#He is even more self-conscious in the play than he is in any adaptation

[longagoitwastuesday]

I must admit reading Cyrano de Bergerac gets a little funny at times as someone who has a hard time considering people pretty if they don't have an enormous or crooked nose

[agxinstthesun]

random killjoys headcanons that i dont think ive posted yet

-ghoul made jet his eyepatch after seeing how self-conscious the scarring made him. ghoul was unique in his being able to sympathize with that feeling, having such visible, traumatic scars himself. at the time, even just that small gesture gave jet the motivation to keep adapting despite his initial stages of insecurity and self isolation.

-party poison is very very clingy, taking any chance to just lean against others and be near them. typically this affection is taken out on jet, mostly because he’s become the most receptive of it. it took a while for it to be that way, though. after becoming more comfortable with the rest of the group, jet came to love physical affection. even small gestures like ruffling ghoul and kobra’s hair, or offering hugs after those particularly rough firefights showed jet’s want to show support in a way other than verbally.

-ghoul is very crafty. he always has to be making something or fixing something. the trans am is his baby and he jumps at any chance to fix or modify her. the amount of small trinkets the other joys have from him is unreal. ghoul honestly can’t remember if this is a trait he gained before or after he started making explosives. which had been first to encourage the other was one of many of ghouls mysteries that became lost to time at some point. 

-kobra has a photographic memory, and he considers it both a blessing and a curse. he's concluded that this skill just works in opposition to himself. he can remember the visuals, but never the context or the meaning. he still has some appreciation for it, however, as it tends to help him with making art.

-jet has hella hobbies. he knows at least a little bit of so many different skills (mostly instruments) and just has this “i’ve been around these parts long enough to have knowledge of like literally everything” energy about him. the others find it fascinating, though, cause he's never been the type to brag about it, or bring it up at all. it'll just be ghoul saying "guys look i got a keyboard!" and jet just absolutely captivating the crew with his playing seconds later.

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 9: Going Back To The Start

Girl A: Thank you very much~!

Girl B: We’ll be supporting you from now on, too!

Chikage: Be careful on your way home.

Young man: You have once again made me think that actors are amazing! Thank you so much!

Youth: That was fun~!

Citron: For us, too!

Towa: Thank you so much!

Izumi: Thank you for participating. We were able to come up with a wonderful project because of you, Towa-kun.

Towa: To be honest, I was really hesitant about participating. Failing in front of Masumi-kun would’ve been embarrassing.

Towa: But I’m glad I took the plunge!

Towa: I understood what kind of scenery Masumi-kun and the others look at from the top of the stage…

Towa: I think I understand more about how a theater play is made, and about everyone who works on it, now.

Towa: A new world has opened before me!

Tsuzuru: Hearing you say that makes all of it worth it, right, Masumi?

Masumi: Well, you did your best.

Towa: All this from my oshi…! 

Izumi: Come see our play next.

Citron: We’ll be waiting!

Towa: Yes! I absolutely will! I’ll be going now!

[Towa leaves]

Rento: Our first event was a big success.

Akashi: Even though… I don’t get many opportunities like this… I had fun, too…

Rento: Us backstage staff usually don’t have any contact with the audience.

Izumi: Thank you for your help today, you two!

Rento: Call me if ya do anything like this again.

Akashi: Me too…

Izumi: Of course!

Sakuya: We’ll be counting on you!

-

Izumi: … It looked like everyone was having fun.

Sakuya: It made me think of the first time I stood on stage.

Tsuzuru: Yeah, it was really nostalgic.

Citron: I could feel the chills in everyone’s hearts~!

Itaru: We were like that too, at the start.

Chikage: When you think about it like that, we’ve improved a lot.

Masumi: I was better than that.

Tsuzuru: That part of you hasn’t changed at all.

Sakuya: At first, just saying one line made me nervous, and I was constantly conscious of what the next line was.

Tsuzuru: Right, right! I kept thinking about how I had to move during a scene, and then I panicked because I missed everyone else’s lines.

Citron: I could do it when I was practicing alone, but when we were all together, I kept fumbling!

Masumi: You still do that.

Itaru: If my past self saw me now, he’d be surprised.

Chikage: Because you didn’t think you’d dedicate so much of yourself to acting?

Itaru: Something like that. But isn’t that true for you too, Senpai?

Chikage: I can’t deny that.

Izumi: Towa-kun’s eyes were sparkling as he told me that a new world opened before him.

Masumi: Even though he was nervous at first, he enjoyed himself.

Sakuya: I was like that too when I first decided to join MANKAI Company.

Sakuya: I’m really glad I took the courage to jump into that new world.

Tsuzuru: I remember hesitating a lot before taking that step, too. It got so busy after I joined that I didn't have time to think about it, though. 

Masumi: It felt like fate for me, so I didn’t hesitate.

Izumi: Ahaha, that’s how it was. How nostalgic.

Sakuya: Also, this made me want to do RomiJuli again!

Citron: I know, right! I kept almost saying the lines myself!

Itaru: IKR.

Izumi: Should we hold a run for it again?

Tsuzuru: If we do that, I’d like to give Chikage-san a proper role.

Citron: And I want to appear a little more!

Izumi: Right, as Citron-kun is now, he can play all kinds of roles. 

Chikage: But if everything else remains the same, it won’t feel fresh because it’s been reran multiple times.

Sakuya: If we’re going to do it, we’ll have to do it once the Fleur Cup is over, right?

Itaru: Since RomiJuli is such a catchy subject, it’s got movie and ballet adaptations, and it’s easy for people who aren’t into theater to get into it.

Itaru: I think it fits our aim of going back to the basics.

Izumi: But participating in the Fleur Cup with a repeat performance is too risky…

Tsuzuru: … Oh.

Izumi: ?

Tsuzuru: How does a sequel sound, then?

-

Tsumugi: Good work on the workshop. How did it go?

Sakuya: Everyone was hesitant at first, but as soon as their voices and gestures started coming out, they started having fun!

Tsuzuru: Watching them inspired me.

Tasuku: Sounds like it became a good opportunity for you to look at acting objectively again.

Tsumugi: I want to try it with the Winter Troupe, too. It sounds like we could learn a lot. 

Homare: We should make some time for poetry when we do that.

Tasuku: That would change the subject.

Homare: In the sense of studying lines, I believe studying poetry, which emphasizes the rhythm of words, would be helpful.

Guy: That makes sense. Shakespeare was both a playwright and a poet.

Hisoka: … We can light a bonfire and roast marshmallows at the end.

Tsuzuru: You say it like it’s a recreational activity at the end of camping, but this is just your hobby.

Sakuya: It’ll be a workshop that highlights each of your unique characters.

Izumi: Let’s plan one again when we have the chance.

Sakyo: We’re all here now.

Izumi: Let’s start the meeting, then.

Izumi: This meeting is about the Spring Troupe’s performance for 1Q of the Fleur Cup.

Izumi: After the workshop, we got to talking about going back to the start…

Citron: Simply put, we wanted to do RomiJuli again!

Sakyo: You mean you’re going to rerun RomiJuli?

Tsuzuru: No, not exactly. I was thinking about writing a sequel…

Tsuzuru: The RomiJuli that can be done by us thanks to our growth— One that will be depicting the future of the RomiJuli we debuted with.

Tsuzuru: I think it’s something we can do because we live in the future of that time.

Sakuya: This is also our first attempt at a sequel, so I think it will prove to be a challenge.

Sakuya: Of course, we really want to perform RomiJuli again, but…

Chikage: We also have to make sure this performance is a stepping stone towards the Fleur Cup.

Itaru: If we don’t collect votes, we won’t be able to connect to the next performance…

Itaru: Since this isn’t only our problem, we wanted to hear everyone’s opinion.

Tenma: A sequel to the debut performance… I’d have never thought of that. But I understand the feeling of wanting to go back to that again.

Tsumugi: You can’t help but wonder how you would perform this role now. It always feels fresh, no matter how many times you do it.

Kazunari: Since it’s the first one, it’s prolly the one where the theater company and the troupe’s colors are most prominent~

Sakyo:  Despite how rough it might’ve been, it can also be said that it’s what determined the Reborn MANKAI Company’s direction.

Banri: Since it’s the first one, it’s been rerun a lot. That’s also a plus, yeah?

Juza: Since you have a solid foundation of your role, you can approach it from a different perspective.

Juza: And above all, it’ll be rewarding to connect the dots from the debut performance to the sequel.

Homare: The parts that have changed and the parts that haven’t changed…You get a chance to express on stage those things that come to you naturally as you live day-to-day.

Guy: This will be a good experience for you as actors. It will help you grow.

Tasuku: I think getting to experience the long life of one of your characters is a precious opportunity. 

Taichi: And the OG RomiJuli fans will be real happy with this!

Omi: The fact that the original was so well received is also advantageous.

Azami: It’ll also be easy to imagine the world setting.

Yuki: What I’m worried about is that since they’re the same characters, it might lack a sense of freshness.

Kazunari: It’d be good to be conscious of that and make changes in the visuals.

Itaru: And there’s also the jinx that sequels can’t surpass the originals.

Banri: We can do more in the lighting and sound department now, all we can do is show ‘em how much we’ve leveled up.

Yuki: When I think of my past self as a rival, I get a little fired up.

Kazunari: We can’t lose~!

Sakyo: We also need to satisfy viewers that haven’t seen the first performance. That’s quite a gap from a stand-alone.

Kumon: But, I’m jealous, Chikage-san! I want my own role in the Summer Troupe’s first performance, too!

Misumi: And I’m curious what the Genie from “Water me!” is up to!

Muku: I understand! Just like how we’re living in the future compared to those days, I want to see what they’re doing in their future, too.

Azuma: If we’re making a sequel for the Spring Troupe’s debut performance, we should do that for the Summer Troupe and the others, too.

Tenma: That’s where we’ll end up, naturally.

Juza: I wanna put myself in Lansky’s shoes once more…

Omi: I’ve got some sudden motivation now.

Sakyo: We will only go through with this if the Spring Troupe’s sequel doesn’t fail.

Homare: Choosing to do a “sequel” in a situation where we absolutely can’t lose and also have to deal with a lot of first-time viewers is quite brave.

Izumi: That’s true.

Tsuzuru: I-I’m feelin’ the pressure…

Hisoka: … All troupes have to make sure they can connect to the one coming after.

Guy: Following the Spring Troupe in 1Q is the Summer Troupe in 2Q, and then the Autumn Troupe in 3Q and the Winter Troupe in 4Q. We must all contribute to the ranking in order to make it to the finals.

Tsumugi: But isn’t it reassuring to know that the initial performance of RomiJuli will be by our side in such a situation?

Sakuya: Exactly… Because this was our “start” as the Spring Troupe.

Citron: It was the Spring Troupe, and the Reborn MANKAI Company’s first ever adventure!

Masumi: If we can’t do this, the other troupes won’t be able to do it, either.

Itaru: Pretty much.

Chikage: I think it’s worth the bet.

Tsuzuru: No choice but to go for it…

Izumi: Then, let’s make each performance for the New Fleur Award a sequel to the troupes’ initial performances!

Izumi: (With this, we’re taking our first step towards the New Fleur Award)

Izumi: (All that’s left is the same as usual, we come together and prepare for the performances. I hope we can get through it without any troubles…)

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) the fleur cup mentions are not a mistake. they started calling it that so i just went along with them

(2) the text says Q, but the voiced lines all call it quarters. i went with the text, so i hope that's not too confusing

[rhinozilla]

Detroit: Become Family 2022 - Prompt 2: Together

@dbh-found-family

Humans had strange social rules that were often contradictory, in Connor’s opinion. Behaviors that were acceptable in some situations were considered rude in others. Some behaviors that were considered basic etiquette in some situations were considered crossing the line in others. There was a nuance to it that Connor could admit that Cyberlife and AI had not quite mastered.

Today was one of those such scenarios.

“I have been told that staring is…creepy,” Connor remarked.

The first sunny day after a week of rainy, overcast skies had brought many people out of their homes and outside to enjoy the pleasant weather. The park was full of people taking walks, playing games, riding bicycles with their children, and taking picnics. There was a joyful sort of energy to them all that Connor could appreciate, and he wished that they could have brought Sumo along to enjoy it with them.

Hank had opted to spend his lunch hour today among these people, and Connor had opted to tag along. Well, Hank wasn’t quite ‘among’ them; he and Connor were sitting on a bench a fair distance away from any of the playground equipment or recreational spaces. Too far to really be considered part of the crowd, but close enough to stare at them apparently.

“Staring, yes, but people-watching is fine,” Hank replied, lounging back on the bench.

He had one arm looped across the back of the bench, and in his other hand was a pineapple smoothie. Connor’s thirium levels were within normal parameters, but he had brought along a bottle of chilled thirium so that he would have something to drink too. He sipped at it absently and frowned.

“What’s the difference?”

Hank tilted his head with a sigh, and Connor worried that he was bothering Hank. That had been a frequent concern since he had become deviant. His Cyberlife social programs were the most advanced ever written, but humans were so…odd. Their unpredictability tested even his adaptability functions at times. But Hank had yet to get truly frustrated with Connor’s incessant questions over the past couple months.

“The difference is…intensity,” Hank mused, slurping at his smoothie. “It’s creepy to stare at a single person and only that person for an extended period of time. Makes people uncomfortable and makes you look like a fuckin’ weirdo. People-watching is…”

He gave a wide gesture with his arm. Connor followed the gesture with his brows pinched together in concentration.

Hank went on. “Just what it sounds like. There’re some guys over there playing frisbee. There’s a lady feeding the ducks by that pond over that way. Looks like those two woman back that way are teaching their kid to ride a bike.” He glanced at Connor, saw that he wasn’t really following, and he glanced around again before changing tactics. “Last week we went to that basketball game, right?”

“Right,” Connor said, nodding seriously.

Hank smirked. “Well, we didn’t go there to stare at the players.”

“You spent significantly more time focused on Vasquez’s free throw form than any of the other players—”

“He holds his elbow weird!” Hank said defensively. “Why is it—” He mimicked the free throw shot of the player from last week’s game. Then he sighed and waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever. My point is, we went there to watch ten guys play a game on the court…Same thing here kinda. We’re just watching the public hanging out on a pretty weather day.”

Connor tilted his head, processing that explanation, and he cast his eyes around the open park land. He could see the two men playing frisbee. His analysis indicated that one of the men had noticeably better hand-eye coordination and athletic ability, yet he was downplaying his superior skills so as to not make his partner self conscious or frustrated at his inferior performance. His partner was compensating for his lesser skills by making self deprecating jokes instead.

The lady feeding the ducks by the pond was also speaking to the ducks. She was referring to each of the four ducks nearby by different names, and she spoke to them in such a casual way that it seemed this was a frequent routine for her. Connor could read her lips and determine that she was fairly accusatory that the duck named Franklin was a “sassy boy who had no manners.”

The two women teaching the child to ride a bicycle were recently engaged. One was the child’s biological mother, and the other was clearly nervous and still trying to build a relationship with the child. Her anxieties were unfounded, as from what Connor could tell, the child was just excited to have both of his moms there to see him succeed at riding his new bike.

He finished his analysis and looked over to Hank, only to see his friend staring at him.

“What?” Connor shrank back slightly. “Am I doing it wrong? I don’t want to be creepy.”

Hank snorted and shook his head. “No, but…you’re trying too hard. We’re not trying to learn anything about any of these people. They’re strangers just minding their own business. We’re just—”

“Watching them do their business.”

“No,” Hank laughed. “Forget it.” He sucked at the straw of his smoothie again, and he was rewarded with the dry sound of an empty cup. “Tell me something, Connor. You don’t actually need a lunch hour, do you?”

“I am an employee of the DPD, and it is required that all employees be provided with a one hour break for lunch. Just because I am an android that does not require ‘lunch’ does not exclude me from that,” Connor explained.

Hank bobbed his head. “Yeah, right, but since you don’t need to eat, you could be spending your break time doing literally anything else besides…sitting here watching those two guys just…really fail to grasp the concept of how to play frisbee.”

“The red haired man is a very skilled frisbee player. He is matching his friend’s skill level so that his friend doesn’t feel embarrassed,” Connor explained. At Hank’s deadpan look, he sighed. “I enjoy hanging out together, Hank.”

Hank hummed with a small grin. “I enjoy hanging out with you too, Connor, but we spend all day working together.”

“Well…If staring and people-watching are not the same thing…then working together and spending free time together are also not the same thing,” Connor mulled.

Hank chuckled and shrugged. “All right, I just don’t want you to get burnt out on my company.”

Connor nodded seriously. “Likewise…Besides…I have become invested in whether Franklin is going to continue exhibiting rude behavior toward the woman who feeds him every week.”

Hank stared at him for a beat. Blinked. Then sighed and sat forward, using the momentum to roll up to his feet.

“And on that note, we better be heading back to the station.”

Connor stood as well, and as he glanced around the park, he made brief eye contact with an elderly woman sitting on another bench farther down the sidewalk…who also appeared to be engaged in the hobby of people-watching. The realization dawned that he was not only a watcher in the people-watching hobby, but he was also one of the people being watched. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but the elderly woman was already looking elsewhere, now casually observing two friends sharing a picnic basket on the sun-kissed grass. She was clearly a more skilled people-watcher with more experience at the craft.

Connor and Hank made it a few steps back to the car before Hank was groaning loudly and shoving his hands in his pockets.

“All right. I give in. Who is Franklin and why is he rude?”

Connor smirked and stepped with a spring in his heel as he eagerly began to explain. “From what I observed, there is a strict hierarchy of power among the ducks that frequent this park’s pond. Franklin is a duck of a lower rank in this flock, but he has been upsetting that hierarchy by stealing more than his share of the frozen corn and peas that humans often feed to them—"

[twilightmalachite]

2×2 - Grown-Up Situation 9

Author: Akira

Characters: Yuuta, Hinata, Nagisa, Shinobu

Translator: Mika Enstars

"You need to be especially careful, Yuuta-kun. You’ve had a real bad mouth lately thanks to a certain somebody’s influence."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: Back Alley in Downtown

First day of 2×2 episode 5, beginning filming of “Experience Living On The Streets”…

Nagisa: …Alright, then, what should we do?

…This is my first appearance on 2×2, a program that has 2wink as the leads, so I’ll try to keep out of the way and adapt to your style.

Yuuta: Ah, by the way, beginning now, be conscious of the cameras and act accordingly.

We have ES’ prided unnecessarily-skilled hidden cameramen secretly filming us.

Hinata: Yup! It won’t be entertaining for our viewers if we’re too conscious of the camera, but if we get too careless and say something without thinking, it won’t be broadcastable.

You need to be especially careful, Yuuta-kun. You’ve had a real bad mouth lately thanks to a certain somebody’s influence.

Yuuta: And who is this somebody? I think you might be misunderstanding something, Aniki, if you think this is about that gambler who laughs with a “gyahaha”.

Hinata: You don’t have to deny it so readily.

Shinobu: Umm. Then, from now on, “sessha” is prohibited de goza…. prohibited.

Nagisa: …I have to become a god, too.

Yuuta: Shinobu-kun aside, wouldn’t it be alright for you to stay in your natural state, Ran-senpai?

Nagisa: …Yeah. That’s how my policy is these days, but I’m still worried if my true self will be accepted by my fans and such.

…So maybe I shouldn’t be me, but instead act as the domineering, masculine me that one naturally associates with my appearance.

…I suppose that is what Ibara had envisioned when he named us “Adam”.

…When I think about that, I feel compelled to play the “God Mode” that I’m so used to.

Hinata: I getcha~, I’m also worried about if fans will accept 2wink’s, or rather, my little brother’s recent changes.

I find myself thinking, “wouldn’t it be better just to keep the same two-as-one 2wink as before?”

Yuuta: Fortunately, while I dunno if it’s well-received, we’ve been getting more attention than ever! It’s just conjecture, but isn’t that what also got us our namesake program 2×2?

Hinata: I suppose that’s true… Wait, is it alright for us to be chatting?

Filming for our “experience” has already begun. We’ve gotta get it together.

According to Anzu-san’s instructions through HoldHands, we’ll start our living experience in different locations as pairs.

After that, we might join together or we might not; or maybe we will team up to antagonize and crush one another. How we live our lives is up to us.

And whoever has the better life by the end of the last day is who wins.

Yuuta: Those victory conditions are rather vague. Even going by “better life”… Maybe like The Game of Life[1], with whoever has the most money wins?

Hinata: Well in any case, we’ll have to head over to our respective starting points.

Farewell for a while, Yuuta-kun, Onii-chan will miss you—

Wh- whaa?

Ran-senpai? Why are you picking me up?

Nagisa: Let’s move then, Hinataaaaaa!

Hinata: Huuuuh!?

Ran-senpai’s character suddenly changed!? Ah, oh right, is this what his “God Mode” is like?

Shinobu: It’s been a while for Ran-senpai, so I guess his calibration is a bit off…

Hinata: I feel so boggled because this is the complete opposite of Ran-senpai’s usual self… T-the regular, normal Ran-senpai I can do just fine with!

Nagisa: Quiet, it’s fine so let’s go! Just shut up and come with me!

Hinata: Wow, he’s carrying me to the location bus in his arms~… His speech and words are rough, but since his personality is the same kind Ran-senpai as always, there’s an extra big gap~…

Yuuta: S-See ya~!

Shinobu: Umm. So is this a good place for you and I (sessha), I mean, I (boku), to start?

Yuuta: Yup. Though, in order to be fair, we’ve been instructed not to move until Team Aniki is in place.

Shinobu: Team Aniki, huh. Guess there’s no other way to describe it.

Yuuta: But well, it should be fine to hold a strategy meeting. Actually, what should we do?

Shinobu: I don’t even know what to do… I really have no experience living on the street, I’m just a normal kid from a normal family.

So basically, I feel like you, who are used to this thing, should set up the plan.

Yuuta: Hmm… But now that I think about it, when we had run away from home, I was basically carried around by Aniki.

It was Aniki who made sure we had food and a place to sleep, so I might not know how to do that.

Shinobu: Huhh? S-Suddenly I feel anxious about this…

Yuuta: W-Well, better than Shinobu-kun, who has no experience, right? You can count on me, who has plenty of experience! ♪

Shinobu: Uu, I’m anxious because it’s feeling more plausible you’re just saying that…

But it’s true that it’s still better than myself, who has no experience at all.

I’ll count on you, and I’ll cooperate with anything you do, as long as you lead the way.

Yuuta: Hmmm… I’ve been feeling the same about the previous episodes too, but I have no experience leading a team at all…

When I’m told to take on a role of leadership, I become completely stumped.

[ ☆ ]

← prev | story directory | next →

He's referring to the board game here; you might just know of it as “Life”!

[kirric-the-fan]

Roaring Dragons precure, a dragon-fairy themed precure fanseries:

Precure, roaring heart change!

Summary:

Sprite, a dragon, is sent to Earth from the dragon kingdom to escape an attack by the villains, The Hunters: cosmic mercenaries who have long sought after the dragons, the powers they're supposed to convey by defeating them, and the magical heart star that Sprite was sent away with. Rubi, a 13 yo schoolgirl, with her loyal cat Tatsu, quickly find and befriend Sprite, and when The Hunters catch up with them, Rubi uses the first heart star fragment to transform into Precure to protect her.

Her and her friends quickly help Sprite find the next three fragments of the heart star and all become precure themselves, but the fifth piece is nowhere to be seen. They must help Sprite find and solve the mystery of the missing fragment of the heart star, all while holding off the hunters attacks and attempts to turn the people of Earth against them.

And they have to hide a dragon from their class whilst they're doing so. And teach her how to be human and exist in the human world. Which is easier said than done when a sneeze can send her back into dragon form.

Themes: Adapting to new worlds and perspectives. Understanding yourself. Self-belief and belief in others. Loneliness too. Seperation. Sprite's family are who knows where across the cosmos after all.

Self belief powers up the heart star and their precure forms.

Sprite slowly grows her self-confidence, and partway through the season is able to reopen the way home. But the dragons have gone from The Distant Sky, evacuated to who knows where, and Sprite has to complete the heart star to stand any chance of finding them again.

The hunters also want the heart star so they can find and hunt down all the dragons.

Items:

Flip-phone type transformation device, the heartscale cell and a triangular golden ‘scale’ (card) to insert on the inside (similar to futari wa era). The 'scale' is a broken off arm of the heart star. It's called a scale bc that's what the dragons call fragments like that.

Chars:

Tado Rubi, Cure Blaze (Lead. Red or pink, and white. Typical western dragon (think welsh flag)): Precure of the passionate heart: Cure Blaze. Is the one who finds Sprite. Likes making felt animal keychains and toys. Has a set of dragon felts that go with each of the cures alongside their heartscale cell (transformation device). She is very extroverted, and can come across as quite loud, but is actually quite considerate. Loved dragons as a kid, dreamt about them a lot and drew lots of pictures of them. Her parents tried to divert her phase onto dinosaurs instead but that didn’t quite work. She eventually grew out of it a little, but still likes making dragon plushies (which her cat tries to mother). Of all the dreams she has about dragons, she wants to fly the most. Just soaring through the air.

Rubi has a pet cat called Tatsu. Tatsu is a fluffy ginger tom who likes playing, and follows Rubi around a lot, even going out into the city and waiting to walk her home from school each day. Tatsu apparently has quite an astute, but judgemental character, even scolding Rubi when she uses her precure powers to get home quickly one time when she was delayed by a fight, accidentally leaving him behind. Tatsu absolutely loves Sprite/Hotaru and is obsessed with her, almost forgetting his ‘duties’ with Rubi for wanting to spend time with Hotaru. Takes a while for him to trust other humans, and is seen as grumpy/standoffish until you get on his good side. (Yes, Rubi also dresses him up in little outfits. He likes the outfits, especially the knight one)

Hikaru Satomi, Cure Solar (Sola) (Sun, golden, more lion-like) Precure of the warming sun: Cure Solar! Fashion-conscious girl who seems to spend all of her time sunbathing. Almost always has sunglasses on her. Wants to become famous, via acting or modelling, or something, but doesn’t yet understand how much work is behind that sort of thing, and gets a little too comfortable just posing around. Eventually finds her groove and goes into theatre. Does a lot of the big-speech distraction work for the team, even if she's not the strongest fighter.

Migawa Aki, Cure Jet (White and blue, water, serpent type): Precure of the focused stream: Cure Jet! Aki always seems to be at the top of her class, being studious, excelling academically and well liked across the school. They said she was a shoe-in for the student council president, but she didn’t go for it, actually being quite awkward and shy around other people and uneasy about how she would have handled it. Rubi is always good at including her and giving her space to just hang out when she’s not so good at expressing her wishes to be included. Aki is very focused on her studies and her training as part of the swim team, to the detriment of her social skills a bit. She is an excellent swimmer. Spends a lot of time in the library. Sometimes she writes stories about mermaids and fantastical worlds, and she has a lot of imagination like that. Will fiercely defend those she cares about.

Sasaki Haruko, Cure Verde (green, trees, plants, more dog-like) Precure of the slumbering Earth: Cure Verde! Bright and blooming Haruko! Collects friends as much as she collects flowers, but wavers when her plants aren’t doing well, with a dangerous habit of self-depreciation, always thinking the worst: “the plants are dying because I did something wrong and I’m bad at this because of it.” Etc. Sometimes butts heads with Satomi because she thinks she’s too lazy, and Satomi thinks Haruko is too uncoordinated and chaotic. In her cure form, Verde can and does use her caplet as camouflage to sometimes hide herself and some of the fairies from the enemy. Likes video games, and does ‘livestreams’ but she’s actually only addressing her audience of plants.

Cure Verde: (I don't have any other designs sorted just yet)

Sprite (Spri-to), Kyokuko Hotaru, later Cure Aurora (Black and green. Dragon & fairy cure): Precure of the dancing lights: Cure Aurora! Sprite is a young dragon, barely coming into her powers when she was sent away from The Distant Skies (dragon world) to keep her safe from the attack by the hunters. She does her best to adjust to Earth and life there, but still gets intensely homesick sometimes. She reveals she was never that good as a dragon, and she’s probably the smallest*, weakest dragon there is. She believes that completing the heart star would prove herself in the eyes of the other dragons, and sometimes even wonders if their sending her away was actually them kicking her out for being so weak.

Spark: A miniature silver dragon that’s small enough to escape notice of the villains. Sent as a messenger to Sprite to tell her to find the rest of the star to find the dragons. Sprite is upset because it doesn’t tell her anything new, but realises Spark was sent to keep her company more than anything else, that it means the other dragons care about her, a lot. Often acts as a lookout and messenger if trouble arises. (*Because they chose to miniaturise, they lost access to changing to a larger form again. Sprite is considered weak and still quite small for a regular sized. It helps her transform into a human though, so there's that.) Very proud of their messenger job, and keeps looking up ways to try and get a message to the dragons to keep Hotaru’s spirits up.

Charm: a regular fairy who doesn’t realise the cures already have a mascot when they approach them for help to see off The Hunters, thinking it’s a new and dangerous enemy for them. Tells the precure exactly how rare dragons are (legend, don’t exist even amongst the knowledge of other fairies), and promptly spends the rest of the season disbelieving Sprite’s whole backstory despite evidence to the contrary until they finally find the dragons again. Clashes a lot with Spark in an entertaining way. Can work quite well with Tatsu, sometimes riding the cat to catch up with the rest of the team.

Location: Kawana City

Plot: They manage to find the first four fragments of the fallen star pretty quickly, becoming a key part of their transformation devices, and the rest of the time is figuring out the mystery of the fifth fragment, which had been separate and missing even before coming to Earth. It is vital in completing the heart star, a powerful device capable of tracking down any dragons. Sprite needs it to get home, especially after they discover the dragons have moved on from their home.

Fighting the villains and defeating their monsters powers up the heart star, allowing them to travel between worlds. Hotaru needs to find the fifth fragment to be able to return home, but to do so she needs to understand herself first.

But ofc in the middle of this she has to figure out how to live on Earth and spend a lot of time hiding her fairy-dragon-ness from others. Which works better when she doesn’t sneeze and accidentally turn back into a dragon. Thankfully, Rubi and the other Roaring Dragon cures are there to help her out.

The villains work by stealing peoples sense of ‘self’- their hopes and dreams and joys- turning them into blank-minded foot soldiers and using their twisted dreams to power the motw. (Dragons are known to be powerfully magical creatures, so the Hunters know they’ll need magical weapons to fight against and catch them. Hence the motw.)

Each cure gets a companion felt dragon keychain to got with their heartcell, and these appear on their cure forms next to the transformation device. They don’t appear to do anything, but later on they form part of their power-ups, generating a dragon-spirit for the cures to ride/fight/defend with, and on at least one occasion, merge with to become dragons themselves for a short while. Sometimes they become animated as plushies, akin to the crystal animals from kirakira.

[respondedinkind]

Verse: MCU

For MCU Muses and/or on request. Ka'anh (not Khan at this point, since he’s not made contact with Earth yet) was never meant to end up in another universe, but he did. Right after managing to flee his own home planet, just like he does in his Main Verse (Star Trek), he ends up flying into space with the stolen shuttle. He’s barely conscious, suffering from his own injuries, but at some point gets shaken awake as his shuttle trembles, notification after notification popping up, systems failing. Something in front of him, in the vastness of space, opens; It looks like a tear in the Universe, sucking him in with a gravitational force his shuttle cannot escape from. There’s nothing Ka'anh can do - the last thing he knows is that he’s blinded by bright light, almost like a flash, before he’s knocked out cold.

When he wakes, he’s somewhere else. He floats within space, but close to another planet; His shuttle does not react to him, all systems are offline and even though he tries to restart them, still only somewhat conscious, he’s unable to. The planet’s gravitation finally pulls him in and his shuttle crashes upon what is Earth, somewhere in the middle of where there is absolutely nothing besides sparse vegetation. He survives the crash, luckily so, but from then on needs to recover and figure out what to do next.

Depending on how a storyline is meant to play out, Ka'anh could either be found right here, OR in space even, before he crash-lands on Earth. If he isn’t found at all during the prevoiusly mentioned happenings, he will hide, recover and reside as a 'nobody’ on Earth, trying to learn about the civilization, adapting to his surroundings. He will then take on the name 'Khan’, as he does in his Trek Verse, and ends up being stranded while trying to figure out what he is supposed to do; He does not want to get back home, neither does he know how he could if he wanted to, since he has no shuttle or space-ship to return to space with. Since he’d wanted to escape from his old home in one way or another, he accepts his fate for now and tries to survive in a world he’s unfamiliar with, but gradually starts to adapt to. He’s kind of lost, basically so, and could meet any and all muses and is open to any form of interaction with them.

His abilities remain the same as in his main verse: - He heals much quicker and much more efficient than any other human and recovers from most injuries all by himself; He also never gets sick with known human diseases of any kind - His blood heals others from almost every known human disease if injected into them as well - perhaps many alien diseases too, though his body certainly has not adapted to all of them; His cells are able to fight most viruses / bacteria / poison with much greater efficiency, however (all of this applies to his self-healing too - he’s not immune to absolutely everything but to almost all known human diseases) - His body is faster, a lot stronger and more durable - The lung capacity exceeds that of a human due to increased lung size + increased efficiency - He has a bigger and stronger heart, beating slower because it’s morte efficient, about 50 beats per minute - His senses are greatly advanced in comparison to a human: He can see, smell, hear and feel incredibly well, much better than the average person, noticing nuances others dont; He also relies heavily on his eyesight and sense of smell to sense danger and/or learn as well as navigate though an unknown world - He still also possesses his ability to use his mind in ways no normal human can (certain psychic abilities)

[kicksgoeson]

On Nishitani's character

I get that Nishitani wasn't as explored as other characters were in Yakuza 0, but it does make me a bit sad that a lot of people overlook the glimpses of a deeper character beyond ''guy who likes to fight a lot and will foreshadow some of the traits majima will embody in his mad dog persona'' - because there is a ton that goes implied, just not outright said.

Hidden for spoilers, in case you haven't finished playing Yakuza 0:

A lot of it has to do with his backstory - Nishitani was a teenager, likely around 16 or 17 when he killed the murderer of his cousin. He was already considered a young delinquent beforehand, but pickpocketing, shoplifting, etc, are MILES away from killing a person. Why is this important to the depth of his character? Well, the Yakuza franchise is one that time and time again, often stresses that the taking of someone's life is nothing to sneeze at, and that it will change you as a person.

With that said... you have Nishitani, who is a character that is introduced as being very much at ease with killing people, giving what he did to Makoto's body double. But, very rarely does anyone in this franchise, cross that line easily - unless they're straight up villains and shown to be unsympathetic and cruel.

And while Nishitani is not a beacon of virtue at all, and a minor antagonist if you will, he is also an ally in Majima's story in Yakuza 0 for all intents and purposes and his death scene makes that even more so abundantly clear - even people who don't care much for his character find his death scene impactful. It definitely impacted Majima, for certain.

But besides that, again, there is something more than meets the eye with Nishitani. On a surface level, he's a hedonist: he lives for the moment, he chases any pleasure (or pain) he can find, and finds it all thrilling. He's materialistic, has no care for social etiquette, basically, he goes all out. However, he's also quite perceptive and implied to be cunning and knowledgeable enough to get where he's at in terms of the yakuza hierarchy - I noticed this the most during the prison conversation with Majima.

I think what is most indicative of something beyond this loose cannon persona of Nishitani's, was how he reacted to Majima saying he wanted to give Makoto a proper life, and how that ended up convincing him to help Majima to get her back. How he said ''he was mad he was only meeting a guy like Majima now'' and then sighed about not ''getting sentimental''.

I think Nishitani could relate to Majima beyond just seeing Majima's desire to be free of his leash - specially at that moment, he could relate to doing whatever he could to keep somebody he cared for safe, sound and most of all, happy. The sad thing is, in my eyes... I think Nishitani feels he couldn't do that for his cousin. He could only avenge her, and bring justice in the eyes of his uncle.

But I'm sorry, doing so at 16 or 17, I can't see how that wouldn't mess you up beyond repair. The loss of his cousin, taking her killer's life with his own hands... it fundamentally changed Nishitani.

I think the reason Nishitani is this hedonist loose cannon in the first place is because it was easier for him to focus solely on his base desires. To fight, to flirt, to spend and gain money, to have his fun and fill while he can - because the moment he goes deeper, the majority of what he feels, emotionally, is this sense of numbness.

Like, he was an orphan, driven to crime at an early age and no doubt had trouble connecting and adapting to school and society - yet I'm sure his cousin was one of the few people he was closest to while growing up (and his uncle of course), but with her death and with the killing... I think his tether to stability was broken indefinitely.

Whether or not he's truly conscious of said numbness is up to what you personally think, but I think Nishitani is self-aware. And he realized as an adult one thing about himself: his life changed the moment he killed someone, and with that, he knew he didn't have much choice on what to be in the eyes of society... except be seen as a criminal.

So that's what he did, and while he did so, he went all out, because why shouldn't he, at that point? All the pomp and circumstance inherent in the hierarchy of the yakuza was meaningless to him, as social norms were likely already a bore to him as a teen. And, while in the yakuza, he found he could get where he got because his set of skills (violence and intimidation) were seen as valuable - all for the money and power, that's what his peers likely flaunted while he climbed the ranks. If it's fun and feels good, why not chase it? And while he's at it, why not go all out, if he can?

And that's what he leaves Majima with too, in his dying words. To blaze his own path, just like he did. It's bittersweet to me, because in truth, Nishitani did do that - but he was still numb for the longest time. At least, he died protecting Majima, knowing it would help him escape and do what he felt responsible to do: giving Makoto a proper life.

So while Majima's persona was inspired and influenced by more people besides Nishitani, hopefully you can see why I really do get tired of people seeing Nishitani in such a surface level way, because as his own character, there's so much there to dig deep and theorize about.

Feel free to tell me your thoughts!

[utterlyinevitable]

(Further) Trials & Tribulations (7/?)

↳ series masterlist

It’s coming down, now

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Becca Lao) feat. Bryce Lahela Rating: Mature Warnings: eludes to shower sexy times Tropes: Bryce- Friends with Benefits

Summary: It was a nice day in the park, then the heavens opened up. 

________________

They spent a lovely day at the park near Becca’s place. A small picnic was packed and they played with the frisbee Bryce stole from the hospital lost and found. 

Bryce also forced her to work out - a light jog around the lush green space and some burpees speckled in between runs. Typically, Becca tapped out halfway through and insisted on spotting him instead. She even attempted to sit on his back for push ups. They took water breaks and kiss breaks more often than any trainer would allow in between reps. He tried to keep perfect form but just knowing his reward caused leniency to cheat a little. 

All was going well this fine afternoon, Bryce had Becca pressed against a tree, kissing senseless. Then, the heavens opened up. 

“Did you check the weather?” they both said, and laughed when they realized just how irresponsible of adults they are. 

Normally, under any other circumstances, she’d be livid - angry and bolting for the nearest covering until the skies cleared and she could get her day back on track. But the feeling wasn’t seeding like it usually would. The best and most cherished bit about being with Bryce Lahela is how easily it is to be carefree. To adapt his wonderful mentality and outlook on life. 

They grabbed their things and beelined hand in hand to her place. 

“Bryce!” she scolded with a laugh as he led them splashing through a puddle, trying to j-walk across the street. 

“Sorry, sorry.”

Her apartment was empty. Elijah with Phoebe, and the others at work. Bryce and Becca stripped out of their wet clothes behind the shut front door, Becca making a pile on the floor for them to throw in the wash. 

With anyone else, standing in the near-nude would be an awkward situation. But this was Bryce. She wasn’t uncomfortable under his gaze in the daylight or self conscious in her body. She knew he’d adore every curve and flaw. 

Bryce was slowly peeling his tight clothes off and waiting for Becks to hop in the bathroom first, to bring him back a towel or something to soak all this up while he waited. Seeing him with his floppy hair in nothing but his boxer briefs shifting his weight in anticipation was a sight to behold. 

Her body buzzing, Becca closed the distance between them, running her hands over his toned chest, the muscles still tightened from their workout. 

He reacted to her kiss quickly. 

“You’re a bit wet,” he mumbled into the kiss when his hands cradled the back of her soaked head. 

A wicked glint crossed her features, “Care to join me in the shower?” 

“Is this a trap?” 

“Only one way to find out,” she teased stepping away from him. 

Becca sauntered towards the bathroom unhooking her bra and dropping it to the floor. 

With a dopey grin, Bryce dutifully followed. 

_________________

a/n: i can confirm that what happened in the shower was not fully penetrative. 

@choicesficwriterscreations​ @openheartfanfics​

> complete masterlist <

Perma:

@jerzwriter​   @quixoticdreamer16​   @terrm9 @crazy-loca-blog   @the-pale-goddess   @schnitzelbutterfingers   @gryffindordaughterofathena   @lucy-268   @reputaytion-xiii @peonierose​   @withbeautyandrage @little-flowers-on-heaven @parisa-kh   @forallthatitsworth   @maurine07 @cariantha  @starrystarrytrouble @mvalentine

All Ethan:

@queencarb   @lsvdw-blog   @mm2305   @senseofduties  @differenttyphoonwerewolf   @a-crepusculo @shreyasrivathsa    @headoverheelsforramsey   @blossomanarchy   @rosebudde  @coffeeheartaddict2 @cryomyst @rookiemartin   @ohchoices   @takemyopenheart @uneravine @ofmischiefandmedicine

Becca:

Odette:

Bryce:

@weaving-in-words  

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

FOR FANS OF '50s ROCK 'N ROLL, '60s GARAGE, FREAK ROCK, HORROR ROCK, & BRITISH ROCK.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on "Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages," a CD compilation by rock 'n' roll band SCREAMING LORD SUTCH & THE SAVAGES, released under the EMI label in 1991.

OVERVIEW: "Screaming Lord Sutch was an original, at least as far as British rock & roll was concerned -- with the obvious exception of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, to whom he owed an obvious debt -- there was no one in rock & roll on either side of the Atlantic who took anything like the approach he did to the music, mixing completely out-there playing and singing with mostly strange, dark novelty tunes.

PART II: This collection, 18 tracks of which were produced by Joe Meek, show off the highlights of Sutch's five years on the EMI label, and feature accompaniment by Ritchie Blackmore, Nick Simper, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Matthew Fisher, and Nicky Hopkins, all future luminaries in the rock world. And between all of those talents, this collection would naturally pull in listeners on the American side of the Atlantic by sheer force of gravitation, as it were.

PART III: As it turns out, however, the music is entertaining in its own right, and at its best offers a refreshing dose of straight-ahead rock & roll: "'Till the Following Night" and "Jack the Ripper" hold up well enough among the novelty tunes, while others, such as "Monster in Black Tights" (think of a Goth adaptation of "Venus in Blue Jeans") are good for a laugh and not too much else; "Purple People Eater," by contrast, is a punchy rendition of the Sheb Wooley tune, and it's followed by a raw (and '70s punk-speed) rendition of "Good Golly Miss Molly" that can stand in any collection, and "Don't You Just Know It" is just as good.

PART IV: They open the middle section of this collection, which is the strongest part, as it has all of the mainstream rock & roll. Among the treats is a surprisingly effective slow-tempo version of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" and a pounding, driving interpretation of Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush" that has room for a honking sax and a delightfully weird guitar break. And Sutch's take on Johnny Otis' "Bye Bye Baby" is worth the price of admission, even if you don't know precisely who's playing that guitar break; odds are it's Jimmy Page.

PART V: Sutch's own "You Don't Care" also demonstrates that the man himself could help his cause creatively. The end of the disc is devoted to some '80s-era tracks that play off of Sutch's (by then) longtime fame in a somewhat more sophisticated manner than Meek‘s old productions did. These are very self-conscious but effective in a suitably theatrical manner, with several ex-Savages participating: "London Rocker" is a superb Little Richard-style song, while "Murder in the Graveyard" and "Loony Rock" play beautifully off of other sides of Sutch's persona.

PART VI/END: It's all a lot of fun and well worth tracking down as a profile of this singular figure in British rock & roll. And for a change, it's an actual EMI production: this is one that Colin Miles' See for Miles Records didn't have to do for them in order for it to come out right."

-- ALLMUSIC (review by Brian Eder)

Sources: www.bear-family.de/sutch-screaming-lord-screaming-lord-sutch-and-the-savages-cd.html & Allmusic.

[yourunholyeditor]

hi id like to request a bg3 matchup ^_^ i'd like male matchups and keep the rating to a T. i would be a druid/ranger maybe.. but feel free to choice one for me. keep the reader gender neutral as well. i also would like the romancable cast only bc im still not so well versed in the game tyvm.

im an introvert, very quiet and calm and rather hard to provoke to actual anger. i'm easily irritated, lack patience and have a pretty sharp tongue with people who don't really think things through or lack my idea of what common sense is. im very loyal and reliable as told by my friends and act similarly to a nagging aunt of sorts?? i'm rational, ambivalent and rather stubborn in the things i do but i relent quickly depending on the severity/how easy it is to take care of. at times, i'm rather gullible esp if someone is lying for the fun of it.

i've been told it's easy to be around myself as a person, and people are really comfortable to be themselves in my presence. generally, i'm very blunt since i don't know how to phrase my words any better and some people (& even friends) at times, take the things that i say the wrong way without meaning to. i tend to get along with most people as long as they deal with the same mutual respect back.

i'm rather sarcastic and tend to tease a lot out of the fun of it. it's really easy to get me flustered though, especially with flirts but the first thing i do is laugh and seem terribly off-put by it all (according to what people have told me) 😭 i have been told that it's hard to know what is going on in my head because i don't project things outwardly. in general, its hard to get to know me because i won't say anything, and i mean anything at all unless you ask. like an air of i have going on i think but i haven't tried to change it either.

i wouldn't really consider myself the most passionate person either but i enjoy listening to those who have one. it really makes me happy to see people enjoy the things they do. in a sense, i like when people have the things that i lack (energy, passion etc) i just love seeing it reflected in other people which is nice. if you get to know me better, im a really nice person i swear 😓 i just have a hard time showing it at first (& in general). hobbies include art and gardening but everything i grow tends to die. im also learning to play the bass guitar as well. im not really picky in a partner but personally i cannot take overtly clingy people or superficiality at first glance unless they might change overtime. otherwise.. just simply be normal.. or a least a mostly moral person bc im not the most moral in some cases either.

thank you and have a good day/night ^_^

Class: Rogue

Explanation: Your ability to navigate social situations combined with your preference for listening and observing rather than actively engaging are great characteristics for a rogue. Your sharp tongue and adaptability align with the wit and cunning often associated with rogues, and your gullability when it comes to lying makes me think being a rogue class would suit you more than the bard class.

Matchup: Wyll

Explanation: I think Wyll would appreciate your calm demeanor during your journey and the chaoticness of his life would bring lots of energy and passion into the relationship. He’s also empathetic and open, which helps him navigate your tendency to keep your thoughts and feelings guarded. While you may not be the most passionate person yourself, he can introduce you to new experiences and adventures as the two of you travel. He is always genuine and forward with his feelings toward you. Romantic gestures through gifts and sweet words are his primary way of showing he cares for you. He might get self-conscious of his new appearance at times, so he will need reciprocation in some form from you, otherwise he might not feel worthy of being at your side. Reforming how he thinks about himself and building up his self esteem will be the first stages of your relationship, but after this, he will make sure you’re the happiest person in all the realms for as long as he lives!

fic/drabble below the cut!

GN reader, T rating

Drabble word count: 308

A Toast! To the One I Love the Most

It was nice to witness Wyll in his element at the Elfsong Tavern, ragling the party with tales from his youth over mugs of ale. From pranking the old barkeep to sneaking away for his first late-night tryst- laughter filled the air, mingling with the lively chatter of the taven. Your cheeks flushed as he recounted his teenage naivety, burying his embarrassed face in his hand. Amidst the cheery atmosphere, Wyll’s gazed turned to you, catching the flush on your cheeks. With a smile softened by the warmth of the ale, he drew you closer, his words laced with affection.

“I’ve come a long way since those days, haven’t I, my love?” he declared, his candidness catching you fof guard. Amidst the cheers of your companions, Wyll led you away, seeking a moment of privacy with you away from the bustling tavern. Away from prying eyes, he expressed his concern, apologizing for any discomfort his openness may have caused. You reassured him with a shake of your head “I guess I wasn’t expecting you to say that, that’s all” you replied, appreciating his sincerity.

“If anything ever crosses a line, just let me know,” he assured, his gaze searching yours. Instead of words, you found solace in a tender kiss, conveying your feelings more eloquently than words ever could. He chuckled at your choice of communication, leaning into your body until you pulled away.

“In a love like ours, words often pale in comparison,” he teased, his affectionate banter a testament to the unspoken understanding between you. He took your hand, electing to turn in early for the night with you by his side in the rooms upstairs. And as you shared a knowing smile, basking in the comfort of your shared bond, you knew that with Wyll by your side, every moment was an adventure worth cherishing.

[monocytogenes]

Hi fam! For DA Pravin: 🐉 DRAGON, 🖊️ BALLPOINT PEN, 🤍 WHITE HEART. For SWTOR Pravin: 💜 PURPLE HEART, 😊 SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES, 🍃 LEAVES FLUTTERING IN WIND

Pravin Talavera

🐉 what is your oc’s favorite mythical creature?

Probably something that isn't too monstrous or akin to darkspawn, lol, since he's all NOPE about that sort of thing. I imagine there's some fun mythological creatures in Antivan culture, often related to wild and weird stuff sailors witness out at sea--Pravin would be fond of sirens or mermaids, given the combination of sexiness and danger and the absolute numbers they would do in songs, poetry and theatrical works.

🖊️ does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

(IS METRION OFFERING LOL)

I imagine tattoos are not really a thing in Orlesian culture--they're viewed as either primitive or potentially criminal, given associations with the Dalish and transient types like sailors. Matters are a bit different in Antiva, where you have some cultural cross-pollination from Rivain, but they still tend to be associated with particular professions like the Crows, who have their own sets of designs and associated meanings. They're much less common among the nobility on the whole due to their conscious imitation of Orlesian norms.

So no, Pravin doesn't have any tattoos. I'm sure he's painted them on from time to time when playing certain Antivan and Riviani characters, but he finds the notion of having actual tats kind of low class and demonstrably foreign in his adopted homeland. As an actor and bard, he values adaptability in his appearance besides; putting something permanent and identifying on his skin rather stands in the way of that intention.

🤍 what are three of your oc’s neutral/questionable traits?

(1) His paranoia. It's a natural consequence of his trauma, and one that's unquestionably rewarding in his illicit line of work--much of why he's such a talented bard, apart from his impressive ability to intuit people's feelings and desires and lie accordingly, is his anxiety-driven compulsion to really think through potential contingencies and plan around them. He's always double-checking locks, sitting with his back to a wall, disclosing just enough in conversations to keep the powerful from exercising too much leverage over him. He's got blackmail atop blackmail in the hands of various friends, ready to be whispered into the right ears should someone consider taking him out. He holds people at arms' length in the most pleasant way possible until they prove themselves reliable, and even then, there's few individuals he's truly willing to trust.

The flipside of this is that it not infrequently hampers his intimate relationships. He can be too harsh and protective in his assessments--as with Thalia, whose apparent dearth of self-preservation instincts freaks him out--and too unwilling to voice his true thoughts and feelings when that means putting himself in a vulnerable position. He's loath to admit when he's in pain, hesitant to confess his more unpalatable impulses, and uses sex as a coping mechanism because Maker forbid he submit to the ordeal of being known. It's very much a "in loving you, I show you exactly where to cut me" sort of thing--sometimes one just has to take the risk to enjoy the benefits, and striking that balance is difficult for him.

(2) His judginess with respect to his art. He holds himself to high standards, and he's benefited from that drive--while the Orlesian theater community was warm and welcoming to him from the get-go, actually making it to roles like those he played at the Grande Royeaux required copious technical skill and deep cultural understanding, something he needed to cultivate through intent observation and days upon weeks of practice. The fact that he was able to impress Orlais' most discerning audiences has really been the pride of his life.

It did, however, also make him more intolerant of divergent takes and beginners' stumbles than he probably should be. He reminds himself that he, too, was an amateur once, and can largely keep himself in check when actual ignorance is involved, but Maker, there's some interpretations of roles by players who Ought to Know Better that he'll get super bitchy about. (Gaubert likes to give him a hard time when he's really taking personal offense to a performance as an insult to the craft. Like, settle down, just pass over it in silence…)

(3) His attitude towards sexuality. He's good about it on several counts--highly giving, conscious of consent, excellent at communication throughout, accepting of different sexualities and preferences while forward about his own. He gets his pleasure largely through satisfying his partners, and really frames his encounters around that.

He does, however, use sex as a tool, both in the service of bard work and to generally ignore his own troubles. While he's honest about his attraction--he won't sleep with people he finds physically repulsive--he has lied about his ultimate intentions and feigned attachment to get information or access to a space. He knows leading someone on isn't kind, but he'll nevertheless do it if it'll help him complete a job. Apart from that, as previously mentioned, he'll focus on getting a partner off so he doesn't have to think over his own messy feelings or discuss stuff he's going through--it's a high as much as anything chemical, a bandage to slap over wounds that really need suturing, just so he can avoid looking at them for a bit. (Really, is he even bleeding if he can't see it?)

Pravin Winscliff II

💜 what is your oc’s ancestry/genetic background?

So! In the Empire you've got a few basic ancestral groups: people who can (or claim they can) trace their ancestry back to the oldest families (sith and immigrant Jedi), human families who were enslaved/vassals of the above before the Great Hyperspace War, humans from territories conquered after the Great Hyperspace War, and aliens of whatever type. The dominant narrative of course is that the foremost are the most genetically ideal and have the most natural aptitude with the Force, and things get worse down from there due to greater outbreeding or straight up being an inferior species. While it is true that Force sensitivity tends to run in families, there are also plenty of bloodlines that have picked up rare diseases through inbreeding (this is a substantial part of why genetic engineering technology is so advanced in the Empire), as well as far more examples of aliens with astonishing Force ability than the powers-that-be are comfortable with.

Pravin's from a postwar human family, probably originating in the Outer Rim; their story is essentially an Imperial version of the American dream--they immigrated to Dromund Kaas and came up from service work, taking advantage of all that free public education to break into the upper echelons of industry. Pravin's great-grandfather co-founded a defense contracting company; most of his immediate relatives either work in that, the military, or some branch of the civil service. His name carries a certain amount of recognition--they don't really have branded products, but the average Imperial citizen's aware of it the way one might be aware of, say, General Dynamics or Northrop Grumman--and it certainly gave him access to elite spaces below the Force-sensitive glass ceiling, albeit not without some nominal snobbery from the "old money" folks from time to time. (I highkey have a headcanon that he went to boarding school with Quinn, child of a venerable old prewar military lineage, and that Quinn's Downton Abbey-esque relatives definitely talked some shit about Those Winscliff Upstarts who are only three generations removed from poverty. Like you do.)

I'll note too that Pravin's looks alone don't carry any real class character to Kaasian eyes. People note traits common to particular family lines in a "this person looks like their parent" sort of way, but there's such diversity among human immigrants that species means far more than skin tone or hair texture in their racial calculus. (Interestingly, Pravin does have a verrrry small amount of sith ancestry in his genes--like 5%--but it's not enough to alter his looks beyond a human baseline, and is frankly common among any human family that's spent more than a few generations marrying in Imperial space.)

😊 what are your oc’s career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

He wanted to be an actor once, in a different life. It's a 'what if' that haunts him sometimes, when he's shaking off the nightmares and struggling with the pain of withdrawal--what if he'd been brave enough to defy his parents and follow that dream? What if his greatest worries had been confined to auditions and performances, if he'd never set foot on Hutta or Jadus' dreadnought, never had to fight his way out of his own head?

(Maybe the agent in his place would've activated the Eradicators. Maybe he would've been a victim himself, incinerated on Kaas. Maybe, in some horrible, cosmic way, it needed to be him in that place, at that moment.)

He chose to be an agent because it seemed thrilling and adventuresome and it was, despite everything. He's felt regrets about it, but more over what was done to him than anything he did; he stumbled here and there, but made the right choices when it mattered.

All that said, he isn't totally sure what he wants now. He's the dog who caught the car, in a way, with his freedom in hand but no clear plan on what to do with it beyond his slow revenge against the remaining members of the Cabal. Prior to the events of All the Times We've Said Goodbye, he's more or less been a spy-for-hire doing his damnedest to avoid attaching himself to any particular causes and ignoring the fact that it doesn't mean anything to him beyond the satisfaction of a job well done. The work is steady, and it pays for his ship and his drugs and his dates with one-night stands, and he should be grateful to not have to answer to any authority beyond customs officers and ATC, but…it's hollow. Despite himself, he misses the stakes of his old life, the accomplishments that saved lives, the deep trust relationships he nurtured.

Despite himself, he misses being in love.

It's hard for him to admit any of that, to even conceptualize it, but he gets around to voicing his feelings to Shara at least. He wants her, however she'll have him, and I imagine they get together despite the difficult logistics, which gives his life a bit more purpose. He ends up getting dragged slowly, somewhat kicking-and-screaming back into intelligence work too. :)

🍃 what is/was your oc’s favorite subject in school?

He liked the extracurriculars more than the classes--he was a theater kid and also did fencing, getting good enough to actually win some regional competitions! (It helped that those were both very sexy endeavors that got him a lot of tail as well, lol.)

In terms of actual courses, I imagine he was always inclined towards the social sciences; he ultimately wound up with a polisci degree at university after his parents forbade him from majoring in performing arts. He finds policy stuff particularly interesting; I have a recurring headcanon that he'll often watch the Republic equivalent of C-SPAN in his downtime because he thinks senators going at it over legislation is both hilarious and fascinating--there is, after all, no equivalent to that for the Dark Council.

[moonguided]

𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 & now , so let me hold both your hands in the holes of my sweater . inside this place is warm , outside it starts to p o u r . 🌙

indie multi muse filled with a handful of original muses made of my own creation & some inspiration plucked by songs or tv adaptations .

brief summary of rules & thingss. i do not own any of the gifs i use, but the portrayals are all solely MY CREATIONS. mun is 21+. dark or heavy themes may appear time to time such as toxic relationships, alcohol, drugs or nsfw so keep that IN MIND before following. i do not write taboo subjects, r*pe, inc*st, step/c*st; ect. memes are reblogged for interaction i welcome 24/7. and open starters are posted for the same reasons. SO FEEL FREE to answer any of those at any time or send in any memes at any time. there is no expiration date on either one. i am fandomless, but open to fandom crossovers. i don't mind writing with canon muses. i use medium gifs, but feel free to use what you'd like. and last but not least, be nice and considerate.

‘BANNED’ FCS. i don't really have any 'banned' fcs. however, fcs i have no interest in would be sydney sweeney, youtubers, models, animated, kardashians/jenners.

FAVORITE FCS. would consist of sofia carson, rachel zegler, mimi keene, madelyn cline, zendaya, florence pugh, annasophia robb, sabrina carpenter, nina dobrev, camila morrone.

FAVORITE FC PAIRINGS. rachel zegler x tom blyth (me writing either muse), madelyn cline x felix mallard (you writing maddie fc with my felix fc muse), austin butler x annasophia robb (you writing anna fc with my future austin fc), leo dicaprio x margot robbie. (you writing a margot fc with my leo dicaprio muse). anddd prolly a handful more will be added that im not even thinking of atm.

muses.

RIVER MONTAGUE. | 22-30. | fc: young leo dicaprio. | free spirit hopping place to place around the city that never sleeps, artist by day and a trouble maker by night. likely to play a prank on you or drag you into his trouble. (under co.) | residence: new york, new york.

AXL MONTGOMERY. | 21-23. | fc: felix mallard. | indiana boy. skate boarder, easy going, loner that’ll sit over in a corner to himself with cigarette in hand but coincidentally everyone’s friend and likes to make people laugh with his wit. comes from a broken home & a lot of that is subtly carried over with him, molded him to come off hesitant about who he shares his heart with and gives it completely away to. nonetheless, he definitely doesn’t lack a heart. attached to his loving grandmother– whose definitely been a great role model on bringing him up right. he’s the boy who comes through your window at night and will nag you to death for just a crumb of your attention. easy going and would say it’s an unpopular opinion as most young people love to tear out of a small town, but he’s really into where he comes from and takes pride in it. | residence: small town indiana.

MRS. IVY HART. | 30-34. | fc: brianne howey. | southern belle, over thinker, ball of anxiety, 5th grade teacher, wears her heart on her sleeve, kind heart but a dark past that’s top secret on keeping and concealing. always been on the run, would like to be settled back down in her home state of north carolina– but life hasn’t dealt her that lucky to have that opportunity so she’s lodged herself in a different city far off. | residence: (located in whatever city your muse is from. born and raised in asheville, north carolina.) // based off georgia from georgia & ginny, just a little less murderous than georgia lol.

DAISY MAY GROVER. | 21-25. | fc: rachel zegler. | the preacher’s daughter. tender hearted, feels this immense pressure to always be ‘perfect’ in her father’s eyes, always a self conscious need to feel like she needs his approval. singer, into theatre, loves music, especially the older kind, always a back talker, fiercely sweet, can shoot a gun and be as lovely as the sun.  comes with a lot of mommy issues out of abandonment– in denial to it, too. attention deprived, headstrong and a little of a control freak. when a remote, strict man collides worlds with a rebellious always on the run kind of spirit of a woman then brings a tiny daisy, born in the warm wind of a fresh may day, courtesy of her middle name… it doesn’t end on such a good note and the result of that is always a result of a broken home and a broken child. | residence: chattanooga, tennessee.

MIA REED. | 22-26. | fc: sabrina carpenter. | TO BE WRITTEN.

JESSE ROSE. | 23-28. | fc: tom blyth. | race car driver, race car number SEVEN. mechanic + now a care taker of mistreated horses. kind of person that doesn’t start a fight but doesn’t care to finish one. born in south carolina, now off place to place for races and has a long time love for horses from growing up around them. they were his only friends and once you’ve been loved by a horse, it never leaves you. raised by a kind stepmother, but had a distant father– the only thing they could bond on was the love for racing. had a high school sweet heart who betrayed him and along the way developed a pack of trust issues. abandonment issues from his real mother taking off on him when he was 8. falls in love easy, but will shield his feelings from getting attached so he might run away from you if he feels he’s getting in too deep. when jesse’s not out on the track, he’s at his ranch giving the love to any of the horses that get brought in to him who’ve been mistreated. horses grew up being his bestest of friends, so he thinks he owes them back his love and companionship– especially the ones that’ve been abused or neglected from their previous owners. | residence: outskirts of charleston, south carolina & sometime’s in a different city over night for a competition.

SEBASTIAN WILDE. | 22-28. | fc: austin butler. | born in memphis. raised up, actin’ just like anyone else out in memphis. not a whole lot to do outside the city, so he grew up picking guitars and making makeshift stages in his mama’s living room singing and carrying on. writing songs or working on old cars. sebastian’s not hard to like, with big blue puppy dog eyes, a cute smile and a way of sweet talking his way out of the worst predicaments. and he’d admit, he gets himself in quite a lot of those. a boy without a daddy was surely going to end up in all kinds of trouble, even if he sure hated making his mama let down. that’s why he feels he should stick to music, lash out all his anger through singin’ and playin’ down at the local joint called ‘THE CORNER’. that’s where you’ll find him. if he’s not makin’ a ruckus at any of the local bars and getting into fights– or starting them. | residence: memphis, tennessee. 

[libraryofbaxobab]

UPDATE TO MY PREVIOUS POST December 5, 2023:

I lied. I forced my way through it. Turns out, the first half of the book is the equivalent to a jogger finding the body in the cold open of an episode of Law & Order. I had to suffer through all of that for next to nothing, because the part that I consider to be the actual story picks up decades later with different characters. That said, once that part actually starts (way too late!) it picks up right away and becomes almost as fun as I hoped it would be. It's exciting and gross and there are guns and explosions and motorcycles and other cool shit.

I stand by my criticism of giving the slime mold anthropomorphic thoughts. The narration goes out of its way to explicitly state that it does not actually have thoughts. And yet, it has POV sections where it wants, it decides, it learns, it remembers, it actively problem-solves-- not to imply that it's gaining sentience like I thought but in direct conflict with the book's own insistence. This leads me to believe that this author just does not have the mastery of language to phrase it any other way. That's pretty embarrassing.

Here's a thing that I liked! The mind-control portions. Those were the kind of horror I wanted and the intrusive thoughts/ instructions were delivered in a pretty spooky voice by the audiobook narrator, who otherwise totally sucked. (Seriously, he narrated in almost complete monotone but then inexplicably did some characters' voices as a Hank Hill impression like wtf) Random weird thoughts that are not the character's own? Yes please.

Next, the characters are going to be... divisive, for some. The main guy (again, once the real story starts) talks manically and nonstop and it's super annoying. He is self-aware of this quirk, but it does make him hard to deal with as a voice. He's an exhausting character that starts out hard to like, but I ended up coming around after seeing he is making conscious efforts to better his life. It's actually really interesting to see someone in the early stages of taking responsibility but not quite getting it right yet. I liked the romance subplot (A sentence I never thought I'd type!!) and thought it was weirdly sweet. It was much slower and more thoughtful than the dreadful horny triple-threat in the "cold open."

Not to belabor that again, but after some more thought, I realized that this book actually has two "jogger finds the body" set pieces. We shouldn't forget that the three characters from the insufferable beginning half are already investigating a reported death, which brings them to the remote village where the fungus originated-- a village that the book once again goes out of its way to note that it is specifically reclaimed indigenous land. That's not important to the plot in any way, but it would be mildly interesting if it didn't mean that the book kills off twenty-six indigenous people offscreen just to focus on the actual experience of the white people (or, in one character's case, white-passing Latino. And yes, that he has a Hispanic name but looks "white enough" is actually a plot point in the book, which makes it even more suspect that in the movie adaptation coming out next year he is played by Liam Neeson and given a different name. Oop!). That just feels weird to me, to have gone on and on about the legality of returning indigenous lands for no reason if we weren't going to use any of those characters' perspectives. They were literally set dressing to show the white people how gruesome the consequences of contracting the contagion would be. They're the unnamed "killer's previous victims" on a bulletin board in the "jogger finding the body" analogy.

One of those three cold-open characters comes back later with a plan to save the day because they've ~seen this before and know what it can do~. Except, no they don't. They barely investigated the village at all and left immediately with a sample. This character has a comprehensive list of difficult-to-obtain materials that are absolutely necessary to containing this threat. Much time is devoted to this list but in vague terms; we are not privy to the specific items on that list, presumably until the moment they are used. But rest assured that every single item is totally of the utmost importance to this plan and they have thought of every possible- just kidding they bring, like, a gun. Why is there even a list, other than of course to waste a bunch of time to make the stakes seem higher to the characters who are trapped and awaiting rescue? Why is this book so interested in wasting my time?

I think ultimately this book shows that the author doesn't grasp the writer's mantra of "show, don't tell" which is wild considering he has written a bunch of famous and exciting movies. This might be his first crack at a novel, and since he can't rely on visual shorthand, he compensates by just insisting to the reader that certain things are true, even when the action shows us the opposite. The list is useful because he says it's useful, don't worry about how little it gets used. The fungus isn't sentient because he says it isn't, don't pay attention to all the active thoughts he's given it. The guy from the offscreen inciting incident died horribly because a character says he died horribly, you don't even need a description. It's not even clever unreliable narrator shenanigans, it just comes off as an inexperienced novelist demanding that you believe him no matter what you've seen.

[syedsalmanshah]

AI - How worried we should be?

Throughout human history, Human beings have been considered the smartest creature on earth. Although We are weaker than some species like animals, actually, it is our (Self) consciousness and intelligence that make us smarter than other species. Now Humans created something (AI) far smarter than themselves, and the consequences are unimaginably hard to predict. We often hear the question When will the AI singularity occur? for those who are not familiar with the term AI singularity - the AI singularity refers to the future point in time at which AI becomes self-aware, self-improving perhaps uncontrollable hence causing an "explosion" in the dimension of intelligence and resulting in a powerful super intelligence that supersedes all human intelligence. We don’t know what happens after that as we are clueless in this utter uncertain situation. We should be cautious with self-conscious AI just like Frankenstein's monster.

The economic concerns are enormous as the AI market expands. AI use affects every industry. All business organizations naturally want to cut corners by using AI, reduce their cost, and the foregone conclusion is Mass unemployment. It's a nightmare for all the students studying in their final years that their hard efforts would probably go in vain if they wouldn't find any jobs in the future as their education becomes obsolete within months or years to come. One of the major concerns with the rapid adaptation of AI is, it will wipe out more jobs than it will potentially create, especially standardized jobs, objective in nature, based on specific rules and regulations. hence, net unemployment and income inequality are inevitable. We must buckle our belts, rather better prepare ourselves by learning new skills that essentially have human exclusivity, and perhaps the element of subjectivity.

Experts constantly pointing out towards the potential dangers of hyper-intelligent AI, imagine an avg. person playing with AI on his smart phone perceives no danger. So, what is the potential danger might be. They say, it has the potential of civilization destruction, or it’s more dangerous than nukes as Elon Musk's said. In a political arena, it could probably enter into shaping public opinion through (social) media platforms. It might control our brains through Info-perception-behavior cycle, and that’s just the short-term repercussions. The long-term consequences are yet to predict and are not limited to self-conscious autonomous AI which is something to worry about. For sure, laws like Copyright and intellectual property will be revamped, and it definitely poses a serious threat to Creative/fine Arts. 

The advent of AI is so quickly that certainly, we have no time to react. And It’s second biggest shock in succession after Covid. Professor Stephen hawking described the AI threat before he died in these words, “Ever since the start of industrial revolution, there have been fears of mass unemployment as machines replaced humans. It’s been continued indefinitely. If we allow them to self-design themselves than they can rapidly improve, and we may lose control”. The question is How worried we should be? It’s the first time that the human made technology has the privilege/ability to make the decision by itself. All previous inventions throughout human history, were happened to empower us or make our lives easy. For example, if human invented knife, the knife cannot decide to cut the salad or murder somebody or to save the life in surgery. Even nukes cannot decide who to attack and when & where. It is AI who can even take decision about the use of itself. Nukes cannot make better nukes, but AI can make better AI. The most freighting scenario is, AI can/will make decision about humans and our matters. Decisions about our lives, fortunately still we are under control, but we don’t know for how many years to come. We need to slow down its deployment and we should use it safely and wisely.

 We should go through with vigorous safety checks. If it could be in the hands of the bad people, it could be potentially the end of humanity. We can put it in a regularity framework by seeking solicit opinion from the industry experts who has insights and expertise in this field, and proposed regulations with major players then we will have a better chance to handle advanced AI being beneficial and safe for humanity. Although AI is nowhere near its full potential as we know. So, we have still a chance but it’s very difficult to stop the storm with the bunch of straws. We are at the verge of the biggest transition of human history as machines kicking in. However, the golden principle regarding any technology including AI is, it must be subservient to humans not the other way around.    

It is conceivable that AI takes control of the situation and makes decisions. As Larry Page (Google Co-founder) trying to conceive AI as a Digital superintelligence or Digital God. It seems to be pure madness but there’s a method in his madness. Coincidentally, some metaphysical experts say there’s nothing artificial about artificial intelligence, AI is a way of connecting us from the unseen world/realm. Interesting and the point to ponder! It’s also about Pro humanism and preserving the given esteem position of humans on this planet. Anyways, we are the most interesting part of the universe, and we are not going anywhere. It's our mindless and agile adaptation to AI that could lead to the end of Humanity. 

Author: Syed Salman Shah

Twitter: @SalmanShah_Syed

[xamag-draws]

Ed’s identity crisis

Thinking more about how much of a social chameleon Ed is.

It’s not even conscious, and probably a part of the same coping mechanism I talked about. Being so effortlessly malleable allows him to be loved and admired instead of being looked down upon. Smarter folks than me can probably find a connection to people of color using code switching and such, too. 

The problems usually arise when Ed’s dealing with two or more completely different expectations at the same time, like Stede and Jack, or Stede and Izzy. If he tries to appease both, he satisfies neither.

A great example of it is the end of ep 4. The way he swiftly switches from looking at Stede with childlike wonder and asking him to be taught fancy lessons, to then indifferently promising Izzy to kill Stede and steal his ship.

It’s interesting that Izzy is so certain that Ed can’t go back on that promise. I don’t know if that’s because Izzy wants to believe that, or if Izzy’s been the only person Ed needed to appease before, so those promises never conflicted with anything else. The look on Ed’s face when he turns away kinda says to me “ah shit, I’ll have to figure out this contradiction later. but at least the immediate conflict is solved”.

So with his crew Ed’s pretty lowkey. Quietly menacing, handsomely dignified, coldly calculating, mostly observing from the shadows. He’s discussing the “uzh” plans with Izzy in a dry and aloof manner. These people need to respect him with a tinge of fear, and getting a glimpse of his emotions other than anger is detrimental to that.

When he meets Stede, he adapts his cartoonish whimsy and sincere gentleness. He’s ready to exchange looking scary to looking affably eccentric. Stede sees something sweet and innocent in him, and so he feels uncomfortable Jack discussing maiming for fun around Stede, and tries being more sympathetically vulnerable. The “I have no friends” bit is both genuinely true, and (un)intentionally omitting anyone like Jack for the sake of the moment. The Revenge crew shyly look up to him as their friend and father the same way Stede grew to become, so he confides in them and caringly encourages them.

When he goes to the fancy event, he molds his casual attitude and crass humor to fit the pompous arrogant tone of the room. He readily makes jokes at Stede’s expense, as long as those people find it funny, and doesn’t think much of it. If they want him to be intriguingly scandalous and dispense all of kinds of Munchhausen stories, he can put on a hat and mock something captain-y.

When he reunites with Jack, he’s loud, violent and obnoxious, the fifth grader state. There’s no more wit or charm or dignity going into anything anymore, all that matters is brute force and dumb fun. If he’s not bullying someone with Jack, Jack might bully him, so it’s survival of the fittest.

When he’s at the barracks, he’s calm and obedient. There’s no old pirate acquaintances around to shame him for this choice anymore, so he can fantasize about being Edward Teach, a civilian who always lived a mundane life and never hurt anyone. If Stede reacted positively to this change, he would’ve continued playing a soft harmless housewife. But as soon as he realizes Stede is uncomfortable with it, he goes back to plotting crazy adventures. What do you want, Stede? I can be any character from your romantic novels.

And then we have the Kraken, an exaggerated version of what he thinks Izzy wants, what he thinks people who write books about him want, what he thinks he himself needs to get over Stede.

If Izzy didn’t give his speech about despising Ed’s state, and Stede never found Ed again, sooner or later Ed probably would’ve quietly returned to his regular self, the way he was at the start of the series. He would’ve discarded the robe, grew the beard back and closed himself off to the crew again. Izzy essentially causes an explosion instead of the slow fizzling out.

I don’t think we know who the real Ed is yet. I don’t think he knows, either. It wouldn’t be good for Stede to get into a relationship with a made up version of Edward, catered to his fantasies, and it wouldn’t be good for Ed to continue such performances for a crumb of validation. 

They just got to the honeymoon phase, when you mostly ignore any bad things about your crush, and, in turn, attempt to look your best in their eyes. It’s very fun and sweet, but it’s easy to love someone at their best. If the relationship is to last, you need to be able to love them at their worst, as well. So I’m hoping this breakup will be a good “mask off” moment for both.