#them. but that becomes a key trait of the group as a whole

[shadowtraveled]

i know i’m constantly chewing drywall over shadowgast and it is because there’s so much to drive me insane there and i’m extremely fond of them and their batshit fire/mirror dynamic but if i even Think about essek’s induction to the mighty nein or his feelings toward and friendship with them i will lose my fucking mind

[abtrusion]

Theories of the holy shit what did I just see back there on the street?

Because transmisogyny makes them so impossible to ignore, for at least the last 70 years transfeminized people have served as key material of Anglo-American gender/queer/trans theories, as laundered through anthropology, sexology, and uncited personal witnessing. The anaemic denial of this fact through snappy and surface-level distinctions between ‘queer’ and ‘trans’ and between different transfeminized groups has made it functionally impossible for these theories to seriously account for transf* life, and this failure is highly productive, because it allows for the continued use of both ‘premodern’ ‘third gender’ and ‘postmodern’ transgenderism as lobotomized material for the theories of other people. The last century of gender theoretic development has revolved around slowly refining methods of extracting transfeminized peoples’ insight, forgetting and re-introducing them to their field over and over again to frame them as perpetual novelties, leading to a pernicious form of feminist amnesia that repeats over and over again.

1 . MARGARET MEAD (1949)

The work begins with Margaret Mead, the ‘most famous anthropologist of our century’ (Behar and Gordon 1996), who made her career studying indigenous groups in Samoa and New Guinea, then joined the larger anthropological effort to inform the US Government’s genocidal re-education campaigns against Indigenous American tribes. She later enjoyed a prodigious career as a public intellectual and shifted to more explicitly feminist writing which extensively influenced the movements of the 60s and 70s. Mead argued that essentially all sex-gender roles were culturally determined, and used the specter of the transfeminized homosexual-transvestite both to make that argument and to advocate for gender abolition.

This can be seen most clearly in Mead’s 1949 book Male and Female: a Study of the Sexes in a Changing World. Mead chronologically traces individual gender development through an ethnographic-sexological narrative, beginning with ‘first learnings’ that a child receives primarily through observation. Then the family comes in, and the transvestite comes with it, existing as the primary motive (alongside Freudian sexual attachment) which motivates gendered socialization:

Too great softness, too great passivity, in the male and he will not become a man. The American Plains Indians, valuing courage in battle above all other qualities, watched their little boys with desperate intensity, and drove a fair number of them to give up the struggle and assume women’s dress. (Mead 1949)

Mead argues that “fear that boys will be feminine in behavior may drive many boys into taking refuge in explicit femininity,” but makes a distinction between this identification and what she calls ‘full transvestitism,’ the culturally-specific recognition of that status. This differential leads her to conclude that the physical traits seen as markers of ‘gender inversion’ are culturally specific, and that what is understood as physical sex (then existing on a ‘spectrum’ model) is therefore partially socially determined.

For Mead, gender must be abolished precisely because of the fact that she could even make this argument. As she says,

Only a denial of life itself makes it possible to deny the interdependence of the sexes. Once that interdependence is recognized and traced in minute detail to the infant’s first experience of the contrast between the extra roughness of a shaven cheek and a deeper voice and his mother’s softer skin and higher voice, any programme which claims that the wholeness of one sex can be advanced without considering the other is automatically disallowed.

The desperate need to reproduce these distinctions, to make sex clear and visible and obvious, leads Mead to ultimately argue for a gender abolition that rests on complementary sex-roles. The main benefit of this approach for Mead is the complete eradication of sex-gender ‘confusion’ and its incarnation in transfeminized people, so associated precisely because of their intense usefulness as a tool for undermining sex-gender distinctions. So Mead sees the construction of physical and social gender by using transfeminized people as a lens, but because of her own disgust she can only fix gender by unseeing it again, by displacing gender to ‘real’ physical sex and protecting herself by breaking the tool. This, unsurprisingly, leaves her exactly where she started.

2. BETTY FRIEDAN (1963)

The feminist theorists that came after Mead directly confronted this reversion to ‘complementary sex’ logics, most notably in Betty Friedan’s foundational work The Feminine Mystique. Friedan discusses the ‘paradox’ of Mead’s influence, the strange combination of her exposure of ‘the infinite variety of sexual patterns and the enormous plasticity of human nature’ and her ‘glorification of women in the female role – as defined by their sexual biological function.’ In the middle, Friedan cites a page-long quote describing a point of ambivalent warning in Mead’s writing:

The difference between the two sexes is one of the important conditions upon which we have built the many varieties of human culture that give human beings dignity and stature… Sometimes one quality has been assigned to one sex, sometimes to the other. Now it is boys who are thought of as infinitely vulnerable and in need of special cherishing care, now it is girls… Some people think of women as too weak to work out of doors, others regard women as the appropriate bearers of heavy burdens “because their heads are stronger than men’s” … Some religions, including our European traditional religions, have assigned women an inferior role in the religious hierarchy, others have built their whole symbolic relationship with the supernatural world upon male imitations of the biological functions of women. (emph added by me)

...Are we dealing with a must that we dare not flout because it is rooted so deep in our biological mammalian nature that to flout it means individual and social disease? Or with a must that, although not so deeply rooted, still is so very socially convenient and so well tried that it would be uneconomical to flout it…

...We must also ask: What are the potentialities of sex differences? … If little boys have to meet and assimilate the early shock of knowing that they can never create a baby with the sureness and incontrovertibility that is a woman’s birthright, how does this make them more creatively ambitious, as well as more dependent upon achievement?

Friedan attributes this ultimate focus on sexual difference to Mead’s Freudianism: she argues that Mead’s need to approach culture and personality through sexual difference, combined with her anthropological understanding that ‘there are no true-for-every-culture sexual differences except those involved in the act of procreation’ (Friedan and Quindlen 1963), combines to cause her to inflate the cultural importance of the reproductive role of women. Friedan intensely rebukes this reification of reproduction as another component of the ‘feminine mystique’ (very close to the modern ‘divine feminine’), advocating for programs which enable women to reject the mystique and housewife status and to seek education and employment, to combat the problem ‘which had no name’ but takes shape through spikes in female ‘sex-hunger’ and ‘overt manifestations’ of passive male homosexuality, both understood as ‘children acting out the sexual phantasies of their housewife-mothers.’ In a paradoxical return to Freudianism, Friedan characterizes husbands unwilling to let their wives work as being seduced ‘by the infantile phantasy of having an ever-present mother’ (the Freudian homosexuality-signifier), associating antifeminism with passive homosexuality with femininity which the aspiring feminist has escaped, learning to compete “not as a woman, but as a human being.”

3. THE MULTIPLICATION OF TRANSFEMINIZED SUBJECTS

As we can see, transfeminized subjects are frequently used as signs of system collapse, hypervisible enough to be easy examples and potent enough to rhetorically corrode existing sex-gender systems in preparation for the author’s own vision. Once a piece is published, these examples are usually then forgotten, assumed as scaffolding for the real theory; but the rhetorical strawmen of these transfeminized subjects still remain, trapped implicitly in the text, and they bleed into one another with every new addition to the corpus, every call to action invoking a new transfeminized archetype.

So far we have seen Mead’s anthropological-orientalist framing of ‘transvestitism’ among the anthropological Other and Friedan’s psychological framing of ‘passive homosexuality’ in the United States. The increasing visibility of adult ‘transsexuality,’ somewhat disjoint from the developmental sexology Gill-Peterson (2017) discusses because of its visibility in high-profile cases like Christine Jorgensen, was likewise framed for theory. Harold Garfinkel’s (1967) book Studies in Ethnomethodology, which described methods for observing ‘the objective reality of social facts as an ongoing accomplishment,’ used an intersex woman named Agnes as an avenue to expose how everyday social facts are constructed. Agnes was an ideal exemplar because her insistence on getting HRT and being seen as a woman was considered psychologically normal: “Such insistence was not accompanied by clinically interesting ego defects. These persons contrast in many interesting ways with transvestites, trans-sexualists, and homosexuals.” Of course, Garfinkel was later notified that Agnes did not have an intersex condition, and he then noted that ‘this news turned the article into a feature of the same circumstances it reported, i.e. into a situated report.’

Anyways, now it’s time for yet another transfeminized subject: the ‘transsexually constructed lesbian feminist.’

4. JANICE RAYMOND (1979)

As with her predecessors, Raymond sees analytical power in her particular transfeminized group, arguing that “transsexualism goes to the question of what gender is, how to challenge it, and what reinforces gender stereotypes in a role-defined society.” But she also has some concerns for ‘transsexual women,’ initially assumed heterosexual, none of which are particularly novel or interesting. Now that she’s writing in an environment dominated by Friedan’s mandate towards shedding femininity, feminist amnesia makes it novel to regurgitate Margaret Mead’s responses: that “male transsexualism may well be a graphic expression of the destruction that sex-role molding has wrought on men,” and that “men recognize the power that women have by virtue of female biology and the fact that this power, symbolized in giving birth, is not only procreative but multidimensionally creative” (Raymond 1979).

Her analysis of (new archetype) ‘transsexually-constructed lesbian feminism’ is much more interesting. While Raymond can understand heterosexual transsexual women as ‘reinforcing gender stereotyping’ by pulling primarily from medical archives already hegemonized by gatekeeping and passing requirements, the transsexual women in the lesbian-feminist movement achieved a certain degree of personal contact and visibility that undermined ‘hegemonizing’ logics. So Raymond uses three main arguments: an essentialist appeal to fundamental ‘maleness,’ a red-scare-esque appeal to transsexual lesbian feminists as ‘court eunuchs’ bent on monitoring and controlling feminist spaces, and finally, an argument that transsexual lesbian feminists are fundamentally epistemically corrosive to lesbian feminist spaces:

Whereas the lesbian-feminist crosses the boundary of her patriarchally imposed sex role, the transsexually constructed lesbian-feminist is a boundary violator. This violation is also profoundly mythic, for as Norman O. Brown writes of Dionysus, he as the ‘‘mad god who breaks down boundaries.’’

Contrary to contemporary transmisogynistic discourse which frames trans lesbians as personal threats to women in lesbian-feminist spaces, this violation takes its form not in any particular act but in the act of passing, the deconstructive question this existence seemingly automatically places on lesbian-feminist spaces:

One of the most constraining questions that transsexuals, and, in particular, transsexually constructed lesbian-feminists, pose is the question of self-definition—who is a woman, who is a lesbian-feminist? But, of course, they pose the question on their terms, and we are faced with answering it.

Raymond notes with some frustration that this transsexual question has been discussed ‘out of proportion to their actual numbers,’ using up valuable feminist energy, and frames this as a symptom and crime of transsexual lesbianism itself. The trans question is transsexual women; like the theorists before her, she sees transfeminized people as a gaping hole in the gendered world, but now they’re inside her house, feeding “off woman’s true energy source, i.e., her woman-identified self,” and inherently stand to break “the boundaries of what constitutes femaleness,” to dissolve lesbian-feminism itself.

I want to stress two main points in all of this. First, Raymond understands studying transsexualism as a crucial tool for answering ‘the question of what gender is’ and ‘how to challenge it.’ Second, Raymond’s anxiety about transsexual lesbian-feminists moves away from specific actions and towards the ‘penetration’ inherent in their existence in these spaces at all, the understanding that transsexual women are inherently corrosive to lesbian-feminist movements. These two points are clearly linked. Raymond understands transsexuality as a form of epistemic gender acid, something that can be useful at arm’s length but is deadly up close. Of course, the transfeminized people she discusses were not necessarily invested in asking the Trans Question themselves; trans women attended lesbian-feminist events like Michfest before and after their trans exclusion policies, and regardless of ‘passing’ many people enjoyed a form of don’t ask don’t tell (Tagonist 1997). But within these spaces, the Trans* Question long predated the actual existence of transfeminized people – so once they arrived, the Question and person were fundamentally linked. Trans theorists have negotiated this association extensively, but that’s not the topic of this essay, so I’ll leave you with some sources (Stryker 1994; Stone 1992) and move to Butler.

5. JUDITH BUTLER (1990)

This work has been done already by Vivian Namaste (2020), who argues that “contemporary discussions of Anglo-American feminist theory, exemplified in Butler’s work, begin with the Transgender Question as a way to narrow our focus to the constitution, reproduction, and resignification of gender.” This singular focus on the ‘Transgender Question’ has made it functionally impossible for Anglo-American feminist theory to consider the outsized role of work, particularly sex work, in motivating the discrimination and violence against transfeminized people of color: “framing violence against transsexual prostitutes as ‘gender violence’ is a radical recuperation of these events and their causal nature-a violence at the level of epistemology itself.”

Namaste attributes this focus on featureless ‘gender violence’ to a crippling lack of empiricism, a lack of researcher-subject equity, and an exclusion of subject knowledges. She provides an effective power-based solution to this epistemic violence – that feminist theorists should talk with the subjects of their theory and give them some measure of power in the transaction – a sort of endpoint analysis which means she doesn’t need to consider too much of the internals of the system she’s challenging. That’s a good idea for her work, but with the benefit of history we can move differently. The next section synthesizes Butler, Friedan, Mead, and Raymond together to provide a functionalist analysis of the feminist theoretic use of transfeminized people. What are the benefits of using transfeminized people as an epistemic tool in feminist theory? What are the dangers of using this epistemic tool, and how does feminist theory manage those dangers?

6. PATTERNS OF EXTRACTION AND DEFENSE

Looking past Butler and further into the past reveals that transfeminized people have been crucial not just to the feminist theory of the past 20 years, but have served as exemplars as far back as the 1940s. The ‘Trans* Question,’ which frames transfeminized people as the most visible signifier and most horrifying symptom of social gender, has been cyclically used in a form of feminist cultural amnesia:

A transfeminized group serves as a hypervisible example to 'deconstruct' social gender

Transfeminized deconstruction bloats beyond itself, undermining 'sex traits' or 'femaleness' or some other foundational category of feminist analysis.

Reconstruction of gender as 'biological sex,' alliance between feminist theorists and men of all stripes by arguing that post-gender eradication of transfeminized people will (a) allow men to be feminine without becoming women or (b) destroy femininity entirely.

New-generation feminist theorists realize their predecessors have reinvented social gender. Return to (1).

As Margaret Mead’s work shows, the use of transfeminized groups to deconstruct both physical and social gender has been observed regardless of transmedicalization. This helical pattern has a few general properties:

Each cycle introduces a distinct transfeminized group, positioning it against prior groups as uniquely suitable for analysis, but simultaneously blurs the new group into the existing melange.

This "Trans* Queston" is almost entirely devoid of group-specific context and rooted in transmisogyny, which positions them as horrifying and visible symptoms of social gender.

Each "Trans* Question" initially exposes social gender, but constantly threatens to dissolve other categories or even the theorist's own writing as socially constructed, against the theorist's will.

Each new cycle demonstrates near-complete historical amnesia as to the relevance of transfeminized people in the prior theoretical move.

So the “Trans* Question” allows for the basic feminist move, asserting that gender is socially constructed, but if improperly controlled it stands to dissolve virtually any definition feminist theorists try to build. To be clear, I do not believe in the total deconstruction of categories – you need definitions, even ones you acknowledge as imprecise, to say anything at all. But transfeminized people probably have pretty solid ideas about gender, having to, you know, live with it. The alienated ‘Trans Question*’ has none of this insight, appearing instead as a gaping epistemic hole in the world, and so feminist theorists are forced to come up with complicated quarantining measures to keep the Question from spilling over.

What jeopardizes feminist theory’s use of the Question? One answer (among many) comes by looking at Mead, who concluded that physical characteristics seen as ‘sex traits’ were socially constructed by looking at the culture-specific construction of what she called ‘full transvestitism.’ In this case, the Question undermined sex when the social position of transfeminized subjects were seen as simultaneously normative and anti-normative, existing in some normative ‘social’ role while being understood as distinct from non-transfeminized subjects via another ‘natural’ axis. The fact that these splits were made differently across different transfeminized groups undermined the distinction between social and ‘natural/biological’ aspects of gender, and because the alienated Question provides no means of making anything solid out of any of this, Mead retreated to the womb.

So understanding that the Question allows for the deconstruction of gender, and that it overgrows when multiple (studied as) semi-normative transfeminized groups are cross-compared with one another, we can consider aspects of contemporary feministqueertrans theory that enforce the epistemic isolation and normativization/antinormativization of transfeminized groups. The knots this ties in feminist theories seem relevant both to the ‘why does trans theory exist’ question posed by Chu & Drager (2019) and to the challenges and limitations of applying queer/trans theory to groups outside the anglosphere (Chiang 2021, Savci 2021). I’ll discuss that more in another essay.

SOURCES

Behar, Ruth, and Deborah A. Gordon. 1996. Women Writing Culture. First Edition. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Chiang, Howard. 2021. Transtopia in the Sinophone Pacific. Columbia University Press.

Chu, Andrea Long, and Emmett Harsin Drager. 2019. “After Trans Studies.” TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 6 (1): 103–16. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-7253524.

Friedan, Betty, and Anna Quindlen. 1963. The Feminine Mystique. Reprint edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in Ethnomethodology. 1st edition. Cambridge Oxford Malden,MA: Polity.

Gill-Peterson, Jules. 2017. “Implanting Plasticity into Sex and Trans/Gender.” Angelaki 22 (2): 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2017.1322818.

Mead, Margaret. 1949. Male and Female: A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World. First Edition. William Morrow.

Namaste, Viviane. 2020. “Undoing Theory: The ‘Transgender Question’ and the Epistemic Violence of Anglo-American Feminist Theory.” In Feminist Theory Reader, edited by Carole McCann, Seung-kyung Kim, and Emek Ergun, 5th edition. New York, NY London: Routledge.

Raymond, Janice G. 1979. The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male. New York: Teachers College Press.

Savci, Evren. 2021. Queer in Translation: Sexual Politics Under Neoliberal Islam. Durham (N.C.): Duke University Press Books.

Stone, Sandy. 1992. “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto.” Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies 10 (2 (29)): 150–76. https://doi.org/10.1215/02705346-10-2_29-150.

Stryker, Susan. 1994. “My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage.” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 1 (3): 237–54. https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-1-3-237.

Tagonist, Anne. 1997. “Sister Subverter Diary August ’97.” Unapologetic: The Journal of Irresponsible Gender.

[somekindofsentience]

spiders, or how to fix half of omori's plot with one symbol

i think i can fix omori. well, some of it.

This will be an attempt to prove that a key symbol related to Mari is a spider/bug, and how making this more obvious to the player would have fixed half the narrative.

Mari is closely associated with bugs and spiders in several scenes, but I believe the photos in the real world and Headspace demonstrate this most explicitly.

This photo is one of few direct redraws from the real world in Headspace, and it identifies Mari as a character unafraid, even fascinated, by bugs, which is one of very few character traits she's actually given. This is repeated multiple times as we explore Headspace, where Mari comforts Sunny and Hero about their fear of spiders, takes the group bug-hunting in the real world, and previously put bugs in Hero's desk. It's notable that the reframing of this photo specifically puts a spider in Omori's hand, further linking the girl to bugs in his mind.

Within Headspace, spiders are shown to be far more present than the other two phobias present. We see it in Daddy Long Legs, the ominous nature of Pyrefly forest, the Spider Area, the references to the creatures from Hero, Mari and Basil, and much more - it's clear that the creators wanted this symbol to be present, but overwhelmed it with subtlety, making it impossible to actually understand, and leaving it in the dust in favour of following other threads. The narrative fails to distinguish the Arachnophobia boss, and loses its the relationship between Mari and spiders/bugs.

There are several benefits to making this metaphor more deliberate to the player, by enhancing the relationship through jumpscares, making it important to the Truth/Final Boss segments, or even just distinguishing Arachnophobia from the other bosses. I've decided to organise them into a list since there's so many.

Cohesive narrative interactions between the Phobias and the recital day: I'm always talking about how the juxtaposition between these two events is so subtle that people miss the point. Singling out the importance of Arachnophobia would highlight these two events and bring them to the forefront, making the Final Duet more cohesive.

The Phobia bosses become relevant: If the game is able to properly integrate Arachnophobia into the truth segment, this provides so much more purpose to the Phobia bosses, who often feel like just game mechanics to teach you how fighting against hallucinations functions.

Intriguing moral exploration: I think the idea of the subtlety of conveying Mari as a bug portrays her insignificance - Sunny was able to just kill her, as though she were just a spider to be swatted. It furthers an interesting understanding of morality in the text, talking about the prioritisation of life, leaving more of an impact on the audience. Are humans really as fickle as that?

Hero's character: Connecting Mari to a spider not only allows for more theory and AU creation, but actually mimics Hero's actions in the real world. Only two characters are afraid of spiders - and only those two characters have not visited Mari's grave since it was dug, which mirrors (but fails to highlight) Sunny and Hero's character arcs. In a similar way, Mari and Basil's love for bugs could also mirror some sort of decline.

The relevance of Daddy Long Legs and spider-related Black Space areas: Spiders are regularly referenced in Headspace and Black Space, with a whole room of Black Space surrounding them, but there's never any lucid reason why they're so prominent compared to the other phobias. Making a clear connection to the truth would clear up this confusion.

Basil's Something and Headspace Basil's dialogue: Basil's Something is deliberately abstract, but it is never defined further than its presentation. Not only would it properly link the Spider Area to the reality of the truth, but it would potentially connect Basil's Something to it, too.

Just plain easy to add: Much of Omori's story, characterisation and pacing is very difficult to improve without hours of effort. Being able to cohesively connect elements of the narrative with one symbol is much more realistic.

song i listened to while writing this:

this song is literally the reason i came to this realisation, the themes of environmental preservation were essential dskjhjdsgdjhsgjhkdg shout out to me rediscovering this after years and years

[alsmediadissection]

˗ˏˋ elphaba and glinda's relationship for beginners ´ˎ˗

Gelphie truthers, this is for you.

!! i want to preface this by saying i'm not a professional critic, and this is not a 100% guide to anything either. do not take anything i type online to absolute heart, this is simply my personal interpretation of this piece of media !! (i also want to mention that i did not read the Wicked novel/series by Gregory Maguire)

! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ACT 2 IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE WHOLE MUSICAL !

Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship in Wicked is one of the most compelling dynamics in the story, offering rich ground for analysis. Their bond evolves from animosity to deep friendship and ultimately to mutual respect, reflecting themes of personal growth, the complexity of human connection, and the challenge of societal expectations.

To begin, their obvious trope is 'Opposites Attract" hence the juxtaposition of personalities. Glinda and Elphaba initially represent polar opposites: Glinda embodies privilege, popularity, and superficiality, while Elphaba is intelligent, principled, and ostracized. Their early antagonism underscores societal divides between the advantaged and the marginalized. Over time, their contrasting traits serve as a catalyst for mutual growth. Glinda learns to look beyond surface-level appearances and question her privilege, while Elphaba becomes more open to trust and connection.

Their relationship with one another is a good reflection of societal tensions as well. Their dynamic reflects broader societal struggles, including prejudice, privilege, and the challenges of overcoming systemic divides. Glinda’s initial condescension toward Elphaba mirrors societal attitudes that uphold hierarchies based on appearance or status. Elphaba’s willingness to challenge Glinda’s shallow worldview forces Glinda to confront her biases, showing how cross-group friendships can challenge prejudices.

Glinda and Elphaba's relationship is extremely important in media as well because it demonstrates the power of female solidarity. Despite their differences, Glinda and Elphaba ultimately unite, forming a bond that transcends societal expectations. Their friendship demonstrates the transformative power of female solidarity, especially in the face of oppressive systems. Their relationship subverts the trope of women being in competition, particularly over male attention. While Fiyero is a point of tension, their bond grows stronger, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing mutual support over rivalry.

Even though they are seemingly on opposite sides of society, they nonetheless have shared struggles and empathy towards eachother. While their experiences differ, both Glinda and Elphaba grapple with societal expectations. Glinda struggles with the pressure to conform and maintain her image, while Elphaba battles overt discrimination and rejection. Their ability to empathize with each other’s struggles is a key factor in their relationship. Glinda’s eventual support for Elphaba reflects her growing understanding of what it means to stand against injustice (Glinda wouldn't be the person she is without Elphie!!).

A beautiful thing i find in their relationship is their relationship is shaped by sacrifice, adding tragic elements. The tragedy of their friendship lies in its ultimate separation. While they love and respect one another deeply, their differing paths—Elphaba’s defiance of authority and Glinda’s choice to reform from within—force them apart. Their parting scene, marked by the song “For Good,” is a poignant acknowledgment of the profound impact they’ve had on each other’s lives. It underscores that, despite their separation, their bond remains a defining and transformative force for both.

Glinda is not only Elphaba's friend, but she is also an ally and foil. Glinda’s evolution into an ally is a critical aspect of their relationship. Her eventual support for Elphaba reflects her willingness to use her privilege for good, even as she struggles with her own complicity in the system. As a foil to Elphaba, Glinda’s character highlights Elphaba’s strengths and convictions. Where Glinda hesitates or conforms, Elphaba boldly acts, challenging societal norms. Conversely, Glinda’s charm and diplomacy show a softer, more strategic approach to effecting change, contrasting with Elphaba’s fiery defiance. THEY BALANCE EACHOTHER.

Their relationship is marked by forgiveness and redemption. Glinda’s initial superficiality and complicity in Elphaba’s ostracization are eventually overshadowed by her genuine remorse and efforts to honour Elphaba’s legacy. Elphaba’s willingness to forgive Glinda illustrates her capacity for understanding and her recognition of Glinda’s growth.

And as you all know, their relationship is filled with lot of queer subtext. Many fans interpret their relationship through a queer lens, seeing their bond as emblematic of deep, romantic love. Their intense connection, mutual admiration, and ultimate separation echo many queer narratives of love that cannot fully thrive due to societal pressures. Whether viewed as romantic or platonic, their relationship defies traditional definitions, suggesting that love and connection can take many forms. (this makes me want to write a Glinda sexuality media dissection)

Their relationship also emphasizes the importance of maintaining individuality within a deep bond, individuality within connection. Both characters inspire each other’s growth but remain true to their core values. Glinda chooses to stay in Oz and work for change from within, while Elphaba pursues her revolutionary path. This dynamic highlights the idea that meaningful relationships do not require total agreement but rather mutual respect and understanding.

Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship in Wicked is a masterful exploration of human connection across divides. Their journey from adversaries to allies illustrates the transformative power of empathy, the challenges of societal pressures, and the importance of standing together against oppression. Their bond, though ultimately bittersweet, serves as a testament to the profound ways people can shape and change one another “for good.”

So long story short....lesbians rule.

[citadelofmythoughts]

Being extremely charitable, there is SOME narrative basis for why Yang had the POTENTIAL to be like Adam, because that's the whole point:

Yang is not inherently a person who couldn't have ended up like Adam, because the narrative intentionally frames them as having many similar character traits positive and negative.

The key DIFFERENCE however is that Yang has something that Adam refused to ever be or do: Being compassionate to others and having the self-awareness to realize that her anger isn't an inherently good thing.

She's justified to be angry about a lot of things in her life, like her father's failure to take care of her and Ruby properly, her mothers effectively abandoning her, the ways in which an ancient conspiracy chaired by a manipulative well-meaning liar has torn her family apart, and people basically not treating her right. She can be volatile and angry about seemingly small things like her hair.

But she also does her damndest to not use it as an excuse to lash out and harm people all the time. She controls her anger, keeps her negative qualities in check, and she doesn't make excuses for any mistakes she does make if its done out of her anger or failures.

Adam doesn't even attempt to do that. He was deeply traumatized for very legitimate reasons, but he let his hatred and rage become a justification and excuse to inflict immense harm on everyone around him, including the people who genuinely wanted to help him and see the best in him like Blake.

He abused his power, his privilege as a member of a civil rights group who were willing to help him and twisted it into a shell of its former self. He harmed the people he claimed to stand for for the sake of his ego. And he made excuses after excuses for his actions even when he had lost everything because of it.

THAT is the difference.

Addendum to previous post:

And that's the crux of it:

Adam was given basically everything he ever truly wanted deep down, had a chance to truly make things better...and he blew it because it wasn't enough for him, because he cared more about making other people suffer even if it meant destroying his own cause.

Yang is compassionate and unselfish almost to a fault. She's put her own emotional and physical well-being at risk multiple times for people she cares about. She's someone who could have so easily become bitter and broken and she did come close at the end of V3 but her innate good nature prevented it. Adam is like a funhouse mirror image of Yang.

[kit-knoy]

Jing Yuan + Ekko Mini Comparison Yap

As I have recently watched the new season of Arcane and have slowly been getting back into HSR, I couldn't help but pick out traits/similarities between Jing Yuan and Ekko (besides their white hair lol).

Crazy Ex-friends

Obviously, for Ekko, there's Jinx. As for Jing Yuan, I think it can really switch between Jing Liu and Yingxing. Both have friend(s) who they used to be close with only to drift apart and develop different morals and groups.

Leadership

What more is there to say? Ekko is the leader of the fireflies (been a while, think that's what the group is called?) and managed to build a strong community. Jing Yuan is a general of Xianzhou and has fought many battles to protect his home planet

Doomed Family/Found Family

Doomed family - This could be grouped with the [crazy ex-friends] but I think this is a broader version? Ekko had a whole group he considered family, Benzo, Jinx, Vi, Vander, etc, only for them to be split/killed. Jing Yuan had the same thing with Bai Heng being their sunshine of their group yet is the only one to never had survived out of the five who drifted apart.

BONUS: The downfall of the groups could ironically be from a joint effort from people within their family/group itself [e.g Jinx's bomb which causes the deaths of her friends, Vi's anger with Jinx for said incident -> Dan Feng and Yingxing's attempt to revive Bai Heng which leads to Jing Liu becoming mara-struck due to her having to kill Bai Heng again...]

Found family - Despite this, Ekko and Jing Yuan still have new companions and friends. Ekko, who has a nice mentor like Heimerdinger [who refers to Ekko as "my boy"] and a clear father and son bond between Yanqing and Jing Yuan.

Nostalgia

Ekko and Jing Yuan experience nostalgia. Ekko, who looks at Jinx and thinks of Powder, or when he reunites with Vi and quickly starts bringing stuff from the past like, "I wonder where I learned that from."

Another example could be where Ekko goes to an alternate universe and meets an entire better off universe while still remembering his. He thinks back to Benzo, Jinx, Vander, Milo, etc..

DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE MEMORIALS/ART ON THE TREE..

Jing Yuan... Do I even need to talk about Jing Yuan feeling all old and nostalgic...?

Lonely

I'm gonna start rushing because I think this is becoming too long. But, the more I think about it, the more it starts to become clear to me how these two were left alone at dark times. Ekko, who knew Jinx was being guided by Silco, Vi got fricking arrested, Benzo is dead, Vander is dead, friends are dead. From that point, he's a young boy figuring shtick out for himself.

Dude, it is so clear that Jing Yuan is left behind and lives in the past. He thinks back to the days of the High Cloud Quintent. Despite everyone moving on, Dan Heng has the Express, Jing Liu doing her own adventures, and Blade with the Stellaron Hunters... Jing Yuan is still stuck at the Luofo, where it all began. And no one but the four he spent those times with will understand what they had with each other the most.

Sacrificial

To my final comparison, and my favorite, Ekko and Jing Yuan are (imo) sacrificial.

Ekko, who had the choice to stay in a happier universe, goes back to save his original one, which he didn't have to do, but did it anyway.

Jing Yuan, who dreamed of becoming a galaxy ranger, gave up on his dream to continue protecting his home planet, therefore becoming a general.

Even though these two had opportunities that would've made them happier, they chose to give it up in exchange for the safety of their homes.

[Cue 'It's On Again" - Alicia Keys ft. Kendrick Lamar]

HEADCANON: Both of them have survivors guilt

Okay, that's my ramble! Thank you for listening!

- OOMF KIT-KNOY

[intersex-support]

(half vent half ramble about intersex, medical neglect, and the racialization of gender and sex binaries)

I am going to lose my mind. There is Something Wrong with my reproductive system. I know this much. It doesn't act how every single piece of (modern, reputable) medical literature I can find says is "normal". At this point I think the reason I can't get any doctors to take me seriously is because I'm mixed race. I pass white easily, and I'll discuss my symptoms with a doctor, show the physical, visible proof of endocrine weirdness on my body, and they look concerned, willing to discuss, in agreement that there's something weird. Then they look over my medical history and profile before doing anything in depth. They see I am biracial. They suddenly insist that everything is normal and that I'm overreacting.

I have some friends that are studying medicine, including one that has particular interest in intersex and general queer medicine (and has her doctorate even). She agrees that there's something different by any metric. All of them are in agreement that I likely have something unusual with either my reproductive system, endocrine system, or both. They all agree I should get proper testing but can't authorize it due too the ethical issue of them being my friends.

So I go to new doctors regularly and the cycle repeats every time. The oddities are only getting more apparent. How long will it be before people can put down their perception of different races as different species? There are differences between us. But they are not as drastic as people make them out to be. How strange must my body become before a doctor can no longer blame it on my mixed heritage?

I'm so tired of being Schrodinger's intersex. We need to put down the idea that traits can only be intersex in specific races. The amount of poc that are struggling from this is almost certainly larger than we can imagine. The only reason I think this problem becomes so obvious with me is because of my white passing biracial-ness. I feel like the canary, making it particularly clear how much the racialization of gender and sex hurts all of us. I'm so tired

Sending so much solidarity and support 💜💜💜

The amount of racism from doctors is so incredibly fucked up, especially when it comes to the racialization of gender and sex and how that creates so many barriers for accessing care. We've talked a lot on this blog before about how some diagnostic standards for certain intersex variations are just explicitly racist--hirsutism scales and the way that they're talked about, for example. There are so many ways that white supremacy works together with intersexism/compulsory dyadism and a key part of intersex justice is fighting against all these connected systems of oppression.

on this blog we understand that there are so many barriers to getting testing and diagnosis in the current medical system, which is one of the reasons why we support informed self-diagnosis. if you're at all interested in participating in intersex community spaces, InterConnect has online and in person peer support groups, including a peer support group specifically for intersex people of color. Know that you are absolutely welcome here, even if you don't have a confirmed medical diagnosis.

I really hope that you're able to find the answers you need--you deserve better than you've been treated, and I can absolutely imagine how exhausting the discrimination through this whole process has been. Please feel welcome to send in any more asks, whether you need resources, have questions, or just need to vent.

best wishes, anon 💜💜💜

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I know a lot of people feel in their early days, Jimin was kinda heavy-handed with his attention on Jungkook, but I think Jimin acted that way primarily for Jungkook's benefit. I mean it's clear Jimin has cared for Jungkook deeply since debut but I feel the way he displayed it, so loudly and sometimes almost obnoxiously, acted as a key stabilizing and assuring force for JK in an environment that could've easily overwhelmed him.

This is a fresh take on the whole dynamic. I’ve never thought of it from this perspective or never seen anyone else point it out. Is it a popular thought? I felt that Jimin was only playing the extremely manly flirty character that he was asked to play and it’s the popular theory too. Tho’ it wasn’t sitting well because this is the same guy who gave JHope his fan letters and questioned stereotypes and was ok with wearing a pink dress in AHL etc etc.

***

Yeah… I’m not sure I can call it a theory, not to talk of if it's popular. It’s just how I saw them at the time, and it still feels consistent with how I’ve seen their interactions and relationship progress.

Jimin had his role to play in the group just as they all did. That’s true. But I also think, with what we know of Jungkook’s personality and their environment, their relationship could be easily explained, considering.

I mean, let’s think about it. The idol industry is incredibly fast-paced, hectic beyond what anyone can imagine, Jungkook was still in school when they debuted and had to juggle their activities with his classes. We know that when Jimin was still in school, he’d wake up at 6:30 AM and then after school, practice till around 2:30 AM before going to bed. We know from jikook’s words that Jungkook was often with him for some of this time, sometimes even sleeping with him in the practice room. So, JK was putting in work too, perhaps not to the same levels Jimin did, but Jungkook was also younger than him. All the guys had big responsibilities already, and it’s clear from footage in their early days that all of them were all just trying to stay afloat mentally, physically, and otherwise.

In that sort of environment, at that period of Jungkook’s development, with his age and what I suspect to be possible neurodivergent traits, it would’ve been very easy for him to get swept away, in a sense. To become overwhelmed and 'detach', develop unhealthy coping habits and such. Jungkook is someone who by his own admission, needs a lot of love. All the members made sure to keep an eye on him, but Jimin seemed to take it upon himself to love Jungkook, loudly. To shower him with attention as though to remind him, "I see you", "I'm watching you", "I'm in your corner always and I'm here for you".

Jimin obviously loved and cared for Jungkook back then, and it was mutual, but the way he went about showing it was one of the biggest indications of his emotional intelligence, to me. He was mocked for how he appeared to be all over Jungkook, the members too would make fun of him, but I don't think he was stupidly, blindly 'in love'. At least not quite at that point. I think he showed remarkable awareness of his own emotions, Jungkook's needs, and the environment they were in. And Jimin used all of that to his advantage and to Jungkook's benefit because it served the purpose of emotionally assuring JK, while improving JK's profile within the group (people look more desirable when it seems other people desire them), further building his confidence.

It's remarkable to me that before they debuted when Jungkook got overwhelmed and said he wanted to quit BTS to become a company dancer, the person he went to with that worry was Jimin. Jimin who was the last trainee to join their agency - so, a relatively recent addition to the group. That, to me, shows one way their bond was already quite deep, even back then, a connection that I think Jimin was intentional on developing with Jungkook. When they had their infamous rainy day fight, when all the other members sort of tossed their hands in the air after letting loose on JK, it sticks out to me that the breaking point for Jungkook was Jimin telling him, "You know what, do whatever you like. I won't care for you anymore."

Jimin's presence in Jungkook's life can't be overstated. I think over time, as Jungkook grew up and matured, he recognized how integral Jimin was to him, began to better acknowledge Jimin's needs as well and their relationship became deeper, more reciprocal and balanced. And that's how we ended up with GCF in Tokyo, as an example. I also feel this 'dance' of recognizing each other's needs and loving each other in-line with their personal boundaries, is an ongoing process for them.

[foggyfanfic]

I know this is probably a… lot of writing hahaha, but I honestly find myself interested in 4 and 8 for Leandra, and 1, 9, and 14 for Gabriel

You’re right! It is a lot of writing, but who doesn’t like writing about their OC’s? I put it under the cut for the sake of everyone’s dash. Thanks for the ask! While we’re all chatting about OC’s, you got any you’re tinkering with?

4. What qualities do they look for or value in a partner/friend?

Since Leandra is so charming she gets how empty that can be, so she actually seeks out people that lack the guile she uses to get through the whole Cicero thing. At the same time, after seeing what happened to Rosalie she believes that people that can be easily swayed can’t be trusted, so she values critical thinkers and people that aren’t quick to judge. (Whether or not she realizes it, the fact that Bruno is awkward and weird is what attracts her to him the most. She can’t put into words why she wants to kiss the hell outta him when he starts stuttering, but I can! It makes her feel safe and reminds her that she can trust him).

8. What would break them?

The thing that happened to Rosalie low key did break Leandra, which is why it completely changed the trajectory of her life. She thinks it would break her if the same thing happened to her, but because she has actively surrounded herself by people that would support her it would honestly be less world shattering than watching everybody she trusted turn into victim blaming monsters. Like she still would have been traumatized if Cicero had succeeded, but it wouldn’t lead to her completely reshaping her life and priorities the way she did in the wake of Rosalie’s attack. Furthermore, if the kids hadn’t come along and Leandra had remained the sole tent pole holding up Bruno’s sanity she would have eventually broken under the pressure. If Bruno had been just as isolated as he was in canon other than the fact that he has a wife, that wife would have been in a really crappy position. She would have slowed his spiral into the walls, but not stopped it and Leandra specifically would have become very bitter and resentful of the villagers since she blames them for his depression. Actually, an AU where Bruno and Leandra get married but never had kids would turn into a villain!Leandra AU. As it is, now that she’s a mother, she’d break under the same circumstances most parents break under. Losing her kids.

1. What good/bad traits do they bring out in others?

Ironically, Gabriel makes his sisters and younger cousins more inclined to be reckless because they’re annoyed by him constantly trying to wrap them in bubble wrap. This can be both good and bad, since fools rush in but fortune favors the bold. He’s not loud, but he’s also not particularly shy about his opinions, so the whole village knows how he feels women should be treated. Out here the bar might be in hell but in Encanto young men have to compete with gentlemen like Félix and Agustín, then later Camilo and Antonio, and in this AU Gabriel and Julio. He low key brings out the best in the boys in his age group because no girl will look twice at a handsy creep when Gabriel is wandering around with his gentle eyes, tragic back story, and borderline pathological respect for women. On the flip side, women can be sexual harassers too and all the women in the Encanto inclined to that sort of behavior want to be Madrigals, so through no fault of his own he’s a magnet for just like… the absolute worst gals you’ve ever met. I figure Camilo gets some of it too and I have some head canons of what that’s like for him, but this ain’t about him lol.

9. What would push them to physical altercation or violence during an argument?

You’ll see :)

14. In what scenario would they feel most comfortable?

Gabriel is like those cheetahs in the zoo that need their own service dogs, generally pretty anxious but give him a cheerful labrador type person and he’s fine. He would prefer this person be his Má, Mirabel, or Octavia, but it often ends up being Camilo who deeply enjoys annoying Gabriel so much he forgets to be anxious. He’s the most content and comfortable when he’s in Bruno’s story telling tent and it’s just him and his familia, especially if they got a record on the record player.

[realinspirations]

Resilience as a Life Skill: Thriving in an Unpredictable World

 Importance Of Resilience 

Resilience is regularly described as the capacity to get better from adversity, adapt to challenges, and persevere regardless of setbacks. It is an intellectual and emotional ability that lets individuals to deal with strain, trauma, or substantial difficulties and emerge stronger and wiser. While many partner resilience with surviving hard instances, it's far tons more than truly enduring hardship—it's miles the capacity to thrive and grow via adversity. In these days’s rapid-paced and often unpredictable international, resilience is turning into an increasing number of important traits, one that could shape the direction of personal lives, groups, agencies, or even whole societies.

The Foundation of Mental Health

At its center, resilience is vital to intellectual fitness and well-being. Life is full of stressors: from ordinary pressures together with painting time limits and own family responsibilities, to more considerable challenges like infection, loss, or financial complications. Resilience allows people to control these stressors effectively, decreasing their terrible effect on mental fitness.

Resilient individuals tend to have an extra optimistic outlook, which helps them hold perspective throughout difficult times. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by demanding situations, they view setbacks as possibilities for increasing or gaining knowledge. This attitude shifts the focal point from what is inaccurate to what may be achieved, which is crucial for maintaining emotional stability and avoiding emotions of helplessness or despair.

Moreover, resilience fosters the development of coping strategies. Rather than resorting to unhealthy mechanisms like substance abuse, denial, or withdrawal, resilient people are much more likely to turn to healthful solutions, along with seeking aid, practicing self-care, or carrying out trouble-fixing. The emotional regulation that incorporates resilience now not handiest helps individuals endure adversity but additionally strengthens their overall intellectual and emotional fitness.

Adaptability in an Ever-Changing World

The global we live in is continuously converting—whether or not via technological improvements, economic shifts, or worldwide crises like pandemics and herbal failures. These fast modifications may be overwhelming, especially for individuals who lack the potential to conform. Resilience plays an important role in helping humans stay flexible and resourceful in the face of uncertainty.

Take, as an example, the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of humans faced disruptions of their non-public and professional lives, from job losses to social isolation. Resilience didn’t simply mean surviving the crisis but locating methods to evolve—whether through gaining knowledge of new competencies, pivoting careers, or adjusting expectations and goals. Resilient people have been able to see opportunities within the midst of the upheaval, inclusive of embracing faraway work or pursuing passions they'd formerly left out.

Adaptability, a key factor of resilience, is particularly crucial in our interconnected, globalized global. The upward thrust of the latest technologies—like synthetic intelligence, automation, and biotechnology—way that industries and careers are evolving at an exceptional pace. Those who are resilient are better prepared to navigate those changes by embracing new challenges as opposed to resisting them. Instead of fearing the unknown, they are cognizant of what can be found out from it.

Building Stronger Communities and Relationships

Resilience isn't just a character trait; it could also be a collective electricity that unites groups and strengthens relationships. In instances of disaster or adversity, resilient individuals regularly act as pillars of help for others. They share their strength and coping mechanisms, fostering harmony and mutual help within families, offices, and communities.

Take the example of herbal disasters, together with hurricanes, floods, or wildfires. These catastrophic activities often go away complete groups reeling. However, it's miles the resilience of people—alongside their capacity to return collectively, assist one another, and rebuild—that enables these groups to get better. People rally around every different, sharing assets, providing emotional support, and running together to restore what was misplaced. Through this procedure, people develop nearer, and the bonds of community are reinforced.

Furthermore, resilience contributes to the fitness of interpersonal relationships. In romantic partnerships, friendships, and family dynamics, demanding situations are inevitable. Resilient people tend to approach conflicts with open thoughts and a willingness to paint thru problems as opposed to giving up. They recognize that problems are a part of life and that the technique of running through them together often strengthens the relationship. Resilience in relationships is built on belief, conversation, and a shared dedication to conquering demanding situations, as opposed to permitting barriers to create division.

Resilience inside the Workplace: A Key to Professional Success

In the professional world, resilience is one of the most treasured features a worker can possess. The administrative center is full of stressors—tight closing dates, stressful bosses, tough customers, and professional setbacks. Those who lack resilience might also emerge as effortlessly beaten or discouraged via such challenges, which can hinder their professional progression.

Resilient people, on the other hand, are more likely to thrive in the face of adversity. They are able to maintain their awareness, maintain a high-quality outlook, and adapt to converting occasions. They recognize that failure or mistakes are a part of the learning process and aren't indicative of their ultimate talents or worth. This mindset allows them to keep going, even after facing setbacks, and to continue pursuing their professional desires with dedication.

Moreover, resilience enhances problem-fixing competencies. When confronted with challenges at painting, resilient employees are much more likely to seek creative solutions in preference to give up or emerging as paralyzed through fear. They take proactive steps to deal with troubles, participating with colleagues or in search of advice from mentors while important. Their potential to cope with pressure and continue to be efficient beneath strain is quite valued by employers, making resilience a key thing in career fulfillment and job pleasure.

Physical Health and Resilience: The Mind-Body Connection

While resilience is often discussed in emotional and psychological phrases, it also has a great effect on physical fitness. Chronic stress can take a toll on the body, leading to quite a few health troubles, including coronary heart ailment, excessive blood pressure, and weakened immune function. However, resilient individuals generally tend to manage pressure more correctly, which allows to mitigate its harmful results at the body.

In addition, resilience promotes a healthful way of life alternatives. Resilient humans are much more likely to interact in normal exercising, maintain a balanced eating regimen, and prioritize sleep, all of which contribute to higher bodily fitness. They are also more likely to seek scientific assistance whilst needed and comply with treatment plans, in preference to heading off or neglecting their health.

One can even take a look at the fact that resilience can beautify restoration from contamination or injury. People with better levels of resilience tend to get better and more speedy from bodily setbacks because they hold a positive mindset, live stimulated, and adhere to their rehabilitation plans. This mind-body connection is a powerful example of how resilience can make a contribution now not only to emotional well-being but also to bodily energy.

 Fostering Resilience: Developing the Skill

While a few individuals might also be more resilient than others, resilience is a talent that may evolve with exercise and goals. One way to domesticate resilience is by building a sturdy guide device. Having a community of buddies, family, mentors, or colleagues who can provide emotional support and guidance can provide the energy needed to deal with difficult instances.

Another important practice is mindfulness. Mindfulness involves taking note of the prevailing moment without judgment, which can assist individuals in manipulating strain and feelings more efficaciously. It promotes an experience of calm and readability, allowing people to respond to demanding situations with more emotional stability.

Finally, developing a growth mindset—the perception that abilities and intelligence can be advanced through effort—can help foster resilience. When individuals see challenges as opportunities to learn and develop, they are more likely to persevere in the face of adversity and less likely to be defeated by failure.

[rensaries]

!⠀♡⠀₊⠀⠀ׁPROFILE : RIM HAE WON

see unime's masterlist !

┃BASIC INFO

★﹐STAGE NAME : Haewon ( 해원 ) ★﹐BIRTH NAME : Rim Hae Won ( 림해원 ) ★﹐NICKNAMES : wonie, visual queen ★﹐BIRTHDAY : August 31, 1995 ★﹐AGE : 29 ( int age ) , 30 ( kor age ) ★﹐ZODIAC SIGN : Virgo ★﹐CHINESE ZODIAC : Pig ★﹐REPRESENTATIVE EMOTICON : 🐱 ★﹐HEIGHT : 168 cm (5'6") ★﹐BLOOD TYPE : AB ★﹐BIRTHPLACE : Seoul, Gangdong-gu, South Korea ★﹐NATIONALITY : Korean ★﹐LANGUAGES : korean (100%), japanese (90%), english (80%), mandarin (36%) ★﹐GENDER : female ★﹐PRONOUNS : she/her ★﹐SEXUALITY : pansexual ★﹐RELATIONSHIP STATUS : single ★﹐FAMILY MEMBERS : Rim Eun-ji ( mother ) , Rim Dae-yong ( father )

★﹐PERSONALITY TYPE : ENTP ( the debater )          ★﹐DESCRIPTION : a debater ( entp ) is a person with the extraverted, intuitive, thinking, and prospecting personality traits. they tend to be bold and creative, deconstructing and rebuilding ideas with great mental agility. they pursue their goals vigorously despite any resistance they might encounter. ★﹐HABITS : singing at random moments, organizing things, biting her bottom lip ★﹐HOBBIES/SKILLS : soccer, acrobatics, hockey, reading, skiing ★﹐LIKES : watching horror movies, shopping, hia, dogs, comfy clothes ★﹐DISLIKES : dark rooms, clowns, hot weather, lip-syncing (on stage), short hair, stalker fans, practicing past midnight ★﹐FAVORITE FOODS : cheesecake, gimbap, potato chips, deviled eggs ★﹐CLOSE FRIENDS : johnny ( nct 127 ) , jisoo ( blackpink ) , kei ( ex-lovelyz ) , nayeon & dahyun ( twice ) , oneus , yujin ( ex-clc, kep1er ) , jeon somi ( ex-i.o.i, soloist )

┃CAREER

★﹐YG ENTERTAINMENT : 2015 - 2017 ★﹐MÉLOMANIE ENTERTAINMENT : 2018 - present ★﹐TOTAL TRAINEE PERIOD : 4 years ★﹐GROUP : UNIMe ★﹐POSITIONS : Main Dancer, Sub-Vocalist ★﹐DEBUT DATE : August 28, 2019 ★﹐DEBUT AGE : 23 ( int age ), 25 ( kor age ) ★﹐YEARS ACTIVE : 5 years ★﹐ASSOCIATED ACTS : Billlie ★﹐KNOWN FOR : her variety show moments, her charisma, her dancing abilities, her instagram lives, "i'm the trend".

┃TRIVIA

she was originally in the lineup for blackpink but never ended up debuting.

she wanted to become a rapper when she was a trainee but switched to a dancer because she was told that was her specialty.

she was casted by sm entertainment, jyp entertainment, and dsp media but declined all three.

out of the whole group she is the best at dancing to boy group choreographies.

as a trainee she often helped stray dogs and cats by giving them food and water.

┃ETC.

★﹐FACE CLAIM : Jueun ( ex-DIA ) ★﹐VOICE CLAIM : Jueun ( ex-DIA ) ★﹐RAP CLAIM : Jueun ( ex-DIA ) ★﹐DANCE CLAIM : Jueun ( ex-DIA )

©️rensaries

[octahedral-chaos]

Okay, your concept with Sonnet and Sakari is low-key very cool! Love the amount of detail you put into this stuff.

Anyways, I have a couple of things:

Kinda intrested to hear about the setting-

Also want to know a little more about Sonnet. Like, you said she was trapped in her own weapon for doing something terrible. I think you said something about killing another Light Starfolk. And if so, for what reason? Or was it accidental?

And... um... How is the public/ government going to react to a half-human, half-eldritch Sakari running around their community? I wonder if she'll become an urban legend-

Glad you love them! I'll be (hopefully) doodling their offical designs this evening!

Basically, I'm thinking of an urban-fantasy setting? Like It's the modern day, but there's monsters and stuff as well. Also magic... but it can only be used by specific sapient beings and humans aren't one of those (Unless they have an artifact of sorts).

Sakari's apartment is located near the Capital city of her country, which is also in the tropics! So she don't experience winter and stuff (Sonnet would be fascinated by the seasons, though).

Also for Sonnet, their story is a bit... sad, so to speak. They're a relatively young and inexperienced hunteress, who much rather explore than fight. In fact, while fighting their counterpart, there was another hunteress with them, trying to help. But... tragedy struck: their scythe slashed at their counterpart... and their fellow hunteress. This resulted in the death of both the hunter and the hunteress.

Due to this, they were banished by their kin for a simple mistake, and They weren't happy. In a fit of rage aimed at Sonnet, They sealed the little hunteress in their own scythe, cursing them for all of time. However, there is a way to free them... but unfortunately only They know... except LUCA just so happened to be eavesdropping on TOFA's plans.

I think Sakari would try to hide her starfolk traits to the best of her abilities. She usually wears a pretty long cloak currently, but as it progresses, she might have to hide from people entirely.

But all hope is not lost, as Sakari accidentally ends up with a random travelling party of adventurers while trying to find a way to break Sonnet's curse... and she would ask someone from said group to get her stuff from her old apartment, as she's going to be a similar type of starfolk to Angel, and she's also most likely would be 9 feet tall as a full-blown starfolk...

Plus, she did mention the whole ordeal with her and "her" scythe, which just also happened to have a trapped eldritch being in it, to said party, so she's not going to be pretty lonely. Other people, however.... let's just say that they'll be a bit freaked out-

So Sakari unintentionally becoming a sort of local legend is a thing that could happen...

[featheryfoxes]

Welcome to my rambling about this Polyship au and a series continuation it's a big post so its under a read more

The group met little by little before the beach, they met in Tag as per canon, though Kuina and Chishiya are the ones who find Arisu and they pick up Usagi at the Distance game. 

Usagi and Arisu still have to find the beach alone though. 

The beach has less cards in this than in canon. Niragi is still an angry little shit and has next to no social skills but he isn't assaulting anyone in this. He might even stop an assault on someone (maybe Hatter attacking Arisu or a militant attacking Tatta (the fic Cat's Eye had me shipping them) ) 

The group play games together and grow closer both as pairs and as a whole and start getting at the least romantic with each other as they make their way through the cards. Chishiya still has his plan but due to my own interpretation of the man as someone who isn't inherently a cruel person (we all saw how sweet he was with that kid. Plus liking to mess with people isn't the same level as setting up Arisu like that. I do think that he learned very quickly to amplify his more scheming traits and allow himself to act cruelly) but because he has more people on his side that are oh so slowly reminding him that oh right emotions and emotional ties are a thing™ he lets Arisu in on said plan. And to his surprise it still goes well. They still have to rescue Arisu but it's quicker due to the new alliances formed in the au. Arisu is still one of the last people to register. 

The witch game plays out much the same except Niragi doesn't get flambeed. 

The face games follow pretty close to canon with a few exceptions An and Chishiya are in the Jack of Hearts game because the two of them basically making a diamond game out of a hearts game would be beautiful, Tatta doesn't die my bby, Kuina joins the Checkmate Game since Tatta doesn't die And An is known to be with Chishiya. Chishiya schemes/convenes An to find the others so he can do the King of Diamonds alone. 

It's much the same for King of Spades and Usagi + Chishiya uses the polypocket and the power of love to help Arisu break out from the queen. 

They all wake up and slowly regain their memories before being released from the hospital. 

So years go by our polycule deals with the ups and downs of life, getting new jobs dealing with shit parents. Having two baby girls and raising them.

A larger mass disaster happens and all our favs return to the borderlands along with new characters including

Chishiya Fuyu: biologically speaking she is the daughter of Usagi and Chishiya though like her sister the polycule is her parents. She is the Ace of Spades when the polycule gets to Borderlands. She is well versed in varied physical sports but excels at parkour. She is the younger sister by a year at 15.

Arisu Meiko: Biologically speaking she is An and Arisu's daughter. She loves her large family and definitely got Arisu's big heart. She becomes the Ace of Hearts, she is normally non combative and tries to save as many people as she can even in a place like the Borderlands. Currently 16 at the time she entered the borderlands.

There are two more Aces which is a new mechanic of the Borderlands new game.

The game has more phases since it's a far larger incident, and just like last time people 'enter' the borderlands at different times. As not enough people chose to become citizens after the last cycle a small set of games where held with the first group that arrived.

The four individuals with the most of each suit after all the pip cards were collected became the Ace (ie Aces high) the rest of the survivors with large amounts of cards took face card positions.

The Ace locations are unique as they function as 1 in the sense of they aren't playable games, but areas of resources and rest. A player has the chance to gain a Ace card (it's a key card that allows one into the area) after playing any of the pip games. Upon entering the area one day is added to ones visa, the Major suits Spade and Hearts can only appear from a game 5 or higher while the minor suits Diamond or Club can be gained from a game 5 or under.

Aces will be rendered useless once the face card portion begins.

There are far more repeat cards this time as well.

All the Ace area's are locals that Face games were held but the areas luckily aren't all bloody, since ya know purgatory.

Meiko and the Ace of Hearts is located in the prison from the Jack of Hearts game. As a major card her area has more resources including the medical wing of the prison and as she was mentored by Chishiya since she wants to be an EMT/paramedic when she leaves school she can perform a decent amount of triage for her guests, though not She also tends to play diamond or club games when she has to extend her own visa.

The Ace of Diamonds is in the supreme court, as a minor suits it's more like a depot than a full on center. But if one has a player with medical knowledge they would find supplies there, in fact most supplies can be found here. unique to the Diamond area common cipher keys if you so think that the books and or texts are worth carrying.

The Ace of Clubs is at the shipping yard as another minor Suits it's mostly supplies but it's unique supply are things for vehicles: gas, parts and even tools. Things also come in pre made packs ranging for one for two people to ones for five. Keeping with the idea of teamwork for clubs.

Chishiya Fuyu has her Ace of Spades at the Granship center where the jack of spades game was held. As a major suit her area offers a bit more to players including the geyser caused (ie like the stadium from season 2 but smaller) hot spring that overtook the room where the Jack of clubs game had been. Her area is also one of the few places to get actual fresh cooked food as it's her passion and she used Usagi's teachings about hunting to keep her and Meiko alive in the wilderness of the Borderlands. It's one of the things a player can stumble across her doing. She tends to play club and spade games when her visa needs renewal.

[frostyjotuns]

I transcribed up Xavier’s monologue from Immortal X-Men #10 bc I’ve been obsessed for months 

Are you suspicious of me? I hope so.

After all, I have done much to be suspicious of. It is one of my ways of protecting everyone. People should be suspicious of me. Let me explain.

I am an idealist who experience has taught to be practical. It’s hard to hold onto an ideal when I know what they really think about us. About me.

We talk about “Xavier’s Dream.” Note the phrasing. It’s not “Xavier’s sensible and achievable policy.” It is not even “Xavier’s Five Year Plan.”

It’s a dream-- intangible, may as well be nothing. Dreams can be forgotten in the morning so easily. I did not form the X-Men to fulfill the dream. I created them to ensure there was a world where the dream-- any dream-- could come true.

Yes, “sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them.” But… protect it from who?

I am a father to many. In turn, I had many fathers. They were each, in their own way, terrible. Even the monster who killed me had a hand in my upbringing, in a failed, foolish attempt to buy himself immortality. Scott and I share Sinister as a meddling Foster Parent. We never talked about it, which is so like us both.

So many terrible fathers. I wished not to become any of them. I succeeded. I became a terrible father in my own way.

I try to dream a world where terrible fathers are gone. But it is, of course, a dream, and we have already talked of the nature of dreams.

“To me, my X-Men.” See what that implies? They are mine. I called them to me. So I choose who to call.

Between my gifts and Cerebro, I knew who was out there. I could have called anyone. The Morlocks, I left them in the tunnels. I ignored so many others who needed help but who I couldn’t save. Not yet. Instead?

Bobby: an ocean of talent, barely touched. Beast: a mutant gift chained to a genius that exceeded mine. Warren: a mutant gift married to wealth that exceeded my own. Jean: a prodigy beyond imagining.

And Scott… a mutant who had already been carved into what a team so badly needs… Then later, when I expanded the ranks?

A goddess with the honed skills of a thief. A trained circus acrobat. An ex-interpol agent… and, of course, let us not forget the black-ops killer. Even little kitty wasn’t a girl next door-- unless you lived next door to a precocious hacker of ludacris talent.

There were so many mutants out there… but I didn’t pick them. I gathered people who could do a job. To protect a world that hates and fears us. In what way do we primarily do that?

Many have noted that we spend most of our time fighting other mutants, confusing-- in the language of programmers-- feature for bug. This is why we exist.

I had a boy and he nearly destroyed the world with runaway thoughts. Moira’s child was a serial killer who could carve reality with his mind. When Jean Grey lost control, a planet burned. And these are weaknesses of character and fortune, not active planned malice.

I have looked at Sinister across the Quiet Council, and shuddered, thinking what he would choose to do if given complete freedom… and how I wish we hadn’t needed him to make our would-be paradise.

You’re starting to understand now. This is the awful truth.

When a child comes out to bigoted parents, it destroys lives. When Magneto came out as a mutant, he killed a whole town in his grief. Being a mutant shares traits with other persecuted groups, but it is unlike it in one key way.

We are dangerous.

They are right to be frightened. Imagine asking those Erik tore apart in his grief for little Anya whether or not we should be feared. I dare say there were mutant corpses in that town, too. We hurt our own. We hurt everyone. If there isn’t someone to stop that.

Look at the X-Men and understand they are born of fear for our worst potential and were my first line of defense in ensuring we do not kill ourselves. It has worked. The Earth beneath our feet is proof. But there is one key question you should ask…

Why do you think I was so worried about the potential of mutants with grandiose power? I have a mirror. I looked in it.

I have often thought how lucky it is that I was given my talents and Erik was given his. Know this with absolute certainty … If our places were switched and Erik had my gifts when he was at his absolute worst, there would be no humans left alive today.

Cerebro lets me find all mutants. In other words’ words, it lets me find all humans.

If I wanted, I could work through them all, placing a psychic trigger in each. A decade's work, perhaps? Most minds aren't difficult. One day, I’d be done.

And on that day, the entire human race would have woken up, walked over to the nearest sharp object and opened up their throats. Humanity would have bled out one bloody morning. And that's if I saw the world as Erik did then. Imagine if I were simply corrupt.

Emma thinks I manipulate this council, and she's right. But she also knows that if I chose, I could have done so in a far more brutal, direct and immoral way. As could she. The entire world could follow our whims and sometimes I wonder if I'm wrong not to do it.

Every time they act with some foolish, hateful policy, I know that I could have stopped it. I am complicit.

I have a secret. There will never be a nuclear war. If the Doomsday Clock ever hit midnight, all those warmongers' hands would hover over the red button… and find themselves incapable of pressing it. If one tried to bypass that, those who are trained to fire the missile would similarly halt in their tracks. There is a Psychic Block in place. I put it there to save the world from ourselves. Like I placed the x-men.

I did it with a thought. Are you petrified? Good. You see things as I do.

I am afraid of my own capabilities, because if you are not afraid of my capabilities, you are simply not thinking hard enough.

That's the thing to understand: Mutants have been victims, but I am not. I am never a victim. I choose to let them persecute me, because the alternative would be the death of us all. I am a martyr.

so I make people suspicious of me, so they are watching me, in case I turn to even shadowier paths, I hope I have succeeded. I am far from a perfect person… but we should all wake up every morning and be grateful that my power and skill is not in the hands of one who is even slightly worse than I am.

It would be a disaster neither species could survive.

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi there! I hope you are doing well and safe. I was wondering if I could request and have a romantic match-up with a male Mystic Messenger character except for Yoosung and Vanderwood. Don't get me wrong, I like the two of them, but I do not see them in a romantic way. I really like your writing and analysis, so I am quite curious about which character you think would suit me the best. Please take your time doing mine if you have got a lot on your plate. >//<

I will begin with the basics. I am a consistent honor roll undergraduate student and a scholar in one of the top universities in my homeland, currently taking up a pre-law course. My zodiac sign is Libra, and until now, I am skeptical about my MBTI and enneagram results, so I will not mention it. As for my outward appearance, I would say I am average looking with a short height and a petite figure. My clothing style is hyperfeminine because I love pink, hair barrettes, ribbons, jewelry, and high heels, but I only present myself like that when I feel secure and comfortable with who I am with, otherwise I opted to dress up cozy and casual for my safety. I have friends, who are usually the leaders or the top students in my class, but I find myself struggling to maintain close relationships because I do not like interacting too much with others, so we eventually drift apart from each other. I never had a boyfriend or engage in any casual dating because aside from it being too much of a bother, I am quite reluctant to let anyone enter my private space and inner peace.

Proceeding with my personality, I am a routine-oriented homebody who enjoys being around familiar people and places and staying in my cozy private space doing my own thing and a career-oriented individual who has a tad of perfectionist tendencies and is conscientious when it comes to my goals and responsibilities. However, I am an idler and indifferent on matters I am not interested in. I am also quiet, restrained, conscious, and reserved with strangers and people I do not vibe with but very understanding, carefree, bubbly, chatty, expressive, affectionate, and humorous with my friends and other people I like. I unconsciously become ignorant of my surroundings once I found a person I like talking to or being with because my whole attention tends to only focus on them.

One of my negative traits is that I am a chronic people-pleaser who has self-sabotaging tendencies. I learned in my childhood to make myself low-maintenance, so I would not be a bother, put a burden on anyone, or make things worse. I have many moments where I please others just to fit in or not to be left out during situations I should not be. However, I am now trying to fix it myself, lol. I have already established healthy boundaries, asked others for help, and taken a risky step despite my fear and self-doubt, which is studying law. It is my childhood dream, after all.

In terms of hobbies, interests, and dislikes, I love reading fictional novels, especially the romance genre, gaming, especially MOBA and simulation games, listening to music, plushies, docile cats, and having out-of-nowhere insightful and meaningful conversations. Since I have a cold intolerance, I like wrapping myself in a warm and thick blanket. Once in a while travels are good too as long as there is a plan because I am not fond of spontaneous outings in a place I do not know very well. I do not like messy things, dirty environments, nosy individuals, people who jeopardize group activities through their incompetence or laziness, and tardiness.

In a relationship, I prefer compassionate love, nurturing, and simply just being each other's safe haven, comfort, and rest in this tiring world over a passionate, whirlwind-type romance. Hmm, I am quite a private and low-key person as well, so I will like it if we both have hidden sides and many moments that we only know. My love languages are physical touch because I like cuddles, being hugged, like that big hug where I can bury myself on their chest or neck, and hugging people while caressing their hair, words of affirmation when I am comfortable telling what is on my mind, and surprisingly quality time. After all, once they enter my private space, I feel like I will absolutely love doing almost everything with them, even the simplest and most mundane things. In addition, my ideal type is someone who can protect, motivate and support me, bring out the best in me, and help me grow and become a better individual. Someone who is a good listener, devoted, trustworthy, and attentive, and I can rely on because I lack common sense sometimes. Lastly, someone who is at least knowledgeable about a lot of matters and topics and is willing to teach and assist me in learning them without making me feel stupid and incompetent.

I think I ended up telling too much, so I apologize if you find it lengthy to read. Thank you so much in advance!! ^^

I match you with...

Jumin!

You're the type of person who knows what you want in a conversation. That's what means the most to you in a relationship. You want the firm debate and chase that comes from having somebody who can keep up with you. Who better to do that than the one person in the RFA who wants the same out of a relationship? Jumin wants a partner who can start a conversation and flow naturally into the next one as if it were the back of hand. The two of you can truly spend hours getting lost in different discussions. It may seem silly to others but to you and Jumin, it's a relief. It's hard to find someone who gets it.

He can bring you a side of you that gets to relax and speak your mind without fail. You don't have to worry if you're with him. He knows what you mean when you share it and he divides your time to figure out the best way to help you decipher what makes the object of your conversation tick. Even if you don't get what he's getting at when he speaks, you'll be affirmed by him every time in knowing that he wants to help you understand what's going on and how to apply your opinion to it. How could you not love someone who wants to put his time and effort into seeing you learn more about the world and gain insight and opinions that weren't readily available to you yet?

The only difference you have is love language. His love language is acts of service and gift giving. But, yours is touch. He learns how to appreciate a warm hug when he returns home from work after a long and grueling day, and you learn how to let go of the unease you may harbor over being taken care of in a world where you might value your ability to take care of your own needs. He plans ahead and learns the best way to be your husband and you get to see how committed a person can become to doing the right thing by their lover. What more could you want in life than knowing that you always have someone to turn to that will never let you down? Or, for that matter, stop fighting for you and your heart.

[cannonbot]

EP-001: The Infinite Earthlike

A6-392: Curious scavengers [PART 1]

(Content key🤖✨️🐭🐭✨️)

Hello! Infinity Earthers! It’s Yu!🤖 If you’ve come across this travel log then welcome! I leave a written copy on every Earthlike I visit. It will probably come off as fucking lunacy to most of you. To that I say, just go with it.🤣 We’re here in A6-392 and we may stay a while! It’s beautiful here, and I’ve yet to encounter any agent activity which is also a plus! Our search for the Infinity Earth continues, and I sometimes wonder if we’ll ever find it. Something, something, finding friends or something…🤪

Today I’m in a bustling seaport town on the west side. We’ve come to get supplies for our next journey into deep space. The people here are the rough around the edges type, and everyone expects you to haggle. I’m total shit at haggling. Nysa thinks I overpay for everything. Nysa is right, she always is... This post is not about haggling though. I want to highlight a curious little rodent-like creature that has captured my imagination for the past 10 days.

The locals just call em rats, but I’ve never seen rats like these before.🤔 Some find them to be a nuisance. Others seem to live alongside them in fairly harmonious ways. I fucking love them 😭😭😭! Nyssa finds them to be cute in the traditional sense, but she’s hard to impress. I’ve been completely sidetracked by the adventures of these little creatures which I’ll try to describe entertainingly.

The mouse-bear rodents stand at roughly 20 cm and come in various colors. The first pack that I’ve been observing is a blue-ish-grey variety, sometimes with white spots. The main trait that I want to discuss however is their need to accessorize with rubbish and other items they find around town. There is a whole class system based on how ornate each one can adorn themselves over time.✨✨✨

They don’t seem to have a vocal language, but they do communicate through a series of taps and grunts. The drama is so real!🤣🤣🤣 First I’ll introduce you to this one majestic fellow I’m calling King Michael.👑 He’s the top dog here right now. The pack lives in an alleyway under a pub. This dive serves a mead-like beverage which gave me diarrhea for three days. A story for a different never… 😑😑😑

King Michael👑 wears a cloth that looks like a part of a blouse. It’s a dirty lace kind of thing with a hole chewed through the center. The king has poked his head through the tight opening and his fur spills out over the top of it. On his head, he wears a crown of 6 layers! It’s made of various items such as an old board game token, a silver coin, the wrapper box to some kind of candy, etc.

Across the ally under the bookshop lives the second pack. These rats are of a light red and black variety with similar fashion sense. Queen Madonna 👑Is an elegant sight draped in some kind of battery-powered string of LEDs. Her crown consists of a children’s fidget toy and some tattered cloth she wears like a veil.

The two factions had co-existed peacefully for the most part, until one fateful evening! While on their regular patrols for food and bits of flair. Queen Madonna👑 had slipped on a wet rock and fallen onto King Michael himself! This perceived act of aggression had knocked off three layers of the King’s crown causing quite a controversy. Was the queen attempting a power play to become the new top rat of the alley?

The two groups now spend the majority of their days knocking accessories off of each other in passive-aggressive ways, and it’s hilarious. 🤣🤣🤣So far the packs have not become violent, but I’ll be watching carefully over the next few days. Nyssa thinks it’s only a matter of time before they start killing each other. I’d like to think they could still work out their differences…

I guess I won’t hold my breath.

That’s all for today! Hope you don’t kill anyone today you fucking superstars!

-Yu🤖