#they also interpret her body language completely wrong

[muffinrag]

im going to lose my mind, my roommate brought her mom's puppy over for the day and every single time she goes outside on the grass they wash her paws. w h a t

like they won't take her out to pee again because they don't want to wash her paws again... im... what???? what????????? the dog has to learn how to potty outside, you're supposed to take puppies out every two hours! you're going to give her chapped paws! she's never going to learn that she's not supposed to piss in the house! hello??

[borderlinereminders]

The Six Levels of Validation:

Listening/Paying Attention: Focus on listening to the other person. Stay in the present moment, and hear them out. Even if you don't agree with what they're saying. Let them have the floor.

Perhaps they're upset with you because you cancelled plans because you were sick.

Restating: Focus on what the person has said, and then re-state and ask something like "is that right?" Make sure to be non-judgmental. You might think their feelings aren't rational, but that doesn't change the fact the other person is feeling them.

In our example, this might mean "I understand that you were very excited to see me and then disappointed when that didn't happen. Is that right?"

Observing: This is where you observe, including the things that are unspoken. Make an educated guess on what is not being said, based on body language. (I'm personally not a big fan of this one because it can be tricky if you interpret something wrong and mention "you seem really angry because you feel betrayed" and that may upset someone. It also isn't easy to read body language. My point of this is that you are valid if you can't do this step, or don't want to. You can still validate someone.)

You might notice your friend's eyes are watering and they keep swallowing. "You seem really hurt and are maybe thinking I don't care about you because I cancelled on you."

Assessing:

Focus on what history tells us and maybe use this to point out how your friend's current response is not effective. Communicate whether the person's behaviour is understandable or not. You can use past experiences to communicate this.

Using another example, maybe your friend skipped a test because they were anxious about it. You might say "It's very normal to be anxious about tests, but you won't have a shot at passing the test if you don't take it."

Compassion

Show compassion for the other person. Even if you think they're completely wrong, treat them as an equal person with their own feelings and experiences. They are a person with their own strengths and weaknesses. Try and believe in them and that they are capable of change.

Say you have a friend that is anxious to go somewhere because her ex might be there, you might say "It is very understandable you are anxious. A lot of people would be in your situation."

Validation is so important in relationships. Even if you don't "get" someone's feelings, it doesn't make them less real to that person. The feelings that person is feeling are very real, regardless of whether they make sense.

Often, people aren't looking for advice or problem solving unless they say it. Validation is a fairly good response if they don't specify what they're looking for.

[incognit0slut]

Right Kind of Wrong (4)

She never thought she would be involved in a murder investigation and encounter her one-night-stand again, the awkward guy who isn’t exactly that good in bed—Or is he? Offended by the sentiment, Spencer is determined to prove her wrong… But as he gets tangled with the beautiful stranger, he realizes there is more to her than what meets the eye.

Part summary: Y/n and Spencer's unexpected reunion ends in a quarrel. wc: 4k

Warnings: 18+, explicit sexual content, blood, graphic details of murder

Other parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

SPENCER CONSIDERED HIMSELF AS A GOOD PROFILER. His background in psychology was a strong contribution to becoming the expert that he was now. He also believed he had a very strong sense of detail in his work, especially when it came to assessing body language. It took a lot of careful observation and attention to interpret it correctly, and with all the experiences he went through this past decade, it came to him naturally.

But to observe meant to be focused and right now he was anything but that.

"Ms. L/n, this is Dr. Spencer Reid."

How could he focus when he couldn’t believe what he was seeing? Spencer had always been fascinated by the concept of the afterlife, the mystery and unknown of what went beyond death. Granted, he had never encountered anything superstitious, but maybe this was as close as he could get to ever experiencing that because right now it felt as if he was seeing a ghost.

The idea of meeting the stranger he tried to forget never crossed his mind, especially in a situation he least expected. While he wouldn't completely deny the possibility of coincidence, he tended to be more skeptical and cautious about things that push the bounds of rationality and reason. But now that she was right here in the flesh, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

She had the kind of face that made you stop to look, the sudden pause in a person's natural mind when they glanced her way. Delicate face, high cheekbones, full luscious lips. But beyond the appeal of her beauty, there was deep exhaustion in her eyes. Her shoulders were tense. Her cheeks were flushed. Her chest rose in rapid movements as the pace of her breathing increased.

There was a sense of agitation in her posture, a clear sign of anxiousness. He could decipher that all too well because it was exactly what he was experiencing now. A storm of panic suddenly rose inside him, a sense of overwhelming dread and anxiety taking over his body and mind, leaving him feeling as if he was trapped in a fight-or-flight mode.

Y/n opened her mouth, closed it again, then tilted her head. His eyes scanned the crease on her forehead as if she was deep in thought before she threw Morgan a hesitant look.

His panic intensified.

"Well, actually—"

"Nice to meet you!"

Both of their heads snapped at him. He couldn't blame the way they were gawking, because between the panic and the shock still lingering in his system, his vocal cords managed to change his voice into a higher pitch. He cleared his throat and smoothed down the suit he was wearing, calmed his breathing, and carefully lifted his other hand.

He gave her a wave.

"It's nice to meet you."

He saw her looking at him warily before she calmed herself, crossing her arms against her chest in an act of defense. She eyed his hand as it settled back to his side.

"Let me guess," she started, quirking an eyebrow. "The number of pathogens shared during a handshake is staggering?"

There was a heavy pause as they both held their gaze. Morgan glanced between the two. "Do you know each other?"

The air suddenly charged with tension, a thick weight that settled in her chest before she looked away. "I suppose not." She walked towards the door, pushing it ajar. "After you, boys."

Morgan threw her a skeptical look before stepping into the room. The moment Spencer stepped forward, her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. An overwhelming sense of anxiety, coupled with a feeling of wanting to hide took over him as he shuffled past her, looking straight ahead.

The two agents sat by the table. She watched as Morgan observed her with an immense amount of curiosity while the man sitting beside him finally had the courage to look at her. The moment he lifted his eyes and settled them on her own, she couldn't help but notice a slight shift in his demeanor. It was as if in the midst of trying to calm his nerves, a switch suddenly clicked inside him, showcasing a very focused and intent look that commanded attention and respect.

She took the seat right in front of him.

Morgan's eyes swept over to her. "Ms. L/n—"

"Y/n is fine."

"Y/n," Morgan started again. "Can you tell us what happened?"

She gave Spencer one last look before focusing her attention on the other man. "I don't understand why I have to repeat this process again."

"People's recollections and perceptions of things can often change over time. It also helps us better to understand the situation," he explained. "What happened before you found Mr. Lynch?"

"Technically, Eric was the one who found him." She placed her hands on the table, intertwining them as she recalled what had happened a few hours ago for the second time. "Jamison called me before everything happened. It was a short, desperate call and it ended too quickly after he asked for help. I ran back to his office after that."

"What exactly did you hear on that call?"

"Heavy breathing. He sounded..." She trailed off, a look of forlorn set in her eyes. "He sounded as if he was in pain. There was also a loud crash in the back."

"Was there any other voice besides him?"

"I didn't hear anyone else."

"And you're the only one he called?"

"I'm not sure," she answered truthfully, shrugging her shoulders. "He might've called Eric as well."

The two men shared a look. She waited for either of them to respond and was taken aback when Spencer regarded her the next question. "What were you doing prior to the call?"

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

Something about the way he was watching her vexed her. One moment he was scurrying off trying to diminish any relation he had with her, the next thing she knew he was addressing her with a keen interest, and not in the way he had on that eventful night. There was wonder and excitement on their first encounter, but all she could notice now was the intensity of him assessing her as if he was trying to analyze her.

She wondered whether he had two different personalities.

"Ms. L/n?"

She steadied her gaze before correcting him, "Y/n."

Then she tried to think back on what happened before the rush of panic took over her body. She remembered recalling her conversation with Oliver and how declining his obvious interest was the right thing to do. And then somehow her mind manage to reminisce about the last man she was involved with, who ironically, was sitting right in front of her.

So basically, I was thinking of you.

"I was walking to my car in the parking lot," she finally said.

"Did you see anything suspicious before you got the call? Or when you ran back to his office?"

"Not that I was aware of—" There was a moment of sudden clarity. It was like a rush of insight and understanding, and everything clicked into focus like a puzzle or a riddle. The sudden realization made her heart race with disbelief and fear at the same time, and her mind started to race with all the possibilities and connections it had discovered. "Someone did push me in the parking lot."

Morgan frowned at her. "Push you?"

"Somebody accidentally brushed me and I lost my balance," she explained, her brows knitting in concentration as she tried to recall that exact memory. "He was tall and... fit? He wore everything black and when I called out on his lack of manner, he ran away."

"Did you see his face?"

She shook her head. "It was pretty much covered with his clothes. He was wearing a hoodie, I think."

"Was there any other thing that stood out from him?"

"No, I don't remember anything significant. After that Jamison called, then everything happened so fast." She gave them a resigned look. "I'm not even sure if it has anything to do with what happened."

Morgan gave her a reassuring smile. "It's fine. Any information might help us with this investigation."

She nodded, and before they could ask further questions, she inquired about a curiosity of her own. "May I ask why the FBI is investigating this case?"

There was a feeling of great importance and a weight of significance as Spencer clarified, "We suspect Mr. Lynch's murder is linked to another case that happened not long ago."

She blinked her eyes in bewilderment. "You're telling me there's a possible serial killer behind these two murders?"

"Yes," he confirmed, his words seeming very heavy. "The nature of these deaths are very similar, we think that the Unsub has a motive behind all the killings."

"Unsub?"

"It's an abbreviation for Unknown Subject, and it's mainly just a code word that represents the suspect."

She nodded once again, then eyed both of the agents sitting across from her.

"Is the death of my boss linked to Kevin Marshall?" When the two men narrowed their eyes suspiciously, she stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "I'm a journalist, I was working on that case—well, before it got assigned to someone else."

"What do you know of Mr. Marshall's case?" Morgan asked cautiously.

"Nothing much, really. I simply knew he was found dead with some kind of writing on his body." She looked away. "I saw a glimpse of something written on Jamison's arm, it's not that hard to put two and two together."

Morgan regarded her with a nod. "We do suspect these deaths are done by the same Unsub."

Spencer then gave her a look, one that clearly indicated his opinion of her. "And we highly appreciate it if you could keep this information confidential," he requested. "We don't want the media to compromise our investigation until we have further information."

She frowned at the charge behind his words. "You think I'm going to write a story about what happened?"

"Isn’t that what you do for a living?"

It took a lot of self-control for her not to throw the pen sitting in front of her across the room.

"With all due respect, Dr. Reid, I find it offending that you think I would write a story on the murder of someone I personally know."

"I—Ms. L/n, I wasn't trying to accuse you of being inconsiderate."

"Well it seemed exactly like that to me."

The silence after that was deafening. It was a sort of heavy, oppressive stillness that hung in the air that it was so brittle it could practically snap, and if it didn't, one of them might. It was terribly uncomfortable that Morgan could feel the tension building as the seconds dragged by without a sound. "Are you sure you don't know each other?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

Doubt was written across his face. There was a sense of discomfort that came along with the uneasiness from the escalating tension as he glanced between the other two people in the room. He gladly let out a sigh when his discomfort was saved by the sudden call coming from his phone.

"Saved by the bell," he muttered under his breath, which didn't go unnoticed by the two people who were now glaring at him. He simply stood up from his chair and moved toward the door, pulling it open before answering his call with a firm yet flirtatious voice. "Talk to me, baby girl."

She wrinkled her nose at the pet name as the door closed behind him. "Was that his girlfriend?"

"No," Spencer responded. "That's the technical analyst in our team. They have a unique way of addressing each other."

The sound of his gruff voice suddenly pierced her, and it was then that she realized she was left alone with the man she never thought of ever seeing again. Her attention went back to him as her eyes slowly wandered across his face, noticing the way he was observing her.

One of the things that had always caught her interest was his disheveled hair. It was untamed, the mass of wild, chocolate-colored curls brushing against the collar of his shirt was something that often caught her attention. Then there was his attire, wearing a nice fitting dark suit over an even darker button-down and a tie wrapped around his slender neck made him look very professional.

But it was his eyes that stood out the most.

There was something in his gaze that seemed to unnerve her tonight. The warm, hazel orbs that greeted her in the dim light of the bar seemed darker now with a certain intensity engraved in their depth. The man in front of her was different from the man she had left that night. The man who sat alone at the bar didn't have the same air of authority he had at this moment. Spencer Reid after hours was adorable, awkwardly charming, and very much easy to approach.

Dr. Spencer Reid, on the other hand, still managed to keep his calm while being very serious, even after his flustered episode from their unexpected encounter. The soft stubble on his jaw also helped the somber look he was going after, which if she was being completely honest, made him look even more handsome than he already was.

It was a good thing he couldn't read her mind.

"So," she started, crossing a leg on top of the other. "FBI agent, huh?"

He addressed her with a nod. "A profiler, to be exact."

"And what does a profiler do?"

He looked surprised by her interest but managed to explain the nature of his job. "We study and analyze crimes and criminals through an analysis of their behavior to understand the reasoning and motive behind them."

She hummed in response. "You know, I thought you were a medical doctor." Confusion passed across his face before she continued, "You have a lot of certificates."

"...so you do know my name."

"It's hard not to when it's plastered everywhere on your wall."

He paused for a moment, assessing the weight behind her words. "Then why did you call me by the wrong name that night?"

She went completely still. She knew the best way to avoid a question was to throw in another one, so she uncrossed her arms and leaned over the table.

"Why did you pretend like we didn't know each other?"

His body tensed as he felt the discomfort crawling on his skin. The overwhelming feeling of uneasiness and tension wrapped inside him was so intense it was smothering him.

"It is true though," he defended. "We don't know each other very well."

She couldn't stop the scoff slipping out of her mouth. "Ah, yes. I may not know the city you grew up in but I do know what position you like in bed."

"How could you even conclude that?" He choked, clearly dumbfounded by the crude and unexpected comment. "We've only been together once."

"In which you put me on your lap the whole time."

She knew there was a truth in her notion by the way his cheeks slightly flared in embarrassment. He simply cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Listen, I think it's best we keep what happened that night between us."

"And why is that?"

He finally tore his eyes off her.

How could he explain that something in this occurrence never happened to him without feeling self-conscious? That she was the first person he was sexually involved with no relation whatsoever? That sleeping with a stranger never happened to him in his thirty-five years of life?

And how could he explain he preferred not to share one of the most unforgettable nights of his life with his colleagues? How could he explain he wanted to keep his personal life private without offending her?

But before he could explain himself, she was already jumping to conclusions at his lack of an answer.

"Is it because you're ashamed that a smart, hot-shot FBI agent like you spent a night with a mere journalist like me?"

His eyes went wide. "What? No—"

"Are we done here?" She quickly cut in, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the weight of his gaze. "Do you have any more questions?"

"Of course, I do—"

"Regarding my witness."

"I..." He frowned, then shook his head. "No, I suppose I don't."

"Great. It was nice talking to you, Dr. Reid."

The bottom of her chair scraped against the hardwood floor as she got up, staggering toward the door. One might say she needed to work on her pettiness, but she had always been stubborn when it came to feeling unreasonable. So before she could leave, she turned on her heel, pointed a finger at him, and narrowed her eyes before she sneered, "And just so you know, do not flatter yourself. You weren't even that good in bed."

She threw him one last glare before stalking toward the door, tugging it with utmost force only to find Morgan standing in the way. "Agent Morgan." A rush of heat coursed through her body. "I believe I can go now?"

He looked between the two of them with curiosity. "Yes, of course. Thank you for your time, Ms. L/n." The menacing look in her eyes beneath her embarrassment urged him to correct himself, "Y/n."

She then left the two men behind with the last thread of dignity she had. It didn't take a trained profiler to understand she left the room fuming with anger.

Spencer watched her leave. A sudden overwhelming sense of shock and disbelief flew through him, leaving him in a state of surprise and confusion. He was so stunned he didn't know how to respond while the woman he wanted nothing more than to follow behind had practically tarnished his self-esteem and bruised his ego.

And to make things worst, his teammate was watching him with intense interest, eyes twinkling with amusement as he leaned against the door frame.

He expected a lot of things to happen tonight, but he did not expect it would end the way it did. Suddenly feeling drained, he slowly got up in a daze. It felt as if he had recently gone through the most amount of emotions he had ever experienced in just one night.

The only way he could forget what had happened—albeit momentarily—was to put his mind on other matters. Like the current case at hand. Like the crime scene a few rooms away. He needed to focus on more important things and he couldn't do that with his friend constantly finding amusement in his misery.

"There are a lot of questions in my head right now, pretty boy."

He stalked toward the door with a newfound resentment. "Good, keep them to yourself."

Morgan's laughter followed him out of the room.

>> NEXT PART

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taglist

@comboboo @sebastiansstanswhore

a/n: i am today’s years old on finding out that having a taglist is a thing😭 tell me if you want to be added please i am such an amateur on this app.

[lowkeiloki]

Could there be a good minecraft movie?

From the look of the trailer, it seems like the movie is gonna get every single thing it could possibly get wrong. They dont have faith in their audience to understand a plot taking place in a world so different from our own, so they go with the isekai plot, the single laziest direction they couldve taken.

But what would a good minecraft movie look like? It would be hard to pull off, but not impossible.

Firstly, most of us can all agree that a minecraft movie should not be live action, its a heavily stylized game and the real people in it look ridiculously out of place. the movie should stay fully animated and not overly detailed. Personally, i think the movie could look great in stop motion. Stop motion can really bring out the combination of cozy and spooky feeling that minecraft has.

what about the plot?

Minecraft is a very quiet and atmospheric game, there is no dialogue, everybody communicates, but nobody talks including steve. It's a sandbox game, because it lets you build and terraform and shape the world as you want and move towards the end goal at your own pace (if youre interested in completing the end goal at all). But also because throughout the game you're given bits and pieces of lore and you're the one to put them together to how you see them. Why are endermen hurt by water? What are creepers? Why are piglins so stingy about gold? Who built the pyramids and monuments? You don't get the answer, it's up to your own interpretation. Going back to the movie, it really should be low on dialogue. Steve could narrate the movie, but he never talks (like Spirit from "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). He sees an enderman and makes eye contact qith it which aggrevates it, he doesnt know why it aggrevated it, but from that experience he learns not to do that anymore and manages to co exist peacefully with them. If anyone talked in that movie, it should be alex (if shes even in the movie), but she doesnt talk a lot and nobody understands her language but steve who cant talk back. Communication is done through body language and actions, the visuals and the music (and i mean minecraft music) primarely tell the story.

What would it be about tho?

When we begin to play minecraft, we're thrown into the world with no manual or instructions, we're on our own empty handed, we go through the world learning how to craft, what to do with new items we find, which mobs are our allies and which our foes. I remember playing minecraft for the first time (actually quite recently, sometime after the nether update) and i was so confused and stressed because i had no idea what i was supposed to be doing, everything was strange and foregin and there was no guide on what to do. But as i got the hang ot it, as i started exploring and gathering materials and building my base it soon became fun and relaxing. The further i went, the more confident i felt. This is what the movie should be about. Being in this unknown world without anyone to guide you and the only way forward is to try and fail and try again and face the unfamiliar and get to know your surroundings. It should be about facing the fear of unknown, letting yourself fail, breaching out of the comfort zone, not finding your place in the world, but building it. It doesn't have to end with slaying the dragon, it can end with steve realizing he is not afraid anymore, that he has what he needs to feel comfortable and all the confidence to go forward. I feel like a lot of people that grew up with minecraft as kids are now young adults and a movie about being placed in a new environmemt where you're the one to take care of yourself and nobody guides you by hand would reasonate with them quite a lot

but, you know, i'm sure another jumanji clone with jack black starring as jack black in blue shirt will do the trick just as well.

[melanodis]

*EidoLotus voice* M... More...? More Natah...? 👉👈

FR FR i am SO curious about her. What is ur design rationale what r ur headcanons for her please please elaborate... I wanna knoweee

- Leo 🦁

really old doodle ft nimbus (my friend's mimic oc) yayyy

The doodles above don't really do her much justice but I wanted a really quick mockup. She has the little elbow feathers on the sides of her head :)

@leolithe

She's like a fish or some kind of creature to me, at least in her more sentient form.

I do really like the interpretation of her as a system but I don't do it myself because I'm simply not educated enough on the topic nor have much firsthand experience with them in order to comfortably do so.

She also occasionally visits the drifter camp and has a little hangout area in the cave just for her.

Post TNW she's a lot more... loose? Unhinged, even? Faced with the realization that you have free now and can do whatever you want. With how Hunhow sits in the oceans of Uranus it makes me associate sentients with being aquatic so I like to think she just... dives into the streams of the camp or even in Cetus to catch fish to eat. See above image.

More rambling under the cut.

Along the same vein, she also struggles with having to remember she does in fact have free will now. She doesn't HAVE to play mission control 24/7. I imagine outside of the little pod she has on Lua, she has an entire nice little living area all to herself, adorned with porcelain, gold, and many lush plants. Something that even the Orokin would gawk at. A library full of texts long thought lost, many in dead languages from old Earth.

For more rationale towards my design; I wanted her to sort of embrace her sentient nature more, maybe looking kind of aggressive and colorful. Like a bird. But she's a big sweetheart, really.

Doing "human" things to break up the monotony of her previous life. Even something as simple as making tea from a kettle. Ballas' line, "Her kind feel no pain". She wants to prove him wrong so badly. To drink tea, burn her tongue a little and this silly human mistake makes her feel alive. That little flinch and shock down her spine as her nerves recover. Maybe a little wave, "oops".

She's genuinely so tragic. Spending millennia as a pawn just to switch hands multiple times. The deception, the manipulation, the gaslighting. Then finally being freed and just... not knowing what to do with yourself because you can't remember what it was like without being manipulated, by facets of constructed selves in your mind or by external forces. gggggghuhhhhh.

While my Natah still kinda takes from facets of Margulis, it's more of a like, uncanny valley type way. It looks like her but something is Off.

More or less Lotus is used to talking to brick walls. So for someone to actually actively listen to her (and not roll their eyes, shrug it off) and engage in conversation is actually insane to her. Like reading off a script your entire life and suddenly being forced to scramble together your own coherent sentences. Narrating her every thought in her head like the silly machine she is. "Oh god, it's been 2.3 seconds and I'm sweating bullets. She's looking at me. I haven't formulated a sentence. It's been 3 seconds now. She's raising her eyebrow awaiting a response. Um. UM." An awkward grin.

I have taken to kinda smashing her like barbies with Eudico, with what I have dubbed "mom squared (mom²)", two people learning through each other what it actually means to be human. Eudi retelling what it's like to be organic (originally), Natah taking notes. What a "normal" family would've been like. It's all completely new to her but it's so interesting to contrast against her own.

Something cool I found from decompiling her model is that the Lotus helmet perfectly covers the face seams on her sentient form.

Aaaand an excerpt from my notes that I've held onto forever.

-

Something something about Eudi being warm and Natah being cold and comparing that their bodies are both synthetic but completely different architectures. Themes of Corpus technology in sterile white rooms whereas Sentients live and thrive in those warm (colored, i doubt drifting in the dead of space is warm lmao), organic Sentient murex.

It's like. How the Warframes are more or less just tech meat. Sentients too, created by the Orokin, would probably follow the same flavor of design.

"Time and time again, you've had to rebuild yourself with nothing but scraps... why not change things up sometime?"

Eudico shrugs.

"Why don't you? You can be anything you want."

"I guess we've both grown too comfortable in our bodies, then."

"There's pieces of my parents in me. Like my face, that defines me as a person, gives me an identity and paired with a unique voice to match. But that's about all I have left that's mine."

"I think I get it. It would be.. rude, to get rid of those features."

"More sentimental value than anything, Really. Plus, I like my red hair. It's.. quite rare in Corpus society."

And Natah continues to cling onto Margulis, because no matter her form we still see facets of her.

[locution-youngster-enjoyer]

One headcanon for pretty much every wordgirl villain

Amazing Rope Guy's birthday is April 1st

The reason BLHG has a.. big left hand is because he has the condition Hemihyperplasia (which from what i've seen causes a part of a person's body to be larger than the other. Pls correct me if this is wrong, i am not familiar with the condition)

Brent is multilingual (since Chuck is his half brother, Brent's father spoke spanish, which inspired Brent to learn more languages)

Captain Tangent binge watches pirate movies in his spare time (E.g: Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc)

Chuck has a video game collection that he's very proud of. It's full of older, retro games, and he also owns all the consoles to go with them.

Glen owns a body pillow, im not specifying of who. That's up for interpretation.

You know how Dr Two Brains is based on the myth that mice like cheese? In reality, mice prefer grains and berries. I'd think it would be funny if in a situation where he was forced to exclusively eat berries and grains, it'd make him ill (similar to how cheese really affects mice).

Eileen's last name is 'Rucker,' which is a German last name meaning 'thief' or 'Greedy'

Maria and Eileen are the absolute bestest of friends, with Eileen treating Maria like a little pet.

Granny May used to do ballet when she was younger, which gave her some of the agility she now has.

I couldn't think of a headcanon for Guy Rich specifically, but his brother's name is Duke.

Hal and Granny May went to the same school when they were young. They do not like each other at all.

Invisi-bill is simultaneously the worst and the best at playing Hide and Seek. He can just go invisible to hide, but is usually way too fidgety to stay in one spot permanently.

Lady Redundant Woman is a heavy sleeper. She also snores really loudly

Leslie is actually a mixed martial artist, but generally prefers Karate

Miss Power is fully capable of blinking, but is also capable of licking her eyeballs just to freak people out. She thinks its funny

Mr Big is really fond of 80s music because it reminds him of his band

Ms Question didn't realize this immediately about her powers, but she can produce electricity. If you touch her bare skin, she can accidentally shock both you and her. She can also stick magnets to herself.

Nocan.... ok im gonna be completely honest, i can't think of anything for this guy.

Reason and Rhyme have a secret handshake. Rhyme is the one who made it, and Reason messes it up everytime they try to do it

Royal Dandy calls Dave dad :) (but in a british way so probably something stupid(/j) like papa)

Seymour is insanely good at poker. He's perfectly capable of playing any version of it, but he's also really good at cheating at it. He hides cards in his sleeve and in his shirt and then swaps them out for whatever hand he has.

While it's not obvious, the Butcher likes jewelry. He doesn't wear it much, but you'll always find a ring or two and earrings in his house. (Reginald x Butcher shippers, do with this as you will)

The Coach was actually a highly successful man before trying to trick the Whammer. Most people don't realize that he went to really prestigious schools when he was younger.

The Learnerer's real name is Alfred, in reference to his voice actor

The Whammer was an actual pro-wrestler at one point, but was forced to stop because 'whams' aren't a legal move in the wrestling world.

Timmy Tim-Bo is the Coach's nephew

Tobey will play little puzzle games when not building robots (Crossword, Sudoku, etc)

Victoria Best tries to sneak into the villain convention, but usually gets caught pretty quickly.

[anderscim]

If you're taking er.....'requests' for theories about characters, I want to discuss something peculiar about David <- being a simp

I'm going to sound like the biggest David apologist ever, but....I have reason to believe that he wasn't lying about his family depression secret. Not in the sense that he actually has it, but him legitimately believing that was his motive secret. When he walked into the dining hall in episode 4, he was getting frustrated and stressed from all the fighting and you can even see the stars going out in his eyes. His distress and annoyance felt more to himself since his body language also helps to see that he was doing his best to block out the fight. The first CG looks like he was trying to think of something to stop it, and the second one looks like he was just growing more and more stressed until he finally stepped. What I'm trying to say is, his family depression secret feels more blurted out than actually thought out. Yet, it was highlighted in yellow, so it's worth considering. Not to mention, he has shown signs of being depressed since day one

You can also see when Arei was going to confront him, she started off by flat out saying "Why did you lie about your secret?" after she found David. David was still shocked at her question. If you knew you were caught red handed lying about your secret, yeah you would still try to deny it. But the first thing that comes to mind, in this situation, is that "Oh shit, Arei must've gotten my secret,". It was also hinted that David thought this way when Arei told him she wanted to talk about his 'secret' until Teruko and Eden walked in. So why would David still try to 'play dumb' when he knew he was done for with the person he presumed had his secret?

My guess is that he genuinely thought his family depression was legit his secret. You can even see his sprite when Arei reveals what it actually is. He's......shocked. He stutters a bit until he asked Arei if she was the one that got his secret, and then just....completely shuts off. He even goes to see the secrets being revealed the next day (keep in mind, he KNOWS what his real secret is) and when Teruko asked him which one is really his, he uses a similar sprite to the ones he used when Arei was grilling him. They all look like he's on the brink of a panic attack, almost triggering him. It's a whole another can of worms than what I'm going on about, but opening the lid a little bit.....David looks....triggered by being called manipulative. It makes me think that this whole act is a breakdown of his and he's just playing along with a last minute act he made up cause no one is going to believe anything he says cause they're convinced he's just this horrible person with no context behind it. You can even see Arturo was triggered when his secret was brought up. If I was planning a killing game and this was the secret I was working with, I would care more about getting underneath the skin of the participants than making these secrets accurate. Not saying one secret is wrong and the others are right, but you can't deny they're worded in a really unfavorable manner

Also, ngl, even if you are aware you are manipulative, how can anyone guess their secret is "You were born only to manipulate others"?

Sorry I went off on a tangent, but yeah :)

don’t worry about going on a tangent, you’re not the only one lol. if someone mentions david in front of me, i will start talking about him and never shut up ( ´ ▽ ` )

(take what i’m about to say with a grain of salt)

and actually, i think i touched on this a little bit once! i highly doubt david was aware that his secret was about manipulation, at least not until arei revealed it to him in private.

i’ve mentioned this before but david’s motive secret is the most “up to interpretation” out of the rest of the cast, and there’s no specific factual details in there like the other secrets:

“the thing is, everyone else’s secret, though written in a way that took out crucial context and painted them in a bad light, was at least somewhat based on an actual occurrence, portion of their identity, and real information. david’s secret is the most vague and was written in a way to attack his purpose and what he personally (secretly) believes his actions to entail. but, unlike everyone else, there’s no concrete occurrence, action that he’s done, or any specific detail in that secret that connects him to manipulation. additionally, his is the most open-ended.”

overall, his secret is really ambiguous, which makes it difficult to guess in the first place. 

given that it’s heavily implied that he at least struggles with his mental health, it makes significantly more sense (for david) to think his secret was about depression. 

but the thing is—david’s pretty smart, so i’m sure he’s aware that these secrets were tailored to “get underneath the skin of the participants” like what you said. but not only that, they’re also written in a way that diminishes the reputation of that person from an outside perspective.  i mean, even the secret he received (which is probably teruko’s) is worded in that way—it’s incredibly difficult to take something like “this killing game is your fault” at face value without proper background information. these secrets are almost written in a way to be accusatory, and it’s difficult to derive any outside context about them without directly asking the person themselves.

but in that case, which would be more tarnishing towards the reputation of the “Ultimate Inspirational Speaker” — the fact that your family has a history of depression, or the fact that you’re still struggling with depression yourself?

my personal theory is that david actually thought that his secret was about his own depression (despite his optimistic persona), and his wording of a “family history of depression” was a half-hearted attempt to dance around that fact. but like you said, it was blurted out, so i feel like it was more a rushed attempt than anything else. though it’s heavily likely that the family history of depression is still true, it’s still intriguing that he decides to use this exact wording—and personally, i see it as him refusing to directly admit he has depression himself. (but i do think david genuinely believed his secret was related to depression)

about the part with him possibly being triggered by the word “manipulation,” i think that’s a really good theory. like you said, his sprites (and that shaky breath the VA put in) during his conversation with arei look like he’s genuinely shutting down. not just that, the same exact sprites are used right before his breakdown in the ch2 trial, when his motive secret is officially confirmed (and when everyone else is reacting to it). it makes total sense if he was spiraling during that time, and i personally believe that to be the case. if you couldn’t already tell from my previous posts lol /lh

thank you for the ask lexi ^^ sorry this is kind of short though, i wrote this while on a car trip so it was kinda rushed

and like i said before, my inbox is currently open so feel free to send in other things you guys are curious about as well!

[funtxmequeen]

Funtime Foxy

Funtime Foxy is Trans, using she/her pronouns. As stated in my rules, OUT OF CHARACTER transphobia will absolutely not be tolerated. She still has her voice as heard in UCN. It took a while (and possibly threats from the others) for the Hand Unit to be programmed to refer to her by she/her pronouns, and many of the employees and technicians either mistakenly, spitefully, or otherwise purposefully referred to Foxy with he/him pronouns.

Foxy is very introverted, often not speaking to anyone she doesn't like, and taking several days to warm up enough to a person to talk to them. However, she thrives on the stage, and adores being in the spotlight. She takes her performances very seriously, and has a completely different persona when she's on the stage. However, the real Foxy is quite shy, and often prefers her space. It's off-putting at first, but she really is quite emotional and cares deeply about her friends, even if she's far too prideful to admit it.

Years of abuse and torment have taken a toll on her personality, turning a once life-loving, joyful, happy-to-please fox into someone cold, afraid, and far more spiteful. Her love language has since become mean, often making cruel jokes and calling the others names she does not mean.

Foxy is also far more skittish than the others, preferring to avoid direct confrontation unless provoked, staying hidden from those who will hurt her, and staying in line just enough to avoid getting in trouble. Make no mistake, however, because while she prefers to keep her dainty hands clean, she will absolutely attack if given reason, or even if threatened. She has ripped off limbs of employees, only bothered by the mess, in the past.

Before the events of Sister Location, Funtime Auditorium was once shared by Funtime Foxy and Funtime Freddy, so naturally, she is quite protective of him and BonBon, seeing them both as big and little brothers respectively. She often makes fun of Freddy the most, as they get on each other's nerves, but she knows he will be there for her when she needs him the most. Funtime Foxy is also the main means of communication between the others (depending on certain interpretations,) secretly being able to crawl through the vents and into the different galleries of the facility. Her greatest fear, however, is getting caught and permanently sealed into Funtime Auditorium. This is how Baby, and the others, learn the layout of the facility.

Whenever Foxy is rented out and gets to perform, she's always at her happiest, regardless of who is with her. In terms of performance, there are several things she is capable of, including, but not limited to: singing, dancing, acting and performing skits, playing music, juggling, juggling hoops, and more. The hoop juggling is really what she is most known for, as it is what makes her unique from the other animatronics as something only she can do. Often times, her high spirits stick with her upon returning to the facility, but they don't often last long.

As stated by the Hand-Unit, Foxy is motion activated, however, due to a bug pertaining to this aspect of her design, bright flashes cause her body to freeze up, and her head and neck to twitch uncontrollably. This pisses her off when it happens, and in some cases only makes her more aggressive.

Once she becomes Ennard with the others, she remains just as reserved, if not more. Foxy is, however, one of the first ones to realize that using Michael's body was no longer working. Foxy seldom takes control of Ennard, opting to jump in only when she finds its necessary. She often urges the others to stay hidden, stay out of sight, not wanting to be perceived. Being unable to perform any longer takes a toll on her self-esteem at first, but she mostly gets over it. Although, there are times where she misses it and wonders what was wrong with her to be treated so horribly, these moments often only come through in waves. These are feelings she tries to keep to herself, as she knows it's selfish to want to go back to the stage, and she understands she did nothing wrong. As Ennard, her anxiety only worsens, always feeling as if they are about to be caught.

[ingravinoveritas]

Hello! Hope, you are doing great! I have a question for you: What do you think about Michael's new photos from Anna's Instagram? As always here is Michael's eternal love to his daughters and just an old photo with Anna where he looks not even happy but pretty shy. I mean she always posts photos where Michael with her either trying to look happy or not looking at her at all...

Hi, Anon! I’m doing pretty well, thank you very much for asking! Pretty much just vibing over here and hoping Michael is having a delightful birthday with David in his basement. Haha.

I have actually had several people DMing me about Anna’s post, and all have shared sentiments very much like yours. (For those who haven’t gotten to see the post yet, you can check it out here.) And here’s a visual of the pic of Michael and AL, so we can discuss:

(By way of disclaimer, everything that follows are my observations/opinions. I have and will always maintain that I could be completely wrong about all of this, but this is my interpretation of the photo/post in question.) So, I did notice several things about this, one of which was that AL posted this not even half an hour after Georgia made this post for Michael’s birthday (and after responding to Georgia at that same time on Twitter here). All carefully timed for her to get as much attention as possible/build engagement from the whole “Last Leg” thing.

The second thing I noticed is that it is an old picture, like you said, because Michael’s hair and beard do not look like that right now. It also comes across as a bit awkward to me, because she is looking at him, but he’s looking at...the menu, and seems more interested in that than anything else. It’s a “candid” shot, but the energy of the picture is very stiff and posed, as if she knew it was being taken, but he didn’t. But it’s also telling, because if it is candid, that means Michael hasn’t had time to get his guard up, and so we can more visibly see his discomfort.

What also makes this interesting is the juxtaposition with the pictures of Michael with Lyra and Mabli. It’s almost like night and day, seeing Michael come to life with the girls, with that Michael energy we know and love so well. He’s so animated with them, so full of that light that Michael has within him...and then you see him in the picture with AL, and that light is considerably dimmed. This is not to say that Michael needs to behave with AL exactly the way he did with the kids, but we know he is demonstrative by his nature, and has never hidden it when he is in love with someone.

Yet his entire behavior and body language with AL is the opposite of that--that “shyness” you mentioned, Anon. Whatever the reason for that may be, we can’t say for sure, but it seems to speak volumes that two days ago, we had Michael on TLL saying he was going to keep David in his basement...and now we have this almost demure picture of him with AL, where rather than making himself bigger (as we know Michael has done and often does), he looks like he’s making himself smaller, somehow.

This picture is also another example of something we’ve seen several times before, and that is AL entering Michael’s space/putting her hand on the table and him not entering hers/keeping his hands in his lap. We saw this when they were on Gogglebox (when he had to look at the camera to remember to put his arm around her) and in this photo from Staged 3, and it’s been evident in so many other pictures of them together...and again, it is the complete opposite of how Michael has ever historically been with people he actually loves.

What I ultimately take from all this is that he has a clear passion for his daughters and for David, and he does not have that same passion for AL. And the fact that Michael does not make posts about her on his social media says to me that he can’t convincingly fake it, and he knows it.

So yes, those are my thoughts on the new/not-so-new photos from AL’s Instagram post today. I hope this helped to answer your question, Anon. Thanks for writing in! x

[aahsokaatano]

Fuck it. Best quotes from chapter 1 of "Gender Trouble" by Judith Butler, in the opinion of a nonbinary trans man, because I'm sick of her words being twisted by TERFs.

"gender is not always constituted coherently or consistently in different historical contexts, and... gender intersects with racial, class, ethnic, sexual, and regional modalities of discursively constituted identities" (p. 4)

"it may be time to entertain a radical critique that seeks to free feminist theory from the necessity of having to construct a single or abiding ground which is invariably contested by those identity positions or anti-identity positions that it invariably excludes" (p. 7) (aka: TERFs can fuck right off)

""representation" will be shown to make sense for feminism only when the subject of "women" is nowhere presumed" (p. 8)

"there is no reason to assume that genders ought to also remain as two" (p. 9)

"when the constructed status of gender is theorized as radically independent of sex, gender itself becomes a free-floating artifice, with the consequences that man and masculine might just as easily signify a female body as a male one, and woman and feminine a male body as easily as a female one" (p. 9)

"If the immutable character of sex is contested, perhaps this construct called "sex" is as culturally constructed as gender; indeed, perhaps is was always already gender, with the consequence that the distinction between sex and gender turns out to be no distinction at all" (p. 9-10)

"The limits of discursive analysis of gender presuppose and preempt the possibilities of imaginable and realizable gender configurations within culture... Constraint is thus built into what that language constitutes as the imaginable domain of gender" (p. 12) (aka: the possibilities of gender are only limited by the language of the time, rather than any limits of 'nature' or 'culture')

“As a shifting and contextual phenomenon, gender does not denote a substantive being, but a relative point of convergence among culturally and historically specific sets of relations” (p. 14)

“The interpretive possibilities of gender are in no sense exhausted by the alternative suggested above” (p. 15)

“[Simone de] Beauvoir proposes that the female body ought to be the situation and instrumentality of women’s freedom, not a defining and limiting essence... Despite my own previous efforts to argue the contrary, it appears that Beauvoir maintains the mind/body dualism” (p. 16) (aka: Beauvoir argues that the mind and the body are inextricably linked when it comes to gender, Butler sees this as playing directly into the patriarchal systems that Beauvoir claims to oppose.)

“Feminist critique ought to explore the totalizing claims of a masculinist signifying economy, but also remain self-critical with respect to the totalizing gestures of feminism” (p. 18) (aka: stop generalizing! Stop treating “men” as a monolithic enemy!)

“oppressions cannot be summarily ranked” (p. 19)

“the insistence upon the coherence and unity of the category of women has effectively refused the multiplicity of cultural, social, and political intersections in which the concrete array of “women” are constructed” (p. 19) (aka: trying to define ‘women’ with specific parameters will always lead to the exclusion of people who consider themselves to be women)

“It would be wrong to assume in advance [of forming a coalition/community] that there is a category of “women” that simply needs to be filled in with various components of race, class, age, ethnicity and sexuality in order to become complete” (p. 20-21)

“Gender is a complexity whose totality is permanently deferred, never fully what it is at any given juncture in time” (p. 22) (aka: gender is a concept that is always in motion and never static)

“Indeed, precisely because certain kinds of “gender identities” fail to conform to those norms of cultural intelligibility [being cishet], they appear only as developmental failures or logical impossibilities from within that domain. Their persistence and proliferation, however, provide critical opportunities to expose the limits and regulatory aims of that domain of intelligibility” (p. 24) (aka: going outside of the cisgender binary exposes the shortfalls and potholes in the cultural expectation of being cisgender)

“[Previous theorists claim that] one is one’s gender to the extent that one is not the other gender, a formulation that presupposes and enforces the restriction of a gender within that binary pair” (p. 30) (aka: working with only two options (cis male or cis female) limits and outright disregards the lived experiences of people who exist outside that binary)

“The institution of a compulsory and naturalized heterosexuality requires and regulates gender as a binary relation in which the masculine term is differentiated from a feminine term, and this differentiation is accomplished through the practices of heterosexual desire” (p. 31) (aka: sticking to a rigid gender binary only furthers the goals of a cishet-normative culture that seeks to destroy the ‘other’ - in this case, people who are not cishet.)

“In this sense, gender is not a noun, but neither is it a set of free-floating attributes, for we have seen that the substantive effect of gender is performatively produced and compelled by the regulatory practices of gender coherence” (p. 34) (aka: gender cannot be ascribed to secondary sex traits (following a brief case study of an intersex individual), and is therefore a cultural performance)

“There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; that identity is performatively constituted by the very “expressions” that are said to be its results” (p. 34)

“[In the writings of Luce Irigaray] the return to biology as the ground of a specific feminine sexuality or meaning seems to defeat the feminist premise that biology is not destiny” (p. 41)

“The “unity” of gender is the effect of a regulatory practice that seeks to render gender identity uniform through a compulsory heterosexuality” (p. 43) (aka: the gender binary as we know it is the result of heterosexuality being enforced through cultural and legal channels, in an effort to dispel any queerness.)

“The presumption [in this book] is that the “being” of gender is an effect” (p. 45)

“Gender is the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance” (p. 45)

Butler’s overall thesis statement/research question: “To what extent do regulatory practices of gender formation and division constitute identity, the internal coherence of the subject, indeed, the self-identical status of the person? To what extent is “identity” a normative ideal rather than a descriptive feature of experience? And how do the regulatory practices that govern gender also govern culturally intelligible notions of identity?” (p. 23) (aka: how does one’s environment and culture inform gender expression? Why is gender so closely linked with one’s sense of self?)

[yusuke-of-valla]

VBS Monster of the Week?

Ah yes this one is very much “I’ve started watching Buffy and am viscerally reminded of why I love a good, basic monster/conflict/problem of the week AU” so I guess “things that would happen” are just. Episodes

First episode is when everyone in VBS finds out the others are monsters (except Akito. He’s painfully normal). Akito knew Toya was a vampire but not about the others.

Obligatory Beach episode where Takeshi (cringefail loser monster hunter with a crush on An from one of Skye’s fics if you want to read it [he is less of a cringefail loser in that original fic but he is an abusive pos so that’s why we have him be a cringefail loser when he shows up in other aus]) tries to out the others as monsters but fails to do some because he’s completely wrong about which monsters they are so throws holy water on Kohane and just makes her angry and wet. Also Toya hypnotizes him into fighting with a crab

Arata is a Lenan Sidhe and also Akito’s half brother. All the SMT images of Lenan Sidhe have these little hook things that we have found no lore about so we’ve bullshitted that that’s like the source of their powers. Arata’s mom gave one to Akito’s dad for inspiration and then he never gave it back (bc he’s stupid not malicious) and then he gave it to Akito and Akito eventually gives it back to Arata’s mom but not before Akito thinks Arata’s trying to seduce his dad when Arata asks about him to get revenge for his mom

EVER is a group of centaurs and they’re all pretty normal and chill. Meanwhile Kotaro was a normal dude and then he died when a piano fell on him and no one noticed for like two weeks until his brother found his body and then learned magic to bring him back as a ghost (I have more lore for him from when I played him in a Monster Hearts one shot @galaxae and he ended up even more pathetic. He managed to get mugged at one point despite being a ghost). One episode is dedicated to him and his unresolved trauma. EVER is again, just vibing

Akito is kind of the chosen one but no one knows what the fuck that means because the translation of the prophecy isn’t great but roughly it means he’s supposed to ‘make the human and monster worlds one’ and some people think it means he’s gonna help monster and humans live in harmony, some people think it’s gonna smash earth and the monster world together and the monsters are going to kill everyone, some people think humans are going to overrun monsters, and all of this is based on a rough translation of a language so old and dead even immortal demons can’t speak it perfectly but the prophecy did, fortunately, come with like a picture that’s very clearly Akito so everyone has very strong opinions on their interpretation being correct and depending on that try to kill/kidnap him

And as a bonus ok I have this whole other AU where Yusuke’s mom was a part of RADder back in the day before she decided to pursue art full time it’s on my to-write list I just have to redo the entire thing but in this AU she’s a werefox and Taiga and Nagi are werewolves and Ken’s a siren so as a joke whenever Mamagawa, Taiga, or Nagi complained about something that Ken didn’t get they’d be like “of course the fish wouldn’t understand” “it’s a mammal problem” it’s very funny and cute

[arziaisfrench]

▪︎ IPKKND Ep 2 recap : The Fall of Khushi's Dupitta

They meet and the attraction between them is mutual, immediate and strong.

They're literally mesmerized by each other, they drink the energy that emerges from their respectives eyes and they are so thristy for it lol.

From their first meeting, when they look at each other, it's as if the outside world begins to disappear completely. Their attention is entirely turned towards the other.

And each time their eyes would meet, it's as if their eyes are holding another conversion, a conversion without words. Their eyes are communicating through another language, full of unknown magic.

The attraction is evident but their bodies being so close to one another have also an immediate effect on them, the sexual tension rises fast, almost too fast and so unexpectedly.

They can't stop glaring at each other lips (and in 98% of series, it means they're physically attract to each other lol), the pull between them is electric !

Arnav is lost in her eyes forgetting to let go of her (he even makes sure she stays close to him lol, and it's a clue of how attracted he is to her), while Khushi is overwhelmed by how he makes her feel.

I think Khushi's dupitta falling can also be interpreted as the awarness of her sexual desire during that 1st encounter but i could be wrong, it's just an hypothesis.

Maybe it has a more cultural meaning ...

For few minutes, Arnav completely forgot what he was supposed to say to Khushi. Sir is overwhelmed by her beauty hehe. His tense reaction is the proof of his shame for losing his mind for few minutes because of her.

I'll like to add that you can sense how the actor and the actress are a little bit awkward around each other, which is great cause it adds a very natural texture to their acting performances, the awkwardness makes the chemistry almost more vibrant !!!

Arnav already is very much attentive to what she says, and it's very unusual for him to feel this way while speaking to a stranger!

"What's going on? Suddenly Khushi is missing like that and also losing the shop's documents like this ... is there any links between the two situations"

Here again, we get to see how khushi is treated by her family.

When things go wrong, the mother's trust in her adopted daughter is easily shattered, she already doubt her. And that's why I think Khushi's extreme fear in that 2nd encounter with Arnav isn't only due to his disgusting misbehavior towards her, it also has a lot to do with her own anticipation of her family's reaction .

She already knows they'll doubt and accuse her, which implied they are used to do this to her, to doubt her, so easily. This is the first glimpse of Khushi's extreme anxiety that she hides in her own ways, either drowing into fear or being overly chatty/exited to cover what I think is a deep state of denial. She doesn't hide it consciously, but it's more of a side effect to fill in what's happening in her subconscious (denial).

Her over-the-top reactions are almost if not completely the result of a "compulsive" self defense mechanism, she also sometimes eats in a very complusive way.

[gogosingularity]

hiii i just read your twin flame post about namjoon! i just wanted to ask, you didnt mention why you think decision to leave is about twin flames and why namjoon's obsession with the movie is related to twin flame. i watched the movie and maybe its bc my understanding wasnt very good but its about a police officer being obsessed with an abused woman and her dying in the end. how is it twin flame related??

If not for your ask, i wouldn't realize i didn't explain that part explicitly haha

Toward the middle of the film, there's a scene where haejun fondly listening to Fog/Mist while washing dishes, a korean song that seorae introduced to him CMIIW. His wife got curious what's he listening to that make him washing dishes happily.. she knew that song, haejun asked how did she know, his wife answered that everyone who lives in that area knows.. and added that Twin Flames also have played/performed that song once. I think the twin flame she mentioned refer to a band name or something. That's also the moment when haejun had the epiphany moment that maybeee him and seorae are meant to be together after all the accumulation of 'signs'

I connected namjoon + twin flame + decision to leave loosely

Idk how namjoon sees it, but, after that particular scene, haejun became more brave and confident with seorae (in a negative way because he chose to continue cheating from his wife.. and i don't support any kind of cheating. No matter how light it seems like)

Infatuation is a disease. When you're infatuated toward someone, the pull is very strong. Your brain knows it's wrong, but the pull make your body submit to infatuation completely

Haejun didn't say that directly. Just like what chung seo kyung, the screenwriter of this movie explained in that ep.2 'the dictionary of useless human knowledge' where namjoon also became the MC of the program THAT direct confession in movies are unnatural. Nobody confesses to their loved one: I love you. According to her, it can be or she prefers: have you brushed your teeth properly?

So instead of taking the dialogue in this movie as it is what it is, it's quite pivotal to also interpret their emotion, body language, hidden expression.

In my case, as soon as i heard twin flame being mentioned, i already know where is this movie heading. I will actually get annoyed if both get happy ending haha

As for namjoon, he only mentioned if he's in seorae or haejun situation/position, what should he do? He didn't mention about twin flame part at all

I think this is more like explaining why he likes or is obsessed with this movie so much. It's funny, cute and a little annoying to me that he emphatized with haejun/seorae more. He felt something from what he saw in decision to leave. Something that he never get to speak publicly or can answer his questions. But in order to satisfy his curiosity, he'll do anything

[jucybelart]

Anne Rice IWTV rant

I've read the vampire chronicles from a young age and grew to love Anne Rice's writing style, prose, cadence, vocabulary, and ambience description prone style.

Coming from a Spanish background, her writing in English not only challenged me in grasping the ideas that she was trying to convey, but also made me improve in the language to an extent unattainable by any other mean in the timeframe I did.

In my understanding of her work, she's (is because her style remains, although she has passed) a gothic and romantic writer. Dark romantic yet romantic nonetheless. Her characters are flawed and mostly evolve in a very slow pace. This fact makes sense mostly taking in to consideration they are vampires or immortal creatures, ghosts, spirits of different origins and more.

Lestat as her flagship is specially flawed, called by his peers and Rice herself a brat prince. What irked me first and made me appalled at the series depiction, was Lestat using his years in the blood and experience to beat Louis, and then his depiction trying to purchase his love by gifts as a mere wife beater would.

I have few issues with the series, starting with the time choices. Which in some moments are of no consequence, and yet in others carry plenty. One of those is the decision to alter Claudia's age, to the extent they took her.

Claudia's main drive and finally reason for the death was how young she was brought in to the blood. A child has not enough blood in their body to make a fledgling, thus hindering her freedom to go on her own way after reaching the maturity to do so. Also, the blood given by her maker would strengthen the body and make it resistant, yet a child's body is small, thus there's just so much the gift can do in such a small body. It does make sense to have an older actress to reprise the role, as Kirsten did in the film. Yet so much older as Armand himself in the books takes away her vulnerability, she could make another companion, Armand made plenty himself.

That takes me to another point that in the beginning was of no consequence. Having immortal bodies that could have intercourse. This made for beautiful depictions of Louis and Lestat's love and desire for each other, and then was used to hurt Claudia.

Changing her origin from a dying girl that Louis bit unable to contain his thirst after starving himself, and Lestat completing that change as a sort of gift, that served him the purpose of keeping Louis by his side; to that if a girl rescued from a fire that Louis wanted so save.

Louis has an eternal battle with himself from before he was made, and he did try to help people after, and those experiences taught him of his limitations and flawed morals. Not changing them, he evolved little in that aspect still, he did evolve.

He had way more agency, he did leave Armand out of his own volition, he also refused Lestat in the Tale of the Body Thief. And yet he's not much more than a puppet in the series.

The fact that Armand uses his gift to manipulate his memories, as well as keeping him as a pet.

I've seen some people citing the books in parts yet neglecting to point out the greatest deviations from the books in other moments. And it seems hilarious in the worst possible way, they are pretty much doing with the book what religious people do with the bible. Interpret what suits me, ignore what doesn't.

The whole thing feels like a badly written fan-ficiton by someone that didn't understand the more intrinsic ideas in the original source.

Tha's all for now, there's probably going to be more in the near future, as I am using this to just rant. I love Anne's stories, and seeing it butchered feels pretty wrong. Specially because the majority of people won't even read the books, and keep this distorted image of it as if it was in any way similar to the beauty she wrote in her lifetime.

[sure-i-exist]

Reasons I think the dragon riders are autistic:

(This was written out of order over the course of several days)

Hiccup

• His interest in dragons. Multiple people literally say “his life is dragons”. I don’t think I need to expand on this point any more

• His deal with emotions - the way it seems to me is that unless he’s very happy or genuinely angry, he doesn’t really emote much? His voice isn’t necessarily monotone but he’s very same-y (in more than just tone - also body language and stuff) almost always aside from when incredibly gleeful (e.g. riding toothless) or very angry (literally any moment where he ends up yelling at the others)

• On a similar note, there’s several times (especially in rtte) where it looks like he’s about to scold someone and then he doesn’t (in a kinda emotions/expressions not lining up with his actual thoughts and stuff way). Now, this doesn’t sound much here but an example is in the dramillion episode near the end of the ep so that kinda gives you a better idea of what I mean yknow?

• Also his massive interest in inventing, another pretty damn important thing in his life that he’s very good at, to say the least. • Another thing with emotions - he’s pretty easy to manipulate. Which sounds so horrible to put but I mean it in like, his emotions specifically are kinda easy to manipulate and especially his empathy. They’re often used against him

• He notices details and you know how he constantly tells the twins they’re geniuses after something they say reminds him of a completely unrelated point? Yeah idk how to explain it but that’s autism, baby

Astrid

• Stubborn - it takes a lot to change her views of opinions

• Fully believes there are right and wrong ways of doing things (and usually believes those ways are the more traditional ways that she’s used to)

• Idk if there’s even proof of this but I am dead certain she sticks to her rules almost all times. She doesn’t care about other peoples rules but despite that often has very strict views on how to do things which I think is why I believe this. She also hates going off-plan and that doesn’t rlly mean anything here but that probably adds to why I’m so sure she likes rules

• Again no proof of this but she seems like the type to be very particular about her daily routine. If she decides to switch it up once she now gonna keep that for months. You can ignore this point but this is something I wholeheartedly believe.

• The vibes

Fishlegs

• He’s honestly the only character who might have actually been written as autistic (but also may not have been and instead be written as a nerd, but obviously that trope alone just makes him autistic by default)

• Same as hiccup, huge huge interest in dragons. No need to elaborate here

• Very empathetic, many autistic people experience either notably low empathy or high empathy. Fishlegs very clearly is on the high side

• Also can I just say I love how on berk he was a guide and he taught kids all about berks history and dragons and shit like that like hell yeah making your special interest your job, good for him honestly

• I just watched legend of the boneknapper and I just noticed fishlegs talks with his hands a lot and makes a bunch of gestures while talking which I am absolutely counting here cause i want to

Snotlout

• Hand gestures. Like all the time. And a lot of the same ones. And I’ve got no clue if that actually is prevalent in autism or whatever but personal experience (I.e. me and my friends) suggest so + I relate so I’m counting it

• Gonna sound dumb, but “shut up, [name]” and just common phrases he repeats. • On that note: he yells his own name frequently (typically while doing something cool or when annoyed or etc. emotional reasons) and I interpret that as kinda a stim, helping with emotions type deal yknow? • Again related to that, ‘Snotlout Snotlout oi oi oi’ (copied from spitelouts own version) is absolutely a vocal stim, and while I’m like 80% sure copying vocal patterns and phrases from the people around you is a thing everyone does, I’m still counting it anyway • Very big emotions/kinda dramatic. Idk how to phrase this but at any given point it is very clear what Snotlouts emotions are - and I know a lot of autistic folk (myself included) are generally quite monotone or struggle with expressing emotion outwardly, but this feels right so again counting it. + exaggerating emotions is a thing I do all the time to make things more obvious

• Hate to say this one but just the general way he treats people - he often doesn’t notice the way people react and he just continues with his (often pretty shit) treatment of them, can be seen in the unwanted advancements towards Astrid Heather etc and how certainly initially he didn’t rlly seem to get the message

• To put the last point more clearly: this boy has the absolute worst social skills and has no idea about that

• He doesn’t always get when people are making fun of him or being sarcastic

• I mention this with Tuffnut as well, but Snotlouts also pretty sarcastic even tho he doesn’t always get other peoples sarcasm

• He’s pretty blunt. Or he confuses himself with his own words. That’s pretty much the two sides of Snotlout’s speech patterns

• he’s my favourite character <3

Ruffnut

• Her whole deal with violence, particularly in rob/dob - I don’t know how to describe it but something about that

• Her and Tuffnut both get like random interests and they know loads about it or otherwise devote a lot of time to it - e.g. science when they were sick with eel pox, theatre in Total Nightmare, other examples I’m sure but I can’t remember rn. It just reminds me of myself and hyperfixations I get

• She doesn’t really care to change how she acts around different people; regardless of whether she’s been captured by enemies, is being scolded by Hiccup or is setting up a prank with tuffnut, she’s always the same.

• On that note, she’s often pretty blunt. Like unless she’s talkin fancy deliberately or trying to trick someone shes usually pretty clear and doesn’t usually change how she acts or speaks to make others feel better. • Yknow how her and Tuffnut were all like “woah maybe we did something… right? […] what’s this feeling is this accomplishment? I’ve never felt this before” and stuff that one time? I know it’s played off as a joke, but I’m diagnosing that with same <3

• Mirroring speech (see briefly in tuffnuts section)

Tuffnut

• Similar thing with violence

• Same as the hyperfixations thing I mentioned with Ruffnut, and just know there are plenty of things they say that I attribute to past hyperfixations

• Several occasions where he doesn’t get sarcasm

• He is pretty sarcastic tho despite that, same with Snotlout and that is something I feel is quite common - not really getting other peoples jokes or sarcasm but doing so yourself a lot

• His speech is very reminiscent of my own, he talks kinda overly fancy and deliberate most of the time (but there are also occasions where he’s almost overly casual? Which again is very relatable to me. I am now realising I may or may not have accidentally stolen tuffnuts speech patterns as a kid)

• (To the last point ignoring the part at the end) Ruffnut is also similar in this respect (as in the deliberate kinda overly wordy talk) but usually to a lesser extent - in fact, she normally only speaks like that when tuffnut is also there and speaking in such way, which to me absolutely seems like mirroring

• Similarly to the sarcasm thing, he doesn’t get rhetorical questions. Or at the very least doesn’t get them in that one episode in rtte and that’s enough for me to count it here

To be clear, at the end of the day, I see them all as autistic mostly cause I relate to and connect with the characters. And I do not know how to put that into words clearly so here’s this mess of a compilation.

@louthestarspeaker @tiggster27 @we-are-not-the-losechesters @drekialba @qualityhistorygamingwinner @maluron @scared-nightnurse @famderfries @purpleshutin @rubysparx @nonbinarynightmare77 @macabre-changeling @paradoxical-hermitcrab @bad-girl-coven

[yiling-daddy]

Yes, that was me! I can definitely expand on my thoughts re: how Madam Yu’s behaviour reads differently to me due to my traditional, Chinese upbringing.

There is a lot of subjectivity as to whether Madam Yu can be read as abusive, and this reading is often influenced by culture—hence you often see completely off-base takes floating around. However, to me, the way that cultural context influences the reading will actually change depending on the relationship, so I will discuss each one separately. Most of the culturally insensitive takes are about her being an abusive or uncaring mother (she’s not), or that she’s a spurned woman (it’s more complicated than that), so you can skip down to the JC, JYL, and CSSR sections for that.

Madam Yu and Wei Wuxian

As a trend, I think western fandom tends to simplify Wei Wuxian’s dynamic with the Jiang family into an entire adopted family. Consequently, Yu Ziyuan gets perceived as this two-dimensional, evil stepmom figure—but I think this doesn’t capture the truth.

There’s a bit more variability among Chinese audiences when they read the Jiang family dynamic, partly due to our deeper familiarity with wuxia tropes, but mostly because there's a mediocre Netflix translation colouring the western interpretation. Though many Chinese fans do view them all as a sort of family unit and read Madam Yu as a stepmother, I do not. To me, Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli view Wei Wuxian as family—but Madam Yu does not. Madam Yu views him as a servant, a disciple of the sect, and an outsider at the dinner table—and it’s not wrong for her to do so. It’s not gracious, but it’s not unfounded. I don’t think Wei Ying ever gives any indication that he views her as a mother, either.

If you agree that they don’t have anything like a mother-son relationship, all these insults/complaints that Yu Ziyuan levels at him—that he’s the “son of a servant”, that Jiang Fengmian is weird for openly favouring Wei Wuxian over his own son, etc.—these start to make sense? Like, it’s shitty to listen to, but none of it is wrong. Suddenly it reads less like pointless insults and more like actual points.

Additionally, if we consider that Wei Wuxian is a disciple of the sect who goes around and raises the ire of the Wen clan, corporal punishment suddenly looks very normal (again, within the culture). Hence, when I watched the donghua and CQL, I hated seeing Wei Wuxian getting whipped, but I didn’t perceive this as abuse—especially because of the political nature of the decision.

But it is definitely still possible to mistreat a disciple.

In CQL, you see Madam Yu throwing an unnecessary amount of vitriol at Wei Ying. In the novel extras, it's revealed that she regularly whipped him but never whipped the other disciples, indicating that it wasn't normal corporal punishment. She also whipped him for absurdly stupid reasons. To me, this signals that she tended to abuse her authority over him. Even if you don’t view her as an abusive mother to Wei Ying, it's fair to read her as an abusive authority figure.

Importantly however, "abuse" is a loaded word suggesting a violation of social norms, and again, the situation is complicated because the social norms of the setting don't match those of the modern world. Madam Yu is not overstepping her bounds as master of Lotus Pier—hence, people do not think very much of this treatment in-universe, including Wei Ying himself.

Madam Yu, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli

Okay, when I first watched CQL, I cringed when Madam Yu started dragging her family because she sounded like My Actual Chinese Mother. I felt for a second like I had transmigrated into Jiang Cheng’s body and I was experiencing his agony firsthand!

Madam Yu reads very realistically, and I think this is why it gets personal for a lot of Chinese people when this fandom discusses her character. Yes, she belittles and hurts her children for their perceived failures, but many Chinese people can tell you that this is just a common parenting style. And while it might look like bullying to an outsider, this behaviour is usually motivated by love. It is often also motivated by fear that the child’s future will be substandard. This is textually obvious when you consider what exactly Madam Yu yells about:

She snaps at Yanli to stop peeling lotus pods, because she shouldn’t act like a servant. If Yanli keeps behaving so passively, what kind of role is she going to fall into in the future—especially given that she is not a cultivator?

She berates Jiang Cheng for always being inferior to Wei Wuxian no matter what he does. If Jiang Cheng is constantly overshadowed by Wei Wuxian, what will that mean for his future as sect leader? Or his future status and reputation among the sects?

I can do these Chinese Mom Translations because parents in real life will actually say things like this out of concern for their children (insults included), in an attempt to motivate them... and it really does light a fire under our asses. I attribute many of my personal successes to this parenting style. Thus, when I see posts like “Madam Yu didn’t show any sign of caring for others” or "Madam Yu was a purely selfish and arrogant person" or “Madam Yu is an abusive mother and nothing else"—well, I can tell most of these people are not Chinese, or if they are, then they likely did not have a traditional upbringing.

While I don't think these uninformed readings of Madam Yu are necessarily racist, I do think they they are unpleasant for Chinese fans to constantly see. For those of us in the west that had this type of upbringing, we often struggle with trying to frame and process our relationships with our parents. For me, this was partly due to the emotional baggage of my upbringing (Jiang Cheng winning!!!)... but it was also because white society kept telling me that my parents didn't give a shit about me when obviously they did. That’s fucked up to experience. It reeks of cultural imperialism. Thus, when I see Chinese people getting annoyed at these Madam Yu takes, I’m not surprised. This is unfortunately a fictional discussion that very much resembles a real one for us.

Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Fengmian, and Cangse Sanren

A lot of people view Madam Yu as a spurned woman and assume that is her motivation for constantly antagonizing Wei Wuxian and her husband. But because I assume that a lot of her chaotic yelling stems from her concerns as an Actual Chinese Mother, my take is different.

Remember the scene where Madam Yu catches Jiang Fengmian scolding Jiang Cheng just after praising Wei Wuxian? She drags Jiang Cheng up to his father and, in both CQL and the donghua, says something to this effect (paraphrased from memory):

This is your son, the future master of Lotus Pier! Even if you don’t like him because he was born to me, his surname is still Jiang!

And in CQL, she also says this right after berating Jiang Cheng for not measuring up to Wei Wuxian:

But it’s not your fault. Your mother is no match for his mother.

Yu Ziyuan isn’t angry about Cangse Sanren because she’s jealous; she is angry about Cangse Sanren because she thinks Jiang Fengmian’s feelings for her are jeopardizing his competence as a father to Jiang Cheng. Viewed in this light, it also makes sense why Yu Ziyuan is hostile to Wei Wuxian in a way that alienates him from the family—constantly calling him the son of a servant, pointing out the rumours about his parentage, etc. She’s not doing this because she hates Cangse Sanren or Wei Wuxian; she’s doing it because Wei Wuxian’s presence in the family is threatening Jiang Cheng’s future in her eyes.

Bonus: Did Yu Ziyuan love Jiang Fengmian?

Yes! In both the donghua and CQL (I ashamedly admit I don’t clearly remember the novel), I thought their final moments made it quite evident that they cared for each other. They fought together, died together to protect their home, and reached out to one another in their final moments.

But when I rewatched Madam Yu’s scenes in CQL and the donghua, I realized we got other hints that westerners probably missed. I'll focus on CQL:

Right before Jiang Fengmian sets off with Yanli for Lanling, Madam Yu sees them off. She gives Yanli some snacks and then—without making eye contact with Jiang Fengmian—says that she’s also giving them medicine in case someone gets a headache. Jiang Fengmian pauses, because it’s obviously for him.

This is recognizable behaviour for a lot of Chinese people. I can’t tell you how many times my mother got apoplectic at me, and then the only follow-up was her going out of her way to make me my favourite meal. The chaotic yelling you see between Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan is also pretty typical to many Chinese parents, and again, the follow-up in my household was often one of them going out of their way to do something for the other.

This is just how the culture is in a lot of families. “Sorry” isn’t expressed in words; it's expressed in actions. “I love you” isn’t expressed in words; it’s expressed in actions. In Chinese culture, the dominant love language is acts of service. It's fleeting, but we get glimpses of that kind of love between Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian.