#Character background

[just-writing-ideas]

cw: abuse and trauma and other unsavory things

interesting character backstories

because "my parents hit me or force me to be perfect" won't cut it for every character in the cast

-characters who grew up poor. poverty is traumatizing, people. i wanna see characters who never ask for anything, count dollars and coins, freak out when the bill isn't split fairly and immediately suspect bed bugs when someone says they're itchy. and mention the ugly stuff too. smelling bad and having water stains on the walls. ice cream for dinner and not eating breakfast. lights going out and fourteen year olds supporting a family of five.

-characters who were neglected. not physically abused, neglected. who don't understand why people care when they don't show up, or seem kind of down today, or leave a party without saying goodbye. who are too independent for their own good. who can't think of anything to say when asked to describe their parents. who are okay with being lonely. who always feel lonely. who get uncomfortable if you even ask them how their day was. who does that?

-characters who were smothered. who were treated like a toddler well into their teens. who were practically stalked by their own parents, never allowed a moment of privacy. who were constantly belittled and denied their autonomy as the adults in their life made every decision for them. regardless of how loved they truly were, this is abuse. this could go in two diverging directions: end result of a very guarded, mature character feeling a constant need to prove themself, or end result of a passive, immature character who requires attention, praise and constant assistance. both have extremely low self-esteem.

-characters who are fundamentally different from their family. maybe they're queer, or adopted, or disabled, or aren't fully related to the rest of them (bonus points if they aren't the same race as their family). characters who watch like a ghost as everyone else smiles and bonds. and maybe it's their fault that they're like this, or maybe it's their fault for not reaching out to the family themself, but... nobody else had to ask for it.

i forgot about this blog

[luna-azzurra]

Give your protagonist flaws.

Some examples of character flaws that can add humanity to your protagonist

Stubbornness

Stubbornness can cause your protagonist to cling to their viewpoints, even when they know they are wrong, often leading to conflicts with others. This trait can create dramatic tension and drive the narrative forward as the protagonist struggles with the consequences of their inflexibility.

Michael, a seasoned detective, refuses to consider new evidence that contradicts his initial theory about a case. His stubbornness leads to conflicts with his team and delays in solving the case.

Impatience

Impatience can make your protagonist demand immediate results, struggling with long-term goals or slower processes. This flaw can add layers to their journey, showing the difficulties they face in learning the value of patience and strategic planning.

Celeste, an aspiring entrepreneur, rushes the development of her new app, pushing her team to the brink. Her impatience results in a product that is not ready for launch, jeopardizing her startup's future.

Self-Doubt

Self-doubt, despite evident skills and achievements, can impair the protagonist's decision-making and actions. This internal conflict adds a relatable dimension, making their journey toward self-acceptance and confidence compelling.

Jordan, a talented musician, constantly questions his abilities despite receiving praise from peers and critics. His self-doubt hinders him from seizing opportunities that could advance his career.

Short Temper

A short temper can cause your protagonist to react aggressively to provocations or challenges, creating interpersonal issues. This flaw can drive subplots involving reconciliation, personal growth, and the learning of emotional control.

Maria, a brilliant surgeon, often lashes out at her colleagues and patients under pressure. Her short temper strains her professional relationships and threatens her career.

Selfishness

Selfishness can lead the protagonist to place their own needs and desires above others, costing them sympathy and support. This flaw can create opportunities for the character to learn empathy and the importance of selflessness.

Chris, a charismatic lawyer, often prioritizes his career over his family, missing important events and neglecting relationships. His selfishness alienates those who care about him, forcing him to reevaluate his choices.

Arrogance

Arrogance can make your protagonist overestimate their abilities and underestimate challenges, leading to dangerous or embarrassing situations. This flaw provides a platform for the character to learn humility and the value of listening to others.

Mandy, a top student, dismisses her classmates' ideas during group projects, believing she knows best. Her arrogance leads to friction and eventually to a significant mistake that humbles her.

Trust Issues

Trust issues can make it difficult for your protagonist to trust others, hindering teamwork and relationships. This trait can create tension and development opportunities as the character learns to open up and rely on others.

Liam, a former spy, finds it hard to trust anyone due to past betrayals. His trust issues complicate his relationships and collaboration with a new team.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism can lead your protagonist to set unrealistically high standards, never being content with their or others' performance. This flaw can drive stories about the struggle for balance and acceptance of imperfection.

Olivia, an artist, is never satisfied with her work, constantly striving for an unattainable level of perfection. Her perfectionism causes stress and burnout, affecting her creativity and personal life.

Fear of Change

Fear of change can make your protagonist cling to the familiar and avoid necessary or beneficial changes. This resistance can create narrative tension as they are forced to confront and adapt to evolving circumstances.

Jamie, a successful business owner, resists adopting new technologies or methods in his company. His fear of change threatens his business's relevance and growth.

Haunted by the Past

Being haunted by past mistakes or traumas can influence your protagonist's present behavior and decisions. This flaw adds a rich backstory and provides a path for emotional development and overcoming personal demons.

Zack, a war veteran, is haunted by his experiences in combat. His traumatic past affects his current relationships and decisions, leading him on a journey of healing and redemption.

[inafieldofdaisies]

[hazardoomttrpg]

D&D 5E | Player Species: Gnoll

Ever since reading @dailyadventureprompts's post on gnolls, I've been thinking about playing as one. I've seen a few versions around on the internet, but I haven't seen a jump to the 2025 ruleset. This take on Gnolls was actually one of the jumping off points for my Folk of the Wilds project. And with their push into a more demonic direction in 2024 ('25) Monster Manual, it felt like the right time to put out a more humanoid version. Also included here is the Survivalist background; perfect for being someone who innately understands the wilderness.

Let me know what you think!

Art from Hex: Shards of Fate. Copyright Hex Entertainment 2016.

Gnoll Species Details

Gnolls are the quintessential survivors of the multiverse, living far from the farmlands and cities populated by humans, elves, dwarves, etc. While some gnolls, known as "The Hungry Ones," have succumbed to Yeenoghu's call and have taken on a more demonic nature, many continue to live in the wilderness in small nomadic clans following the migration paths of various herds.

While many outside of their communities may find their behaviors and culture as barbaric, Gnoll traditions are ultimately utilitarian: when survival is on the line, the definition of what is and what isn't useful has a much broader definition.

Some of these traditions are as follows:

Gnolls are laconic and candid when speaking. In times of survival, understanding the situation and transmitting that information as quickly as possible is the difference between life and death.

When a Gnoll dies, there is a great celebration to honor their passing. During this, the clan will consume most of the deceased's flesh: it is one final honor for the individual to provide for their pack.

Gnoll weapons and tools have hilts/handles made partially or wholly of the bones of the deceased. These will often be named after them whose bones were used in the weapon or tool, serving both as a reminder of the clan's history and as a method for the deceased to continue serving their community.

Gnolls' understanding of ownership is based on usefulness: if a tool would be best used by one member of the clan, it makes most sense for that member to be the holder of the tool.

While Gnolls not bound to the will of Yeenoghu aren't overly religious, they find some spiritual connection either to ancestral spirits or to gods of nature, hunting, and weather, such as Obad-hai on Greyhawk or The Wildmother on Exandria.

Gnoll Traits

Creature Type: Humanoid

Ability Score Increase (5E 2014): Strength by 2, Dexterity by 1.

Size: Medium (about 6-7 feet tall)

Speed: 30 feet

As a Gnoll, you have these special traits.

Darkvision

You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

Carrion Feeder

You have the ability to stomach many foods which others cannot, such as rancid meat. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws triggered by eating and/or drinking. You also have resistance to Poison damage and advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.

Bite

Your fanged maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Pack Tactics

Once per turn, you have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Suggested Backgrounds

Farmer (5E 2024), but re-flavored as Hunter-Gatherer: This background is perfect for a Gnoll whose primary role was as a provider for the clan's next meal.

Guard (5E 2024): You might have been assigned as one of your clan's protectors, whether that was from the wild beasts your clan would routinely encounter OR from marauding bandits who looked at your clan as obstacles to supplies.

Guide (5E 2024): With Gnoll clans being nomadic, you might have been tasked with leading your pack through the wilderness, finding places of shelter for rest and short-term habitation.

Folk Hero (5E 2014): You might have undertaken a great trial to protect your clan, such as single-handedly fending off the attack of a great lion.

Outlander (5E 2014): In many ways, this background is similar to the 2024 Guide, but adding extra emphasis to your knowledge of how to survive in the wilds.

Survivalist (Homebrew): As the name suggest, your upbringing taught you all about using your wits, skills, and tenacity while surviving in the wilds.

A little bit extra: Survivalist Background

* 5E 2014 Version *

Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: Leatherworker’s Tools and one other Artisan’s Tool of your choice.

Language Proficiencies: Druidic

Feature: Scavenger Crafting

As part of a short rest, you can use materials harvested from a slain beast, construct, dragon, monstrosity, or plant creature of size Small or larger to create one of the following items: a shield, a club, a dagger, a spear, handaxe, or 1d4 darts and/or pieces of ammunition. While doing so, you roll 1d20. On a roll of 15 or higher, the crafted item is well-made, and is considered to be a +1 non-magical item. To use this trait, you need to have a set of the appropriate artisan's tools. Add your proficiency to the roll if you are proficient with the tools.

Equipment: A stone dagger, a hunting trap, an assortment of animal parts (such as claws, furs and teeth), a set of traveler’s clothes, a belt pouch containing 10 gp

* 5E 2024 Version *

Ability Score Increase: Strength, Dexterity Wisdom

Suggested Feat: Scavenger Artisan

Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: Leatherworker’s Tools

Language Proficiencies: Druidic

Equipment: A stone dagger, a hunting trap, an assortment of animal claws and teeth, a set of traveler’s clothes, a belt pouch containing 10 gp

[sara-the-wizard]

Say hello to Angel! (oc)

Angel is a moth yokie

Angel can spread his rings out to fly, but normally would drape them down like a cloak. His antennas twist around to resemble a halo.

Gender, Male.

Age, unknown.

Height, 6.3 feet.

Favorite food, not sure. Never really see him eat...

Angel didn't particularly do anything. They just roamed around the hidden city. Only doing what it had to do in order to survive.

In a sense, Angel felt like it had no purpose. Till a small orange light caught its eye. Now, being a moth, of course he would want to follow it.

That little light seamed to be illuminating from an infant. A baby of some yokie species, he assumed. But it was alone. The baby was crying and no one was there to help it, except Angel.

Angel took it upon himself to care for this small creature and made sure it would be okay. In a sense, Angel had become a guardian angel for this infant.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by! Lord bless you! ❤

[lunas-desks]

╰┈➤ 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭

✦ “𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬.”

╰┈➤ 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐔𝐩, 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐬—𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 ��𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬!

✦ 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧" 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧” 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫.

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫... 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬! 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬. 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐮𝐧-𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞́𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰.

╰┈➤ 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐤, 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

✦ 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥—𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 “𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩.” 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥 “𝐮𝐰𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐧.” 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 “𝐡𝐨𝐭, 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.” 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦—𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐚 (𝐧𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭) 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 “𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲” 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬.

✦ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝:

✎ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 = ���𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

✎ 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥—𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.

𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫.

╰┈➤ ��𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬

✦ 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 “𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲” 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 “𝐏𝐓𝐒𝐃” 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚... 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤.

𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

✦ 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧:

✎ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬—𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐬, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬, 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐫𝐬.

✎ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐒𝐌-𝟓, 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐨 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜, 𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐇.

✎ 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞).

✎ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞—𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐌𝐃 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲-𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 “𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.”

╰┈➤ 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐁𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬

✦ 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞: 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬... 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞” 𝐨𝐫 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐨𝐚𝐦. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

✦ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬:

✎ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞?

✎ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠?

✎ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟?

✎ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡?

✦ 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

╰┈➤ 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨���𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠

✦ 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠.

✦ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬:

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧” – 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡?

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐭” – 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐲—𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐲.

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥” – 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, “𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐡𝐞𝐫.” 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫” – 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞! 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬! 𝐍𝐨. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨.

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧” – 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧.

✦ 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝:

✎ 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥.

✎ 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬.

✎ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, 𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐤.

╰┈➤ 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

✦ 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫.

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐛 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲!

✦ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰:

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 “𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧”

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝

✎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

✎ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲

╰┈➤ 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞

✦ 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫—𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐦, 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐬.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞.

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 “𝐥𝐨𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞.” 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠.

╰┈➤ 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐲, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧

✦ 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐬.

𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐬.

╰┈➤ 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫

✦ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬:

l “𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐩 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

╰┈➤ 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 (𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫)

✦ 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲:

✎ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

✎ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 “𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭” 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲.

✎ 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧. 𝐀 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐠, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦.

✎ 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 ��𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞́𝐬—𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭.

✦ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲, 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭, 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬.

[bearfoottruck]

Let's talk about My Hero Academia for a bit. First of all, according to the MHA Wiki, the manga is to conclude in five chapters, so Season 7 of the anime will DEFINITELY be the last from what I know. As the series nears its conclusion, I have one question on my mind: WHY has Horikoshi not revealed anything about Fumikage Tokoyami's backstory? I mean, you don't just create a character with birdlike features and not explain how they (my headcanon is that Tokoyami is nonbinary) became that way!

[ominous-faechild]

( @theink-stainedfolk; I'm making a separate post for this since it's a little long and off-topic of the previous one lol)

CRICKET’S STRUGGLES HIT DIFFERENT. Bro really went "I’ll just artistic talent my way through magic calculus" and then got spanked by the academic grind. The allegory is crisp—nothing like institutional trauma to kill a childhood fascination! (Also dying at "only a tiny bit of legitimate interest"—what was the main reason? Peer pressure? Family drama? A bet? I’m nosy.)

Bro really went "I’ll just artistic talent my way through magic calculus"

So, yes and no!

In reality, Hugo has an absolutely rough backstory. Long story (kinda) short: everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Twice.

... okay, I jest. But only slightly.

TLDR; dude lost his father to a terrorist attack when he was young, joined a cult the Church of Veritheya after they provided relief efforts, turned to a lil bit of crime when the plague hit and his mother fell ill, got excommunicated, and got caught in a second terrorist attack. His sponsorship into the college was basically a combination "that's rough, buddy" from the government and a recognition of his artistic skills.

Cricket (Hugo) essentially used the academy as a lifeline that helped himself and his mother financially after a series of disasters tore their lives to shreds. Without the scholarships, they'd be screwed.

(Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you see it LMAO, he ultimately ended up on the Siren's Call, which paid extremely well and definitely didn't help him meet the love of his life.)

(more following the "read more")

During Hugo's childhood, Minogua was plagued by a series of terrorist attacks within which the group would ignite vast amount of Minoguan cities at once.

One of its very first attacks destroyed his family's finances and saw the death of his father, though he hardly remembers the man (being as he was 6 at the time). Following the attack, the Church of Veritheya helped the government of Minogua with relief efforts, and took Hugo and his (loving) mother in to help them recover from the disaster.

... while helping them see The Wonders of Veritheya™, of course.

(Let me just say the Verithian Church is a VERY TRANSPARENT allegory to the Christian Church. And, more often than not, the bad side of it.)

Despite their struggles, Hugo and his mother managed to make a new life thanks to the Church. Things were almost going well... untilllll the plague hit. (Istg, this was a thing before 'irl events'.) Once again, the Church provided relief efforts... but they'd been unable (or unwilling?) to spare resources for his mother when she fell ill.

Sooooo Hugo got mixed in with "bad sorts" (read: criminals) to try to get everything he needed to take care of his mother.

Another long story short: things did not go well!

The royal guard got involved with the criminal stuff, but Hugo was let go after passing a magic truth-check confirming he had little to do with it all.

... but the Church wasn't so forgiving.

For his short stint working with criminals, Hugo and his mother were excommunicated from the Church... who they'd been living with and working for for all those years.

The two were shit out of luck... when they got caught in the devastation of second terrorist attack.

In better news: this second one reunited him with the head of the royal guard, who'd been sympathetic to him even before. This time, she used the facts that he was a good artist, that the family had been through a lot due to the crown's negligence, and the country's need for more wizards as an excuse to give him a scholarship for the academy.

So... long story short x3: the magic academy was his and his mother's ticket out of poverty. So, while he did have a genuine interest in it, there was massive pressure (not applied to him by the mother!!!) to succeed and help finally dig them out of that hole.

... which he'd in good part blame himself—and the Church—for.

(But Veritheya was great. It was just the Church that was messed up.)

Oh. And Hugo gets the (playfully teasing) name of “Cricket” while at the academy because of his ADHD humming/stimming while studying. Aaaaaaand because his Changes™ when using powerful magic give him buglike features.

I like planning out characters' lives, but also? I used to have a whole (out-of-date) story with this man as the MC. And might eventually rewrite it lol

[travajoke01]

I'm not a writer, but together w\ my friend we put in writing the backstory of one of my ocs (I bought her long time ago, I didn't create her):

tw: nudity, organs, stalking, death

Mina Arickson BIO (read below)

Mina Arickson

Act I

Far-far away in a small distant town called Closeville, the girl named Mina was born. The family of her’s knew nothing of poverty. Her father was in charge of their own family business, which could easily be proven by a “Boutique: Arickson” sign. It was rather popular especially among the town’s visitors. As for her mother… She was an outlander, and none could say from where she came. The girl knew little to nothing of her mum, except that she had a kind heart. Though the father raised his child solely, he did a good job. The jewelry store brought this family plenty of money, so that father could easily spare it on various gifts for his beloved daughter, as regular as clockwork. Mina’s routine was quite ordinary, yet happy – making new friends, she got along with nearly anyone she met, playing around and much more. Sometimes these joyful days were mixed with duties, pretty simple, of course. As a daughter of a salesman, she had to learn how the business works. The store ran all day long, and soon Mina took part in the job: she was willingly talking with visitors, attracting new customers and suggesting precious jewelry quite nimbly. Commercial influence of her father’s work had a direct impact on her personality. Surely her dad was a complete workaholic, but he would never force his daughter to work till the rest of the day like himself. Indeed, Mina was more important to him than anything else in this world.

Days passed and Mina reached a certain age, which, according to the regional traditions, meant a feast. Many were gathered. She was given all sorts of gifts, and perhaps the most curious of them was the rose. The bloom was fascinating, shimmering in various shades from delicate pink to scarlet red, as if it were magical. As her father put it, the rose once belonged to her dear mother. This is how the relic of Arickson family found its new bearer. After the feast came to an end, father suggested  her to join the Academy, so that she could get a proper education. He was hoping that his daughter would inherit family business one day.  She didn’t mind it and agreed quickly. When the down came, together they wrote a requesting letter to the Academy.  They didn’t pick whoever wanted to enter its doors, it should have been a girl from the wealth to study there.

The answer didn’t keep them waiting long. Mina was enrolled and expected at the Academy. The whole town came together to say goodbyes when it was her time to leave. He saw her. Once again. Even then, at the feast, she had captivated him from the very first moment. It couldn't have been a coincidence. “Maybe it's fate”, – he thought.

Act II

A bloke named Glo’h was as thin as a rake, besides which he had something rather dark behind his looks. Glo’h was thought of as a strange one, since he scarcely ever left the home of the family. Playing with peers was not in his favor and, likewise, making acquaintances in general. His fame was wretched. Perhaps the reason for such odd behavior was his family. The father never took care of the child, altogether he was gone from his life, yet his body was always present. The one and only person close to him was his mother, however, she never truly loved the boy. She even beat him up from time to time, since it was him, the reason that broke the wonderful married life that she and her husband had before the birth of their son. The family had little to no wealth so that they couldn’t even think of anything but sustenance, let alone any other favors. Only the town’s festivals brought him at least some joy, as during such he could fill his stomach with at least something other than old, stale bread.  During one of them Glo’h experienced to behold Mina. Seeing this girl seemed to awaken something entirely different inside him. A feeling he had never experienced before. It gripped him from head to toe, he didn't understand what exactly it was – attraction, desire, passion… For better or for worse, she didn’t notice the guy.

Academy studies fascinated Mina, besides that, she fit in quite perfectly, making dozens of new acquaintances. Yet, arts were not granted that smoothly, and there were times when she had to work hard to master them. When she was in the Academy, somewhere in the backwoods of Closeville, Glo’h was tormented by a sense of obsession. He spent whole days thinking of Mina, building up different schemes to gain her attention by any means whatsoever. To gain her. But he wouldn't stop there: he longed for these feelings to be mutual. Thence, the thoughts coyly flowed into actions.

Act III

The academic year unhurriedly was reaching its end. Mina was steeped in anticipation to finally see her bellowed father and friends. Peaceful summertime awaited. It’s been a long time since she abandoned the household. Still, the studies didn’t bore her at all, rather, they ended up being quite beneficial – Mina developed her skills, met new acquaintances and even made some modest progress in the regard of magic sciences.

News of Mina’s return spread rather quickly in the town of Closeville, reaching the ears of Glo’h. He couldn’t wait no longer but act… On that fatal day all the family’s hard-earned savings were gone. And Glo’h with them were no more. His path led him to the place where his father used to disappear quite often – the joint. He was looking for guidance there. Yet, all he received in response to the question of how a man like him could win the heart of the woman was a chuckle, followed by a burst of laughter. Someone even yelled that the lady shall be pleased with a thrust – the harder the better. Certainly, Glo’h didn’t get the jest and took it for granted.  Outside he went, linking his path towards the market to buy a proper blade for his desired one. When getting there, the odd merchant spotted the young vagrant looking for something peculiar, just what the old man was selling. After some chit-chat, the dealer went into the tent searching for an item that matched client’s description and brought the salvation – a book. It was a threadbare piece of writing, hardly even considered a book. It looked as if, when opened, it would turn into dust. Short on money, Glo’h gave all he had to the merchant, without any hesitation and desire to bargain. And the old man gave it to him. With it in hands, the buyer started his reckless hunt for advice or something that could help him achieve the goal. Finally, the answer was found, but the consequences of it were fairly significant. Anyway, even they couldn’t stop him from doing it.

The day of return has lastly begun. A small cart arrived at the main street of the town. People were waiting. All her friends greeted her with great excitement, inundating her with various different questions so much that it became nearly impossible to answer them.  Her father noticed she had difficulties and decided to pull her out of the situation as quickly as possible. Hence, without wasting words, together they left the place and moved home, noting that the young lady needed to rest after her long journey. On the way home, her friends suddenly caught up with them and invited Mina over for tea to celebrate their reunion. It was hard to say no, but the father was against their meeting at first. Although he shifted from doubt to compassion after a while. And when she was ready to depart, one thought filled her mind: the beautiful rose that her father had gifted her earlier. It matched her dress perfectly. Moreover, in her heart she wanted to be with the family after all.  By evening she left the house and rushed to the meeting.

Act IV

As the night fell, the destressed streets of Closeville plunged into the darkness. Halfway home, Mina felt something terrible, as if someone was following her. But her every attempt to spot a stalker was met with failure no matter how hard she tried. Such thoughts easily made her dizzy. As a result, she broke into run. To reach home faster, she decided to dash through the alleys and did it until strong, grasping hands suddenly seized her. Mina tried to resist, to fight back, but couldn’t free herself from the hold. The stranger instantly pulled out a dagger and stabbed her somewhere between the ribs. The last thing young Mina saw before passing out were cold, beast-like eyes, that seemed to look through her, piercing into her soul.

The night was dark and forlorn. Only the rustling of tree branches in the wind broke the hollow silence. At a cemetery, amidst the nearby gravestones, a hick arose to fulfill the atrocious ritual. With a monotonous voice, the spell was recited, resonating through the stillness of the place. Nothing appeared to be happening. For an ignorant man as Glo’h it was quite difficult to pronounce the dreadful words from the book. Although the one thing he knew for certain – legacy was required. Blood remnants of the nearest kin.

The body was prepared and placed on a slab, to that moment tended with care and love, weathered and worn, yet still proud in its solitude. The inscription remained untouched by time. It read: “Minerva Arickson, a loving wife and mother, rests here”. The profound peace of this hallowed ground was dimmed by vile symbols engraved with a trembling hand, forever cursing it.

With each passing moment, the atmosphere grew more charged, as if a storm was brewing. Suddenly, Glo’h sensed as if the writing itself was whispering something to him. The noises hindered at first, but then he realized that it was no figment of his imagination… Whispers appeared to lead him through the ritual, and before he knew it, it was performed. Odd, disjointed moves of inhuman origin came from the young woman’s lifeless body. Their souls must have been united in accordance with the book, creating an unbreakable chain that bound them together. It truly came to pass. Alas, the warlock could not predict that his actions would unwittingly unleash magic of another origin. The scarlet rose unleashed a surge of magic so powerful that Glo’h just couldn’t endure, thus crumpling to the ground, unable to remain upright any longer. Malevolent magic failed to fully subdue her mind to the sorcerer's will. The last will of mother was performed.

The ritual was interrupted by an unknown source of power… nevertheless it managed to fulfill its purpose – Mina opened her eyes. Disturbing thoughts plagued her, resonating with excruciating pain that coursed through her body. She tried to surpass it, leaving this nightmare behind once and for all, but her body wouldn’t respond no matter the effort. As though something or someone seized her limbs. An unseen thread of fate wove her destiny to the monstrous being laying nearby. Despite the challenge, she found strength to overcome that horror and sat down, absorbing the surroundings. By the time she awakened, the clouds drifted away, revealing a bright, clear starlit sky that cast a luminous light over the grim burial ground.

Then she decided to stand up but unfortunately couldn't – a wave of weakness caused her ankles to buckle, and she fell. While getting up, Mina caught a glimpse of the nearby puddle, as if it were a mirror. Seeing the image in the reflection staring back at her felt terrifying.

Whatever she saw there… was her no longer.

Can you believe all the illustrations except the reference sheet are made by me? You can literally see the progress based on my drawings of her and deduce which ones are the most recent...

[arxxq]

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[upandnorth]

New Vegas comic character backgrounds

Because it's been a long time since I have written anything in english, not my native language. I hope it reads well. And because I am advancing veeeery slowly with the comic, and I wanted to tell some kind of longer story. I do not intend to impose anything, nor the character's opinions are my own.

Warnings: mentions of violence, minor character deaths, sexual violence and minor character suicide.

Vulpes Inculta

Name: Inculta

Age: 36

Background: He comes from a small and non educated tribe from south of Utah, absorbed by the Legion when he was eight. The

legionaries killed all the adult males and the few elders, and took women and children and transferred them to Arizona, where the male children where put in the training program, and the women and female children distributed as slaves. He lost contact with his mother and older sisters, and never saw them again: her mother died from a beating in hands of her owner, one sister from high fever and another giving birth. He learned this later, when he was made a full legionary at the age of 17, gaining the right to ask about them.

The training was brutal, not all the kids survived, and soon he learned not to make friends, because they would die the next day or betray him. Survival instincts took over him, and he exceled at hand to hand combat, and started to repeat all the doctrine the Legion imposed on them and memorizing it, so he would not be punished. But as years passed by the line between his own tribal identity and the one he was faking blurred somehow.

When he was 14 he was made cadet, and transferred to assisting older legionaries and learning from them. They taught the cadets what they could find in real combat situations, strategies and logistics. He was clever enough and seeked the older ones advice, the ones that had survived more battles, and learned eagerly from them. During these years he asked smart questions and made himself useful, so the legionaries took care of him and teached him willingly. This lead to recieving beatings from jealous peers, but he settled the matter killing them, and as it was self-defense, he was not punished.

When he was 17 he was made legionary and sent to serve under Centurion Aemilius, a harsh and strict man with an explosive caracter, born in one of the first tribes anexated by Caesar. His centuria was destined south of Legion territory, and he had no sympathy for the new incorporations. After barely surviving a year armed only with a machete and light armor, Aemilius promoted Inculta to prime legionary, increasing his chances of survival.

Due to his promotion, he gained the right and obligation of having sex with the slave women living in their camp. He complied, and soon one of the women gave birth to a blue eyed baby. The legionaries started to attribute the paternity to him jokingly, and Inculta found himself drawn to the kid. He smiled when he started talking, felt proud when he took his first steps, and gave the mother small amounts of meat and healing powder if the kid was ill. Later he knew the mother kept that for herself.

Aemilius always kept an eye on Inculta because he stood out between the other legionaries for his knowledge of tactics and intelligence, and as soon as there was a vacant he was promoted to decanus.

When the kid was five he joined the training program. During a few months Inculta felt proud of every achievement of the kid, and all the legionaries, even Aemilius, now referred to the young slave as Inculta’s kid. One day, when he and his contubernium came back from a survey, he found the kid’s body in the pile of trash outside the camp. He had been killed during an exercise by an older trainee. He asked Aemilius if he could bury him, and Aemilius gave him permission. He burned the body and kept the bones with his personal belongings, like his tribe did with the dead. From now on he only had sex with infertile women.

A year later one centuria destined north-west suffered great losses, and was patched up with other’s centuriae legionaries and decanus. Inculta was sent there, and found himself under the orders of Publius, older than Aemilius, who appreciated brute force more than tactics. Six months later, Caesar himself came to stay in their camp, alongside Legate Malpais. They were there to coordinate an ofensive, the forced assimilation of the Twisted Hairs, until now faithful allies.

Inculta obseved the arrival of the two men, escorted by praetorian guards, and the devotion he was taught to feel flowed naturally.

During the offensive at Dry Wells, planned by Legate Malpais and Caesar himself, Publius acted erratically, shouting contradictory orders. The legionaries, not coordinated because all came from diferent centuriae, were being crushed by the organized Twisted Hairs. Inculta, seeing a hole in their defenses, wento to Publius to warn him, but Publius ignored him and ordered Inculta to stand his ground. Angered at Publius incompetence, he lead his contubernium through the hole, capturing the Twisted Hairs chieftain thus ending the battle. His reward was to be crucified with the Twisted Hairs dissidents alongside the interstate 40, for disobeying direct orders.

When Caesar and Legate Malpais arrived at the foot of his cross, after taking a walk to admire the defeated tribals, Inculta asked for mercy. Caesar confronted Publius, who admitted the truth.

Inculta was transferred to the frumentarii, and started as an apprentice to an experienced member. His devotion to Caesar and the Legion was now consolidated, he was 26. Quintus, his tutor, teached him all the perks and took him on undercover missions. Inculta learned the power of deceit, lies, intimidation and scheming, and after a year he was already being sent alone. He discovered that the more sadic and twisted was an hostile action, the more fear induced against his enemies, and he acted in consequence. And he was very good at it.

Being a frumentarii also implied having contact with profligates, when they started moving into NCR territory. And soon he learned that the vast majority had no principles, and were motivated only by greed and self-preservation, being most of them addicted to drugs and alcohol, and easily manipulated. He started to despise them personally. Compared to the tribals absorbed by the Legion, that somehow had each one a code of conduct and only a few disident members, being the code in some cases the most primitive expression of a set of social rules, the Mojave and NCR territory felt like a grotesque caricature. And their reverence of the old world unsettled him.

When Quintus lost an arm and was left heavily scarred during an undercover mission, six years later, Inculta was summoned to Caesar’s presence, where he learned that Quintus had always been Vulpes Quintus, the head of the frumentarii. He had appointed Inculta as his succesor due to his intelligence, devotion and skills, both military and as a frumentarii, and now was the time to fill the vacancy. Quintus commited suicide after Inculta took the Vulpes title.*

Inculta, now Vulpes, got to work hand to hand with Lucius, head of the praetorian guard, Legate Malpais and Caesar. But after the first battle of Hoover Dam, he discovered that what had been until now a swift collaboration between the four was going to be from now on a constant clash with the new Legate. Lanius despised him and his tactics, and talked him down in front of Caesar. Instead of answering him, Inculta centered his efforts in demonstrating that his tactics were as good if not better than any military offensive, to shut up the man. Lanius insinuated several times that they should resolve their diferences in the Arena, but Caesar always cut their confrontation before things escalated. Soon Legate Lanius was sent to the east, to supervise the other Legion open fronts.

When the platinum chip rumours reached the Legion, Caesar ordered Inculta to find it and, by any means, bring it to him.

*Alternate version: Quintus is punished for the Hoover's Dam disaster, and forced to commit suicide, Inculta was appointed his succesor beforehand. He never works alongside Legate Malpais, and starts working directly with Lanius.

Character background: Courier Six

[belethlegwen]

How much worse is Grant's mum in terms of being insufferable / stubborn / having a "my way or the highway attitude"?

I recall having read Grant referring to his mother as a "overprotective mother bear" ironically, and I cringed in sympathy with Grant (feeling sorry for Grant is an achievement) immediately, tbh. I also remember that Peter does not have that view on Grant's mum, so does she put up a nicer facade to strangers / people that aren't family?

I got a little stuck on this ask because I definitely want to answer it, but where I'm planning to introduce Mary as a character (not a regular, but she'll be an important introduction and topic for at least a few scenes) I don't want to spoil anything too terribly.

What I can tell you, is that Grant's Mom was absolutely the foundation on which a solid 80+% of his key personality comes from. A respect for authority that also takes the time to make sure that respect has been earned and deserved. The penchant for finding a cause, believing in it, and dedicating himself to that cause as much as he's able. Finding the right people, and similarly being dedicated to them while also knowing when to step away because they no longer earn or deserve that level of dedication.

They did have their bumps, and rough patches. Daniel absolutely felt like she was nicer (and sometimes even more motherly) to his childhood friends, and even Peter when he more into his teen years and adolescence. She was still stern and strict about her rules, and her house, and didn't much tolerate extended stays from Daniel's friends (which likely contributed to only ever seeing their best, and never truly seeing faults she would have otherwise brought up in similar fashion to her son's) but she knew them all and made a point to keep up-to-date on any news involving them, which stung Daniel at times. That familiar struggle of your parent seemingly proud of everyone but you. Of them being able to see the good qualities and the achievements of everyone else, but blind to all but faults when it comes to yourself. It wasn't constant, it wasn't always, but when you're in your youth and trying to find out who you are, who you're going to be, you so desperately need that person in your corner.

She eventually came more around to those specific needs, she softened more. She came to respect him as an adult, and he eventually came around to see that while he was focusing on what he was not getting from her, he was also ignoring (similar to how he felt she had been) the good things she was always providing for him-- the love that was always, unwaveringly there. It took for him to be gone to the Officer's Academy for long stints, but they got there, as late as it may have felt.

Thank you so much for the ask!

[leo-crafts-theories]

"Death and decay is just... it's really not my thing, you know? I like life. Life is good." -xB, episode 52. Thinking about how my xB lived with the "atlanteans" (residents of what are now the ocean monuments and ocean ruins) in the Before Times... before the zombie/undead apocalypse that turned Minecraft into the world we know it as today, and rendered the Atlanteans (and Fortress People) extinct, despite the guardians' best attempts to fend off disaster... yeah. I can see why death and decay aren't his thing.

[inafieldofdaisies]

David Corenswet at the "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" documentary premiere

[butterscotch-official]

Since I won't be posting Chapters on Tumblr anymore, I shall instead start posting more art and funny things!

First funny thing on the list: a poll of the new side characters!