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brf-rumortrackinganon · 2 months

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Hello RTA! Could you explain what the red flags about Harry being a security risk are?

I don't have any sort of training in this, and I'm curious. How would the idiot party playboy Prince who is an avowed drug addict and a fantasist be considered as a source of reliable intelligence about his family? - this guy thinks there are penguins in the North Pole.

I'm more inclined to believe that the recent conspiracies over Catherine may have been encouraged by those who want to destabilize UK democracy - taking down William and Catherine would certainly cause some upheaval. But as I said, I have no training and this is just speculation. What do you think?

Well, you can't discount anything these days. The world changed a lot with COVID so there's a lot of upheaval everywhere.

To me, the attempted takedown of William and Kate reads a lot like bored people stirring shit up about boring people for entertainment. Because let's face it: compared to a lot of other worldwide famous people, William and Kate are probably two of the most boring and uninteresting people out there. They have complicated jobs but lead uncomplicated lives, which isn't the norm these days. Social media and the 24/7 news cycle has made us realize that most famous people are hiding complicated, messy lives and it's only a matter of time before it comes out. So when someone like Kate comes along - someone extraordinarily likeable and extraordinarily uncomplicated - it's so unthinkable that denizens of social media will do everything they can to break that person down to discover the skeletons in their closet. They do this to either a-tear them down off the pedestal society has placed them upon (e.g., "see? I always knew she was a bad person. I'm glad I didn't waste my time supporting him/her"), or b-feel better about themselves (e.g., "see? Even I know not to do that).

That's what I see happening to Kate. People can't handle that she's so ordinary and uncomplicated despite having this incredible life. They're accustomed to scandal and controversy and it's so bizarre to them that Kate's only mistake is that her skirt blew up at a windy airport and everyone saw her bum twice so when the photo edits were discovered, there was a wicked "see? I always knew she wasn't a very trustworthy person. What else has she lied about" gleefulness that perhaps she isn't so unlikeable after all.

But certainly bad actors or adversaries who want to shake things up are probably participating in the discourse about Kate. I don't think they want to shake up or destabilize UK democracy (and besides, even if they did, this is totally the wrong avenue - they need to disrupt the economy instead because all they've done is expose that Kate is happy staying at home with her family and not working so she really couldn't give a shit about the monarchy). I think it's more like they want to weaken her influence over culture, society, and the public...but the problem with that is who do they replace her with? The only options are Meghan, Charles, and Camilla, but they just don't galvanize public sentiment the way Kate (and her children) has.

Anyway, well, that's a tangent.

Let's get into the red flags and the security piece of your question. I submitted a couple of anons to another blog about this very topic a long time ago. I'll see if I can track that down later.

So some vocabulary first:

Insider threat: Someone with authorized access to or knowledge of an organization and its resources (which is everything from people to buildings/facilities to information to equipment and infrastructure).

Protected information: Information that you need authorized access to, which may or may not be classified and/or restricted.

Bad actor: Someone (a person, a group, a country) who purposefully engages in harmful behavior against another (person, group, country, region, etc.)

Adversary: An enemy

Bad actors and adversaries are often used interchangeably but this isn't correct. They're distinctly separate. A bad actor isn't always an adversary.

Harmful behavior is a huge wide range of things from the unethical and immoral to criminal and illegal. On one side of the spectrum is stuff that's pretty innocuous, like not telling a colleague a meeting was moved so you can take exclusive credit for work. On the other side of the spectrum is more serious stuff like espionage and terrorism.

When we consider whether someone is a security risk, we're looking at a) their predisposition to engage in harmful behavior and b) their predisposition to be exploited by a bad actor or an adversary. To do that we assess what indicators or stressors (aka "red flags") they have. The more indicators your profile flags, the higher your potential security risk. The higher your potential security risk, the more scrutiny you're under.

And do note that having indiciators doesn't mean you're a threat. It just means you're watched a little more closely so your patterns are better understood and once your patterns/habits are known, then someone can decide what your actual security risk is. But just as equally, not having indicators doesn't mean you're not a risk or that you aren't a threat. So it's a negotiable spectrum that changes constantly from day to day.

There are six categories of indicators: personal, background/history, behavior, technical, environment, and violence.

I'm going to list examples of them all. I'll put a 🚩 next to the ones I see in Harry and a ❌ next to the ones I see in Meghan.

Personal Indicators - Items that reflect on events currently impacting the person. There are two subtypes: personal and professional/work-related.

Serious physical, emotional, or mental health concerns 🚩 ❌

Financial need 🚩 ❌

Address change/move 🚩 ❌

Death in the family or a close friend 🚩

Addiction - Drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, etc. 🚩 ❌

Criticism from partners, friends, work 🚩 ❌

Interpersonal relationship issues (e.g. a break-up, divorce)

Unmet expectations relating to role, responsibility, recognition, or compensation 🚩 ❌

Legal problems (e.g. bankruptcy, traffic tickets, lawsuits)

Demotion or failure to achieve anticipated advancement at work 🚩 ❌

Loss of seniority or status at work 🚩 ❌

Conflicts with coworkers/bosses, including complaints/criticism and bad performance reviews 🚩 ❌

Transfers/relocation

Termination, including end of contract 🚩 ❌

Background Indicators - Events that happen before an individual is hired or prior to gaining access. Not things that are easily known, typically pop up in a background check.

Involvement with individuals or groups opposing core beliefs or values of the organization

Engagement in activities representing a conflict of interest with the organization ❌

Addiction 🚩 ❌

Short-term employments

History of emotional or mental health concerns 🚩 ❌

Spending exceeds income 🚩 ❌

Criminal record

Concerning business relationships 🚩 ❌

Social or professional network concerns 🚩 ❌

Behavioral Indicators - Events reflecting patterns of activities based on how the individual interacts with others, including technology.

Unwillingness to comply with established rules, procedures, or organizational policies 🚩 ❌

Observable resentment with plans of retribution 🚩 ❌

Excessive or unexplained use of data copy equipment

Making unapproved contacts with competitors or business partners 🚩 ❌

Discussions of new opportunities or of resigning from current position 🚩 ❌

Excessive overtime work or working odd or late hours without reason or authorization

Bringing personal equipment into high security areas 🚩 ❌

Carelessness or impulsiveness 🚩 ❌

Inappropriate statements, jokes, or bragging 🚩

Poor social interaction or social withdrawal 🚩

Disgruntlement towards peers due to perceived injustice 🚩 ❌

Increasingly erratic, unsafe, or aggressive behaviors 🚩❌

Repeated breaches of rules, procedures, or organizational policies 🚩 ❌

Litigiousness 🚩❌

Exploitable behavior (including gambling, sexual misconduct, substance abuse, etc.) 🚩 ❌

Excessive volunteering that elevates access to sensitive systems, networks, facilities, people, or data 🚩

Financial difficulties or unexplained financial gains 🚩 ❌

Taking multiple, short unexplained trips outside the US

Efforts to conceal foreign travel and contacts

Technical Indicators - Those that require IT systems and tools to detect.

Direct correspondence with competitors ❌🚩

Email messages with abornomally large attachments or amounts of data

DNS queries associated with Dark Web activities

Use of activity masking tools (e.g. VPN or TOR)

Executing offensive tools

Executing malware

Connecting unauthorized devices to networks

Downloading or installing prohibited software

Unexpected activity otuside of normal working hours

Attempts to bypass or disable security controls

Unauthorized attempts to escalate permissions or privileges without need to know 🚩❌

Attempting to print or copy protected or restricted documents (including photographs)

Abnormally large number of software or operating system errors

Attaching an unidentified device to a workstation

Maintaining access to sensitive data after termination notice

Different users attempting to log in from the same device or workstation

Lack of log messages or monitoring data

Unauthorized modification of centrally stored files

Copying large numbers of documents to a local drive

Authentication failures or failed login attempts

Unauthorized database content changes

Irresponsible social media habits ❌

Attempts to access resources not associated with the individual's role

User accounts used from multiple devices

Multiple accounts identified for a single user ❌

Triggering of key words or phrases in emails, text messages, or phone calls

Lack of controls to prevent unauthorized modification of critical data

Use of excessive access privilege

Compromised passwords

Failure to protect critical files

Violation of need-to-know policies

Unauthorized data download

Organizational/Environmental Indicators - Factors within an individual's organization or environment that can be used to create motivation or justification

High stress environment 🚩 ❌

Lack of candor or transparency 🚩 ❌

Tolerance of poor performance

Toxic leadership 🚩 ❌

Inconsistent enforcement of policy 🚩 ❌

Inaction following notification of grievance, threat, or increased risk 🚩 ❌

Overly aggressive reaction following notification of threat 🚩 ❌

Inappropriate disciplinary action

Bureaucratic compartmentalization of information

Lack of understanding or awareness regarding threat risk 🚩 ❌

Pattern of ovework

Lack of appreciation for employees/members 🚩 ❌

Hightened financial uncertainty 🚩 ❌

Apparent indifference to complaints of harrassment or discrimination 🚩 ❌

Undertrained staff

Violence Indicators - Specific behaviors or collections of behaviors to instill fear or concern of physical harm to others. Three subtypes - violence, domestic abuse, and terrorism, bias, hate crimes.

Intimidation 🚩 ❌

Stalking

Emotional abuse 🚩 ❌

Domestic violence

Expressions of hatred or prejudice 🚩

Harassment or bullying 🚩 ❌

Excessive use of alcohol or drugs 🚩 ❌

Unexplained absenteeism

Change in behavior 🚩

Statements indicating desperation or suicidal thoughts 🚩 ❌

Resistance to change, persistent complaining about unfair treatment 🚩 ❌

Decline in job performance

Paranoia 🚩

Violation of company policies 🚩 ❌

Emotional responses to criticism (e.g., mood swings) 🚩

Threats of homicide/suicide

Personality changes 🚩

Constantly checking in with partners

Never having money

Overly worried about pleasing partners

Uncharacteristic absenteeism or lateness

Poor concentration

Signs of emotional distress 🚩

Expressing bias or hatred towards a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or disability 🚩

Browsing extremist websites

Expressing hatered or intolerance of US society or culture

Advocating violence for a political, religious, or ideological cause

Monitoring or recording security equipment, movement, or responses

Engaging in deception or concealment. 🚩 ❌

So as you can see, Harry (and Meghan) have red flags all over the place. That makes them a legitimate security risk for the UK and the BRF. All a bad actor or an adversary has to do is flatter their egos and give them money, and the Sussexes will roll over. It's happened so many times already - with Spare, with the Netflix docuseries, with Meghan's interviews and her podcast. And let's not forget Finding Freedom, where Meghan and Scobie literally printed directions on how to find the royal vaults!

And because it's very obvious Charles wants Harry back - Harry keeps coming back for events and there's all these trial balloons from BP/CH and Montecito - it would be very easy for someone to gain control of Harry and hold him hostage against Charles and the BRF. All someone has to do is say "Harry, you've been selected to receive the inaugural Princess Diana Humanitarian Award for Superior Excellence. It comes with a $4 million USD cash prize but you have to come to Bosnia and do a landmine event to claim it." Then Harry goes to Bosnia, they get him drunker than sin and higher than God, he passes out wherever, and they Weekend-at-Bernie's him to Russia, where he's held in the gulag, escalating their blackmail demands until Charles is broker than a busted doorknob.

Farfetched? Sure. But still possible, which means it's a valid risk they need to consider.

And when we assess risk, we look at the probability of such an event happening and the consequence of the event happening on a scale from 1 to 5 where a 1 in probability means not likely to happen or a 1 in consequence is little to no damage or impact and a 5 in probability means most certainly going to happen and a 5 in consequence means significant damage/destruction, including significant loss of life or millions and millions of dollars to fix/repair/rebuild.

So the probability of Harry getting kidnapped and held hostage in Russia is 1. It's pretty low, not likely going to happen. But the impact, or consequence, of Harry getting kidnapped and held hostage in Russia is a 5. Meaning there will be a loss of life (such as war or perhaps a CIA-like exfiltration that goes wrong or perhaps Harry getting sacrificed) or a LOT of money being paid to guarantee his safety.

But Harry doesn't even have to get kidnapped by the Russians. He just has to be so disgruntled and so pissed off about how the BRF and the UK treats him that he can leverage what he knows against Charles or William to get what he wants. Which is, by the way, exactly what's happening. Harry is so pissed off that he's devolved to ultimatums: "Give me X or you won't see my children." "Give me X or I'll tell everyone about the time you Y." Which, depending on who your neighborhood tarot reader is, is what people are saying is happening in the background: Harry is using his insider knowledge and/or access to cause harm to Charles and the monarchy to gain advantage over William or the public.

That's why Harry's still on the website. That's why he still has the titles. That's why the US is dragging its feet on the visa lawsuit. Because whether he (or we) realize it or not, there's protection around Harry that's working to keep him safe from extremist threats like this because to threaten - or activate - Harry is more dangerous to UK stability and UK democracy than social media activists declaring that the Waleses are divorcing.

Well, that took a wild ride.

Anyway, I hope it's helpful, anon. If you'd like to learn more about this kind of stuff, check out some of the free DOD-supported online training courses here. These are pretty similar to the annual training requirements I have to do for work so they should give you a good background on red flags and insider threats to help better see the threats and risks that Harry poses to the UK.

Also, just a real quick thing. Risk and threat don't always mean the same thing. Risk measures potential loss. Threat measures potential harm. Sometimes they're used to mean risk = potential and threat = actualized but not in the security world.

#ask #in this essay i will #you might've seen my ramblings on this in other blogs as “national security anon”

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thebleedingwoodland · 2 years

Text

Time to release draft I wrote in year 2021.

Warning: ⚠️Very long post, no hide. Important critical about faulty of The Sims 3 game content directed to EA (Electronic Arts) company. ⚠️ English is not my first language. I cannot input many images/pictures for evidences because the post is already too long, please do research by yourself to find more images/pictures.

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As an ethnically Chinese, I baffled seeing what EA portraying China/Chinese culture in TS3 World Adventures world Shang Simla. For more than 10 years. It is full of wrong ignorant portrayal, obviously without asking input from actual Chinese people and portraying the world as “China inspired East Asian world with American Chinatown based on what Westerners’ perspective”.

If you are non Chinese, non Asian, please do not believe nonsense what EA made in Shang Simla.

Using icon of Japan: Torii Gate.

To be more specific, Itsukushima Shrine.

There are Great Wall, Chinese Gate, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven in the game, why didn’t (logically) EA made the icon based on one of the builds? France and Egypt have correct icons with same build in the game, Eiffel Tower and Pyramid. Imagine if Windenburg, TS4 Europe world, has American Liberty Statue as icon, what’s your reaction?

There is one person already complained about the matter on EA forum, no response from EA themselves. https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-World-Adventures-is-incorrect-and-technically-racist/td-p/3474359

Symbol for China should be: Forbidden City / Great Wall / Pai Fang (牌坊)

Shang Simla residents bowing to other Sims when greeting. Chinese people DO NOT BOW when greeting people, but shake hand as usual. The only Chinese people bowing is when we are in important respectful and formal events, such as showing respect to the dead person in funeral / cemetery and religious events, or any formal apologies by company and services in China and Taiwan. For normal occasions, meeting other people casually, there is no bow in Chinese culture, only Japanese and Koreans who bow. I guess EA added the “bow” culture to make Shang Simla more “exotic” and more “Asian”, as Al Simhara and Champs Les Sims have local gesture greeting.

Fortune Cookies. There is no such thing as Fortune Cookies in Chinese culture. Fortune Cookies are cookies originated from Japan, spread to USA country, popularized by Japanese immigrants to Chinese restaurant in USA. “China” world? More like American Chinatown, located in USA. It is not first EA did that mistake in TS3, In TS4, EA added Fortune Cookies symbol in street food vendor for Chinese food stall.

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/fortune-cookies-2/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_cookie

Accurate historical Chinese food / dessert = Mooncake (in Autumn) or Zongzi (in Summer).

Mooncake, TS3 CC made by LunaYue

Left: Zongzi from Southern part of China, TS3 CC made by me, right: Zongzi from Northern part of China, TS4 CC made by Rex.

There is Korean household in Shang Simla. Ho Sung Kim, Hui Young Kim, Sun Young Kim Why did EA added Korean Sims in “China” country? As if EA wants to mix up China setting, Japan icon & bowing culture, Korean Sims as one “exotic” East Asian country. Why called it China (literally in-game) if EA added fusion with Japanese and Korean elements?

“Asian trait” for Shang Simla residents, instead of “Chinese trait”. Did EA know Asian is continent, not only one country? Which consists many countries? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_countries_by_area China only cannot represent Asian continent. Southeast Asian countries and other regions of Asia do not use chopsticks when eating. Southeast Asia uses spoon & fork and hand. South Asia uses hand.

Houses in Shang Simla are very exaggerated Ancient China palace style, so silly and hilarious. According to EA, Chinese resident house must look like stereotypical exotic curved palace like portrayed in movies.

While ordinary Chinese residents (in villages) are like THESE .

Square boxy, normal looking roof. Curved palace looking like what you saw is for kingdom in high position in ancient dynasty time, not for poor or ordinary peasant citizens. If you see that kind of curved building in modern time, is for community lots and as tourist attraction. Not for ordinary residential houses. I envy for Al Simhara and Champs Les Sims, they at least have better portrayal of Egypt and France in modern setting, but in villages. Their Sims residents do not live in tacky Versailles mansion- like house or Pyramid-like building.

There’s one dish called Egg Rolls, which is actually called Spring Rolls in Chinese & Asian countries. The dish placed together with noodles in one plate, which looks very weird and gross 🤢 , it’s like putting burger and spaghetti in one plate.

Chinese and other Southeast Asian countries place and eat Spring Rolls in one plate, as a individual meal or snack, not place it together with another main course meal. Like THIS.

I suspect the culture of American people putting all food in one plate in “Americanized Chinese food” buffet restaurant.

Small issue but a bit annoyance: Shang Simla wives have the same last name with their husbands. While actually in Chinese culture, married women still keep their birth last name, not following their husband’s last name. What I know, western culture forces married women to change their last name same as their husband‘s last name. As TS3 game has feature of separating last name and household name, better make more sense to make the husband and wife of Shang Simla residents having different last name.

EA confused “modern setting but taking place in village” with “ancient time”. “Shang Simla, China is home to people that value discipline, peace, and clarity of mind over all else...” . The description is very stereotype Hong Kong Kung Fu movie (Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, etc) taking place in ancient time. Real Chinese culture value family, fortune, culture, food over all else. “Discipline, peace, clarity of mind”...? Must be “fantasy” made by westerners thinking China is still stuck in ancient dynasty time practicing martial arts with martial arts-like “discipline” rules like depicted in fictional movies. EA must be confuse “Quietness, peaceful society” to Japan. Chinese people culture in general is very extroverted, loud, and noisy. Champs Les Sims and Al Simhara obviously taking place in modern but in village. “ Champs Les Sims, France offers the cultural elite some of the finer things in life. Sims can learn the fine culinary art of nectar making, or flash over with a camera to learn the Photography Skill.” Sounds normal and applicable in modern time. Local Champs Les Sims do not dress like in ancient European Medieval or France Revolution era. Local Al Simhara wearing conservative long dress with head cover as Muslim society, not ancient Egypt Pharaoh-like clothing.

Very stereotype view about Chinese by westerners: Kung Fu. TS3 Martial Arts in-game are not comparable to real Chinese Martial Arts, definitely not all. It’s just a made up cartoony fighting of generic punch, kick, parry for E rating game / suitable for children by EA, mix up with Japanese Karate (breaking block). If you want to see better portrayal of Chinese Martial Arts for Teen Rating game, go play fighting game like Tekken. (Nah, that’s fighting game. For real life wushu you can see example like THIS or many more on internet. I’m not interested in Chinese Martial Arts.) --- You know the most realistic ethnic Chinese people’s activities? KARAOKE & GAMBLING ! 😂 Also, “fighting” to pay the restaurant bill first.

Whoever making this chopsticks animation is violating the most basic principle of 3D animation : Doesn’t look at the real life reference. TS3 has the worst eating using chopsticks animation compared to TS2 and TS4. You cannot hold food with chopsticks in real life like this, it’s just lazy animating.

How to Hold Chopsticks (in English language)

(Do not use “It’s too difficult, it’s foreign culture!” as an excuse. Asian food is already globalized and famous in western countries. I know you westerners have experienced holding chopsticks to eat Chinese/Japanese food in your country. If you do the 3D animation job, do it professionally, regardless the difficulty!). Left-handed is very uncommon in Asian countries, and many Asian and Middle East countries with significant Muslim population sees left hand is “dirty hand”, right hand is “good hand” , including Egypt, which is Al Simhara, fictional country EA portrayed in-game. EA must be careful at portraying culture outside than American. Majority people in this world using right hand, not left hand. TS2 and TS4 right: Using right hand, why TS3 suddenly switched to left hand?

English version of the game is much more hilarious:

In English version, Shang Simla signature dish named “Stir-Fry”. “Stir-Fry” is cooking technique, not name of the dish. Is like naming boiled egg as “Boiled” and Fried rice as “Fried”. Why didn’t the dish named “Stir-Fried Chicken/Pork/Beef” or “Stir-Fried Vegetable” or “Stir-Fried Noodles” to make more sense? Furthermore, the 3D food object themselves is bad. Sorry to say, what EA’s made is very laughable and doesn’t deserve to be called “Chinese Dish”.

Chinese food always combine all stir-fried ingredients into one in one plate! Not separated like North and South Korea! As a real life designer, I notice that EA employee pick wrong yellow colour for noodles-like texture, random western leaf decoration, separated (?) into two. Real stir-fried noodles looks like THESE.

Appetizing yellow, vibrant colour, fresh, combining all types of ingredients into one. My guess is because American Chinese buffet again as the responsible why the “Chinese” food in American country look like what EA portrayed 🤢 To be honest, I am disappointed why the signature food of the in-game country must be ordinary home-cooked food cooked for 10 minutes, not something exquisite, restaurant/chef-made such as Peking Duck? Peking Duck is national dish of China. When I was in vacation trip in Guilin, China, I always served with Peking Duck in all restaurant I visited. Must be because American Chinese buffet again that serves Americanized style Stir-Fried food as popular “Chinese” food known for American people.

In TS3 WA EP English version, Spring Roll is named as “Egg rolls”. In Asian countries, not just China, Spring Rolls （春捲）are THESE. You westerners are mistaken Spring Rolls with “Egg Rolls” name, then you wondered why “Egg Rolls” made without eggs 😂 . Egg rolls （蛋捲）are THESE. Made from eggs. Biscuit and crunchy. In TS3 WA EP Traditional Chinese version, the dish is correctly named 春捲 . I researched about Spring Rolls in English language, it seems like U.S.A like / obsessed about Spring Rolls as Chinese food. Probably because Spring Rolls often served in Chinese restaurant in U.S.A? If EA wanted to create accurate signature dish of China, it must be: 1) Peking Duck 2) Noodles / Rice Porridge / Century Egg / Braised Pork Belly / Hot Pot . Not Dim Sum because Dim Sum already in Base Game.

Shang Simla resident names in English version are confusing, mix up Last name as first name, first name as last name, there is parody of real life famous Chinese person, there are made up names such as Adaeze, Bebe, Louie (??) How could these names fit to China world at all?

If EA cannot portray specific country decently, don’t ever dare to call the fictional world as the real life ones.... If the result is disastrous like this, better to call it just Shang Simla, do not call it China. What EA portray is not China, but “East Asian inspired world mixed with American Chinatown in western view”.

How could EA, a big corporation, biggest video game developer, with big budget, did not hire someone expert to do research about the culture they portrayed first? Was there no internet connection in EA studio? Didn’t they at least has Chinese descent employee in their office? California has many Asian descent include Chinese. EA has headquarters in Beijing and Shanghai.... EA market this game to other Chinese countries (not just China) such as Taiwan and Hongkong, hiring Traditional Chinese translator to translate the game, also there are many ethnic Chinese and other Asians who play the Sims game, of course we can recognize the inaccuracies very easily.

This is another example of westerners making profit from product sales portraying Asians without doing research, without consulting to the actual Asians people at all. Look how mess Disney’s Mulan (2020) movie is. Every Chinese descent and actual China people hate it for ignorant portrayal and inaccuracies by western moviemakers without doing research at all, also bad story plot, suddenly fantasy mixed with random Chinese element wuxia/xianxia stereotype that looks cringy parody, wrong phoenix (western/Egypt phoenix, not Chinese FengHuang), Chinese letters on sword looks like bad/awkward Chinese tattoo by westerners. I have real life sibling still hating and complaining everytime Mulan 2020 was mentioned 😂. Western Simmers from USA, Europe keep taking screenshots of Shang Simla, saying Shang Simla is beautiful.... You westerners call Shang Simla beautiful because you don’t know Chinese culture at all, you only see the landscape and don’t see how awful the culture portrayal of EA made in that world.

Now I want to know how bad the portrayal EA made for Champs Les Sims as France world and Al Simhara as Egypt world.... I can see Al Simhara is too stereotyped as “Indiana Jones raiding tomb adventure” site. I see there are many French Simblrs.. please post and elaborate if you find any inaccuracies 😁

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Arguments:

- It’s just a game:

Whoever complain like this must be casual gamers who only playing The Sims as Barbie dressing simulator or Candy Crush mobile game and do not have experience of playing real video game titles. EA is one of biggest video game company with big budget releasing AAA video game titles to make profit, similar to Disney. They’re not free CC creators. Whoever create game placing expensive price tag with very big budget for making big profit from international players must be responsible to create product with quality and effort, including consulting & do research to local people & culture to depict culture outside their default culture (American). I bet you Americans and Europeans complain if you find inaccuracies or any stupid fatal mistake depicting your own country and culture. It’s not just cultural inaccuracies, there are many bug, glitch, cheaply-made, bad animations, missing features or any factors are not deserved in The Sims game that supposedly AAA expensive game titles.

- The Sims is marketed heavily for U.S.A. and European countries to appeal U.S.A. and European players:

Video games, any titles, any genre, is marketed to international people, not just western countries only. The Sims is translated to Chinese language, sold in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and any other Asian countries. If EA marketed heavily for western countries only, why are EA hiring Chinese translator then sell their games into those countries? Hiring translator + shipping + marketing to other countries have costs too.

- But we westerners are accustomed/used to Fortune Cookies as they are cookies that usually available in Chinese restaurants!

“Chinese” restaurant? Ha ha ha. That is Americanized Chinese restaurant. Every Chinese restaurant in every country changed to suit local people’s taste, so no longer authentic. In my country, Chinese restaurant provides not authentic and hybrid to local cuisine in my country too. Please broaden your knowledge, google Fortune Cookies for 1 minute and it says originated from USA. Furthermore, Shang Simla is located in China in-game by EA, it is supposed to depict China, not Chinatown in western country. It is unprofessional/laziness from EA by not researching or consulting to actual Chinese people (I repeat: They’re big company, not free CC creators). No need to use World Adventures EP to provide Fortune Cookies, just release in Base game or Store content separately. Because using World Adventures EP to introduce in the Shang Simla, China world, it makes as if Fortune Cookies belongs to Chinese culture / China, while actually it’s foreign/alien cookies for us ethnic Chinese.

- The Sims 3 World Adventures is focused heavily on adventure, explorations, and martial arts. It’s family-oriented / cartoony game / parody of life anyway.

I know that The Sims game is parody of American suburb life. Countries often depict other countries with stereotype. Focusing on martial arts because China/ Chinese culture is often depicted by foreigners as Martial Arts because Hong Kong / Chinese martial arts movies taking place in ancient time is very popular internationally, no wonder Chinese culture is stereotyped with martial arts. But this inaccuracies or any stupid fatal mistake is supposed to be not happening if the employees whoever create the game do research carefully. Mistaking Chinese symbol with Japanese symbol? Seriously?

How about American country world has Eiffel Tower or Pisa Tower as symbol icon? France world has American Liberty statue as symbol icon? Croissant and spaghettis placed on the same plate? Croissant has shape and colour resembles to poop? France world has Pizza and French Fries depicted as French culinary specialty in that world? Champs Les Sims, France world has German household and Italian and Spanish elements, local Sims trait has “European trait” instead of French trait? France world has stereotype castle-like or Versailles-like house build? France world has stereotype ancient French revolution clothing complete with fork sticks and fire torch, with depiction of the world like “Seeking for equality and fairness, [reference to French Revolution]” ancient stereotype for the world that supposed to be placed in modern setting in village? You want to depict adventure and exploration culture, but with this kind of depiction, I bet actual French people will not feel comfortable, and other westerners from USA or any other western countries will recognize the stupidity and inaccuracies easily.

- EA will not make super realistic depiction of world like its real life country. China in TS3 World Adventures is supposedly focus on exploration/adventure not miniature real life China and realistic society with karaoke, gambling, and focus on family.

Yeah, I know. I didn’t expect EA, The Sims game developer from USA will include karaoke and gambling or any super realistic for cultural world depiction, it must be something famous and stereotype from the country. Champs Les Sims world has the most normal description: “...offers the cultural elite some of the finer things in life. Sims can learn the fine culinary art of nectar making, or flash over with a camera to learn the Photography Skill.” Shang Simla: “...value discipline, peace, and clarity of mind ...” sounds very exaggerated too heavily focused on martial arts in ancient time in fictional movies and confused with Japanese Zen Garden or Chinese Spa/Meditation by Americans. Better description if Shang Simla is “...offer the cultural experience, culinary, and successful exploration will be granted with good fortune. Sims can learn Martial Arts skill...” Strong points of China (and Chinese culture) is the culture and food. Martial Arts is supposedly a bonus, not the prime feature. If Champs Les Sims has nectar making, these prime features of Shang Simla that fits for the game:

Making noodles. Noodles are the most oldest food invention in history, recorded 4.000 years ago in China, becomes important meal in Chinese culture. Imagine the cartoony/goofy animations when Sims crafting noodles then fail with funny expression. Very fitting to the game.

Or making dumplings.

Calligraphy

Majiang (Mahjong) technically gambling. EA had made playing cards table for TS2, just re-use the cards game table coding.

LION DANCE video

Giving simoleons in Hong Bao (Red Envelope) to Lion Dance, then Sims will be granted with ‘Good Luck Charm’ or ‘Good Mood Moodlet’. Lion Dance has cartoony moves, jumping from one pole to another, so it’s very fitting to The Sims game.

Not the Fortune Cookies in-game. Fortune Cookies is American, so it’s useless, doesn’t provide any functional and wasting potential for The Sims 3 World Adventure EP to represent real culture.

It’s unfortunate that Americans or western people in general seem to think Chinese culture is “Kung Fu - Dragon - Kung Fu - Dragon - Exotic palace looking building from the East - qipao / cheongsam - Americanized/westernised Chinese food.” only.

-But they are American company!!111!! As a company from different country/culture they could be at least cannot represent other cultures 100% accurately! Shang Simla is fictional world!!1!!

Whoever complain like this must be casual gamers who only playing The Sims as Barbie dressing simulator or Candy Crush mobile game and do not have experience of playing real video game titles. 😂

There are Lion Dance and Hong Bao (Red Envelope) as Lunar New Year update in The Sims Freeplay in year 2015. Yeah authentic representation 😁 , by The Sims Freeplay mobile division team, different team than EA The Sims 3, made exclusively for players from Asia.

Whoever game developer team behind it had done great job: did research and obviously had consultation to actual Chinese people. (I mean, how many average American/western people in general aware of Lion Dance and Hong Bao?)

No need for EA team to travel far away to China to survey, just do deep research on internet and asking someone working in EA ethnically Chinese. Costs $0 for them. There are a lot of authentic real culture that will give more unique, fresh idea, great input into the game if only the game developer team willing to spend their time and effort to do research.

I applause the authentic representation but too bad it’s in mobile game.

https://www.techinasia.com/sims-freeplay-cny-update

Other games? Sleeping Dogs.

Developer from Canada, Publisher from Japan, the team behind them seems to don’t have Hong Kong and Chinese ethnic, but they did great job at representing fictional Hong Kong setting looks like actual real life Hong Kong.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/307690/Sleeping_Dogs_Definitive_Edition/

I’m not from Hong Kong, but definitely feels the Southern Chinese culture vibe. Authentic street food, noisy people, pedestrians eating noodles with styrofoam package in street, night market, shrine to pray, Chinese festival, Lion Dance, Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), realistic street fighting (not Kung Fu), game price is more cheaper than The Sims 3, definitely they didn’t make stupidity such as mistaking Chinese icon symbol with Japanese icon symbol and including Fortune Cookies. (My Sleeping Dogs save game file is corrupt, you can take a look at Youtube videos).

The Sims is the only proper game with genre of life simulator on the market, but disappointingly, the developer of the game do not take the quality of the game very seriously about dining. I often see many action games, fighting games, other genres portraying authentic food, how to dining properly with right utensils, right hand, although they are not life simulator genre. The Sims? The genre of life simulator? Eat with left hand, eating animation still like a cartoony greedy pig, do not use fork and knife elegantly but instead using only fork with stiff animation, wrong chopsticks hand position, not authentic food, food only represented in one plate = one meal = for one person which is lazy coding & no innovation. In real life, one person put many meals on dining table to pick and choose to put on that person’s main plate/bowl, not just eat on one plate only.

-Why are you complain so much? Show some respect to EA’s employees!

I’m real life employee who have been working as 3D Artist & Animator for video games and movies companies for years. No need to be employee for this kind of industry, as a customer who had paid the product must be feeling disappointment and anger if the product you buy is broken, not working, faulty, and after service is bad. Not the employees’ fault, not at all, the fault must be upper management of company, who demand income as fast as possible, hiring few low-skill workers to cut production cost as possible to force them to create many assets in-products as many as possible in short deadline, not doing research, not brainstorming the ideas and resources well because the company do not have good communication and time management or probably do not have much fund to pay research, then release product immediately although the product is not finished/developed well. My guess is that upper management in EA doesn’t care quality of The Sims game itself, as the game is seen as “Children’s Toys”, marketing for teenage girls / majority women, so the company doesn’t take it seriously, contrast to EA’s sports game titles, Battlefield, Star Wars’ Battlefront, or any titles marketed strongly for teenage guys / men.

Look at complaint at someone who’s saying Shang Simla icon is wrong, is Japan’s Torii Gate. No response from EA at all. Very unprofessional, while the fault is the company itself.

EA Sims 3 division, if you couldn’t do the research, give the world to ethnically Chinese, to be remade by actual Chinese employees (I know it’s impossible, The Sims 3 is ended, already 12 years old). Seriously. Clearly EA has money, power, headquarter in Shanghai and Beijing.. It would be much better, authentic portrayal, than ignorant stupid wrong portrayal that seems to make fun of Chinese culture in bad way and misleading to western/international players. I’m only Chinese descent, dislike portrayal of Shang Simla world, let alone Chinese Simmers live in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

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drawingdroid · 7 months

Text

The Unknown Regions II

A Din Djarin x Fem Plus Size Reader Fic

Summary: You, a soft astrophysicist, meet the hardened Mandalorian in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Read Chapter 1 | Read Chapter 3

Warnings: Expect conversations about weight, body dysmorphia and internalised fatphobia that may be triggering, so read at your own discretion; injuries and blood; canon typical violence; reader is AFAB and user she/her pronouns; no use of y/n; smut to come in next chapters; porn with plot; plot with porn; Din Djarin need a hug and a fuck.

Word count: 1,392

A/N: This is a shorter chapter where we learn a bit more about your job (watch me make up things about astronomy lol), which will be handy for our little adventure with Din. The hot speeder bike ride was 100% inspired by @djarins-cyare fic, Be-All and Endor! This fic is just everything I could ask, just so detailed and thorough, I really recommend it to you! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, sorry if Mando is too gruff but I try to keep him in character, don’t worry, he’ll warm up later. ;)

🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐

You went through your notes again, looking for the data you had gathered previously. If your calculations were correct, you were one step closer to mapping the Unknown Regions. Studying the orbit of this planet had been a difficult assignment. It seemed to elude you every time you were close. But today, you could say that finally, its coordinates were finally revealed. Jumping from your desk, you rushed to discuss your discoveries with your supervisor.

The older, Rodian female, was working on gathering the info the radio antennas were providing. The purpose of the observatory, funded by the New Republic, was to map the mysterious regions beyond the Outer Rim, popularly known as Wild Space. In the year since its foundation, your team had located the system you were currently studying and successfully calculated the orbits and characteristics of its two stars.

Your Rodian supervisor, Dr. Vala, took her time to look through all the data you'd gathered after inserting the disk into her computer. You shifted your weight and played with your hands nervously.

"It looks like everything makes sense." She said after a while, smiling at you proudly. “I’ll discuss sending the first space probe with the engineering team in the next meeting.”

You mirrored her expression feeling a bit shy, but the truth was that you were over the moon. Receiving praise from someone like Dr. Vala couldn't be taken for granted, and the prospect of having a probe sent to the planet you were studying was exciting. All your dreams were coming true. This would be the best day of your life if the pressing matter of the bleeding Mandalorian wasn’t making you kriffing anxious.

“Would you mind if I left early today, Doctor? I haven’t been feeling very well.”

Dr. Vala sent you home immediately, knowing how you had been overworking yourself. You thanked her and after gathering your possessions went to the hangar where one of the landspeeders that transported the workers from the compound was parked. After providing the droid with your employee code, the vehicle started the trip. The ball of anxiety that had been growing in your belly grew with every klick of desert you covered. He probably had left already and you were worrying for nothing like an idiot. But what if?

You arrived at home covered in sand and rapidly discarded the goggles and cape that you used for protection. Entering the main room cautiously, you didn’t notice you were holding your breath.

“Mando? Are you still there?” You asked in a small voice.”I brought food and medical supplies…” The bag against your hip was full of some rations and medicine you managed to grab from your workplace before leaving. A mix of fear and excitement was boiling inside of you, hoping that he hadn’t left. You advanced two more steps when something very shiny dazzled your eyes. Confused, you brought your hand to your face in pain.

“Uh…sorry.” A gruff voice apologized from the main room.”I was about to leave…”

Your heart jumped inside of your chest. He sounded exhausted and sad but it was better than before you left. The bright light moved and then you could see the source of it. The warrior, in his full, polished armor, was reflecting the light from Tatooine’s twin suns like a star. It was such a beautiful scene to look at. He was standing there like an ancient statue finishing with placing one of his pauldrons. You swallowed hard. Was this man the same person that bled out on your carpet?

“Are you feeling better?” You asked fidgeting with the end of your sleeve. It looked like you were the guest and this was his house instead of yours. Your eyes couldn’t stop registering every detail of his appearance, from his width to how well that ammo belt hugged his hips. Maker, you were in need of a good lay.

He just nodded and then approached you. You could smell your soap and his characteristic scent under it. He then grabbed your hand with his gloved one and blood rushed to your cheeks. The sound of credits took you out of your trance.

“The carpet.” It was the only explanation he provided, and when he noticed that you weren’t moving, he squeezed himself between you and the doorframe.

What was the problem with this man?

“Wait!” You managed to unfreeze and catch him before he actually left. Even though he tried to hide it, his limp was obvious. He didn’t turn but stopped walking. “We’re in the middle of nowhere and I haven’t seen any ships close.” The question floated in the dry air, and you could see how his shoulders dropped infinitesimally.

“It won’t be the first time I walk through this desert.” He responded cockily and shifted his weight, this time turning the helmet slightly to you.

You rolled your eyes and sighed, and then grabbed your goggles and cape again.

“Come on, I have my speeder bike in the compound’s hangar.” He fully turned to face you then, tilting his head to one side, probably balancing his options. “You want to find your son, don't you? Well, you won’t be of any use to him bleeding dry among the dunes.” Now it was his turn to sigh. He surrendered to your offer, nodding in response. You smiled and closed the door, having already put on your gear plus your little blaster. Everybody knew that venturing to the desert unarmed was insane.

The warrior followed you obediently to the hangar, where you provided your credentials to the security team to open the gates for you.

“I haven't asked you, is it okay if I call you Mando? I accidentally heard the man from the holo doing it, I’m sorry.” You asked while you put your riding gloves on. Riding was something you loved, and it was important for you to keep the bike and your accessories in good shape, so your speeder was in perfect condition for the trip through the dunes. You climbed its leather seat and sat comfortably. He just stood there like a statue. “I wanted to apologize too for trying to remove your helmet.”

“No offense taken.” He responded after flexing his gloved hand a couple of times. He looked kriffing tense, but you would too in his situation. You smiled in relief and put your helmet on. He took the cue and sat behind you. To anyone watching the scene, it had to look ridiculous as hell, but the only thing in your head was how Mando felt behind you and how you were going to focus on driving. You swallowed and started the bike, maneuvering it outside of the hangar.

“Where are we headed?” You asked, trying to sound confident. Mando looked like he hadn’t made a decision about the best place for his hands.

“Mos Eisley, Hangar 3-5.” He provided, and you thanked your past self for the food you had stolen from your workplace. That would make a long ride. You inserted the city’s coordinates in the nav computer and placed your boot on the accelerator. But your copilot still looked hesitant about where to get a hold of.

You sighed exasperated and in a bold move, you took a grip of his hands and put them around your waist. It was notorious how Mando went rigid instantly as if he had been struck by a bolt. Kark, he looked like a seasoned warrior, why would he be so tense about sharing a speeder bike with a woman? Nevertheless, you were no seasoned anything so you allowed yourself to be flustered when he finally grabbed your waist with determination. It was only a second that the malignant thought of how he’d find your soft curves disgusting. Your waist wasn’t tiny by any means, and in this position your belly flexed forming some rolls. You were flustered now but for other motives.

But Mando’s huge hand just grabbed you tighter and with a confidence that had been absent before, making you jump in your seat.

“Are you…are you comfortable like this?” He asked unexpectedly in a gentle voice. You clenched your hands around the bike handles, making the leather of the gloves crack.

“Yes, just hold tight.” And oh Maker, that grip would have you daydreaming for the whole journey.

Next Chapter

#din djarin #the mandalorian #din djarin x you #din djarin x female reader #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin x f!reader #din djarin x plus size!reader #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x y/n #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal fandom #droidwrites

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drdemonprince · 7 months

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Hi, apologies in advance if this is something you've already discussed or addressed, but I was wondering about whether there is any kind of correlation between autism and increased sensitivity to tragic global events? Maybe I'm just burnt out, but the past couple weeks of turmoil and tragedy in Israel/Palestine has me completely immobilized with anxiety and despair. I don't have any profound connections to the region, Israeli citizens, or the Palestinian people, but my heart aches from it all, especially with the ongoing devastation in Gaza.

I had a similar experience in 2017 from Hurricane Maria, but I had lived for a year on the island where it first made landfall in PR, so I was personally invested and it was a place with which I was familiar. Asking other autistic friends if there's a higher chance of being hyperfixated on or extra sensitive to coverage of international tragedy, I was told my own personal history with trauma and violence/tragedy may just make me more empathetic to others' suffering.

How, as an autistic person, do you find ways to pull yourself out of despair for the state of the world and the suffering of others?

Many people find it compelling to draw a link between Autism and heightened empathy or sensitivity to matters of injustice, for understandable reasons, but the reality is far more complex.

In research, we see that Autistic people are more morally consistent than other people -- we are more likely to sacrifice resources or social standing in order to stand up for the things in which we believe. Because of masking pressures, many of us become highly attuned to the emotions of others -- or what we presume those emotions to be, because of course no person is a mind-reader. We can appear stubborn, to others, in holding steadfastly to our beliefs even when doing so is risky. We are also highly traumatized and thus suffer from hyper-vigilance, trauma triggers, and many other symptoms that may register as us taking emotional blows particularly hard.

It would be comforting to tell ourselves that such traits make us more connected to global events, or actually more morally or ethically invested. But that isn't necessarily the case. Having a strong moral consistency doesn't mean that a person's morals are the correct ones, being willing to make a sacrifice for a cause doesn't mean it was the right cause, and being highly sensitive to the plights of others doesn't mean we actually understand them or are feeling their feelings at all.

For myself, being Autistic is associated with being far less emotionally impacted by such global events than other people. I have very limited empathy, and in situations like these what empathy I do have is entirely cognitively mediated. Global catastrophes and massive injustices don't really emotionally affect me the way that I see them affecting other people -- I don't cry about such things or feel devastated by them, I just think about them a lot in a relatively dispassionate way, and many of the gestures people find moving surrounding such issues do nothing for me.

It doesn't mean I don't care. I actively make the choice to care because of my belief system and values. I have to decide intentionally to dwell on the emotional reality of what is happening. I have to force myself to imagine what others might be feeling, and what others are going through, in order to understand it. Otherwise, to me it is more of an intellectual abstraction, and my focus immediately goes toward what I think the logical solution or means of response might be.

This doesn't make my conclusions any better than anyone else's, mind you. Just because I'm thinking analytically doesn't mean I have the correct information or frame of reference -- in fact, in such matters it often leads me to be oblivious to what others need or what others would consider the morally right thing to do. There's a whole spectrum of human experience I can't access, and while I used to think it made me evil, it's doesn't. It just makes me different.

My friends and loved ones who are more emotionally open-hearted are the ones that remind me to pause, to honor people's grief, to make sense of the emotional and social needs of the moment as well as the ones that strike my numb self as more supposedly practical. My knee-jerk reaction to such situations is to try and jump into problem-solving mode, and I have had to learn from experience that I need to slow down, humble myself, and make space for the enormity of people's feelings and the horror of the things are happening that my body just cannot touch. Very emotionally obvious things, by the standards of other people, completely fly past me.

Still, I am also often frustrated and confused by the reactions other people have to crises -- as a very general rule, humanity tends to reach for means of addressing such events that are symbolic and emotionally satisfying but might not align with their professed ideologies or any kind of articulated strategy. The safety pin thing after Trump was elected, for example, or the blackout squares at the height of BLM. These movements felt good, I guess, to people who were in a state of genuine panic, but they actually did more harm than good.

It's difficult to be what often feels like the sole voice asking whether what the collective is doing really makes any sense. If often makes me seem like I am heartless, which I guess I am, but I am still highly invested in the side I believe to be just winning, and in my annoying fault-finding I'm simply trying to aid in that.

There's benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, is what I'm saying, and there are many routes to caring about an issue and many ways in which caring isn't the same thing as being helpful.

All of this is a bit ancillary to your question. Is it an Autism thing to be sensitive to global genocide? I think that's quite a human thing. Many Autistic people take such matters very very seriously, but some of us do so in ways that aren't as emotional as what you describe. Others are incredibly emotionally impacted by such matters, like you are -- and so are many non-Autistic people. It hardly matters whether it's normal or not though -- this is what is happening for you, and it matters, and you certainly aren't alone in it.

I wish I had advice that came from personal experience, but my experience is somewhat of the mirror image to yours. I find that when people care deeply about an issue, whether it's intellectually or emotionally, they compulsively consume information and upsetting imagery about the issue to a degree they find debilitating. I do this, and you probably do it as well, even if what happens to me is analysis paralysis and fault-finding and what happens to you is probably more like horror and despair.

I believe limiting one's intake is necessary. I believe humility is too. We are not the stars of this story, and we are not so important in the world as to expect ourselves to be experts or saviors. I find that stepping back and gaining historical knowledge places things in perspective. I have learned much by studying the political movements of the past. I have had to develop a true understanding of how the social change I desire really works -- thanks to historical reading, discussion with people I respect, and by consuming leftist theory.

I think it is vitally important to be able to disagree with people, at least in the privacy of your own mind and in your own conduct, so that even if someone is ringing an alarm bell and saying that a certain action is necessary, you have the power to determine if you actually agree. I think it's important to not constantly consume information. We have to learn to know which voices to completely disregard, by asking ourselves what belief system drives a person's claims, and whether they are positioning themselves as an expert for their own self-enrichment and betterment rather than for a just cause.

I think we can't just be moved by the emotional panic of the situation, because we are very easily manipulated, drained of energy, and led astray, and disempowered if we are. But I also think we can't be detached from the human emotional reality of the moment either -- no matter what I think is the rational course of action, the only way humans are ever going to organize and take that action is by speaking with one another, crying with one another, eating together, laughing together, and believing in something better together.

I don't know how to do any of that stuff. I only know tactics and history and theory and fault-finding. There is a place for me in the struggle. There is a place for you in it too. But we are small, and we have to make peace with our smallness and flaws and build a movement that accounts for them, and for a wide variety of gifts and perspectives.

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tanadrin · 9 months

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it bugs me that punctuation nitpicking is most of what passes for education in (and thus what people think of when they think about) "grammar," because 1) most authorities on the subject are authorities only within particular registers or dialects, 2) they base a lot of their opinions on bad or totally spurious data, and 3) punctuation is by far the least interesting feature of grammar. i mean, to the extent it is grammar at all.

i think any feature of a written language that most literate speakers of a language don't share substantially consistent intuitions on probably qualifies more as a feature of style than of grammar. but i would go beyond that, even, in many cases--features of punctuation that differ from language to language, like style of quotation mark or where to place spaces around punctuation, just aren't important structural features of the language like how you form plurals. you can write english with French punctuation and it will be perfectly intelligible. you can write languages with no punctuation (as many have been written historically) and be perfectly intelligible. fashions in punctuation change much more rapidly than fashions in morphology, syntax, or even spelling.

trying to source authoritative information on English punctuation is especially quixotic because there is not only regional variation, but there's substantial diachronic variation within just, like, the last sixty or seventy years--my parents were taught slightly different punctuation rules in school than I was! the real answer to "what is correct punctuation" is "whatever the audience to which you are writing expects."

and yet punctuation gets stressed so much when it comes to teaching writing skills despite the fact that there are much more important writing skills you need to master (like cleanly laying out an argument and moving through it point by point in persuasive writing, or structuring narrative and scenes in creative writing), because it is easy to teach. the pedagogical equivalent of bikeshedding. but it doesn't matter very much. and we all know it doesn't matter much, because some of the most celebrated writers in the english language either didn't use punctuation like we do or were deliberately experimental with it.

#this is technically vagueblogging #but i didn't want to derail the post that made me think of it #or rope someone into an argument about something stupid against their will #i think the only really universal features of english punctuation these days is spaces between words and a full stop between sentences #everything else is up for grabs

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mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 11 months

Text

I hope I don't murder me (I hope I don't burden you)

AU in which Lan Wangji stays in the Burial Mounds with Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants

idea here

Living in the Burial Mounds isn't easy - not that Lan Wangji expected it to be. He's known what he was getting into, and his expectations have been correct - but this isn't about the shoddy houses, the cold, damp cave he shares with Wei Ying or the scarce food.

Lan Wangji is fine with those. He doesn't care about comfort and luxury, and as long as he can be by Wei Ying's side, he doesn't need anything else.

What is difficult is watching Wei Ying grind himself near into nothingness every single day. His cultivation is eating away at him, no matter how much he argues otherwise. Perhaps it's not in the way Lan Wangji thought it to be - Wei Ying is very much still lucid - the corruption comes more from his lack of oversight for his own existence.

He works himself into exhaustion inventing spells and talismans every single day, and he fights off the Burial Mounds' whims every time they shake with resentment and threaten the little settlement's fragile safety. He doesn't eat much, if at all, always arguing he isn't hungry, and he sleeps only when he can't keep himself upright anymore. Lan Wangji gets why he doesn't like to sleep - he has nightmares every time he does, and Lan Wangji struggles to bring him out of them every time, for hours on end, breaking away at whatever horrors the Burial Mounds have conjured for him.

To put it bluntly, Wei Ying is wasting away. And Lan Wangji can do nothing but watch - Wei Ying still won't tell him why he's given up the orthodox path of cultivation, he waves away any concern and though he seems to be appreciating any attempts Lan Wangji makes to bring him food or take him to bed (not like that, they're still on a very limited touch basis), he doesn't seem to be getting that much better.

And Lan Wangji doesn't want him to die. Not now, not like this, not ever. After all, the only reason he left the Lan was so he could take care of Wei Ying, protect him, and perhaps even love him, if he'd be allowed. There must be something he can do to make Wei Ying even just a little bit happier than he is now, even if just for a day, even if only to see him smile - smile again, like he used to before the world turned against him and he found his home with the dead, bright and beautiful and sincere.

Wei Ying returns from the markets with Wen Ning in tow, flinging about two empty baskets of radishes. They've had a miraculously profitable day today - turns out, some parasite has ruined the radish harvests in the nearby region, making Wei Ying's radishes the only viable ones around.

"People are going to think you cursed the fields to sell your yield." Wen Qing laughed as she counted the large coin pouch Wei Ying's so proudly given her.

"You know what, I could do that. Technically. It sounds like a very Jin thing to do, but the profits would be massive."

Wen Qing shoves at him playfully. "At least there's Hanguang-Jun to reel you in, you get the most chaotic ideas."

"You're one to talk." Then Wei Ying looks around, pouting slightly. "Where's Lan Zhan?"

"I don't know, around probably?" She shrugs. "To be fair, I haven't seen him at all today now that I think about it. He left just after you two did, and he was carrying something."

"Did he tell you where he'd be going?"

"No."

Wei Ying's expression falls. "Oh... Maybe he's finally had enough of this place and he left..."

"Where to? He's not allowed in the Cloud Recesses anymore."

"He's still talking to Zewu-Jun, so..." A sad smile, "I mean, if you didn't have to, would you willingly stay here of all places?"

Wen Qing sends him a sympathetic look, and reaches to poke his forehead lovingly. "He's not the type to just up and leave like that. He'll be back before you know it. And if he really did leave, I'll hunt him down and gut him alive for you."

Wei Ying tries to laugh at that but he can't, not really. "I wouldn't blame him if he did leave... I just..." He swallows, hard, "I don't know... I'm going to... work or something."

He leaves before Wen Qing can say anything, and gratefully walks out into the harsh winds announcing an upcoming storm, his tears lost in the wisps of cold air and resentment.

His cave is lonely as he has forgotten it should be. He hates that he has forgotten it - why did he allow himself to get used to somebody always waiting for him at the end of the day, ready to listen if he had anything to say, or just sharing in the silence? Of course it wouldn't last long.

Normal people don't live in mass graves. Normal people don't - they don't love the people living in the mass graves.

Not that Lan Zhan would ever love him, but...

Wei Ying lights up the candle at his work desk and decides he's not going to be thinking of anything but his talismans and his arrays. They don't give him false hope, they don't make him feel like he matters and then leave out of nowhere. They don't pretend like they care when they actually don't.

A tear messes the characters on his prototype for a cleansing talisman and Wei Ying angrily throws it away over his shoulder, his vision blurry. He's angry and disillusioned and hurt - and he doesn't know why! Of course Lan Zhan would go, why would he stay? What's there for him to stay in this wretched place for? What would even keep him tethered here, to this hellhole?!

Wei Ying flings a hand over his desk and everything falls haphazardly around, tears sliding freely down his face.

Why would Lan Zhan - why would anyone even fucking stay - stay there?! Stay there for... for someone like...

Wei Ying folds his hands into a makeshift pillow on the rock he uses as a table and buries his face in it, crying silently. How could he have been so stupid? Lan Zhan is a good person, but... there really is nothing keeping here, there never has been. And... and it's better if he's gone.

He doesn't deserve to live the rest of his life in the Burial Mounds, around someone that he probably doesn't even really like all that much. He probably just wanted to help cause he's righteous and felt bad for the Wen remnants and A-Yuan... but there's a limit to everybody's kindness, probably. Maybe he got sick of the poverty and the struggles, and having to wake up to Wei Ying's screaming every night, maybe he got tired of being around someone that's... more dead than alive.

Maybe... maybe it's better this way. Wei Ying's probably been an unnecessary burden to Lan Zhan anyway. Even if he tried to keep quiet as he worked at night, even if he tried not to take much of anything for himself so as not to seem greedy, even if... even if...

Wei Ying bought something for Lan Zhan from the markets today. He made so much money selling vegetables that he figured he could surprise the other with a little trinket, switching their roles for once. He would be the one to give Lan Zhan a gift this time - he's helped everyone so much, and of course a little item doesn't balance any of it out, but Wei Ying thought it would be... cute. He thought Lan Zhan might like it... It's an ornament for his robes, two white jade bunnies hanging off a beautifully embroidered blue ribbon.

But now that Wei Ying looks at it, he realizes Lan Zhan would probably hate it. He'd never say it outright, but why would he even like it? It's just a stupid thing that cost too much money.

What has Wei Ying been thinking buying it? Wasting money? Thinking it would mean anything? Trusting? Believing? Hoping? Loving?

What has he been thinking?

---

Lan Wangji returns so late in the night he's quite sure he's about to fall asleep at the boundary of the Burial Mounds. He's carrying a lot of things, including food and alcohol that he must be careful not to spill, fragile items and, of course, his own very sleepy self.

He really hasn't expected all that shopping to take so long, but then again he hasn't done much of it himself until now, so perhaps this is how it should be. Lan Wangji is tired, but grateful - Lan Xichen sent him a lot of money, as he requested, and he could get everything he could think Wei Ying would like.

Lan Xichen doesn't agree with his brother's decision to live in the Burial Mounds - nobody in their clan or sect does. But unlike all the people that have renegaded him and forbade him from ever returning home, Lan Xichen still loves him and helps him with everything that he can, risking his relationship with the elders' council and even his sect leader position to send him money and gifts secretly.

Lan Wangji needs to thank him properly for all that he does, though he doesn't know how. It's through his kindness that Lan Wangji has been able to prepare all these things for Wei Ying. And though nobody will notice the money missing, it's still a risk to take.

The Burial Mounds are jarring to walk into, even more so at night. It's just rained as well, and the smell is even more pungent now, rot and petrichor intermixed with the faintest trace of blood, both fresh and old.

The ground beneath Lan Wangji's feet has softened into a formless mass of mud, and he has to use Bichen's glare to see what he's stepping on, the beings living in it ready to grab at him. They reach their... hands towards him, grunting and growling with resentment, and though he isn’t exactly scared (he’s a cultivator, after all, he can’t be scared), he wishes he could just mount his sword and fly his way home. But the fog of resentment overhead is so thick he doubts he would be able to maneuver, and if he gets lost in it, there will be no way out for him.

He can’t use much of his cultivation knowledge either – that only serves to attract the dwellers of the Burial Mounds, all ready to devour some new flesh, feast on living souls and bring another into their ranks.

So all that Lan Wangji has left to do is focus on where he is going, ignore the bellowing screams in his ears, the terrifying apparitions, the phantom pains – and imagine he will soon be safe, home, with Wei Ying, and he will give Wei Ying a nice, relaxing evening to enjoy after a long day’s work.

He pointedly refuses the laughing voices of resentment that tell him he is not wanted here, that he will only bring trouble, that Wei Ying doesn’t love him, that he should just give up, come join us, come to us, be with us, be one of us...

Lan Wangji feels like he’s been born again the moment he steps into the protective array that Wei Ying’s set up to guard the Wen settlement. He can finally breathe fresher air, his mind clears immediately and he’s overcome with a sense of relief that settles pleasantly into his stomach, his limbs only a little bit unsteady with the feeling.

Exhaustion catches up to him as well, and he knows he won’t be able to be awake for much longer – bit he knows Wei Ying is, and Lan Wangji wants to brighten up his mood right now more than he wants to rest.

There will be plenty of time for that later.

With a much lighter heart, yearning almost, Lan Wangji walks into Wei Ying’s cave, barely suppressing an excited smile. Wei Ying is going to be so happy!

He finds the cave in disarray, and Wei Ying hunched over his table, asleep, surrounded by a mess of notes, ink and broken brushes. The side of his face shines with fresh tears, his cheeks wet, features drawn into a pained expression.

Lan Wangji’s brows furrow, and he places all the items he’s brought near the sleeping mats, walking up to Wei Ying slowly so as not to startle him.

“Wei Ying?”

Resentment materializes out of nothing, blocking his path.

Leave!

Lan Wangji is tired of this already. He’s heard every variation of that on his way home and he’s running out of patience for it.

Leave him alone! You’ve hurt him!

Now that’s new. He has done no such thing - he’s been so careful to respect Wei Ying’s boundaries, took care of him, did his utmost to help him... the Burial Mounds may be horrible, but they love Wei Ying and they’re merciful to those that are kind to him. And Lan Wangji has been just that, kind and devoted to the point of leaving his whole life behind for Wei Ying, no holds barred and no regrets.

This has never happened before, either. The Burial Mounds have received him... well, if one could say that. He never got attacked before, now that he thinks about it, and though he put tonight’s unrest on the resentment just being more active in the dark, he's realizing that there be more to it than that.

He wants to see what's wrong with Wei Ying, though, resentment and the Burial Mounds be damned. And if he has to physically fight this thing, he will - it's not like that would be new.

Lan Wangji draws out Bichen and decides he's just going to go right through this thing if it refuses to get out of his way. And perhaps this is not a very wise choice, but he is tired, worried and still jarred by all the horrors he's encountered in the way here - but he's charging at it before he gives himself the time to really calculate. It's almost like an instinct, wanting to get to Wei Ying and comfort him, and he won't let anyone or anything stand in the way of that.

Bichen's blade pierces through the mass of resentful energy, and it only disperses enough so it dodges the hit. Before Lan Wangji can realize, pain overcomes him from everywhere inside him, as though all his organs have ruptured all at once. He doesn't want to scream, but it's ripped out of him before he knows it, and, for a moment his vision blacks out. He distantly notes that he's never faced resentment this strong, and wonders whether this is the kind of thing Wei Ying had to live through in the three months that he was away. He hopes not. He hopes that this is just the Burial Mounds deciding to hate him in particular, and that it was different for Wei Ying back then.

He coughs out a mouthful of blood and realizes he's dropped his sword at some point. He tries to summon it, but he can't find enough spiritual energy in himself to do it. Is this how he's going to die? Will Wei Ying have to wake up and find him dead? Maybe there will be nothing left of him for Wei Ying to find, that would be easier to deal with, right?

The world is starting to become fuzzy at the edges, or maybe it's just Lan Wangji's tears blurring his vision. He wants, selfishly, his last image to be Wei Ying, and he makes the herculean effort to move his eyes towards where he's still asleep.

Perhaps Lan Wangji is indeed dying - because he thinks he sees Wei Ying jump awake and scream.

There is a song.

Lan Wangji recognizes it, it flows around him like a soft, gentle warmth, beckoning him towards... somewhere. He doesn't know where, he doesn't even know where he is right now - doesn't even feel like he is anywhere or anything at all. But even as he is, formless and incorporeal, he's compelled to follow the song, beautifully played on a flute.

It's his song, he made it. He made it for the person he loves, even if he didn't know it at the time and even if it is that person that doesn't know it now.

Slowly, like waddling through deep, heavy waters, Lan Wangji returns to his body. He feels warmth around him, and realizes he's leaning against someone's chest, their heartbeat rhythmic in his ears. The knowledge makes him smile, the movement difficult but inevitable.

"Lan Zhan, are you awake yet?"

"Mn..."

He feels Wei Ying kiss the top of his head, running a hand down his back comfortingly.

"You feelin' better?"

"Mhm."

There is a pause. Lan Wangji can hear the heartbeat underneath his ear quicken, and Wei Ying takes in a deep, shaky breath.

"I'm sorry." he says, at last, his voice soft. "This is all my fault... I thought you left and... you know resentment responds to my emotions so it thought... it was-"

"Trying to protect you." Lan Wangji interrupts, "I get that."

"Lan Zhan... you almost..." another deep breath. "This shouldn't have happened..."

"Wei Ying-"

"No, listen, I-I found... the things you got for me... You're always so good and so kind to me and to everyone else, and you've sacrificed so much for us, we all really don't deserve you. I don't deserve you."

Lan Zhan finally manages to open his eyes, blinking to adjust to the faint lighting in the cave. "Why are you talking like you're wanting me to leave?"

"Because I do."

Lan Zhan lifts his head, confused, to look at Wei Ying, and sees his eyes glisten with unshed tears.

"It's dangerous for you to be around me, Lan Zhan. You shouldn't be risking your life living here, and if you ask Zewu-Jun, maybe he'll convince the elders to-"

"I don't want to leave you, Wei Ying."

"And I don't want you to die because of me."

Lan Wangji reaches a hand to hold the side of Wei Ying's face, wiping the tear that's just fallen down his cheek. "Don't make me leave, Wei Ying."

"Lan Zhan..." Wei Ying covers Lan Wangji's hand with his own. "I had to - I had to put your soul back into your body... You died. I held you as you died. What if I fail next time and I lose you forever?" Wei Ying holds him tighter now, a slight shake to his body as he cries. "I'd rather let you go alive, than live with the knowledge that I-"

It takes all of Lan Wangji's strength to lift himself up enough to leave a soft kiss over Wei Ying's trembling lips. "I love you."

It feels so freeing to say it that Lan Wangji wonders why he held onto this confession for so long, why it took him so long to say it.

"I love you." he repeats, and the words taste sweeter than any dessert he's ever had. "And I don't want to be away from you. I want to share my life with you."

Wei Ying leans down to kiss him back, and Lan Wangji realizes he's never been happier than right now, nothing he has ever achieved has ever felt like the fireworks Wei Ying's lit under his skin.

"What if there will be no life to share, Lan Zhan?" He asks, smiling, tearfully, as he traces the seam of Lan Zhan's lips.

"Then I'll come back to you in the next one."

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #writing attempts #this ficlet ate me alive omg

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a-rat-who-writes · 10 months

Text

Cove's Alphabet SFW

The safe-for-work version of Cove Holden's Alphabet is finally here! Enjoy my lovelies. (Took so much longer to write because it has over double the word count than the NSFW one <3) ALSO! This version is for all genders, so if you find something that is tailored specifically to a woman or male, lmk and I'll correct it :)

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?) Cove loves to hold your hand and do the little thumb thing where he rubs it against the side of your hand. He often holds your hand whenever you two are around each other, no matter the circumstance. You two are walking to a beach? He’ll hold your hand. He’s kissing you? He reaches for your hand. It’s a little intimate act that doesn’t make him embarrassed, and it means a lot to be able to stay within arms reach of you at all times. He also has a thing for placing his lips somewhere where you did or eating a portion of food where you also ate part of it. For example, if you two are out on a little date night and you both get different desserts, he will ask to try whatever dessert you’re eating only because he likes the idea of indirectly kissing like this. If you offer him any food, he will almost always put his mouth not directly, but on half of the area you already bit out of rather than on the opposite side of the food, like a sandwich.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?) You two met when you both were very young, obviously, and you two bonded more over how Cove didn’t know how to deal with his trauma with his family's divorce and moving to a new place. If we are sticking with this idea, he grew fond of you very quickly because you were the first person he met in Sunset Bird, and you always tried your best to include him in different activities or to spend one-on-one time with him to learn about his interests; he naturally also began doing that with you too! If we are wanting to be a bit annoying and say you two really became friends in step 2 or 3, he already knew you since he often saw you when he went to the beach and because you lived right across the street. He made small gestures like offering you a drink (A Caprisun or something) and you would accept it. Or.. he would ask you something about school since you two went to the same one, like: "MC, um… do you happen to know how to solve for x?" or "I’m stuck on my fourth quote. Can you help me find something to use? I looked so many times, but nothing fits with my topic sentence." Of course, you would always help him because you either had no clue yourself or because you were better at the subject he asked about, which allowed you two to bond more often. When helping him with something, he always got sidetracked by pointing something out about your room or telling you something that went on in his day and wanting your opinion about it. Regardless of when you both became friends, he always had little inside jokes with you, and you both often wore them out too quickly, or he would always tell you random facts he learned about the sea, like: "Did you know jellyfish are just floating blobs and they don’t think?" or: "The male seahorse actually gives birth instead of the female one, so do you think that means they still have the same lower regions like humans or do you think it’s swapped?" Regardless, there is always something stewing in Cove’s mind that he is more than happy to ask you about.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?) Cove is an absolute sucker for cuddling—just not in his bed. You two have cuddled on multiple occasions when you were both friends, such as when the two of you watched a movie together, he often sat next to you, and somehow you both ended up falling asleep, his head resting on yours. If the two of you are dating, he often gets too flustered to sleep next to you in his bed because he can get very flustered when being absolutely alone with you and in such intimate proximity. He often lets you cuddle him when the two of you are just relaxing at his house on a couch, or if he is exhausted from his work shift, he will make a beeline for your house after work and rest his head on your lap while mindlessly telling you about the random shenanigans of his work day. (Bonus points if you put Cove’s front hair into a ponytail or if you just thread your fingers through his hair, which often makes him blush due to how good it feels.)

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?) At some point, he wouldn’t be against moving in regardless of you two being friends, dating, or engaged. He won’t ever tell you he is a bit of a messy person, and you will find out the exact day you move in that he is a little bit of a slob. He doesn’t leave random dishes around, but he has random shirts strewn across his room, and sometimes he’ll leave dishes unwashed for days, but he eventually gets to doing it. He also barely uses his closet. He often just picks out shirts and pants from the basket he threw them in after washing his clothes, rather than putting them away like a civil human being. (You’ll just have to deal with the sand problem because somehow, regardless of whether he was going swimming that day, he tracks sand into the main entryway.) He also cannot cook for shit, but he can prepare miscellaneous foods that his mom taught him to cook, like chicken or tacos. His cooking abilities are very limited, but if there is a food you really enjoy, he will take the time while you are out to figure out how to cook it and eventually master it and cook it for you one night to impress you.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?) Cove would always try to fix any problems between you two, but if things just became too much to bear, i.e: you constantly cheating on him or you doing something he’s told you make him uncomfortable too many times, he will find a way regardless of what you did to be nice until the end. He would sit you down wherever you live and have a genuine calm conversation with you, and when it gets to the point where he has to say the five words (We need to break up), he begins to tear up himself. During the whole conversation, he will hold your hand to try and comfort you, but really, it’s him coming to terms that it will be the last time he will be doing something like that with you or whoever he is breaking up with. After the conversation is done, which probably takes an hour and a half because he often beats around the bush, he will leave and beat himself up for the next couple of days before he gets over it.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?) Cove would definitely love to make you his wife/partner/husband at some point after you two are somewhat stable. Depending on when you propose to him or he proposes to you (If step 3), he prefers to stay engaged to you for a couple years before marrying you, then wait a little while longer before having kids. If you have issues or you just prefer not to be married, Cove totally understands, and he is willing to treat you like his forever partner, even if you both aren’t engaged. Ideally, Cove would like to marry you on the spot because you have such a chokehold on him, but, realistically, you two get married when you canonically would, so around 24. Regardless of when you get engaged, he will wait a couple years or whenever you are ready to settle down.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?) More often than not, Cove is a gentle person over a rough one. Especially when the two of you are getting intimate, he will always stay really gentle—more so the first couple of times—but he will treat you with respect. Physically, he always tries to gently hold your hand or caress your cheek gently before you two kiss to make things not only more sensual but also more comfortable. Emotionally, he will often not directly address an issue between you two but instead hint at it, trying his best to not hurt your feelings, even if he is the one annoyed by whatever.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?) Cove loves hugs. He isn’t an overhugger, but he won’t ever turn you down if you ask for one. Especially if he is sad about something, he will cling to you like a sloth to a tree, crying into your shoulder, because we all know he is a bit of a crybaby. (In the best way possible, of course.) He often goes under rather than over, so he can hold your waist and put his face down on your shoulder. If you are sad and need a hug, he will always tightly hold you (especially if you have sensory issues) and keep you pressed against him while gently rubbing circles with his palm into your back. If you two are being intimate, the first thing he will do after you two finish is hug you tightly, even if it was a quickie and you needed to leave ASAP.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?) He didn’t want to spring the three words on you too quickly in case you weren’t comfortable with admitting that to him yourself, so he waited, but also because he was a little nervous himself to admit he had such strong feelings for you. After 1 to 3 months, he will accidentally let it slip once. The very first time he said it to you was when you two were having a mini movie night at his house and the two of you were cuddled up on one of the main floor's couches, sharing a fleece blanket. At some point during the movie, you two end up kissing, and after he pulls away he rubs your cheek with his thumb gently and looks into your eyes before whispering under his breath: "God, I love you so much…". Your eyes almost popped out of your head when he said that, and when the words processed in his head, his hand that caressed your cheek instantly went to his mouth. You look a bit anxious yourself, reassuring him that it was adorable (Bonus points if this is when you also tell him you love him for the first time). You put your hands on either side of his head, sitting on your knees now, and you tell him how you are so glad he told you, and it means so much to you that he was finally able to say it. This makes you wonder, though: how many times before did he think about saying I love you in his head but never verbally?

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?) Cove is pretty good when it comes to jealousy, so he won’t ever get nervous when you have any guy or girl friends (Depending on your gender and your sexuality). He believes in loyalty and faith, so he puts his full trust in you, but when someone flirts with you and you play into it a little, whether you’re aware of it yourself or not, he will shift over to you and put a hand on your waist, or he will pull a: "How’re you feeling [insert pet name you enjoy], good, I hope?" and he gives you a kiss on the forehead. This is usually enough to shut whatever down, but if it isn't, he will begin glaring at whoever is flirting with you, and he will insert himself into whatever conversation, acting a bit passive-aggressive because whoever wasn’t taking the hint.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?) Usually, Cove gets nervous with PDA, so the kisses you share are often short and sweet, such as quick pecks on the lips or a few seconds, but he makes up for it by following up with a kiss on your cheek. When the two of you are alone, the kisses are usually more lengthy, and he likes giving you quiet praise after you two finish (exactly how he accidentally let ‘I love you’ slip because it was natural). He likes to be kissed anywhere, honestly. On his head, hand, arms, chest, stomach, and, if you’re feeling a bit risque, on his inner thighs. Every kiss you give him, he cherishes, regardless of the placement. He often likes to kiss your cheeks, forehead, and the back of your palm. If he is feeling a bit risque, then he likes to give you kisses on your ankles (Bonus points if you are wearing an anklet).

L = Little ones (How are they around children?) You’d think he would get flustered around kids, but he is surprisingly good with them because Derek would sometimes bring Nico and Jorge over to Cove’s place, or Cove would go over to help watch them. Derek showed Cove the different tactics Nico often pulled to get his way, and he made sure to tell Cove all the important details about children, such as how to entertain them and what things to keep away from them. Cove can often handle children, even when they do gross things such as pick their noses or poop in their diapers, which he often takes care of himself, and if you two choose to have a child, he will be the primary one to take care of that. If you two have children or adopt, he is definitely the type to cry when you point out how old they're getting, even if they are 2.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?) Cove will often wake up a bit late, such as 10–11 am if he isn’t needed to go out anywhere, and he likes cuddling with you even while you both are awake in bed. He could spend a whole day just not getting out of bed and shifting positions with you in bed because he enjoys your warmth. If you are more of an early bird, he will often tighten his arms around your waist and keep you close to him, nuzzling his nose into the crease of your neck until you shake him off. If you two don’t spend the night together, you often go over to his house and wake him up by tugging at his hair, to which he will grab your hand and pull you closer to him if the two of you are dating. He won’t realize what he did at first, but when he does, he will get flustered and turn over, apologizing. He is slow to get out of bed and to brush his teeth, so his hair often goes unbrushed until after breakfast, unless you decide to brush it for him (Bonus points if you give him head kisses while you brush his hair).

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?) If you two are dating, he won’t bring up sleeping next to each other but instead ‘cuddle before you go home’. You don’t tell him, but you love it when he is so nervous about this because if he had just asked you directly, it wasn’t as if you’d turn him down anyway. He tries to stay up as late as you do, so if you go to sleep early, he will often watch a show or something while playing with your hair and giving you the occasional head kiss. He also loves nuzzling your nose when you’re sleepy, don’t ask him why, he just does. If you often stay up late, then he will try his best to stay by your side, whether he falls asleep in your bed or is sitting down beside your desk on the floor and falls asleep with his head against the seat of your chair. You will wake him up when you’re done, and he groggily gets up, clinging to you until you get in bed. Even if you need to change into pajamas, he will often just lend you his shirt, regardless of whether he has a spare, so you can lay down quicker with him. Or, if you need to brush your teeth, he will have his hands across your stomach and his head on top of yours / on your shoulder until you're done, and then he gets a little giddy when you tell him you’re done, laying down with him.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?) You two were friends before you both began dating, so you already knew a lot about him. If you ask him anything, he doesn’t mind telling you (especially if you ask him when you’re making/getting him a gift, he’ll pretend he has no idea why you’re asking him the question just to see your happy face when you give it to him). He isn’t a closed-off person; instead, he is more of an open book, but he is a bit nervous to tell you about what he likes intimately (Canon), but he will tell you in a quiet voice. Don’t ask him to repeat what he likes in intimate scenarios after he tells you once or twice in the same conversation because he will get too flustered and shut down. It’s a bit of a turn-on for him when you know all the little things about him, so he often mentions if he likes something mid-conversation if you two are on the topic about it.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?) He is a pretty patient guy. Obviously, if you don’t understand something he doesn’t mind re-explaining it to you, and he actually finds it funny if you need something repeated more than twice. He is also patient when you get ready for dates if you’re the type to take over an hour to get ready. He enjoys sitting in the bathroom with you and watching you put on makeup (If you put it on) or style your hair / put it up. (If you do.) If you two are meeting up for a date, then he will wait all day for you, but how could you ever leave him waiting?

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?) For Cove, it’s a mix of it all. There are weirdly specific things he memorizes about you, like if you don’t like a specific condiment or if you put your hair behind your ear / tie it up when you are looking down at something, but he can’t remember your favorite color some days. If you bring up a music artist you often listen to, he will silently remind himself to keep it in mind, and he will write it down on his phone’s notes app so he doesn’t forget. He won’t tell you, but it got to the point where his notes app had too long of a list, so he switched over to Google Docs, and he has over 3 pages worth of information about what you like/dislike and why. Things he specifically memorizes are physical stuff about you, like your favorite jewelry or how you like to dress. When the two of you go out and spend a day together or go on a date, he, for some reason, counts the number of different pieces of jewelry you wear (if you do), as if you’ll ask him at the end of the night.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?) Every day with you is something special to Cove, so it would be hard for Cove to choose a specific moment, but back when you two were younger (Step 2) and you two went on that road trip, he’s really fond of the entire trip because he not only enjoyed the get-together and mix of your families, but he also likes that you specifically wear anklets for him now on because that was when you first found out he liked them. Despite him hitting his head on the top of the RV, he finds it funny now, and he can make fun of his little self for how flustered he was. (Bonus points if you tell him he isn’t any different currently.) (Bonus bonus points if you do something that makes him extremely flustered to prove your point.)

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?) Typically, Cove would prefer to handle things with words rather than physically needing to deal with someone, so if someone were to badger you or annoy you, he would put his arm in front of you and be straightforward with a stern voice. Cove believes you can handle yourself for the most part, but he will always step in if you give him a glance or if you seem overwhelmed by someone. Typically, when Cove talks about something important, he beats around the bush a bit, but he won’t ever stand for someone disrespecting you. He will make sure you feel safe, and after everything is dealt with, he'll give you many kisses.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?) Cove is definitely dedicated to any and all relationships he was/is in, so no matter what, he will remember your birthday, the time you two had your first date, and your anniversary, making sure to give you something or take you somewhere on that day. Just as it is important to you, it’s important to Cove to celebrate the days you both start a new beginning with each other, even if it’s a small step like when you two first kissed. (A little HC is that on your birthday he had a small gift he gave to you when the two of you were alone, and it was an anklet in your favorite color.) If there is something you typically need as an everyday thing, such as a hug, compliment, kiss, or even simple good morning/goodnight texts, Cove will make sure to pick up on those habits and do them as much as possible.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?) Canonically, Cove often wipes his hands on his shorts, so multiple of his shorts have tiny stains on them. Staying on the food topic, Cove definitely is also a bit of a messy eater, leaving crumbs around his lips and on his shorts/pants after a meal. (Bonus points if you wipe it off for him.) (Bonus, BONUS points if you wipe a condiment off the side of his mouth and then lick it off your finger.) Cove also gives off naive vibes, so if you lie about something such as, "Cove, did you know that if you sneeze with your eyes open, they’ll pop out of your head?" Cove at first didn’t believe you, but the more he thought about it, the more he freaked out about it, and he now makes sure to always close his eyes.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?) For the most part, Cove is pretty laid-back about his appearance, but he always makes sure he is wearing matching clothes. Somehow he never wears matching socks, but that’s beside the point. Something that he is a bit more strict about is his hair, though. He can spend roughly 10 minutes just trying to make his hair sweep around his cheeks properly because the night before he slept on it funny. He groans when it doesn’t look normal in the mirror after the first initial brushes, and then he increasingly feels the need to make it perfect before his dad or you usher him out of the bathroom.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?) Nope. Plain and simple, if he ever lost (as in died), he would never be able to forgive himself if he ever moved on from you, and he would spend the rest of his life indulging in the things you liked and weren’t able to do yet. On a less intense note, though, he doesn’t like to go more than a week without speaking to you, especially when he goes to visit his mom. As you are his childhood best friend, you are probably—no, definitely—the most important thing in his life, regardless of whether the two of you end up dating. He often spends a lot of his time just thinking about you, if not hanging out with or talking to you. He has a life outside of you with other friends and his parents, but a lot of his life is surrounded by you, and he wouldn’t have it any other way because you’ve made such an impact on him.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.) Cove is the type to overload you with different memes and tiktoks. Even if the two of you are sitting next to each other, he will either text you a tiktok or send it to your account and watch your reaction. At the end of the day, if you don’t avidly keep up with his messages, you’ll end up with around 30 messages—if not more from Cove just consisting of tiktoks that are the ones that say ‘Us’ and then a picture, or a tiktok of a random fact if you are a girl, and ask "IS THIS TRUE???" and then send a tiktok of a girl peeling her skin off, explaining that she needs to shed her old skin on her period.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?) Canonically, Cove dislikes people who often push back plans or don’t follow through with them, such as pushing a date back multiple times because you wanted to hang out with your friends. He also dislikes people who won’t accept help and who are adamant about not accepting any sort of gift from him. He is the type to spoil his partner, and if you won’t accept any of his gifts, that will often put him down and make him uneasy. Something else that would irk Cove, since he is a bit of a messy person, is if his partner was someone super strict about cleaning or organization and pushed their rules onto him, he would be reluctant to date you, knowing his habits would make you frustrated and him too.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?) Cove love, love, loves to cuddle when he finally gets comfortable sleeping in the same bed/area with you. He ideally likes to cuddle where the two of you are facing each other or where one of you has your head in the other's chest while holding each other. If he is having a rough day, he definitely sleeps on his stomach and tends to shift positions a lot at night. He also has a habit of quietly snoring if you two do a lot in the day or after the two of you were intimate. Don’t ask me why, but Cove definitely is a blanket hog, but after you wake him up to have him give you some of the blankets, he will sleepily and excessively apologize.

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spanishskulduggery · 11 months

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When did you first start learning Spanish? And any basic learning tips? I have a few Spanish speaking coworkers but I get so nervous trying to practice my Spanish with them.... and and, when you were first learning Spanish, did you have any little things you found especially fun/funny?

Oh gosh it's been decades now. To give some backstory and you can do your own math here, this blog started in 2013 when I was still in college getting my degree in Spanish

I started in what I think would be middle school when Spanish became a mandatory class, but I didn't start really studying and understanding things until high school. It wasn't until even after college that I REALLY felt like I understood Spanish because there were so many native speakers and people interacting with me.

One thing that totally changed my perception and how I perceive Spanish was there was a question on the preterite and imperfect, and I'm giving my answer and trying to explain some bits about how a lot of times both are potentially correct but it's how you mean it that matters

And someone mentioned that "imperfect" in its linguistic etymology means "not yet completed"; that "perfect" is "done thoroughly" where the -fect is probably related to hacer "to do"... and "imperfect" thus means "not yet done", and just a huge lightbulb moment

I remember thinking "I WISH one of my teachers had known that or said that to me because it makes so much more sense now"

And I still mess up but usually it's followers like "oh we say THIS here" or "that's not the word we use but it reminds me of this thing in my country"

A few funny things in Spanish based on mistakes that I've made or things that I learned:

You haven't truly begun your Spanish journey until someone tells you that embarazado/a means "pregnant" not "embarrassed" (avergonzado/a).... similarly no one mentions that embarazoso/a means "awkward" or "unwieldy" in a way

querer means "to want", but it can also mean "to love" or cherish; similarly querido/a means "dear", but la querida can also kind of mean "side-piece" like someone's affair partner woman so if you see someone talking about their querida without a name or a noun they might be talking about an affair

el pelo is "hair", el cabello typically means "hair on the top of the head" like a human... and el cabello is NOT el caballo "horse"

the word for "eye-catching" is llamativo/a and NOT miradizo/a which miradizo/a is one of those old words but it kind of means "awestruck" or "makes you stare in wonderment" in a weirdly poetic way

sartén as "frying pan" can be masculine or feminine depending on country

there are too many words for beans

there are three main words for "purple" - la púrpura usually means "red-violet" or Tyrian purple and also the mollusk you get purple from; morado/a is often "dark purple" related to la mora which can be "blackberry" or "mulberry"; lila is "light purple" meaning "lilac".... you can also say violeta that's fine too

people say naranja for "the color orange" more than anaranjado/a but not everyone has the patience to explain that naranja which comes from the fruit doesn't change for gender

same with rosa as "pink", where rosado/a "pink" is also valid and usually what's taught

regionalisms. regionalisms everywhere

If you're in a really immature class, someone is going to laugh at puse

the word for "jellyfish" in Spanish is la medusa and that makes me happy

similarly, a male "horseman" is often el jinete; a female "horsewoman" or "rider" is sometimes la amazona and that also makes me happy

la macedonia is sometimes "fruit salad", so one assumes that Macedonians were just throwing fruit together in a bowl or something

Except for two big exceptions, most words ending in al- in Spanish are from Arabic origins [the exceptions being anything related to el almuerzo "lunch", and la almendra "almond"]

la manzana can mean "city block" in some places - probably because in a feudal society people lived in "manses" and the biggest house was the "mansion" where the lord lived, and it has nothing to do with apples

la montaña rusa is "roller coaster" literally "Russian mountain" because Russian people used to make little roller coasters by shaping ice mountains and putting tracks on them

la paja rusa does NOT mean "Russian straw", it is extremely NSFW and do not google it on a school server...... in fact don't look up any kind of paja because it's just as NSFW and it means "straw" if you're not talking about sex so otherwise don't worry about it

someone told me that linguistically para is just por+a, so parais literally "for the purpose of" or "for/so that to" and I've never been the same

the word for "ladybug" in Spanish is la mariquita which is "little Mary" because red used to be associated with Virgin Mary and the spots were said to be 7 and represent the joyful/sorrowful mysteries - many languages have a religious connotation to "ladybug"... also English, because the "lady" refers to Mary, like "Our Lady"

The Spanish alphabet used to be different where CH and RR were their own separate letters... it made looking things up weird; I also don't know how I feel about L vs. LL as separate letters because it's a whole other sound but it IS technically two L's

The word for octopus is el pulpo... the word for "pulp" is la pulpa; don't be like me and mix up asking for orange juice with no octopus

I cannot stress this enough but el pollo is "chicken" or "poultry"; la polla is a NSFW word meaning "cock" and as soon as you say you want cock for dinner you will die some on the inside

I don't know what the deal is with ahorita or what it means without hearing the tone of voice and neither does anyone else, it could be anything

caber is the worst verb, but ir/andar are also up there

every so often luego/pues means "thus" or "therefore" and it's going to throw you off

every so often el hacha (technically feminine) means candle or torch, and in any other situation it means "hatchet" so imagine my confusion when I read about people carrying axes around to see

all my life everyone told me never to use gustar without an indirect object and a friend from Puerto Rico says gusta to mean "cool" all the time and it made me question everything

#asks #spanish vocabulary #spanish #langblr #learn spanish #long post

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martsonmars · 6 months

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@messofthejess asked: If each member of the Carry On cast was a type of pasta, what type would they be?

[Tumblr killed the ask]

OMG obsessed. Thank you for the question it's so important to me. I'm limiting myself to the main gang but PLEASE (you or anyone else) feel free to send asks or comment with other characters, I'd love to answer but I don't want to feel overwhelmed with choices.

I'm also not letting myself overthink this. There might be better answers but I'm going with gut feelings or I'll never post this. I'm going with shapes.

Baz is definitely long pasta. Reginette, with they're elegant, fancy, sharp edges. I just know the guy doesn't want to fit in the pot. So many people don't know how to handle him. Long and thin. HARD TO KILL BUT NOT TO BREAK. And when he's safe he reveals his true form. Which is still hard to handle. You need practice. You might be tempted to cut into smaller pieces. But the only way to actually savour who he is is to get past all these obstacles and wrap him around your fork and you finally understand. He could be trenette/linguine too but mostly because in my region they're eaten with pesto, and you know. Basil. Etc.

Simon is rigatoni or tortiglioni or any of the similar shapes. He's a sturdy pasta. A fighter. One the people love, but might take for granted. And yet he'll always be ready to save your meal, square shoulders and jaw. He's ready to take any challenge, and when it's finally time to rest he won't let himself go too soft. He'll keep his fierce, solid, thick shape and demand to be loved strongly. He can take it. And we all know that this is the kind of pasta to eat with a nice, rich sauce, just like our boy deserves. A sauce that sticks, that fills up all the spaces. Because we know that holes just want to be filled.

Penny is penne. Of course. The name speaks for itself, but it's also a correct choice. A no bullshit shape. One that thinks she's better than anyone else, but is she? Only trial and error will tell. But she remains a solid choice, reliable and always there for you if you're one of her trusted friends. She'll never let you down. As long as she doesn't start doubting herself. But she won't for too long, because who would doubt penne?

Agatha is difficult. I'm going with farfalle. She's pretty and elegant and sophisticated, but also misjudged and belittled and mistreated. People will see only what's on the outside and take it at face value — seeing her as too good to be true, or instead as childish and not caring about what truly matters — and won't delve deeper to see the truth. Which is that her core — the core of her beauty, of her power — is stronger than one thinks.

Shep is one of my favourite shapes — ruote. I was going to pick lasagne for him (rich and intense and friendly and happy to use their layers to host different kinds of savoury experiences), but this is perfect too. For his truck, his sense of adventure, chasing tornadoes and creatures and friends and never letting anything — danger or unpleasant British mages — stop him from being one of the best guys you'll have the fortune of meeting on your path.

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nieves-de-sugui · 1 year

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BL and it’s Shoujo grandma

In the last few years a lot of people have entered the fandom from different pathways and don’t know its history and origins. This post is an effort to clarify some of the whys and the hows of how the genre and industry came to be in the way they have. In this post I want to talk about BL and its connection to Shoujo manga through their tropes.

We all know to some degree (and if you don’t you will now) that BL came from the more traditional romance manga genre: Shoujo.

Today, BL is its own independent genre, so many people might not know that a lot of what is characteristic of BL, is an evolution or a trace from its Shoujo grandmother. After all, romance is romance, and our hearts flutter very easily with the same tropes over and over again.

We must also take into consideration that everything in this life influences each other so the limits between genres will never be cristal clear. There is no clear line between Shoujo and BL... but the ambiguity is part of the charm.

Please be remiended that this is my own thoughts on the matter. It’s a hypothesis I have come up with based on my readings but do not take it as gospel. Anyone and everyone is welcome to add to this post and correct any errors, or comment their own takes on the topic.

Edit: this got so long I’m gonna put it under the cut

Shoujo, as the Romance Manga Genre by definiton, comes from Japan. Even though it is not the only source of romance content, I believe that it has had one of the biggest influences over the mainstream asian romance media. Which, I believe, has a lot to do with the recent history of the region.

First, a little bit of history and context (and some speculation)

The after effects of WW2

Well, Japan’s imperialism and war against the west makes it occupy a big part of the countries of southeast asia and “during this period, GDP in most Southeast Asian countries fell by half; 4.4 million civilians died prematurely; severe shortages of food and goods affected almost all Southeast Asians; and many lived in fear of draconian military rule” ( World War II and Southeast Asia Economy and Society under Japanese Occupation, by Gregg Huff) yes this post has citations people

Overall, Southeast Asia faces economic difficulties, social and ethnic unrest, and political struggles through much of the mid-twentieth century. By the 1980s, conditions have improved, but the “Asian financial crisis” in the late 1990s is a serious setback for the region (source)

All of this to say, that it makes sense that, in such a landscape, it was Japan who, after the American Occupation was the one country with the means to produce and eventually export entertainment. The US wanted to successfuly avoid any resurgance of imperialism and a base in the east on their side for the cold war, and other subsequent wars. This special attention helped the stability and economy of Japan in the long term (compared to all the other countries that had been under its rule).

Manga and Shoujo

More or less at the same time manga as we know it today started (with Osamu Tezuka, aka the god of manga) around the 50′s.

First made by men then by women around the 60′s, Shoujo was the genre “for girls” in opposition to Shounen, that was “for boys” (these labels just inform of the content and tropes of the stories you read, there are many other genres but I’m trying to make this short). Women authors took control of the stories that were being told to women audiencies, taking into account what interested them at the time: gender roles, sexuality and romance, among others.

To me, the most interesting time period for Shoujo after the initial 60′s/70′s (ie, The Rose of Versailles) is the 90′s/early 2000′s (ie, Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Ouran High School Host Club, etc... My favorite shoujo manga come from this time, really really recommend reading some). Which coincidentally happens around the same time as manga’s worldwide boom and expansion.

How has Shoujo influenced asian media?

The 80′s/90′s was when manga arrived to the US, and subsequently to the rest of the world. Depending on the country manga became popular at different times, however by the end of the 90′s it was a success worlwide.

references

Why I think shoujo manga has had one ot the biggest influences over romance media in Asia

Shoujo manga has been adapted into live action so, so much. Many memorable doramas were mangas first. Boys Over Flowers being the most prominent example of this (we will come back to it later).

Imo, Shoujo was able to explore a certain amount of themes that interested women at the time, and through manga’s popularity and expansion, those themes came with tropes and ended up becoming the backbone of the genre, influencing other romance media in general. But it has also been influenced by the mainstream trends of tv and interests of the public as it evolves according to the demand. The name does comes from its target demographic.

Some of the most typical themes we find in shoujo are:

Interpersonal relationships between characters concentrating on the interaction of their emotions and a lot of inner monologue, aka romance

Gender

Sexuality,

Fashion,

etc...

One of the interesting things here -- going back to the historical context I gave before -- is that Japan’s Constitution (1947), that was made which the US’s supervison, enabled a bigger equality between men and women. Which might be one of the reasons why “characters that defy traditional roles and stereotypes surrounding gender and sexuality have been a central motif of shōjo manga since its origins.”

General Romantic tropes we find in Shoujo

Romance being one of the main themes of Shoujo, it is inevitable that a lot of what we consider romantic will also be a Shoujo trope. Many of these are just inherent to any romantic theme. What influenced Shoujo or was influenced by Shoujo? It is hard to tell. Nevertheless, I will do my best to do some sort of categorization.

General romantic behaviour tropes: kabedon, accidental kiss, feed me, sucking on wound, temperature check, indirect kiss, lap pillow, shirt tug, hair kiss/touch, monster-in-law ...

Other tropes include, not limited to romance but pretty common: we got together kiss/sex, drunken acts, I can’t control myself/I’m a man too, overnight trip, miscomunication, physically hurt/sick moment where they get taken care of, ...

Here are some of the most typical shoujo tropes:

How many times have we seen a scene under the rain, where the use of an umbrella was made very romantic? Or an icy, emotionally closed off man being melted down by a warm woman’s love?

Others shoujo specific tropes: sponge bath, drying hair with a towel, snuff cheek kiss, indirect kiss, unconscious kiss, kiss them to make them take their medicine, bitchy girl rival (because mysoginy), violent defense of loved one, he belongs to everyone (mysoginy and girl rivalry again), accidental meet cute (library/street corner), gender bender, woman dressed up/mistaken as a man, ...

How many shows came to your head (queer or not) while you were reading that list of tropes? A lot of them you know or have seen many times in kdramas, jdramas, cdramas, thai dramas, etc... Probably some of them you didn’t know were a common trope.

Shoujo tropes refs 1

To exemplify the influence of Shoujo Manga on the Romance Media...

Let’s talk Boys Over Flower/ Hana Yori Dango/ Meteor Garden/ F4

Boys Over Flowers (or Hana Dan) is the best example to see the influence of Shoujo tropes in Asian romance, since it has been adapted many times, and is still being milked to this day.

Contrary to popular belief the taiwanese Meteor Garden did not come first, the manga did. Followed by: the japanese live action movie (1995) >> the anime (1996) >> taiwanese series (s1&2, 2001-2002) >> japanese series (s1&2 + movie, 2005) >> korean drama (2009) >> chinese Meteor Garden (2018) >> japanese spin off Hana Nochi Hare (2018) >> F4 (2021).

We find all the tropes in BOF:

love triangle, popular x unpopular, umbrella under the rain, cold ml x warm wl, rich x poor, trapped in an elevator, sick boy, accidental kiss, unfortunate accident that brings you closer, monster-in-law, I leave you because I love you, he belongs to everyone... and many others.

The overwhelming success of BOF, and it’s many reboots and adaptations made the shoujo tropes a staple of the romance genre (at least in Asia).

How does BL appear in all this?

Shoujo and gender and sexuality

BL (or Yaoi or Shounen-ai) started as one of the subgenres of Shoujo (others being Josei (more mature), Horror, Teen’s Love(erotica), Moe, etc). It was a variation on the hetero notion of romantic love, hence the clear paralelism with the gender binary. It slowly started integrating actual queer dynamics later on. The genre in itself has evolved a lot as it has broken free from the Shoujo mantle. It was very very different in the 70's (when it started) to the 2000's (when the hetero style of relationships and dynamics was at its most popular in QLs) to now.

The particular thing about Shoujo is that, besides creating a subgenre about exploring homsexuality, they explored gender and gender roles a lot. Women disguising themselves as men, or characters that did not identify with their assigned gender were and are still very common. Starting with Princess Knight to The Rose of Versailles to Ouran High School Host Club. We see this trope a lot in live action dramas like: Hana Kimi, Coffe Prince, Bromance, Secret Garden, You’re Beautiful, etc..., And all the historical k-dramas with women disguised as men (Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Scholar Who Walks the Night, Love in the Moonlight, The King’s Affection). Besides it being a theme that clearly interests female audiences, other possible influences on the growing of media exploring this theme might be: the Takarazuka Revue, the newfound equality of sexes thanks to the japanese constitution, and trying to break free of gender roles and societal expectations through media.

I kinda see it as an accident that shoujo manga authors ended up making queer content. They were questioning social expectations but I don't think they even knew that there were queer people out there to be appealed by it.

As a quick recap of BL themes through its history, we went from:

the tragic and traumatized european pretty boys (Kaze to Ki no Uta) of the 70′s to

the gay for you, hetero like uke/seme, with problematic content for the sake of drama but with happier endings (Junjou Romantica) of the 2000′s to

the more realistic, featuring characters from the LGBT community variety of content we have now (Given)

BL also eventually gave birth to Bara/Gei Comi (gay comics, by gay men for gay men. Check Gengoroh Tagame’s works to know what I mean), and in some way GL (or Yuri).

BL tropes

Do we find the general romantic tropes in BL? Yes, we do. However there are some that are inherent to BL. Also, as Thailand finds itself at the head of the current BL boom, we also find these tropes to be influenced by thai culture.

Bishonen boys (beautiful androginous men), uke/seme, rape, gay for you, age gap, psycho boys, ...

I leave here ABL’s posts on the BL characteristics by country, other bl tropes, and Thai BL and tropes. Honestly, they’re the expert on all tropes BL.

As I have consumed all types of romance media, I can hardly tell what tropes are inhenrent to what genre. However, tropes that are inherent to BL would be:

Many of these are related to sex, which is one of the main themes of BL. There is a lot to be said about sex in BL, particularly in its relationship to violence. There is also a lot of BL that features intentionally toxic relationships and unhealty dynamics. Which is the darked side of the genre, to be explored in another occasion.

Coming back to our main theme, here is an example of the connection and evolution of a shoujo trope into a BL tropes.

BL tropes evolved from Shoujo: Rooftop confession

Rooftops belong to the gays now and it should be known. It is a very well known trope used all over genres, but it is has become an very significative one in BLs.

image sources 1 2

Final Toughts

While preparing for this post I decided to research a little about SE Asia’s recent history, as I have been made aware recently that not only thailand is rising in it’s entertaiment production, but Cambodia is rising in the music sphere. All these industries that are sprouting from Southeast Asia, made me wonder why. And my elation when I realized there was a reason why! It all started to get into place in my head.

I have wanted to make this post for a while. In a lot of the conversations we’ve been having in the fandom around shows recently made me realize that a lot of the new fans get into BL without having encountered Asian dramas before or just partially. Lots of the analysis made and the questions posed around BL shows have a partial answer in the context of how the genre came to be and how its intertwined with every other piece of Asian media.

The purpose of this post is to give more detail into how BL is influenced by a lot of the general romance genre, which a lot of the fandom might not know in depth. I hope this clearifies some things for those who search to understand why this or that trope or action happen in a show where it might not make sense, or it might be out of place, or just strange.

As Thailand media is growing, we see how they use what is popular in their favor, while adding a bit of their own personal culture to it. It’s interesting how we can see the kdrama or manga influences. And talking about it and questioning them makes me excited for more.

This will be a series of posts. I have decided to make a post about the general history of BL. Which will be accompanied by another, smaller post where I want to talk about the Yaoi Debates (Yaoi Ronso) and the use of trauma and rape in BLs, as it has been a topic of conversation recently.

A big thank you to @waitmyturtles for her Old GMMTV Challenge, which has promted a lot of conversation about BL and has also made me want to participate in them. I hope this can be complementary to your watches and helps you understand the genre and how it came to be.

#bl tropes #shoujo tropes #bl and it's shoujo grandma #for the fam #and the besties #it got super long but if you read the whole thing I hope you enjoyed it #look forward to the other posts I'm gonna make #bl history

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nicollekidman · 7 months

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Hi Abby, I am uncomfortable saying this off anon for a variety of reasons, please do not think one of them is cowardice. I have followed you for years and years. I’ve come to love so much media because of you and always appreciate your takes. I have chosen to unfollow you now. I am a Jewish person who has been so scared and upset about what the state of Israel is doing to Palestinians and am disgusted by the war crimes committed by Israel. At the same time, I have numerous Israeli friends and family members who have been murdered by Hamas in the last few weeks. Civilians visiting for educational and cultural exchange programs, horrifically killed. Your recently reblogged informational post about how Hamas is not a terrorist organization was deeply upsetting. This may not matter at all to you, but I ask that you consider empathy to all people involved in this issue. Decolonization is important. My friends and family are dead. These two facts can coexist. Just wanted to share this with you because I know many people see your blog and are affected by the information you share.

probably shouldn’t answer this at 1am and you’ve already unfollowed so you probably won’t even see this but i just want to ask you why my sharing resources and information about the reality of hamas and it’s current functioning within gaza / its original charter immediately made you think that i don’t care about loss of human life. there was not a single phrase in that post that minimized victims of the october attack, in fact, not a single phrase in that post took a stance on anything, it was purely informational. frankly, i think it was so measured to dissuade from reactions exactly like this, and if i had written it myself, i would’ve done a worse job.

and if you had been able to push past your knee jerk reaction to reading “they are not a terrorist organization” you would recognize that clarifying language and correcting misconceptions is one of the most important things we can do, both going forward in ending this genocide and looking back on how and why lives have been lost in both israel and palestine.

i have personal empathy and grief for your situation, and i’m so sorry you have suffered loss amongst your community and loved ones. but your loss does not form a shield behind which you are allowed to hide from truth, or force other people to close their mouths when trying to educate themselves and others. we are currently witnessing ongoing mass death, us-backed genocide, and a hugely successful (in the west) propaganda campaign to make this endeavor as Unknowable as possible, especially to those who have never looked into the reality of life in the region. grounding ourselves in recent history, learning more about words and labels that are thrown around weekly, daily, hourly, SPECIFICALLY to justify and excuse the ongoing campaign of death israel has visited upon the palestinian people for decades…. that is the LEAST we are all responsible for. it is your duty, as someone who has lost friends and loved ones, and it is mine, as someone with eyes on their stupid blog, to make every concerted effort to understand and spread the truth, in context, to enrich our own activism and honor the dead.

saying “decolonization is important” while unfollowing me after years bc i shared information about what hamas is, is so empty and meaningless you might as well have not said it at all. thousands of people are actively and endlessly being murdered behind a smokescreen of Terrorism with the VERY SPECIFIC connotations that holds over the west and the US in particular… attempting to relay information that complicates and clarifies your exact knee jerk reaction is the entire point. i hope one day you are able to look a little closer and recognize that your personal hurt in seeing new information that makes you uncomfortable is not important in the scheme of what we are currently trying to prevent

#writing this on my phone in bed at 1am is maybe not the move but tldr i am so sorry for your loss but nothing that i shared #warranted this reaction or minimized any death in any way #and if you feel like the truth would do that then you have your own work to do about where you stand #i did notice i’ve dropped like 50 followers today and i do not #care #all zionists exit now

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citrusella-flugpucker · 15 days

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An idea about ways to change the way the geoglyphs quest works which will Totally Please Everyone™

...What do you mean, you can't please everyone?

So, I said in December that I wanted to make a post about a game mechanic change in Tears of the Kingdom that could make everyone happy with regards to the delivery of the geoglyphs' story points.

I, for instance, liked finding them in whatever order and did not find it negatively affected my experience of the story, but some other people found they didn't like that the "correct" (read: chronological) order wasn't enforced.

I had an idea that could fix that, and it centers on a lot of conditionals, and to start off, I'm going to describe it using one already extant story progress condition a lot of people probably have never encountered. (But plenty of people probably have.)

You get this text box if you manage to arrive at the pedestal while having not started the regional phenomena main quest. (Even if you got the paraglider. It's linked to starting Regional Phenomena.)

(I spent two hours trying and failing to glitch into the room with a clip from above before finally giving up and trying precarious ascend instead because I didn't wanna steal a shot of this off a YouTuber. Everyone clap

Also, I was going to include other images but brain doesn't want to alt text right now so)

So, anyway, the idea I had is that you see this sort of text box (not that EXACT box, it's only an example), but only in certain scenarios. Imagine, if you will:

Prior to arriving at geoglyph #1, everyone--if they try to interact with another geoglyph--sees a message like, "You don't yet know how to interact with this." or something.

Then you get to #1 where Impa is waiting for you as she does in the actual game (this is where all the other images would have gone if I included them here XP). She gives you the spiel, you go up in the balloon, and some of her text is changed from the actual game in a way that suggests that when you examine again and actually have it work, you realize it involves recall, yada yada (the actual interaction with the tear doesn't change from canon, I just wanted the text to change so there's a story reason you "know" what to do now). Impa shows up after you view it, as she canonically does.

Here's where things are really changed up: While she still brings up going to the Forgotten Temple, she very much telegraphs to the player that if they go there, they will get answers as to the order, so that people will be even clearer than the actual game that they can find the map and order there (though maybe not being that direct about it when presenting this dialog to the player as it would be to say "there will be a map and pictures there"). Then, like in the real game, she suggests Link make his way there as well... BUT then a dialogue option comes up.

Will you meet me at the Forgotten Temple as soon as possible?

[Sure!] [I can manage on my own. 🅱]

And then, just in case you were spamming B, pressing that will trigger a confirmation.

Are you sure? I suspect there is important information about the geoglyphs there.

[Okay, I'll come.] [Maybe later. 🅱]

No matter which one you select, the quest is added regardless just like normal (albeit perhaps with slightly different flavor text depending on whether you agreed to the meeting or not).

If you hit B and reject all attempts to go "immediately" then the game works as it does currently: The quest is granted, all geoglyphs instantly respond to you in whatever order you approach them in, Impa goes to the Forgotten Temple, etc.

If you ever hit A on the top option, the quest is granted and you're not immediately transported there or anything, but until you arrive at the Forgotten Temple, a flag is set and all geoglyphs respond by producing a Not Yet box saying something like "You remember that you promised to meet Impa in the Forgotten Temple."

So you head to the Forgotten Temple. Regardless of whether you agreed to come or came later, just like in canon, Impa's there, you find the map and order on the wall. Some of the in-game interactions happen, but instead of Impa suggesting you take a picture (or perhaps, instead of her only suggesting you take a picture), she says something that allows you to have the order be enforced. Maybe it's writing from a book she read about the geoglyphs or something, since it's established in canon she read about the Dragon's Tears somewhere. Maybe it's connected to you taking a picture with a quest ❗ on it with the Purah Pad (though this would require you to have completed a different quest first to get the camera. oof.). But somehow, this order is imparted to you so that Link himself knows it in game.

If you reject the enforced order, you're still free to take a picture like in canon, but the flag preventing you from investigating geoglyphs is cleared and you can access them in any order just like if you'd rejected going to the temple immediately when Impa asked at tear 1.

If you agree to enforced order, the flag preventing investigating the glyphs at all is unset, and a different flag that says you chose to enforce the order is set instead. Then, if you approach a geoglyph that's not next in chronological order, the game presents a box saying something to the effect of "This doesn't look like the next geoglyph..." Maybe it's not a strict enforcement, and so when you get this box, you also get dialogue options of "Look anyway." or "Leave it alone for now." Just in case you agreed to the enforcement and then went "wait, I don't like this".

Also considered the idea that unlocking the sensor on the Purah Pad would grant you, in addition to shrines and compendium entries, the ability to track geoglyphs (maybe with changes in which geoglyphs it alerts to, dependent on if you're in enforced order or not--i.e. unenforced alerts to all, enforced only alerts to next). But that also felt like it might be too handholdy? IDK.

Anyway, this is my attempt at a best-of-both-worlds between people who want to be guided through parts of the story in a specific order and people who really don't care/don't think the variable order is a detriment and maybe just want to hit things efficiently while they're crossing the map doing other things.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk

#tears of the kingdom #totk #loz totk #loz #legend of zelda #long post

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sayitaliano · 11 months

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Ciao, I have a few questions:

what is the difference between lesbica and lesbiche?

Also, if I wanted to list my pronouns (he/she/xe) in Italian, what would I say?

Which kinda a follow up- are there neopronouns in Italian?

grazie, buono giornata!

Ciao!

lesbica = lesbian, singular; lesbiche = lesbians, plural I'm leaving you a few links about the lgbtq+ vocabulary, just in case you need: Lgbtqa Vocabulary | Lgbt+ | non binary (writing)

for pronouns I suggest you to read here (and other posts in the grammar masterpost in the pronomi section, right after pronomi diretti/indiretti). Btw personal pronouns are: I = io, You = tu, He/She = egli/lui, ella/lei (there's no specific agender pronoun as far as I know but check point n.3) We = noi You = voi They = essi/loro, esse/loro The pronouns I "deleted" are the ones taught in school for declaring verbs conjugations while studying, but not much used in common language. The fact that English provides the 2 forms pronouns (eg. they/them), doesn't need to be applied in Italian too: you can simply write he=lui / she=lei / they=loro as necessary.

Italian is a pretty gendered language, every noun has its gender to which you need to conjugate articles, adjectives and sometimes other parts of speech. Eg. you wrote "buono giornata": that's grammatically wrong cause "giornata" is a feminine word, so the adjective "buono" -masculine- is not correct; you should use "buona" -feminine- -> "buona giornata". We're still kinda behind with neopronouns, so when talking it gets a bit difficult. You can call a person by their name or be formal before asking how they rather be called (formal speech needs you to use a general "Lei", which has nothing to do with the person's gender despite seeming feminine -we recognize you're being formal cause you need to use verbs at the 3rd singular person too); or you can use the noun "persona" = person. Persona is a feminine noun, but you can use it no matter the gender of the person you're talking with cause it's just the noun itself being feminine. When writing you can add an */u/ə/ä at the end of the noun, instead of the "gendering" vowel when it comes to other nouns/adjectives and so on: eg. sono alt* = I'm tall (no gender specified). You can try using "u" when talking too (eg. sono altu), I heard it once so... yeah, you can try. It really reminds me of Sardinia tbh (Regional stereotypes, sorry) but if it works... I'm no one to tell y'all otherwise. Not saying we're not working on finding a solution, but it's a tough research and translating from English, a language that has a different grammar from ours, is pretty impossible. I've been researching a bit online and I noticed that English neologisms are probably to be used in Italian as well so: “ze/hir”, “xe/xem”, “ey/em”, “ve/ver”... just go with what makes you feel better anyway. You can still explain what you mean if someone doesn't get it (it doesn't have to be a bad/rude person, it's just that is something new for many of us, especially the elders, that are not so much online or informed about this kind of pronouns/changes). BTW you can try watching tonight's show about the Diversity Media Awards, maybe you'll get some more recent news on that matter too (IDK).

Hope this helps somehow, please feel free to ask for further infos if you need!

#it #italian #langblr #italiano #italian language #italian langblr #language #languages #parole words #traduzioni #lgbtq+#vocabs #vocabulary #italian vocabs #italian vocabulary

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quillpokebiology · 1 year

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The Great Crater of Paldea, Paldean History, and Paradox Pokemon

Hello everyone and welcome to my “I skipped hours of sleep for this post!”

I was watching an analysis video on Porytube by researchers Bird Keeper Toby and researcher Espy Juju (as well as considering @trainer-sean , and it got me thinking. So I did my usual research, which involves re-reading the Scarlet/Violet books, taking peaks at classified Paldean and Area Zero documents, and having to sneak into Area Zero again. This is an analysis of the video, as well as my own personal theories (I'll link the vid at the end!)

The Great Crater of Paldea; Theories & History

Everyone who lives in Paldea, or has heard about these Pokemon, knows about Area Zero. (And that one meme of raiding Area Zero a couple of years ago?)It’s where the Terra-orbs come out of, and are from the large Terra crystals growing inside of them.

The book itself states that Area Zero has been around for millions of years, but that was mostly a guess by Heath and didn’t have any scientific evidence to back it up. But, Bird Keeper Toby mentions something really cool, and seems like a factual theory. And, as Prof. Juju states, “[historian at Narjan-Uva academy] states the crater was a million years old. However, this seems to be a guess, or over-exaggeration for flair, or even possibly a lie to hide something bigger.” I can honestly believe the lie part, but I’ve talked to her a couple of times, and she seems like the kind of person to want to get the real truth, no matter what. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Paldean government or top professors were hiding something, and were lying to the public. But, Professor Toby has a very good theory on what happened.

Toby mentions the war across multiple regions that happened 3,000 years ago, saying it connects to the creation of Area Zero. This isn’t too hard to believe, as the war's ripple effects seem to have greatly affected plenty of regions. Meteorites began falling down from the Hoenn region at this point, and he says this was caused by AZ’s war against his brother in Kalos 3,000 years ago. This was one of the most dangerous wars in world history, with plenty of kingdoms around the world collapsing, and having great dangerous changes to the world happen. When his Floette passed away, the power of Xernas and Yveltal created an ultimate and deadly weapon, which was used to bring AZ’s Floette back to life, and the power being shot into the sky came back, and put a complete stop to the war.

It’s hard to say the full history of this. Because of this blast, a lot of ancient artifacts, documents, and even civilizations have been completely wiped out. We can guess what it was like, as there are ruins all over Paldea and legends that have been past on.

This isn’t really connected to Paldean history, but I want to mention that. You know that one fallen tower in Galar that’s located in “Watchtower ruins?” As a lot of Galar history is still a bit foggy, this tower could have been destroyed by that war. If you’re reading this @legendofzacian , you’re a historian, correct? Do you have any thoughts on this?

Anyways, back on track!

Juju says that the ancient king of Paldea (potentially AZ’s brother), had a partner Pokemon, who was the last Pokemon seen in the Scarlet & Violet book.

Considering this Pokemon (if it’s real) is theorized to be legendary or mythical, it would make sense that such a powerful king would have one. It even has the crown and everything. He suspects that this Pokemon has a relation to Zygarde in some way. One thing I find really cool is Prof. Juju’s note on the name similarities between Az and Area Zero. Area Zero can be shortened to Az, so what if Area Zero was named after AZ?

The ‘meteor’ (or theorized blast of energy) seems to have blasted the region very badly, and set the m far behind advancement-wise, putting them back in something similar to the Stone Age (I find it hard to believe it would put them back in the stone age, as they managed to rebuild their kingdom in only 1,000 years), which would end the war. Hell, he even says the blast could’ve had such a powerful impact that it created a portal/wormhole to a different point in space and time. And this is where the point in history seems to be erased. It’s so hard to pinpoint Paldean history before this because almost everything about it was wiped out. As the people of Paldea were desperate for hope, Area Zero seemed to be calling to them. Whether it was a form of mass hysteria or if it was actually calling to them is unknown. Considering that a potential legendary/mythical Pokemon was known to dwell around that area, I like to believe that it was calling to them, in a way.

So at this point, the empire wasn’t an “empire,” but different sections across Paldea that had their own ways of ruling, customs, cultures, etc. But everyone wanted to see what was happening in Area Zero and to see what possible treasures lie there (and if they could get their potential legendary/mythical Pokemon back). Wars broke out across Paldea, right after the most devastating war in world history happened, which only seemed to destroy development more. But the ones that did manage to make it to Area Zero never ended up returning.

800 years ago, the Paldeans finally realized that in order to get to the heart of the Crater, they would have to unify. So then all of the Paldean territories came together in an event known as “The Great Unification” happened. This is also when Naranja-Uva Academy was built. Originally, at the time, it wasn’t a school. It was just a place where people would store knowledge. But it acted a lot like a school, so they decided to classify it as a school not too long after that.

200 years after that, Heath and his team finally managed to descend into the Great Crater and make it out alive. This is when things get a little weird and hazy about where these Paradox Pokemon come from.

The Expedition and Heath

Compared to other old regions, like Hisui where pokemon are more wild, Paldeans at this point have been living side-by-side with Pokemon for many years at this point, so it wasn’t seen as odd for Heath to have a Cyclizar traveling with him back then.

Heath found many strange Pokemon down there, like the Paradox Pokemon we know today, but also the ones that we aren’t even sure are real in this case. There are Pokemon there that resembles the legendary trio from the Johto region, but that doesn’t match the lore of the Johto legendaries. And they didn’t and couldn’t even exist yet. Toby mentions how that wouldn’t even happen until 50 years later! So, how did they get down there? What are these Pokemon? How did they imagine Pokemon that wouldn’t even exist until a lot later?

And that wasn’t the only strange thing to happen to him as well. He mentions how he woke up in a mysterious place with notes he doesn’t remember writing, and a medal tablet being found that couldn’t have possibly existed back then, as they weren’t advanced enough for that, and the writing about the medal didn’t make any sense.

In the last part of the Scarlet and Violet book, Keith shows a drawing of a place that researchers still haven’t been able to find yet. Bird Keeper Toby states, “I believe that in the secret area of Area Zero, Heath made contact. Not physically with this disc legendary Pokemon that appears on the final page, but instead, he was able to commune with it. He had followed its voice; the voice that had been echoing out through the Great Crater to all the people in Paldea.” So, if Toby’s theory is true, that means that the calling to the people of Paldea wasn’t mass hysteria; it was the legendary Pokemon trying to communicate. Heath was able to get his artist to draw what this Pokemon looked like, and it’s in a weird space (a lot of people say they can see it, but I still can’t see where this Pokemon starts or where it ends ;-;)

As Heath and his team rose to the surface, he expected to be praised for his work! Instead, he was mocked and ridiculed. People decided that it couldn’t be true and had to be fantasy, so magazines picked it up and started talking about it as if it wasn’t true. But these pokemon were still thought of in the minds of the people, and this is where things get a little hazy.

Paradox Pokemon

Paradox Pokemon are Pokemon that come only from Area Zero and are stated to come from the far past or far future.

On my blog, I talk about Paradox Pokemon as if they’re from the ancient past. I mean, that’s what the documents say, and what the top researchers in Paldea say. But hearing the words of @trainer-sean has made me think a little.

One hole I find in Paradox pokemon is that they’re stated to be a billion years old. I disagree with this COMPLETELY. 1 Billion years ago, the planet was completely unrecognizable. The planet was literally just a giant cloud of gas, there weren’t any stars or anything like that, and it was just a completely dark place. These Pokemon being a couple of million years old? sure. But 1 billion? That just can’t be true!

Espy Juju makes another good point. These Pokemon are Bootstrap Paradoxs. They don’t have an origin, or their origin is just “A god in the machine.” And of course, there’s the theory that these Pokemon were the imagination of the professors that research them, combined with the consciousness of the people in Paldea. Prof. Juju theorizes that the Legendary Pokemon sees the wishes and dreams of the Paldean people and creates things to achieve those dreams, which would include making Paradox Pokemon. So if these pokemon were created at anytime, it’s possible that Paldean researchers were able to send them into the past, which would allow Heath to find them, and keep this weird time loop paradox going on forever.

So, why does this Pokemon want these people to enter Area Zero? Well, Toby’s theory states that after it was launched from this reality, it was stuck in a reality outside of our reality. Creating all of these Paradox Pokemon and Terra shards, it leads people to the Great Crater because it’s looking for a way out of its reality. Terrasteralizing and getting more people curious about area zero is their way of doing that. (Toby also notes how the terra shards look a bit like Zygarde, whose connection has already been stated) But using these crowns similar to that of Zygarde and using these crystals is their way of observing our world. The unnatural material that appears on the territorialized pokemon’s head (lightbulbs, temples, boxing gloves) is the Pokemon’s understanding of the world we live in. But we can’t officially note what this pokemon wants. We can only hope for more research and what the future holds.

So this adds A LOT of things here. First off: I’d have to start declassifying the Pokemon Fossils I found as “Paradox Pokemon,” which wouldn’t be too hard. Plus, I can use it to my advantage if this ever comes up in court (I snuck into Are Zero to get these). And they’d just be counted as “Ancient Pokemon.” It’s kind of exciting once you think about it. If we want to know more about the past (I know I should as a researcher, but I can’t bring myself to care about the ‘future’ paradox Pokemon), we can’t look at Paradox Pokemon. We have to look at fossils and artifacts and such.

@trainergraceneedstherapy , we could really use this information to help us study Area Zero more! If what these researchers said about it is true, this means that Area Zero would be like another plane of existence. And what more can we learn about this legendary Pokemon? What other pokemon can we find there? Can we learn about the comet that ended the war? Or just history in general, because we don’t know much about it. This is so exciting!

(Here's the video

youtube

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