#wheres the source so I can avoid it all costs

[p0tat0-g0ddess]

I've been thinking a lot about fear off and on over the last week and. Hmm.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Anxious Attachment Style

Common Anxious Thoughts, Emotions, and Reactions

THOUGHTS

Mind reading: "That’s it, I know s/he’s leaving me."

All-or-nothing thinking: "I’ve ruined everything, there’s nothing I can do to mend the situation."

"I’ll never find anyone else."

"I knew this was too good to last."

"I have to talk to or see him/her right now."

"S/he can’t treat me this way! I’ll show him/her!"

"S/he is so amazing, why would s/he want to be with me anyway?"

"I knew something would go wrong; nothing ever works out right for me."

"S/he’d better come crawling back to beg my forgiveness, otherwise s/he can forget about me forever."

"Maybe if I look drop-dead gorgeous or act seductive, things will work out."

Remembering all the good things your partner ever did and said after calming down from a fight.

Recalling only the bad things your partner has ever done when you’re fighting.

EMOTIONS

Sad ⚜ Angry ⚜ Fearful ⚜ Resentful ⚜ Frustrated

Hopeless ⚜ Despairing ⚜ Jealous ⚜ Hostile ⚜ Vengeful

Guilty ⚜ Self-loathing ⚜ Restless ⚜ Uneasy ⚜ Humiliated

Hate-filled ⚜ Uncertain ⚜ Agitated ⚜ Rejected ⚜ Depressed

Unloved ⚜ Lonely ⚜ Misunderstood ⚜ Unappreciated

ACTIONS

Act out. ⚜ Attempt to reestablish contact at any cost.

Pick a fight. ⚜ Threaten to leave.

Wait for them to make the first reconciliation move.

Act hostile—roll eyes, look disdainful.

Try to make him/her feel jealous.

Act busy or unapproachable. ⚜ Act manipulatively.

Withdraw—stop talking to their partner or turn away from him/her physically.

Attachment classifications come from watching babies’ behavior.

Below is a short description of how anxious attachment style is defined in children. Some of their responses can also be detected in adults who share the same attachment style.

This baby becomes extremely distressed when mommy leaves the room.

When her mother returns, she reacts ambivalently—she is happy to see her but angry at the same time.

She takes longer to calm down, and even when she does, it is only temporary.

A few seconds later, she’ll angrily push mommy away, wriggle down, and burst into tears again.

Where Do Attachments Styles Come From?

Initially it was assumed that adult attachment styles were primarily a product of your upbringing.

Thus, it was hypothesized that your current attachment style is determined by the way in which you were cared for as a baby:

If your parents were sensitive, available, and responsive, you should have a secure attachment style; if they were inconsistently responsive, you should develop an anxious attachment style; and if they were distant, rigid, and unresponsive, you should develop an avoidant attachment style.

Today, however, we know that attachment styles in adulthood are influenced by a variety of factors, one of which is the way our parents cared for us, but other factors also come into play, including our genes and life experiences.

Source ⚜ More: On Attachment ⚜ Writing Notes & References Writing Resources PDFs ⚜ Avoidant ⚜ Secure ⚜ Disorganized

[vikkirosko]

I saw that your request box is open and I've been wanting to ask

can I request platonic! Charlie, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Alastor and Lucifer coming across a child fem! reader after she bumped into them and falling onto the sidewalk and start profusely apologizing for accidentally into them while looking incredibly scared and frightened just then they realized that the child had black wings and seeing that they are wearing a white dress that only angels would wear and fairly realized the reader was a fallen angel soon when taken to the hotel and ask how did she ended up in hell, the reader first looked very hesitant to explain but slowly open up about how they were casted out of heaven for not following the strict rules properly and that the higher upside expected angels to be perfect and flawless that no mistakes should be made even minor ones and child fem! reader felt incredibly pressured and anxious about the needs to be perfect that when she accidentally fall out of line for making a minor mistake, she was unfairly casted out into hell and why her once white wings turned black no longer able to fly to heaven's gates and aimlessly wondering the streets of pentagram city lost and scared not knowing what to do or where to go now as well as avoiding sinners and overlords alike

Platonic headcanons Not perfect

🌈 Charlie Morningstar x child fem!Reader 🎶

After Charlie visited Heaven, she began to look at angels differently. She understood that not all of them were sinless and just. That's why she was surprised when she came across a child, a girl dressed in a white dress similar to those worn on Heaven and you had wings, but the feathers were not white but black. You immediately started apologizing to her, but Charlie hastened to calm you down. You looked tired, so she suggested that you go with her to her hotel, where you could relax and where you would be safe

At the hotel, you were able to eat properly and calm down. It was only after that that Charlie asked you about how you ended up in Hell. At first you didn't dare to start the story, but Charlie gently took your hands and told you that you had nothing to fear and that she just wanted to help you. You got a little bolder and told her that, despite the external ideality and happiness, there were many strict rules and requirements for angels like you in Heaven. You all had to follow these rules implicitly, as if you had no will of your own. For you, such a life has been one huge source of stress and anxiety

In the end, you made a mistake. One minor mistake cost you everything. You were banished from Heaven and your wings turned black and you couldn't come back. All this time you've been wandering the streets aimlessly, trying not to attract attention to yourself. Charlie couldn't believe that you could be treated so cruelly, but she remembered her father's story. She understood that your story was the real truth

Since you had nowhere to go, Charlie suggested that you stay at the hotel. You were an angel and now you could help sinners atone for their sins. Charlie hoped that then Emily could bring you back to Heaven, because you were sent to Hell unfairly. In the meantime, Charlie could give you a new home and a life where you didn't have to try your best to make no mistakes every day

❌ Vaggie x child fem!Reader 🎀

Vaggie didn't feel happy when she lived on Heaven. A huge number of rules, many of which were far from morally fair, and, as it turned out, severe punishments for what was considered a misdemeanor. She didn't know any other angels besides Lucifer and her who ended up in Hell until she ran into you on the street. You were a little girl in a white dress, with a scared expression on your face and black wings that clearly used to be white. You were an angel, a fallen angel

You started to apologize for bumping into her, but Vaggie tried to calm you down, saying that everything was fine. She asked how you got here, but you didn't say anything, just looked down. Your embarrassment only got worse when your stomach rumbled. Vaggie suggested that you go to the hotel where she lived, telling you that you could eat and relax there. She assured me that it would be safe there, so you went to the hotel with her

It was only back at the hotel, after you were able to eat properly, that you told her that you had been expelled from Heaven for a minor mistake. Vaggie remembered what the rules were there. She saw the sadness in your eyes, and told you that she, too, was, in a sense, banished. The fact that she was an angel made you happy, because now there was a chance that you wouldn't be alone anymore

You stayed at the hotel, under the care of Vaggie. She and Charlie took care of you and helped you start a new life. For you, Vaggie has become a living example of the fact that life does not end after exile. She was sure that you would be able to find your happiness, even though you were in Hell, and she would be there to keep you safe

🕷 Angel Dust x child fem!Reader 💖

Angel did not often see children in Hell, which is why when he ran into you on the street, he was surprised. You were a girl in a white dress and, strangely, with wings. The feathers of your wings were black, although according to Charlie, the angels had white wings, and there was a scared expression on your face. You immediately started apologizing to him. You were obviously afraid, and Angel hastened to calm you down. He wasn't mad at you and didn't know how to calm you down, so he offered to treat you to something delicious. It was so that you could eat that you went to the hotel

At the hotel, you were able to calm down and eat, after which Angel asked you how you ended up in Hell. He said that you didn't look like a sinner, but rather like an angel who happened to be in Hell. When you lowered your head, he realized that he was right. At first you were silent, but then quietly, uncertainly told him that you really were an angel, but life was hard for you in Heaven. The angels had to follow a huge number of rules. You were required to be perfect and set an example for souls to strive for the light. However, it has become a huge stress for you. Your whole life was full of worries, and in the end you made a small, insignificant mistake, for which you were severely punished

You were banished from Heaven, sent to Hell. Your wings turned black, and no matter how hard you tried to get back in, you couldn't do it. You just fell painfully, unable to return home. Angel listened to your story, feeling how sorry he was for you. You were just a child who was unfairly punished, especially so severely. He also understood that it would be difficult for you to survive in Hell, so he suggested that you stay at the hotel, telling you what kind of place it was and that he himself lived here

Angel has taken on the role of someone who will look out for you. Charlie was glad that Angel was getting better, and even more so she didn't mind you staying at the hotel. Angel may not have been the perfect person, but he was real, alive, and ready to help you stop trying to adjust to the ideal that was imposed on you, too. He wanted to help you start living freely

📻 Alastor x child fem!Reader 🎙

Alastor periodically strolled through the streets of the city. Many people were afraid of him and tried not to approach him, and so when a child crashed into him, Alastor was surprised by this. That child was you. You, dressed in a white dress and with black wings on your back, started hurriedly apologizing to him without raising your head. Alastor was in no hurry to say anything. He saw what was obvious. You were an angel, maybe a fallen angel, and it could have done him some good, so he asked if you were hungry, and then took you to the hotel

You were able to eat at the hotel, and only after that Alastor, who was looking at you carefully, asked how you ended up in Hell. At that moment, you froze, lowering your head and slowly starting to speak. It was only after a few minutes that you finally told me what happened. You told me that Heaven had a huge number of rules for angels. You were required to be perfect, but it was hard for you emotionally and eventually you made a mistake. A mistake that you paid very seriously for

You were banished to Hell and your wings turned black. You couldn't go back no matter how hard you tried. All you have to do is wander the streets of the city, hiding from sinners and demons. Alastor listened to you carefully and realized that it could benefit him. He did not voice his thoughts and offered to stay with you at the hotel. He introduced you to Charlie and soon you really became one of those who lived in the hotel

Alastor saw how pleased you were to meet Charlie and find yourself in a comfortable environment. The princess helped you and learned from you about what Heaven really was. Alastor understood that when you get stronger, your strength can help him gain freedom

🍎 Lucifer Morningstar x child fem!Reader 🐍

Lucifer rarely walked around the city, but after he started living in his daughter's hotel, he began to go out into the world more. It was during one of these walks that he met you. You were the kid who bumped into him. You immediately started apologizing and Lucifer tried to calm you down at first, but then realized that you weren't a sinner or a demon. He would have recognized the white dress and wings anywhere. You were an angel, but the feathers of your wings were black, which made it clear to him that you were a fallen angel, just like him. It caused him a lot of emotions. He couldn't leave you, knowing full well how you were feeling right now

He brought you to the hotel, realizing that you had nowhere to go. So that you wouldn't worry even more, he took you away from the others to his room and already there told you who he was. Lucifer saw how surprised you were, but it seemed to really calm you down. When he asked how you ended up in Hell, you briefly fell silent, lowering your head, but then hesitantly told him that after he was thrown into Hell, the requirements for angels became very strict. You, like other angels, were required to be perfect and follow what the seraphims said. It was hard for you to be perfect. Every day, within strict limits, almost drove you crazy

Due to severe stress, it was difficult for you to follow strict rules, and eventually you made a minor mistake, for which you were so severely punished by being banished to Hell. Your wings turned black and you couldn't fly to Heaven. It seemed that if you tried to do this, at some point your wings could burst into flames, causing you unbearable pain. You didn't have a home anymore. You didn't have anyone to help you. All you could do was wander aimlessly through the streets, doing your best to hide from sinners and demons

Lucifer listened attentively to your story and by the time it ended, he was sure that you had been unfairly sent to Hell. You didn't have the power that he had, and therefore you could easily get hurt. Lucifer didn't want you, a child who was so cruelly abandoned, to get hurt. He decided to take you under his care. He knew that you could become stronger and wanted to help you. Maybe in Hell, you can be happier than you were in Heaven

[the-artist-grimm]

out of curiosity, what else is on the "contraband list" in the cult? (presumably at least lilies, considering they're fatally toxic to cats)

The 'Contraband List' is mostly things Anthea's marked off as either A. potentially dangerous for heath reasons. Or B. potentially dangerous for order reasons. Usually after someone did a thing and Anthea realized 'ok not doing that one again'. At the moment:

Ambrosia (Can kill a mortal with one glass due to the potency, and can make gods/former gods very very DRUNK. The Bishops somehow found a bottle once and all 5 including Narinder managed to get drunk as HECK off it. Kallamar broke out into musical soliloquies and tried forcing people to join him. Leshy started at least three small fires. Heket started a brawl. Shamura completly forgot what century it was and thought they were in a battle from 2000 years ago. Narinder broke down gross sobbing while crying to what he thought was the Lamb (it was a scarecrow). The lamb leaves the compound for barely a day and returns to their husband and in-laws wrecking havoc, then has to deal with the headache of 5 godly hangovers)

Catnip (Too broad a range of side-effects and too wide a range of effect for Anthea's comfort. Exposure can happen even at a decent distance/side effects begin after only seconds, so it's a better be safe than sorry measure. Someone likely tried having some once and accidentally got all the cats in the compound high, effects ranging from mellow to aggressive to hallucinating)

Menticide Mushroom (They are in stock at the medial tent for extreme pain treatments ONLY, and are dosed out in very small amounts to avoid addiction/overdosing. Too high a dose can cause hallucinations, violent behavior as a result of said hallucinations, sickness, or death. Anthea has them locked in a cabinet only the head healer can open)

Follower Meat (Cannibalism is EXTREMELY prohibited, however in rare cases where new converts came from a faction heavily dependent on it Anthea will stock it on a case by case basis as they try to wean them off it. They usually will source it from heretics, though typically former disciples of Heket (as they were accustomed to it) are tasked with the hunt as Anthea can't stomach it. Goal is to ease them back into a normal diet.)

Fireworks/Sparklers (They are allowed on holidays to an extent but everyone can say thank you to the Chaos Disciples for deciding to pull a prank and nearly burn down the barn. Now Anthea has to lock them in their room just so people can still use them for holidays)

Unsealed Drink Barrels or Potion Vials from Smuggler's Sanctuary Nightmarket (namely due to the risk of poison or contaminants. Alcohol/Potions are permitted and typically purchased from there, but unless it's been stamped and sealed by Plimbo's personal sources it cannot be trusted, and if brought in Anthea will dump it out just to be safe. While most sellers in the market are honest stamp or not, some mix different unknown elements into their goods to either bulk up their amount or lower their production cost)

As for Lilies I'm not 100% sure, mostly because all animals have a handful of flowers/plants that can and will EASILY kill them, like ivy is toxic to a lot of animals, citrus, tomatoes, ect. Like really common plants, so outside of catnip I'm mostly just ignoring if X flower can kill X animal cause knowing me I WILL go on a research rabbit hole trip ^^;

[goddessinnerglow]

Become Your Best Version Before 2025 - Day 13

Financial Planning and Budgeting

Hello Goddesses! I know that talking about money, can feel scary or boring, but after working on our stress management tools yesterday, it's perfect timing to address something that's often a huge source of stress for many of us: finances.

First things first: if thinking about money makes you want to hide under your blanket, you're not alone. But taking control of your finances isn't about becoming a math genius or never buying another coffee again. It's about making friends with your money so it can help you live your best life.

Let's break this down into bite-sized pieces that won't give you a headache:

Start Where You Are

Remember when you first learned to ride a bike? You didn't start by doing tricks, you started with training wheels. Money management is the same way! First step: just look at your current situation. Open those banking apps you've been avoiding. Take a deep breath and look at your statements. Knowledge is power, even if it's a bit scary at first.

The Money Map Exercise

Grab a piece of paper (or open your notes app) and let's do something simple:

Write down all your income sources

List your regular monthly expenses (yes, including those sneaky subscriptions!)

Don't forget those irregular expenses like annual fees or seasonal costs

Look at what's left (or what's missing)

Congratulations! You've just created your first basic budget outline.

The 50/30/20 Guideline

Here's a popular way to think about your money:

50% for needs (rent, groceries, utilities)

30% for wants (fun stuff, shopping, entertainment)

20% for future you (savings, debt payment, investments)

These numbers might not work for everyone, especially depending on where you live. The important thing is to have some kind of plan that works for YOU.

Smart Money Habits You Can Start Today

The 24-Hour Rule: For non-essential purchases over a certain amount (you decide the number!), wait 24 hours before buying. You'd be surprised how many "must-haves" become "maybe nots" overnight!

Bill Calendar: Set up a simple calendar with all your bill due dates. Future you will be so grateful!

Automate Your Savings: Even if it's just $5 a week, set up automatic transfers to a savings account. It's like hiding money from yourself!

Track Your Spending: For just one week, write down every single purchase. No judging, just observing. You might find some surprising patterns!

The Emergency Fund Challenge

Let's start building that safety net! Even $500 in savings can make a huge difference in an emergency. Start with a goal of saving just $25 this week. Too much? Start with $10. Too little? Make it $50. The amount isn't as important as getting started.

Money Goals That Make Sense

Instead of vague goals like "save more," try specific ones like:

Save enough for three months of basic expenses by December 2025

Pay off one credit card by summer

Create a "fun fund" for that hobby you've been wanting to try

Your financial journey is exactly that, YOURS. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone else. The person on Instagram showing off their investment portfolio might still be paying off massive debt. Focus on your own path!

Your mission for today:

Look at your bank statement (I know, scary, but you can do it!)

Pick ONE money habit from this post to try this week

Set ONE specific financial goal for 2025

See you tomorrow for Day 14! Remember, every financial decision you make today is a gift to your future self.

[comicaurora]

From a writing standpoint, do you think it's *possible* for a character to have a seemingly "story-breaking" power and still be well-written and interesting and fit into the plot without, well, story-breaking?

Sure. Story-breaking powers are entirely relative to the story they're in, because by their nature they can only break certain kinds of stories, and beyond that, the power is conditional to the character and personality of the person using it, who may be entirely unwilling to use it in certain ways.

An example: teleportation is one of the most notorious story-breaking powers. It breaks any story where the character conflict is influenced by the characters needing to get to a specific location. Writers usually mitigate this effect by limiting it in one of a few ways-

The teleporter can't go anywhere they haven't already been (only breaks the story if they aren't trying to go somewhere new)

The teleporter can only go somewhere they can see (only breaks the story if they need to go somewhere close)

The teleporter has a certain amount of juice that they can burn through by bamfing too many times in a row or with too many passengers (only breaks the story if they only need to make a small number of easy jumps to succeed at their task)

The teleporter can't take anyone with them (only breaks the story if they're navigating alone)

The teleporter maintains momentum when they jump (can be rendered unusable if they're moving dangerously fast)

There's plenty of other ways to do it. This approach limits the feasibility of the power, so while it's still storybreaking, it only breaks the story under specific circumstances that are easy for a writer to avoid. Any power will have a set of problems it can solve effortlessly just by its nature, and thus any story whose primary conflict is one of those problems will find the power story-breaking - but every power also has problems it can't solve, so the writer just needs to present the character with challenges that their story-breaking power has no impact on.

There's also the character personality approach. A power can be as OP as the writer wants and it still won't break the story if the wielder has no interest in using it to do so. There's lots of ways to do this, too.

The super OP character literally doesn't care about the protagonist's struggles and will not participate unless somehow forced

The super OP character is a mentor more interested in the protagonist's personal growth than they are in solving their problems for them, and will only intervene if it's life or death

The super OP character's power is capable of incredible destructive violence, but their compassionate and/or pacifistic leanings cause them to dramatically limit their use of it to avoid hurting people

The super OP character doesn't understand the full nature of their abilities and can't use a lot of them on purpose, and the potential consequences of messing up and unleashing something devastating make them reluctant to experiment

The super OP character's power goes from 0 to 100 with no in-between and cannot be used to solve anything that requires any finesse

The super OP character deals with an antagonist who is super OP in the exact same way

The super OP character is deeply unlikable and the protagonists just really can't stand getting their help

The super OP character doesn't like their powerset (gross side effects, doesn't fit their aesthetic, hurts to use, innately evil or drawn from an evil source, reminds them of bad times, etc) and refuses to use it unless they have to

There's a lot of flexibility here, too. The only power that can truly break any story is "the writer says I win now," and it's the writer's job to avoid using that one at all costs.

[anim-ttrpgs]

Who is Yvette and may I please know more about their streaming career? 🙏

Comtesse Yvette Preux is, for lack of a better word, one of the ‘iconic’ investigators/PCs in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy. She appears in a lot of art in the rulebook, as do many of the PCs of the A.N.I.M. team and our friends.

(both by team artist @chaospyromancy)

She’s also the first ever monster PC to ever be played in Eureka, back before Eureka even had official monster PC rules. The incredible success of that campaign is what set the precedent for what monster PC gameplay would come to be in Eureka.

You can read a bit of an origin story for her in this post

In the 2010s and 2020s, she has a fairly successful twitch streaming/influencer career, with her gimmick being that she claims to be a real 800+-year-old vampire, and allegedly never breaks character. Her twitch and YouTube channels cover competitive gaming, challenge runs, advanced math, firearms, and urban exploring.

In-person she is.. a little harder to get along with. She’s.. old-fashioned, and her values are very distinctly those of someone who grew up rich and Catholic in the 1200s, which ironically means she has little in common with a modern “tradcath.”

The contrast between the modern world, the modern world’s pop culture idea of the Middle Ages, and the actual Middle Ages is a major theme in the parts of her story where she’s actually integrating into the society of the 1990s and 21st century.

Many would expect her to be virulently and openly hateful, but that’s the pop culture Middle Ages. The actual Middle Ages were oppressive in different and more interesting ways.

I’ll give a few interesting examples

In the Middle Ages, women were considered the more “lustful” and “sexually aggressive” sex, a bit like men are thought of today. It’s women who were considered basically responsible for lust in the first place, to the point that it was considered a public health issue. Lust with no outlet was thought to be detrimental to one’s overall physical health. Sex or even masturbation was sometimes prescribed by doctors to combat this.

This is a comedic exaggeration/oversimplification but in the medieval world being around women would gradually fill up a Dark Souls-style Lust meter and if you didn’t do anything to reduce it it would take a chunk out of your health, making you sickly and prone to other health problems. Women were more resistant to this because they’re the source of lust in the first place. Medieval women covered their legs and their hair in particular for everyone’s protection.

This manifests in Yvette as her not caring at all about being naked in front of female friends, but being careful not to look too sexy around male friends. And then awkwardly telling them to masturbate later if they need to because it’s better to sin and live than to avoid sin to the detriment of one’s health. (In fact, knowingly damaging one’s health is a sin.)

In the art, you can see her not only wearing pants, but even wearing pants that show her ankles and legs, and wearing her hair down. It took her a long time to get comfortable wearing anything but full-length skirts around men, but these risqué (to her) outfits are symbolizing her character growth from someone who is accommodating to others to a fault, to prioritizing her own comfort, even at cost to others.

In the Middle Ages, they did not conceptualize homosexuality like we do now. No one was gay, and neither was anyone straight. Attraction wasn’t a trait of an individual, it was a fact. Homosexuality wasn’t really considered a thing that you were, it was a thing you do. It’s really hard to explain so I’m just going to hope y’all get it along with the example. Sodomy was sodomy, and that was considered to cover basically any irregular form of sex. Irregular sex between a man and woman was as much sodomy as sex between a man and another man. This also means that there was no presumption of homosexuality in the Middle Ages. You didn’t have to say “no homo” before you touched your same sex friend’s hand. Close friends would kiss each other on the mouth and stuff, and that was considered normal. (Though something you would want to avoid was spending more than a few minutes alone with an opposite-sex friend, because that could be used to call the woman’s virginity into question, which could hurt her eligibility for marriage.)

As Yvette understands it, in the 21st century, people have constructed entire communities around their enjoyment of sodomy, like how she’s a member of the gun club. She has complex feelings about that but it isn’t like she’s never engaged in sodomy before either. (She brought this to confession and did her penance so it’s fine.)

What really aggravates her is how she can’t touch or kiss any of her friends in the 21st century without it being considered sexual.

She argues it’s not “gay” for her to feel attracted to women either, it’s normal. Women are naturally attractive to everyone.

Where it really gets abrasive though is probably the classism. She’s from the noble class and still considers that to really matter, it makes her a little bit better than everyone else, and more qualified to be making decisions for people.

She does love commoners, though. All her friends are commoners, and she’s very protective of them. She’s too autistic to get that noblesse obligé wasn’t supposed to be a real principal she lives by and even back when she was for-real managing a fiefdom she was an advocate for the comfort of the peasantry.

I'm gonna have to stop listing all her quirks here because if I don’t stop then it’ll go on forever. If you want to read some short stories that feature her, subscribe to our Patreon.

I’ll segway by saying that two more major aspects of her are generosity and power. She revels in power in all forms, including the power to solve the problems of people who are helpless to solve them themselves. Like I said, she takes noblesse obligé very seriously. Jesus Christ had the power to multiply the fish and bread for the hungry, so he did. She can help, so she will(whether you like it or not). She hardly even considers it a “duty,” it’s more like why would she ever do anything else? Sometimes this means giving away staggering amounts of money, other (more exciting) times it means getting involved in a Eureka adventure/investigation, the more challenging and dangerous the better, because it makes her even cooler. This is what gets her into Eureka adventures. She’s going to help the helpless, what does it matter if it also fuels her ego?

I also just realized I’ve said very little about her actual twitch streaming career. Like I said, her gimmick is that she’s a real vampire. In the 2010s and 2020s, she is more or less “out” as a vampire, openly identifying herself as such and doing almost nothing to hide any aspect of her vampirism(except the part where she sneaks up on people in the night and drinks their blood, but she doesn’t hide that because it’s a vampire thing, she hides that because it’s an assault charge). Most people just think she’s weird, or really really dedicated to the persona. And if somebody does actually see her not reflecting in a mirror, or some other unexplainable proof of vampirism, what are they going to do? Go online and say “hey everyone I think that this popular e-celebrity whose gimmick is that she says she’s a vampire actually is a real vampire!”? Vampires aren’t real, idiot.

If you want to read short stories about her, you can get them with a $5 subscription to our Patreon,

and she and her exploits in Eureka campaigns are also talked about a lot in the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club.

The Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook will also have a section that will probably be called “the making of a vampire” that will detail some of her actual living life and shine a little more light on how a vampire actually comes to be in Eureka’s world.

[inlovewithpandora]

- Instructions -

Pairing: Hobie x fem!pregnant!reader

Request: [ @spidersthetic ] building a new piece of furniture from a flat pack together w Hobie || Ok, so what I was thinking for this was reader is pregnant and they're setting up the nursery and Hobie claims to know how to build the crib without the instructions and she doubts he can but enjoys the show as he struggles so like 10 minutes later, he gives up and asks her to give him the instructions and she tries not to laugh and comforts him a little.

Synopsis: Hobie tries to put together your child’s crib but it doesn’t goes the way he planned in his head.

Content: fluff, established relationship, Hobie trying to avoid instructions at all costs, reader supporting him no matter what, small Miguel diss, Reader being a cutie, cute and fluffy pregnancy fic

Author’s Note: I had fun writing this! This is my first time writing for astv or anything outside of avatar so I hope you all enjoy this!

- Shoutout to @spidersthetic for all her encouraging words and helping me while I’ve been making my transition to writing for astv! If it wasn’t for her sending me prompts/requests I wouldn’t have known what to write!

Word Count: 710

Extra: Requests are closed! || Likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated❤️!

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“Hobie, baby, can you please just read the instructions? I’ve been sitting in here with you for half an hour and nothing is done.”

“I told you I don’t need instructions. I got this. Don’t you have faith in your man?” His overconfident smile rises as he walks over and plants a kiss on your forehead to reassure you that he could handle this since in his eyes, it’s a minuscule task.

You shake your head, a chuckle emerging from your lips, knowing that this was going to go the opposite of what Hobie has in mind. “You’re right baby. I’m sorry, you got this!” You give him a wide smile along with two thumbs up to emphasize your support, and settle back to watching him once again attempt to put together your unborn child’s crib.

It’s been ten minutes since his last attempt, and just like you assumed it isn’t going well. However you wouldn’t deny that it was currently your source of entertainment. Hobie has multiple pieces scattered around the nursery; screws, and bolts attached to parts they shouldn’t be. And he looks by all means confused about how to assemble the crib.

As Hobie continues trying to figure out which part goes where, he starts growing frustrated. Each time he puts two pieces together, they don’t fit or the screw doesn’t align properly, which makes him groan as the feeling of aggravation arises a tad more with each passing failure.

You know he’s struggling and that he needs the instructions, but due to his stubbornness being mixed with a sense of determination, he doesn’t give up, at least for about another fifteen minutes.

“Can you pass me the bloody instructions?” He grumbles, hating the fact he has to admit defeat and cave to using someone else’s ideology of how to build a piece of furniture.

Looking at the scowl formed on his lips makes you want to burst with laughter, but you implement all your self-restraint and bury it deep down, knowing that it would only make him feel worse about not being able to complete the task solely on his own.“Here,” you hand him the pamphlet of instructions, “Honey, it’s okay to use the instructions, you know. I heard that Miguel had to use instructions to work the majority of technology in Spider-HQ even though he acts like he knows everything like the back of his hand.” You say in a playful tone, knowing how much Hobie dislikes Miguel and enjoys hearing stories about his screw ups.

“Really? Well, that does make sense. He is almost ancient at this point. I don’t see why he doesn’t retire and live a regular life instead of chasing Miles around Earth-928B like a madman.” He can’t help letting the laugh rise, thinking about how Miles blasted and defeated Miguel in front of everyone.

“Yes! So my point is that it’s okay to use instructions. They're here for a reason, which is to help.” You rub his back gently, hoping this will help lessen his complaints.

“You’re right, I’ll use the instructions.” He opens the pamphlet and begins to correctly assemble the crib, which makes you happy since you’ve been wanting this to finally be completed with the baby just a few months away from arriving.

“See, baby, your daddy is finally getting it done. He just needed a little kick in the pants from mommy.” You giggle softly to yourself as you rub your baby bump and watch Hobie make the final adjustments on the crib.

“How does it look?” He asks, inspecting the fully assembled crib in the corner of the nursery.

“Perfect, Hobie. I knew you could get it done!”

I hope you enjoyed❤️!

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Editor - @justmemyselfandthemoon

Taglist: @inspace1 @number1gal @phoenixx69 @savagemickey03 @soilmayo @gamerxpfighter

©️inlovewithpandora ━━━ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 | All rights reserved. Do not repost, reupload, translate, modify, or claim my work as your own.

[plethoraworldatlas]

In reading Marcia's review of her experience with Shadowdark, I contemplated on how I run my own OSE games. This is also fresh on my mind because I am running Miranda Elkins' fantastic Nightwick. Its all about distilling things down to the interesting choice and eliminating the non-interesting one.

Basic Equipment: I am thinking about charging my players a flat rate for all basic dungeoneering equipment that is rolled into weekly expenses-- so 7sp a week for expenses plus ~3-5sp for pick of equipment

Not interesting:  Cost of equipment, especially down to coppers

Interesting: Scarcity (what if there is no 50' rope this week?) and how many slots PC dedicates to basic equipment

Light: Due to torch cost and number per slot, it is easy to carry a lot of torches.

Not interesting: Carrying enough light to last 12-24 turns- easily done

Interesting: When torches extinguish-- like in the middle of a fight or when the goblins you are negotiating with get mad; how many hands in the party are occupied by torches

This is why I prefer to use the overloaded encounter die to simulate inopportune moments when a torch is snuffed out- gust of wind, dripping slime, bucket of sand thrown by a sneaky goblin. And with regards to hands, holding a torch potentially lowers AC, removes a weapon, or makes spell casting delayed (need both hands). One saving grace: torches are an improvised weapon that do 1d4 dmg and are on fire.

Stuck Doors: I now commonly interpret the 2-in-6 chance as a basic surprise roll. If they players fail it, they make a loud noise and alert anything on the other side of the door, but open it next round.

Not interesting: Rolling a d6 over and over again to see if PCs finally break down a door

Interesting: Seeing if PC get surprise on whatever is on the otherside; if additional equipment is brought to deal with doors

I usually like the idea that a crowbar allows and additional 1d6 rolled per individual with one.

Rations: This is similar to the situation with light, its easy to carry enough food/water for 2-4 hours which is more likely the time frame of a dungeon delve-- not a camping trip.

Not interesting: Tracking both food and water separately for nominal circumstances

Interesting: How many PCs carry rations; will rations be used for other things (like distracting monsters) or saved to avoid fatigue

For me the nature of rations are both food and water abstracted. So if a player want to use food as a distraction, mark off 1 rations. If a player wants to douse a small fire, use 2 rations as you frantically empty out a water skin and try to put out the fire consuming the spell book.

Secret Doors & Traps:  Two dungeon features that are opposite sides of the same coin. Really I think Chris McDowall has written some of the best bits on this that boil down to "traps are puzzles" and not really "gotcha".

Not interesting: Situations where the PCs have to pick the exact right spot and roll a 1-2 in 6

Interesting: Adding in environmental clues or other sources of information that allows discovery by players investigating the fictional environment

Now, I will keep both rolls as a back-up for either PCs not having a good idea and/or a back-up for perhaps me being unable to convey the fictional environment properly in the moment.

Weapons: I've yet to find a really good way to do weapons simply outside of 1d6 damage for all types. I don't mind BX's variable weapon damage. And I do like some old rulesets sorta "first strike" if your weapon is larger than an opponents other wise smaller, lighter weapons strike first in subsequent arounds.

So here is what I have got so far: Using a weapon two-handed is a +1 to damage, using an off-hand weapon is +1 to-hit, and a shield is of course +1 AC. I do like that fighters with bows can shoot twice if they did not move and the "cleave" ability.

Not interesting: Weapon factors that are so extensive they require a separate rules discussion, trigger player obsession, and/or orient the whole of gameplay to combat

Interesting: What PCs chose to do with their hands: more armor, more weapons, or more light

So that is it for now, if you'd like to see more of my house rules here is my post on the Serpent Song Hymnal. I hope to have a sorta player version created sometime soon but I'm still trying to dial-in what my go-to "french vanilla" D&D is like.

[armoricaroyalty]

Film Grammar for Simmers

What is film grammar?

"Film grammar" refers the unstated "rules" of editing used in movies and TV. Different types of shots have different associations and are used by editors to convey different types of information to the audience. Many of these principles were first described in the early 20th century by Soviet directors, but they're used consistently across genre, medium, and even language: Bollywood musicals, English period dramas, Korean horror movies, and American action blockbusters all use many of the same techniques.

Because these rules are so universal, virtually everyone has some internalized understanding of them. Even if they can’t name the different types of shots or explain how editors use images to construct meaning, the average person can tell when the “rules” are being broken. If you’ve ever thought a movie or episode of TV was confusing without being able to say why, there’s a good chance that there was something off with the editing.

Learning and applying the basics of film grammar can give your story a slicker and more-polished feel, without having to download shaders or spend hours in photoshop. It also has the bonus of enhancing readability by allowing your audience to use their knowledge of film and TV to understand what's happening in your story. You can use it to call attention to significant plot details and avoid introducing confusion through unclear visual language.

Best of all, it doesn't cost a dime.

The basics: types of shots

Shots are the basic building block of film. In Sims storytelling, a single shot is analogous to a single screenshot. In film, different types of shots are distinguished by the position of the camera relative to the subject. There are three big categories of shots, with some variation: long shots (LS), medium shots (MS), and close-ups (CU). This diagram, created by Daniel Chandler and hosted on visual-memory.co.uk illustrates the difference:

Source: The 'Grammar' of Television and Film, Daniel Chandler, visual-memory.co.uk. Link.

In film, scenes typically progress through the different types of shots in sequence: long shot, medium shot, close-up. When a new scene begins and the characters arrive in a new location, we typically begin with a wide establishing shot of the building’s exterior to show the audience where the scene will be taking place. Next comes a long shot of an interior space, which tells the where the characters are positioned relative to one another. The next shot is a medium shot of the characters conversing, and then finally, a close-up as the conversation reaches its emotional or informational climax. Insert shots are used judiciously throughout to establish themes or offer visual exposition.

Here's another visual guide to the different types of shots, illustrated with stills from Disney animated films.

This guide is almost 2,000 words long! To save your dash, I've put the meat of it under the cut.

Long shot and extreme long shots

A long shot (sometimes also called a wide shot) is one where the entire subject (usually a building, person, or group of people) is visible within the frame. The camera is positioned far away from the subject, prioritizing the details of the background over the details of the subject.

One of the most common uses of long shots and extreme long shots are establishing shots. An establishing shot is the first shot in a scene, and it sets the tone for the scene and is intended to give the viewer the information they’ll need to follow the scene: where a scene is taking place, who is in the scene, and where they are positioned in relation to one another. Without an establishing shot, a scene can feel ungrounded or “floaty.” Readers will have a harder time understanding what’s happening in the scene because on some level, they’ll be trying to puzzle out the answers to the who and where questions, distracting them from the most important questions: what is happening and why?

(I actually like to start my scenes with two establishing shots: an environmental shot focusing on the scenery, and then a second shot that establishes the characters and their position within the space.)

Long shots and extreme long shots have other uses, as well. Because the subject is small relative to their surroundings, they have an impersonal effect which can be used for comedy or tragedy.

In Fargo (1996) uses an extreme long shot to visually illustrate the main character’s sense of defeat after failing to secure funding for a business deal.The shot begins with a car in an empty parking lot, and then we see the protagonist make his way up from the bottom of the frame. He is alone in the shot, he is small, and the camera is positioned above him, looking down from a god-like perspective. All of these factors work together to convey his emotional state: he’s small, he’s alone, and in this moment, we are literally looking down on him. This shot effectively conveys how powerless he feels without any dialogue or even showing his face.

The same impersonal effect can also be used for comic purposes. If a character says something stupid or fails to impress other characters, cutting directly from a close-up to a long shot has a visual effect akin to chirping crickets. In this instance, a long shot serves as a visual “wait, what?” and invites the audience to laugh at the character rather than with them.

Medium Shots

Medium shots are “neutral” in filmmaking. Long shots and close-ups convey special meaning in their choice to focus on either the subject or the background, but a medium shot is balanced, giving equal focus to the character and their surroundings. In a medium shot, the character takes up 50% of the frame. They’re typically depicted from the waist-up and the audience can see both their face and hands, allowing the audience to see the character's facial expression and read their body-language, both important for interpreting meaning.

In most movies and TV shows, medium shots are the bread and butter of dialogue-heavy scenes, with close-ups, long shots, and inserts used for punctuation and emphasis. If you’re closely following the conventions of filmmaking, most of your dialogue scenes will be medium shots following the convention of shot-reverse shot:

To keep long conversations from feeling too visually monotonous, consider staging the scene as a walk-and-talk. Having two characters move through a space can add a lot of dynamism and visual interest to a scene that might otherwise feel boring or stiff.

Close Ups

Close-ups are close shots of a character’s face. The camera is positioned relatively near to the subject, showing just their head and shoulders. In a close-up, we don’t see any details of the background or the expressions of other characters.

In film, close-ups are used for emphasis. If a character is experiencing a strong emotion or delivering an important line of dialogue, a close-up underscores the importance of the moment by inviting the audience to focus only on the character and their emotion.

Close-ups don’t necessarily need to focus on the speaker. If the important thing about a line of dialogue is another character’s reaction to it, a close-up of the reaction is more effective than a close-up of the delivery.

One of the most iconic shots in Parasite (2019) is of the protagonist driving his employer around while she sits in the backseat, speaking on the phone. Even though she’s the one speaking, the details of her conversation matter less than the protagonist’s reaction to it. While she chatters obliviously in the background, we focus on the protagonist’s disgruntled, resentful response to her thoughtless words and behavior.

In my opinion, Simblr really overuses close-ups in dialogue. A lot of conversation scenes are framed entirely in close-ups, which has the same effect of highlighting an entire page in a textbook. The reader can’t actually tell what information is important, because the visuals are screaming that everything is important. Overusing close-ups also cuts the viewer off from the character’s body language and prevents them from learning anything about the character via their surroundings.

For example, a scene set in someone’s bedroom is a great opportunity for some subtle characterization—is it tidy or messy? what kind of decor have they chosen? do they have a gaming computer, a guitar, an overflowing bookshelf?—but if the author chooses to use only close-ups, we lose out on a chance to get to know the character via indirect means.

Inserts

An insert shot is when a shot of something other than a character’s face is inserted into a scene. Often, inserts are close-ups of a character’s hands or an object in the background. Insert shots can also be used to show us what a character is looking at or focusing on.

In rom-com The Prince & Me (2004) (see? I don’t just watch crime dramas…) the male lead is in an important meeting. We see him pick up a pen, look down at the papers in front of him, and apparently begin taking notes, but then we cut to an insert shot of his information packet. He’s doodling pictures of sports cars and is entirely disengaged from the conversation. Every other shot in the scene is an establishing shot or a medium shot or a close-up of someone speaking, but this insert gives us insight into the lead’s state of mind: he doesn’t want to be there and he isn’t paying attention.

Insert shots are, in my opinion, also used ineffectively on Simblr. A good insert gives us extra insight into what a character is thinking or focusing on, but a poorly-used insert feels…unfocused. A good insert might focus on pill bottles on a character’s desk to suggest a chemical dependency, on a family picture to suggest duty and loyalty, on a clock to suggest a time constraint, on a pile of dirty laundry or unanswered letters to suggest a character is struggling to keep up with their responsibilities. An ineffective insert shot might focus on the flowers in the background because they’re pretty, on a character’s hands because it seems artsy, on the place settings on a dining table because you spent forever placing each one individually and you’ll be damned if they don’t make it into the scene. These things might be lovely and they might break up a monotonous conversation and they might represent a lot of time and effort, but if they don’t contribute any meaning to a scene, consider cutting or repurposing them.

I want to emphasize: insert shots aren’t bad, but they should be carefully chosen to ensure they’re enhancing the meaning of the scene. Haphazard insert shots are distracting and can interfere with your reader’s ability to understand what is happening and why.

Putting it all together

One of the most basic principles of film theory is the Kuleshov effect, the idea that meaning in film comes from the interaction of two shots in sequence, and not from any single shot by itself. In the prototypical example, cutting from a close-up of a person’s neutral expression to a bowl of soup, children playing, or soldiers in a field suggests hunger, worry, or fear, respectively.

The Kuleshov effect is the essence of visual storytelling in a medium like Simblr. You can elevate your storytelling by thinking not only about each individual shot, but about the way they’ll interact and flow into one another.

Mastering the basics of film grammar is a great (free!) way to take your storytelling to the next level. To learn more, you can find tons of guides and explainers about film grammar for free online, and your local library doubtless has books that explain the same principles and offers additional analysis.

Happy simming!

[medeaaa]

I rlly need a fic of viktor and jayce becoming like the power couple of piltover in like the hexgates years

(I knowwww it would be antithetical and reductive of arcane’s themes of isolation and structural oppression regarding viktor ikkk but I want it anyway)(but honestly I think it could be done well in regards to that anyway - think the cost of sacrificing your sense of self and identity in order to fit into a world that fundamentally opposes it, and then being rewarded for it, like I’m thinking about how in the show I think we get hints that viktor holds very true to the parts of him that were forged in the undercity in that he always brings up that the point of science should be to ‘change lives’ and ‘help people’ clearly thinking of his own upbringing and the people in Zaun, as well as how he seems completely detached from the wealthy piltover social scene unlike jayce, and while this is definitely in part due to classist prejudice, I also think Viktor actively shuns the elite and sees them as a source of people’s suffering. It’s also his willingness to hold true to his undercity character that I think makes piltovans avoid and disregard him.

So think if the inverse happened, if viktor caved to the pressures of piltovan social pressure and tried to actively change and hide aspects of himself that the upper class piltovans found distasteful. A bit like jayce in a sense where he’s paraded around and has to change himself to appeal to the council and investors. Like what happens when they both get to be the centre of all this attention and praise and pressure and gossip. If they’re treated like a celebrity couple and they’re both become transformed into symbols of innovation and progress that is simultaneously elevating and dehumanising. And the thing is Viktor would never truly ever feel like he succeeded in fitting in, because he would always be viewed a little bit differently due to his background (I wonder the kind of narratives that piltovans would impose on his story in this scenario if it would be sort of poverty porn esque, the underdog, or the ‘good zaunite’ following what I think arcane behind to explore in s2 with vi’s character) and his disability. But also because Viktor would always have to actively choose to play this part and play at social customs and culture that are not native to him and there would be this constant paranoia or imposter syndrome, where he worries that people can see right through him and are questioning the validity of his apparent acceptance into piltovan society

And also how this would splinter into their relationship and how jayce and viktor would have this joint pressure - would it be easier with them both carrying it, or would resentment of the respective roles they have to play seep into their relationship and interactions with each other? Would there be a fundamental misunderstanding on Jaycee’s part on what exactly it means for viktor to try and assimilate into piltovan society, a society that would be actively hostile to him otherwise?

Idk this started with me just wanting some fluff and it ended up spiralling into this lmao

[rurikooz]

you never thought that there’d come a time where your heart was really broken. especially not by someone you’ve known for 12 years.

“ah, so you and emma…date?” you stood still, looking down at the ground. draken nodded, and you stopped yourself from crying. “yeah, why?” he raised an eyebrow. “it’s n-nothing, I’ll see you tomorrow at the meeting okay?” you turned around to walk away, but he grabbed your hand and turned you around. “what’s wrong. you can tell me anything.” you looked away from him, forcing him to let go of your hand. “please, d-don’t do this…” tears streamed down your face.

he’d never seen you cry before, and his eyes widened slowly. “are you crying..?” he asked softly. you walked away from him, speeding up from jogging to running. you couldn’t face him anymore. the next day, when you went to the meeting, he was sitting with emma and hugging on her. “mikey, can I head on home, I-I’m not feeling well..”

draken could tell you lied, he was your best friend after all. “hey, can we talk?” he followed you out the door, but you kept walking and trying to avoid him at all costs. “I said let’s talk.” he grabbed your shoulder, and pinned you to the wall. “is it because me and emma are dating?” he asked softly. you couldn’t even cry anymore. you just nodded, looking at him with a soft expression. “y’know ken, I was ready to give my everything to you, like I have been for 12 years but…you’d rather choose emma so there’s nothing I can say to you.”

he was speechless, eyes shaking while thinking of what to say. “I…i don’t, I didn’t…”

“what didn’t you? I gave my fucking heart to you, and you do this to me?”

part 2 soon whores 😻.

edit: pt 2 is out!

https://www.tumblr.com/merakicard/733739854775582720/after-he-rejected-you-you-couldnt-bear-to-see?source=share

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 428: Night of the Kouhai

Previously on BnHA: Well at least Spinner is sort of kind of doing okay??

Today on BnHA: I see the check that I sent to Horikoshi finally cleared.

okay first things first, you all know how it is right. I’ve never made a secret of my Kacchan bias on this blog. I promise you I did actually write a recap to 426 and 427 as well, but both of those chapters went HEAVY on the themes and drama and philosophical shit, and my reactions were kind of all over the place, and the Todoroki one in particular was like a million words wrong and it needs a shit ton of editing which I don’t know when I’ll have the spoons for

on the other hand however, a chapter like this which features class 2A cuteness and an absolutely unreasonable amount of Kacchan character development fanservice to hyperfixate on, takes absolutely no spoons at all and in fact actively recharges some of my spoons, so yeah. here we are

anyway so when we last left off Kacchan and Shouto were in terrible danger from a threat more terrifying than any they’ve ever encountered before. so I already knew this chapter was going to be great

“IIDA IS BIG AND STRONG AND AUTHORITATIVE, LET’S HIDE BEHIND HIM, HE WILL PROTECT US” everyone, I’m delighted to announce that the BnHA manga ending arc, despite having its ups and downs until this point, has officially been saved thanks to this panel right here. pack it up folks. this was officially a sweeping success. this panel brought Tomura back to life and teleported Touya’s mind back into his childhood self from roughly ten years ago time travel fix-it style. Horikoshi you beautiful bastard

Shouto trying to explain that he can handle them one on one but just not ALL TOGETHER IN THIS TERRIFYING SWARM LIKE THIS... buddy you don’t have to explain yourself sob. or is he trying to negotiate with them??

meanwhile Kacchan skips the negotiations entirely because he’s already assessed the situation and knows that the best way to handle this is to appeal to Iida Tenya’s boundless love of regulation and social order

y’all it’s killing me that this boy can handle being LITERALLY MURDERED by the greatest evil the world has ever known. but a group of admiring fifteen year old kouhais? no sir. that’s where he taps out

“but I thought Bakugou liked attention” yes well, you see, Shinsou, it’s kinda a “monkey’s paw curls” sort of thing

Kaminari with the BLACK SPEECH BUBBLE lmfao. FRIENDSHIP WITH KACCHAN HAS BEEN CANCELLED. NOW MIDORIYA IS MY BEST FRIEND

“well you see up until recently the ladies all thought Kacchan was a feral troll so they avoided him at all costs” wow Deku this man literally died for you and you just throw him under the bus with zero hesitation just like that

“SOURCE: ME, HIS CHILDHOOD FRIEND” just adding in his credentials in that little footnote there lest anyone question his authority on the subject

wait so is Shinsou surprised that girls used to not like Kacchan? or is he surprised that Kacchan and Deku were childhood friends? I can see how the latter might be surprising (oh Shinsou, sometimes I forget that you effectively just got here. we have so much to catch you up on. you will not BELIEVE how badly the two of these kids just want to hold hands all the time), but ngl, I’m rooting for the former just for the implications. “you’re seriously telling me a certified ten like him never had any girls interested in him?”

Horikoshi, hear me out, I know there are only two chapters left after this, and they’ve both already been written. but if you wanted to rewrite one of them at the last minute in order to add about a dozen more pages solely dedicated to Shinsou interrogating the rest of class 2A about Kacchan’s love life, out of what he insists is just innocent curiosity with no ulterior motives. well, I would not complain about that

anyway so yes Shinsou he is still single, for now. though I don’t really think it’s the girls you need to be worried about

meanwhile Mineta is all, “I just wanted to let all of you know MY opinion, which is that Bakugou isn’t morally upstanding enough for my delicate sensibilities.” yes you heard that right. Mineta of all people is weighing in on which personalities are deserving of being popular. that’s some audacity right there

A WILD DEKU FANBOY APPEARS???!

“IT GAVE ME COURAGE” omg yesssssss. jotting this down for essay material at some future point in time!! because THIS. this right here is the true “what it means to be a hero” in my opinion. a hero is someone who brings reassurance, yes. someone who makes people feel safe. but I think a hero should also be someone who makes people feel brave. someone who inspires other people to be heroic in turn. so yes, this, all of this, inject it into my veins. wtg Deku

having an official fanboy apparently broke Deku’s brain. hang in there bud. I know you’ve still got villain angst to work through, but try to enjoy this. you’re allowed to have nice things

IS MINETA STRANGLING KACCHAN BY HIS FUCKING TIE OMFG. THAT’S WHY HE NEVER USED TO WEAR THEM. also you’ve worn my patience down all the way now Mineta. get the fuck out of my blog

also Kacchan successfully beat the shit out of him with his ONE GOOD ARM so take that Mineta

also shoutout to this KiriBaku moment right here which feels like the first time we’ve had the two of them together in ages. good stuff

I’m LOVING this panel of Ochako staring at Deku all indecipherably, but ngl it’s also giving me just the slightest bit of anxiety, because does this mean we’re finally gonna get answers on what ultimately happened to Toga. it better not be sad. please don’t ruin my happy chapter with depressing things Horikoshi

“tell them no” OH MY GOD AIZAWA’S TURNING DOWN ALL THE INTERVIEW REQUESTS FOR HIS KIDS SO THEY CAN JUST BE KIDS AGAIN FOR A LITTLE WHILE nooooo what is this. “yeah but I’m prioritizing the kids who aren’t up for dishing to the media about all of their horrific trauma.” omfg. it’s been too long since my last Dadzawa feels. I wasn’t ready after all this time

you guys Izuku finally got a new hero costume that’s not in tatters after all this time. all it took was his old costume getting literally torn to shreds. and now he’s back to looking twelve years old again lol

JEANIST AND FATGUM REUNION?!?! RETURN OF KACCHAN’S THIRD DAD, AND A SECOND WACKY UNCLE TO BACK UP GOOD OLD MIC? GOD BLESS

FAT HIRED TAMAKI AS A SIDEKICK D’AWWWW

now they’re putting the kids to work. glorified janitorial duty. Deku you better not be using up any more of your embers on this sob

this motherfucker did not just liken my baby boy Kacchan to “distressed denim” omg. we have less than three chapters left and we’re spending our hard-earned time on this and I TRULY WOULD NOT CHANGE A SINGLE THING

“Kacchan on light duty” PROTECT HIM!!! don’t think I don’t see you over there too in the background, Aizawa. he’s surrounded by dads. they’re not letting him out of their sight again until he’s thirty

meanwhile he’s out here quietly sorting through trash with his one good hand without complaint and without even the barest hint of a gremlin face. with his half-and-half costume so we can’t see how fucked up his arm is. AND NO MORE MASK. we burned the mask. my thank you letters are in the mail, Horikoshi. and you too TomurAFO, this was your actual greatest contribution to society

ANOTHER DAD?!?!?!

dfjsdlfksldkfjl

“don’t worry, I’m gradually recovering” fsdfkslfkj r.i.p. my ability to take this man seriously ever again. do you think his voice is like the normal sexy Edgeshot ASMR voice except all high-pitched like a squirrel in a Disney princess movie. it is, isn’t it

he can make hands now. buddy you’re amazing. mvp of the entire fucking manga. my son literally owes you his life. please let me see you sitting Jeanist’s shoulder like a parrot before this wonderful glorious chapter ends

Kacchan’s little cheek scar is somehow both badass and adorable at the same time. I can’t stress how fucking much this chapter is just surrounding me with “protect him at all costs” feelings.

MORE SOFT KACCHAN FEELS ON THE NEXT PAGE BECAUSE HORIKOSHI WROTE THIS CHAPTER SPECIFICALLY FOR ME, THANK YOU SO MUCH

“are you... [ever] gonna go back to normal?” because if not he’s gonna cry himself to sleep every night for the rest of his life!! no big!! YOU WOULDN’T DO THAT TO HIM WOULD YOU EDGESHOT?

NO HE WOULD NOT. THANK YOU EDGESHOT. ONCE AGAIN YOU ARE A REAL ONE

...or wait. so does he mean he is indeed going to go back to normal eventually? or is it that he’s embracing this new form as an exciting new evolution, hence the “even further”? it kind of feels like the latter, ngl. especially with this weird sad little smile Kacchan gives in response... fuck me. what the hell am I gonna do when this series ends in two weeks. nobody can rip my soul to pieces as utterly and effortlessly as Horikoshi does, man

THEY MADE THE KIDS LUNCH AWWWW. though in fairness there’s something seriously messed up with Japan if any of these kids ever has to pay for another meal again for the REST OF THEIR LIVES. like come on

noooooo goddammit I’m tired of seeing Izuku quietly despairing over things that AREN’T HIS FAULT

I am glad to see this side of the civilian population, though. sure have come a long way since the low point that was the U.A. clown mob. I like this a whole lot better ngl

what’s up with this mysterious bus all of a sudden

OH MY GOD THEY’RE BACK LMAO. QUICKLY BAKUDADS. form a perimeter

they’re apologizing again dsfkjlskdfjlsfd THEY DIDN’T EVEN CONSIDER EVERYONE’S CIRCUMSTANCES!!! holy shit these first years are all collectively my new favorite character

Cementoss couldn’t take the pressure omfg. is this your first year as a homeroom teacher?? YOU CAN MAKE ANYTHING OUT OF CEMENT BUT CAN YOU MAKE YOURSELF A FREAKING SPINE, CEMENTOSS. I love him

Cementoss is telling them to go work in the corner so they don’t bother everyone else lmao. stuck them as far away from Kacchan as possible. good looking out, Cementoss. how many dads are we up to now?? five? six if we count Iida????

“hey so anyway what actually is up with these fucking kouhai though” I don’t know but my greatest regret is that this only became a thing three chapters before the series finale. where has this nonsense been all my life

“I don’t really understand” me neither fella but here in BnHA land we just roll with it

now we’re cutting back to Ochako who’s making yet another mysterious face that makes me think she knows perfectly well how much we all want to know whether Toga is alive or not, and she’s deliberately dragging it out just to fuck with us

okay I honestly can’t tell if Ochako is being fake cheerful or genuinely cheerful. but it’s definitely fake cheerful right??

aaaaand there’s a close up of Deku with FULL LIGHT back in his eyes like the clouds just parted for the first time in an age. accompanied by a THROB sound effect. ohhhh buddy. did my boy just have a hormone. is it finally that time

THEY’RE LETTING THE KIDS GO BACK HOME OMG. if they want. awwww. r.i.p. fanfic dorms. poor Shinsou missing out ONCE AGAIN

THEY DIDN’T CATCH THE CONCLUSION OF THE TOGACHAKO FIGHT ON FILM??! oh hell no. that settles it, she’s definitely still alive

tell me this cheeky motherfucker (Horikoshi, not Ochako lol) isn’t going to try and actually END THE SERIES with Toga’s fate still all ~mysterious~ and ~up in the air~ like I’m starting to get the sneaking suspicion that he’s doing

HORIKOSHI I SAID I DIDN’T WANT A DEPRESSING CHAPTER WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME WITH THESE FEELS AFTER I LET MY GUARD DOWN

YOU REALLY GAVE MY GIRL A SYMBOLIC FRODO STYLE ANGSTY STAB WOUND SO SHE CAN NEVER FORGET THE PAIN OF THAT DAY ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW WITH THIS

DEKU AHHHHHH

oh my god lol. I’m so curious what’s going to happen next week. my money for the record is on them bonding in a STRICTLY PLATONIC WAY over their respective dead(!??!?!) villains rather than a Romance Thing happening. but I wouldn’t be bothered if they do go there though just so long as we don’t get any timeskip epilogues where they’ve all got fucking kids and such now. don’t you do that to me Horikoshi Kouhei. I swear to god two chapters left omfg. this is really happening. the inexorable march of time etc. etc. ahhhhhhhhh

[pm-my-beloved]

Ryoshu - Thoracalgia

And further down, Sleeping Bag of a Bygone Day speculation.

I am done with exams, and thus, I can write about one of my fav's EGO.

First, we need to gather some starting point data.

I'd like to point out that the abnormality itself is primarily skeletal, literally spine, skull and ribs, housing within a shadowy figure (or the sinner)

Moving onto the name itself, Thoracalgia is a medical term for chest pain and discomfort. While usually it is due to heart related problems, there is a significant amount of cases where the source of the pain is skeletal.

And now third aspect of the abnormality before I can start making conclusions, association with breathing. Nebulizer is a type of medical equipment used for application of oxygen and or medicine in form of a liquid mist to be absorbed within lungs. Oftentimes it is to reduce pain of breathing in patients with chest-pains

Here, is the first conclusion/assumption I want to make. I believe that Thorocalgia and Sleeping Bag overall, represent treatment of symptoms without fixing underlying issues. The heavily skeletal design of the abnormality makes me believe that it's supposed to imply that the source of pain is deepest possible, down to ones bones, and because of that, tools such as nebulizers simply minimize the pain.

Now, how does that apply to Ryoshu? While it is not explicitly stated by the game, I believe Ryoshu's personality, and strong avoidance of "Gloom" in her kit, is characterised primarily by thrill seeking behaviour to avoid confronting and processing one's hurt. That to me, feels like the exact type of behaviour I described for Sleeping Bag.

Now let's move onto EGO lines for further delve into that. With that in mind, I also want to highlight that generally Ryoshu seems to be the least affected/Least revealing with her EGO lines out of any sinners in my opinion, which makes her lines here all the more interesting.

First thing to look at, or rather hear, is that unlike her usual EGO lines, they are unusually low, somber, serious. Then, the text itself. "I was only reaching out to grasp onto something, anything." That is, the most open and introspective thing we have ever heard from Ryoshu, and I believe, shows that she is aware, that what she does is not a cure for her pain, simply a band-aid on the gaping wound. As they say, a drowning man will grab even a razor.

I honestly think this is simply further admission, that despite all her thrill seeking behaviour, all the bravado and appearances of confidence and pleasure from art, she is in pain over her past.

Next point of interest, is her appearance while using the EGO.

The two points of interest for me are : How her left side blades/ribs are burnt/dissolved, and how her outfit is quite literally, a straight-jacket, including having covered her left eye. I think both of them point towards Ryoshu's behavior ruining her body, almost in a death wish attempt to make her physical self be as scarred as her soul. An interesting note on that that someone pointed out to me while writing this, is that there is a simmilar relation in her sinner Icon, with her left side being more directly broken/shattered.

Next thing to point out is the EGO cost

1 Lust - I think lust in this case represents the pursuit of momentary pleasures 1 Wrath - This imho stands for the other side of the coin, as her awakening line says, among things she held onto resentment, as one of the things to keep her afloat. 5 Pride - As many times I have said, Pride stands for Conviction and Certainty. With Ryoshu having Pride s3, and this EGO being so pride-centric in general, I think this stands for Ryoshu's complete stubborness about the path she has taken, refusal to change her path, even if she is aware it is a flawed one. Now, Resistances

Starting with fatalities, Gluttony fatality in combination with sloth fatality reinforces my previous points, with her constantly seeking stimulation (Gluttony), in order to avoid dealing with her pain (Sloth). Pride ineffective reinforces my point from Pride cost, and wrath endurance imho signifies that while she is avoidant of the feelings, she does not actively repress them, rather, simply avoids thinking about them.

Now onto the, in my opinion, more difficult task.

Sleeping Bag of a Bygone Day

Operating with information we got through the EGO, I'd like to make additional exploration into the abnormality itself.

Starting with appearance, it still is skeletal, but the appearance is more akin to a cocoon or, as the name says, sleeping bag. On top of that, it is placed between floating medical equipment. Funnily enough, it seems to be on the ceiling, as the "floor" it stands on has ceiling lights characteristic of hospitals or research spaces.

Lets move onto the MD event, rather than the abnormality name, as the latter will be easier to read into with all information gathered

One thing I want to preface with is that, with abnormalities, sometimes the choices that reward us are not the choices that are "right" or "Correct", but rather, those that feed into the confirmation bias of an abnormality or directly harm it.

With that in mind, first thing to note that when doing this check, we are not interacting with the shadow, rather only the skeleton. The check itself is gloom/pride favoring, which in my opinion reflects the abnormalities confirmation bias, certainty that alleviation of symptom will be what brings relief. The check passed variant speaks nothing of the abnormality being cured of its ailment, rather, it only gave it a temporary relief, a singular breath without pain. Check failed on the other hand shows the futility of the treatment, as it did not touch upon the underlying cause.

This check is in my opinion more difficult to analyse, but my theory as of now is such.

Option one, is that the shadow is the source of pain, that it's us keeping and dragging and clinging onto past events, refusing to move on from them that is the reason for hurt, but it became such strong part of us that we are incapable of getting rid of it, for without it we remain only a hollow shell.

Option two, is that the shadow IS the self inhabiting the body, experiencing the pain, but upon belief that everything we do to cover the wound is futile, it simply fades away, because non-existence is better than suffering. This one has additional backing because of check failed result from the other option saying "Perhaps the liberation is nigh", implying death as a desirable state. The option two is additionally interesting for me in context of Ryoshu being inspired by Buddhist based texts, with Nirvana, aka non-existence, being seen as the ultimate pursuit of a human. Now, lets finally move onto the name, Sleeping Bag of a Bygone Day. If we go with interpretation number one, it suggests that it's about refusal to wake up from a dream, or rather a nightmare of ones past. Interpretation two is more like it becoming a place of final rest, a sleeping bag to fall into oblivion, leaving the days of the past behind.

I will not lie, half of this stuff I came up with WHILE writing this, so there might be some internal inconsistencies, so feel absolutely free to disagree and show your own interpretation, or add something I missed.

[freshhluvs]

THE MIDNIGHT GAME

Characters: Chris, Matt, Nick, Nate, Madi

Trigger warnings: blood (finger pricking), paranormal activity, horror game, panic attack?

"Okay, so who's playing?" Chris walks into the living room whilst throwing a shirt on.

It's completely dark outside, the sky being clear without a single star and only the moon can be seen in the midst of some clouds.

"We're not gonna play that shit," Nick shakes his head as he plops down onto one of the couches, sitting right next to Madi.

"Why not?" Nate asks curiously, picking up the parchments in his hands as he sits beside Chris. "I mean, it looks pretty interesting to me."

"Let me see," Chris says, taking one of the parchments from Nate’s hands. "It has some pretty sick rules." He lets his eyes scan through the words on the browned paper.

"Where's Matt?" Madi chimes in, looking around the room and realizing that the boy is the only one not joining them.

Nick shrugs at her, "I'm pretty sure he's still in the kitchen."

As if on cue Matt walks in the room and asks "Alright, what's this all about?", sitting down on the carpeted floor with his legs crossed.

"Apparently, the game has to be played starting midnight." Chris announces and Nick huffs in annoyance, rolling her eyes. "What?"

He shrugs, "Oh, I don't know. It's just that you're stating out the obvious. It's called the midnight game for a reason!"

The others just laugh and shake their heads while Chris tries to defend himself.

"Maybe we should play," Madi suggests with a blank expression. "I mean, it's boring around here so why not have some fun?"

"I don't see why not," Nate agrees and everyone else reluctantly does, too.

They gather around in a somewhat circle in the living room, Chris holding the paper with the rules written on it while Nate holds the paper with the instructions.

Everyone patiently listens to Chris as he reads the rulesout aloud, not leaving even one single word no matter how confusing everything seems to be.

1. The game must be started at midnight, approximately.

2. No other light source is allowed. Candles only.

3. The game must be played until 3:33 A.M.

4. If the candle extinguishes, light it again within 5 seconds.

5. If failed, make a salt circle within the next 5 seconds and stay in it until 3:33 A.M.

6. If failed, beware.

"Damn, what kind of a game is this? Sounds like a fucking satanic ritual if you ask me." Nick speaks, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't think we should play it."

"Shut it, Nobody asked you." Chris snaps, leaving nick with his hands up in surrender. "It sounds silly to me."

Matt then begins to read the instructions loud and clear.

1. Write the players' names on a piece of paper each.

2. Add a drop of each player's blood onto their own paper.

3. Each player must carry a candle from time to time.

4. Place the names in front of a wooden door

5. Knock on the door 23 times, the 23rd knock must be done exactly by midnight.

6. Blow the candles and enter the location of the game. Light each candle once again.

7. Avoid the Midnight Man at all costs. If a candle extinguishes, then he has found the player.

Okay, hold up." Nate says, "There's a Midnight Man now? How old do you think I am, ten?"

Each and every one of them has the same thought in mind the game's utter bullshit. It doesn't make sense and sounds like a joke some twelve-year-old would pull on their friends.

"I don't know, guys. But I have to admit that it sounds pretty scary." Madi yawns

"You're exhausted, you don't wanna play then no one's forcing you." Nick states

Everything seems to be an endless enigma for the teenagers to sort out but they are bored, so they all agree on playing the game anyway.

"You sure, Madi? Like Nick said, if you don't want to then it's completely fine." Chris assures his friend.

They all know how easily scared madi is and they, too, don't want anything bad to happen to her.

But Madi nods anyway.

"I'll go grab some papers and a pencil." Nate announces prior to jogging out of the living room.

Meanwhile, the rest of them remain downstairs as they look around for candles. Chris and Matt work together in the kitchen, pouring salt into plastic bags so a few of them can carry one bag with them.

"Hey, guys, the candles are in here," Madi calls out as she points at a cupboard below the kitchen counter. Once they have all the things they need, they crowd around the dining table. Each of them holds their own candle and Nick lights them up with her lighter.

Then, Matt tears each paper in half and hands them to his friends. They take turns writing their names down since there's only one pencil that can be found.

"Okay," Nick pipes up after putting the pencil down since he’s last in line, "what now?"

Chris steps forward with a needle in his hand, poking his pointer finger so a tiny amount of blood oozes out before he wipes it onto his paper. "Who's next?" He asks, then passes the needle to Nate who holds out his hand.

Once everyone has done it, they walk towards the wooden door leading to the backyard and head outside.

"Put the papers down here," Chris says as she motions for them to place the names on the grass, "Now who's knocking?"

"i'll do it." Matt says, "What time is it now?"

Madi fishes out her phone and unlocks the screen, "11:57."

"Three more minutes." Chris coos and looks around, the stream flowing effortlessly behind them.

The time passes by, and Madi holds up a finger as she stares at the time on her phone.

"11:59. Matt, start knocking."

Without hesitation, Matt knocks on the door 23 times as the time passes by. It gets closer and closer to midnight with the eight of them standing in the darkness outside the back of the house.

The numbers flashing on Madi's phone display it being midnight right when Matt's fist hits the wooden door for the 23rd time.

"Alright, blow out your candles." Madi demands and they all do as told simultaneously, leaving them in the dark without the flames illuminating their faces.

Matt steps back to his previous spot. "So what now?" He asked.

"We light the candles again and go inside," Chris says as she lights his candle before passing the lighter around.

Nobody attempts to open the door which causes Chris to groan in annoyance, twisting the knob and opening it himself since no one wants to do it. They each step into the house one by one, Nick being the most frightened of them all despite his earlier snappy attitude.

All 5 teenagers hold a candle in hand as they slowly stroll inside. Since no other light source is allowed, they can only depend on the small, dim flames.

"Is it too late to back out now?" Nick asks and it's obvious that he's shaking. Maybe because he's scared, or maybe because of the frigid night air.

Chris scoffs, "Don't be a pussy and just walk. If Matt can do it you can too"

Everyone stops walking, turning around with their eyes fixated on Chris who is glaring at Nick. He never really snaps that way and it's a rare sight, seeing Chris all worked up.

"Hey, man," Nate steps forward between the boys. "No need to be mean, we're playing a game and we're supposed to stick together. Have some fun instead."

Chris scoffs and rolls his eyes, and no one understands the reason behind his sudden change in attitude. He was in a good mood when they were standing outside the door but the second they're inside, he's different.

"Come, Nick. Walk with me." Madi holds out a hand and Nick scurries over, taking her hand. they hold hands whilst following the others down the hall and to the living room.

Chris leads them because no matter what, he’s still the most fearless out of the five. He holds his candle out so he can see better in the dark and they all end up plopping down on the couches again.

"And we're back in the living room. What a game," Matt says placing his candle down on the coffee table along with the others.

The only one still holding their candle close to their body right now is Nick. Madi notices this and looks at him with full concern.

"Nick, put it down. It's fine," she assures.

He makes a move to grab the candle from her but she objects. "Nick, what's wrong?"

The others pay attention to the two now, all of them worried about Nick, too. Something is bothering him so badly and it's scaring them.

"W-What if my c-candle blows out? I-I'm not fast, I can't light up a candle within f-five seconds." He stammers, face going crimson. His eyes brim with tears as he holds the candle close to his chest.

A gush of wind is suddenly went through the room and it turns out that one of the candles has extinguished.

"Fuck, it's mine!" Nate yells and fumbles with his lighter whilst Chris and Madi count down the five seconds. Fortunately, he lights it back up in time. "Damn, this game is stressful."

"What the fuck was that?" Matt croaks and everyone else turns towards the direction his eyes are staring at.

It seems like he’s looking out the window, and the rest are confused as they see nothing but the trees outside.

"What is it that you saw?" Madi asks.

Matt shakes his head vigorously as tears start to stream down his cheeks. His hands fist at Chris’s shirt tightly, Matt’s body is shaking, and he is sure about what he saw. His eyesight never lies to her and he is not the bravest person amidst the five of them.

"I-I don't think he was a p-person." His voice is barely audible as she speaks, "He looked like the fucking joker from batman. H-He was smiling at me." Matt has lost it.

He cries and sobs violently into Chris's shirt and Chris hugs Matt tight, shushing Matt like a child. Nate sighs and runs a hand through his hair, Nick hugs his knees close to his chest while Madi fiddles with her fingers.

"I-It's the Midnight Man."

[invisiblerambler]

This is Not a Finished Thought

I came across this concept in something else that I was consuming and I couldn't help but apply it to the ways in which the Bearzatto siblings interact with each other and other people but also the way that Sydney interacts mostly with Carmy as well.

It's pretty well accepted that Donna is to some degree a narcissist. This is an accepted trait of a lot of addicts and specifically alcoholics so I don't really feel like I need to rehash that here.

The thing that was new to me was the concept of echosism and the way that narcissism and echoism exist almost as different ends of the same spectrum.

I think the Bearzatto siblings and Sydney to a lesser degree exhibit traits of echoism.

Echoism was first discussed by Craig Malkin in his book "Rethinking Narcissism."

Essentially it comes from someone who has a lack of healthy narcissism and they are in many ways selfless to a fault (sound like anyone we know.) The Bearzatto siblings all had their own ways of sacrificing and self-punishing because of their mother's narcissism.

And when Carmy injected his own need to get away from the family and away from Chicago he was ridiculed for it because he was inserting his own needs.

People with high levels of echoism might:

fear praise

actively reject attention

make every effort to avoid burdening others

focus on meeting the needs of others to avoid considering their own

believe going along with what others want will help safeguard their affection

have difficulty creating boundaries or asserting needs

believe expressing opinions or needs may lead to a loss of love

take on a lot of self-blame and criticize themselves regularly

have trouble recognizing likes and dislikes

avoid coming across as attention-seeking or selfish at all costs

ask very little of others

have high empathy

Since people who tend more toward narcissism have a strong need for admiration and recognition, they can often end up in relationships with people with echoism.

This section from Healthline (the best source I could find without reading an entire book)

mirrors a lot of the traits we see from the Bearzatto family.

Richie even calls Carmy Donna not realizing that none of what Carmy is doing is for him, it's all for Sydney.

This realization of Carmy's behavior to me also unlocks why he would be so willing to go along with and actively participate in his relationship with Claire.

By being in that relationship he fulfills something for both other members of his family and Claire, once again supplanting his own needs.

The examples of Sugar and Mikey doing this feel almost too obvious to point out, but I'll give a few that immediately come to mind anyway.

For Mikey, it was keeping Carm away from the restaurant. He basically says as much in Napkins. He wanted to keep Carmy safe from that environment of The Beef and also give him the confidence to finally assert his own needs, as he does when he leaves Chicago, works at Ever etc.

For Sugar, she spells it out plainly in Ice Chips. She asks everyone if they're okay all the time, if someone feels sick she starts to feel sick. It's big eldest daughter syndrome, but it's also her constantly replacing her needs with the needs of everyone else around her. We see Richie at multiple points in S2 and S3 making sure Nat's needs are met when she tries to bury them.

Now, the Sydney thing might feel less obvious, but to me it's like her and Carmy are both Echoists and it's why they can never talk to each other. They are constantly giving of their own needs for the other person without realizing it isn't even what they want. It's why they talk past each other for the entirety of S3.

Echoists will also have moments where they feel need panic another concept from Dr. Malkin. Where they go from not needing anyone or anything to needing everything immediately. I think the end of S2 and S3 are mirrored moments of need panic for Carmy and Syd.

Carmy in the freezer realizes that he allowed himself to have a need for amusement and enjoyment and reacts when he leaves the freezer by doubling down on suppressing that need. He also suppresses his need for other people within the restaurant. He shouldn't need other people to achieve greatness, despite how collective a good restaurant is (i.e. Ever) Carmy has internalized that the most successful kitchens are driven by one person. There's also a lot of grief stuff tied up in here too, which Carmy acknowledges when he says he didn't grieve Michael.

Sydney has a similar moment of need panic. Her needs are more literal and in some ways more immediate, she needs to tell Carmy about the offer from Shapiro, she needs to tell him that if they can't have true partnership and he continues to emulate the bad behavior he has seen elsewhere she can't stay.

Sydney spent the entire season making sure her needs were kept far away from everyone, until she in a literal moment of panic realizes suppressing those needs is not an option anymore.

I want to end this by saying I am no means an expert on this and I fully plan on reading Dr. Malkin's book mostly for my own benefit, but when I heard about this concept it was an interesting idea to ponder how two people in a partnership who have both clearly in some way been in close relationships with people who display narcissistic tendencies and how that actually plays out, Carmy appearing to be a narcissist while actually suppressing any needs he has with the utmost consideration for others, (Sydney.)

I'd love to get feedback on this and whether or not I'm completely alone in this analysis.