#if b != c then a cannot be equal to both

[tanadrin]

@afloweroutofstone

The “Catholic trinitarianism = polytheism” meme has always struck me as a misreading of Catholic theology It’s just monotheism with extra steps

sorry, the muslims and jews are right about this one. trinitarianism is the kind of nonsense you get when a bureaucratic committee is given the task of hammering out how jesus can be divine but not god but also there's only one god; the fact it is so easy to fall into heresy when dealing with christology (is jesus an aspect of god? modalism. heresy! is jesus created by god rather than "proceeding" from him, whatever that means? arianism. heresy! are the persons distinct beings united in one "will"? mormonism. heresy!) isn't because christology/trinitarianism is philosophically subtle, it's because it's incoherent.

but it was enforced as a dogma by state-backed religious authorities long enough to take root, and when the peasants asked how this could possibly be true the priest could say, "it's a mystery, you have to have faith, now shut up." but "one god existing in three distinct, consubstantial persons, who are each fully god" one of whom is furthermore "fully human and fully divine" is literally nested oxymorons.

it's like the eucharist being both really the body of christ and also chemically indistinguishable from bread; that people believe this is a demonstration of both the power of religious authorities and adherents' willingness to signal in-group membership, it's not a coherent metaphysical claim.

in practical terms there are social and formal consequences to the doctrine of the trinity that make christianity resemble other monotheistic religions in many important ways--this is why i categorize christianity as "less monotheistic" but not fully polytheistic--but it also resembles polytheism in many important ways! well, catholicism and eastern orthodoxy even more than protestantism, but that's in part because of the whole saints thing, which is a totally different bag of worms.

[phoenixyfriend]

Trade Deficit/Surplus and Their Relationship to Tariffs

Hey, let’s talk about trade imbalances and why they’re not an optimal way to dictate tariffs. A few people showed interest when I asked if I should talk about it, so I've written up about [checks] 3.2k about it.

(If you want to support me in writing these up and living my best life, you can prompt me for more on ko-fi. I'm trying to move out of my parents' house.)

Previously, I explained comparative advantages and why they can be a crucial indicator for what fields are a reasonable target for import/export taxes. Let’s have a quick recap:

A comparative advantage is when two countries are both capable of an industry, but one is much better at it. Ideally, the two countries have different specialties, and can complement each other. The classic example is England, specializing in wool, and Portugal, specializing in wine. Both countries could and did engage in both industries, but they put greater amounts of resources into their specialties and then traded. If Portugal did one quarter resources on wool (to maintain a domestic industry in case of a breakdown of trade relations or natural disaster) and three quarters resources on wine, they could trade part of that wine to England for the wool, and both countries would end up with more of the product due to specialization. England has better conditions for rearing sheep, and Portugal has better weather for growing grapes.

That is comparative advantage. If two countries are largely self-sufficient, and they have one industry respectively that stands out as exceptionally efficient each, then you see a trade balance: equal amounts of wine and wool exchanged, as measured by monetary value.

An imbalance occurs when one country sells drastically more of their product than the other. Say Portugal has a bad harvest, and makes less wine than usual. They then sell less to England, but may buy the same amount of wool as usual, dipping into savings or making their money elsewhere in order to buy. In that year, England is experiencing a trade surplus, and Portugal is experiencing a trade deficit.

Four things to cover:

The nature of an enduring imbalance in a stable economic system

Artificially enforced imbalances

Indirect profits

Excluded industries

What can cause an enduring imbalance?

Let us say that we have a closed economy of three countries.

Country A has good weather and soil, and so they specialize in agriculture and are a bread basket for the region. They are self-sufficient in terms of raw minerals or metals, but have little in the way of energy resources.

Country B has a large amount of energy; they have large deposits of gas and oil, and have built out infrastructure to capture energy from offshore wind farms and hydro as well. Their farmland is decent enough to support their population, but they have little in the way of metals and minerals to build those oil drills and windmills.

Country C has a strong mining industry, and is rich in mineral resources and key metals like iron and copper. They are self-sufficient in terms of energy, but their farmland is poor and they cannot easily feed their people.

To recap:

Country A: sells food, buys energy. Little trade in mining.

Country B: sells energy, buys metals and minerals. Little trade in agriculture.

Country C: sells metals and minerals, buys food. Little trade in energy.

You can probably see where this is going: Country A sells a lot of food to Country C, but doesn’t buy metals and minerals from them, so A has a trade surplus with C. Meanwhile, they buy a lot of energy from B, which doesn’t need their food, so there they have a trade deficit there.

Country A:

Buys energy from B: deficit

Sells food to C: surplus

Country B:

Buys metals and minerals from C: deficit

Sells energy to A: surplus

Country C:

Buys food from A: deficit

Sells metals and minerals to B: surplus

As you can see, any bilateral trade relationship in this closed system is heavily imbalanced. However, when taking the full scope of the system into account, it’s balanced, because all three are feeding into each other. They cover each others’ weaknesses, and so the trade is stable.

Introducing tariffs would disrupt that balance. If A starts to tariff energy from B, because they see it as a threat to their own minimal domestic industry, then they disincentivize purchasing energy. In turn, B’s profits fall, which means they have less money to buy metals and minerals from C, which means they have fewer resources to build wind farms and oil rigs, which means they have less energy to sell in the first place. This then also impacts C, which now isn’t making as much money from selling their mining products, which means they can’t buy as much food from A, and that means… the perceived deficit, which was stable, may have been shrunk, but so has the efficiency of the entire circle.

In a global economy, there is always a good chance that the ‘deficit’ is just part of a larger balance. India buys energy from Russia, which buys food from China, which buys tropical foods from Thailand, which buys machinery from Germany, which buys electronics from Japan, which buys minerals from Australia, which buys pharmaceuticals from… India.

This is very simplified, but you see what I’m getting at with the complexity of the web of international trade. One perceived deficit does not a holistic view make.

(This is especially true of imports that are near impossible domestically. We literally can’t grow coffee in the United States outside of Hawaii and a few island territories like Puerto Rico or American Samoa. There small attempts in California and Florida, but it’s not commercially viable. Most of them cannot grow enough to export to the rest of the US, especially when factoring in other high-demand foods that require these climates, such as oranges and bananas. While there are places in the US that can grow these tropical foods, those places are so limited that we just can’t grow enough of each and every one to meet demand, so those places specialize in the foods they can grow most effectively, which is how you end up with the majority of Florida’s exports, at least in terms of cash value, being citrus, peppers, and tomatoes.)

There are valid reasons for tariffs to be implemented as protectionist measures, even when specialization seems to dictate otherwise, and I covered that in my other post. However, the above is meant to illustrate that the simplified view of trade deficits as the only dictator of tariff policy is a very poorly thought-out exercise.

Let’s look at a case study of recently-implemented tariff policies: Lesotho.

Lesotho is a small country surrounded entirely by South Africa; it’s the largest sovereign enclave in the world (the others are San Marino and Vatican City). Lesotho is a fairly poor country. They cannot afford to import much from the United States, simply due to the low GDP per capita.

For reference, the US GDP per capita is over $86k.

South Africa, Lesotho’s nearest neighbor, has a GDP per capita of about $16k, adjusted for PPP.

Lesotho’s GDP per capita, adjusted for PPP, is about $3.2k. (These numbers were pulled from Wikipedia, current as of 2023-2025.)

The people of Lesotho, by and large, cannot buy goods from the United States.

Meanwhile, they have two major lines of export. One is garment manufacturing; much like China and Southeast Asia, the low wages ensure that garment costs are kept minimal, which the people of the US find palatable. These wages to the local population are low enough that they cannot in turn buy from the US. The other export is diamonds, an industry that heavily favors the upper classes when it comes to profits, again relying on comparably low local wages that have been the subject of union actions as recently as 2020.

This article from 2017 stated that garment workers earned about $96 per month; that number has doubtlessly changed in some way since then, but it’s definitely still in the ballpark of ‘skilled workers in Lesotho make in a month what minimum-wage Americans make in two or three days.’ This study from 2022 talks about the lack of general impact of the mining industry on the population of Lesotho, addressing the employment opportunities, impact on local resources like water and air quality, and how money is or isn’t cycled back into the community.

Because of the above, Lesotho has a notable trade imbalance with the US. From the US, this is a trade deficit. The US has a very diminished capacity for garment production due to outsourcing to cheaper pastures, and only one active diamond mine, which is used for tourism rather than commercial mining. We can’t make what they do, and they can’t afford what we do.

The trade imbalance with Lesotho is 120-130 billion USD, depending on the year. They export a lot to the US, and buy very little, and I’ve hopefully illustrated why.

The tariffs laid against Lesotho, a country that cannot realistically buy much from the US due to the general poverty, were set at 50% on Trump’s so-called liberation day.

So what would that accomplish, realistically?

Artificially Enforced Trade Imbalances

We now take a look at trade imbalances that are the results of manufactured pressures rather than natural ones.

With the earlier model, I covered three countries with complementary industries and a desire to cooperate in favor of overall better outcomes. That model assumes good faith.

The real world has Walmart. Also Amazon, Apple, SHEIN, TEMU, H&M, Zara, Target, and more.

Also, a history of colonialism.

…we need to go back a bit, for this one.

For several centuries, European powers had control over large portions of the Global South and East, for a variety of reasons that mostly involved spreading diseases and having guns. The East India Companies (Dutch and English) were major factors in this.

Let’s zoom in on England and India. England had partial or full control of India from 1757 to 1947. This was achieved through superior weaponry, a navy (controlled by the East India Company) that could blockade ports, and a generally higher willingness to commit crimes against locals. Due to English control over many aspects of trade and access to resources, the economy was aggressively molded to be in greater favor of the British. This includes deindustrialization, taxes that favored British imports over domestic products, and enforced trade barriers to other nations. A particularly notable example is the cotton trade; raw cotton would be shipped to the UK with no tariff, spun into threads and woven into fabric, and then sold back to India at a high tax rate. This meant that India was pressured into sending away a central pillar of their economy, and then sold that same product back at a massively inflated cost that they had to pay, because they no longer had the resources to do it domestically. This led to a widespread reduction in the infrastructure to make fabric as they had once been known for, along with a massive transfer of wealth from India to the UK, much of it under the oversight of the British East India Company.

This had a lasting impact on India, one that they’ve been working to recover from since before gaining independence. This is true of many countries that were colonized and exploited by the West, which includes most of Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and South-East Asia. Some of East Asia can be read broadly as having recovered, but few economies managed that kind of economic bounce-back, and few did so quickly.

These days, there is no British East India Company, as it was dissolved in the 1870s. Instead, we have companies like Walmart and Amazon. Their tactics involve a few less guns, but there is still a massive impact on things like local wages.

(The guns do still make an appearance; ever heard of union-busting?)

Due to the size of the American economy, military, and political influence, smaller economies with less power are pressured to submit to Western whims. America, in particular, gained a lot of international power with WWII, setting up bases all over the world, as well as experiencing a massive economic boom. The two factors combined resulted in an economy that could buy in bulk for sales at department stores, even setting up individual factories of their own in these countries that were, in many cases, only just achieving independence from their Western colonists. They were still in the agricultural period of economic growth, often due to forced de-industrialization like in India, and the manufacturing business was created by foreign investment, or by a government inviting such from foreigners.

Newly independent, struggling economies, searching for a way to strengthen their positions and banks. Factories, and a wealthy overseas client that wants all the goods you can make.

They will pay you pennies for it. Those are pennies you don’t have, and maybe you have a debt to pay off. Maybe the government incurred debts building those factories, and people have to work to pay that off, but once it’s paid, you’ll get the money for real!

(You know those $200k student loans you spend forever working off? Imagine that, but it's your regional government owing money to a foreign company.)

Or maybe they pay you decently, for now.

So, countries with decimated industries agree to work for these companies. They get into factories, sit down, and start sewing. They agree to do petroleum refinement because the US doesn’t want to stink up its own air anymore, could you do it instead, pretty please? They mine, or cut lumber, or destroy their own rivers making that pretty ‘vegan’ leather.

And your local economy is reliant on Walmart now, or Amazon, or Apple. Ninety percent of the town works for them, after all!

But inflation is a thing, so you ask for a raise.

And the factory says no.

In fact, they cut your wages. You’re making too much, they say. The shops in America want it cheaper, they claim. Too bad, so sad. If you don’t like it, go work somewhere else.

But the factory employs 90% of the town.

So because America wants cheap goods, there is a trade deficit: buy whatever you want from China, or Bangladesh, or Vietnam. They can’t afford to buy anything back, but that doesn’t matter, does it?

Oh hey, we are sending them so much money by buying all their stuff! That’s not fair, is it? They’re taking advantage of the United States by not buying any of our products. Let’s tariff them.

Western companies placed interminable barriers on these economies, and now the US government wants to punish the victims of those barriers. And that’s frustrating for many reasons, but a big one is this:

Indirect Profits

A lot of the ‘imports’ that the US gets are actually bringing a net profit.

Let’s say Apple set up a factory in China ten or twenty years ago. They are pretty entrenched as part of the economy, and it also took a long time to establish. There is nothing in the US that can replace it in a realistic timeframe.

Let’s say that iPhone takes $400 to build in China. $150 for parts, $250 for labor and overhead, and then toss on $5 for shipping, since that’s a cost that easy to scale. Bring that phone to the US or France or Singapore, sell it for $1000. That’s almost $600 in profit!

Something that is valued at $1000 gets tariffed at the $400, and then sales taxed at the $1000.

And that profit goes toooooooooooooooo Apple.

Back in the US. Except it’s actually Ireland. (They do this to avoid other taxes.)

(The Ireland situation is insane, by the way. They call it leprechaun economics. You can read about it, though this article is much more Accounting Terminology than most people looking to read.)

Now, I do need to clarify that the Trade Imbalance Numbers are still using that wholesale rate of $400, not $1000. So it doesn’t necessarily impact the trade numbers as massively as it could, but the end numbers are that the perceived value of the trade deficit isn’t the actual end value of the products being imported.

And the thing is, that profit still gets back to the US (technically Ireland), even when that phone goes to Germany or Nicaragua or Burundi or wherever else. The American company still gets the money, which then gets spent on physical imports like mangoes and cobalt.

The US takes advantage of China in this regard, because so much of that profit is pocketed by the parent company, in the US (technically Ireland), rather than the employees themselves. The given reason for this is that the Americans are bringing the product development and coding and marketing to the table.

Phone made in China, sold to Germany. Trade imbalance reflects the relationship between China and Germany, but the profits go to the United States: the US is making money that isn't reflected in trade deficits.

And that brings us to our last point:

Excluded Industries

Did you know that the trade deficit only counts physical goods?

These numbers do not include IP or service trades.

That art your friend in the UK commissioned you to draw does not factor in. The South Korean showings of the latest Marvel movie do not factor in. That Adobe Photoshop that someone downloaded in Brazil does not factor in. That Netflix subscription in Italy doesn’t factor in. That financial analyst getting paid by a US company to report on the Nikkei index in real time, from Japan, does not factor in. That head of operations that the US company is paying to run product distribution in Dubai does not factor in. That C drama you streamed in Colorado doesn’t count. That eBook you bought from a writer in Darfur doesn’t count. That app you bought from a company in Peru doesn’t count.

None of it counts.

None of this is included in the calculations. Even the WSJ is annoyed (that article is paywalled but I like their chart at the top, and that part is free to see).

Now, the services surplus isn’t enough to compensate for the trades surplus, but it doesn’t have to be. Remember: if you make something in Vietnam, and sell it in Spain, but the money still comes back to the US… that doesn’t count towards either side of the trade balance.

But it does raise the GDP.

(Unless you send the money to Ireland, maybe.)

Trade deficits are a genuinely bad thing to base your tariff policy on, in the sense that it cannot be the only factor. It can factor in—doing so with China in particular makes sense given shifts in the global market since the early 2000s, especially with regards to de minimus exemption—but it can’t be your sole deciding factor.

This is especially true when the government both isn’t doing it for the reason they claim (likely), or doesn’t understand what tariffs and trade deficits really do (Trump, at least, has been talking about this since the 1980s, so I’m pretty sure he actually believes in this, and thus doesn’t know the actual ramifications).

Conclusion

Sometimes you need to understand how comparative advantage and trade webs work before you take someone’s word for the nature of deficits. Tariffs play a role in the balance of trade and protection of domestic industry, but trade imbalances cannot be your only factor in deciding on tariffs, nor can tariffs be your only tool in reindustrialization.

Anyway. Prompt me for more on ko-fi or something. Help me move out of my parents' house.

[demonic0angel]

Are there any Ghost Games scenes that you have that won't fit into the stories plot?

(Omg I have so many 😭 Note: Sparrow is Danny, Nightingale is Jazz, and Robin is Jason)

“Why am I Mayo?!” That was when Sparrow caught a glimpse of his white hair on a reflective nearby surface. “Oh.”

————

"Okay," Robin said. "Let's say, for example, a family of four live under one roof. There is a mom, a dad, a 3 year old toddler, and a paternal grandmother. The mom is a dentist and the dad really respects his mother and likes fruity flavors. In the home is a bowl of candies, with both hard candies and gummies flavored mint, pineapple, strawberry, lemon salt, and blue raspberry. Each candy type is equally divided. In total, there are total of 200 candies. However, after a whole week of eating them, the pineapple candies have been reduced to 10, the mint to 13, the strawberry to 12, the lemon salt to 19, and the raspberry to 15. The amount is the same for the gummies. Now using a guesstimated answer, what is the grandmother’s favorite flavor?"

"What?!" Sparrow said, gobsmacked. "What the he—" he looked at Nightingale and finished lamely, "heck."

Robin smiled. "Make an educated guess."

"How are we supposed to know which candies are her favorite if there are three other people in the house?" Sparrow complained.

Nightingale hesitated. "Is it... lemon salt?"

"Gummies or hard candy?" Robin ignored Sparrow.

".... uh. Hard candy?" She hesitated.

Robin smiled at her indulgently. "Why do you think so?"

Sparrow was silent, not having the memory or the capacity to think.

"Uh, because there were a lot of them, right?"

Robin shook his head. "Wrong." Then he smiled and didn't say anything.

Both Nightingale and Sparrow looked at each other despondently. Robin watched them struggle silently to themselves for a moment before he said, "It's the mint hard candy."

Both Nightingale and Sparrow stared at him, dumbfounded.

Robin grinned before he explained, "Knowing that there is a family of four, you can cross out several people. The three year old baby probably cannot consume candy at all. The mom, who is a dentist, would probably not eat much candy either. So that leaves the dad and the grandmother. The dad likes fruity flavors, so that eliminates strawberry, blue raspberry, and pineapple. That leaves mint and lemon salt. But if he respects his mother, that means that he'll leave those alone. Old people cant taste salt well as they age, so we can conclude that the grandmother likes the mint candy the most.”

Both Nightingale and Sparrow stared at him. Then they shouted, “Like hell it is!!”

————

“I think people with names starting with letters after P don’t deserve human rights.” Nightingale said, like an insane person. “It doesn’t even sound right in the alphabet. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, LMNOP. Q… y’know?”

Robin nodded, even though he didn’t understand what she was talking about at all. “I guess.”

He took a sip of his hot chocolate.

Then he choked on his drink. “Wait a minute! Sparrow and I have names that start with letters after P!”

Nightingale burst into giggles immediately.

————

“Are you serious right now? In front of my pasta?”

“Don’t you mean, right meow?”

“Swallow a fork.”

————

"That's right. We shouldn't dawdle,” Sparrow said.

"Dawdle?" Robin repeated with an amused raise of his eyebrows. "You sure put that dictionary to work."

"Gratitudes and much appreciations."

————

They all looked at the photo. Then Nightingale randomly zoomed in on Sparrow's face, who had a simple and cute smile.

Robin burst into laughter, while Sparrow's jaw dropped.

"What? What?? What is it??!" Sparrow asked in growing embarrassment while Robin tried to stifle his snickers and Nightingale nonchalantly zoomed out again, acting as though she had seemingly done nothing while she tried to suppress a wide smile.

"Nothing," she said, amusement in her eyes.

————

However, Sparrow didn’t flush.

Robin immediately stopped him by blocking the door and pointing to the toilet. “What are you doing?! Flush!”

He immediately defended himself. “I was trying to save water because I thought you were going to use it too!”

Robin was dumbfounded.

“WHAT?!”

————

“Uh huh,” Robin snorted. “Okay, forehead.” He took a hand and pushed up Sparrow’s hair, showing off his smooth forehead.

Sparrow gasped, flabbergasted, before he snapped, “Says you! With your fivehead looking self!” He made a move to push up Robin’s bangs too, but he dodged. Sparrow glared at them and they both pounced on one another, snapping and name calling.

Nightingale subtly pushed down her own bangs and moved away from the wrestling duo.

————

“Shut up before I shove laxatives down your throat and glue your buttcheeks together.” Robin’s eyes were like lasers.

Sparrow immediately took a step back and shrank his head into his neck. “Yes sir.”

Nightingale’s jaw dropped, speechless. However, she also took a step back and didn’t say another word.

[mysunfreckle]

I've talked before about how The History of Sir Charles Grandison is the one novel we know Catherine has read before she is introduced to the Gothic novels, but now I've got to vent some feelings about John Thorpes literary tastes.

He says that Radcliffe's novels are "amusing enough" (without knowing which books she actually wrote) but he explicitly states: "Novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff; there has not been a tolerably decent one come out since Tom Jones, except The Monk;" Now I doubt the significance of these books is anything new to people who study English literature, but finding it out was like a cool Easter egg to me, so I'm gonna blab about it:

At first glance these are excellent books for a guy like Thorpe to brag about liking, because there is basically only one thing that unites them: sexual content. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding, is a "rake reformed" narrative, while The Monk is a Gothic novel deliberately filled with depravity, ending in eternal damnation. They're completely different kinds of books and regardless of how good they may be, neither ought to be talked up to a nice young lady you've only just been introduced to.

But considering Austen's love for literature, this choice of authors was probably equally deliberate. Just to show off that Thorpe's tastes are incompatible with Catherine's. (And cannot hold a candle to Henry Tilney's, who loves Mrs Radcliffe's novels.) Because...

• Henry Fielding, writer of Tom Jones, was the main literary rival of Samuel Richardson, who wrote Sir Charles Grandison. The latter wrote "Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded", the former responded with the parody "An Apology for the Life of Mrs Shamela Andrews". They were both pioneers of the English novel, but wrote very different types of stories with very different moral tones (x, y). At this point of the novel we already know that Catherine likes Sir Charles Grandison (while Isabella expresses surprise at her being able to get through it), so making Thorpe like Tom Jones feels almost like a wink at the reader.

• Then there's the mention of The Monk, which is even more significant in a story where the two leads love Ann Radcliffe. Because Matthew Gregory Lewis was at least partly inspired by The Mysteries of Udolpho when he began writing The Monk (a), and Ann Radcliffe was so dismayed by the book that she then wrote The Italian in response (b, c). Once again two literary rivals, one that Catherine is a fan of, and one who Thorpe prefers.

It's also notable that despite absolutely being part of the Gothic genre, The Monk is not on Isabella's list of novels to read with Catherine. Which makes it extra silly that my beloved Northanger Abbey (2007) adaptation not only has Catherine read The Monk, but also lets her fantasize about a scene that really really isn't sexy in context.

I do really encourage reading a summary of The Monk if you can stomach the mentions of sexual violence, however. Lewis wrote it when he was 19 and despite its popularity was rather embarrassed about it later in his life. And while it is full of satanic seduction and murder, someone also accidentally elopes with a ghost, which makes up for a lot.

[hermits-crab]

FLUFF ALPHABET W/ ELLIOTT — STARDEW VALLEY

SUMMARY: The Fluff Alphabet by @snk-warriors featuring Elliott!

CONTAINS: sfw, gn! reader, fluff, established relationship, spoilers for his 10 & 14 heart event

NOTES: I haven’t known what types of headcanons to post so I’m hoping this might inspire me. I’m taking requests, by the way, if you’d like to help a girl out! Enjoy!

A = Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Elliott loves cooking and baking with his spouse! Even if you’re not great at it, he’s happy to teach you! As long as it’s edible, he’s happy and proud of what you made together. That phrase “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” applies to him specifically.

B = Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

It’s so hard for him to narrow it down but if he has to, it’s your generosity and strength. He could watch you do farm work for hours (and he has) and he loves that you’re so giving and that you don’t think twice about it.

C = Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Elliott is at your side immediately, asking how and/or what he can do to help. If you ask for a minute alone, for example, he’s preparing your favorite snack and movie or show. Or maybe a bath or shower, later reading you to sleep. He’s doing whatever he can to help you!

D = Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He dreams of the typical white-picket fence dream: marriage, kids, growing old with you. More than that, he wants to take care of you, to protect you, to provide for you. As long as he knows he can do that for you, he can die happy.

E = Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

I can see this going both ways. I feel like if you’re a woman or feminine presenting, he’s more likely to subconsciously take on a dominating role. If you’re a man or masculine presenting, the same still applies but less so. It’s not that he has sexist views! He was raised with these values in mind and it didn’t help that a lot of the media he consumed growing up portrayed a damsel in distress. If this makes you uncomfortable, you can tell him that and he’ll be much more mindful of how he treats you. Regardless of your gender, he’ll always be protective over you and that’s something you cannot change.

F = Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Yes, without a doubt, yes. Even if you hurt him deeply, he’s already forgiven you long before. To quote James Fraser from Outlander because I feel like Elliott would think the same: "She asked forgiveness, and I gave it. But the truth is, I'd forgiven everything she'd done and everything she could do long before that day. For me, that was no choice. That was falling in love."

G = Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He’s eternally grateful for everything you do. For him and for the community. You saved him from dying a lonely hermit on the beach! For that, he feels he owes you everything.

H = Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

He’s very open and honest! I don’t think he intentionally keeps secrets. Like with the piano, you didn’t know he could play so beautifully and he would probably not have brought it up unless you found him playing. Or if it didn’t come up in conversation, he probably won’t mention it. Except it’s something actually important, then you can trust he’ll tell you. But in that case, it probably wouldn’t be a secret.

I = Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

You’re his muse! You inspire him every single day. You helped him to write his book. He runs a lot of things by you because he knows that you’ll give him kind constructive criticism.

J = Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

I don’t think he gets jealous easily. He gets jealous like the average person. When he does, however, he becomes passively aggressive. If he notices someone flirting with you, he’ll politely remove you from them and gently scold you. He might be a little petty so you’re probably going to have to apologize a bit more than you normally would.

K = Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

YUP. He’s a romantic and very in tune with his partner and what they like. Your first kiss with him was magical. He wasn’t clumsy or too rough. It was sweet and gentle.

L = Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

On a shabby little row boat out at sea!

M = Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Yes! He feels it’s the natural next step to your relationship. He proposes to you on the beach while the sun sets. Your marriage would be pretty low-key but never lacking. Especially in the bedroom. You both are happy and content with your quiet lives on the farm. Whenever Elliott goes on a book tour, he brings you along, considering it a vacation.

N = Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

Darling, love, dear, sweetheart, beautiful. He called you darling, love, and dear before but when you started dating, he added ‘my’ in front of it.

O = On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Elliott is pretty animated already but even more so when he’s in love. He’s much happier and carries himself more confidently (if you can believe it). I don’t think it’s obvious to anyone but his friends. Leah, for example, notices it almost immediately. He expresses his feelings through writing in his “secret book” of poems expressing his love for you or your likeness captured through a character in one of his books.

P = PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Yes, he’s very proud to be yours! He doesn’t necessarily brag but he talks about you whenever he’s given the chance. He’s not shy about physical PDA either. Of course, nothing inappropriate but definitely touching you in some way or kissing you. He’s not in the least bit shy!

Q = Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Elliott is a very smooth talker. He almost always knows exactly what to say. And I know that would otherwise be a red flag but he does stumble over his words frequently too! He never wants to risk loosing you, especially over something that’s his fault.

R = Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s extremely romantic! He’ll happily help you around the farm and later take care of you when you come home: making dinner, bathing you, massaging you. He also loves reciting poetry to you whenever you’ll listen.

S = Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

You can count on him for any sort of support you need and he’ll gladly help you work towards your goal(s). He has always believed in you.

T = Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice up your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

He doesn’t feel like it’s a necessity. He likes adventure on occasion but he’s also very happy and content with your daily routine.

U = Understanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He’s very empathetic towards you. He’s good at remembering details about you too, regardless of how insignificant it may seem. He remembers what you like and don’t like, things you’ve mentioned that you want, or little stories from your past.

V = Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

He values your relationship the most out of everything he has! He’ll always put you (and your shared family) first. He loves you more than writing and reading—and that’s saying a lot.

W = Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Elliott absolutely hates when people touch his hair. But you’re the only exception. Even though he may tense up a bit at first, he eventually melts into your touch. He trusts you with his life, and more than that, his hair.

X = XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He’s super affectionate! He loves touching you, whether that’s through hugs, hand-holding, cuddling, or kissing. He takes any chance he gets to tell/show just how much he adores you!

Y = Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

When he went away on his book tour, he took to sending you letters. He also called you at the end of every day. He prefers to call rather to text because he wants to hear your voice.

Z = Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind?

Absolutely! Anything you need—or want, even. You can always count on him. He’d pet a sea cucumber if it’d make you happy.

— HAVE A REQUEST? SUMBIT IT HERE! • READ MORE

[arcane-ish]

Canon vs. Headcanon

I wanna talk about the status of canon versus headcanon (respectively impression).

First, yes, canon is overrated. Yes, you are allowed to death of the author. You can veer off from canon or just adopt the parts you like.

Here's what I think the difference is:

You can have your own headcanon. Nobody can force you to embrace something just because it's canon and canon wins.

But here's the rub: you don't get to force your headcanon on other people either.

Canon is something we can both look at it. It's the potential shared space we have and that we can veer off into different directions to.

I cannot look into your head. What makes sense to you might not make sense to me.

IMO headcanons are things that you can try to seduce people towards. Not something you can try to browbeat people into.

And no, you are not obligated to have encyclopedic knowledge of all aspects of just canon even though that is the small set of things that is actually roughly equally available to everybody with an interest in the fandom.

A lot of canon is still open to interpretation. Did A really love B? What did C mean when they said XYZ? How does D feel about UVW?

Some things are just facts in canon.

"The bar in Arcane is called The Last Drop" is an easily verifyable fact.

If you weren't paying attention in detail and you thought it was called "The Big Spot" and people point it out to you with evidence, no actually, it's the Last Drop, just take the L, say it's not that deep to you. But, no, you should not go on a big crusade where you try to force people to accept that it's called The Big Spot or at the very least the writers are at fault that you mistook the name for "Big Spot". Because that would be a shitty, asshole thing to do.

Again, no, you don't have to encyclopedic trivia knowledge over a piece of media. I for example paid relatively little attention to Viktor and Jayce's storyline so if I tried to sum it up, there's a decent chance I would forget things or mix them up or not notice all the details (like I was watching the Necrit video about like the symbolism of Viktor's clothes in his cult phase or his hair in the Arcane space and yeah, never got that from watching the show). Like, I've been writing Silco vs Vi meta for ages and I just realized I completely blink and missed the scene in Vi's old home even though that scene is very much about what she will later say to Silco about how she thinks he messed with Powder's head and how she sees him as a threat separate from Piltover. Mistakes happen.

So yes, this rant is about the "I thought Silco and Vander were bio brothers" thing. No. They were not bio brothers. This information is part of the main, shared canon. It's not hidden in some music video or artbook. It's not in some micro-expression body language or "actually that line has a special meaning if your mother tongue is Spanish" kind of thing. It's just there.

And no, it's not a crime if you didn't pay attention and the only thing that stuck to your memory is that the scene between Vander and Silco going head to head mirrored the scene where Vi and Powder go head to head and you drew your implications from there. And if you like that better, you can keep it and be happy with it. Nobody is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to pay equal attention to the scenes of all characters, especially if they aren't your faves.

That said: If you care enough to make a rage video or rage post or send people hate, then yes, I think you should actually have watched what you are talking about. You are wiling to inves the time and energy to make a rage video/rage post/send people hate mail, yes, you should have the time and energy to actually watch the scenes of what you're talking about.

Again, this is not a secret, hidden away in the corner of some music montage kind of thing. It's just …. there. Like I get why people might not catch Jinx's "like a brother" line, but this one?

It's just there, in plain sight. And yeah it should be enough to make you pause.

(and no, this is not about people answering when they've been explicitly asked about what their first, off the cuff, potentially shallow reactions to something were. This is specifically about people who create their own main piece of anti media and no, just expressing how you were surprised that your headcanon wasn't true is not anti media. It's imo at this point a bit late to the party, but it's not anti media)

[wyrdwisewoman]

Shifting Does Not Equal Nor Give A Free Pass To People Claiming To Be Transracial! BUT Shifting To Another Vessel That Is A Different Race Is OK. How? Why? And What?: a discussion long post.

This is (Probably & hopefully) the last post I have to make on this, but my messages, asks, and comments have been flooded by people who are either:

A) confused

B) not reading carefully

C) mixing 2 things together that have nothing to do with each other.

And so, I am making this post to hopefully settle the issue for good.

Here are the facts:

Shifting does not equal transracial behavior, nor does it make that behavior okay. You CANNOT change your race in this life, in this body, in this reality. Nor should you feel like you should be able to, nor should you want to. There are a multitude of issues with even thinking this behavior is ok. It isn't, and the reasons why are easy to self-educate yourself on. Go do that. Period.

If you shift, you CAN be a different race. And there is nothing wrong with that.

How are both of these things true?

The difference is that shifting is moving your consciousness -your soul- the collective energy awareness that is the true version of you - to another version of you - your physical body/vessel that exists in the multiverse. It is you. It is just a different vessel, different version of You in a different timeline/dimension/reality. But it is still You.

Transracial are people who claim to change their race in THIS reality in THIS body with THESE genetics. And that is not possible.

The disconnect in discussion comes from people confusing those 2 things and wrongly saying they overlap. They dont.

There can be nothing wrong with shifting your consciousness from your current vessel to another vessel that is also you just as much as this vessel is you.

Just to give an example of what I am trying to explain about different vessels if we push shifting completely off the side and talk about a different topic such as reincarnation. Just as in past lives that people can recall they have been male, female, different races, and come from different walks of life, but it was still at the core them - their consciousness, their Spirit, their soul.

In the same way when you shift, your core, that Consciousness, Spirit, Soul, the thing that makes you You, that energy body, that metaphysical something- is the only thing that is Shifting. It is simply changing the tuner on the radio station of reality and tuning it's awareness in to another version of you. That version already existed, just as all possible versions already exist.

We know this to be true because quantum mechanics and quantum theory has shown that all versions of all possible realities and time exist at the same time. Separation between time and space and realities is merely an illusion that our brain projects in order for our human minds to be able to make sense of the world around us.

And who can say why that is. To explore the Why is to get into Theology and religion and I'm not here to discuss that right now.

The topic is the What.

And it is the What that keeps getting confused in the shifting community.

So whenever you're discussing shifting it is important to keep in mind that to shift into another version of you that already exists and is already out there cannot be wrong. It is not wrong for you to want to experience consciously that version of you through that vessel. It is not wrong for you to actively make the decision to shift to that version of you to be in that vessel. Just as it is not wrong for you to exist in the current vessel that you were in that version is just as much a version of you as any of the other possible versions are also simultaneously just as much you.

I understand that these are very big Concepts and they can be very difficult to wrap our minds around. I also understand that there are very real very serious cultural issues and race issues currently going on in this reality that warrant very passionate and rightly so reactions to the suggestion that somebody could want to change their race. The important thing to keep in mind is is the person that is talking about that talking about shifting or are they talking about trying to do something in this reality in this body. Because there is a huge difference.

I hope that people reading this will take the time to pause, to put whatever preconceived notion that they have concluded from either their research, their experiences, or their biases aside and consider my words. I try to form my basis of knowledge not off of what I feel but off of things that can be backed by research, science, evidence, and facts. That's not to say that I don't also utilize feeling and intuition - I am human, so of course I do - but when it comes to foundationally critical bits of information, I think that we all should put our feelings and intuitions aside and look at irrefutable facts to build that Foundation First.

Once those Baseline facts are established and understood then we can use our feelings and our intuition to guide us on what we personally choose to participate in.

Just because something is a fact and it's true doesn't mean that you have to actively engage in it or even agree with it. An example that has nothing to do with spirituality to get you to understand what I mean by that? Let's consider for a moment - lava. It is a fact that if you were to jump in lava, you would die. The lava is simply too hot for I biological bodies to handle and so to try to go swimming in it would result in death. This is a fact. However there might be some person out there who decides that they want to swim in lava the fact that they want to do it, and choose to believe that for them it will be different doesn't mean that if they attempted to do it it wouldn't result in death it would because that's a fact. But that individual made a conscious choice even knowing the facts to choose to believe differently and that is their right.

In the same way, when it comes to spirituality, a lot of this stuff is very metaphysical it is very based on feeling and intuition, and there are no rules. But when it comes to reality time, the multiverse things are studyable and measured by science. Those things are based on fact. There will be some baseline of truth that is universally true for everyone. Now, whether you choose to believe those facts or to participate in them is completely up to you, and that's your right, but to argue against those facts would be irrational and illogical.

You can say that shifting allows for somebody to shift into a vessel that is a different shape, form, gender, age, sex, and race than their current vessel and that that's okay. While also stating that you do not agree with doing such and will not participate in it.

Both of these can be true at the same time.

Knowing such name calling and getting into debates with people or bashing people who choose to shift in a way that you personally don't feel drawn to doesn't make that person wrong it makes you a shitty person for judging on another person chooses to explore their spiritual path.

Now, if you want to create a space to discuss how shifting can either help or hurt the cultural issues and race issues that are going on actively in our current reality because of the histories and experiences and ancestral memory in our current reality that's a different discussion. And it is one where I would love to sit down and shut up and let the individuals and that are directly affected by those issues speak their peace and their truth. To let them be heard and boost their voices.

We just have to understand that there are two different topics in two different discussions that are going on, and they are being confused and mixed together when they are, in fact, separate.

I hope this put it in a different perspective for some people and shed some light on this very hotly debated topic. I truly feel like this topic would not be debated if people stopped and took the time to understand that these two issues that are being blended together are fundamentally 2 separate ideas, and do not belong blended together as if they were the same.

[nevermint-yoongi]

Hi, I am pissed about how the show handled Blood and Cheese. So pissed, in fact, that I made a fucking rubric for you all....

You may have noticed a trend here: The act of making Heleana choose for the pure purpose of making her choose, for so to ignore her choice, is vital to Blood and Cheese and its role in the narrative.

Because Dance of the Dragons, in the books, mirrors a perfect Greek Tragedy.

What is a Greek Tragedy, you ask? It requires two opposing parts, in a disagreement, to be equally right and wrong. One is not better than the other and can never be (to the narrative, not the audience). They can never be anything but what they are, can never change who they are, either because of personal conviction or societal role. Due to this, a Greek Tragedy always ends in death, destruction or deus ex machine (I think you see where this is going).

f.ex: In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone faces the problem of wanting to bury her brother, forbidden by her Uncle who has deemed said brother a traitor. Antigone is required, as the niece of the King, to follow his word and his law. Antigone is required, as the sister of the traitor, to bury him.

The Greens and the Blacks are these two parts. There is no use in arguing over who is best, who deserves the throne more or who is the most morally depraved. The fact that they are equal in their claims is the point. That is what makes it a Greek Tragedy, because they were both right and there is no correct answer. The problem the show has is that it alters slight details that sets this balance askew.

How does this affect Blood and Cheese, you ask?

Blood and Cheese, fantastically, is its own little Greek Tragedy within the Greek Tragedy that is Dance of the Dragons.

In the show it comes down to if she should sacrifice an heir or her daughter. It is a very practical case. They are asking which one is the boy. She needs to point out the boy to them.

In the book, it comes down to which son should die. There is no pragmatism, no need for Helaena to clarify to her child’s murderers which one is their intended target. It does not have a purpose. It is not meaningful. B&C make her choose because they want to, because they enjoy it, not because they’re bumbling idiots who wanna make sure they’re killing the boy. It needs to be a deliberate choice, untainted by any other thing, of which son needs to die. THIS SHOULD BE THE ONLY CONFLICT FOR HELAENA IN THIS MOMENT – by introducing the confusion over the boy, you have erased the pure cruelty of how senseless them making her choose is.

There is no right or wrong. Helaena choosing Maelor is Antigone tossing dirt upon her brother’s casket. But Blood and Cheese do not care for the tragedy, nor its form. Against his nature as a character, Creon wipes the dirt away and orders Antigone to obey his word. There was never a choice.

How, dear showrunners, do you think this may relate to the overarching themes of Dance of the Dragons, hm??

Do you think, perhaps, that ‘Impossible Choices’ is a running thing in this narrative that needs to be respected and paid attention to???

In the show, the Tragedy plays out as typical. Helaena makes a choice, whether it is the right one or not we cannot tell, but she chooses the boy. Blood and Cheese are not the authors of this Tragedy. They are not playing God. They are merely background actors.

[aeragan]

[anon: Hi can you write an Alphabet head cannon for Johnny cage and male reader?] i assume you mean an nsfw alphabet? i cannot find any other alphabet, so i apologize if i got it wrong T_T.

startin off strong with THE johnny cage. john john. yeah. that guy.

cw: nsfw, mxm, bodyworship, little bit of praise, edging, johnny fuckin' cage, baby. proofread MINORS DNI

ɴꜱꜰᴡ ᴀʟᴘʜᴀʙᴇᴛ || ᴊᴏʜɴɴʏ ᴄᴀɢᴇ

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Johnny's actually like a golden retriever. As much as he likes to show off,- and that doesn't mean he won't in bed either- he has a very tender side. Afterwards, he refuses to let you leave his arms. Need your clothes? Nope, he'll get them. As long as you hold his hand. Need a bath? He's carrying you to it. Maybe a little snack? Some water? Dragging you along for the adventure. And after all that, he'll tuck you both in, hold you reaaallll close, and whisper sweet nothings until either you or him are asleep.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Johnny's favorite body part? God, what isn't to love about him? It's so hard to choose! Just kidding. It's his biceps and his pecs. He's proud of 'em. Makes him feel all big and strong, means you can't run away like Sonya did. Though, he still loves every part of his body equally. Let's not forget about his little friend down there.

On you, it has to be your thighs. Or maybe your hands? God, he can't choose. Everything about you is perfection to him. No, no, it's definitely your stomach! Wait... no. It's your face. Nah, that doesn't do you justice. It's everything. Genuinely. He can't choose. Don't ask him to.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

He's more than fine cumming anywhere. Inside? Gladly. On your thigh? Fuck yes. Stomach? Sign him up. It's like an autograph to him, as long as he gets to "sign" you, he's happy as hell.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He's dominant, yes. He likes being the star of the show. But he will let you top him here and there. His dirty secret? Just how much he yearns to moan your name. Yell it, let him know who he belongs to. But he won't admit it. His pride can't take that hit. Not yet.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

God, what doesn't he know? He's an actor, baby. He's THE Cage. He's had more than his fair share of experience. He knows your body almost more than you do, exactly where to touch to illicit a reaction from you, just the right spots to hit, and those sweet sweet words that turn you on instantly.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

He love love loves cowgirl- or shall we call it cowboy? Not reverse, though. He needs to see your face. Has to. Non-negotiable. He likes to get his hands all over you, and he loves to see your pleasure. How else is he supposed to know that he's making you feel so damn good? Not that he isn't, god he knows, but just a reassurance.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

You're asking if Johnny Fuckin' Cage is serious? No. Hell no. He's crackin' jokes, but mainly he's praising himself. Not that he isn't praising you, either. But You hear a lot of "How's li'l Johnny treatin' ya?", in a way, it's kind of sexy. In a very CAGE-y way, at least.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He's got some body hair. Mainly, a happy trail, complimented by his V-Line. A little arm hair, but he keeps his chest clean. Pubic hair wise, he's got a little. Keeps himself trimmed, but still keeps some down there. Compliments his dick, that's what it does.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

God, he's so sweet it'll make your teeth hurt. Amongst his little ego-boosting, he swings praises your way. All honeyed, yet truthful nonetheless. His touch has always been full of longing, more so than lust. Everything he says is true. You know that. Regardless, he's gonna drill that into you. And drill into you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He jacks off quite frequently. Though, he will always, always prefer you. Being in you, your hand, your mouth. But with his sex drive, he jacks off at least once a week, and if you aren't around, 7 days a week, baby. Always thinkin' of you.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Body worship. Through and through. He fuckin' loves it when you're all over him, gliding your hands from his collarbone to his waist, tracing his V-line, his abs, his tattoos, all with such love and yearning. Taking almost 30 minutes to explore each others bodies before anything goes in anywhere is always a pre-requisite.

He also LOVES edging. You, specifically. He's an asshole that way. Listening to you beg, whimper, cry to release. To cum allll over you and him. Fuck, does that get him going. He's almost let you just cum each and every time. One of these days, he's gonna break.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Anywhere, baby. Anywhere, anytime. He is always down. Shower sex? Yes. Quickie in a restroom somewhere? As long as it's as clean as a Bucca Di Beppo bathroom, yes. Speaking of, god, if he could fuck you in a Bucca Di Beppo, he so would. Now THAT'S fine dinin'.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

You, always you. But specifically when you're fighting anyone. Not him, of course, shit, he's terrified of you. But all determined like that, nose bloody, knuckles bloodied, bruised. God, you are just SEETHING with sexual energy. And damn, he's going to fuck you after you win. However you like, baby.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Anything that'll hurt you. Hard no for him. He refuses to do anything of the sort. He can't hurt that pretty little body of yours, can he? No, no he can't. That is a cardinal sin, baby. He can't even fight you.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Oh, he loves giving. And he doesn't mind receiving. But fuck, he loves watching you squirm, gripping the sheets, and running your hands through his hair as he goes down on you. And he loves how you reward him after, it's like dessert.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

He can go however fast you like, baby. You feelin' like enjoying the night, all romantic and sensual? Absolutely, anything for you. He will make the first round last for an hour. Feelin' especially frisky and want to scream his name all night (and all day, if your stamina so permits it)? Fuck. Yes. Say no more.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He'll do 'em. He aint afraid. Especially if you two only have time for that. He'll make sure your both satisfied and have both came. At least twice. But he does prefer having the full experience. He likes having you anytime, though.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Always, and forever, babe. He'll try everything at least once. He's fucked you in the most scandalous places before, too. One time, he was fairly sure Liu Kang was watching. That's why he fucked ya then and there.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Hours, day and night. Ride him like a horse. He'll wear that cowboy hat for ya, too. At least, that's what he said. The longest you've two have lasted was from 12am-4am. With breaks. But he sure didn't seem winded. Not in the slightest.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

So. Fucking. Many. For you, for him, for both of you. He loves watching you pleasure yourself with his toys. And vice versa. He loves torturing you with em, too. Watching you nearly tap out and lean up against him cause you couldn't hold yourself up while he was fuckin' ya senseless and using a remote-control cockring. He also LOVES his sybian. Both of you grinding up, little bit of frotting, knowing you feel just as good as he does. Fuck, it makes him hard at the thought.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Oh, he's a fucking dickhead. As mentioned, he LOVES to edge you. How weak you are against him, yet knowing you want more, knowing you love it. He could do it all night baby. Make sure you got good impulse control. He won't hold back.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He's LOUD, baby, real loud. He wants you to know how good you make him feel. And he wants to praise you. How good you are, taking his dick. Like a champ. He'll moan, and grunt, and growl. All in your ear, too. He knows you like it. A little bit of breath play, for a good boy.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

The amount of sex tapes in his phone is INSANE. But he won't post em, not if you don't want it. He knows his adoring fans would love it, and he'd LOVE to show off his boy to all of em. He gets off watchin' 'em, too. Are you surprised?

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

He's a biiiig boy. Took you a bit to get used to him. He's a shower, though. He's about 6.7" in length, and 1.9" wide. Leans slightly to the left. Circumsized.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

He's gotta fuck ya at least once a day. His sex drive is through the roof, I mean. He's Johnny Cage. If he doesn't get his dick wet once a day, who is he?

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Yeah, he's tired as shit afterwards, but until you have been cleaned up, drank, and ate if you needed to, then he's out. He refuses to fall asleep beforehand. And normally, he has to make sure you fell asleep first.

[mitigatedchaos]

On Discourse

(~1,000 words, ~5m)

[ anon ]

[...] I only know like other early twenty somethings who are as clueless if not more than me. I then imagine said smart abstraction person inevitably getting frustrated with me and my inability to keep up with them or add on to their thoughts, per the inexperienced idiocy, and eventually blocking me in the middle of a discussion on how pro-sex work thought conflicts with modern feminism despite many sharing those beliefs. [...]

I know that in your ask, you said that this might be better left unspoken, but I'd like to share a line of thought that you might find useful.

One of the discursive norms that was weakened 2014-2022 was the idea of the separation between ideas and people.

Someone who is currently wrong, but who is honest, humble, and sincerely interested in the truth, is likely to become correct (or more correct). Someone who is currently correct, but who is dishonest with both others and with themselves, is likely to become wrong (or less correct).

Therefore honesty, humility, and a sincere desire to know the nature of the material world, are generally, though not always, more important than having a correct object-level position on every issue.

If methods are more important than just being correct, because methods are how you become correct, then we can view the nature of discussion differently.

You can have a discussion …as practice. It's OK if you're wrong, as long as the discussion helps you to become more correct, or become better at becoming correct. Breaking things down into their components, forming arguments, and weighing arguments, are skills, which can be practiced.

Now, regarding Tumblr...

In my opinion, people come to Tumblr to blog for basically two reasons. They want to learn, and they want to be heard.

To learn from someone, they must be similar enough to you that you can understand them, but different enough from you that they have something to teach you. Rationalists have a concept called "inferential distance," which refers to the gap in knowledge or reasoning between people. For example, to explain vtuber drama to Leibniz, in order for him to understand you, you would first have to explain computers and the Internet.

Inferential distance should not be thought of as a matter of supremacy or inferiority; two people might have equal shares of information about a problem that don't overlap with each other.

Due to differences in the knowledge and experience of people, there can be someone B in a chain A -> B -> C who understands both A and C, even when A and C do not understand each other.

In addition, if there is something you don't understand, it may be possible to ask a question and get an answer that helps you to understand. In this way, a conversation, which is flexible and adaptive, can reach people that a book, which is fixed, cannot.

Knowledge relationships may be hierarchical, in that I may know some piece of true information that you don't. However, from that perspective, there are multiple knowledge relationships between two people, and it is generally the case that you will also know some true information that I don't.

People also come to social media to be heard. It might be about a topic that doesn't have a large audience in their personal life, such as collecting Korean dolls. It might be to have a larger audience than they can access in real life. It might be to be heard by specific people.

When I came to Tumblr to write about politics in 2017, I did so because I thought that the quality of the national political discourse was quite poor, so that I could hardly do worse than what was regularly platformed by national outlets, but I felt that the quality of discourse in this area of Tumblr was fairly good, so that it was possible to have discourse that would generate light, not just heat.

I write to share information that I think others should know. I also write to gather feedback (and to practice writing). Rather than either-or, this can be thought of as a split, like 90%-10%, that varies by post.

Sometimes this means sharing information I know now that I think it would have been good for me to know when I was younger. Sometimes this means sharing information that I knew when I was your age, but which people who are currently your age do not know.

Tumblr has done something remarkable - it has restored intergenerational transmission of information. I'm not that old, but I believe that many of the more experienced users on this website feel the same as I do. We are all going to leave Tumblr at some point, either because we will become too busy, or because the isekai bus will finally catch up to us.

Confucius once said that, in old age, the best men guard themselves against acquisitiveness. As members of the forthcoming generation, your presence is worth more than gold. This is why, on Nov. 6th, I told you all to survive and become strong.

The next 50 years are going to see some major changes in the underlying dimensions of human society, with likely significant advances in AI (which makes capital more like labor) and in genetic engineering (which will offer an increase in health, but also poses major ethical challenges). You will likely live to make important choices about humanity's future, which will rapidly become the new present.

It is not necessary to become a master of abstraction. Rather, even a moderate improvement in the ability to think clearly, to weigh arguments, to evaluate evidence, and to see contradiction, makes it more difficult for others to lie to and manipulate you. When people are difficult to lie to, liars must proceed in uncertainty, and reduce the magnitude of their lies.

This creates a world which is safer for the weak, the busy, and the distracted. There are people who are too young or too old to seek out the correct information, or verify it.

There was a strain of thought over last decade that was suspicious of strength and agency, as only through strength is it possible to oppress others. The world, of course, is more complicated than this. It is only through strength that we can put compassion into practice, and it is only through agency that we can ensure that what we are doing is compassionate.

[curiositysavesthecat]

Trigger warning: incest

Analyze the following options:

A and B are in a romantic relationship. A and B are biological siblings, but they were NOT raised together and they first met each other when they both were adults

C and D are in a romantic relationship. C and D are siblings, but they are NOT blood related (one of them was adopted). C and D were raised together, thus they grew up together

This poll was submitted to us and we simply posted it so people could vote and discuss their opinions on the matter. If you’d like for us to ask the internet a question for you, feel free to drop the poll of your choice in our inbox and we’ll post them anonymously (for more info, please check our pinned post).

[qqueenofhades]

-Quickly skitters into the inbox, with a boom box and an increasingly bass boosted version-

🎶I PUT MY HANDS UP THEY’RE PLAYING MY SONG THE BUTTERFLIES FLY AWAY-🎶

- Party In The USA anon, on the recent glorious news

Look. LOOK. I know we've had technically bigger fish, but the Georgia case is a Big Fucking Deal. Because:

It is a MAJOR indictment both in terms of scope and seriousness of charges. Not just Trump, but *eighteen* of his allies and cronies got charged with RICO (anti-racketeering, often used against mob bosses) felonies, including Rudy Giuliani (I repeat, HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA), Jeff Clark, Mark Meadows, and other high-profile Trumpworld enablers

No Lindsey Graham (at least yet) but I guess we can't have everything

It encompasses both in Georgia and other states where Trump illegally tried to alter election results (Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania), as those activities related to a conspiracy centered on Georgia/Fulton County

This is the big whopper: TRUMP CANNOT CANCEL THIS INVESTIGATION EVEN IF HE GETS RE-ELECTED. He can shut down the federal Special Counsel investigations run through the DoJ, but this? Bupkis. And Georgia governor Brian Kemp, another of the Republicans who dutifully continues to defend Trump even as Trump slanders him up and down, CAN'T PARDON HIM.

That drives the Republicans NUTS. So nuts that they were, you guessed it, already on Faux News whining about how they should make Georgia change that law.

Boo-fucking-hoo, you absolute fucking wankers.

Also: we need to remember that Trump rose to political prominence by being wildly racist and xenophobic about America's first Black president. He has coddled and exalted white supremacists and white supremacist rhetoric at every turn, it has been the central defining feature of his campaign, and his election subversion efforts were chiefly aimed at canceling the votes of heavily Black cities (Atlanta, Philly, Detroit, etc.)

Trump also won in 2016 thanks to the Electoral College, itself designed as an element of structural racism, by defeating probably the most qualified and beyond any doubt most historic candidate there has ever been, after it was revealed that he was a serial sexual assaulter and after he screamed for months about LOCK HER UP (every Republican accusation is a confession, etc)

All that said, with Trump's vile, derogatory bile spewed at everyone, but especially a) Black people, b) women, and c) powerful Black women, it is a Big Fucking Deal that a powerful Black woman, aka his worst nightmare, pulled this trigger on him.

Don't get me wrong. I deeply appreciate me some Jack Smith. But he is also a white male special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice, and who used to work for the Hague prosecuting war crimes (true story). It's in his brief to do this.

Fani Willis is a county district attorney AND a Black woman, as Trump's nonstop shitgibbering on Truth Social just can't help himself from pointing out. This kind of sprawling, country-wide investigation against a wildly corrupt ex-president and his cohort of equally corrupt cronies is not something she is, in the normal course of things, ever expected to do, but she did it.

NINETEEN DEFENDANTS, Y'ALL. Including Trump. On 41 different charges. That's a hell of an indictment, and she knows it puts a target on her back, while (as noted) she doesn't have the resources and protections of the federal government/DOJ to do it.

Let's hear it for Fani Willis (and Judge Chutkan, who informed Trump the other day the more he runs his mouth, the faster she will proceed to trial) y'all.

Black Women Get Shit Done.

[helloescapist]

Living Together Headcanons Part I | Giyuu Tomioka, Shinobu Kocho, and Kyojuro Rengoku

Word Count: 4064

Setting: [insert]hashira x gn!reader, established relationships

Content Warning(s): minor suggestive wording, SFW, domestic

Summary: just domestic headcanons with Giyuu Tomioka, Shinobu Kocho, and Kyojuro Rengoku.

The Water Hashira

This was not a decision the Water Hashira took lightly, nor was it one he was able to make a decisive point on for quite some time. In fact, it’s likely that Tomioka had wanted to start living together months ago. Your having fallen asleep at his place on accident gifting him the rare opportunity to see your f ace first thing in the morning, he’s smitten. It was a desire that resulted in hours of deliberation, internal screaming, and self-inflicted panic.

His mind had scampered off with a number of scenarios; Giyuu had successfully outlined every possible consequence of living together.

Pondered what domestic dispute would occur if you both discovered the swordsman was in fact, a snorer. He wouldn’t be surprised if he had a deviated septum—he had certainly been knocked in the face a number of times by Sanemi. Would you be able to sleep through such clamorous noise? What if the whistle of his botched nose robbed you of necessary slumber? What if the reality of sharing a bed spread further than him being a noisy sleeper, c-could Giyuu be restless sleeper? He was prone to nightmares since the loss of his sister, b-but he never considered that it may cause him to wander the futon. What if he pushed you off in the middle of the night? Or stole the blankets in his struggles?

The night and performance was not the only concern, the waking hours lent its own opportunities for him to sink your happy relationship. What if your social tendencies lent itself to frequent visitors? W-would he be able to keep up with communal demands? The idea of strangers acquaintances wandering throughout his home at a moment’s notice is enough to make him anxious.

Giyuu has always fretted over even the littlest of things, but when the thought to take your relationship a step further occurred to him, well, it really sent his thoughts in overdrive. His heart yearns for domestic life at your side, but he’s aware he is not the easiest person to get along with. Worried that this next phase of your relationship, well it would awake whatever fevered dream had led you to accept him as your partner.

His over consideration of others has and will continue to rob you of sweet moments as lovers. There will be moments where he wonders if he is putting the moves on you at the right time, or if perhaps you’re too busy. Too exhausted from the day’s work.

Giyuu will engage himself in an internal debate if you would like tea with the book you’re reading by the window, snuggled up in a bundle. The time dedicated to sorting through the variety of teas at your disposal, frightened that in some way selecting the wrong flavor would indicate he is no longer an appropriate match for you. Or worse, that he doesn’t care for your preferences.

Send him out for groceries unaccompanied, he will stick to the list you provided loyally at the cost of his own health. Stressed out at the realization you had set out the ingredients with the intent of serving omurice.

Yet, as Giyuu scans the list, he cannot see the request to stop by the grocer and secure the green onions. He’s certain that you were out, and he will stand in front of the grocer unsure of whether to purchase the ingredient. Equally befuddled that he would become the hero who remembered the onions, or if somehow the purchase would insinuate lack of confidence in your skills.

The little old grannies will eventually force the onions on him and shoo him.

Your first night, he didn’t sleep. Not even a wink. He spent the entire night bearing a hole into the ceiling. A shy smile etched upon his lips, heart pounding in his ears. The tender scent of your shampoo tossed in your sleep, the tickle of the strands of your hair against his nose. The coo of your breath against his neck as you snuggle into his chest. He continues to tuck your stray arm under the covers despite how many times you wiggle lose.

Truly, there is no bigger sign of progress in your relationship with the Water Hashira than the moment your belongings passed the threshold, and intermingled with his own. It’s the perfect example of the bond you two have built together. He’s too excited, his heart won’t stop and the fear he may accidentally wake you.

Giyuu as you are more than aware isn’t necessarily one for conversation. It’s not that he wouldn’t partake, it’s more that he just enjoys listening to your voice over meals.

Curled up into the late hours as you divulge everything from the inner workings of your day, your job, or even day dreams. His small inputs here and there will not only wow you, but reassure you that he is always listening to your rambles with a small smile on his face.

you bring such life to his world. he's missed this.

Giyuu wouldn’t be one to bring home something without discussing it with you first, and for the most part, he’s not too likely to complain if you decide to bring a plant home on a whim. I just feel he’s a great plant daddy.

 But I can’t imagine him bringing something home too much on a whim, he will have put into great consideration before he dares to bring home matching dinnerware for the two of you. have the cutest little flowers, and a kappa spirit motif.

He’s not going to bring home a stray animal spur of the moment, and will approach you bringing home a pet with great trebudation. Have you seen how animals treat him, he’s nervous. Though the Water Hashira would not outright reject the addition, but he is skeptical.

Mitsuri will have started sneaking little bites of goodies into his pockets to nurture the relationship.

For that matter, I feel like Giyuu as a whole keeps a very minimal home, and wouldn’t be apposed to your decorations regardless of how little or flamoyant. As long as he can continue about his daily tasks, I suspect he’d find great comfort in their presence.

it’s proof he’s no longer alone…

Likely has a preference for nostalgic pieces, especially ones that are rather simple.  Naturally gravitates to the concept of kanso. Natural light, plants, and the inclusion of wood elements.

Is the type to be quite ridged about schedules and habits. Every day without fail, he will have the laundry washed and hung at the same time. His sword will be routinely polished at the same time every day. Dishes will be promptly washed after dinner is served. Diverting from his routine often causes stress and a touch of anxiety. For the most part, he’ll be able to argue with himself—such as reminding himself of the importance of duty, or that you surely didn’t mean to leave laundry on the line for so long.

He’s a man of routine

This would also lend itself to dates. While he’s not as big on going out, through Tanjiro’s gentle reminders, he would make a point to take you out every two weeks on the dot, unless you express a desire for more time out. In which case, he’ll adjust to the need.

That being said, he’s a total home body.

Loves spending time at home together. Whether it’s engaging in board games with one another, and cooking dinner together, or if you are performing separate activities. Such as reading a book, sewing, painting, crocheting, whatever your interests may be, he is happy to just be around you will you pursue your joy. He may read a book, train, or even attempt to try out your task if you invite him to do so.

For the most part though, he’s content to just sit in the same room as you without words, listening to your murmurs of focus.

Seizes opportunities to snuggle on the veranda as the rain seizes the light of day, and little frogs hop across the garden enjoying the weather.

Would be the type to wrap a blanket around your shoulders wehtehr you’ve drifted off to sleep by the kotatsu, or if you’re too entranced in work to notice that you’ve grown cold.

Would deliver your lunch to you at work.

Would make a point of eating meals together.

Would stay up faithfully awaiting yoru return home. Probably by the door, and when the hour draws far later than expected he’s anxious. The first hour, he’ll express that you lost track of time.  Ran into a friend. The errands ran longer, making excuses after excuses. Like a worried parent.

As time goes on, he’s stressed, no he’s worried. scared.

His mind is running through every scenario. What if you ran into a demon, what if you were kidnapped and sold to the red district. he’s out the door..

Ensures that he asks how your day was every day.

Carries a hudge amount of the mental load.

Remembers that you like a specific scent for your laundry, and makes a point of always utilizing it in the wash.

Always makes sure that bills are paid on time, and the fridge is stocked.

Will work tirelessly to ensure you have everything you need to be happy.

Even if he’s not the breadwinner in the home, he’ll make a point of contributing to the hosuehold very seriously. Strict budgeter.

Makes Saturday morning breakfast after he’s convinced himself to crawl out of bed. takes balancing nutrition very seriously.

Will never take for granted having someone to come home to.

If you can make it pass the initial panic obstacles of living together, you’ll be gifted with a stable, consistent, and happy home. Literally the definition of a warm home to return to, snuggles, and all the fuzzy feels.

The Insect Pillar

Let’s be clear, if Shinobu has made the step to cohabitate with you, then you are more than familiar with her peculiarities. Otherwise, there’s just no way in hell that she would allow you to invade her personal space. Regardless of how romantic or attached she is to you, she worked hard to imbed the best version of herself to you, so taking this next big move in the relationship, you’ve already seen what lies beneath her gentle mask.

You’re already acquainted with her morning breath, groggy snippy remarks at the rise of the sun having spent a late night studying medical texts, how her hair will stick at odd ends, and the bags beneath her eyes that have not been tended to by make up. You are… aware that she is far from perfect, and thus, why she has allowed you to scoot your belongings pass the door. The ultimate sign of not commitment, but vulnerability.

You know she’s still human.

Just as guarded as she is about her own vulnerabilities, I also believe Shinobu wouldn’t allow you to jump into this commitment without the proper thought and time. She’s flattered, and oh she will savor teasing your eagerness to live together, but she’s not jeopardizing the relationship to satisfy a whim. Pressing forward will only happy if she is confident you can handle it her. After all, living together means more exposure to her sassy remarks. Her tongue is a double edge sword, her words can be cute and feisty as they are mysterious and lethal.

Living together, the Insect Pillar would take so much pride in having you in her home. Would openly flaunt her relationship status. A jubilant combination of smugness, and devious. Tormenting anyone who’s thoughts have strayed at her sassy remarks of keeping you up--- she saw the way Mitsuri and Sanemi’s face lit up at the implication, and now, ta ta her love.

she’s hunting. no matter the excuse they make, they’ll fall under her tormenting.

Living with Kocho means a bit of work on your part, and less on hers. For her, hers, well, she’s enamored with you. Thrilled by your brain, how your mind ticks. Your habits, your smile, your frustrations, all of it, so whatever you contribute to the Butterfly Estate, she’s fairly accepting.But, you’ll have to familiarize yourself with her whims. And they are… vast.

Shinobu will never hesitate to bring work home with her, or consider how it will affect you, or those around you. why would she?

Because of this, you’ll often find curious concoctions throughout the home. Mixtures of wisteria, and other anomalies left out without a second thought. I’m just convinced that under her mask, Shinobu tends to be messy by nature.Some days, you’ll open the store house to discover a variety of severed, talking heads. Demons who have been inflicted with varying injections and dosages of her wisteria concoctions.

All for the sake of her research clearly, but you’ll have to volley the notion of a separate storehouse for her… work. seriously who wants to eat leeks that have been close to the decapitated horrors. She doesn’t get it, they didn’t touch, but okay, okay, she’ll get on the construction.

You share a lot of similarities with those test subjects as you’re essentially in a petri dish yourself. Nothing malicious.  No, no, rest assured she means no harm in observing you. She really adores you, so much so that she wants to know everything. Everything.

The exact measurements you implicate when you go through your skin routine, why it is you add a touch of sugar to your cooking rice, or why you tuck the end of your fold the way you do when putting away laundry.

While it’s adorable that she’s taking mental notes, I can’t imagine being studied at all aspects of your being will always be… comfortable. imagine waking up to her counting your freckles.

Enact your boundaries. She’ll respect them. but she doesn’t understand why you’re upset.

As I’ve said, Shinobu isn’t the type to care too much about what you bring into the home. Whether on a whim you’ve dragged a stray home, a plant, new wallpaper, whatever it may be, Kocho is for the most part, unbothered. Really, as long as you bare in mind specific things, such as tokens of her older sister are significant to her, you’re free to do whatever you’d like with the home. If anything, she looks forward to seeing what you come up with. Just as, she will welcome any additions to the home you drag home. A cat, ah well, you needed a companion. A plant, it will look lovely in that corner. New wallpaper, oh this color makes your eyes pop. She’s smiten.

you could commit a murder and Shinobu would still take your side. I swear.

I do feel like she would gravitate towards more macabre interior chocies, or perhaps some Victorian inspired pieces. Collecting books in a variety of foreign languages, extra draping for privacy.

For the acceptance she provides you, Shinobu expects the same in return. Again, she is a victim to whims. Just as you’ll find severed demon flesh in unique places, you may also find other samples as well. There will also be days when she may just outright wander the home naked, or other times when she’s spirited away investigating ingredients.

She’ll leave a note with Aoi explaining her absence, but you will never receive a heads up. Nor much of a justification.

She isn’t the type to stay up awaiting your return like Giyuu to be fair, she doesn’t want you to do the same. But, she is the type to leave medical substances around the home, as well as other tokens of affections. Although, it may take some time before you understand a fish head= a gift. I don’t blame you.

You’ll never be bored.

And your home will always be lively.

Similar to Giyuu, the Insect Hashira is rather content to perform her experiments while you indulge in a personal activity. or she’ll just out right watch you. Other times, she’d welcome being invited to attempt the hobby herself, but she’s not likely to do it more than once. Sort of like a check list. Try sewing, check, moving on!. Onto a new pursuit.

Alongside her whims, you’ll find that she has random moments of fancy. Spur of the moment decisions. Some nights, you may find her wandering the garden beneath the moonlight, just because. Other times, she has become convinced, she needs a late night dango. Would you like to accompany her? No? no worries, she’ll bring home your favorite snack.

Because of this, you can expect your dating life to remain… turbulent as they always were. Shinobu is literally the type to pick you up in the middle of a less than significant duty, and kidnap you for a midafternoon tryst. Other times, because her mind often wanders, it could be a while since you’ve had an outing. But, she always, always welcomes the opportunity to explore with you.

I cannot for the life of me justify it--- but I just strongly feel like you should never eat her cooking. It’s cute when she tries, but… just don’t.

In fact, you may have to convince her to eat actual food. She just seems like the type to maintain her life with nutrient supplements, and caffeine. You’ve likely had an argument or two about the importance of an actual meal. Together.

I think as time goes on, living with Shinobu would be a rather enjoyable experience. Especially if you naturally want a little space and independence. SHe would be the type to more than except that... as long as you make room for snuggles in your day.

The woman will punish long bouts of time not spent together with squeezing you inappropriately when you're trying to wash the dishes.

The Flame Hashira

Kyojuro Rengoku | The Flame Hashira

Unlike Shinobu, or Giyuu, he needs no convincing. In fact, he probably approached you with the prospect way before you were ready and had to be shelved. but he brought it up a few more times. not because he’s manipulated, but because, he is just. So. Excited.

He’s waited for this moment for the entirety of your relationship. Like, the second date, he was already considering what your life together would be like. I’m not kidding.

He had dresser drawers cleared and awaiting your clothing, cleared out space on shelves to ensure you could place beloved items within view. He had the home prepped the second you said yes, dragging poor Senjuro with him. the little brother having to remind him that he needs to pace himself.

Kyojuro doesn’t have time to be tired. He’s way too excited. Off to the store! Senjuro is ragged.

Like an overeager child preparing for a trip, the Flame Hashira was quick to scoop everything into heart, and move forward. Snacks, gifts, decorations, oh cannot forget the matching cups. Tiger and dragon. EXCELLENT.

As enthusiastic and wonderful his approach is, he’s more likely to be hit rather hard be the initial relationship struggles. He will push through, but it will leave quite a wound to his heart to know that living together was not as effortless. Kyojuro has always wanted a happy home. like he once had. so being met with the realities of domestic life may rattle him a little.

But he’s dedicated.

He’s committed.

Living together will also provide doors to the depths of his heart that you had not otherwise witness, such as how desperately he longs for a happy home, and family. His eagerness to try everything to be the best partner revealing small pieces of his insecurities, and his desire to be praised. Living together means that you’ll be met with the parts of himself he tries to conceal behind a smile.

A late night in which he curls into bed, detached and lost to the world. Horrified at the loss of a small child he could not save in time. A mizunoto relieved of duty due to their wounds, or retrieving the bodies of those lost in the final selection. His façade is crumbling, and more than anything, he just needs you to hold him.

To feel life between his arms.

Truthfully, I recommend just getting acquainted with taking care of him in general. You will have to nurse colds and flues, brought on giving the haori off his back to a stranger. To be clear, he’s not taking being cared for as easily as you might think, he’ll protest. He doesn’t want to add to your burdens; Rengoku feels strongly that his duty is to carry yours, not add to them. But oh, your cold hand feels heavenly against his forehead… maybe just a moment. like a kitten curled under the kotetsu, he’s a goner.

 He also has a habit of working himself to the bone, and you’ll likely find yourself assisting him with the day to day activities, such as bathing after a hefty battle.

You’re doing the cooking. With assistance. It’s not that Kyojuro is a horrific cook, or unwilling to cook in your absence. He may be traditional in a lot of aspects, but he’s affectionate and willing to take part in meals.

In fact, I believe he’s rather experimental, and far too excited at the prospect of gifting you with a meal, that he begins to toss in ingredients regardless of what the contents already exist in the concoction. Nope, nope, you’ll have to take over the majority of cooking if you want something edible. But you’ll still find him at your side, eager to lend a hand.

Actually, this will be the case with the mass majority of home tasks. He’ll love the opportunity to care for you as you do him, so much so that in his enthusiasm, you’ll likely find some tasks not.. completed appropriately.  Clothing still bearing blood stains from a tussle, rice not properly cooked through, floors that are smeared, or the garden disheveled. he tried

To his credit, Rengoku grew up in a fairly well cared for family in terms of finances and status. It’s likely that his struggles with home chores, are likely the result of just not having taken too much of the responsibility for the majority of them. I also suspect that he prefers a traditional home in terms of décor. Wall scrolls depicting honor, textbooks over tactics and swords men ship, a room dedicated to a study, separated from a bedroom with two futons laid out. Folding screens, the works.

I think it’s more about the familiarity—it’s the way his mother maintained the home, and like the ghost of her absence remained after passing. No one ever redecorated, and because of this, antique pieces in a way are comforting.

Although I imagine he also keeps the oddest knick knack mixed into the shovel. Whether tokens from grateful rescued, or of your relationship, they’re mixed into his belongings.

Kyojuro enjoys being home, and while he wants a happy home, you will have to understand that he is well dedicated to his duties. As such, you will need to become comfortable in the time you spent apart because it is going to happen. He will never refute his duties. You will have many late nights alone, an empty bed. It’s the burden of being with a Hashira, specifically the Flame Pillar.

He doesn’t expect you to wake up for him. Or leave meals out awaiting his return.

Really, living your life as you are in his absence, quick to intergrade him back into the routine is more than enough for him. Knowing you’re caring for his little brother in his stead, and awaiting his arrival home… he could never ask for more.

But if you should find the time to prepare him a bento in the dead of night for his early departure… he will treasure it. Savor every bite.

He is the type to bring home the most obscure items that made him think of you, and to pick up a bento along the way home. I’ll be honest, he will not reject anything you bring home. He recognizes that you are the primarily person at home. Decorate how you like. You want a rabbit? A dog? A cat? It’s welcome.

To be fair, this is probably because Kyojuro is just as likely to bring home a stray without consideration as to how it may impact the household.

Rather, he just saw a little creature that needed his aide, and so, you’ll awake to a puppy wandering the garden, or a stray child curled up in the guest room with only a small explanation as to how your guest or adopted child came to pass. But... are you really surprised?

would be the type to wear matching pajamas every chance he gets. sir dressed up to go to the Barbie movie, and I cannot promise you he was Ken.

Loves the idea of a garden, and appreciates the effort you put into it, but, Rengoku does not have a green thumb. Plant killer. So, the garden will be more for recreational activities in his book.

The type to get excited about a visiting theater trope, rush home, grab your hand with no explaination, and just run with you.

The opposite of Giyuu, where the Water Hashira hesitates, the Flame Hashira acts. without consideration of reprocussions.

is the type to bring home a boar after training in the mountains whether as a pet or a dinner depends on the day. you're just grateful it's not Inosuke.

Would scoop you up and spin you around while you're hanging laundry, urging you to skip the work for the day, and join him for a game of hide and seek.

I really feel like if you both can get over the initial realities of domestic life, you'll find that life with Kyojuro would be playful, full of laughter, and warm. A messy life that is sweet, and as adorable as returning home to him with chocolate smeared over the counter and his face from a failed batch of chocolate covered strawberries.

[chaotic-would-you-rathers]

Would You Rather...

A: Become able to travel to and from the fictional worlds from the last piece of media you consumed that had one at will (you can teleport between them but you cannot bring anything either direction, you will return to your previous location when travelling between worlds, time will still pass in both worlds, the first time you go there it is to the first location in the world in question you think of.)

B: Gain the 'evil eye of laceration', the power to freely slice anything you look at with invisible blades that cut with power equal to your own physical strength at first, but can be trained to an unlimited degree. You can turn this power on or off at will.

C: Gain the power to digest food at 3x the energy efficiency, meaning you need only 1/3rd of the food you did before.

[spooky-v3]

Paranormal Paranoia/Danganronpa V3 Horror AU!

Hello hi Danganronpa community on Tumblr I hope my funny au entertains you. If it interests you, feel free to ask me about it! I would love to answer questions as I develop the students and the AU as a whole!

HOPE’S PEAK ACADEMY FOR PECULIAR YOUTHS

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Hope’s Peak Academy may seem like a regular school ground at first, but it’s actually a containment facility. The students that come here are actually what you’d call “outcasts” who possess supernatural abilities, or were born as or transformed into supernatural beings. In this world, Supernaturals are largely demonized no matter how docile the creature may be, or how benign/insignificant their ability may be. Even if this is not the case, some form “alliances” with Supernaturals, which are illegal.

The students were captured upon discovery and acknowledgement by both the outside world and the Hope’s Peak staff. The “school system” is an observation of the supernaturals in their daily lives, and keeps tabs on their behavior and development. They are encouraged to learn more about their own kind and others, and interact with different species.

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RANKS

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There are “ranks” in the system, the division of which is dependent on a number of factors. This prioritizes the treatment of the students.

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Memoriam

“A status for students who have been killed by other students, whether intentionally or accidentally. There have been a handful of incidents with ranks clashing for various reasons that were out of the facility’s control, but this is strictly kept on a deceased student’s file and is not shared nor discussed.”

Level C

“The students with controllable supernatural abilities that are mostly allowed to roam freely with minimal obese ration. The ability doesn’t inherently make them non-human, because the small handful harped into this category are just unlucky saps with abilities that are strange. These students are generally pitied since they’re at the bottom of the food chain.”

Level B

“The students who were born as/transformed into Supernaturals, including a small portion of students whose abilities require additional help from faculty to maintain. The largest group of the three ranks, these students receive average observation and are restricted to enter certain areas without clearance.”

Level S

“The students who have the highest possibility of harm, some having previously attacked others. These students are under constant observation, are allowed access to very few areas, and have arguably the most infamous reputation of the ranks. Students here have a mix of respect and fear about them, as they are usually exceedingly powerful, and equally gossiped about for the usage of their power.”

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STUDENT ABILITIES AND RANKING

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Shuichi Saihara - Intuitive Polygraph Examiner

Level C

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Kaede Akamatsu - Clairaudient

Level C

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Rantaro Amami - Spirit

Memoriam

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Kaito Momota - Lycan

Level B

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Ryoma Hoshi - Reaper

Level S

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Gonta Gokuhara - Vampire

Level B

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Angie Yonaga - Mermaid

Level B

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Kirumi Tojo - Arachne

Level B

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Tenko Chabashira - Harionago

Level S

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Korekiyo Shinguji - Shapeshifter

Level B

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Kokichi Ouma - Demon

Level S

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Tsumugi Shirogane - Shifter

Level C

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Miu Iruma - Undead

Level B

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Maki Harukawa - Immortal

Level S

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Himiko Yumeno - Witch

Level B

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K1-B0 - Security Unit

Staff

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EXTRAS

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THE STUDENT COUNCIL

“The Student Council is a compilation of the most upstanding Supernaturals to assist the school in enforcing rules, promoting school spirit and so forth. Level S students cannot join for conduct reasons, and Level C students are not usually considered. These students work with Monokuma to organize school events and such. The Student Council in this case is Angie, Gonta, Tsumugi, K1-B0, and Himiko.“

—

and that’s about it for right now! I look forward to sharing more ^.^

[specs-does-stuff]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventures Fan Stands #3! - Twenty One Pilots

Stand Name: 「 Twenty One Pilots 」

Stand Master: Vasylyna Vinya

Power: B

Speed: C

Range: A

Durability: E

Precision: B

Potential: B

Stand Type:  Long-Distance - Colony - Artificial Non-Humanoid

Namesake: Twenty One Pilots - American Alternative Hip-Hop Duo

Meet The Stand:

Manifesting itself as both an RC Remote and a fleet of 21 RC attack helicopters piloted by small toy soldiers, Twenty One Pilots is a long-range, colony type stand commanded by Vas, Vas commands and leads the heavily armed choppers into battle with her remote.

The Twenty One Pilots fleet is divided into two different subgroups, Gunners and Bombers, and with the extra soldiers mounting the chopper’s machine guns, Twenty One Pilots has around 4 soldiers composing each unit, amounting to 84 in total.

Gunners are armed to the teeth with deadly machine guns that possess great range, though their bullets are tiny, they are still very fast and can do lots of piercing damage.

Bombers carry small bombs hidden inside their compartments that Vas can deploy during combat to blow her enemy away or create distance when necessary, the explosions are small, but still dangerous.

Bombers are also equipped with two miniature rockets, don’t let their small size for you, the explosions they create on impact are devastating and easily the most destructive weapons in Twenty One Pilots’ arsenal.

Albeit an undeniably dangerous stand, Twenty One Pilots also has certain limitations that extend beyond it's users' own physical limitations, as the helicopters that compose the fleet are the definition of glass cannons, they can cause great damage, but can't sustain significant battle damage either without running into the risk of being shot down and being put out of commission for the rest of the battle in the process.

Vas also needs a clear visual on her target, Twenty One Pilots cannot and will not engage unless they have a clear shot.

Meet The Stand Master:

Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Vasylyna is the youngest child of the Vinya family, her father being a decorated pilot of the Ukrainian air force and her mother being a Russian nurse.

Growing up, vas was taught to be proud of her heritage and culture, wishing to follow in the footsteps of her father and older sister, Raisa, the latter of whom had already become an accomplished pilot for the air force herself, Vas was determined to bring honor to her family and her country…

That was, until shortly after her 10th birthday, when suddenly, she felt herself getting weaker and weaker, doing basic things such as walking suddenly became much more taxing for the young girl and she’d always get exhausted, her legs feeling weaker and weaker with each passing day, until an incident in her home where her legs suddenly gave out and she found herself falling down the flight of stairs of her home and seriously injuring herself in the process.

Whilst she was in the hospital, vas was diagnosed with Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) a type of muscular dystrophy that had rapidly weakened her muscles to a point where just walking was an exhausting, painful task for the girl, and unfortunately for the Vinya’s, there no known cure for Vasylyna’s condition, she found herself stuck on a wheelchair to move around, and while her parents were horrified at her condition and the implications this would have on vas’ future, vas was mad, mad at herself for being weak, for now being physically incapable of protecting her country like she had dreamed of, for now she wouldn’t be seen as an equal to her father and her sister… but as a burden.

And unfortunately for Vas, Raisa, the older sister she loved oh so much, ended up being stationed in the boarders of their home country, in order to fight an ongoing border conflict that was tearing up their nation.

Raisa didn't even have time to bid either her sister or parents farewell, before she was dragged off into the war, leaving Vas feeling truly alone in the process.

Vas grew more and more resentful of her situation as time went on, this wasn’t fair, none of this was fair, all her dreams had been taken away from her in an instant, suddenly people didn’t look at her as the brave, strong young girl who would grow up to defend her country and her people, but rather as a weak little girl who couldn’t do anything by herself and needed to be constantly coddled and looked after, they only looked at the wheelchair, not the girl sitting in it.

That was until Vasylyna discovered she wasn’t as weak or defenseless as she was starting to believe herself to be, she came to discover she had a truly bizzare ability, she didn't know the origins of this mysterious power, if they were a gift from god or a malevolent spirit possessing her...

But that was alright with her - for now - she wouldn't be piloting an aircraft.

Instead, she would be commanding an entire fleet.

Faceclaims & Sources for Images Used:

Comanche Defense from Bloons

Armie Buff from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 6 - Spirit Of Justice

Fun Fact: Vas was designed for a Jojo's Bizzare Adventure RP I signed up for last year, which you might notice why she has so much more lore behind her compared to some of the previous characters I shared in here, unfortunately the RP itself didn't pan out, but I still really like Vas and I wanna get a chance to user her in a future RP one day.

Also, yes, it IS the same type of stand as Bad Company. I just think it's neat!