized I won't have go that far just to acheive popularity, and of course we know being popular comes with a price. I choose inner peace, so I quit being too ambitious in that sense. Thanks too!

@nornities: "Hm, to me you are "a household name", here as well as on MTS. I'm not sure what makes a creator a household name. I created worlds, well liked by some, unknown to most. Am I a household name? I don't think so. So I think you are right, it's a lot about expectations. But your good health is the most important thing, and that you enjoy what you do (and playing the game). So I'm glad you don't retreat entirely! Take care!"

-- Ohhh...really? Even on MTS huh..*blushes* Anyway, thank you for thinking of me as such. Well in that sense, I think you earn the reputation of being a household name as well! And yeah, as I said I choose inner peace and just enjoy playing (and making cc)..

@nessysims: "You have every right to want recognition. It `s naturally. And I really appreciate your CC! I absolutely love and almost always use your repurposed uni desks. And your wood texture is an irreplaceable thing for me! I use it everywhere and it's my favorite."

-- Thank you for letting me know! It's truly appreciated. And while I have the right to get recognized in what I do, wanting too much of it becomes a problem, so it's a good start if I quit with such mindset..

@curmudgeonness: "Welcome back! I'm glad you will not be leaving. I hope you find the balance you need to thrive here. I'm sorry I don't tag creators when I use their content, but I'M EXTREMELY LAZY. I have stopped downloading S4 conversions. They're generally clunky and don't fit the (my) S3 vibe. I like S3 edits, new S3 functional objects, and S1 and S2 conversions. I always look forward to your posts."

-- Yeah, I'm not leaving. And no, don't apologize. It's fine if you don't tag creators, you're not obliged to do so. I guess I was just expecting too much from people who download my stuff, but do not want to actually force them. And thanks for the warm welcome too..

@puffkins2000: "Yayyy! I'm happy you're back! Honestly, I get the "household name" thing. I guess I sort of tried that as well. I like converting because I want those conversions in my game---and pretty much any other EA conversion. If I see it's not been converted and I have that pack, I'll totally try to do it. I rarely get a ton of likes, but at least if someone DL's it, they wanted it!"

-- Thank you for the warm welcome! Yes, that's the core mindset I also want to have when making cc 🙏. And yeah, I also tend to forget that download numbers also matter and so far I got a fair amount and maybe that's enough.

@parystrange: "To me you're one of the creators who's CC I know is quality, safe, and exactly what I want in my game. I wouldn't worry too much about being a "household name" , I think you'll always have your dedicated users, who love your content, and I personally think that is just great! I use a lot of your stuff, but I rarely post gameplay pics so you, and the other people I download from, rarely see your stuff in my game. But it IS there, I promise! 💕Also, I think the more well known you become, the more the community seems to expect from you, and from what I've seen, it appears to put a lot of pressure on to people. I don't think you'd want that ( I know I wouldn't anyway ) I never see any of my downloads in people's games - I don't have many, but I don't mind if I don't see it, I just hope people enjoy it, and that's enough."

-- Thank you for reminding me that 😊. And you're right, popularity may come with perks, but also with disadvantages. I've seen some unsolicited (and sometimes rude) requests to some popular creators and I don't want to garner that kind of attention..

@gifappels-stuff: "It shows great character and maturity to self-reflect and self-correct 💐 Do not worry so much about recognition... it is very much subjective. Just play (and enjoy) the game, and share whatever comes forth from that. All of us have lives beyond Sims 3, and sometimes, people are just more involved in their own problems and everyday lives. So don't take it personally. Rather, try to take satisfaction from the fact that you created something that brought you happiness 💝"

-- Yeah I'm kinda embarrassed that I had an ambitious mindset back then. I realized there's more to life than overthinking if people really like the stuff I make. Thank you for the words of support!

About the photo: I also got a new kitty! (the orange one) So I made him in TS3 too. Name's Ponkan by the way, and he's very sweet and chatty, always makes me feel better whenever I feel sad or stressed. He and Cloud are getting along in the game but not in real life though lol.

[zaenaris]

how do you think koko and inui’s wedding would be?

(i know same-sex marriage isn’t legal in japan, but there is alternatives such as getting married in another country, plus, im a big sucker for fluff headcanons hehehe)

@ur-local-weird-person

Yeah, unfortunately at the moment same sex couples in Japan can’t get married, there are only partnership certificates in some prefectures that aren’t really legally recognized anywhere tho, even if it seems that topic is at least discussed, so maybe in future same sex marriages will be recognized ,hopefully.

Anyway let’s assume they somehow manage to organize a wedding.

As you said, they could opt for a celebration oversea, (I have no idea how bureaucracy works in that sense, but let’s say it’s possibile/they find a way lol)

In the final TL I guess it could be relatively easy to organize a party abroad, (they rich af lol) so I guess it would be a nice party in a beautiful location, maybe the same place where they plan to spend the honeymoon. Of course they offer the trip to their close friends/families and to some important business partner.

Koko is still somehow reckless with money but Inupi would supervise everything lol, so they organize a beautiful party, but not exaggerate nor tacky.

They could also decide to celebrate in Japan their same sex partnership, so it would be easier for everyone to partecipate and then gettin married abroad with only the legal part of the thing, having already celebrated together with friends/family/business partners in Japan

If they celebrate in Japan, I like to think Akane would be very involved in the organization (she could be a wedding planner, for what we know 😌) so of course she’d be happy to help Seishu and Hajime for their wedding 💒

They’ve been together their all life, no one, neither friends nor family was really surprised when they came out, and celebrating their live is a natural consequence of their relationship. (I have conflicting headcanons about work, especially for Koko, bc Shin would of course be happy and supportive of Seishu, but while it’s true Koko is the owner of his company so of course he can do as he pleases, he has to deal with people external to the company, that may not be so open minded. Also Japanese people tend private about their personal life, from what I understand, so idk if he’d be out to everyone, not hiding but not really talking about it, or if he’d use his privileged position to be more inclusive, starting from his own company)

In Mabu timeline, I headcanon they manage D&D together and that in time they open other shops around the city and business goes well, so even in this case they are very successful and can afford a nice “wedding”.

Of course in this TL, after their past, separation for 2 and a half years after Tenjiku, and their reunion after the fight with Kanto Manji gang, I feel like a wedding would have more “emotional value” to them. It would be a sort of recognition that, even after everything they went through, they still manage to find each other, to work together everyday to solve their problems and incomprehensions.

So yeah, in this TL, I think everyone from friends, to customers, suppliers etc would be like “oh sure, the D&D husbands” even before getting their certificate lol

I think in this TL they’d be a little more “radical” in the sense that, they love each other, they’ve been through hell before being able to talk about their feelings peacefully so, if people are cool with that, they’ll be happy to have them as customers/business partners etc, otherwise they can go elsewhere.

In this TL I think the ceremony would still be very classy, but a thousand time more emotional due to everything they went through. And the party after the ceremony would be super fun to compensate the emotional part where everyone is basically in tears 🤣

While they know in Japan what they have isn’t really recognized, they still want to celebrate with others in both TL

I don’t really consider the TL where they’re criminals because, of course, they don’t care about the law 🤣

and here I also have contrasting headcanons;

depending on the circumstances, even if it’s an open secret, they probably wouldn’t be really open about their relationship-even if everybody knows- so yeah, again, maybe they get the papers somewhere abroad;

instead if we consider the thing from another prospective, since they’re so rich and powerful, no one could create problems to them even if they’re out, so they’d probably have a huge, vey elite party, just to show everyone how powerful they are -also to have fun, but I guess in that environment people don’t really have friends, they have allies, business partners and enemies lol-

[madlori]

[from Dear Prudence, 10/5/17]

Dear Prudence, I’ve known my friend “B” for around five years. We met as students and had a wonderful companionship through school and still remain close. The only problem is her escalating interest in the cast of a television show, particularly one male actor. It began with a minor interest in the show while we were students. She was going through a rough time personally and began watching; over the years, she has become so obsessed with one of the lead actors that she now spends thousands of dollars to go to conventions across the country, attends related events, and generally finds reasons to be in his neighborhood. They have “coincidentally” met several times, and he was rude to her on multiple occasions. This is only a fraction of what B has done to research, stalk, and meet this actor, who is twice her age. He now recognizes her.

I’ve never spoken to her about how I feel although the whole thing creeps me out. Now she has a group of friends that she met online, and they are all intensely involved in the “fandom,” too. When I have met them, they only discussed said actor, who most recently saw him, and what’s happening in their online community. Many of her pre-fandom friends are ghosting her, including her closest friend from childhood, and I’m considering doing the same. Others have told B that her behavior is odd, and she has responded with anger. Should I tell her that this is why her other friends have stopped speaking to her? (She is completely unaware of the reason they dropped out of her life.) Or should I avoid the confrontation and fade out as well?

—Caught Up in Fandom

Your friend B’s behavior isn’t odd, it’s worrying and dangerous. Having a significant interest in a particular show, or spending a lot of time thinking about celebrities, is harmlessly odd, in much the same way that getting really into any hobby or pastime is a little odd but ultimately rewarding for the enthusiast. What you’re describing—stalking an actor to the point of immediate recognition, the fact that he clearly does not like running into her, turning on friends who don’t share her all-consuming interest in the object of her affections, an apparent inability to recognize her own behavior as socially inappropriate—is highly distressing, and since you’re already on the verge of giving up your friendship with her, you have nothing to lose by telling her the truth. You already know that her immediate response is likely to be anger, so prepare yourself for that outcome and say it anyway. Tell her that you care about her, that you value her friendship, that the change you’ve seen in her over the last few years has worried you profoundly, that you’ve seen her react to gentle criticism with defensiveness and anger, that she’s lost friendships over her all-consuming obsession with this actor and recentered her social life around people who validate and support her stalking, and that you’re worried about her and want her to seek help to make better choices. If she decides not to take your advice and stops speaking to you, you’ve lost nothing, and at least you’ll know that at least once, someone tried to reflect reality and truth to her. I wish both of you the best.

---

Okay, raise your hand if you immediately thought of like six different people this could be about.

And then started wondering who the actor is. My guess is a) Mads Mikkelsen, b) one of the LotR guys, c) Benedict or d) Jensen Ackles.