#If I mistyped anything or missed anything important just let me know

[aquato-family-circus]

"What does Otto Mentallis' Brain look like?" "Yes!"

I've been wanting to pay a little tribute to everyone else's very fun little Otto ideas, since a lot of them inspired my own take, so finally we are here. If yours isn't here, don't worry about it, just means I must've missed it! Mostly worked with ones that had visual refs or at least detailed descriptions~

I included everyone's usernames in the images themselves, and here's the direct links to where I got the refs for these concepts too, so you can show them some love:

@banjo-bugs [x] @britishsass [x] [x] (second link is a fanfic series, go read it) @jnixz [x] @razputin-archetype [x] @save-me-san-fran-psychonauts [x] @sunnievii [x] @vikviky [x]

All image descriptions under the cut:

General ID: 7 Images depecticting different people's interpretations of mental denizens who would occupy the head of Otto Mentallis. A majority of them are iterations on Otto's design, barring a few exceptions such as jnixz and britishsass' concepts. Each image is labeled with the text "Concept By -" followed by the respective person's tumblr username. End ID.

ID #1: Concept by Banjo-Bugs. A continuous line drawing of an abstracted Otto Mentallis looking angry as he balls his fist and points aggressively to the left. The linework of his outer limbs and body is teal, then it grows from yellow to red as the colors reach his face. His eyes are swirling and bright yellow. He's surrounded by particle effects in the same colors as his body, and the background is a solid dark blue with blotches of darker blue circles. End ID.

ID #2: Concept by Britishsass. Three mechanical figures stand beside each other, each on top of a colored circle that is connected to a line that travels across the background in an erratic pattern. From left to right, the figures are Win-0 on the blue line, Turing on the red line, and Lovelace on the green line. Win-0 is a humanoid robot with a bronze/copper like complexion and ball-jointed limbs. It's wearing brass goggles on top of their head, a blue neckerchief, a grey t-shirt and a dark grey pair of overalls with black shoes and a brown belt. Turing is a simplistic robot with a circular head, bright red eyes, and an oval body with a small brain decal on the chest, tube arms, claw hands, and a singular wheel instead of legs. They're wearing a tiny floating hat with a brain decal, as well as a big brown satchel slung over one of his arms. Lovelace is a semi-humanoid robot with long, flowing metal hair, a stark white face with eyes that resemble camera apertures, mitten-like hands, and an electrical ghost tail. She's wearing a flowing grey dress with long sleeves under a green cloak with a silver heart on top. It also has a big green bow on the top of their head. End ID.

ID #3: Concept by Jnixz. A small silhouette of Otto Mentallis is floating down a green murky area as a large monster glowers down at him with bright yellow eyes. The monster resembles the design for a nightmare from Psychonauts, but it is much larger than a typical nightmare, and its multiple arms are all individually representative of a member of the Psychic 7. The limbs are all slightly out of focus, making the focus of the piece the Nightmare's skull-like head. End ID.

ID #4: Concept by Razputin-Archetype. A version of Otto that is modeled after blocky toys or miniature figurines one would find in a diorama or museum display. He has a slight wood grain texture and his joints are connected by small metal chains. He has his hands behind his back and he's looking up wistfully as he stands in a diorama depicting the heptadome by using pictures of in-game screenshots, superimposed on each wall and the floor. End ID.

ID #5: Concept by Save-Me-San-Fran-Psychonauts. A small Otto that is made of bright teal linework on top of a pitch black background. He has fluffy hair, and he's wearing a college graduation hat and robe. He looks determined as he holds onto a rabbit drawn in the same style which has ears meant to resemble lightbulbs. He's surrounded by bright red shark fins that are circling around his feet. End ID.

ID #6: Concept by Sunnievii. Three robotic versions of Otto expressing the emotions of Love, Anger, and Sadness. The Lovestruck Otto is colored in a pink monochrome, and has a heart on his chest that is showing an electrocardiogram, also in the shape of hearts. The Angry Otto is red, has sharper features, and has one hand raised up in a fist. The Sad Otto is blue and has softer features. He is slumped over in a defeated posture, one of his eyes is broken like glass, and his chest has a lightbulb inside of it. The background is a solid yellow color with white lines radiating from the three Ottos, in the shape of hearts, electrical lines, and rain, respectively. End ID.

ID #7: Concept by Vikviky. Otto is standing up against a dilapidated wooden door covered in wooden boards nailed to it, rusty chains, and a yellow ribbon labeled "DANGER!". Otto looks frightened and has his arms up in a defensive posture. His hair and cloak are wavier than is normal, the cloak especially starts to curl off into whisps resembling smoke at the bottom. His Psychonauts dress is also longer, reaching the ground. His glasses are bright yellow and glowing, one obscures his eye while the other is broken, revealing that his visible eye is bloodshot. In the background there are scribbles of eyes starring down at Otto. End ID.

[dynyamight]

meet cute number 47 is interesting!

send me a writting ask

47. Texting the incorrect number but continuing the conversation.

“You got all that, right?” Shinsou asks, readjusting his stance, so others can leave their classroom door easily.

Midoriya hums absentmindedly. He’s still quickly jotting down the last few digits onto his planner. “And, you said tomorrow morning, around 7? At the library?”

“Yeah,” Shinsou shrugs, “Or anytime really. The deadline isn’t until next month, you know.”

“I kinda just want to get it done, as soon as possible.”

Shinsou breathes out a snort. “Figured you’d say that much. Just make sure you got my number. Repeat it, if you need to.”

“No time.” Midoriya drops his bag to the side, shoving his now closed notebook inside. “Thank you! I’ll text you later tonight!” He offers hurriedly, before taking off down the campus halls.

Shinsou’s warning falls deaf to his rushed mind.

He has to run the entire way, in order to graciously catch the last bus for the hour. Sweaty and flushed, Midoriya slumps into his seat in relief. Fortunately, he was able to cop a seat for himself, settling by the window and his backpack right next to him.

Staring out, Midoriya tries to remind himself of the rest of his priorities he needed to do.

He still needed to start on Doctor Chiyo’s online Physiology exam, and gather his notes for the open book portion. It was a bit bothersome to handle tests online, but if the rest of class prefers it, there’s nothing Midoriya can do about it.

Speaking of which, Ochako had requested for copies of those exact same notes, since apparently she barely writes anything during lectures. He wants to suggest to her to just simply take better notes, but alas, he will gladly help her out.

And, finally, Midoriya has to collect reliable, approved research articles for his and Shinsou’s debate, in their argumentative project in Communications. Being assigned “PRO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE”, while being the most uninvolved people on the internet, Midoriya and Shinsou had a lot of work to do.

Not to mention it was already 18:00 by the time he reached the school’s dormitories. And yet, he needed to shower, make dinner, water his plants, and watch the newest episode of his favorite drama, airing tonight.

University was eating him alive.

Thankfully, he’s able to complete half of his list.

He finishes the exam with a 98%, and quickly snaps the pages of his notes over to Ochako and Iida, making sure to highlight the main topics questioned in the exam. Ochako sends a ‘thank you’ gif, and Iida texts a long, yet endearing message of gratitude.

Midoriya doesn’t have time to shower, instead blasting the TV volume loud, as he waters his indoor plants at the same time. He overwaters them a little bit, busy glancing back at the screen for too long. But, at least he’s able to watch the episode. He pouts when it ends on a cliffhanger, almost drowning his bonsai tree in frustration.

He’s only able to warm up a plate of leftovers, and read through only one research article, by the time it’s already blinking 21:30 on his phone. Sighing, Midoriya closes his laptop and grabs his cell phone instead.

An all nighter wasn’t preferable. But, if Shinsou is working overtime at his late night job, Midoriya supposes he can stay up and keep looking through more articles, until he has at least the required ten.

Flipping open his planner, Midoriya inputs Shinsou’s number into his phone. He adds his name, a contact photo of him sleeping, and finally taps a quick message.

(21:38) < You working?

When Shinsou doesn’t respond right away, Midoriya simply sets aside his phone on his desk. Stretching his arms, he sighs in defeat, now expecting Shinsou to be stuck at work.

He’s never worked at a restaurant, but he bets Friday nights can get pretty busy. And, Shinsou always complains that group outings and dates tend to stay over, even after the place is supposed to close. And, Midoriya trusts his word.

So, by the time his phone dings, Midoriya has been clicking through more articles on social media, bookmarking a few to go over later, as he went.

He lifts his phone, and with a bright screen, a message stares back at him.

shinsou hitoshi (21:58) > Who’s this

Oh, he did forget to specify. But, Midoriya smiles, having a small prank in mind. There was no harm in teasing his friends, let alone Shinsou, who definitely needed a good laugh, now and then.

(21:58) < It's the cutie from your communications class ;)

shinsou hitoshi (21:58) > So, no one

(21:59) < Haha! I guess you’re right about that

(21:59) < Anyways, it’s Izuku! You still working late, Hitoshi?

shinsou hitoshi (21:59) > This ain’t Hitoshi

Midoriya's face drops, blinking. Oh god, did he mistype the number?

(21:38) < Wait, you’re not???

Another text pops up, shortly after.

shinsou hitoshi (22:02) > You got the wrong number

Embarrassment burning his entire face red, Midoriya wishes he could delete himself from the world.

(22:03) < I’m so so so so sorry!

(22:03) < God, I thought I wrote down my friend’s number right

(22:03) < But, I was in this stupid rush to get on the bus that I didn’t make sure

(22:04) < And, listen, if I had missed that bus, I would’ve had to wait

(22:04) < Not like a few minutes wait

(22:04) < Like, a whole two hours wait!

shinsou hitoshi (22:05) > I didn’t ask

Deleting the conversation, Midoriya erases the new contact completely. And instead, he looks back to his planner, and retypes the numbers in his phone onto a new conversation.

Hopefully, he has typed the correct series of digits.

(22:07) < Hey, Hitoshi! It’s Izuku

unknown (22:08) > ...

unknown (22:08) > What the actual fuck

unknown (22:08) > You've still got the wrong number, you goddamn idiot

Slamming his phone onto his desk, Midoriya grabs a pillow off his bed and shoves it in his face. The temptation to scream sounds awfully pleasant, but it’s too late at night to do so. His dorm neighbors would definitely wonder what the hell is wrong with him.

What’s wrong? Oh, he has completely done one of the most dreaded imaginary scenarios in his head; text a complete stranger. Twice.

What was he supposed to do now? Never text back? Delete it? Block it?

How is he supposed to contact Shinsou now?

His phone dings again.

Lifting the pillow off his face slightly, Midoriya eyes his phone warily from his swivel chair.

That definitely wasn’t supposed to happen. Another text from the same stranger sounds a bit unheard of.

After a seconds-long hesitation, Midoriya lifts his phone and opens it once more.

unknown (22:13) > Double check next time

unknown (22:13) > You can fucking wait the two hours, dumbass

Midoriya grows a little irked. He has a bad feeling that his stranger isn’t too friendly, to say that least.

There was literally no reason to text back something so rude.

(22:14) < Well, that wasn’t nice

unknown (22:15) > Wasn’t trying to be

(22:15) < ..Are you always like this?

unknown (22:16) > Pretty much

(22:16) < That’s sad

unknown (22:17) > What’s fucking sad is that I was woken up from my sleep

unknown (22:17) > Because a damn moron didn’t write down the right number

Midoriya winces. He hadn’t even thought about the other person’s predicament, let alone if he had interrupted anything.

(22:20) > I really didn’t mean to do that, I’m sorry :(

unknown (22:22) > Yeah whatever

(22:24) > You should try to go back to sleep, then

unknown (22:25) > I was

unknown (22:25) > But the same moron from before keeps texting me

(22:27) > Who?

(22:33) > Oh.

(22:33) > It’s me, huh?

unknown (22:34) > No shit

(22:35) > Right, of course. My bad!

(22:35) > I’m going to just stop now

unknown (22:36) > Thanks

(22:36) > For the umpteenth time, sorry! ><

(22:37) > Okay, Okay! I’m stopping now, for real

Midoriya desperately needs to call it a night.

After going through his nightly routine, he slips under his bedsheets, exhausted. He sets an alarm for 5:00 on his phone, hoping Shinsou will show up at the library, regardless of the missing confirmation text on Midoriya’s end.

He keeps his phone on awhile longer, swiping through his professors’ emails, before a surprising text notification pops in front of him.

unknown (23:01) > FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

(23:02) > …

(23:02) > What was that for??

unknown (23:04) > I CAN’T SLEEP

unknown (23:04) > GOD, I CAN’T GO BACK TO FUCKING SLEEP

unknown (23:05) > AND IT’S YOUR FAULT

(23:06) > What do you expect me to do????

unknown (23:07) > HAHAHAHA OH DON’T WORRY

unknown (23:07) > IF I CAN’T SLEEP, NEITHER CAN YOU

unknown (23:08) > AND IF YOU TURN YOUR PHONE OFF I WILL SEND HELLFIRE

(23:09) > Wait

(23:09) > No, please

(23:09) > My alarm is on my phone, I need it on

(23:10) > I need to go to an important meeting for a group project at 7:00!

unknown (23:10) > Aw, really? :0?!

(23:11) > Yeah! I really do!

unknown (23:11) > Sike. I don’t fucking care

unknown (23:12) > Hope you eat shit tomorrow

(23:13) > ..Why are you like this?

(23:13) > I could literally be a twelve year old, for all you know

unknown (23:14) > I doubt fucking twelve years do group projects

unknown (23:15) > But whether you’re a damn infant, or grown adult, I hate you

(23:16) > I wouldn’t say I hate you. That’s too harsh

(23:16) > But, wow, you are very unlikable :/

unknown (23:17) > That’s the fucking nicest thing anyone has said about me

(23:18) > It wasn’t supposed

(23:19) > Nevermind.

(23:19) > Do you have any friends? Just might as well ask

unknown (23:21) > Surprisingly yeah

(23:22) > Oh, so you also agree. That it’s a surprise

(23:22) > At least you’re self aware :0

unknown (23:23) > Yeah, they are annoying as hell

unknown (23:24) > But, also pretty good people, I guess

(23:25) > Pretty good or pretty dumb?

unknown (23:26) > SHUT IT

unknown (23:27) > Only I can make fun of them

unknown (23:27) > You. Don’t.

(23:28) > You’re right, I shouldn’t have said that

(23:29) > I’m sorry :(

unknown (23:30) > You like apologizing, huh

(23:29) > There’s a lot to apologize for tonight

unknown (23:30) > Still, you don’t have to say it every damn minute

(23:32) > You probably don’t ever apologize

unknown (23:33) > Fuck no

(23:35) > Right, of course

(23:36) > Well, you know what I need to do tomorrow

unknown (23:37) > Unfortunately

(23:38) > What about you?

unknown (23:39) > I’m covering a shift at my shit job at the ass crack of dawn

(23:40) > Unnecessary visual, but I digress

(23:40) > Uh, where do you work?

unknown (23:42) > No. I don’t even know your damn name

(23:43) > I told you?? It was in my first text

unknown (23:44) > Yeah, I ain’t scrolling

(23:48) > Well, it’s Izuku. Midoriya Izuku :)

unknown (23:49) > Great. I still ain’t giving you mine

(23:50) > ?? Is there anything I can know about you??

(23:50) > You know more about me, than I do about you

unknown (23:51) > You know I hate you

unknown (23:51) > That’s plenty

(23:52) > But, I have been staying up for you :(

unknown (23:53) > Because it’s your fault I can’t sleep

(23:54) > You aren’t feeling sleepy yet?

unknown (23:56) > ..Are you

(23:57) > I asked you first

unknown (23:58) > I asked you second

(23:59) > That

(23:59) > Look, it’s almost midnight

(24:00) > Oh, now, it’s actually midnight

unknown (00:01) > I have fucking eyes. I can see the time

(00:02) > And we BOTH have places to be tomorrow

(00:02) > So, let’s just sleep. Call a truce, please

unknown (00:03) > What about my petty retribution

(00:04) > PLEASE LET ME SLEEP

unknown (00:10) > FUCK

unknown (00:10) > FINE

unknown (00:11) > I STILL CAN’T SLEEP BUT WHATEVER

unknown (00:12) > HOPE YOU FUCKING OVERSLEEP TOMORROW

The rest of the night, Midoriya hears his phone go off, but he doesn’t bother to open the messages. Fortunately for him, the time staying awake quickly catches up to his body, the moment he shuts his eyes. And, in an instant, he falls asleep, heavy.

However, he’s jolted awake by the ringing of his phone, the tone alerting him of an incoming phone call. Banging his head on the headboard, Midoriya blindly grabs and answers his phone. “Uh, H-Hello?” He blurts quickly.

“Tch.” A low voice emits, “You owe me, Deku.”

Click. The phone call ends.

Confused, Midoriya hurriedly rubs his eyes open. Running his messy curls through his fingers, he lifts his bangs up, in order to correctly look at the time.

The time was 5:10. And, his 5:00 alarm had been off the entire time.

And, instead, that same unknown number from last night was his saving grace.

[lunarmessenger]

hi!! i wonder if i could request a one shot angst with saeyoung. so mc have a huge anxiety and she always closed up everything even after she's with saeyoung. one day when saeyoung snapped at her out of stress, she end up missing for like around two weeks without any traces even saeran cant help saeyoung to find her

after searching for the whole times they end up finding out that mc got in accident and still in the hospital because her injuries was so bad and actually someone from rfa (u can choose who) try to hide this from saeyoung because mc told them everything

i know its quite hard im sorry 😭

ohohohoho anon you give me too much power for requesting an angsty prompt. i hope you enjoy, thank you so much for this request! I will have to split it into quite a few parts because otherwise...it’ll be much too long haha ^^;; - luna xx

p.s. sorry requests are taking so long!! the holidays have been insane, but i promise after christmas and new years i’ll go back to posting regularly!

warnings: graphic depictions of major injuries, mentions of hospitals, and mentions of mental illness.

word count: 1.9k

(pt. 2) (pt. 3) (pt. 4)

Hard Regrets (Pt. 1) - 707 x MC

Her nimble fingers switched on the heater as a cold chill ran through the house, hands reaching up to the small blanket she’d thrown over her shoulders. The soft patters of rain thumped against the roof of the apartment, the only sound competing with the rain being the soft clicks coming from Saeyoung’s computer and the flicker of paper as Saeran read through one of his many books.

She smiled fondly as Saeran’s eyes danced across each page, filling his mind with the story as he burrowed deeper into the couch. That smile faded as her eyes slowly switched to his brother, her boyfriend, the man hunched roughly over his desk as he typed furiously. Empty cans of soda and crinkled bags of honey buddha chips littered both his desk and his floor, causing her to sigh as she walked over to help clean up.

This project had ended up being one of his longer ones, tomorrow making it about two months since he was assigned the task by Jumin. She was used to seeing Jumin overwork Jaehee, but now that it was affecting Saeyoung the way it was...it made her anxious. Of course his exhaustion worried her, but he became much more irritable when he became fixated on an important project.

Within the past month he’d grown incredibly distant so that he wouldn’t have any sort of distractions, and that meant that she didn’t get to spend time with him as often as she wanted to. The last time she’d reached out to him he had glared at her, telling her that while yes, he loves you, he needed to finish this project.

“No distractions, MC.” She whispered softly under her breath, a reminder he himself had given her the last time she interrupted. All she’d wanted from him was a hug. She slowly approached, bare feet softly tapping against the wooden floors as she made her way over. She was a couple of feet away from him, stopping as she hesitated. Maybe coming up with some sort of excuse would help guide him away from his computer? It wouldn’t be seen as a distraction since it wasn’t selfish; more like a welfare check?

“Are you boys up for some tea?” Saeyoung didn’t move an inch, mumbling a rough no as he continued to type and click across the screen. She visibly deflated, the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep growing heavier from his rejection. He hadn’t even been sleeping in their bed lately; he would sleep right there, on that god damned desk of his. She was snapped out of her rejection at the sound of the couch cushions moving; Saeran gave a small smile as he book marked his page, placing the book on the coffee table as he stood.

“I would love some, MC. In fact, I’ll help you make it. Come on...” The soft tone of his voice was a nice contrast in comparison to the rough rudeness of Saeyoung, the weight on her chest slightly lifting as she walked with him into the kitchen. Saeran grabbed the tea leaves while MC weakly grabbed three glass mugs; despite Saeyoung saying he didn’t want any. She readied the kettle, pressing the on button and watching as the blue light illuminated the dim kitchen and the water slowly started to come to a boil.

“MC...I’m sorry that Saeyoung is...the way he is.” The sudden apology from Saeran made her eyes widen as she turned to look at him, parts of her long hair falling into her face as she cleared her throat.

“What? Oh, no I mean...I guess...” She tried to think of an excuse for him, tried to come up with reasons on why it didn’t bother her that he got so invested that he not only forgot about her and Saeran, but forgot to take care of himself. Her eyes grew hot with tears for a split second as she shook her head.

“I just, I don’t know what to do. I can’t be honest with him about anything, because the last time I tried he...” She started to visibly shake, the only thing keeping her together being the sudden tap of the kettle signaling the water was ready. When she’d interrupted him before he almost flipped the chair because he was so angry; her distraction had caused him to mistype due to ruining his focus; according to him.

The only people who knew how he was making her feel was Saeran and Zen; the thought of the two men’s kindness towards her when Saeyoung was the way he was when he was writing made a soft smile grace her exhausted face once again. Though she hated to admit it, sometimes she wondered why she had not moved on to either Saeran or Zen. Both men would treat her the way she deserved, and she knew that, really she did.

But Saeyoung...she just loved him so much.

The way he was when they first met; how he had tried so hard to push her away and he just couldn’t. Because he didn’t want to. She didn’t want him to either, and she stayed because she knew that he loved her. Something in him changed, she can’t really remember when it happened; it just did. When he got a new project it was like MC didn’t exist; and he acted like he didn’t treat her that way when it was finished. No matter how much she hated it, no matter how much it made her cry; she just couldn’t leave.

All because she loved him.

“MC...? Should we take these to the couch? Maybe I can read you a couple of chapters?” She was snapped back to attention by Saeran, giving a slight nod as he took two mugs and she carried the last one. The sweet smell of honey and chamomile filled her nose as she slowly walked over to Saeyoung’s desk, his body still in the same position she had left him.

“Saeyoung...” Her voice was soft as she tried not to startle him, her anxiety slowly building with the tension as Saeran noticed what she was doing.

“Wait, MC; maybe we should just leave the tea over here?” She paused furrowing her brows as she tilted her head and slightly turned towards him.

“Then how is he supposed to know we at least made him a cup?”

“MC—” She turned back around to continue walking when her foot caught on one of the empty cans, causing her to lose her balance as she let out a gasp.

“MC!” She tried to redirect the cup as it flew out of her hands, the hot tea splattering all over Saeyoung’s desk and computer. Her heart sank in her stomach as Saeran was instantly at her side, Saeyoung leaping from the hot temperature and the sparks that flew around his desktop as he yelled.

“Are you...are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?!” His voice boomed throughout the apartment as he turned towards her, golden eyes filled with rage as he loomed over her. He was so angry that he hadn’t realized her hand was red from being burned; she’d managed to get most of the tea spilt on her in an attempt to salvage his tea. 

“Oh, MC...oh God you’re burned; we need to get you to a hospital.” Saeran helped her up but Saeyoung was quick to push them apart, getting in her face as he pointed at his desktop.

“Do you know how long it took me to figure that out, MC?! You’re so fucking lucky that I had a back up running at the same time because I swear to God...” His voice was low, teeth clenched and nose scrunched as he angrily glared at her. Saeran grabbed him by the hood, yanking him away from MC as she shook from his outburst. He has never physically grabbed her and yelled at her the way he just did.

She watched as the two brothers went head to head, noses almost touching as they screamed back and forth. It became too much for her as she got up, trying not to catch their attention as she slid on her shoes and slowly opened the door. The rain had started to come down harder, the wind howling as her loose bun instantly came undone and wildly blew her hair around her face.

She almost, almost second guessed her decision until the sound of glass breaking caught her attention, the mug of tea that was supposed to be hers now smashed in pieces by one of the walls. Saeyoung’s chest was heaving while Saeran got up from a squatted position; almost as if he’d dodged whatever Saeyoung threw.

 Those pieces mirrored her heart; that mug was one that Saeyoung had bought her when they had first started going out. A picture of a cat had been printed on it, the cat making a winking face as the phrase I meow you! cradled the toon cat. It was one of her many prized possessions, and he had smashed it like it meant nothing to him.

That finalized her decision.

“What, Saeran? Stay out of this!”

“Are you so damn selfish that you haven’t realized that your girlfriend has burned half of her body to try and save your desktop? We need to get her to a hospital! Now!” He quickly turned to where she was squatting down by the wall, pausing when he realized that she wasn’t there anymore.

“MC...?” Saeran’s brows furrowed as he walked down the hall, leaving Saeyoung to cool off as he looked back towards his computer. The monitor screens were black as the tea slowly seeped into his keyboard and monitors. The more anger that left his body the more he’d realized what he’d done, his body slowly going into shock as he stared at the broken mug on the ground. The pink heart was in pieces, the larger part covered in brown tea as Saeran’s voice slowly became white noise in the background.

What had he done?

This entire time he’d been an absolute shit to his girlfriend; the one person who had supported him from day one. He slowly shuffled over to the broken pieces, socks growing wet from the spilled tea as he picked up the pieces.

“What have I done...?”

“Saeyoung! Saeyoung she’s gone!” He slowly blinked, not even bothering to adjust his glasses and messy red hair in tussles as he put down the glass and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What?”

“She’s gone! Her phone is on the coffee table, and she didn’t take her bag! Saeyoung we have to find her; there’s a storm outside and she’s by herself!” Saeran was rushing to put on his coat and grab an umbrella, his boots clunking against the floors as he grabbed Saeyoung’s shoulders.

“Saeyoung, if you love her, you need to get off your ass now and help me find her. Now!” He slapped his dumbfounded brother, forcing him on to his feet and throwing a coat at him as he grabbed one of the many car keys hanging from the key shelf. Reality sank in as he threw on his sneakers, grabbing a beanie from the coat rack and tossing it on. He felt his stomach churn as his hand brushed against her coat and scarf, grabbing the scarf she always wore and wrapping it around his neck.

We have to find her, we have to find her.

I have to find her.

[sonnetthebard]

can you do a oneshot with peip spy paul and secret ccrp boss melissa? (yeah this is cause of the stuff sent to hatchetfieldtheories so what lmfao)

Um hell yeah I will! I have read the original theory, but you're also going to get my take on it because I got ideas just by reading the prompt lol. Apparently @hatchetfieldtheories and I are now getting lumped together and I am perfectly okay with that.

Genre: Action/ Thriller kinda?

Words: 2727 (once again... perfect)

TL;DR: Paul's cover as a PEIP agent is blown, and he finally gets to meet exactly who he's fighting against.

TW: Swearing, Guns, Violence, Murder, Blood.

______________________________________________________

Paul sighed, reading over his report before he sent it in. Was the report work related? No. Well... yes and no. Not for his job at CCRP technical. But as an agent of PEIP? It held information that could be absolutely crucial to the work they were doing. So it kind of had to be perfect. One mistype, a spelling mistake, could change the entire context of how it was read and how his superiors reacted. Perfection was key. Especially with what he had found. God, had he found out a lot.

Paul hadn't originally worked for PEIP. No. No, it was a bit of a long story. But... to sum it up, Paul had been caught dead in the centre of a world-ending event. An attack from what had looked like aliens at first but was actually an entity named Pokotho- or Pokey. Paul had very nearly died. He'd almost caused the end of the world. He had almost thrown a grenade dead into the centre of the meteor that was playing host to Pokey and his hivemind formula- which would have simply spread the spores. Luckily, one PEIP field agent- a Xander Lee- had managed to keep himself safe while his unit was infected, and he was able to stop Paul before he made a world-ending mistake.

Xander, through a lot of science Paul did *not* understand, was able to send Pokey back into his own dimension. The world was saved. It still kind of felt like a sci-fi fever dream. Most days, it still didn't feel real. The Hive had healed those it had destroyed, so... most people came back. Not Charlotte or Sam, because they weren't technically killed by the Hive. But Ted, Bill, Alice, Deb, Emma, and even Hidgens were back completely unscathed. Paul and Emma had actually gotten a chance to go to that movie. They were dating now. For three months, to the day. Paul had a bouquet of roses ready to surprise her with after work. He knew she wasn't usually big on the sappy romance stuff, but... he kinda was.

It was about a week after what was now widely known as the 'apotheosis' had passed when Paul got an email from Xander asking a favour. A very classified favour. Since Paul knew about PEIP and what it stood for. Apparently, they'd been picking up suspicious activity from CCRP for months, and they'd been trying to figure out which of their agents to send undercover. But every alias they'd made up had been rejected for an interview. So Xander got the idea that since Paul worked there, maybe he could keep an eye out for them. And as dangerous as it seemed... Paul said yes. The work PEIP did was too important to risk delaying. He was briefed through text, and he learned his job online in a matter of days. Ever since, he had been PEIP's agent in CCRP. And PEIP was more than right to be concerned.

Paul hummed, satisfied with his report. It was concise, precise, and detailed everything he'd seen. Which was a lot. This week... this week, he'd finally made his breakthrough. He was able to sneak to a higher level. Sylvia's level. She was talking on the phone about temporal breaches, trans-dimensional fluctuations, and lots of other jargon he didn't even come close to understanding. He'd bugged her office with a microphone PEIP had sent him so that they would understand more clearly. And when he'd snuck to the lower level, he was finally able to get past that second level of security. And what he'd found there was... eerie. He hadn't gone in. He just looked through the window. But it appeared there were hundreds, if not thousands, of... himself. Just standing there. He'd left a camera. Needless to say the report was more than full of information.

Paul heard the click of heels behind him and he quickly pressed send, closing the tab. He faked looking through his analytics before the clicking stopped. Paul could practically feel the presence looming behind him. At first, he just kept working as if he didn't notice. But... then it started to bug him. Because whoever the heeled coworker was who had stopped behind him was, they hadn't moved yet. He slowly turned, trying not to show any nerves. But he was a terrible liar, so he had a feeling that wasn't working. In front of him stood... oh good, Melissa. He sighed in relief.

"Hey Melissa. How's it going?" Paul asked.

"I need to see you for a moment... in Mr. Davidson's office." Melissa told him shyly.

"You need to see me?" Paul asked, still getting up nonetheless. This was Melissa. She was a sweetheart. She probably had a computer problem.

"Yeah... don't worry, it won't take of your much time." Melissa bit her lip, walking away. Paul followed.

"Did Davidson's computer crash because of that solitaire again?" Paul guessed.

"Um... no. No, this isn't about Mr. Davidson's computer." Melissa chuckled nervously.

"Uh oh... Paul's getting called to the principal's office!" Ted taunted teasingly.

"Shut up, Ted!" Bill groaned. "I'm trying to finish my report! Can I not have peace for five minutes?"

"You can... if you move to another department." Ted smirked. Paul only knew he was smirking because Ted had popped his head over the cubicle to watch him go by.

"I'm not in any trouble." Paul rolled his eyes. "Go back to what you were doing."

"Alright, alright!" Ted snickered, raising his hands defensively and lowering back into the cubicle.

"Sorry about him." Paul sighed, seeing the way Melissa blushed. "I swear he's not as much of an asshole as he seems most of the time."

"Oh, it's fine." Melissa shrugged. She walked into Davidson's office. Suddenly, her demeanor completely switched. "Ken, I'm going to need this office for a minute."

"What?" Paul blinked, his heart immediately sinking to his stomach. There was a pit in his stomach, and it was growing by the minute.

"Sure thing, Mel." Mr. Davidson nodded, getting up and walking out of the office.

"What's going on?" Paul asked, though there was no one specifically he was speaking to. He was just very confused.

"Why don't we sit?" Melissa offered, confidence oozing off of her as she took Davidson's seat behind the desk.

"Um... okay." Paul nodded warily, taking a seat. "Melissa..."

"Let me do the talking for now, Paul." Melissa sighed, leaning forward on the desk.

"Alright." Paul blushed, already intimidated. Yeah, he was totally agent material.

"You probably think you've been pretty slick, don't you?" Melissa chuckled lowly, looking at the cowering bundle of nerves before her. "Slipping bugs all over the facilities, sending your little reports while you're supposed to be writing reports for us... quite the secret agent, aren't you?"

"I... don't know what you're talking about." Paul lied.

"Paul, you're not that bright." Melissa scoffed. "In all your stealth and espionage, you seem to have forgotten that we have security cameras."

"On those floors?" Paul blinked. "I... didn't see any feed from them when I checked."

"Well we're not going to stream it to where anyone can see it!" Melissa rolled her eyes. "And you know exactly why."

"Yeah... yeah, I probably shouldn't have just assumed..." Paul sighed.

"So you admit it then? You're a spy?" Melissa checked.

"Well... yeah. Yeah I am." Paul sighed.

"For PEIP?" Melissa clarified.

"Who?" Paul tried to lie again.

"Paul, you used our network to send your files." Melissa rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but I followed their..." Paul muttered.

"Which we're well aware of here, and well aware of how to overrule." Melissa sighed. "Really, Paul... you're sloppy."

"I'm not trained." Paul blushed.

"I figured as much." Melissa scoffed. "So they pulled you over to the dark side?"

"They saved my life during the apotheosis..." Paul shrugged. "When they told me something might be up here, I knew I had to help. And they were right, Melissa. Stuff is going on here."

"I know." Melissa smirked. "I oversee it all."

"You?" Paul raised his brows, a bit taken aback.

"Me." Melissa smirked. "You're probably thinking it's a bit weird... me, being in charge, choosing to take on the role of a secretary."

"I'm honestly just trying to wrap my head around you being in charge in general." Paul muttered.

"You want to know why?" Melissa asked. It was, of course, rhetorical. "It's actually pretty simple. The CCRP Technical department had some good cloning candidates. I wanted to be close to the action. Hand-pick who we used. And who would ever suspect anything of the shy, sweet secretary? You certainly didn't."

"So you hand-picked me?" Paul blinked in shock. He was doing a lot of that.

"You're a good size, amiable personality... smart enough, though evidently no genius." Melissa reasoned. "You, in mass, would make a great crew of workers for the Moon Project."

"Moon Project?" Paul asked.

"Oh, you've barely scratched the surface on what we're doing here, Paul." Melissa chuckled darkly. "But you won't be getting any further."

"What are you going to do to me?" Paul shrugged, a faux confidence in his tone. "There are people out there who know me. If I just go missing, they're going to get suspicious."

"Oh... Paul, you think I would tell you?" Melissa started to laugh. "You're so sweet! No. No, we won't be doing anything to you right now. But... let's just say PEIP won't be getting any reports from you in the near future."

"You brought me here just to tell me that?" Paul asked apprehensively. "To gloat?"

"Just to let you know that we knew, yes." Melissa sighed, she pulled out a cellphone, diverting most of her attention to it. "I like to deal with things myself. Handle things face-to-face."

"What are you doing?" Paul asked, a pit growing in his stomach as he watched the way she tapped at the screen.

"Wouldn't you like to know..." Melissa mumbled. "Go home, Paul. Take the rest of the night off. Go to your girlfriend's coffee shop. Bring her the flowers. Happy three months, by the way."

"I want to know what you're doing." Paul stated firmly. Melissa looked up at him before starting to laugh.

"Well isn't that just too fucking bad!" Melissa snickered. "Go. Before I call Ken back in and make you go."

"Okay..." Paul relented, getting up. He looked her dead in the eyes. "If PEIP is concerned about the work here, so am I. This isn't over."

"Yes it is, Paul." Melissa sighed. "Have a nice life."

"Life?" Paul blinked, freezing in the doorway.

"Sorry, did I say life?" Melissa chuckled. "I meant night."

"Right..." Paul bit his lip, admittedly uneasy. He tried to walk silently back to his cubicle... but with Ted Spankoffski around, there was no way he was getting out of this unscathed.

"So, did you get fired?" Ted popped up.

"Nope. Everything is fine. Davidson just needed a bit of help with his computer." Paul lied.

"Shit, he told me I'd be able to fix it next time!" Ted grumbled. "Is he giving you a bonus for it?"

"Nope. It was just a favour." Paul sighed.

"Damn... you fucking pushover." Ted snickered.

"Yeah, I get it, I let people walk all over me." Paul rolled his eyes. He picked up the bouquet of flowers from his cubicle, continuing to walk for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ted furrowed his brows.

"As a thank you, he's letting me off early. So I can surprise Emma." Paul smirked. "We've been dating for three months to the day."

"Yeah you have... give her butt an extra squeeze for me, horndog." Ted teased. Paul blushed.

"Fuck you!" He called back, making his way out the door.

Paul felt something off the minute he stepped outside the CCRP building. Something deep in his bones. He physically shuddered under the weight of it, but... what could he do but keep walking. Yeah... yeah, it was probably just him feeling uneasy after the conversation he'd just had, right? Right... he was okay. Everything was okay. They were probably just gonna put a block on his communications with PEIP. No biggie. He'd survive it. He'd figure out another way to spy, and to get his findings to Xander. Everything was going to be just fine. He was going to be just fine.

He rounded a corner, walking across the street to Beanies. Just as he was about to reach for the door handle he felt a hand cover his mouth and another wrap around his waist, pulling him back. He tried shouting and screaming, but it was muffled. He resisted as much as he possibly could, but this person was stronger than him. Finally, they stopped in an alley, and the hand was removed from his mouth. Paul took a few deep breaths, setting the flowers down and raising his hands in surrender. At about the same time, he felt cool metal pressed to his temple. What a time to be mugged.

"I don't have anything on me to give to you. I used all my cash at lunch. All that's in my wallet is my driver's license." Paul stated levelly. "Believe me. You've got the wrong guy."

"No, Paul... I haven't." An almost identical voice sighed behind him. Paul blinked in confusion. He made a very, very stupid move and turned in the man's arms while his grip was a bit looser. He found himself staring dead in the eyes at... himself. His eyes widened. "You have everything I've ever wanted."

"You..." Paul breathed, before becoming suddenly very aware of the metal on his head. He took a sideways glance, seeing that it was a gun. He had thought it was, just... best to be sure. "Please. Please, you don't have to do this."

"Yes I do. It's either this or the moon, and... I don't want to go to the moon." The other Paul told him, voice shaky. He moved his finger to the trigger, hesitating. "Thank you. For the memories. For giving me the life I'm about to live."

Bang! There was smoke, and then a thud. Paul- the original one- fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. The death was almost instant, just as Paul 23 had predicted that it would be. He'd let go at the right time... and he hadn't gotten any blood on himself. It really had been his day! His cell malfunctioned and opened for him. Then he found the gun just... hanging there on the rack. He was free and armed, and ready to carry out everything he had fantasized about since he was made! It was like the stars had aligned for him! And as a cherry on top... Paul had even brought flowers. If the memories planted in his head were any indication, it was his and Emma's three-month-iversary. These would be absolutely perfect!

He stepped over his lifeless counterpart, rushing to get to the flowers before the puddle of blood forming by Paul's head got to them. he picked up the flowers tenderly, grinning. He took a look one final time at the original Paul, the the flowers. He set the flowers down, picking up Paul and propping him on a dumpster. He pulled out a small chip, slipping it in the appropriate place under his tongue. The finishing touch to his plan. Now... they would think this Paul was him. That he'd managed to erase his tattoo. He tossed the Paul in a CCRP marked dumpster, sighing.

He picked the flowers back up, walking out of the alley. God, this was great! He was about to finally step into the life that was rightly his. His brothers, the other clones, would kill to be him. But of course he wasn't actually going to let them kill him. No, unlike the real Paul, he knew to always be on the lookout. He knew he would never be safe. But for now... was it ever going to be worth it. He walked up to the door at Beanies, walking in. He saw Emma at the counter, and... he couldn't hide his excitement. He beamed, grinning widely. Like a small child. He walked up to her, holding the flowers out for the love of his life.

"Hey, Emma... Happy Three Months!"

[sprnklersplashes]

work-love balance (rejanis one shot)

There are a number of reasons Regina wishes she didn’t have this job.

For one, the uniform is gross. And yeah the uniform is just an apron but it’s a gross apron. It’s navy, that’s all that needs to be said about it. Second, she’s realised she hates dealing with people. Not all people, there are a few that are okay, but some people are just so, so hard. And since she’s already on her second warning from her manager, she can’t tell someone to shove it whenever they snap their fingers at her, or don’t say thank you, or refuse to tip. She just has to swallow her pride, paint a smile on her face and complain when it’s quiet. Thirdly, it’s coming up to Christmas now which means she has to deal with Mariah Carey being played on a constant loop or six hours straight and not even Jolly St Nick himself could put up with that.

And fourth and most important; it eats into her Janis time.

Senior year is hard for both of them, especially now with finals coming up and work starting on their college applications. Janis is swamped with artwork, her hands constantly covered in paint, and Regina can barely breathe with all the assignments she has to get done. Where weekends were once for movie nights and coffee dates are now booked through with studying and projects and their conversations happening almost completely through the phone. They kept themselves busy enough earlier, with Regina’s lacrosse and Janis’ various extracurriculars, but now it seems that neither one can fit the other into their schedule. And believe it when they say they’re trying.

“Okay,” Janis sighs. They sit at an empty cafeteria table, a soft silence about the room at this early hour. Since the only time they see each other is in school, they agreed to come in early to try to work some sort of plan out. Regina was fine with it because she’d have been up anyway, Janis on the other hand was a little harder to persuade. A little begging, a lot of pleading, and a promise of a coffee on her swung it in the end. “Okay, so Monday is out, you have lacrosse training. Tuesday I have to study for my biology final. What about Wednesday?”

“I can’t,” she sighs. “Group project to work on. And then job-work after that. Thursday?”

“The talent show has their tech rehearsal. And they need the whole team down there.” Janis takes a long drink of her coffee, a scowl etched onto her face. Regina knows Janis loves doing the techy stuff for the school shows, and she outdoes herself every year, but she simply wishes that this year she’d have skipped it. Regardless of how good it looks on the college application. “Friday night?”

“More lacrosse practice,” Regina grumbles. “And I’m working.”

“Saturday and Sunday?”

“Work, work, work. Both in the school and the job.” Her head falls onto her arms, a low groan emitting from her and shaking the table. She feels Janis’ hand on her back making soft, reassuring pats and it makes her feel a little better, especially with her girlfriend mutters “there, there” in a half-joking, half-serious way that only Janis could pull off. A smile curls on her mouth, even if it’s muted by the rest of her frustrations.

“I just miss you,” she says, her head back up. “I miss how things used to be with us. You know…” She grins slyly, her finger tracing across the table until it reaches Janis’. “You and me. My room. Laptop between us.” Her fingers slowly interlink with Janis’ and she watches as the faintest hint of a blush creeps across her girlfriend’s cheeks. “Your head on my shoulder… us sharing the same blanket.”

“Stop,” she says softly, her voice so close to a plea. “You’re making me nostalgic.” She lets out a wistful sigh then, her thumb rubbing the back of Regina’s hand and sending goosebumps up her arms. “I miss you too. I mean who else is going to stop me from going crazy?”

“Thought that was Damian’s job.”

“Damian’s job is to keep me crazy.” She winks then and now it’s Regina’s turn to blush. “Your job is to keep me crazy.”

“My mistake,” she chuckles. Janis lifts her hand and presses a kiss to her fingers, her eyes never leaving hers, telling her she’s forgiven.

There’s a sort of breathless excitement she’s started feeling since dating Janis, and it comes in the small moments like this. Those moments have been so few and far between recently that Regina’s almost forgotten what that felt like, but here it is. The way her heart picks up just slightly, the way her veins seem to hum beneath her skin, the little soft feeling that unfurls in her stomach, all making her feel good-really, truly good-for the first time in a long, long time.

It doesn’t last long though, the bell ringing rudely and cutting into their alone time, and so they head off together, pinkie fingers linked, both hoping that somehow, they’ll find more time this week. She knows that it’s not likely, but if her relationship with Janis has taught Regina anything, it’s that miracles can happen. Sometimes they just need a little push.

Regina spies her opportunity for a ‘little push’ on Friday night. As per usual, the mall is absolutely packed with Christmas shoppers-parents buying for kids, teens getting Secret Santas and young men trying desperately to find a good gift for a girl who probably expects a ring. The mall is utterly flooded with people everywhere you look and that means that the line for Regina’s little milkshake shop is at least a mile long. She’s not been here an hour and both she and her colleague, a little wisp of a thing named Clara, both have headaches from the amount of screaming children and her cheeks sting from the smile plastered on her face. She’s been keeping score since she got here and so far there’s been three assholes telling them to hurry up and two Karens chastising her for her lack of customer service skills.

She wishes so badly she didn’t need this job, otherwise she’d flip each and every one of them off. Or, she would if she could remember their faces, but as she takes orders and turns around they all blend into one, and she doesn’t see them again until she’s shouted “small Skittles shake!” for the third time and the owner finally, finally comes forwards.

So all in all, she’s exhausted.

“Seriously,” she pants when she line dies down. “Who the heck wants milkshakes in December? Or ice cream? Why do we still sell that.”

“The kids,” Clara explains with a vague wave. “You know… kids like ice cream. And parents just want to shut them up.”

“Reminds me why I’m never having kids,” she scoffs and Clara actually laughs at that. She’s not so bad, not at all. She’s good fun and she’s nice, which is all you could want in a work buddy.

They serve the last few customers, and Regina wonders if she’ll actually be able to take a break, run down to the food court and get herself a sandwich, only to look up and find the manager appearing in front of them, carrying two cardboard boxes on his shoulder.

“You said you were running out of cones?” he asks.

“Did we?” She turns and looks and yep, their supply of cones has dwindled to almost nothing at all. Clara must have find a second, if even, to send him a text. “Oh yeah, thanks.”

“How have things been over here?”

“Well we’re alive,” Regina sighs. “Barely, but we’re alive. We made a lot of money if that’s what you’re interested in.”

“Oh, sounds good,” he says. “And Regina… you’re good to close up shop?”

“Yes I am,” she says through gritted teeth. He nods at that and gives her a brief, clipped thank you before asking her for the delivery receipts and heading on his merry way, back to his comfy office and his comfy office chair while they remain on their feet for the next few hours, serving customer after customer until they collapse. And then, with Clara leaving soon (she deserves it after all), Regina’s left to shut down all by herself…

Hang on. Lightbulb moment.

“Clara.” She grabs the other girl by the shoulder, her eyes wide and a smile tugging on the corners of her lips. “Can you hold the fort down while I go on my break?”

The girl hasn’t even finished saying ‘sure’ before Regina is gone, flying down the halls and pushing past people as fast her legs can carry her, her months of lacrosse training finally being useful. She makes a quick pitstop at the foodcourt and grabs herself some dinner before sitting down at an empty table and whipping her phone out, mistyping the number twice in her excitement.

Janis picks up on the second ring and that’s still not fast enough.

“Regina?”

“Hey,” she says through a mouthful of noodles, a small prick of anxiety in her gut. “Okay, so what are you doing tonight?”

“Um, nothing I guess,” she says. “Homework, art, watching Netflix. Why?”

“Because I have an idea,” she begins. “For us.”

“Oh do share.”

“It’s a surprise.” She can practically see Janis’ face falling. She hates surprises, and that’s what makes this fun. “I just need you to trust me on this.”

“Okay… I trust you,” she says in the least-convincing voice Regina has ever heard.

“Perfect,” she says. “Just get here late and hang around until 9 okay?”

“9? The mall closes at 9.”

“9:15 actually.” She wolfs down some more noodles. “Just be subtle when you get in here, okay? Be sneaky.”

“And then you’ll reveal to me your mysterious plan?”

“I promise.” She hears Janis laughing then and oh what that sound does to her heart.

“Okay. I better get some studying done then before I get there.”

“And I need to finish my food. Oh and Janis-” she interjects. “Bring your laptop. And your charger. Just in case, you know?”

And it’s the long, confused ‘okay’ from Janis that makes this all so worthwhile.

The mall is practically deserted when Regina switches off the sign and gets out the brush and pan. Normally the clean-up process is painfully slow, what with the dozens of things that need doing and Regina feeling utterly drained by the end of the night. But tonight she’s found a source of energy she didn’t know she had, one that has everything to do with her girlfriend, and she wipes down surfaces and brushes the floors in double quick time and throws things in the fridge with no rhyme or reason. She sprints out to the dumpster with the trash and back again in less than ten seconds, determined that nothing and no-one cuts into her time with Janis. She’s so focussed on her mental to-do list that she doesn’t even notice a person coming up behind her, not until she hears those dreaded words-

“Hi can I get a large Reese’s milkshake?”

Oh for the love of-

But her rant is stopped entirely when she turns and sees only Janis, chuckling on the opposite side of the counter, hair slightly damp and her backpack on her shoulders, a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes.

“Asshole,” she sighs. “That’s what you are. An absolute asshole.” She waves her hand. “Come on in, asshole.”

“Oh someone’s been busy,” she comments. “You know, I did get a little worried when I didn’t receive one snapchat from you about how much you hate the closing shift.”

“Oh shut up.” She checks that the coast is clear and then pulls down the shutter, with them still inside. Thankfully she had the foresight to slip the stepstool underneath it, preventing them from being shut in completely, but Janis’ eyebrows still shoot up, her mouth hanging half-open in a silent scream of oh my god my girlfriend’s finally lost it.

“Regina…” she begins. “Please look me in the eyes and tell me you are not locking me in a milkshake store with you. Please, tell me that.”

“Don’t worry,” she says. “I’m not locking us in. What I am doing is having an amazing idea for a date night.”

“Which is…” Regina gestures around them.

“Look around,” she says. “We’re alone. We have all the ice cream we can eat. We have sparkly lights. And you have your laptop, so we can whack on something cute. Or something dark if you’re into it.” She shrugs. “I thought if my job interrupts our dates, maybe we could have a date at work.”

For two seconds, maybe less, a cold fear washes over her as she waits for Janis’ reaction. Maybe this is too far, maybe she already had plans, maybe she doesn’t want to sit on a dirty floor with her.

Or maybe, she’s throwing her arms around her and the force of her body is throwing them back. Maybe she’s giggling into her shoulder and rocking the two of them gently, her smile brighter than any of the lights and sweeter than any of the candy around them.

“This is amazing,” she whispers. “You’re amazing. Maddening and possibly crazy, but amazing.”

She kisses her then and Regina wonders how she can still get butterflies in her stomach, even now.

They sit down on the floor, using their jackets as impromptu blankets, and Regina grabs some ice cream from the freezer, settling on Rocky Road after some deliberation, while Janis opens up her laptop. The heat from the computer contrasts with the coldness of the ice cream, both balanced across their legs, and it’s an odd sensation to say the least, but Regina doesn’t care.  They keep the ice cream close by and the toppings even closer; Janis has already covered her servings in chocolate sauce, and of course, rainbow sprinkles. The opening credits of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before play onscreen, which Janis swears she only watches because Regina likes it so much, but she’s heard the muffled squeals behind her hand. She knows how she feels and one day she’ll get her to admit it.

But for now she just leans her head on Janis’ shoulder and snuggles into her. Janis presses a kiss to her head, slow and soft and so precious and Regina concludes that if they get trapped in here overnight, it won’t be so bad. Not if there’s Janis.

[aroace-mako]

plz give us that enneagram crash course, I learned about it a bit in hs but can’t remember anything other than that I thought it was super interesting

Alright, I’m just gonna talk about the basics and then recommend some links!

A lot of people compare enneagram to meyers-briggs, but it’s fundamentally different in that while meyers-briggs runs on behaviors, the enneagram hinges on motivation.

So, essentially, there there are 9 basic types (they’re all named by number), each with their own core fear and desire. The core desire is pretty similar to the core fear, so after the first one I’m only going to say the core fear.

Type 1 (the perfectionist or reformer)

core fear: being bad or corrupt

core desire: to be good/beyond reproach

Type 2 (the helper): being unlovable

Type 3 (the achiever): being worthless

Type 4 (the individualist or romantic): having no personal identity or significance

Type 5 (the investigator) being useless or incompetent

Type 6 (the loyalist or loyal skeptic): being unsafe/without support

Type 7 (the enthusiast or epicure): being deprived or in pain

Type 8 (the challenger): being out of control or manipulated/used

Type 9 (the peacemaker): being separated from others

Obviously, it’s pretty difficult to type yourself just based on these core fears/desires, so there are associated behaviors associated with each type. The enneagram institute is a great place to look for an overview of each type (be ready to be personally attacked if you find your type though lmao, but know that this website is limited by it’s generalizations). Also, pretty much everybody has all of these fears to a certain extent. But the key to your enneagram type is that your core fear is what informs all of your actions.

And if 9 types doesn’t seem like very many for everybody in the world, then you’re right! There are actually far more because once you discover your core type, there are more specific variations of that type.

First, there are wings. Usually, everybody has one wing, which MUST be a neighboring type. It can get confusing in general terms so I’m going to use myself as an example.

I’m a 6, the loyalist, and therefore have a lot of the behaviors associated with a 6. But I also have a lot of the behaviors of a type 5, the investigator. This makes me a 6 wing 5: my core fear is that of a 6 and I have a lot of the behaviors of a 6, but I also have some things in common with the 5.

Some people compare your enneagram type to a scoop of ice cream and your wing type as the sauce.

There are two things that are important to note: 1. You cannot have a wing that doesn’t neighbor your type (I already mentioned this earlier but so many people screw this up that I thought I would repeat) So even though I relate a lot to type 1, I can’t be a 6 wing 1. 2. Some people have both wings or even no wings.

This might be getting a bit complicated for a basic crash course, but there are also 3 subtypes for each enneagram type. I won’t go into details, but here’s a good website for the basics on enneagram subtypes.

Another thing to note: a lot of people can get very confused by the classic enneagram picture:

[ID:

A picture of the 9 point enneagram figure. It is numbered 1-9, which 9 at the top. Lines connect the types, and each type has a description below.

9: the peacemaker, easy-going, self-effacing

1: the reformer, rational, idealistic

2: the helper, caring, interpersonal

3: the achiever, success-oriented, pragmatic

4: the individualist, sensitive, withdrawn

5: the investigator, intense, cerebral

6: the loyalist, committed, security-oriented

7: the enthusiast, busy, fun-loving

8: the challenger, powerful, dominating, protective

END ID]

I wouldn’t worry about it too much in the beginning, but the figure shows growth and stress lines. I’m not going to get into details, but each type has a type they “go into” under stress, and a type they “go into” while growing.

For me as a 6, I take on the worst qualities of the type 3 under times of stress, becoming deceptive and performative. When I’m growing, I take on the best qualities of a type 9, becoming calmer and less suspicious.

If you’re curious, the enneagram institute talks about them a bit (I linked that above).

One last thing (I’m sorry this is getting so long oh my gosh): mistypes are INCREDIBLY common. You might not figure out your type for years! In fact I wouldn’t recommend anybody try to type themselves until they’re at least in their mid teens. I mistyped as literally every type except 2, 7, and 9, so do with that what you will. Just know that since enneagram is technically motivation based and not behaviorally based, you can be a certain type and exhibit behaviors more common with another type. That’s why I wouldn’t recommend any test.

I personally think reading detailed descriptions on the subtypes and seeing which one you relate to is the best way to type yourself. Once you read about the basic stuff that I linked above, search “[your type and subtype] personality cafe.] It’s an amazing resource.

Let me know if there’s anything confusing in here or anything you want me to elaborate on! I’ve known about the enneagram for a really long time so I might have missed some of the basic stuff.

[intjmd]

Types of INTP

As many of you may have noticed, INTPs come in different flavors. Some of my closest friends are INTPs, and I have noticed some differences between them that I have not spotted in other types (ENFPs seem more homogeneous to me, I know a bunch and they have basically the same values, outlooks on life and even similar (or the same) interests). In consequence, I have decided to classify my beloved INTP to see if we can understand this better (or even arrive to the conclusion that some of my friends are mistyped). After thinking for a while, I have decided to keep it simple and describe only two different types or INTPs. I know it’s not enough, but I don’t have all the information that I would need to make an accurate description of other subtypes of INTPs (I think there might be at least another one). Feel free to comment, add or correct anything you may find here. Let’s go.

INTP 1 - AKA Chill INTP :

Looks/vibes:

This INTP looks like the most carefree person alive. Seriously. They are often cute and definitely have their style. Why do they say that INTP have a horrible fashion sense, then? Well, it’s just that their style is not the conventional style. They can be obsessed with certain parts of their bodies (e.g. perfect nails) and completely neglect others. Or they can aspire to look in a certain way (kawaii, really kawaii) that could look inappropriate in someone their age. They don’t care. They dress as they want, ignoring other wishes and advice. And sometimes it works out. 

In general, they look rather sociable and happy. Try approaching them and you may be surprised. Sometimes, Chill looks even dreamy and you can tell they are fantasizing about having a dragon pet or whatever.

Habitat:

They dwell in their rooms and when they go out, they wish they were on their room. This type of INTP has watched more than 50 TV shows this last year, and probably reads a lot of fanfic. Their room is their sanctuary and is often filled with the interests of the owner, packed with action figures, tech, their clothes or maybe some painting that they did years ago and didn’t want to throw out.

Personality and interests:

Chill INTP is curious. He/She/That thing over there is an INTP after all. They remind me of  an ENFP (Ne here) because the way they talk about about their passions and dreams. To put it bluntly: they can’t talk about a single topic for more than five minutes before changing the subject to something different. They do this with a bubbly/excited look and act like everything is possible for them (but then they are “too lazy” for achieving said dreams) (this has literally been said by two of them so it’s not an insult). 

This Chill INTP loves series, fanfics, memes and the Internet as a concept. They have mastered every single shortcut of their computer and act like it’s part of their bodies.

Although Chill INTP looks approachable, they hate small talk and are very shy and private. Above all, they have trouble initiating conversations. If you befriend them, though, they will open up and flood you with an unending stream of ideas.

Academics: Chill is smarter than the average person, but also lazier than the average person. What’s worse, they know that they are smart and sometimes (only with their closest friends) can brag about it. While it’s true that they are bright and have no trouble understanding complex topics (actually the more abstract, the better), they lack motivation and often procrastinate. Sometimes, usually in hight school exams, they are able to successfully wing it and get good grades with almost zero effort. They will still whine a bit after getting an 8 in some subject that they didn’t even read, though. However, this “luck” (talent, actually, it’s raw intelligence plus a little bit of rhetorics and an innocent look) doesn’t last forever.

In the end, no matter how academically talented Chill may be, after missing a thousand classes and studying for maybe ten seconds, Chill fails. Hard. Usually for the first time in University. But it’s not that they can’t do it, it’s just that they don’t want to put in the effort right now. Maybe later.

Personal opinion:

This INTP is reaaaally fun to hang out with (I’m an INTJ, maybe we click because of that). They are witty, punny and can cheer you up with their innocence or random remarks. In addition, they get sarcasm (THANK YOU) and are not afraid of saying something regarded as “insensitive” if it’s true. This Chill INTP can be a bit stubborn, and will not change their behavior even if they admit it’s damaging them. 

Overall, they are nice and don’t ask for much attention.  

P.S: Chill INTP is NOT chill all the time. They can have breakdowns where all of their frustration gets out and they can cry in disappointment because the are not living up to their own standards. The agony disappears after a while, and they come back to their laptop and keep scrolling with a smile on their faces.

INTP 2 - AKA  NERDY INTP:

Looks/vibes:

Nerdy INTP does not care at all about how they look. It’s a practical question, not a fashion contest, and they are going to pick anything as long as it covers the parts of their body that can’t be publicly shown. The plainer, the better, this way they can combine anything in their wardrobes.

Also, this INTP does not look “chill” at all. It’s more like a quiet fragile serenity that could explode anytime. There is a difference there. Chill INTP is very comfortable anywhere, even in the midst of a crowd, they just do their own thing and ignore everyone. Nerdy INTP is watching over you, analyzing your patterns and thinking, always thinking. This INTP is full of anxiety and is shyer than chill INTP. And when they are looking at a wall they are either thinking hard about the wall itself (colour, texture, design) or totally lost inside some theory inside their mind. The thing is that you know that they are questioning things.

Habitat:

Their rooms, but with zero clutter. It’s not minimalism, it’s a prison cell with the occasional coffee machine. They have a laptop, books and a bed, but that’s all. This INTP lives in his head, not on Earth. That’s why they don’t mind going outside, but they do this to think elsewhere, not to be elsewhere. Their heads are a mystery, I would describe them if I could.

Personality and interests:

Nerdy is not merely curious, Nerdy is utterly obsessed with knowledge and the truth. This means that they can research a single topic for like 40 hours nonstop and speak about it too, getting deeper and deeper and finding internal contradictions between the different sources until you (random listener) can no longer know anything. But they really understand it, and it just comes easy for them. They can keep their concentration forever and ever until their body stops working and they get into a random nap. Then they jump to the topic again.

Nerdy likes talking about different subjects. Unlike Chill, once Nerdy chooses ONE topic, he will remain in that area until nothing more can be said (which is approximately never) or until the other person changes the topic. Nerdy also strongly prefers one to one conversations, while Chill can manage up to four/five people at the same time. 

In short, Nerdy seems much more focused and driven than Chill, but they are not natural achievers (#goalz #checklists) like an INTJ. Instead, they seek pure knowledge for the sake of it, to deepen their understanding of the world. They don’t need to change it, they just think that it’s interesting to dive into the most obscure and complex topics and master them. Their thirst is not for power but for wisdom.  

Nerdy is as Internet addicted as Chill but it’s easier to find them looking for papers than watching Netflix on their own. They have three or four series that they love but they are usually complex (picture high fantasy) and the things they read are not the cliché YA novels in which Chill tends to indulge more.

Academics:

If Nerdy has chosen a career that sparks his interests, he will do great in his knowledge field. At least, Nerdy will spend hours and hours reading about this topic and becoming an expert. They will understand EVERYTHING and create a sort of “mind map” in their minds (just a map, then) with concepts and their connections. Nerdy is a bit lazy too, but their curiosity and intellect alone if directed towards the adequate career can take them to the top (or at least they are not whining at the bottom as sometimes Chill does).

Even if both Chill and Nerdy feel incompetent, Chill actually puts 3/10 effort and ends up getting a 5. Nerdy studies a lot (maybe not the most important things, they will probably get lost in the interesting bits) and try to do their best. Even if their results are great, they will feel as if they had failed because they are too perfectionistic. 

To sum up, they work harder and get more results than Chill, but also set higher standards for themselves, which leads them to often overexert themselves and have higher levels of anxiety. This is why they do nOT look so chill.

Personal opinion:

For me, Nerdy feels like a caffeinated, stronger, sharper version of Chill. Maybe a little more hopeless and cynic, maybe more concerned with astrophysics than the newest One Piece episode. If Chill was fun, Nerdy is a hundred times funnier. However, Nerdy is also incapable of small talk (Chill knows how to, he just doesn’t want to do it and tries to avoid it) and has more trouble meeting new people. This INTP is only capable of speaking logically, and will destroy you incoherent arguments in seconds (yeah, every conversation feels like a debate). If you show any weakness, they will show no mercy.  This side of them can bore or get tiresome for the more dictatorial (Nerdy will call out your bullshit, authority means nothing), harmony loving (debates are just debates, no feelings involved) (however, if you think that disagreeing equals hating each other, you are so fucked here) or happy-go-lucky (”Don’t think and be happy”) types. 

If you are not ready to do some mental exercise, then leave alone Nerdy and go back to Instagram. If you go, try to chatter with Nerdy and then disregard all his ideas/hypothesis/arguments and it gets upset, you are a mere asshole. I actually love Nerdy INTP and think that his brain should be protected as World Heritage.

Things both (I think all INTP) subtypes have in common:

Curiosity about the most random things.

They hate small talk and initiating conversations.

They are so much fun for an INTJ.

They can be very insensitive when talking to other people (not a big bother for an NT)

All energy is redirected to their heads, their bodies are nOT fully operative.

They are always up for: COFFEEE, films or going to a new restaurant. 

People love them and they don’t want to admit it.

They feel different but never complain about it (and never flaunt it as a virtue).

They have meltdowns and they saw them coming.

They love the Internet.

Kinky. Very specific kinks and you can’t kinkshame them. It’s better to join them.

They look innocent, like sweet cinnamon rolls but they are not.

P.S:

Maybe these two types are not well described and some of you think that Chill is just more well, relaxed Nerdy. Or that Nerdy has more willpower than Chill. I don’t know. I honestly think that both have different manifestations of the INTP functions and they are true INTP regardless of their differences. I also think that both are fun, smart and can become great friends. 

P.S2:

@intp-the-thinker​ @intpmd this is for both of you, feel free to abort this unborn theory/hypothesis.

[hardcoreprocess]

hi saint do u do tips/tricks for how u write/post?

Writing and posting are two pretty different things to want tips on. I can give a few for either one, though.

WRITING SMUT TIPS

• Take your time. Rushing any kind of smut can make your readers feel rushed. (I’m guilty of this, and working on it.) • Proofread. Seriously. Make sure your descriptions, dialogue, and spelling are on point. Make sure you close the dialogue so Jane doesn’t go: “Oh golly, she moans. (I fuck this up too. It’s a process. A... hardcorepr—) • Research your kinks. Yeah, yeah, a little suspension of disbelief is hot and it’s fictional so shit doesn’t have to be realistic anyway. But I definitely recommend reading about the kinks you’re writing before you write them. DDLG is a class of caretaker kink, but it’s not the only one. Read about that shit. • Write what you like. You don’t have to make anything you don’t personally like. Not a fan of incest? Breeding? Robots? You don’t have to write anything about that. Make what makes you happy. Or horny. That ain’t my business. • Have a horny friend. Or two, or three. I run my ideas by my partner or by close friends with similar interests to let me know whether or not the writing has spice. Honestly, I’ll even talk about prompts I’ve gotten / thought of with friends before I even write. • Write horny, rewrite sober. Also serious. If you’re horny, your writing will reflect that. Don’t proofread while horny or tired. You will miss shit. Come back to that shit the next day. (I am guilty of this. Baby steps.)

POSTING SMUT TIPS

• Again. Take your time. Set your queue up to post once or twice a day. Stock up. As long as you put a few posts in every couple of days, your blog will stay current and update even if you’re not up to writing. (Or schedule your posts 1-3 days apart.) • Proofread. This is doubly important now that you’re posting shit. Close the dialogue. Make sure you actually wrote that jizz description instead of thinking about writing it. I know you mistyped Dirk as Dork twice, so go fix that. • Research your kinks. Please, please, please make sure you’re not about to post the wrong kink in response to a request. If someone asks for a brat kink, they probably don’t mean “MXRP’s idea of a brat. // Annoying twinky bottom that never reciprocates.” gets them going. • Write what you like. There will always be someone into the same weird shit you’re into. Don’t get pigeon-holed into writing shit you don’t even like. Delete requests / prompts that you aren’t into. It’s not that deep. Cater your space. • On that note: decide how you do what you do. Are you going to allow prompts? Kink requests? What fandoms will you work with? Advertise that shit. Tell people what you won’t do. Be firm. • Figure out your tags. T•mblr specifically is a bitch about certain tags being censored. Keep a list of what is and isn’t going to be caught. (As a rule, tags with the number 18, most sexual positions or styles, genitals, and NSFW are blocked. Your post won’t populate in the tags if you have any of that.) Use a #blacklist tag for the comfort of your followers. • Have a horny friend or several. Ask your buddies to send you asks. Send yourself asks. Blogs pick up momentum the more content you put out. You gotta be proactive about that shit. • Block minors. Block minors. Block minors. Do not interact with minors.

After all that, it really just comes down to practicing, perfecting your craft, and patience. I’m tagging this with the usual smut tags I post in, since who knows. Folks might find it useful. I’ll remove it if folks deem it irritating.

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

So this’ll probably be a multiple part submission, but again it’s the “ISTJ 4w5” anon here with more info about myself for better typing. Sorry it took so long to get back, I was out of town. So I read your post about what information is helpful when typing so I’ll do my best. Basically, I’ve gone back and forth with all different types, trying to find my best fit. A friend of mine who’s pretty knowledgeable about mbti was the one who suggested I may be ISTJ for a few reasons: I usually (1/?)

think everything through at least a little-as I’ve gotten older I’ve become a lot more spontaneous and adventurous about things, I love new experiences too-but even with these things I still think about how I’ll get it to work, what the possible repercussions will be, exactly what I need to do to accomplish things, etc., so Judging would make sense for my personality. I do actually do tons of research on most things beforehand, sometimes I’ll get lazy and “just do it” but I almost always (2/?)

go into something with at least a little foreknowledge. I also make decisions with my head, so for that reason it seemed like it made sense for me to have thinking as my dominant judging function, because I always choose the most logical option/what will yield the best result, sometimes based on what has worked in the past. But I’m not against new suggestions, because I look at what will work the best or yield the best result as I said before. But I will lean towards things that have worked(3/?)

before if they seem to be the best solution. I didn’t think I could be a Thinking dominant because for me there’s no way I could have inferior Feeling, which is why the stackup of a Perceiving function followed by Thinking and Feeling made sense-because I always check in with my values/feelings before making a decision but always rely on objective logic first-which I’ve heard is a staple of Te vs Ti subjective logic. But if I completely disagree with the morality of a choice I won’t do it.(4/?)

Basically, I’ll always find a way to make things work unless it’s absolutely impossible. Im pretty stubborn. I’m dependable and if I say I will do something I always do it. I have a good memory and I remember minor things my friends or people in my life tell me for a long time, just little details. I always need details when someone is telling me a story, or relaying something that happened, because I like to know specifics and analyze them. I strictly adhere to external logic when analyzing(5/?

(Im starting from where I think I left off bc tumblr wasn’t sending them) But if I completely disagree with the morality of a choice I won’t do it. Basically, I’ll always find a way to make things work unless it’s absolutely impossible. Im pretty stubborn. I’m dependable and if I say I will do something I always do it. I have a good memory and I remember minor things my friends or people in my life tell me for a long time, just little details. I always need details (6?/?)

and specifics and analyze them. I strictly adhere to external logic when analyzing things too, like my conclusions need to match up with the objective logic I use. I’m not much for rules or traditions like most ISTJ stereotypes go, but stereotypes are just that and aren’t what’s important to look at when typing. I have certain traditions that I appreciate but I’m almost always open to an adventure or new experience. I like the idea of making new memories as well, and I love learning new things.(7/?)

Idk how much of the last asks even sent, ugh. Anyway: I’m aware of my surroundings; I mean I can get lost in my own world or distracted like anybody else but my mood is heavily influenced by my environment. I get “vibes” from an environment and just kind of feel like they’re good or bad. Oftentimes a “good” vibe will be something that invokes a positive memory or experience, but it can also just be because it’s pleasant in some way. My comfort is important to me and I like to be in touch (8/?)

I can be spontaneous, but I’m not reckless because I always think things through at least preliminarily. I just believe in seizing the moment and making the most of an experience, so I love “adrenaline junkie” activities. Usually that’s an Se stereotype, it’s something I can relate to but I wouldn’t call myself impulsive because I analyze pretty much everything. I just have noticed that I can be more adventurous than my Se dom friend, which is interesting. But it’s all about how one thinks.(8/?)

For the zillionth time my tumblr was acting all wack and idk how many parts of my ask sent, so let’s hope they did... I’m aware of my surroundings; I mean I can get lost in my own world or distracted like anybody else but my mood is heavily influenced by my environment. I get “vibes” from an environment and just kind of feel like they’re good or bad. Oftentimes a “good” vibe will be something that invokes a positive memory or experience, but it can also just be because it’s pleasant somehow(8?/?

My comfort is important to me and I like to be in touch with my 5 senses, always. I often pick up on details other people miss but I can be as oblivious as anyone else on a bad day. I would consider myself a fairly intuitive person, but definitely not an abstract iNtuitive-type. Im just pretty perceptive about things, it’s something those close to me always tell me. I get senses or vibes from people when I meet them, and I’ve had plenty of experiences where I’ll get a certain vibe from (9/?)

mom sometimes, but that could be due to maturity. I used to think I was an iNtuitive, but I realized I am actually most likely a sensor who was mistyped thanks to bad descriptions due to intuitive bias. I know the only real difference is Sensing focuses on the here/now and the past, drawing on resources and memory, and using concrete, linear thinking, likes details and being in touch with surroundings, etc. I really dislike abstract thinking and I always need practical real life examples (10/?)

applications in order for me to care. I like the abstract symbolism in art, music, etc. And in that sense I like to determine what the real meaning is. So I don’t hate abstractions but they’re not my favorite, so an Ne weak spot in that department would make a lot of sense for me. I just hate abstract theories on things that have no real use or meaning to me. I also know that an “I” type doesn’t always mean one is a true introvert because it’s all about functions, but I’m almost positive I(11/?)

am one because I’m definitely an introvert and my primary thought process is always done internally. I’ve done so much research on mbti and enneagram, which my friend also thought could be due to wanting to discover my true identity, which I’ve heard is an enneagram 4 thing. Discovering my identity is very important to me. Obviously I’m not an expert, I’m just a person who wants to understand themself and has researched and read a lot to be able to do that (12/?)

There’s definitely parts of personality theory that I don’t know, but I definitely know more than anyone else I know personally in my life, it’s kind of become a hobby I guess. I just really want to know my type, not to flaunt it like some badge of honor for being a super “rare” or “cool” type; I want to know so I can grow as a person and understand myself and how I think and make decisions so I can see my reasoning and improve myself. Anyway I hope this info helps, I love your blog (13/14)

and thanks for taking the time to read all this horrific mess. (14/14)

---------------------------------------

I wrote a much longer response but it was very piecemeal as these came through.

In short: my guess would be SFP, either ISFP or ESFP.

Reasoning: I think in your attempts to avoid intuitive stereotypes you fell into a whole lot of stereotypes about Se that led you not to type as using it even though you seem very clearly a high Se user to me. You don’t provide many specific examples, ironically enough (eg: a lot of people say they get vibes, but there is a difference between ‘I regularly guess information about people that they are shocked I could figure out’ and ‘I can tell when people are sad sometimes’ and people use ‘vibes’ for both), so Ti vs. Fi is more difficult as you don’t really provide examples of your logic and there’s a lot of tautology. That said your motivations for MBTI as true identity (which...it is not your true identity, please do not think of any personality theory as such, they’re all generic archetypes of your identity) seem more in line with Fi as do some other things. Some observations:

-most people think their actions through to some extent. Some more than others but even spontaneous Ne and Se users have like, a thought and don’t just leap blindly. You don’t really provide an example here of your planning or your adventurousness.

-”I make decisions with my head” and “I always choose the most logical option” are actually signs to me that you don’t have a great sense of self-awareness. No one always chooses the most logical option unless they’re a robot. We all do irrational things sometimes, and honestly, how do you even decide what’s more logical in a lot of decisions?

-while it is true that Te uses objective logic and Ti uses subjective logic, people are very bad at telling which they use - which isn’t a judgment on them or you, but it also means that if someone says “I use objective logic” it doesn’t really mean anything. You need to tell me what decisions you make that are objective.

-If you have moral stances but do things that completely contradict them...then you don’t have moral stances, you just say you do. So this is tautological.

-Lots of people can be stubborn; dependability is more stereotypically judgers but I’ve met some exceptionally reliable perceivers; it’s a learned skill that smart people learn to develop regardless of type.

-contrary to stereotype, while some Si-doms do have a great memory (I think mine is better than average) plenty don’t; the capacity to remember details is more sensing because of the detail-oriented nature.

-similar to the objective logic statement it would be helpful to understand what you mean by external logic.

-being always open to an adventure or new experience is not really likely in high Si users until they’re pretty old. I mean, I am as discussed in the midst of a bunch of new experiences and while I’ve moved and started new jobs/school a few times and am used to it I am still kind of constantly fighting the urge to just hide in my new apartment (not having wifi in it is ‘helping’). The fact that you also are an adrenaline junkie is really not typical of Si-doms at all.

-Finally: introversion. Your writing style strikes me as extroverted. You don’t provide examples. I would need to know more about what you mean by “your thought process is internal” because like, that is what thoughts are - internal. Extroverts still have a full inner monologue.

My guess is you’re a type 4 ESFP who is in the midst of tert-Te development and so you are currently identifying very strongly with logic and productivity. However, it’s also very possible you’re an organized ISFP; my ISFP sister is one of those. As mentioned a lot of people realize that being flaky isn’t really a good look; a lot of SFPs are also very practical (high Se) and place a high value on reliability as a moral trait or identity trait. I find the nature of Fi and Ti is such that it’s really hard for people who use them to always know which one they use because they’re so subjective by nature; high Fi users often see their moral decisions as logical and high Ti users often see their logical decisions as also moral (unless they are of the edgy, “I have no morals” sort).

[sleepymarmot]

COUNTER/Weight liveblog, part 3

Finale +post-mortem

Am I glad to return to the political big picture! It's such a relief that the finale is in this format! Hopefully it won't devolve into another “fighting a giant robot” scene.

Oh, so the Chime are leading the faction game now! Somehow I completely missed the point of the two previous scenes that indicated Aria becoming the new leader of the Righteous Vanguard – I was very surprised and then 10 minutes later went “Oh that's what it was, time to go back and relisten”

Pronoun update: Austin consistently uses “they”, Art consistently uses “he”. End my suffering…

The sheer comedic impact of seven Makos, Larry and Lazer Ted all in a room together has healed my soul immediately. Can we end on this image so nothing bad happens

I'm so proud of Orth!! “I'm sorry, which one are you?” lmao

Oooh the relationship drama~ But how come Jacqui didn't know Jill was alive? Actually, now that I think of it, back then it was clearly said that Jacqui knows Jillian is back and is sad because Jillian doesn't remember her. This show's retcons…

Look I know shit must hit the fan pretty soon but for now this finale is just. So relaxing. I'm having a lot of fun listening to these squabbles. (The only exception were Mako and Orth – boys, stop fighting, why!)

That Cass & Aria scene was cool but please don't give me world leader old friends sneaking away for secret stress relief sparring sessions when I'm not supposed to start shipping them

Oh hell yeah, I was hoping that since Jacqui went with Jillian, Aria would go with Ibex. (Not very relevant here, but Ibex is from Kesh like Maryland, right? If so, there must be fanart of young Ibex and Maryland in 19th century outfits?)

Stop cryptically saying oh Sokrates isn't here, oh they aren't using their candidate name, like what's up with them?! Are they doing well? I'm worried!

Oh Orth wants to dance with Ibex huh *eyes emoji* Rematch! Rematch!

“I'll take anything” “Anything?” My mind, of course, autocompletes “Then perish”

THIS WAS A LOT and I need to take a couple of minutes to start breathing normally again. Also there just has to be a lovingly drawn fanart adaptation of this entire scene (in, like, fukcing Leyendecker style), come on fandom please say someone has done it

Jacq/Jill continuing with the heartbreaking scenes, I see

Mako doesn't like dancing now…… holy shit this is the most upsetting ball ever… (The cynical part of me must say that it's only Austin who talks about this connection, Keith doesn't and still sounds way less emotional about the whole thing than the others assume Mako to be)

I amend my previous statement, I also need fanart with snapshots of every dance: Orth firmly taking Ibex's hand and receiving a surprised but approving look, Jillian throwing her head back in laughter and Jacqui watching with a pained smile, sullen Mako leaning on a wall cross-armed and looking for an opportunity to slip away, Cass dropping his one-liner with a completely dispassionate face.

Wow Ibex is really getting ready for death. Sounds as if he knows the exact date.

HOLY SHIT THE DIVINES' ORIGIN STORY!!! FINALLY!!! I'm surprised they were all created by the same person…

I'm relieved Mako and Orth are on good terms again!

I love the new Aria as this competent politician who does a lot of swordfighting and dealing with old flames

Have I mentioned I really love the game they're playing? It almost synthesizes the best parts of the game they played previously – as if it was written just for this finale. It's so great how this show and specifically this campaign go through so many games, showing the universe and the characters from different angles, instead of having them be defined by only one game system and its limitations and quirks.

That's some real good mech if it can function for 80,000 years, Divines' body or not!

Okay, I fucking knew Liberty and Discovery would split up at some point (which is what I meant above by my expectations for AuDy's fate), but why is Liberty attacking Ibex?

Mako's robots!!! :DDD Now that's the real finale shit!

I CAN'T BELIEVE Keith missed Tower's brief appearance of all things. It's like a fucking scene from the show on the level of dramatic irony. They were truly not meant to be, even the universe in real life is saying that. Do you ever get rejected so badly that the guy you like runs away from you at the prom, and then lets you fall into a deadly portal with the rest of your planet, and then you get brainwashed, and then you are killed by an ally of that guy, and the person playing him doesn't even witness that?!

I thought Orth was going to challenge Kobus about Liberty…

“I have Liberty contained” *winces*

Every time it is asked what is Mako wearing I just mentally pull out the popcorn

“I welcome anyone to tell Cass that AuDy is a non-person”

Let me restate how much I'm loving how the scenes that in any other show would be minor fluff or short summaries in an epilogue are a legit fully rendered part of the finale

Sokrates & Orth reunion please!!

Aw Ted! It never occured to me that this comic relief character has, in fact, lost his entire planet and almost everyone he knows.

…I think I like Apokine Cass more than Chime Cass

That's a big lore dump holy cow! I'm glad Apostolosians are ex-humans after all, but I wonder how they turned into fish people

So what happened to the idea of Mako hacking Grace?

They just… went and straight up murdered two Divines… If it had happened early in the show I'd probably cheer, and no tears were shed for Grace, but Liberty… Just take a third of another player character and drive it into a sun…

Of course. I knew Sokrates is the kind of character who dies nobly in a grand finale.

I've spent all this time wondering how the piece of Voice in Mako doesn't get infected by Rigor, and it seems to finally happen and Larry seems to die repairing it, but what about all other Makos, aren't they in danger too?

This is way too easy so far, just sacrifice NPCs one by one to win.

This whole time I was assuming Mako saved as many clones as he could, not just his own… If he gets another turn I bet it's submit or die :/

Hello I'm crying over Lazer Ted! Choices in the campaign sound futile now: who cares which guy Mako saved – they both died anyway! All named NPCs did!

Except for Jacqui. Congratulations, the NPC Who Lived! (I mistyped “loved” at first, which is also relevant. And yes, I cried here too.)

How the hell would falling into a sun kill Rigor if it was previously not killed by a bomb that destroys hundreds of suns?

Poor Cass… Not only sacrificing yourself in such a difficult way, but to have a final conversation only just to learn that your friend, a passionate revolutionary further empowered by Righteousness, has deserted… The sheer contempt and disappointment he pours in just three words “Ibex told you”...

Welp. Mako's fate was not tragic like I feared! Good news I guess, but it's still kind of sad. And I think the saddest part is that Mako himself doesn't realize. Because it can just sound like the natural continuation of his character growth – after he had to learn to be the responsible one first in contrast to Larry and then to the other Makos. But it's not that, or not just that, and it's kind of chilling to hear that he never knows it, and never knows peace.

Executive Joie, oh my… It's so strange and cool how Aria somehow continues the legacy of Jace and Ibex at once.

The race is over. It's so strange that now there are no consequences to fear or spoilers to avoid.

I didn't like the final battle as much as the rest of the finale – I hoped for a more clever solution than just throwing bodies at the enemy (but I guess the intro warned me lol…). Especially since these bodies had very unequal impact – I'm not going to care about Diego Rose or Chet Wise or Orth's newly-created lieutenants or as much as I care about Jacqui -- so it felt unfair towards players/characters who had more important or likeable chracters in their faction. I'm opposed on principle to making the big confrontation feel important and emotional just by killing off characters (hi, J. K. Rowling and Russo brothers), I think it's cheap and emotionally manipulative, but in this case the emotional manipulation doesn't even work so it’s doubly disappointing.

If someone's reading this, you can see that what I expected or wanted from the story was not what it gave me, and that was frustrating or disappointing at times. But nevertheless, it was a wild ride.

I've slept on it and it still fucks me up that out of the Chime only Aria gets a genuinely happy ending! Cass is fucking dead, Liberty is dead while AuDy becomes a ghost, and Mako loses everyone and is lonely for the rest of his life!

It's so strange to listen to the opening theme in the post-mortem and think that this is the second-to-last time. (Relistens don't count, it's not the same thing.) By the way, I love that theme – it sounds like a half song with the words on the tip of my tongue, like space, or like city at night. Really atmospheric.

I love how everyone continues to be into that moment where Aria has the opportunity to kill Cass lol (I am too)

Yeah, thanks for reminding me about that coin toss moment for Kobus in the finale, that was so sudden and shocking I was completely losing it for the long few seconds it lasted

I'm glad someone asked whether Jack knew the Big Spoiler in advance – he was so calm about it in the following episodes that I started wondering

Oh so it wasn't my imagination that the players needed the comic relief of the Lazer Ted episode no less than the characters

After a sad talk about Mako's dead friends, Andi, cheerfully: “I love to kill and I love to hurt and I never regretted anything I ever did! :D” which won the least surprising comment of the hour award lol. Honestly, after that one scene with Diego I started to get a bit nervous whenever Andi announced they had an idea… C/w was fun because I now realize the cinnamon roll Aubrey was actually them playing against type.

I love that someone asked about Mako's first kiss and/or Orth's fandom life!!

Keith's answer is sad, though… He “had literally never considered Mako even being capable of kissing someone, like it wasn't something on the table” and that was unexpected to me. I'd mentioned several times that he sounded reluctant to play up the romance, but I was assuming it was the player's preference, not an innate trait of the character whose attraction to someone was a part of his character creation. How do I interpret it? Mako is aro? Mako never had a chance to properly grow emotionally because his youth was fake and for the rest of his life, all emotional connections were sabotaged by Rigour's shadow, and also literally all his potential love interests died? Ugh, I just keep making myself more and more upset.

Holy shit I forgot about Art asking if there's an old Apostolosian mech on September by any chance lmao

Cene always knew?! Holy shit w h a t

It's nice to hear Ali talk about her growth in confidence as a player because she's definitely kind of an inspiration – for years I've thought tabletop roleplaying is too intense and I'll never do it, but when I finally tried out it was not so scary, so maybe there's hope for me too!

The concept that the real challenge of the final battle was that the easier it would be to defeat Rigor, the worse shape would the world be afterwards sounds much better than what that battle actually felt like to me. Instead of paying for victory with the health of society and their faction's political power, in the actual gameplay they paid with NPCs from their circle and that was it; the political consequences came later and sounded entirely unrelated. Maybe if they had to go against their faction's goals or sacrifice its assets – e.g. “use Minerva's Rigor-tech mechs in exchange for the promise to leave them alone afterwards” instead of “sacrifice all Mako clones”… Aria had something similar with Weight, but it was the price of Jacqui's life, not the price of a victorious battle against Rigour.

It's very cool to learn where the sound effects in the theme come from! And god, every line as its own take? My head hurts just imagining that…

Austin getting distracted by the idea of fucking Rigor was hilarious, but I never, ever want to hear the word “daddy” in this context! What's with these jokes this season, ew, please stop.

Excuse me, Ali wanted to kiss Ibex as who exactly, Jace or Aria? Both options are equally crazy!

See, “You wanna say ‘Oh he was just doing what was necessary, he was just doing the thing that's good in the end’, and yeah that's him working on you” is exactly why he reminds me of Dukat! Literally the same mind game on the viewers/listeners!

Why is the link broken, I want to see AuDy in Titanfall!

Listening to team “Fuck Ibex!” and team “Fuck Ibex ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)” yell at each other is very entertaining

“Nobody on the Kingdom Come is cishet” is a nice sentiment but I'm kind of confused by which definition of cis Cass is not. Have I missed something about them changing pronouns in-universe? Just because English doesn't have exact analogies for the Apostolosian pronouns doesn't mean everyone who uses them isn't following their own society's conventions. And now Austin also's saying “We never wanted to say these pronouns are equivalent to gender” which is, a, not true, and b, sends the whole problem back to square one – because if that's not the Apostolosian gender then what is? This! Is! A! Mess!

[dem-fics-tho]

Not So Secret (Part 1)

Summary: After learning that your dad won’t be making it home in time for your weekly Friday visits to a park, you decide to go to Liz’s party to try and boost your spirits. When that doesn’t work, you instead head over to the park and see something that you probably shouldn’t have...

Word Count: 2347

Pairing: Eventually Peter Parker X Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: This was originally titled “The Night You Found Out” but I rewrote it because I didn’t like how it turned out. Hope you like it!

You checked your phone again, silently hoping that there would be a text from your dad saying that he would be able to come tonight. He hadn’t texted you at all this week, which wasn’t out of the ordinary, but now that it was Friday, you were starting to get a little worried. By now he would have at least said something as simple as “yes.” A sigh escaped your lips when no new text flashed across your phone’s screen and you slid the device back into your pocket. You plastered a smile on your face and engaged yourself in the lunch table chat once more, trying to push away your growing feeling of disappointment.

Friday was the one day that was guaranteed to you and your dad to spend time together. It was the one day that the Department of Damage Control let him go home for a few hours and recuperate from the week’s work. Ever since moving to New York and getting a house in Queens eight years ago, he’d been working every day every year to manage the cleanup of all the sites that the Avengers fought aliens, robots, and most recently, themselves. On Friday’s though, he would come home and no matter how late it was or how tired he was, the two of you would take a walk to the park three blocks away and just talk. The two of you would spend hours there, wasting time but spending it together. When you were younger you’d end up falling asleep and he’d carry you back.

Since starting high school at Midtown Tech last year though, the time you spent together got shorter and shorter. Your Friday’s would still be spent at that park but it was rare if it lasted more than an hour. Your dad would have to go to sleep and he’d be gone in the morning when you woke up. At the beginning of the year, he’d had to miss three of your Friday rendezvous when he took a trip to Sokovia to do a physical analysis of how the cleanup was going in the city of the robots. Those were the first Friday’s that you’d spent completely by yourself, not even able to call or text him since he was in the middle of basically nowhere. So it was just you at home. Your mom left four years ago due to the lack of contact with her husband, so it was just the two of you now. Well, mostly you and your dog Puddles. She was a gray Boston Terrier and your only companion after school.

“Y/N? You still with us?” questioned one of your friends. Realizing you’d drifted off again, you blushed and nodded. Liz smiled and continued talking, glancing at you a few times before you smiled at her in reassurance. She quirked an eyebrow, knowing that you weren’t okay but letting it go… for now. “You guys are all coming to the party, right?” the senior asked, looking around at the people sitting down. Each of them nodded in turn, exclaiming their excitement for the party. When her eyes landed on you, you merely shrugged. She knew how important Friday’s were for you and that you probably wouldn’t end up making it.

Betty came up to the table, interrupting the chatter as she asked to borrow Liz so they could work on some Homecoming stuff before lunch was over. The girls left and you watched them go. They passed a nearly empty table with only three people sitting there, all of them in your year. Michelle had her nose in a book (no surprise there) and Ned and Peter seemed to be almost arguing about something, with Ned’s face one of curiosity and Peter’s one of annoyance. Shrugging it off you stood up and collected your garbage and heading to the doors, throwing away your trash as you went. Might as well get to your next class early before the flood of people entered the hallways. You checked your phone one last time as you entered the hallway and tried to sigh when nothing new appeared on the screen.

You’d finished your homework an hour ago and now lounged on the sofa on your laptop watching videos of Spider-Man. You knew it was kind of lame, but to have a superhero who was not only based in Queens but also focused on the lesser crimes of the city was kind of cool. Besides, you kind of needed to follow the conversation whenever Liz turned it to Spider-Man, which was somewhat often because of her crush on him. Your phone buzzed from its place on the counter and you snuggled deeper into the couch, thinking it was probably from one of your friends asking if you were going to Liz’s party. Once the video finished, you set the laptop on the coffee table and stepped over to the counter to retrieve your phone. Leaning against the counter, you pressed the power button.

And nearly screamed in excitement. The screen read that you’d received a new text from your dad and you rushed to unlock the device to see what it read. In your hurry, you mistyped the words a few times before finally getting it right and clicking on your messages. The grin on your face quickly melted away though into a frown, your eyes stinging slightly from tears that threatened to form.

He couldn’t make it. Of course, he couldn’t make it. You weren’t even surprised anymore. Scowling in frustration, you pressed your phone screen against the counter, hiding the offending words from your eyes. He’d promised that he wouldn’t miss any more Friday’s. He’d promised. It seemed though, that promises were made to be broken. Puddles padded over from her napping spot under the coffee table and looked up at you as if to say that it would get better. You smiled slightly and bent over to scratch her ears before returning attention to your phone. Reading over the words once more you sighed and tapped out a quick text, trying not to let your anger or disappointment show. Once it was sent you clicked it off and placed it in your pocket.

Looking around the small living room you set your jaw and decided that you wouldn’t spend the night by yourself. Not this time. Ensuring that Puddles' food and water were full and that the doggy door to the backyard would work, you slipped on your shoes and a sweatshirt and headed for the door. Liz’s house wasn’t incredibly far from yours and since you lived in a good neighborhood you figured it’d be safe to walk there. The air was cool, beginning to hint that fall was on its way and the warm nights of summer were ebbing away.

The time passed quickly and you soon arrived at Liz’s front door. The music inside was loud enough that it’s low bass could be heard outside and it seemed to vibrate through your bones. Flash was probably the DJ again considering the fact that he always insisted that he could do it better than anyone else. Rolling our eyes, you knocked and waited a moment or two before opening the door and stepping inside. Yeah, there was no way that anyone would have noticed you knocking. A few of your classmates noticed your arrival and waved a greeting to you which you returned happily. This already felt better. Making your way to the kitchen, you spotted Liz filling up several plastic cups at the sink. You walked up and tapped her on the shoulder, grinning at the look on her face.

“Y/N! You made it!” she exclaimed. “I thought you had the thing with your dad though?” Your smile faded slightly and she caught on immediately. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” She moved to give you a hug. “I know it’s not easy not being able to see him all the time. My dad’s job is unpredictable too and I never know exactly when he’s gonna visit. If you want to come over at all next week or anything, don’t hesitate. You’re like a little sister to me, Y/N.” She squeezed you tightly for a moment and smiled. Someone behind your grabbed her attention and Liz looked at you for permission to leave. After a nod, she smiled softly at you and then left the kitchen. You turned to watch her leave, watched her great Ned and Peter as they came in through the front door.

Turning around once more, you grabbed a cup of water and a slice of pizza and headed outside. It was quieter and less crowded and even though you’d come to the party to be around people and not be by yourself, it was nicer being out here. Running a hand through your hair, you finished your pizza and looked up at the sky. There weren’t any stars out but you pretended that there were so you could have something to look at. You didn’t know how long you sat there for but out of the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of some blue fireworks. You watched the light pulse for a moment before standing up. The party had been a mistake. Making your way around the side of the house, you threw your cup in the garbage bin as you passed it upon reaching the sidewalk. Glancing one more time up at the house, you pulled up your hood and started heading home.

Your feet carried you while your mind wandered. You thought back to your day at school, hoping earnestly that your dad would reply with an affirmative answer. You’d come racing home, blazing through your homework and chores, maybe even getting a nap in before your dad came home. When he did get home, the two of you would make your way down to the park and find somewhere to sit and talk about his trip Sokovia last month, how work at the airport was going, where he was going next. He would ask about school and your projects, find something to tease you about. When your eyes started drifting shut you’d make your way back home. It’d be the perfect way to end the week.

As your mind had wandered, your feet had carried you to where you’d been thinking about: the park. You stood on the sidewalk and stared at it for awhile, watching the swings drift slightly in the soft breeze, listen to the crickets sing in the damp grass. Deciding to sit, you made your way over to a tree and sat down in the bark, your back against the rough wood. You faced the river, it’s waters lapping against the land in a soothing motion. On any other night, you probably would've fallen asleep but you were too awake now to drift off. You simply stared out at the water, the lights reflecting off of it, and thought.

Before long your thoughts were interrupted by something moving out in the water. Or, more appropriately, above the water. Squinting, you watched it approach, eyes widening when you realized that it was Iron Man. His metal suit glinted to the water on it and in his arms he carried something vaguely person-shaped. You stayed in the shadow of the tree and watched the events unfold, your curiosity getting the better of you. Iron Man set the thing he was carrying down on the jungle gym, somewhat roughly. It was indeed a person. Spider-Man, in fact. You were a little surprised to see the two superheroes together. Spider-Man had been present when the Avengers fought each other at that airport but since then the two hadn’t been spotted in the same place.

Spider-Man was dripping wet and shivering. He must’ve somehow ended up in a pool or something, or even the river itself. As you watched, he raised his arm up and slowly peeled the mask off of his head. You froze when you realized that you recognized that face underneath the mask. Even in the dark and a dozen or so feet away, you wouldn’t mistake that face for anyone else’s.

Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Spider-Man was Peter Parker. Peter had stopped a car from crashing into a bus with his bare hands. Spider-Man sat in front of you in science. Peter had fought Captain America. Spider-Man had the locker across from you. Your shock kept you from hearing what their conversation was about but you tuned back in when Iron Man blasted off, probably heading back for wherever the new Avengers base was. Peter sighed and his shoulders sagged as he grabbed his mask and rang the water out of it. He jumped off of the jungle gym and was about to pull the fabric over his head when he suddenly twisted and glanced in your direction. You froze, eyes wide, part of you hoping that he wouldn’t see you. Your wish was granted as he turned away and pulled the mask over his head.

The superhero adjusted the fabric and held up his hand to shoot out a web so he could swing away. When the webbing simply fell to the ground, damp because of the water, you nearly laughed at his reaction. Peter cursed and kicked the goopy material, which only served to get it stuck on his boot. He groaned and began to walk off, the webbing picking up a few pieces of grass and leaves. After he disappeared, you waited a few more minutes before getting up and leaving yourself. Running a hand through your hair, you wondered how in the world Peter had kept this a secret for so long. He’d been Spider-Man for nearly a year now and no one knew his secret. He was notorious for being bad at keeping secrets, his crush on Liz the most obvious example, and you had no idea how he’d managed to keep this a secret.

There was just one thing that you knew for sure. Monday was gonna be awkward...

Pt. 2

[cosmostellar]

su + mbti

Imo, when it comes to typing SU characters, it’s important to notice that SU is a very Fe-based show with a little to no Ne. So, even if there are Fi characters, their motivation usually gives a strong Fe vibe ― is often external, strongly connected to their loved ones and their emotions, etc. For me, this sometimes makes it hard to determine if a character is a Fi user with very very strong Fe needs/motives or a Fe user with lowkey stronger than usual Fi actions. Compare this to Avatar: The Last Airbender ― a cartoon which, I think, has an extremely well-written balance between Fe and Fi in the narrative with some characters being clearly Fe (Katara) and some being clearly Fi (Aang), but both needing both external and internal emotional validation. This show also had a very strong accent placed on themes of self-acceptance and personal morals-reality clash, whereas SU mostly focuses on the characters’ actions and feelings and how it influences other characters and their feelings.

For example, both Steven and Aang have strong internal conflicts carefully written throughout the show ― but, when you think about it, Steven’s conflict is much more Fe-based. His mother did something, he doesn’t know what exactly but he can see it has a bad influence on his loved ones and the world he cares about, seeing his friends and the planet suffer makes him suffer, he decides to pay for it himself ― because he struggles with self-identification and starts to identify himself with his mother.

Aang, on the other hand, personally thinks murder is wrong. He can see his friends suffering because of Ozai’s actions, but he still can’t bring himself to hate the Fire Lord enough to kill him. Seeing his friends suffer does make Aang suffer, but not enough to blindly put it over his own priorities of not wanting to kill anyone. Heck, he even asks previous Avatars for help and they all think he should kill Ozai, but his Fi is still too strongly against to agree with that.

Now, I type both of them as EFPs, aka aux-Fi users, but I think it’s pretty clear Aang’s conflict is in a much more Fi-written manner than Steven’s, which seems to come from Fi but still mix it up with Fe a lot. And this pattern is repeating in a lot of SU Fi-users actions.

As for the lack of Ne I mentioned ― it doesn’t mean that SU doesn’t have Ne characters at all. It does. But the writing of the show in general lacks Ne, Ne humor and Ne solutions ― compare it to Gravity Falls, when I believe only one of the Pines family is a Ne-user, but the show itself is heavily Ne in its writing, full of weird connections and absurd humor. As for the plot, both SU and GF aim to have all puzzles in the right places, but with SU it’s much more particular ― this thing happened, it influenced the other thing, which connected to this thing, so this is where we are now. GF seems to be more in the spirit of, “this, this, this, this and also this happened and look, this is where we are now and all these things connect to each other!!”.

Where I’m going with this is ― it’s clear that there is a Ne user standing behind Gravity Falls (Alex Hirsch is most probably an ENTP and his tert-Fe also has an interesting treatment of Fi, but I’m not going to go into that now because I can already feel the introduction being longer than the typing itself). And it’s clear that there’s not a lot of Ne standing behind Steven Universe. Which can make it complicated if there is an attempt to write a Ne character, because they end up using some Ne in their thinking, but they don’t speak or think fully like a Ne-user.

“But Koh, why the fuck did you write all that?”. Because I just know my stupid Ne ass would end up trying to explain it in the middle of the typing, which would be much more unclear and confusing than putting it all in introduction.

Now, to the actual typing.

Steven ― ESFP. Quick to take action, happy with doing a lot, constantly out there, Se seems obvious. I’ve been extremely hesitant if the boy isn’t a Fe user, especially with his recent plot and development, but I would still go with a self-blaming Fi here.

Garnet ― ISTP. A very well-developed low Fe, a very logical Ti. No hesitating here.

Amethyst ― ESTP. I’ve been typing her for an ESFP for like the first two seasons because her actions seemed very unhealthy-Fi, but now I’m not sure if she isn’t just an underdeveloped ESTP. Her journey for self-acceptance goes almost entirely through external validation and action, so, tert-Fe, I’d say.

Pearl ― ISTJ. After years of thinking I decided that I see her more as a Si-Fi loop (constantly replaying and rethinking past events and getting stuck up in the past and her bad feelings back then, lots of personal emotional journey to accept it and move on). But if someone gives me very well-thought-out reasoning for an ISFJ Pearl, I’m probably going to agree. Si-dom though, that’s for sure.

Connie ― INTP. Ti-dom with a logical, analytical look at the world, thinks with logic and not emotions (this is also how she reads books), notices patterns and uses them to manipulate her parents. Yearns to be remembered by someone who loved her after she dies, but doesn’t need a lot of attention and is okay with having a one friend; can get extremely self-sacrificing for this one friend (inf-Fe). I’m pretty sure she was in a Ti-Si loop when Steven met her, but since then developed her Ne. Which, as I said earlier, doesn’t make her sound like a Ne, but some actions and ways of thinking can be interpreted as such (Veronica Cucabanga, Open Book, etc).

Peridot ― INTP. Again, speaks clearly like a Ti-dom, is clearly not a Se-user, so, Ne. Some can be noticed (claims to have plenty of ideas how to make the Earth safe but useful for Yellow Diamond, has a half-a-day long theories about patterns in one episode of a show ― but again, this is also when Ti kicks in). Doesn’t speak like a Ti/Ne but speaks like a Ti who also happens to use Ne time to time.

Lapis ― INFP. The only clear Fi motivation in the show, I’d say. Looped as hell so it doesn’t even make sense to look for Ne at this point, but her loop points much more towards Si (extremely stuck up in the past) than Ni. Her bonding with Peridot seems to be slightly Ne-based (making meepmorps together and such).

Sapphire ― INFJ. A pretty obvious one. Her actions in Keystone Motel are a typical tert-Ti rationalization with a Ni-dom support.

Ruby ― ISFP. Often mistyped as ESTP, also by me, until @kendrixtermina opened my eyes. This mistyping imo heavily comes from Ruby’s main priority being, again, a typically Fe priority: she deeply cares about fusion, but her caring about fusion comes from her caring about Sapphire and she is introduced via how she is impulsive (Se) and cares about Sapphire more than anything else (Fe). So it can take time and closer look to notice that after that (Keystone Motel, Hit The Diamond) our girl’s actions are more Fi than Fe (when she gets emotional, she gets fully emotional, with little regard for her loved ones). Then, when you look at her introduction again, you can see the furious Fi and impulsive Se. But again, even if it’s Fi, it’s strongly Fe-based so.

Rose Quartz ― ENFP. I think she is the most Ne character in the show, which may be because we mostly hear what the other characters have to say about her and what they say (how she could see beauty in everything, how she was fascinated by how humans can change, how she made the gems think outside of the box and realize they can be whoever they want to be) is all very Ne. But also she had this rich internal emotional life and it seems that everything she did, she did mostly because she wanted to/felt like it, so, Fi. Again, probably the strongest Fi in the show outside of Lapis and probably it’s because we don’t as much see her as hear about her.

Yellow Diamond ― ENTJ. “What’s the use of feeling, Blue?” is such a Te-Ni song. Let’s forget about the past, ignore my negative emotions and focus on the future and fucking up everything that made me feel bad.

Blue Diamond ― INFP, also with little to no Ne, also stuck in a strong Fi-Si loop, also introduced by her Fe-based motivation (she’s extremely focused on herself, her emotions and her need to grieve, but her main motivation is how she misses Pink Diamond, so, again, focus on the loved one).

Tell me if there’s someone that has been shown in the show a lot (I can’t really type the Rubies or Blue Zircon no matter how much I love her) ― and outside of Greg whom I love but I’m really stuck on the “Fi or Fe part” and I just don’t know ― but I forgot to mention them!!

@kaypher @nothingforawhile

[ber39james]

It’s Time to End Grammar Trolling

During a recent discussion here at Grammarly HQ, someone on the team asked a very good question: is there actually a difference between correcting someone’s grammar and being a grammar troll?

As a copy editor by trade, I have a strong opinion on this one. Yes! Of course there’s a difference!

A good editor, a caring teacher, or an upstanding grammar lover offers corrections that are helpful, polite, and appropriate. A grammar troll insults, mocks, or tries to embarrass another person for making an error. It’s time for that to stop.

But the Internet is destroying proper English! the grammar trolls whine. Everyone is just too stupid! Somebody has to draw the line!

Actually, English is doing just fine. Ask any actual linguist. And everyone is not too stupid. Misspelling a word, making a grammatical error, or even writing a sentence that’s hard to understand doesn’t make you stupid. But insulting someone for making a mistake does make you a grammar troll. And a jerk.

I don’t care! Part of me dies every time I see the word IRREGARDLESS, cry the grammar trolls.

Wow. Aren’t you special.

Consider this: Maybe the person on the other side of the screen is a nonnative speaker who is trying hard to learn English. Maybe it’s someone who speaks a dialect of English that’s different from your own. Maybe they have a different educational background than you do. They could have a disability that makes writing or typing difficult. Maybe they do, in fact, know the difference between to and too but accidentally mistyped.

Ugh, my eyes are bleeding, the grammar trolls sneer. You just used the singular “they.”

Yep! I do it all the time—proudly. So far, exactly zero people have died because of it.

PEOPLE? The Elements of Style clearly states that it should be PERSONS.

Listen, Strunk and White were full of baloney. They couldn’t even identify the passive voice correctly.

You’re a moron and I hate you!

That’s what it really comes down to, isn’t it? Grammar trolls claim that they just want to uphold the standards of proper English. But if that were true, they’d offer polite, respectful suggestions instead of contempt. Why would I change what I say and write just because of some rude, angry stranger? Why would anyone? Grammar trolls don’t want to fix anything. They do what they do because they feel smart when they shame others.

But what if you really do just want to help people write better? What if you’re convinced the typo on the sign in the window of your favorite diner is hurting business? What if you enjoyed someone’s blog post, but there’s a typo the writer missed? What’s a well-meaning grammar lover to do? Here’s what you do: BE NICE. Don’t be rude. Don’t be mean. Don’t be condescending. Just be nice. Tell someone about the mistake if it’s important, and if it’s not, let it go.

If you’re not sure how to be nice, or if you’re a penitent grammar troll without a lot of practice showing kindness, read on. We’ve got all the tips you need in one handy infographic.

Now go out there and give grammar lovers a good name. And if you have a tip for fighting grammar trolls, share it in the comments section!

The post It’s Time to End Grammar Trolling appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/stop-grammar-trolls/

[arthur36domingo]

It’s Time to End Grammar Trolling

During a recent discussion here at Grammarly HQ, someone on the team asked a very good question: is there actually a difference between correcting someone’s grammar and being a grammar troll?

As a copy editor by trade, I have a strong opinion on this one. Yes! Of course there’s a difference!

A good editor, a caring teacher, or an upstanding grammar lover offers corrections that are helpful, polite, and appropriate. A grammar troll insults, mocks, or tries to embarrass another person for making an error. It’s time for that to stop.

But the Internet is destroying proper English! the grammar trolls whine. Everyone is just too stupid! Somebody has to draw the line!

Actually, English is doing just fine. Ask any actual linguist. And everyone is not too stupid. Misspelling a word, making a grammatical error, or even writing a sentence that’s hard to understand doesn’t make you stupid. But insulting someone for making a mistake does make you a grammar troll. And a jerk.

I don’t care! Part of me dies every time I see the word IRREGARDLESS, cry the grammar trolls.

Wow. Aren’t you special.

Consider this: Maybe the person on the other side of the screen is a nonnative speaker who is trying hard to learn English. Maybe it’s someone who speaks a dialect of English that’s different from your own. Maybe they have a different educational background than you do. They could have a disability that makes writing or typing difficult. Maybe they do, in fact, know the difference between to and too but accidentally mistyped.

Ugh, my eyes are bleeding, the grammar trolls sneer. You just used the singular “they.”

Yep! I do it all the time—proudly. So far, exactly zero people have died because of it.

PEOPLE? The Elements of Style clearly states that it should be PERSONS.

Listen, Strunk and White were full of baloney. They couldn’t even identify the passive voice correctly.

You’re a moron and I hate you!

That’s what it really comes down to, isn’t it? Grammar trolls claim that they just want to uphold the standards of proper English. But if that were true, they’d offer polite, respectful suggestions instead of contempt. Why would I change what I say and write just because of some rude, angry stranger? Why would anyone? Grammar trolls don’t want to fix anything. They do what they do because they feel smart when they shame others.

But what if you really do just want to help people write better? What if you’re convinced the typo on the sign in the window of your favorite diner is hurting business? What if you enjoyed someone’s blog post, but there’s a typo the writer missed? What’s a well-meaning grammar lover to do? Here’s what you do: BE NICE. Don’t be rude. Don’t be mean. Don’t be condescending. Just be nice. Tell someone about the mistake if it’s important, and if it’s not, let it go.

If you’re not sure how to be nice, or if you’re a penitent grammar troll without a lot of practice showing kindness, read on. We’ve got all the tips you need in one handy infographic.

Now go out there and give grammar lovers a good name. And if you have a tip for fighting grammar trolls, share it in the comments section!

The post It’s Time to End Grammar Trolling appeared first on Grammarly Blog.

from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/stop-grammar-trolls/