#you have to talk to dog people

[fixyourwritinghabits]

I am trying to write a story where a dog is a prominent part of the main character’s life (a guide dog). I am struggling to write the relationship between the character and his dog, as well as how to write about a dog in general. Do you have any suggestions?

Phew, okay, you've asked a very cat person about dogs, so there's not much I can offer you, but I'll give it a shot.

Breed matters. Different dog breeds were bred for specific jobs, and no matter how little their current lives have to do with that job, the traits remain. Herding breeds will try to herd everything from cats to small children. Small hunting dogs were bred to dig prey out from holes and will continue to dig when they can. Small, yappy dogs were often guard dogs, which is why every little thing will set them off. Even mixed dogs will retain such behaviors, so your first step is to figure out what kind of dog you want. Guide dogs are often labradors, retrievers, and german shepherds, but those aren't your only options, and you can always mix things up by going for an unconventional breed.

Personality matters. Dogs may display traits based on their breed, and you'll find a lot of generalizing about how each breed behaves, but most pet owners will tell you dogs have their own unique personalities. Your dog character is going to have their own quirks, from favorite food to toys to how they play, react to new people, and signal that they want something. Think about how the dog not only interacts with the main character, but also their environment and the people around them.

Training matters. Guide dogs go through very specific and careful training depending on what job they're being tasked with. Not all dogs, no matter the breed, are suited to be guide dogs, and the training process is structured to ensure if they're entrusting the dog with a person's safety, they can do the job. Researching what kind of training your dog would go through and what reward system they rely on will be important.

How your character interacts with the dog is also something worth exploring. If you don't have any experiences with owning a dog yourself, reach out to people who do. See if you can volunteer at a shelter and pick the brains of the people there. You can find a dog park to do some dog-watching (like bird-watching!), or you can see if you can tag along with a friend when they take their dog for a walk.

The best way to figure out how dog/human relationships work is to spend some time around dogs and their humans. If your opportunities are limited, you can also reach out to collect stories from people. How would they describe their dog? What kind of interactions do they have? What weird things do they do?

When you have a decent amount of material, give yourself permission to write the story even if you don't think you'll get it right. You can always seek feedback and fix things in the future.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 331

Demon twins? Demon twins. 

Damian? Good at the assassin side of things, at least for a four year old, but Danyal? He’s okay, but he’s far better at things like poisons and bookkeeping. Which is honestly? Okay. They’re the League of Shadows, and sure a majority of the members are assassins, but it’s definitely not all there are. So? Danyal starts getting medical training. 

Not to say that either of the boys don’t know their fair share of violence and healing- it’s just better to let them play to their strengths. One doesn’t keep a league over centuries if they just have one type of warrior, or even just warriors. A variety is needed. 

So one gets trained more towards the business side of things. Damian may be better at wielding the weapons and killing- even if neither have had their first kill quite yet- but Danyal shows far more proficiency at acting, at masking who he is and gathering information. 

Damian, when he’s first sent to their Father, doesn’t mention his twin. Not because he’s jealous or hates him or anything like that. You just don’t talk about someone in an undercover mission in the League, and it’s not something he realizes isn’t a rule everywhere. 

Needless to say, the Bats have more than a mild freakout the first time Damian mentions a twin who will be coming to the manor now that his mission is over. 

[ironinkpen]

just had the funniest thought in the world which is what if the reason Kipperlilly Clerickiller first started hating Riz was bc she wanted Kristen as her cleric. like wanted her SO fucking bad. her type A ass 100% scoped out her classmates before the first day of freshman year so she could build the optimal party, and imagine her excitement when she found out! that they had a real live Chosen One in their grade!! she probably practiced the snobby little speech she was gonna give Kristen for HOURS, already mentally mapping out her path to valedictorian. meanwhile Riz walks in with a briefcase and a newsie hat and a missing babysitter to find and stumbles into Kipperlilly's Number One Draft Pick by accident in detention. how much do you think she lost her little fucking mind

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Welcome to the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

[barksbog]

i swear i´m gonna start biting dog trainers if they don´t stop comparing dogs with behavioural issues to autistic people

[binghe-malewife-goals]

I know a lot of people use these two images to show Viktor's character development into a (what we have yet to seen) antagonist, but I think it shows a more resolute—hardened Viktor.

In this shot, Viktor is stagnant. He looks lost, sad, even surprised. He only watches on as Jayce speaks for them, and Hextech, as a whole.

In this scene, he feels and looks utterly powerless.

But this Viktor?

He looks determined. Resolute and unrelenting. Shaped, now, by his own regrets. Instead of Jayce doing the talking, Viktor does.

This is a Viktor who looks like he's daring the council to fuck with him, frankly. A Viktor that is determined to set things right, to not lose their dream again, no matter what.

(And whether Jayce and Viktor succeed in this, we'll see)

[shepscapades]

Why does Ren have 4 ears? Are they all real or is one set fake?

Hehe I’ve gotten this question a lot actually! They’re all real— I like to think hybridization isn’t always a clean balance of traits, so Ren just unfortunately ended up with two sets of ears— his Dog ears being much more receptive to sound, naturally— and sometimes when the extra intake of sound is too overwhelming, I imagine he wears earplugs in his human ears to help adjust :> it’s a bit weird, but idk! i like to make designs funky and nonconventional! I liked the idea that Ren had hearing struggles due to wonky hybridization and just kept the concept :>

[serpentface]

are the talking crows still around? what are They doing while all this drama is going on around them in the world

Mostly doing their own crow things and not commonly having direct and mutual interactions with other sophonts. They're similar to yotici in the capacity that they have Very different modes of living than most other sophonts, and they generally are not recognized as 'People' in the same sense as humans, elowey, qilik, caelin, and delkhin. However, (given their strategic and intelligent capacity for word mimicry) talking crows tend to be comprehended as unique magical animals or spirits, or are not recognized as a distinct type of entity but rather feed into broader corvid folklore (as they are very difficult to visually distinguish from many common crows).

They make a few appearances in Whitecalf as small flocks of crows trailing the pilgrimage, picking at its food supplies and occasionally scavenging on its dead. This is a family unit of talking crows that has suffered heavily in the drought, with very few of their chicks surviving infancy and even some of the healthiest adults dying of thirst and starvation. They have recognized this mass movement of big two legged people as a source of potential sustenance, and are very persistent and skilled in keeping themselves fed.

In-text they may come off as an ambiguous, possibly magical element (or partially hallucinatory) from the character POVs, due to them going from a mundane presence indistinguishable from common crows to them uttering dire threats in clear and fluent Wardi. This is very unsettling and hard to reconcile for most who witness this, but is actually just a learned method of taking advantage of beliefs in corvids as ill omens to frighten off or distract targets while another crow snatches bits of food or a nice wineskin.

[originalartblog]

"Can someone go and drag him back?"

Chuuya week - Day 7 - Happy Birthday!

[fjordfolk]

i think one of the biggest challenges with advising new dog people on how to find responsible breeders is teaching them norms. I've spoken to so many people who've started a sentence with "i don't know much about dog breeding so maybe this is normal, but-" and then say the absolute wildest shit I've ever heard in my life. no, it's not normal for a dog breeder to want to talk to your mom because you're 25 and female. no, it's not normal for breeder's dogs to not have been vaccinated because of 'herd immunity'. no, it's not normal for breeders to have 7 litters at a time, expecting 5 more next month.

and what all of these people tend to have in common is that they're just looking for a companion, and they probably did feel bad about the situation. but they didn't have the context to realize just how abnormal it was, so they doubted their own reaction, and really really wanted a dog.

[dykedvonte]

Benny x Courier but the Courier is increasingly in denial for their feelings for Benny cause they see him as this loser pretty city boy Vegas type and they slowly (or rather quickly) realize that there were in fact reasons why Benny was able to manipulate so many people, infiltrate the Fort and avoid serious injury for all of it.

Like surprise the corniest loser you know is actually pretty badass and you kinda find that infuriatingly attractive.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

POOR GABRIEL MONTEZ! YOU NEVER SAW THIS COMING DID YOU? ALL YOU WANTED WAS POWER. SECURITY. SAFETY. & THATS EXACTLY WHAT YOU GOT! JUST IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR BODY. LETS JUST HOPE NO ONE FUCKS THIS UP. LETS JUST HOPE YOU WONT HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE MESS.

[originalaccountname]

Sorry to bother you but I’ve been getting into BSD and Chuuya’s my fave, but I’ve been seeing some contradictory things in fanfic so��

Does Chuuya actually have a god sealed inside him? I thought it was just like his power without limitations and was dubious of those takes, but since eldritch beings can apparently be a thing (and not an ability), I think it could be plausible either way.

Though even if it’s not I can see why people would use that route for some good angst.

This is not a bother at all! This is something I very much like to talk about

if you're really new I do recommend you go read both "Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen Years Old" and "STORM BRINGER" light novels (but SB especially), not only are they great books with Chuuya as the focal point but they will help answer your question in depth (you can buy the English translations but I can help you find the translation online if that's what you need, just message me again)

The short version is that Arahabaki being an actual god, a separate entity from Chuuya that has a personality/a voice/desires, is a common fanon trope, but not a canon fact. The truth is more complex and much more fun, lore-wise, in my opinion

And now the long version, because I'm passionate about this and this is my excuse to deep dive into it (spoilers for Fifteen)

In Fifteen, Chuuya says this:

Chuuya himself presents "Arahabaki" as nothing more than pure power. No thoughts, no personality, but powerful for sure.

That phrasing in Fifteen created a lot of confusion I think, talking about gods as real but also not:

But I think it's more of a symbolic reference, talking about immense power that seem out of this world. Because in practice, as Chuuya said before, "Arahabaki" is simply raw power, not an entity. You can't pray to it, it can't understand you, it can't perform miracles (which is why he knew the Old Boss couldn't have been brought back by Arahabaki and it was all nonsense from the start)

I'm also putting part of the blame on the anime, where they decided (while not being exactly wrong either, out of context it's weird) to illustrate Chuuya "floating in a bluish-black darkness, surrounded by a transparent seal" and being pulled out by a hand:

like this:

When, if you actually reread that part in the novel with knowledge about Storm Bringer, it's actually this moment that was being referred to:

Which brings us to Storm Bringer! (heavy spoilers I'm serious)

"Project Arahabaki" was the Japanese government's attempt to create an ability weapon from an individual. They wanted to craft a singularity that could be used multiple times, thus granting them access to power that should not be accessible normally. They based their research on what France had discovered through Verlaine. The objective is to create a massive energy output through a self-contradicting ability, for which you need a vessel:

Chuuya is the device. "Arahabaki" is the massive energy. That massive energy can control gravity to the point of being able to create localized black holes! N implied that part of the lab's work for the Arahabaki Project was to modify Chuuya's body to be able to withstand the constant gravity effects on it so he doesn't just die. Chuuya's normal use of his ability doesn't seem to have any drastic effects on him, and his physical resilience (to getting hit, stabbed, poisoned, shot, electrocuted, to going through a black hole) does seem to imply they did succeed at least in part.

And this bit here explains why "Arahabaki" was the chosen name for the project; unexplained phenomena across History that can be linked to an ability going haywire, but were attributed to god-like interventions at the time. So you're a funny little mad scientist, you read research papers from another mad scientist that named their own creation after a mythological monster, and you decide to do the same with your own local folklore.

But!

There's still something to be said about how "Arahabaki" is a singularity, and therefore, has its own set of rules. Chuuya does loose control, Chuuya does regress to a sort of destructive instinct while under Corruption. But "Arahabaki" is still no more than an ability singularity. Here's what is said about Guivre and Arahabaki:

They are both singularity life-forms. They exist because they are singularities; outside of it, they are nothing. The inner workings of abilities are still mysterious, but most of them have a link to their wielder's desires. For example, Atsushi's Tiger is there to protect him, a mirror to his will to live no matter what. Verlaine's Guivre is similar:

Guivre was a beast born out of Verlaine's loneliness and resulting hatred. He felt deeply alone in not feeling/being human, and through Pan's (his "creator") special "programming" of Verlaine's ability, N was able to trigger the true form of his singularity with that flare gun and metal powder, which took the form of Guivre. It's what the hat was supposed to prevent, but Verlaine had already lost it by then.

Chuuya's Arahabaki is probably similar. Its first apparition was when Rimbaud tried to absorb him and use his ability for himself, and any subsequent use is linked to grief and survival. Basically, if they're their own entities, they are still born in a specific context and deeply linked to the original ability user's character. And Arahabaki? Only exists if Chuuya uses his activation phrase to get rid of the limitations put into place to prevent him from exploding:

More about about Corruption: SB is kind enough to give us an explanation on how the nullification process works, right here:

Chuuya's self-contradicting ability makes him able to control gravity through the sheer amount of energy it creates by permanently interacting with itself. It is kept under control through the use of an activation phrase, O grantors of dark disgrace, do not wake me again, which, after being either said or thought by Chuuya, will open his "Gate" (which I'm interpreting as a blocker put in place by the lab so the singularity doesn't just kill him, like those poor people they mentioned existed through History), and by opening it, "free Arahabaki's true power" (aka Corruption). When Dazai uses his ability on him, the base self-contradicting ability is nullified, which cancels out the singularity taking place, which stops Corruption and allows that "Gate" to close again. The red markings are there because they're cool and fun.

To conclude, I'll let Dazai do the honors:

bonus: what does that mean for Chuuya's ability?

bons 2: Perceived timeline of Chuuya's past and what happened to to create confusion around his humanity

[arthursfuckinghat]

Arthur and the gang 𑁦𐂂𑁦 The Heartlands

[originalcontent]

I can't find art of my ship anywhere so I GUESS that means I have to make it myself, here are some doodles.

[ssaraexposs]

Dazai really said "I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE"