#but here i get it!!! like you really work with problem solving and correlation between the results and a possible diagnosis

[astonmartingf]

When r u updating!

uhm to be honest, i have no idea when 😬

thank you for asking though !!!! because i am still writing in my drafts, maybe next week after my exams, i'm still trying to manage my schedule and now that i'm a month in, i already know the ropes, plus rn i'm assigned at the more busy parts of the laboratory and every shift makes me want to sleep immediately and prepare for the next shift but in a few weeks we will be rotating and finally moving to the less busy areas so i might have more time to write and actually post my drafts n e ways!!!! here are my drafts which you might see that i've written it over a month ago but that's what internship does to me so 💪

[finniestoncrane]

🩷 Connie (OC) x Riddler x Boomerang, multi-part fic 🩷 constance dorothea drum (connie/conundrum) is my sorta self-insert OC who i like to put into situations!! i'm finally getting around to writing out her backstory and her love triangle and it is filled with fluff and angst and good old smut based in the arkham!verse in terms of character/place design, but divergent as far as the timeline goes fic masterlist • AO3 link • tag: auc fic • plushie doodles by @/march-harrigan

💚 Chapter 2: Perfect Timing, word count: 2.8k 💚 10 years ago: connie and harley spend an agonising day in the library trying to solve connie's thesis problems. luckily, she comes up with the perfect topic, one that ends up grabbing her attention in more ways than one. request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: we finally see how mentally ill connie is for eddie, even at these early stages of her career, and there's a bit more harley and connie friendship to absorb because they're cute ok

“I’m really cutting it close now, Harley. My meeting with the advisor is in ten minutes, and if I don’t take an actual concrete idea to my supervisor today, then I might as well drop out now.”

Of course, Connie could be as vocal about how stressed she was all that she wanted, but she was also very aware that it was her own fault for leaving things so late. She was one for getting distracted, unable to start things, unable to keep her mind focused on one train of thought. Undiagnosed ADHD, that’s what Harley had said while she was practising her clinical work on her, although how much of that was truthful could be argued, given Harley was studying psychology and not psychiatry. Whatever was wrong with her, though, she had to try and overcome it or all of her years of study so far at Gotham State would all be for nothing. 

“Bubby, I don’t know what you want me to say. We’ve been trying to come up with a topic for your thesis for… years now. Literally years. You just gotta pick one from the pile of rejects and go with it, that’s what I think!”

“But I want to believe in my idea! I want it to be something I can write about confidently, passionately. I want a good grade.”

Harley tossed the book she was absent-mindedly reading to the ground, kicking her legs up on the table and leaning back with a sigh that turned into a groan before she spoke.

“What does it matter anyway, really? All of this studying? I mean, have you ever thought about how many criminals lately have doctorate degrees? Real life actual doctors, people who studied their tight little asses off like you’re trying to right now, driven eventually to a life of crime. Good grade or not, if you really think about it, we’re just here studying to end up as Batman and the GCPDs punching bags.”

“Huh… you’re right…”

“I am!?” Harley sat up straight like a dog hearing their favourite word, grinning wide at Connie’s agreement. “So does that mean we can blow this dump and go to the pier?”

With an expression of disappointment, Connie raised her eyebrows, exasperatedly dropping her hands to the table as she renewed her patience for Harley before bursting her bubble.

“No. I mean that you’re right about the doctorates. The list must be pretty long. Let me think… you’ve got… Oh, Freeze, he was a doctor, wasn’t he?”

“Oh yeah, he was a babe, too.”

“Another one… Langstrom!”

“Babe.”

“Sartorius.”

“Babe.”

“Hellfern!”

“Spooky babe!”

“And Isley, of course.”

“ Super babe.”

“All of them, intelligent people with ambitions and passion, driven to criminality because of… what? There must be some relation to super intelligence, a correlation between super intellect and… maybe a lack of stimulation? Or perhaps they have a greater understanding of the unfairness of society? A clinical mind that can compartmentalise morals in the name of the greater good of humanity of science? Looking for an outlet of their genius? And just a little sprinkling of autism?”

“Well, you would be the expert there.”

“I would… But I’m still not sure what it is that definitively pushes them…”

“Maybe you find out when you study it for your thesis then? You ask the question, you find some evidence. Sounds like as good an idea as any of the others we’ve talked and talked and talked and talked about.”

“Hmm… Yeah, I think I like it!”

“So now can we get out of here? I hate the library. It’s too quiet! Which really tests my need for chaos .”

“It’s not exactly quiet when you’re in here.” Connie shoved Harley’s arm playfully, watching as she very intentionally, and very dramatically, fell to the ground with a ridiculous groan. “Ok, ok, I have my meeting in five minutes and then once I’m done we can leave. Wish me luck!”

Harley offered a smile and a salute, her way of sending positive vibes to Connie as she left for her meeting, but she really didn’t need any luck or good will at all. When she posed the question to her advisor, he had smiled knowingly, satisfied with the proposal and definitely intrigued by it. And that was despite her unprepared stammering and lack of any preliminary research to accompany it. She assumed the enthusiasm would bode well for her once she actually got to the meat of the project. 

“There’s just one thing, though…” he had said, smoothing his fingers over the stubble on his chin, a self-satisfactory move from the proclaimed intellectual, who Connie hoped would soon enter his own criminal phase and be swiftly beaten to a bloody pulp. “Do you intend to only focus on those with doctorates? Or would you be interested in intelligence which hasn’t been professionally recognised, so to speak?”

Connie tilted her head slightly, trying to understand the question.

“Do you mean like… Emotional or social intelligence? Like how Roman Sionis seems to be able to charm or threaten his way out of, well, literally everything and anything?”

“No, no. God no. We’d be here forever discussing that kind of thing. I mean, every criminal must have an ounce of charisma or muscle to back up their actions. No, I mean those who might not necessarily have a professional title, or even a formal education, but who still exhibit, or present themselves as having, the same level of intelligence as your aforementioned doctorates. Perhaps there might be some who are even smarter?”

“Like?”

“Well, I’m thinking of people like Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter as he was perhaps better known. Incredibly intelligent man, talented in so many different skills, but not necessarily renowned for his intellect, and I’m sure he will have a degree, but not necessarily an academic ranking.”

“Hm, interesting.”

“Or take, for instance, Garfield Lynns. Are you familiar?”

“That’s Firefly, no?”

“Indeed. He worked with highly dangerous chemicals for a living, and for fun. Pyrotechnic work, bombs, explosives. Jobs which require an advanced degree of training and study and knowledge, but don't necessarily need a doctorate. And his engineering skills were admirable too, even if they were being put towards his criminal activities.”

“Oh! Or Bane!”

“Precisely! His work with chemicals and the study of his own sickness and addiction are fascinating on their own, even putting aside the fact that he had no formal teaching during his upbringing in prison. I’d kill to take a look at his research. Someone like him would make an excellent case study! That’s what I’m talking about, people like that. There’s always a modicum of intelligence behind being a successful criminal. The stupider ones get caught far too quickly. To last a while, to be a pain to the criminal justice system, you have to be able to outsmart it.”

Connie nodded, her eyes wide with excitement as she felt the inspiration flowing through her, her advisor continuing to lecture on the point which he wished he was making under his own name. 

“Of course, bring up the doctorates too. Bring up as many examples as you can. But I would advise you to have one star of the show, as it were. Just something to focus the research on. An example that can relate to all the examples. Got it?”

Connie left the room feeling lighter than she had in months. Although the last thing her advisor had said did cling to her chest, a little nugget of anxiety in itself. Sure, she had the plan, but now she needed a star to pull everything together. Someone to focus on, someone interesting, appealing, intelligent and an example of criminality. Someone, preferably, without a professional title since that felt like an interesting angle to her. As she pondered, deep in thought, she could make out Harley ahead of her. She was face down at one of the tables at the end of the shelves of books, impatiently waiting to leave the library and forget about her studies for a moment, the complete opposite attitude from Connie. 

That was understandable, Connie thought. She was planning on getting her masters in Library Science, finishing her degree in Psychology this year without the intention of becoming a doctor or a researcher or a therapist or a professor. Those seemed far too daunting to her, she’d realised in her studies. It was too much for her to have that kind of responsibility, she had learned. She was far too gentle, far too manipulatable. She was leaving all of that to Harley, who was the kind of person that Connie was certain could speak to a criminal and not be afraid, and definitely not be sucked in and swayed by their charms. So for Connie, there were only two and a half more years to go of the relentless essays and exams and presentations. For Harley, it could take anywhere between six and nine, and that was if she could sit still for long enough to actually apply herself. She was intelligent enough, but she was so easily distracted, always in need of excitement, of something new. So regular breaks were a necessity. But Connie just couldn’t commit to that today. 

“So? How did it go? We off the hook for the day?”

“It went great, actually. He liked the idea a lot, and he gave me some really good notes too.”

“Then why do ya look like he told you he slept with your grandmother and now he’s getting your share of the inheritance?”

“... Because I can’t come out with you.”

“Aw, c’mon, Bubby, I-”

“I know, I know. But I really need to get started on this. I’m so sorry! I just really need to find someone to be the focal point of this stupid thesis and then find my bearings with it. I am really sorry, Harls.”

“Urgh…” Harley tossed her head back, her flexibility pushed as she seemed to completely curl backwards on herself before springing back to attention. “Fine! But you owe me, Bubby! I just wanna get out of here more than anything else, so you’re lucky! Have fun finding the perfect criminal. I would suggest checking today’s paper if you want a head start!”

The last part she spoke in a sing-songy voice before picking up her backpack and heading out, keychains jingling, flipping her fingers up to Connie on her way out, followed by her usual call of “LOVE YA!” and then she disappeared from sight. It was odd of her to mention the newspaper, given how unlikely it was for her to actually sit down and read one. “She must have been really bored…” Connie thought, as she settled herself down at the table and picked up the paper. The edges had been torn, some of the articles outlined in doodles of love hearts and smiley faces, all the work of Harley’s nervous, fidgeting fingers. But it was easy to look past them to the particular article of interest. 

“Oh… Oh!”

As Connie read the article, pieces of the information rang a bell in her memory. Edward Nigma, previously known as Edward Nashton and Enigma, who had a while back begun operating under the moniker The Riddler , was now free again. High-priced lawyers will get a man anything, Connie mused. She remembered him, and she definitely remembered Enigma for sure. That was one of the first times that Gotham had really heard of Batman in a positive light after being touted for so long as a menace, a criminal vigilante. And Enigma seemed to be the same thing, just written in a different font. 

And then, of course, there was his work as The Riddler. He’d been under the radar for the longest time, all through her studies it seemed, after being apprehended by Batman in Arkham City. Since then, he’d been unusually silent, behaving himself during his time at Arkham Asylum. So he had sort of disappeared from everyone’s minds, an easy feat in Gotham even for big name criminals, given the onslaught of entirely ubiquitous criminality that found its home there. But she remembered him now, very clearly, as she gazed at the old image of him being dragged from his lair by Aaron Cash. 

And she remembered how she felt at the time of his arrest. It had been difficult for her to reconcile herself with her feelings, knowing what crimes he committed and still being unable to deny the fact that he was actually quite cute. Those feelings stirred themselves up again as she read the article describing his release with excitement. 

“Egotistical, egomaniacal.”

“Superiority complex, God complex.”

“Intelligent, superior intellect.”

“Self-assured, irritating, compulsive, obsessive.”

No mention of a degree though, no doctorate, no title. After a records search, she pulled out the few newspapers that mentioned him, noting that none of them mentioned his schooling, his degree titles, where he might have studied. And then, the jackpot. One which actually explicitly mentioned his lack thereof. 

“Edward Nigma, as he now prefers to be called, refused to attend university. He claims his school life was boring and a test of his patience, and that levels of intelligence such as his cannot be measured by peers, as he has none.”

“Wow. What an ass. He’s perfect .”

So perfect, in fact, that Connie had no concept of just how much time had passed while she read everything she could about The Riddler and his crimes. That was until Harley was smacking her on the back, causing her to choke and splutter on the soda she was sipping. She’d been caught in the middle of reading yet another report which barely even mentioned Edward except in passing, but which she was intent on reading anyway in order to satisfy her desire to find out more, and more, and more. 

“Jeez, Harley! You scared me!”

“ I scared you!? You terrified me! Have you been in here this whole time!?”

“Yeah! You knew that! I said I was going to stay here and study for a little bit.”

“Bubby, I left you eight hours ago. Eight hours! And you’re not answering your phone!”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, shit! Have you been sitting here studying this whole time? And is that… OH, I see you picked up the paper then? I mentioned that as a joke .” She looked to the piles of reference materials littering the table and the floor. “Oh… Connie, Bubby. Is he who you’re focusing on?”

Connie tried to conceal her embarrassment, scrambling to cover the sheets of paper, knowing it was pointless now that the secret was out. 

“Are you blushing ? Oh my god . Connie, you’re supposed to be studying him like the nasty little loser bug he is. This is a psychological deep dive, not a… well, you’re not supposed to have a crush on your patients!”

“He’s not a patient!” Connie reminded herself to keep her voice quiet, rushing to clarify the second part of Harley’s statement. “And I don’t have a crush on him! He’s just… fascinating, that’s all.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Fascinating . Next you’re going to be telling me he’s dreamy, so clever, a handsome face for someone so much older than you.”

Desperate to change the subject, Connie closed her notebooks and began packing things into her bag as she spoke. 

“And I’m pretty far ahead with where I wanted to be, so now we can do whatever you want this weekend if you can promise to drop this and not make fun of me.”

“No can do, Bubby. But we are leaving this place, I gotta deprogramme you before you go completely wacko for some puzzle-brained doofus. Pack up your things, say goodbye to your boyfriend and let’s GO!”

Harley was right. Time to relax, let the idea simmer, and then come back to it with a fresh mind on Monday. But it was easier said than put into practice. Surprisingly, it was not all that easy to stop thinking about Nigma. He really was just fascinating . And as her studies continued, the crush developed, to the point where she had considered thanking him in the acknowledgements of the finished product, thought about him as she walked across the stage to get her diploma, wrote about him in her application for her masters, and almost, though luckily she saw sense at the last minute, sent him a copy of her thesis to read. 

But by the time she had finished her masters she was far too focused on the looming threat of real life. There were bills to pay, apartments to rent, work to be done at her new job in the Asylum, a place where Edward had been free of for years. In the back of her mind though, he always lingered, it’s just that there was so little opportunity for her to actually think for herself that he remained just a shadow, a memory of her past life. But not entirely forgettable.

[thewhumpcaretaker]

Have you heard of Moral Foundations Theory and the idea that conservatives actually use a wider moral spectrum than liberals? Like liberals pretty much only care whether something is harmful, unfair or oppressive…conservatives care about those things too, but also care if it’s impure, disloyal or subversive.

So if the people around you don’t accept purity as a valid moral foundation, you find yourself making all kinds of stretches to justify why everything impure is actually harmful, even if only indirectly or hypothetically or spiritually. Because that’s the only reasoning they'll accept; if it’s not harmful, they feel it’s oppressive to condemn it, even if they don’t like it. You’re allowed to say you don’t personally like something but you’re not allowed to say it’s flat-out wrong or should not be allowed just because it’s disgusting or degenerate.

Do you think this tendency to make everything about harm and freedom is helpful, or would it be better to expand our moral spectrum to include other ways of determining right and wrong?

Idk, Moral Foundations Theory is interesting, but it takes a sociological view rather than a philosophical view of the problem, which misses a lot in my opinion. It just lists these six standards without examining the systems that are used to arrive at those standards. (Some of the issues I have with that are summarized nicely in this article.) For example, what you're describing related to harm, unfairness, and oppression seems like a blurring between a utilitarian system (which says that the harm portion is wrong) and a deontological system (which might say the unfairness and oppression portion). I feel that we'd be better off breaking it down and really examining those systems, not just some of the standards that tend to arise out of them. And while this list of standards is great for showing which is correlated with which political party, I don't know that it proves any kind of causation between the two, because it doesn't get into the reasoning behind the political or the ethical choices. Anything you or I might say about that based on this theory is really just speculation.

Regardless, the confusion here points to a central problem:

I do think that any attempt to fit all judgements and decision making into any existing ethical model will fail. But I don't think this can be fixed by combining models. Ethics and morality as we know them are fundamentally unresolved. They have not been "solved" at any point in philosophy as it exists today, nor do we even have the components necessary to solve them, which is why we get the sense at times that it is impossible to know what is truly right and wrong in a universal sense. I think we as an entire species have thus far been asking the wrong questions about "good" and "bad." The models we have may sometimes work in a general way to help us figure out answers that seem initially coherent, but contradictions emerge and reasoning falls apart upon serious examination - similar to how a Newtonian model of physics could provide right answers before Einstein's model came along, but not because it was going about things the right way or actually asking the right questions. What are the better questions to ask? I have no idea of course. Only a sense that it may have something to do with diving deeper into what it means to "be" in the first place. Ethics can't be resolved until ontology is resolved, and that is still quite unresolved as well.

[f1shart]

SURE!! (glad someone asked because i wanted to share anyway LOL)

STEP #0

You'll wanna separate our IRL lifespan into the same age cohorts represented in TS2. You could choose any years you want to fall under each cohort, just keep track of how many years are within them. For elder, you're gonna want to establish a maximum despite the age of death varying.

My personal interpretation:

Baby: 0-1 year (1) Toddler: 2-5 years (4) Child: 6-12 years (7) Teen: 13-18 years (6) Young Adult: 19-24 (6) Adult: 25-64 years (40) Elder: 65-79 years (15)

I include young adult in mine (even though it doesn't really work like that in game) because most of the adult premades whose ages I convert seem 25 years or older. IN MY OPINION!! Hence why Lazlo being on Day 1 correlates to 25 instead of 20 or smth.

I also cut Teen off at 18 instead of 19 because that's the typical age high schoolers graduate here.

Highly important for reference, here is each life stage in The Sims 2:

Baby: 1-3 days (3) Toddler: 4-7 days (4) Child: 8-15 days (8) Teen: 16-30 days (15) Adult: 31-59 days (29) Elder: 60-79 days (20)

Elders will last 9 to 30 days in that stage so I averaged it out to 20.

You'll need to find the life stage duration yourself if you use a mod but, since it's my personal favorite, here's Netero's Nice Lifespan:

Baby: 1–2 days (2) Toddler: 3–9 days (7) Child: 10–25 days (16) Teen: 26–45 days (20) Adult: 46–109 days (64) Elder: 110–129 or 139 days (20/30)

STEP #1

Find out which day your sim is on. I'll use the beautiful Jenny Smith as an example 🥰

She is 5 days away from aging up when you start the game which is day 24 of the adult life stage.

STEP #2

Unfortunately, it's math time! The formula I use is (day in life stage)/(total days in life stage) = 𝑥/(total days in IRL equivalent age cohort), also pictured below.

This is Jenny's data put into the formula. She's on day 24 as stated before, she's an adult sim which is a life stage of 29 days, and - with my interpretation - the IRL adult "life stage" contains 40 years.

Then you solve for 𝑥, or rearrange the problem so that it's (24*40)/29 (cross multiplication). Round to the nearest whole number, and I get 𝑥 ≈ 33. This is not her final converted age!!

STEP #3

Finally, you'll need to find out what the 𝑥th number is between the years that encompass your cohort. For Jenny, I'm finding the 33rd number between 25 and 64, counting 25. I use my fingers for this tbh, and I get 57! With this system, Jenny is 57 years old ^_^ 💚

I hope this all makes sense. Luckily, it's pretty simple math :3 P.S. headcanons rule above any nerdy calculations. Jenny is actually Buzz's age in my mind, smh

thinking about buzz beating up the curious brothers again. like what do you mean

but buzz is older than them?? time to dissect this (and by that i mean overly complicate it!!)

Making Sense of Buzz Grunt Beating the Shit Out of the Curious Brothers (and Loki)

I went into this assuming that, considering how old Buzz is, him beating up the Curious brothers + Loki as a teenager was statistically impossible, especially considering their age in actual human years—but was I wrong? Is it actually possible that Buzz did fight them within the time he spent as a teenager?

First, some supporting information.

Age Conversions Based on Adult Lifestage

Buzz: Day 14 or 43 years old Pascal: Day 10 or 38 years old Loki: Day 9 or 36 years old Vidcund: Day 6 or 32 years old Lazlo: Day 1 or 25 years old

These aren't even my own age headcanons for them (except Buzz's which is surprisingly accurate), just calculations. If you want to know how I got them then feel free to ask 😇

Evidence Provided by Memories

As seen in the picture, Buzz fought everyone "as soon as he aged up." However, it's possible he just has no memories of early teenhood.

Pascal similarly gained the memory as soon as he aged up. This idea is more plausible with him because he was accepted into private high school after the fact. Sure, in gameplay, this can happen as late as the last day as a teenager, but I doubt this is what Maxis was trying to convey since they literally handpicked these memories. Meaning: Buzz beat him up in middle school…?

Loki's only teen memory is losing the fight.

According to the Sims Wiki, Vidcund has no memory of Buzz beating him up (how hard did he hit him?)

Similar to Loki and Pascal, Lazlo's first memory as a teenager is getting beat up by Buzz.

Is This Possible In Normal Gameplay?

Disregarding any other family memories that arose around the time (I do NOT want to try to decipher the entire Curious timeline), the fight memories are in fact possible with their Sim ages.

The teen lifespan in The Sims 2 is 15 days long. Buzz is 4 days older than Pascal, 5 days older than Loki, 8 days older than Vidcund, and 13 days older than Lazlo.

Ensuring that everyone still falls within the teen lifestage, I made a table of the earliest and latest possible ages everyone could have been when Buzz attacked:

Converting their teen days into human years, Buzz either beat them all up as an 18 year old OR slowly picked them off until age 17 which is right before he kissed Lyla. None of this, however, is possible based on the initial age calculations.

Buzz's Attacks Based On the Adult Age Conversions

Buzz is 5 years older than Pascal, 7 years older than Loki, 11 years older than Vidcund, and 18 years older than Lazlo. There are two ways we can interpret their memories: either the Curious brothers + Loki were teenagers when Buzz attacked, or Buzz was a teenager when he started attacking them.

On the basis that Buzz is still a teenager, and assuming each fight happened in close proximity to one another, he specifically had to have been 18 years old when each one happened. This makes Pascal a 13 year old, Loki an 11 year old, Vidcund a 7 year old, and Lazlo…a newborn. ☠️ Alternatively, Buzz may have started younger and continued fighting until 18, the only teen year he could have possibly encountered Lazlo in.

If that seems implausible, then maybe Buzz wasn't a teenager and instead beat the boys up as soon as they turned thirteen. This would make him 18 for Pascal, 20 for Loki, 24 for Vidcund, and 31 for Lazlo. (Side note: Tank and Ripp would have been born by then.)

Conclusion

Regardless of whether you base it on Buzz been a teen or the victims being teens, him beating up Lazlo looks pretty bad. And if you go by gameplay rules, everything flows surprisingly well. According to normal gameplay AND real-life age conversions, Buzz is a big meanie who beat up at least one kid as a legal adult, at least with the age conversion system I used…

Me personally, I think he was college-aged when he started bullying them. (Or maybe they attacked him? Plot twist.) Of course, what I discussed weren't the only possibilities, but they should give a good idea of how things actually went… and maybe they can inspire your own headcanons! ^_^

this is such a useless pseudo-essay LMFAOO

[industria-adastra]

Thoughts on chapter 96 of Houseki no Kuni

Haruko Ichikawa owes me a new heart. This one just up and crumpled from despair from the soul-crushingly depressing new chapter.

A more detailed list of thoughts under the cut (because there were a lot + spoilers I guess):

Back to the moon once more. I feel like it's necessary to know how the gems are adapting to Lunarian life (the answer being surprisingly fast for a race that was previously hunted down on the regular by the same beings they now are), but I really wanna know what Phos is watching as they suffer for 10,000 years.

I'm surprised Cairngorm/Welegato is so buddy-buddy with Antarcticite and Cinnabar...until I remember that in actuality, while a hard pill to swallow, Phos probably cared more about them than they did them, in the end. Antarcticite especially: Their loyalty/love was always towards Sensei/Adamant first. Their bond with Phos was, while meaningful, not as strong as their bond towards Adamant. After all, it was really only for one winter.

I sure hope Aechmea's dumb plan to make another prayer machine shoots him in the foot. Because cultivating hatred and vengeance in the person you want to pray for you into nothingness sounds like the worst idea ever. Because as they equate nothingness as their salvation, will someone who hates you so desperately even pray sincerely for you?

Also, their plan to keep Phos in total isolation is a new level of scummy. Also forcibly transforming both new Lustrous and Admirabilis is just- No. Just, no. The new Lustrous wouldn't even have any say over this (much like the previously moon-napped moon-dust gems), and the Admirabilis are perfectly fine without immortality the Lunarian way. Don't drag them. (Also wasn't this what everyone and their mom accused Phos of? Dragging people into things without real consideration? And here you are, doing the same.)

Welegato/Cairngorm, while understandable and no less of a victim of Scummea, still made active choices to be completely unempathetic towards Phos' suffering. So yeah screw them. You can be happy for all the happiness they gave you because you didn't really have to suffer any of the work required to get that happiness.

Honestly surprised there's like a "no biggie" thing between Ghost and Cairn because there was like a big ol' unresolved thing(TM) between them but...maybe Cairgorm's whole name change and their new identity as moon princess solved that individuality issue they had going on and their beef with Ghost? Maybe?

Man, I sure wonder if everyone's similarity/how hard it is to differentiate between them correlates to loss of individuality or something. I dunno might just be an art style upgrade.

Cinnabar wrestling with that guilt but ultimately sort of just accepting their newfound happiness is very bittersweet. Understandable but makes me no less mad. Euclase as well kinda just goes "Poor guy". I'm not sure if they'll really do anything about it.

Antarc, I believed in you. 95 ended with them asking about Phos and 96 started with them being completely ok with Phos having a nice trauma-dumping session from Sensei's eye.

Were Sensei and Aechmea in cahoots the whole time because if they were it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Yellow Diamond has dementia. Becoming a Lunarian has not fixed anything for them. They are not ok.

Padpa...I wonder if they'll be the one to look for Phos? Likely not but I'm just hoping at least one person checks up on Phos out of genuine concern. Because Padpa being lifeless is pretty interesting. Or maybe it's their way of signaling to Rutile that they're really just not into the relationship or existing at all.

Rutile is a therapist. Good for them I guess.

Yes Euclase, baby Phos had issues. I sure do wonder where those issues came from huh.

Adamant better have a good reason for leaving Phos to their 10,000 year suffering. Although I do wonder that, as much as Sensei is decidedly loving and caring towards the Lustrous, are they still limited in understanding Phos' problems/the problem of the whole 10,000 years in isolation/banking on one mentally unstable individual to sincerely pray for the salvation of everyone.

Is the praying for one going to lead to a chain reaction to everyone being prayed away or was that just Aechmea being the moon's most unreliable narrator/source of info.

Dia and Bortz still haven't reconciled I think? Diamond seems to be completely fine with acting like they didn't have a massive freaking violent meltdown thing earlier on. Interesting that Bortz is keeping themselves in the dark though.

Will the Admirabilis's bond with Phos and the whole ice floes things ever be brought up? Will Phos get to interact once more with the race that is the most decidedly human out of all three? Ichikwaw I am begging you to let Phos keep one good relationship.

If this manga ends with Aechmea winning/being able to go away scot-free without repercussions I am going to cry. In rage.

Phos should get to die. Like just seriously die and rest. Or maybe reincarnate into a happier existence. I am tired of the suffering. It's hard to think how they'll achieve peace any other way. Unless they live out a nice existence with the mortal Admirabilis? Kinda like Jellyfish enthusiast Bort.

[sunfoxfic]

I was just going through your Nino Lahiffe tag and saw a post in which you mentioned Nino and Master Fu as foils, and—if you’re down for it—I’d love to hear more! Your analysis posts are always so interesting and a correlation between Wayzz’s two holders is something I’ve always been intrigued in seeing be brought up :)

Okay I had to go searching for the post where I mentioned that because I didn't remember that at all and that makes sense because the original post was from April and as such I have no idea what my original thoughts are when I wrote it.

HOWEVER. You caught me at a really good time because I've been thinking/writing about the kwamis and Nino a lot recently.

One of my main characterizations with Nino, and I've mentioned this but I don't usually tag reblogs of my own posts so I don't know if it would be in my Nino Lahiffe tag, is that Nino is a coward. And he is! And I mean this in the most affectionate way possible. He struggles a lot to be a hero, which is the exact opposite of Alya, who wanted so bad to be a hero. Even in Anansi, he barely accepted the Miraculous even when he was actively being faced with danger - the only reason he took the Miraculous is because Alya was in danger.

So there's really the two things I think are important to understand about Nino: He is a coward, and he will follow the people he loves into the depths of hell (or into a battle, or into the Agreste Mansion, as it were).

Fu, likewise, is characterized as a coward. (Not really after his memory got wiped, but before that.) He ran from the Nazis when Marianne wanted to use the Miraculous; he ran from Feast when he realized that his past caught up to him. The difference, and the reason why Nino works as a Turtle holder where Fu really doesn't, is that Nino has that drive to protect people.

The Turtle Miraculous is all about following. Whereas other Miraculous can perpetrate villainy, the Turtle Miraculous really.... can't. Not on its own. Or, at the very least, not in a unique way. We've actively seen the Cat (Chat Blanc), Bee (Queen Wasp), Fox (Volpina), Butterfly, and Peacock Miraculous being used in evil ways, but closest the Turtle has is Shellshock on Heroes Day, and you wanna know what? On Heroes Day, Shellshock got akumatized for Rena Rage.

Even when you're talking about using the Turtle Miraculous in a good way, it's not like the Turtle Miraculous can particularly solve problems that aren't being caused by someone else. I'm sure they exist here and there, but where the Bee could keep a building from falling over, where the Ladybug could restore a building after a fire, where the Cat could get someone out of being trapped..... how often do you need defense without some form of offense?

The Turtle Miraculous is made to follow. And Fu simply did not have the drive to follow. Where they were both cowardly, Fu didn't have any connection strong enough to outweigh the cowardice. And that's not to say that Fu wasn't a great character or that he didn't have other strengths (I love Fu as a character, I really do!). It's to say that Marinette never could have asked Fu to use the Turtle Miraculous for her. It's to say that Fu did not really have what it took to be a successful Turtle Miraculous holder, in the end. So for all their similarities, Nino had something that Fu didn't: A desire to protect the people he loved. It's not that Nino is without the same vices that gripped Fu, it's that Nino has priorities more important than those vices.

[darcyxpalmer]

Darcy shook her head, "Not in that situation, no. I didn't want to get away and leave Tej behind or make him think I was trying to leave him behind." Tej even suggested that she should leave, but even if it all went wrong, she wouldn't have regretted staying, she just knew that. But thankfully it all worked out and they at least didn't have to worry about the mega-hornet anymore. The rest of the hornets were worrisome still, but Darcy was trying to be hopeful that they wouldn't see it anymore, or at least for a long, long while.

She looked over at Adarsh as she asked if he figured out his powers yet and she could see that the answer was yes on his face before he said anything. "Wait, did you really?" she said, excited, curious about what it could be and when Adarsh confirmed it, she said, "That's amazing, Adarsh! Just looking at the hornets alone, healing is going to be extremely useful, no matter what or when." Maybe it could take a bit of stress off of Akhila's load as well - Darcy doubted it could fully replace the woman, not her knowledge and experience, but if she could at least get a bit of a respite and not all of the worst after something like a hornet attack would fall onto her, that would be great alltogether.

"How did you figure it out? Did you heal yourself? Or did you have to heal somebody else?" she asked. "Have you started figuring out how it works? What kind of scars and ailments you can heal? What it doesn't work on, if there is anything it doesn't work on?"

It was so interesting, to learn about everyone else's powers. What made somebody get the one they did? Did it have to do with their personalities? Or was it not related to anything and it was just pure chance? She didn't really see any correlations between powers and people, but all of it being just chance and random luck felt too easy as well. For now, Darcy just tried to keep a list and learn more and more of people's powers, try to see it for herself.

"Hmmm. I don't know if I would call it scare tactic. Which, yeah, considering the cruise and how we got here, Maria, the hornets, the grave, it would make sense if it was a scare tactic. But I think all of these things are just tests to see how we react, how we get through it, how we solve problems. And in situations like this, most tests would not be easy, not be able hugging people."

She gave a small nod, though. "But I do agree that we have to stick together. I think we're strongest if we can work together - both with the powers but in general too. There is a reason so many different kind of people are here and not all of us are doctors or pilots or teachers. But I do think that it's going to be one of the hardest thing for us to do, too. So many different opinions, different personalities. I think it's going to be harder and harder with time for all of us to stick together." Darcy hoped she would be wrong, though.

He offered a smile, decided against telling her that he’d also gone out looking for the giant hornet and Beema. He was just lucky that he hadn’t walked into it. Or that it hadn’t found him. He of course assumed Darcy meant the strength of the robot rather than the screens. He hadn’t seen anything on the screens, hadn’t paid any more attention than what it had showed him of Selin. He hadn’t stopped to think what it vould mean.

His face gave away that he was impressed. Using the ability Tej had to trick the robot. He frowned slightly. “That’s good thinking. Using his powers like that. And yours? I assume?” Of course he’d heard about what Darcy could do, and pwrhaps if he knew more people by name, he’d be aware of most people and their abilities.

Adarsh took a seat next to her on the table, making himself comfortable, hands clapped together in front of him, eyes on the people in the hub. He wanted to be a hero of some kind, with his healing ability. While Tej and Darcy were the true heroes.

The smug smile reappeared on his face, he finally had a power, finally had something to figure out. “Actually,” he said, far too happy about it. “I did figure it out. And looks like I had it all along but never realised it. Probably because it doesn’t feel at all fitting. I can heal people.” And for now that seemed to include a lot of things, a world of possibilities. A chance to put himself in a better place at the beach. Make people think him better than he felt he was. “I thought Chance healed himself, but turns out that was all me.” And he was so fucking proud.

As Darcy shared her thoughts on the situation, Adarsh felt a pang of guilt that he couldn’t take away the bad things she felt. That he didn’t have the words to make it alright. And he wondered why that was. What about Darcy made him feel responsible?

"Yes, the grave," he agreed. It hadn't given him the same goosebumps as most people, but in general he found he tended to react more airy to situations that had nothing to do with him directly. Though perhaps he was simply ignoring it. "It's definitely a scare tactic, everything about this place feels like it's meant to make us suffer in some way." Test them, see who came out on top. But what was the goal? "We have to stick together."

[soundrooms]

Soundrs: William Fields

My name is William Fields. I live in Arden, Delaware, just south of Philadelphia on the East Coast of the USA. I make non-functional, future-oriented electronic music.

My newest album is ➜ Bokuseki  My 24-hour algorithmic music project is ➜ FieldsOS  My website is ➜ https://williamfields.com/  On social media:

    ➜ Twitter

    ➜ Instagram  Why do you make music?  I played the drums for a bit as a kid, but otherwise I am self-taught. I grew up listening to a lot of different music, but hiphop was a big part of it. I discovered electronic music in high school and was hooked for life. For some reason it resonates with my brain. On a fundamental level, I suppose I make music because I enjoy the process and because the results are rewarding. Music provides me with an endless source of learning and exploration and problems to solve. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride. And maybe in some small way, it’s given me an opportunity to inspire others and leave the world a little better than I found it. On a practical level, music has given me the opportunity to connect with really great people around the world and to travel occasionally for shows, which adds some adventure and excitement to my life.  What are your inspiration sources?  Rhythm: Photek, Squarepusher, Untold, Rian Treanor, Mark Fell, Kindohm Sonics: Autechre, Drum and bass (Noisia & friends) Groove: J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Aoki Takamasa Improvisation: Jazz, Indian Classical Ideas: Brian Eno, John Cage, Thich Nhat Hanh, Yuval Noah Harari, Austin Kleon, George Saunders, Haruki Murakami, various podcasts, my good friend Qebo.  Tell us something about your workflow.  I am always working on my music system (my “instrument”): adding features, removing features, adjusting algorithms, refining, tweaking, etc. You could think of my system as a huge, complex modular patch with hundreds of modules, that has a nice UI, full generative capabilities, and easy state management, but at a tiny fraction of the cost and it fits in my backpack. I ♥ Computers In the process of working on my system, I will occasionally feel inspired by something, so I will hit record and improvise. Most of these improvisations are crap and get thrown away. But, occasionally something magical happens, and those recordings end up getting released. If I know I have a release coming up, I will sometimes have dedicated recording sessions. Some of my favorite releases (like Shackamaxon) have been recorded in the course of a single day.  How would creative rituals benefit your workflow?  Good question. I don’t practice any creative rituals. But, I’m pretty sure going for a vigorous walk beforehand is a good idea. Gets the blood flowing to the brain.

How do you get in the zone?  It usually takes me around fifteen minutes before things really start flowing. So the first few tracks of a session tend to be stiff and self-conscious. In a stressful live performance situation, I’ve found that a little bit of tequila helps!  How do you start a track?  These days, my tracks tend to start with a snapshot that is algorithmically generated by my music system. It is much better at finding interesting musical spaces than I am. So, I will sit there and hit the randomize button until something inspiring comes out. Then I will hit record and improvise with it. I also keep a collection of interesting snapshots that I can load at random. So sometimes I will flip through those until I find something good and improvise based on that.  Do you have a special template?  Yes! I never start from a blank slate. The template is everything. It is my instrument. It has been burned into my muscle memory. I can control the music without thinking about it. I have been working on it since 2012. The fundamental structure is: LEMUR (controller) ➜ Javascript (for state generation/capture/recall) ➜ REAPER (sequencing, synthesis, fx) REAPER is the core of my music system. It is where the sequences are generated, the synthesis is done, and the FX are applied. 

The visuals are generated in real time, triggered by the music via MIDI. So there is very tight correlation between audio and visual events. I am not using audio analysis. The visuals are done in Javascript, running in Chromium. I use Visual Studio Code for development. 

For the visuals I am mainly using three.js. Thank you Mr. Doob! On the music side, I am hugely indebted to Justin Frankel (REAPER) and the Surge Synth Team. What I do would not be possible without their amazing work. What do you put on the master channel?  I try to put as little as possible on the master channel. I have some metering stuff like a spectrum analyzer, an oscilloscope, a goniometer, and a loudness meter. Other than that, the only thing is a waveshaper. It adds saturation, glues everything together nicely, and tames the peaks without reducing the impact of the transients. I’m not sure of the technical term, but it’s a special kind of waveshaper that folds over the waveform when it hits 0 dbFS instead of flat-topping it.  How do you arrange and finish a track?  I perform and record the music in real time to a single stereo pair. I don’t do any arrangement, layering, or multi-track editing after the fact.  How do you store and organize your projects?  When I record something, it goes onto the desktop and on to my phone. When I listen back to it later, if it has potential for release, I put it in a “Release Candidates” folder. Otherwise I throw it in the archive, probably never to be heard again. When it’s time to compile a release, I go through the “Release Candidates” folder and pick out my favorite stuff.

How do you take care of studio ergonomics?  I work in software, so my physical studio setup is very minimal. I have a motorized standing desk, so I can easily switch between sitting and standing.  Tell us something about your daily routine, how is your day structured, how do you make room for creativity?  I work at a day job four days a week to make a living. I have Fridays off and focus on music. I’ve found that mornings are best for detail-oriented tasks like programming and critical listening related to the mix/mastering of my system. Afternoons seem to be best for improvising and recording. Sometimes I wonder if all this music stuff is just an elaborate excuse for me to play with computers. Having said that, I am always thinking about music, listening back to recordings, taking notes on my phone, and making small adjustments throughout the week. I don’t need a big chunk of time. I am able to work in small bits here and there. Also, sometimes while working my day job I set my system to auto-generate new music every thirty seconds. Occasionally something really good will happen and I’ll run over to my computer and hit “Save” so I can perform with it later.  Share a quick producing tip.  (1) Don’t start from scratch every time! Build your instrument. Practice with it. Develop your muscle memory so it becomes fast and intuitive. This approach helps you to develop your own voice, and it’s much more fun than laboring over a DAW for endless hours until you hate your own music! (2) Always level match when doing A/B comparisons. If a plugin is increasing gain by as little as 0.1 db, it will sound better to your ear, even if it is actually damaging the sound. (3) Process as close to the source as possible. Instead of putting it on the master, put it on a bus. Instead of putting it on a bus, put it directly on the track. Instead of processing the track, fix it directly in the synthesis.  Share a link to an interesting website (doesn’t have to be music related).  I just discovered the Solarpunk movement and I think it’s really inspiring. Here’s the ➜ Solarpunk manifesto.  List ten sounds you are hearing right this moment : )  Cicadas Airplanes Cars in the distance Computer keyboard clacking as I type My own breathing That’s all I got. The cicadas are too loud!

Thank you William! Any other mad sound scientists out there?

[whoaffle]

Today a person of my family was complimenting and admiring Bozos' stupid-ass fucking penis-shaped rocket...

They kept talking about how it's "amazing" and "genius" and whatever... They were really impressed by the whole "show" and by the technology used and I GET that on one hand, because it IS something different and new and it is impressive (which doesn't mean it is good, I'll develop later), and this person is much older than me and they kept insisting on how, for them, in the past, this would have sounded impossible and how it's amazing that it's happening! That one person would manage to fund that by himself and not a whole country! (which again, impressive, NOT good. The fact that ONE person has the same amount of money as a large country, while others are poorer and poorer every day... The slow erasure of a middle class as social inequality becomes more and more severe every day... The fact that all this money was conquered by exploiting several poorly paid workers in shitty jobs with bad conditions... All those are symptoms of a DEATHLY ill economic system that not only has gone WRONG already but still insists on pretending to be functional while dragging down everyone along with it to the absolute limit before it collapses entirely on itself, leaving a painful scar on the people it took advantage of AND on the planet it has exploited for so long).

Going back to the point, I get it that "space travel" is a magical sci-fi dream for many people, both young and old, and that older people who think differently from most of us young adult Tumblr users would be super impressed by it, BUT... This is still so... So bad! Most of it - if not everything about it - is such an absurd scenario!

Well, knowing by previous experience that criticizing Bezos' amount of money and how he acquired it would be useless and that he'd end up defended anyways, I tried criticizing the ecological aspect of the whole thing first! But the answer I got was "Hah! A lot of stuff pollutes the world much more and no one talks about it", which, like... 1- Your point being?? That's no excuse to ignore absolutely useless shit like this polluting the earth even more just so billionaires can feel special because they can go to space while millions of people starve, die and suffer. Besides the fact that insisting on investing in this kind of technology instead of trying to prioritize Eco-friendly technologies and research is PRECISELY why a lot of other things pollute so much more - because every time someone comes up with something new they insist on not giving a fuck about the environmental aspect of their tech... So both the issues are correlated, this is not a "different thing that is less important" this is ONE of the symptoms. And 2 - Yes we DO talk about it, very often, all the time, and we hate it, and criticize it, and wish it would change. How many younger people are legit extremely worried about the environment and about the several ways governments, industries and other large-scale processes like that damage the environment? Damn, we DO complain about those!

But OK. Didn't wanna argue, so I started just using my phone instead... Then another person joins the conversation. The two of them are now like "This technology may not be put to good use now, the Space Tourism is a bad idea and it's stupid... BUT they could use the same device for other kinds of travel! Something from the technology used here could be used later for useful projects! Imagine, we could use the same rocket type tech to make commercial international flights, for example!" and I was silently thinking "Yeah right and emit even MORE useless pollution just because people wanna get to other places EVEN faster! And just because some idiots who have the money would pay THAT MUCH to be able to go faster to Paris or whatever!"

That is NOT NECESSARY and it is not SUSTAINABLE, it is not viable in long-term! Why would we use this kind of shit that is MORE expensive and MORE pollution-emitting?? Because it's faster?? Well let me tell you something then! Being faster is not only unnecessary but in this context we are living right now, it's A BAD IDEA, because our society is ALREADY deeply sick about the need to speed up literally everything and everyone has anxiety and is unable to wait a single second for anything, and so they expect faster and faster results every time, and companies - who LOVE not giving a shit about workers' mental health and well-being - expect more and more and more in less time! And this adds up pressure and stress on people's lives - which, by the way, is one of the things THIS very person from my family always complains about 'modern days'... The fact is that if traveling between continents FASTER became an actual accessible thing, that would probably just become another stupid insane standard for our already impossible-to-keep-up-with lives! Because if you travel abroad so quickly, then you are expected to get back to work on the same day and fuck jet-lag... Or anything similar! I don't know!

Anyway, I did go on a tangent here because I'm so angry and I started ranting over my rant. Let me go back to the POINT.

I was silent all the time as they kept talking about it, because honestly, no matter what I replied, they'd be like "You're too radical!", "don't exaggerate", "there are much worse things" and SPECIALLY "but the scientific advancement!"

And my WHOLE POINT HERE is that this is NOT "advancement"! It is scientific creation, development even if you will, but not "advancement"! Because it emits ridiculous amounts of carbon and other kinds of pollution in a planet that is already suffering so much environmentally and literally CANNOT HANDLE that anymore!

It is not advancement if its so expensive that only the 1% people (who hold most the money in the world) can pay for it, while billions of others just watch and starve and die in floods and fires CAUSED by that sort of shit!

That’s not "advancement"! That is fucking technological masturbation coming from egocentric morons who only want to get more money and show off!

Advancement would be coming up with actual, real solutions that help people in their daily lives! Advancement would be coming up with technologies and solutions that would work BETTER for everyone and not just to fill billionaire's asses with MORE money! It would be to find new ways to do what we do today without destroying the environment, or finding new cheaper ways to produce products and services so that more people can have access to them! And this is the absolute OPPOSITE of that! It is insisting on a way of doing things that is outdated, unsustainable and destructive, and that doesn't FIT our reality anymore and should be left BEHIND while we still have time to change!

BESIDES scientific advancement has been happening ALL OVER the world for CENTURIES and all we need is that the RIGHT technologies get attention and investment. Eco-friendly technology EXISTS we could clean the seas, we could generate free electricity for all, we could invest on lab grown meat, we could do SO much that would be actually useful and nice and helpful, but instead those sons of BITCHES only want to play in space and maybe some day run away when the planet is too sick to be fixed, leaving us - the poor ones - behind to die.

The fact is that we don't need cocky, bastard, exploitative billionaires to have scientific advancement! It would exist anyway, perhaps in better ways! And people should STOP considering technologies that are more harmful to the world than helpful as "advancements"! Because they are not, they are a problem, they are like if a man invented a flamethrower inside a house that is literally on fire and everyone found it amazing because "now we can set fire on stuff more easily and faster" yeah like, AWESOME but can we solve the PROBLEMS caused by that instead??

And honestly, I hate the excuse that "space represents hope for many people in a world that is bound to destruction" like, there would be NO need to go to space to begin with if we focused on fixing what's wrong instead of that ridiculous bullshit disguised as research or whatever when it's obviously just two things: showing off their horrible amounts of money and making MARKETING of an unnecessary service that will only benefit those who already have the easiest lives of all of us while causing issues to all others! JUST so that these billionaires can make MORE money. It's DISGUSTING.

There is NOTHING wrong about space travel as a concept, nothing wrong with researching and developing technologies that may allow us to explore space! Space exploration would be AWESOME! BUT if we're gonna work on something like that, we have to develop it in a way that doesn't harm the world EVEN MORE. We have to have priorities! We have to focus on NOT destroying this planet, for FUCK'S sake! And if the only way we have to explore space right now is by damaging our already fucked up environment even more, then NEWSFLASH, BABY - this is not the TIME to do space travel yet! AND SPECIALLY NOT FOR BILLIONAIRE SPACE TOURISM.

[ginkgomoon]

Kiro’s Birth Chart- A Character Astrological Study

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRO 💛

It’s already the 9th where I am so here’s another super long post for our sunshine Kiro! Unfortunately I couldn’t go in much detail in the end as much as I would like because of risking very specific spoilers as I want everyone to have a chance of enjoying his own astrological study among the other boys. However, it is very similar to how I did my analysis here which had lots and lots of spoilers, so hopefully this will make up for the parts where I couldn’t expand on. So if you would like to read it to enhance your understanding and don’t mind spoilers, you are most welcome to have a read! I did also update it on just a few more things so if you want to stay updated on that post, you can have a read of it too! Again, if there is anything you would like to ask or need clarifying on, feel free to send an ask and I’ll try to answer with the best of my ability! 

What is Astrology? 

Astrology is the study of stars- the placements and movements of different celestial bodies to correlate what’s happening on Earth. It comes from the early Latin word astrologia. 

There’s a rule that we live by- 

As above so below

This means whatever happens within our solar system will ultimately affect us here on Earth. For example, the moon governs our emotions, and since our body is approximately 70% water, why wouldn’t the moon affect us too? But it’s not just us, it's the moon’s gravitational pull on the oceans, in the same sense, it’s also the moodiness you may feel during full moons!

There’s many aspects to Astrology, and that would normally be too much for a single post so I’ll be elaborating on the major contributions to one’s birth chart. This will include the planets and the signs. Kiro’s exact birth time is unfortunately unknown, but we’ll have to do the best with what we’ve been given. 

There’s the inner planets, consisting of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus, moving quickly within the chart. Then there’s the outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, the slower moving planets. And of course, the different signs of the zodiac with different personalities. They follow the order beginning with Aries, then Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and finally Pisces.

Kiro’s Birth Chart 

Sun ☉ The Sun represents our character, personal identity and ego. Your star sign is also known as your Sun sign. It is the “you”. The “Self”. It shows your creative force, confidence, focus and our will to live. It’s the driving force of our charts in many ways, like how it is centred in our solar system. It’s the part of us that is the “adult”, censoring the “inner child”, and overall provides information on our vitality, and what we came to do.

Kiro’s Sun is in Aries ♈︎ Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. They have big personalities, with lots of charisma and passion. They are fiery, energetic, active, direct and straightforward as the first set out to start something and first to finish it. They’re natural born athletes and leaders, naturally inclined to get as much done. They’re not big planners of the future, as the most important thing to an Aries is the moment of right now. They enjoy vigorous, motivational, brave and adventurous activities, and love trying out new things. Like Geminis, they can’t sit still and need the feeling of being able to move towards a goal. They generally know what they want and the quickest way to get it. They enjoy a challenge, and are the happiest when life is active and always on the go. There's a childlike quality to Aries Suns, and often quite charming, too!

Kiro is a natural Aries. He’s fun, full of vigour and loves life’s challenges through physical trials such as the 10km run with MC, testing his mental strengths with his quick adaptation and problem solving skills as well as his empathic skills as an actor. Kiro as an Aries Sun is still undoubtedly humble no matter what, as he appreciates his fans and cherishing the moments with the people around him (plus food) and especially as he had suffered a lot when he was a child, why he would want to live life the fullest.

This is very fitting for him to be an idol as this creates more opportunity to travel the world and experience more that other people may not be able to have (and he’s so naturally good at it as well.) He can be stubborn and hot-headed, like having to perfect his craft and wanting to strive to achieve his personal best in everything as fast as possible with purpose and drive. This definitely contributes with the other planets in his chart. Kiro is seen to be the “Sun” to everyone, who is very charming and youthful, captivating everyone with his fiery presence. “Stamina is necessary on stage. During concerts, you still need to maintain the quality of the singing while dancing, right? In order to have consistent breathing and to ensure that I wouldn’t be fatigued during the concert, I have to train for a very long time.” -CN Dessert Date 

Although Kiro lives his life as an Aries, his other placements contribute to the deeper side to him that few know about. His hardships in the past enables him to become the passionate superstar we know today- not wanting others to feel the same pain that he felt. On and off stage, he can lead very different lives, especially when his moon is in Cancer. 

“The Kiro on stage and the Kiro I knew were two completely different people. His quiet, laidback persona is the warm fire on a freezing winter night. His stage-self is that of a regal king commanding adulation of the crowd.”

Moon ☾ The Moon in our charts show what your home is like, your upbringing, the relationship between your mother, the unconscious, your instincts and what you need. It tells us a lot about a person’s emotions, how they deal with it and how they express it to others.

Kiro’s Moon is in Cancer ♋︎ This water sign opposes the fire sign of Aries. The Moon is "at home" in the sign of Cancer, as the Moon is the natural ruler of the sign. They have a tendency to be caught up in emotions, with it guiding their actions more than thoughts. Cancer moons are never detached, seeking familiarly, security, and comfort for their home and the people around them. These are devoted and loving people with nurturing personalities. However, it’s easier to feel more insecure and have more mood swings with this sign in their Moon. Their unique outlook in life is something to appreciate, especially with their sense of humour and fun. Another thing is that these people can be very protective of themselves and others, unwilling to trade secrets, crawling back into their shell like a crab- as the crab is the symbol of Cancer. 

“Last time, there were numerous occasions when I felt I couldn’t create works that were good enough, and I’d start to doubt myself. I’d lock myself in a corner, and start having internal fights with myself.” -CN Inspiration Date

Behind the stage, Kiro feels things and experiences things on a deeper level than others, with a more mysterious side and life that rarely shows. Although he enjoys being on stage, he might prefer being behind the scenes a bit more, cosy and alone with MC. It can be easy for him to be swept up in his emotions, acting out on bursts of emotions and quick-thoughts. Cancers are also really good at reading and detecting lies from other people. They are great emotional comforters because they can intuitively recognise a situation well and how to help fix it. Kiro’s amazing at figuring emotions out and has done it on multiple occasions. 

“Are you upset about something? Is it because of the stuff online? It’s hard to just ignore it, huh? I know a lot of people would just advise you to forget about it, but how could you just forget about it?”  I thought Kiro would comfort me the way others did, but he didn’t. “Is there anything you want to do right now? Anything goes. Tell me.” -Movie Set Date

Kiro is also a great actor, as he can naturally be empathetic which effectively helps him in this. 

After filming, Kiro jogged over to me, boating about how he finished his scene in one take. “I could hardly tell you were acting. It looked so real.” -Movie Set Date

Looking into his eyes, I seemed to find a very different side of Kiro. A side that is full of stories, but a struggle to protect something, a side of him even more dazzling and brilliant than when he’s on stage. -Livestream Date

Mercury ☿ Mercury is the communication planet. When you write, speak, absorb information and how rational we are, you’re using your Mercury. It refines our Sun sign and helps define how we take in and give out information. It also talks about short distance travelling, governing your thirst for knowledge, your wit and negotiating skills. If someone is an excellent talker, it’s thanks to their Mercury placements.

Kiro’s Mercury is in Aries ♈︎ Being in the sign of Aries means that Kiro is able to make quick decisions, can be direct and straightforward in speech, possessing an innocent charm, and can easily motivate others with his enthusiasm. Aries Mercury don’t have a lot of patience when it comes to communication, and are usually frustrated when people don’t understand or are disappointed when others don’t accept their opinions smoothly. There’s a certain sensitivity and defensiveness to Aries, with personal attachment to their many ideas, such as criticism or negative feedback takes effect on a personal level. Though, they aren’t afraid of mental challenges, with the visionary intelligence that is sometimes on the idealistic side. It’s never going to be dull or short of ideas with them, because of their quick mental pursuits and adoptions of many things.

A thing so obvious is that Kiro is so straightforward with his speech and flirtation towards MC! Kiro doesn’t bother hiding his love and thoughts to MC because he can be so open to anything with whom he loves (especially Moon in Cancer, here.) He knows he can charm someone- without his evol! Kiro speaks with so much excitement and joy, and enjoys a little banter on the side, too.

“What’s wrong? Infatuated with me?” -Banquet Date 

“I’d be fine with someone taking a photo. It would be a great photo. Rowing with the person who I like.” I turned to stare. Kiro continued beaming at the lake, oblivious. The person he likes? Does he mean me? -River Lantern Date

“Your existence itself is a miracle to me. It’s not a line from a movie and it’s not a joke. It’s true.” -Miracle Date 

 “That was my confession to liking you. I like you – that’s for your eyes. I like you – that’s for your voice. I like you – that’s for your smiling face. I like so many things – can you tell the differences between them? -Whole Lotta Like Call

Bonus from River Lantern Date Both of our cheeks have turned pink under the sunset. MC: You’re blushing! Kiro: You’re blushing too. MC: That’s because I’m wearing blush. Kiro: Uh… I’m wearing blush too. MC: Wow, I didn’t know you were that kind of person. You’re just trying to find an excuse, huh? Kiro: Come on, so were you.

Venus ♀︎ The planet Venus is ultimately the planet of love, beauty, wealth, our material things and what we do with all that sort of jazz. It’s the pleasures, our sentiments, what we do for leisure and what we value. Grace, charm, creativity, entertainment are ruled by Venus. We can use this planet to see how we approach relationships of the heart, investigate our ability to attract and the attraction to others (or things).

Kiro’s Venus is in Pisces ♓︎ Venus in Pisces people project themselves as dreamy, soft-hearted partners. Everything about the way they flirt promises a lovely time. They’re charming, playful, and appreciate romance especially the arts of music and poetry. Pisces Venus want others to know that their love is unconditional, as they love and accept everything for that their lover is. They enjoy tender moments and romantic times whenever possible. However, they fear hurting others and may even want to escape from reality from time to time.

It is evident that Kiro genuinely loves music. 

Kiro has his head half lowered, his lips moving from time to time along the harmonica. His expression has turned quiet, as though immersing himself in the world of music. Every time I see such a Kiro, I’ll always feel that he genuinely loves music with a fiery passion. -CN Memories of Summer Date 

He has written many songs about MC, including “My Treasure” (which I am sure was a no.1 hit worldwide) and the song they wrote together on Christmas. He loves to express himself through music, as he knows it can very well move somebody’s emotions. Pisces is a water sign, which can allow more dreamier, romantic and more soulful expressions worth capturing through the art of his lyrics and songs! He would communicate his love to MC in his songs, and through the romantic gestures that he does (like singing “I love you” in the Confession Date) it’s always fun when being in love for a Pisces Venus. Even though MC and Kiro may not have much time to spend together, they would always make the most out of it for those times they can.

“There’s a song I especially wish to write, and I really like the concept and composition. I want to try writing a song on understanding and interpreting the theme of “love” from my own perspective.” -CN Inspiration Date 

“I can remember all the important things, but it’s more difficult to remember the more trivial ones. But every minute and every second with you - I don’t want to forget them. They could even be left as family heirlooms! Next time, we’ll tell them that the box contains the dribs and drabs belonging to me and the cutest girl in the world. Each note records a story. And each story is an important treasure.” -CN Memories of Summer Date 

“I feel this will definitely be my best song. But, this song was created with you. And you are infused in every part… even if it’s just a few words, no matter how small it is, I don't want to share it with anyone but you.” -Quiet Night Date

“I’ve been writing this piece of music since the day I met you, but I was never satisfied by it. It's the song that I wanted to play that belongs to you.” -Heartbeat Date

Mars ♂︎ Mars is the go getter planet. Full of fire and passion, nothing would be done without it. It can give insights on how we can chase our goals and what our desires and our plans of attack are. Aggressive behaviour, lust and anger fall under this planet.

Kiro’s Mars is in Leo ♌︎ Mars in Leo individuals possess a strong need to create in some way, determined that their lives have not only meaning, but significant meaning. Passions run high, and so does desire as Leo is another fire sign in Kiro’s chart. Though they enjoy the pleasures of risk-taking, they generally have a strong sense of reason at the end of the day. Rarely will you find a person with Mars in this position who lives life without a true sense of a "calling”, as they have well-defined ambitions (like how Kiro’s Sun is in Aries). They act upon their heart, with their ego tied up with their actions, so that anything they do becomes a source of great pride and self-righteousness. They act with authority and power, and their personal magnetism generally endows them with the ability to get what they want. 

Savin told me that Kiro is deeply troubled. His new album is about to drop, yet he wasn’t satisfied with the first single. So he locked himself in the recording room (especially when his Moon is in Cancer, he feels things more deeply than others) and hasn’t slept for three days.  -Treasure Date

“This is a handmade guitar given to me by someone very special. I wrote my first song playing this guitar. He once told me that no matter what I do, I need to follow my heart.”  -Livestream Date

Kiro always does things wholeheartedly, especially when it comes to MC. In the Prayer Date, MC’s plans following the superstitions of how the couples staying together forever kept getting ruined and thought them to be bad omens. He prepared a surprise for MC which he tried to keep a secret from her. Turns out, he was thinking the same way as her too. Kiro always speaks from the heart, because he was taught to that way.  “It’s because of you that I believe in stuff like this. I did it all because I want to be with you. Always.” -Prayer Date

“I was once told that daisies can convey one's heart. The sea of flowers is what I want you to know.” -Flowers Date 

“I felt like… I had no direction. Everyone had high hopes in me and I was doing well but I didn’t know if I could live up to them. Sometimes I think, all those flowers and applause, were they really for me? And if I really did turn into a superstar, what would be the point? I’d still be… alone. But, I could find a flaw in anything. I thought they only liked Kiro the performer, not the real me.”  -Old Friend Date

Jupiter ♃ Jupiter is the largest planet, a gas giant, known to expand as the “benefactor” of our solar system. Everything it touches is basically blessed. It’s the good luck, confidence, joy, freedom and adventure that it gives to one’s being that it’s so well known for. Jupiter is where you seize your opportunities, take a leap of faith and count your blessings.

Kiro’s Jupiter is in Sagittarius ♐︎ As a Sagittarius Jupiter, Kiro attracts the most good fortune when he is open-handed and generous, and practices what he preaches. These people can be inspirational, usually finding success in travel, education, teaching, sports, publishing, and foreign cultures. They can be philosophical, forward-looking, and enthusiastic to uphold their strong morals. Freedom of movement and expression is essential for these people.

Kiro is of mixed blood, and he is able to speak multiple languages. He’s a big influences as an idol, wanting to change the world with his passions and big heart. He stands up for his morals and expresses them in an open-hearted way towards those around him. It’s without a doubt that Kiro would be successful either way with or without his evol. 

“That day I made the wish at the shrine just like today. I rode the streetcar out and just happened upon this museum. After looking at all the instruments and stories, I suddenly felt fine. At the time I thought, nothing else was important. I was making music and that was enough. Since I was inspired by the stories here, I felt that I should use my stories to inspire other people too.” -Old Friend Date

“I want to write a Christmas song about love that makes people feel warm and fuzzy. My wish is for people to hear this song and recall the moment they cherish the most and be happy.” -Quiet Night Date

“I always believed that by putting my feelings into a song, I could share my happiness with everyone.” -Quiet Night Date

“I wish that you will always have the courage to bravely face difficulties and setbacks. I know you can. Whether you’re moving forward or backward, my songs will always be with you, giving you the courage and strength to keep going.”  -Heartbeat Date 

Saturn ♄ Saturn is the planet of karma, life lessons, hard facts and the challenges in life. It governs structure, our fears, work and self-discipline. Saturn is cold and calculating, however once the challenges and lessons Saturn have been mastered, great wisdom with great rewards can be obtained.

Kiro’s Saturn is in Pisces ♓︎ Behind the scenes, these people like to live in solitude, in contemplation, preferring to work alone. They even may be suspicious of the intention of others and suspect that others' innocence or compassion is insincere. They may not even like showing or feeling any sense of vulnerability. However, if they don’t fully allow themselves to have these very human qualities, they ends up limiting himself. In the process, however, they subtly convey to others that they don’t need kindnesses, compliments, and support, and they could end up feeling quite alone. In time, as they recognise how they may limit themselves and their experiences, they learn to identify with the vulnerable, messy, or chaotic side of themselves step by step, slowly but surely.

Kiro is actually very sharp with his instincts and his alter-egos off screen. This helps him execute tasks however may be detrimental to himself or his relationship with MC (Stardust Date). This sets a whole new depth into his other personas, including his idol persona. If you would like to read more in depth into this side of him, here is where you can read my in-depth character study on his alter-egos. (Warning- contains lots of spoilers!)

Kiro doesn’t want people to see the “imperfect” side of him, only wanting to be known as the Sun without the sun-spots. Since his real life and idol life being shown is different, the differences in them will reveal great lessons to master in his lifetime. 

“MC, I’m actually timid and childish. When it comes to things I don’t like, I’ll always think of hiding them and locking them up. I won’t see them. I won’t let other people see them. But if it’s you..” -CN Inspiration Date 

“When I close my eyes, random notes fill in my mind and I feel so useless! I can’t make any more music if I can’t break through this. With no music, nobody will like me. No one..” -Treasure Date

“If I have a dark side, I should hide it from others, right? Because, I don’t want to show you and I don’t want to disappoint others.” -Light and Shadow Call

 Uranus ♅ Wherever Uranus is in the chart, it’s where we want to break free, where we want to do things our own way, when you don’t care what everyone else is doing or thinking about. It’s where we express our ideals on freedom, innovation and experience great epiphanies. We strive for independence with the influence of the Uranus character. As a result, we learn to rebel, break traditions and authority. It shakes things up from our past and into the modern future. It is often associated with unpredictability, chaos and anarchy.

Kiro’s Uranus is in Aquarius ♒︎ These people are most interested in making changes, innovating, and updating traditions related to technology, community and individuality. They seek more freedom in or through these areas, and don’t feel the need to conform as they’re ready to rebel if need be. They’re compelled to break through some of the inhibitions or taboos related to cooperating, connecting, and interacting. Despite the need for progress, they can be very stubborn and set in their ways in these areas. However, they believe in openness to new ideas and free thought. Aquarius Uranus have a strong interest in new technologies, the power of science, and the importance of communication.

“At that time, I was actually a little rebellious. I was filled with curiosity about the world, and wanted to try everything.”

Kiro makes positive changes to the world around him as KEY in his mentor’s footsteps, exposing crimes such as an orphanage in the Heaven’s Home For Children Rumours and Secrets. Without a doubt that Kiro is on top with his technology, and is to be the unexpected surprise to MC when he reveals this persona to her. He’s been doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes work to protect and change society for the better, and with his intelligence and leadership, he’s ready to make history in whatever persona he chooses to hold. 

Within three days, this orphanage that was built on the children’s blood and tears was destroyed, and all those involved were caught. Many large forums were discussing who hacker Key was, but no one could provide an answer. No one knew over ten years ago, and still no one knew now.

Neptune ♆ Neptune is the inspirational planet of dreams, inspirations, soulmates, enlightenment and sacrifice. It’s all about connection with the universe and the world around you, however can have the polar effect of deception and illusion, along with disappearances of sorts. It can also govern your music tastes and influence on how you can inspire others.

Kiro’s Neptune is in Capricorn ♑︎ These people are discerning, wise, and sensible. Their vision of an ideal world may centre around respect for rules, order, responsibility, and morality. Needing to believe in the realisability of their dreams means that their fantasies usually have a very realistic thread to them. Energy levels may not be high when they don’t believe in what they’re doing, and inspiration is not easy to find in the first place. However, they can turn a dream into reality more easily than most if they persevere as their visions are practical and also doable. 

He is already a big inspiration to others as someone who is so out in the open in the spotlight with his own music that he writes. He believes in his passions, hard work and his higher purpose which is why he’s so determined to succeed in whatever he does. Kiro knows that his work will pay off in the end, which is also why he is so committed to making the world a better place- so that the world would be safer and happier place for MC. They met when they were children and they met each other again as adults, and we know that Kiro definitely feels very connected to MC on a deeper level and is committed to help her with her purpose (by disappearing himself? Neptune, wtf??) 

“Hearing this from you, I can rest. The company put in a lot of effort for this plan, and I must definitely showcase my most perfect self, and not disappoint everyone.”

As the light gradually dims in this cold winter, I can clearly see the seriousness and resoluteness in his eyes. -CN Winter Tour Date

“After looking at all the instruments and stories, I suddenly felt fine. At the time I thought, nothing else was important. I was making music and that was enough.” -Old Friend Date

Pluto ♇ A lot of astrologers still use Pluto in their reports. Pluto is the Lord of the Underworld, and is not to be messed around with. It’s responsible for great destructible transformations and corresponds to the life, death and rebirth cycle. It’s the detoxing planet, for you to awaken and be reborn. It shows us where we can change the world, alongside right where we can go into the abyss of the cunning and controlling energies of Pluto. Its powers can be ever so subtle, however it can have the forces to trash you with the realisations of what you need to let go in order to transform. Think of it as the “healing crisis” moments that you can thank Pluto for.

Kiro’s Pluto is in Sagittarius ♐︎ They take beliefs and philosophy of life very seriously, more than most. They believe deeply in personal freedom and expression. Uncovering the truth can be a mission. They may want to watch for a tendency to move from one cause to the next or one project to another, perhaps as a result of this dissatisfaction or from inhuman expectations. However, their faith in humanity is strong, and they are moved and motivated by the positive vision of a better world.

Kiro is able to cultivate his own unique beliefs on the world based on his Mentor’s teachings with the hardships that he faced, alongside his determination to protect MC. Kiro executes his purpose in bringing positivity and hope into many people’s lives in all of his multiple personas, working in the spotlight and in the shadows. He believes in the greater good, such as having to leave MC so that she could save everyone, however, sacrificing himself and his freedom. Though this is one of the many things he values, he would do anything to protect the one he values the most- MC. 

And the one sentence to sum up everything-

“We shall stand in darkness as we defend the light.”

[ivanaskye]

I’ve been thinking about making this post for a while, since I finished reading Wheel of Time, a series whose first book I read many years ago and hated, a series which ended up being very much one of my favorite of all time if not my single favorite, a series that has my two favorite characters ever.

A series that is very flawed.

So behold, my long answer to the question...

Should you read The Wheel of Time?

I’ll split this into three sections (but not three posts): What Even Is The Wheel Of Time, Some Likely Dealbreakers, and Tl;Dr.

Under the readmore, of course.

1. What Even Is The Wheel of Time?

A system of circular time in which the same rough eras of humanity repeat

However, the fact that time in the series operates this way... doesn’t actually matter that much.

And out of seven total repeating ages, we only spend time in one, and only know anything at all about four others.

The last three? A mystery

Don’t worry about it

Okay, that’s probably not what you were asking. You were probably asking something more like: what’s the plot of this series?

Let me be straight with you about that one.

It’s a Chosen One plot.

But,

It also has a very large cast of characters, many of which are very Protagonist in their own right

Including the main character’s immediate foil, who is absolutely not a “Chosen One” except for the fact that she freaking chose herself, basically manufacturing her own call to adventure out of the main character’s. 

The six Most Main characters (by most fans’ understanding), can IMO be divided exactly into three foil-pairs: the Central Saving The World one, the Self Awareness Whomst? I Hate People Of Course I’d Never Help Anyone (Trips over 139289131 Pictures of Helping Other People) one, and the Study In Leadership one.

And remember that Chosen One I mentioned?

Yeah, he actually has a shit deal with being Chosen

Specifically: he is 100% prophecized to destroy the world. Whether he also saves it is a little more up in the air.

He’s also almost certainly fated to Go Insane.

(...Which is why the first ~3 books of the series are just him Running Away From His Fate at Full Speed, which--spoiler alert--Does Not Work.)

See also: Alienating All Your Friends 101, How NOT To Accept Being Polyamorous, It’s War Crimes Time

(Yes, there is canon polyamory.)

(...And a LOT of canon war crimes.)

But. In order to go any further, I have to talk about the Possible Dealbreakers of these series. 

2. So, About Those Dealbreakers

Broadly speaking, I’d say there are three: length, The Gender Binary, and Oh God Why Is Everyone Such A Dumbass.

Let’s go at these one-by-one.

Length

Let me be very clear here: WoT is over four million words long in total.

This has at times been calculated as perhaps the longest word count for any series... ever? It’s certainly one of the longest English-language series that occurs to random statistics geeks to look at the word count of.

For reference, in case you needed it... that’s longer than Homestuck. This is true even if you translate images, videos, and so on into equivalent word counts. And include the epilogue. And... yeah.

It’s like, shonen-long.

The upside of this, however... is that it’s really long.

That might seem like a weird upside, but if you’ve ever wanted to get really immersed in a series... especially if you read very quickly and usually get through things fast... well.

To put things in perspective, I often read 300-page books in one sitting without trouble. WoT took me about six months.

So uh

Do you want your life, mind, body, and soul to get eaten by a book series?

The answer to that question will probably tell you if you should read Wheel of Time

The Gender Binary

Okay, so here’s the thing: in the time period WoT takes place in, only women can use The One Power (the main form of magic in the setting).

The reason for this is that the One Power, despite being called one right there in the name, is divided into the Female Version and the Male Version. Only women can use the former, only men can use the latter. And the latter has been tainted such that any man who uses it goes mad.

Our main character is a man who can use the power.

The upside is that things actually go very un-sexistly from here. The different ways to access male (saidin) vs female (saidar) power don’t actually correlate to any consistent difference in personality or attitudes between men and women.

The fact that the MC is The One Man Using The Power and The Most Powerful, Because Chosen One... is actually also played shockingly un-sexistly. 

However, there very much always is that binary. Trans people? Nonbinary people? Uh... you can headcanon if you want, but the canon is not giving you that much to work with.

To make matters a little worse, men and women distrust each other to an almost hilarious amount in the setting. (My guess is something about Mostly A Patriarchy + Women Are The Mysterious Powerful Magic Users has really frayed gender relations in this society.) There are many, many in-character statements of “All men are [x unflattering thing]” “all women are [y unflattering thing]”, but these do not seem to in any way reflect the author’s beliefs, and are never actually true in-world; the characters are just Bad At This.

(A common example of this is “Women are all gossips!” *cut to a group of women* “Men are all gossips!”. Of course, the truth is that there are both male and female gossips and non-gossips in the series).

You would think this situation would lead to more just-women and just-men groups, but except from Magic-User Stuff, there isn’t that much of that, becaaaaause

~Heterosexuality~

Sigh, yes, this series is very het.

It’s not as het as it is binary; the Aes Sedai (female magic users) have a word for women who are having sex with each other, and there’s an onpage FF kiss in the prequel.

But it’s... not a lot.

So if you need a hit of sweet, sweet LGBTQ rep, it’s... not going to be here. Sorry. (Thankfully, a very large amount of fantasy books coming out today do have rep! It’s not that hard to find!)

Thankfully, most of WoT’s het romances are pretty good and believable/shippable. Though not all are.

And, the final likely dealbreaker...

Everyone Here Is A Dumbass

Listen. Nobody in this series drank their Having Brain Cells juice, uh... ever.

(Okay, exactly two characters--Min and Loial--did, but that’s it)

You know how I was talking about the gender mistrust? That’s just one example of an endemic problem of absolutely no one trusting other people, telling anyone things, or in any way having functional conversations

Min Literally Saves Lives By Being The Only Person Who Tells People Things

In addition to interpersonal problems, the characters’ problem-solving skills are uhh

Uhhhhhh

Uhhhhhhhh

Well, as I said, Rand, our main character, spends three books running away from his problems at full speed

After that, he’s only uh... dodging! Jogging away! Yeah

Meanwhile, basically everyone is doing the I Must Put Myself In Extreme Danger To Protect My Friends Who I would Never Accept Doing The Same (bonus points for when two people are doing this to protect each other at the same time) thing

And I Will Face God And Run Into Danger At Mach Speed

The upside is... you might like reading about these kinds of characters

But if you prefer characters who are not walking trash fires

Then I’m sorry

WoT is probably not for you

3. Tl;dr

In summary, Wheel of Time is an almost comically long series about a large cast of characters who have never functioned in their life trying to prevent the end of the world and having a really bad time.

(For some reason it doesn’t have a reputation as a Dark SeriesTM, but it actually is very dark at times. Although far from grim--every action seems to really matter, nothing is meaningless, it’s just that sometimes those actions are war crimes and people dying and a shit-ton of torture).

IMO, some of the other series that might be good predictors for liking WoT are Homestuck, Hunter X Hunter, and ASOIAF. In other words, other very long, large-casted series about trash fires.

If you want one other bit of enticement, the main character has the lowest nadir of any character arc I’ve ever seen, followed by the most impressive high and resolution. So if that’s your kind of thing, and if the dealbreakers don’t break your deals. Go ahead and give it a try.

[nissakii]

5 sad truths that made Horimiya so relatable [spoilers!]

Horimiya has ended but not the feelings that the winter season left behind for us.

As Horimiya has been a topic lately on our blog with Nissa’s quote analysis and one of my latest breakfast anime reviews, this time we are going to look how the anime actually impacted us.

The anime which did really well and gave us a refreshing and out of the ordinary romance story compared to other series, had a lot more to give than simple romantic relationships and wholesome moments.

Why is Horimiya so relatable?

Why does it differ from other anime in this aspect especially considering relationships and romance?

In today’s blogpost we will cover those questions, with 5 sad truths that made Horimiya so relatable.

Please be aware that this post will contain spoiler, read at your own risk.

1. Hiding a part of yourself

With the first sad truth we shall start and it’s something we also see in the very beginning of the anime, actually it is the whole start of the plot and how it unfolds.

As we see, especially our two main characters have a drastic change in behaviour, in Miyamura’s case even appearance, when they are both alone. None of them want other people to know about their other side.

We see why they do not want that secret to be exposed, with each character having a justified reason.

And not only Hori or Miyamura, also Yoshikawa, Ishikawa, Remi, Sengoku and most other characters in the series are hiding a part of themselves which makes you wonder what would they think if they ever saw this side of me?

In Yoshikawa’s case when she was obviously jealous as Kono made her romantic approach on Ishikawa, realizing most of the things she wants but does not speak out loud are not in her grasp and if she decides that she wants something it is already gone. Not her jealous feelings seem like a different side, since every human has those feelings which are normal if treated in a proper way but also the way Yoshikawa acted out those feelings as she herself mentioned that she was disgusted by herself doing things behind the scenes to avoid that Kono would come closer to Ishikawa, a side that only she knows since she hides those feelings deep inside of her. Nobody would have known that she hid the fact that she wasn’t actually dating Ishikawa or that she purposely said mean things in that sense, since the Yoshikawa everyone knows is energetic and happy-go-lucky.

But it’s not limited to Yoshikawa, beside the main characters we also have Sengoku who is also hiding his cowardly self, scared of most things and not as amazing as he seems to be. A side that only Remi knows and secretly loves about him as she mentioned that he started to change toward the end of the anime but that she loves both the new and old Sengoku, yet he tries to be much more manlier and strong for Remi without Remi asking for it.

The latter also hides many things she could have said to Sengoku, many of her feelings and the way she acts when alone or around Sengoku and Kono, who knew her for a long time now look past her cute and happy act, Remi is a very smart and observant person who is not unaware of the things happening around her it is quite the opposite in fact.

All of those characters have a side they do not want to expose, as it is human nature that we adapt to the environment around us and put on the facade or personality we need to distinguish between work, school, friends, family and more.

The sad reality is that sometimes we even lie to those around us, those who are close and maybe like Remi or Yoshikawa just cannot express the true feelings that we are desperately hiding inside of us waiting for somebody to notice, that is hiding a little part of yourself that nobody shall ever see.

2. The past that haunts

It is nothing new to hear that we should leave the past behind us and just focus on the future ahead, or use the past to learn from it and correct our mistakes to step into a new light.

But that is easier said than done and that very example is represented in two characters especially: Miyamura and Tanihara.

Apart from their connection and the past they

overcame becoming closer, leaving their dispute behind there is still a conflict that each of them are fighting on their own respectively.

Miyamura, whose present self is no longer the same as he was in middle-school, learned how to interact with those around him, considering people as friends and even getting himself a girlfriend who he cherishes dearly as she does the same in return. Still there is never an episode where he doesn’t think back of the past or get anxious about it, even in the opening we see the correlation of Miyamura’s past haunting him until his graduation day of highschool, obstructing him to be truly happy despite the fact he overcame the difficulties and made friends with Tanihara who was one of his problems in middle-school as well.

Nissa wrote a whole analysis on that, if you are interested check it out, I won’t go much deeper into that topic here.

We also have Tanihara who seemed to hate Miyamura, but we also see that he is not just living his life as if nothing happened but still let’s the past replay in his head. He used to bully Miyamura and tried to continue that when he saw him in highschool as he was walking with Hori but due to some events both of them became more involved and started to hang out as friends after talking it out. Tanihara still used to dream about the incident that happened in middle-school and was even frustrated why he was actually bullying Miyamura in the first place as he simply didn’t like him for no apparent reason. He is aware that the things he did to Miyamura were in no way justified and doesn’t know where to start to redeem himself, or how he should apologize to him causing him to have nightmares and being scared to encounter Miyamura in some cases (also due to seeing Hori being a threat he considers both of them dangerous).

In our lives we cannot always do things right, leading us to mistakes towards ourselves but also towards others. Sometimes other people can forgive what we cannot forgive ourselves, as the past is nothing that can be overcome overnight. We struggle with ourselves to become a better person in the future.

But simply letting the past go even when we are now at a better place, Miyamura and Tanihara show us, it’s not that easy to just pretend the past never happened.

3. To be liked is a matter of heart

Another thing that we often experience in our lives is that no matter how good or nice we are, people simply cannot fall in love with us, or like us in a way or another.

Winning someone’s heart can take some time, but in some cases no matter how hard we try it just doesn’t spark or click.

“A matter of heart”, as we can say since some things cannot be solved by logic or forcing kindness on a person.

In Horimiya again this parallel is represented by Kono Sakura, who has a crush on Ishikawa after an encounter.

Kono being a quiet, cute, reserved and responsible person who cares dearly about the people around her is in no way not appealing, on the contrary even Sengoku mentioned that the ones who rejected her was simply dumb/blind to not see the good qualities in her.

But Ishikawa as well who used to like Hori for a very long time was rejected by her not because he was someone bad, but since she was simply not interested in him romantically while as friends she also cherishes him dearly.

As Kono started her pursuit of giving Ishikawa sweets and becoming more bold when it came to her indicating her feelings for him, at the same time Yoshikawa and Ishikawa started to become more aware of their own feelings for each other.

With Kono still being adamant to confess her feelings, being true to herself and make it clear that she likes Ishikawa, Ishikawa himself mentions that she is a nice girl, she is good in baking and more compared to Yoshikawa, but the one he is interested in in the end is Yoshikawa.

Sometimes we cannot help who we love and like, and sometimes even when we dislike someone but cannot grasp why despite trying our best to like them it’s still a matter of heart and feeling who we like.

No matter if one person seems like the better choice in other people’s eyes.

4. Loneliness is a hidden pain

Loneliness is a big topic in Horimiya, even visually we see that feeling being represented with colors and auditory with a representative sound.

A feeling so familiar yet strange, a feeling that every human experienced at least once in their life.

But despite loneliness that can be detected in some cases most of the time people struggle with it deep inside nobody aware of the hidden pain tugging inside.

We get to see a variation of loneliness that the characters carry with them.

Hori being the oldest sibling and with her parents always away due to work, grew up becoming rather independent and relying on herself. When she fell ill for the first time we get to see her vulnerable side as she was struggling with that deep-rooted loneliness since her childhood, when her parents didn’t even give her the special time back then so for her it was common to be alone until Miyamura was there for her and suddenly the loneliness that she subconsciously tried to push away gushed out of her.

With Miyamura we have someone who was lonely from the very start, not in a sense like Hori was since she still had friends who surrounded her but Miyamura didn’t have anyone around. The feeling of loneliness was so familiar to him that he never considered what it would feel like to have many people around before meeting Hori, as Shindou was his only friend in middle-school and they aren’t able to meet that frequently since they attend different highschools. Miyamura struggled with constant loneliness and even deceived himself that it wouldn’t bother him anymore if he was alone or not but in the end all along deep inside he knew that it was.

Additionally we have Kono who hangs out a lot with Remi and Sengoku due to the student council yet feels like she is always left out in a sense, may it be due to them being a couple or just generally when they ask her for advice as she feels like that’s the only thing she is good for.

Speaking of the student council, the former problem with Remi hiding her true feelings, we can see that there is a sense of loneliness as well, as she sees Sengoku slowly changing despite her liking him the way he was even with his little flaws. When she narrates the way they met and that she was fond of him, she doesn’t seem to give off the feeling of a sweet everlasting romance that started from that point, but rather talking nostalgically and with a hint of missing the old Sengoku she fell in love with.

Last but not least we have Honoka who appears to hate Miyamura in the beginning but we get to see that he reminds her of her deceased brother. Coping with the death of her brother who used to get along with her very well, the strong underclassman of Hori and Miyamura is fighting with the loneliness of having lost someone very dear to her as she sees Miyamura every day resembling that very person.

Loneliness cannot be simply defined and is a complex feeling as we can see in those characters that we have a variety of that feeling and most of them represent someone out there who may have experienced the same, making us think which of this loneliness is my own?

5. Communication is hard

With the last and obvious sad truth we see that one of the things we probably do often in our daily lives but still struggle with it the most is communication.

Each human is individual and different, we may share similarities some more than others but in the end we communicate with each. May it be through words, gestures, letters, chats and so on we are always connected in a way.

Still it always happens that no matter how hard we try, there are misunderstandings and we often conclude after a dispute or later on when we re-analyse the problem, there was a lack in communication or miscommunication.

In Horimiya especially in the beginning where Miyamura and Hori start to see each other more often we see from a viewer standpoint that both of them enjoy each other’s presence yet each of them thinks about the possible concerns and outcomes of problems that could occur.

In some cases there are incidents that could have been solved if someone would have just started explaining or maybe the other one trying to resolve the matter by speaking up, but just like in real life we humans tend to make assumptions about what the other person probably could think instead of asking them directly in most cases, or we are afraid to know.

Hori for example thinks it is obvious that she likes to be around Miyamura while Miyamura thinks she is probably pitying him and at some point they won’t meet anymore. That again results in Hori thinking that Miyamura may see her as pushy and therefore she doesn’t want to force him to do things with her in the beginning and Miyamura thinks again she is getting tired of him.

If neither of them would have spoken up this would have continued despite that both of them shared the same thought of wanting to stay with the other person.

We also get to see that with Yoshikawa and Ishikawa.

Even with Yanagi when he confessed to Yoshikawa, if it wasn’t for him clearing the misunderstandings that he caused most of the characters would have had the wrong impression of him and Yoshikawa would have thought he wasn’t serious about the confession he made in the beginning.

Same goes for Remi who tends to say things in a round-about-way, which mostly Kono or Sengoku need to clear up so other people wouldn’t misunderstand her actual good intentions.

Sometimes talking about a matter a bit longer than needed can resolve it than letting it sit in our heads and becoming a far worse misunderstanding. Often we get into disputes, discussions or become angry but in the end the longer we try to get across that what we really mean (if we mean well of course there are always people who mean harm as well), and try to make the other person aware of that what made us act or talk the way we do, the easier it becomes in the future to resolve matters just like Hori and Miyamura became much better in understanding each other towards the end of the series.

What do you think made Horimiya relatable for you?

Leave a comment and let us know!

Until then, spring started again…

Makii

[stardusttrashed]

Go With the Flow

Requested by @marli-senpai​ Thank you again for this request, it was hands down my favorite so far

Word Count: 3.7k

Summary: Aizawa volunteers to help you gain control over your water bending quirk

Pairing: Aizawa x fem!reader, Class 1-A x fem!reader (all platonic)

Your leg bounced rapidly as you impatiently watched the clock. Aiziwa’s lecture went in one in and out the other. Not that it was boring or anything, he was one of your favorite teachers in fact. The simple fact was that every second he spent talking to the class was a second longer away from your after school training. 

You could barely get yourself to sleep a wink last night. Every minute of sleep felt like an hour too long for your excited mind. The sun couldn’t come up fast enough. 

“Oi idiot, cut that out! You’re making it hard to focus,” Bakugo’s sharp tone sliced through your thoughts, stopping them in their tracks. You halted your movements like a deer in headlights, your mouth gaping as you tried to think of something witty. 

You were quite literally saved by the bell as the school bells rang, signaling the end of the day. “Guess that solves your problem,” you smiled apologetically. You hurriedly stuffed your books into your bag, ignoring the annoyed click of his tongue. You waited until everyone had cleared the room before you finally stood from your seat. 

There was finally nothing holding you back from beginning your first day of training! And yet you could barely pick up your feet to walk the few steps towards him. “What’re we working on today,” you asked with forced enthusiasm. You hoped Aizawa hadn’t noticed.

He nodded his head towards the door, quietly indicating for you to follow him. Aizawa walked at his own pace- fast enough to feel normal yet slow enough so you could stay a few paces behind. Yeah, he spent all night thinking of ways to help you train, but he still hadn’t the slightest clue of what to do. You had a strong quirk that you refused to use. Perhaps if he found a way to get you to build your trust in yourself…

“Aizawa sensei isn’t the training room back that way?” You glanced over your shoulder at the building that was slowly getting further and further away. Your mind was gradually slipping into panic mode. He did intend to help you, right? You didn’t think of yourself as a lost cause. Your steps faltered, what if he did. What if this was a ruse to get you out of UA? 

“It is,” he answered curtly, derailing your chaotic train of thought. “But we’re going to work our way up to there.” He glanced behind him to catch you nod confusedly. He stopped once the two of you reached an open field. “Make me walk.”

You stared at Aizawa’s back in confusion at his blatant request. Your bag slid off your shoulder before plopping down on the ground by your feet. 

“Well?” He continued to stare at the trees in front of him. 

“But if you can’t see me then you can’t-.” You quickly shut your mouth, realizing this must be the first part of your training. He really did have faith in you. And it wasn’t like he was asking an impossible task. Well, maybe a little. You had never used your quirk on someone, only on your surroundings, but how hard could it be. “Right,” you said more to yourself than anything. 

Though he couldn’t see your movements he could feel you focusing on the task. He knew your nerves would be getting to you, but he hoped by showing you he trusted you enough not to even worry about his quirk they could be settled. 

You stared at him for what felt like ages. No matter what you tried you couldn’t push away the thoughts of what might go wrong. What if you moved him the wrong way and he couldn’t stop you? You balled up your fist in frustration, a small lump forming in your throat. You wanted to be the best, but you couldn’t even get yourself to do this task. How pathetic. “I- I can’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” Your shoulders dropped in defeat as you shut your eyes, desperately trying to will the overwhelming feeling to cry away. 

Aizawa quickly turned around, your fragile voice immediately awakening a protective side of him. “Hey, don’t apologize… just do better,” he added the last bit to avoid sounding too mushy. He desperately racked his brain for ideas, your defeated form adding desperation to the matter. “Follow me.” He slowed his pace down this time, allowing you to walk beside him in silence. “I-,” he finally spoke up as the training grounds came into view. “You have a powerful quirk, but a quirk is only as powerful as you let it be. You won’t get the hang of it until you begin to trust yourself and learn your limits.” He chose to avoid explaining the reason he kept his back to you. “Meet me out here in five minutes,” Aizawa quickly added before walking off, leaving you alone with your thoughts. 

You mulled over his words as you changed into your training uniform. Maybe he was right. How could you expect to be number one if you didn’t believe in yourself? You didn’t have to be cocky like Bakugo, but you had to start somewhere. The thought scared you if you were being honest. You knew your confidence was going to be harder to build than your skills with your quirk, but what other choice did you have. “I’ve got to trust myself,” you whispered with determination. 

The door slammed awkwardly loud behind you as you stormed out of the locker room with newfound enthusiasm. It was a lot quieter than you were used to. Normally the room would be filled with Midoriya’s rambling or Bakugo’s sudden outbursts. But all that could be heard was the sound of your footsteps as you strolled over to where Aizawa stood. 

“Stop right there,” he instructed you as he plucked a water balloon out of the bucket by his feet. Hopefully, this would work the way he thought it would otherwise he’d be back to the drawing board again. “I figured we use these until you become comfortable enough with your quirk to use on people.” He carefully tossed the water balloon in the air before catching it again. “For now, I want you to stand in that spot as I throw these your way. All you have to do is stop them before they hit you, got it?” You nodded timidly in response. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll ease up my tosses for now.”

His words from earlier passed through your mind once again. Trust. Your expression hardened with determination, “Let’s do it.”

His first toss was as though he were trying to toss to a baby. You doubted it’d even have enough impact to burst if you failed to stop it. No. You couldn’t think that way. The task was simple. And the worse that could happen would be the balloon pops. You were going to stop every balloon he threw your way. 

You tried to recall some quirk advice Midoriya gave you earlier when you told him you’d be training with Aizawa. All you could remember was something about an egg and a microwave, but the correlation between the two was unclear. 

Taking a deep breath to still yourself, you focused on the balloon. More specifically you focused on the water inside of it as you channeled your quirk. Mid-air the balloon burst, sending water sprinkling everywhere. You smiled sheepishly at Aizawa, who was clearly trying to hold back a smirk, “Technically it stopped.”

“Next time try without bursting it,” he chuckled lowly. 

It took you three days of training by yourself in the mornings and again with Aizawa in the afternoons and two completely soaked outfits before you had figured out how much of your quirk you needed to simply stop the balloon at any time. Then he handed you books on human anatomy and biology to, and you quote, “know the basics of all your enemies.” Sure it was a lot to wrap your brain around considering you still had all of your other homework to do, but the more you learned the more you could feel a shift in your mind. Where it was shifting to you weren’t quite sure, but you could feel it was in a good direction. Before you knew it you were spending your afternoons integrating your fighting style into your water balloon dodging training- which you were thankfully able to move from your spot in now. 

Sure, there were days when you’d walk back to your dorm soaked in a mixture of sweat and water from exploding water balloons. There were even days when you felt yourself slip back into your insecure and worrisome ways. But every time you managed to send a water balloon back to Aizawa using nothing but your quirk you could feel a surge of empowerment. It was only a week and a half that had gone by before he started throwing more challenges your way like having you do it blindfolded. Or inviting someone else to come so they both could throw water balloons at you.

Soon enough you found yourself laughing more than you found yourself indulging in your worries and fears. It was like being gifted freedom after years of denial. Everyday tasks involving water became simple exercises for your abilities. You had even messed with Aizawa a handful of times, altering his movements a barely noticeable amount, though he would always send you his death glare. He couldn’t ever really bring himself to be upset at you though. You were thriving. Your newfound confidence in your quirk overflowed into your everyday confidence. It filled him with a sense of pride, knowing he helped you grow.

“Bakugo and Y/L/N, you’re team captains in today’s capture the flag.” 

You looked at him in surprise. Really? You? Sure, you were getting better but were you really good enough to be a captain of the team? He looked at you expectantly. 

“Hurry up idiot we don’t have all day. I’m ready to kick some ass,” Bakugo barked as he stepped up from the line. 

You tried your best to suppress your anxious thoughts as you followed suit. Your team was comprised of Mina, Tsuyu, Tenya, Ochaco, Midoriya, Kirishima, Todoroki, Hagakure, and Momo. “Feel free to have grape,” you whispered to Bakugo, trying to muster up some cocky confidence. “And no hard feelings when my team wins.”

It was a total free for all once Aizawa released the class into the city training environment. Your team had decided to split into pairs of those whos quirks best complemented each other. Which meant you were unanimously voted to be paired with Todoroki, seeing as his ice quirk related to your water quirk. You chose not to tell your team that when it came down to it your partner didn’t really matter. Your water quirk also meant you could control others, not that they’ve ever seen you do it.

It was a double objective game. Not only were you trying to protect your own flags hooked onto your uniforms, but you were also in charge of capturing the enemy’s flag. All while being on a thirty-minute time limit. Because of this, you decided to assign two teams to the direct attack- you and Todoroki and Tenya and Tsuyu. Meanwhile, Ochaco, Mina, and Momo were left guarding the base flag while the others spread out through the area. 

The first ten minutes passed with seemingly no action, neither team able to find the other in the vacant city. 

“Mina, Yuga, and Rikido are out,” Aizawa’s voice boomed through the intercom, startling you slightly. 

Todoroki nudged your side gently before sending a sheet of ice along the ground, capturing Jiro and Kaminari by the ankles. With a quick nod and a flick of your wrist, you transformed his ice into water, dragging the flags down with a wave. A look of surprise momentarily crossed all three of their expressions, you were actually using your quirk.

“Denki, Kyoka, Tsuyu, Tenya, and Koji are out.”

“Hey,” you whispered, dragging Todoroki out of his state of shock. “We still have the challenge to win.” Without another word you continued to scour the area, your mind focused on one thing- proving to yourself you could do this. 

“We still have the advantage in numbers,” Todoroki spoke up, taking authority. “It’s probably best to trust our other teammates to guard the flag and take out the other team while we go after the flag.” You couldn’t tell if he was looking at you for confirmation or if he was simply trying to see if you understood. Either way, you nodded in response. 

The quietness between you two as you both walked through the streets was intense. In all your time together in class, you’ve never really spoken to each other much. Not on purpose though. He was just quiet and you normally had your own things to work on. 

A shadow along the ground ripped you from your thought. “Shoto!” Without fully thinking you used your quirk to force him out of the way just as Tokoyami’s dark shadow attempted to rip his flag. Going with the flow you transferred your focus to Tokoyami, stopping him in his tracks as you charged towards him. You slid along the ground by his feet, wiping his flag from his hip easily. 

“Fumikage, Mezo, Momo, Toru, Ochaco and Minoru are out.”

You scampered back over to Todoroki who was still trying to process what you did earlier. “Water,” he muttered to himself with a quiet chuckle. 

“Eijiro is out.”

“That means it’s down to us and Midoriya. I’ll go after the flag, Katsuki is most likely there. You go help Midoriya,” Todoroki spouted out. He could see the hesitation in your eyes, but this was the best plan he could think of. He had a better chance in a one on one against Katsuki than you did. 

You chewed on your lip nervously, trying to steal your nerves so your words could find their way past your throat. “You help Midoriya, I’ve got Bakugo. You’ve got distance on your side, he’ll need that.” The nerves began to overcome you as Todoroki stood there staring at you. 

“Okay.” 

It was that easy. You’d be lying if you told yourself you weren’t surprised by his reply. He trusted you with this. You shot him a grateful yet relieved smile before sprinting off to the edge of the city. Your legs burned as you ran with full force towards the unguarded flag. Before you could even see where it was coming from an explosive blast knocked you off your feet. Your jacket barely managed to provide a shield against the rough gravel as you skidded across the street. 

“For someone who was all talk that seemed pretty easy,” Katsuki boasted despite still keeping his guard up. He made no movements towards you to rip your flag as you scrambled back to your feet. 

You regained your footing, squaring off against him. “I’m not done until that flag,” you nodded towards his, “is in my hands.” Your talk was tough, but you couldn’t seem to shake the bubbling fear building inside of you. You had to be smart about every step you took. 

Shaking your head, you rushed at him, preparing an offensive attack. Katsuki scoffed at your movements before sending another blast your way. You rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding getting hit. Behind you, the building groaned from the impact of the blast. 

“Think. He won’t let me close enough for hand to hand. So it’s down to quirks.” You dodged another blast. He was trying to keep you at a distance. Sweat dripped down from your chin.

“Izuku, Mashirao, and Hanta are out.”

That’s it! You gathered the sweat off your body, forming a puddle in your hands. 

Todoroki rushed to the edge of the city, desperate to see what was going on. It was down to you, him and Bakugo. Another blast rang through the now quiet city. Yet neither name had been called yet which meant you were really holding your own.

Using your quirk you allowed your sweat to discreetly form a thin sheet on the ground, similar to how you’ve seen Todoroki use his ice. You pulled Bakugo towards you, using your sheet of sweat to make him practically glide.

Todoroki could barely through the clearing smoke, but he could make out a very clear ‘what the hell’. He watched as Bakugo took staggering steps towards you. It was like he was taking steps he didn’t want to. Todoroki’s mind flashed back to earlier when you had made him move out of the way. 

“Come on blasty,” you mumbled to yourself. Any moment now he’d try to hit you. You glanced at the unstable building he hit earlier. The smell of caramel filled your senses. Now! Unsure of which arm he would use you used you directed both of his arms at the building’s weak point.  

One final groan escaped from the building as it began to tumble down. Ignoring his flag you began to sprint to the unguarded team flag. You ran through the falling debris, pushing Katsuki back into safety. All around you debris rained as the building crumbled to the ground, but you couldn’t care less. You could see the flag straight ahead. Your legs felt weightless. Behind you, the building fell with one final crash that sent dust everywhere. You glanced over your shoulder to see Katsuki fuming, using his blasts to help him fly across the debris. 

Todoroki couldn’t believe what he saw. He knew you were quirk on your feet in a fight, but he never thought you’d do something so bold. So reckless. So crazy. So awe-inspiring. You weren’t the same Y/n that used to be too scared to use her quirk on even a puddle. Before he could think of what he was doing his legs began to move towards the scene. 

“I don’t know what you pulled back there, but I’m not done,” Bakugo barked behind you as he landed in front of the debris. 

“But I am,” you called back, though you were speaking of something else. You stopped his every movement as you took the last few steps towards the flag. You plucked it from its place on the pole, but the room remained quiet. Even as everyone followed Aizawa onto the training center. 

There were no congratulations as you expected. Or team cheering because of the win. There was just silence and stares. All of your previous confidence was slowly disintegrating under their stares. 

“That’s a scary quirk to have,” you heard Mineta whisper to Kaminari. 

“I wonder what else she can control,” Iida thought aloud. 

“Has she been holding back this whole time?” Even Mina joined the whispering among the class. 

“That stunt could’ve seriously harmed her and Bakugo,” Momo spoke with a worried expression. 

“Y/n’s team is the winner,” Aizawa spoke plainly. You noticed a conflicting look in his eyes. Like he was proud yet, well you couldn’t quite place a finger on what it was 

Katsuki scoffed and jammed his hands into his pockets. “I don’t see the big deal,” he addressed everyone aloud. “We both fought.” He shrugged and walked past you. “Just don’t expect it to be as easy next time. You just caught me off guard today that’s all.” He glanced at you, the determination in his eyes setting ablaze a new desire to continue to train. 

You opened your mouth to say something but got drowned out by Kirishima’s exclamation. “That was badass! I volunteer to help you train, I have to see more of your quirk.”

A small blush crept onto your cheeks at the sudden positive attention. You nodded shyly in acknowledgment. 

“Me too,” Midoriya pipped in with just as much enthusiasm. 

“Awesome! I’ve been reading some books Aizawa sensei gave me and I think I could help recovery girl with healing you.” Your eyes sparkled as you rambled off excitedly. You thought growing confident with your quirk was exhilarating, but this was even better. It felt amazing to be able to talk about your quirk freely and you had Aizawa to thank for it. 

Bonus: 

“Aizawa Sensei!” You picked your pace up to a jog until you got ahead of him. “What’d you think,” you asked eagerly as you spun to face him. 

Aizawa shrugged and suppressed a smile. “You went a little overboard if you ask me.”

“I was caught in the moment- Woah!” You lost your footing, sending you tumbling backward. Aizawa caught one of your flailing arms and helped to sturdy you. “I-.” You looked down at your feet shyly. “Thanks,” you spoke as you wrapped your arms around his waist tightly. “Not just for the fall but for helping me be confident too.” Your emotions were becoming overwhelming. Every worry, anxious thoughts, embarrassment, joy, anything you’ve been trying to suppress these past few weeks was beginning to explode out of you. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Aizawa stood frozen in your embrace, unsure of what to do. In all these weeks that have passed, he found himself growing fond of you. You were already one of his favorite students- not that he played favorites- but now he almost thought of you as a daughter. “You could’ve.” That was all he could bring himself to say. Slowly he reciprocated your hug, resting his hand on the back of your head. 

He thought of pulling away in case anyone were to come, but decided against it. Instead, he held you as long as he felt you needed, waiting until he felt your arms slacken before he let go. “I’m proud of you if that’s what you wanted to know,” he chuckled. “And as reckless as it looked… It did have an action movie badass look to it.”

Your eyes glistened with tears and for once you weren’t sure if it was from sadness or joy. “Right?! I felt really cool and the adrenaline-.”

You were cut off by Kirishima’s voice across the lawn, “Hey y/n, you ready yet?” 

“Yeah one sec,” you yelled out. You turned back to Aizawa with an apologetic look, “sorry, Kirishima wanted to see if anyone could beat me at swimming. But, I’ll see you in class and training on Monday. Bye sensei,” you rambled quickly with a small wave before taking off towards Kirishima, Katsuki, Midoriya, and Todoroki. 

Aizawa watched with a small smile playing on his lips knowing you were going to do great things. 

[chroma-imp]

There’s a lot of critical dicussion about IQ and that’s great!! Here are some points (from a psych student) I haven’t seen mentioned before, that I think are very important to also consider:

IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is not a number that can be used in a vacuum. It’s the quotient of your score in an intelligence test/the population average. Your IQ can fluctuate widely depending what population you’re being compared to. It also means that depending on the population used as a comparison in different tests, these IQ values are not really comparable in a reasonable way (example: one test uses a sample of students from a university for their averages while another uses middle aged professionals).

An aside to that: the typical average result of an IQ test is usually 100, and most tests don’t give out scores under 60/70 or scores over 130/140 because trying to measure someone who deviates this extremely from the norm (several standard deviations!) in a reliable way would compromise the parts where you’re trying to different between more average abilities or make the test needlessly bloated.

The more important point (in my opinion) is this: How do we know that an intelligence test measures intelligence accurately? We don’t! IQ-Tests are made to measure intelligence, but there isn’t really a way to test if what they do measure is what they are meant to measure simply because intelligence is a very vague concept, that’s difficult to define.

This also leads to another point: different IQ-Tests are based on different theories of what intelligence is, and therefor measure it differently. There are many different theories, a very popular one is that intelligence is an aggregate of 2 factors: your fluid intelligence (ability to learn new things, logical thinking, stuff like that) and your cristalline intelligemce (your knowledge), others posit that intelligence is a mix of diffferent kinds of intelligence (spatial, verbal, emotional etc.). Anyway. As a result of being based on different theories, the tests have different types of tasks to measure what they think intelligence is. So the results of different IQ-Tests mean different things.

I’ve taken several, for my classes, so we’d get an idea of how they work etc. There’s an IQ-Test that only measures cristalline intelligence, specifically your vocabulary. Regardless of whetehr you get a “good” or “bad” result, what does it mean? That you have a less or more extensive vocabulary. Does that really say anything about what people generally consider “intelligence”?

One of the most widely used tests, Raven’s Advanced Matrices, tasks you with completing matrizes with the correct element/answer. Is that what intelligence is? Logical thinking? Puzzle solving? I don’t know, but that’s what the test measures.

Also you know why it’s so popular? The problem with most IQ-Tests is that you can’t reuse the same tasks on the same person again, to re-test them later because there’s a strong training effect. It’s super easy to just generate new matrizes.

But this training effect also shows exactly why IQ correlates so strongly with education: Having practice with these kinds of tasks significantly improves your performance. The better your education was, the more of these types of tasks you have encountered and the better you perform in IQ-tests.

The validity of IQ-tests is, from a methodological standpoint, questionable because they are based on the assumption that they measure intelligence because we decided they do.

[the-signs-of-two]

Do you think there are still hopes for season 5? A lot of articles claim that there is no future for sherlock holmes and that we should give up our hopes of season 5. Thoughts?

Ouf.

Tough one. And a long one to answer. But I want to be truthful and thorough.

Based purely on advertising and how keen people are to keep audiences invested, I don’t think they’re allowing us much hope. It’s been almost four years and they’ve done very little to maintain any kind of hype or interest, perhaps with the exception of keeping the escape room going. The sad truth of it is that a show will rarely get picked up for a new series if the majority of viewers have moved on. And they’ve done very little to keep their viewers excited about the prospect of a series 5.

Then, of course, there’s the elephant in the room, whether you’re a hardcore TJLC’er or a casual viewer: the fact that series 4, on a surface level, was just... not very good. It looks and feels disjointed and very different from the previous series and casual viewers don’t want to spend hours and hours trying to figure out if it was actually better than its surface narrative. That sort of thing - taking a long hiatus, hyping a new series by saying it’ll be television history and then delivering a somewhat lukewarm product - drives viewers away. And like I said, if most viewers no longer care, chances are it won’t be picked up for a new series.

That’s one way to look at it. But what about the actual story?

The show is called Sherlock. And I think, putting my Johnlock-glasses to the side, you could actually argue that Sherlock does come full circle. In series 1, Sherlock is driven almost entirely by his logic. He’s arrogant, cocky and he makes a show of being disdainful and unfeeling, even if you get small glimpses showing that that isn’t actually who he is. With every series, Sherlock has moved further away from that and become a softer, more emphatic version of himself - a version of himself who cares more about making his close ones happy than about making himself look cool and mysterious. Series 4 does seem to complete that narrative. They made Eurus into the synthesis of everything Sherlock was and tried to be in the beginning of the show and turned that against Sherlock - and I actually really like that. I think it works. When Sherlock says that they’re “experiencing science from the perspective of lab rats”, we’re reminded of the time when he would do something similar: when he would pretend to be Ian Monkford’s friend to get information from his wife, when he would scare/traumatise the already traumatised headmistress to get information on two missing children, when he would compliment Molly’s hair to convince her to show him two bodies. In each instance, it was to do good, to get ahead in a case, but it was also a coldly calculated piece of manipulation, one which Sherlock showed zero regret for. The way he acted in first couple of series hurt other people - sometimes you wouldn’t feel any remorse for them, but sometimes it was Sherlock’s closest. Let’s take the most obvious example: locking John in a lab after (as far as he knew) drugging him, then providing him with sound effects and watching what would happen on the monitors. Don’t you think John experienced science from the perspective of a lab rat then? Sherlock is a different person now, but TFP also forces him to come to terms with the consequences of his previous behaviour. He has to confront logical problems - kill one man or three men, kill one man or two people will die, save Molly’s life etc. - but he has to face the emotional consequences of those logical decisions. He can’t just look away as he used to do. Seen in that way, I actually think TFP does provide a poignant culmination of Sherlock’s character arc. When Lestrade says that Sherlock is now a good man rather than a great man, it does feel earned.

However. Then there’s... well, everyone else. I’m pretty sure I could tell you what John’s character arc was all about in HLV. If this is the end, I no longer know what his character arc was. John makes horrible decision upon horrible decision in series 4. A cynical reading would be that he’s “stupid for the plot”. They needed to drive a wedge between Sherlock and John for TLD, so they didn’t care that John’s decision to blame Sherlock for Mary’s death in TST makes absolutely no sense. Then there’s the morgue scene, which... To be fair, it has actually been foreshadowed that John is a violent person. That he has very bad aggression issues and that he deals with a lot of anger in a physical manner. Sherlock isn’t perfect, but John certainly isn’t either. And I actually think the morgue scene could work in that light. Hear me out. Sherlock has done bad things to John, he really has, and all those things have been in line with his character and a reflection of his flaws. John beating Sherlock up could work in the same way. But it HAS TO BE ADDRESSED. When Sherlock does something morally reprehensible and psychologically scarring, it’s not presented as acceptable. When Sherlock locks John in the lab, you FEEL that what he did was unacceptable. John calls him out for it and it’s discussed. And this happens a number of times and each time, Sherlock shows more and more regret for his actions. He begins to apologise. He begins to try to change. If the morgue scene is going to work as a low point in John’s morality which prompts him to feel regret and try to change, it needs to be presented that way. It needs to be presented as bad (it is), it needs to be presented as a low point (it is), but it also needs to be presented as unjustified, unacceptable and inexcusable. No matter how you feel, beating up your best friend is never okay. Just as no matter how badly you need to solve a case, experimenting on your best friend by subjecting him to a terror-indusing drug and locking him up to examine the effects is never okay. But John isn’t called out for this and it’s never discussed. That leaves John with no incentive to change, no moment of remorse and regret, no need to make amends. So, in a way, the series leaves him at his absolute lowest. Which isn’t a character arc, friends.

Then there’s Molly. After the most heartbreaking betrayal of all time, the series just... ends. Like, she’s there at the end and it’s all fine. The part where the man she loved told her to tell him that she loved him FOR AN EXPERIMENT and then she took the opportunity to make him say it in return, clinging on to those three words like her life depended on it... yeah, that happened, but he presumably told her that he had to do it and it was all fine. No lasting emotional damage or mistrust there.

You could argue that Mycroft does come full circle too. In TAB, he decides to relinquish control over Sherlock and instead tells John to take care of him in his place. In TFP, he goes all the way and decides to die to let John live. In doing so, he acknowledges that Sherlock needs John more than he needs Mycroft, but also that John is better for Sherlock than Mycroft ever was. After a lifetime of controlling and watching over Sherlock against his will, he finally decides to let Sherlock go live his own life and make his own decisions. And he proves his love by being prepared to die to give Sherlock happiness with John.

So... yeah. I think some character arcs did actually come full circle, while others definitely didn’t. I just took the most obvious examples here.

As a background story for the Holmes family, I don’t really think it works. To me, it doesn’t explain why Sherlock and Mycroft are the way they are - and it certainly is weird that their parents seem so normal and unconcerned about the whole thing. Buried trauma is definitely a thing, but there doesn’t seem to be any obvious correlation between what happened with Eurus and who Sherlock was at the beginning of the series. As for Mycroft... I honestly don’t know how he feels about Eurus, apart from the fact that he’s scared of her.

Then there’s the part where John flat out tells Sherlock that a romantic relationship would complete him as a human being. This goes completely unresolved. Are we meant to assume that Sherlock called Irene after this conversation and they got together? 1) Why should we assume this? And 2) effing straight culture, let him be gay, because he is.

To summarise... I don’t think TFP works as a conclusion. Some things are resolved, some are not. I think there’s so much story and plot left unresolved that a series 5 would definitely have story points to work with. Also, once you’ve said that a character needs a romantic relationship, you need to go through with that or it turns into a major hole in said character arc.

Getting a little more tinfoil hat-y, I think the television history, gut-punch moment could be a recreation of the circumstances around The Final Problem. The Final Problem seemingly finished the Sherlock Holmes stories by having Sherlock die. People were outraged and deeply upset. It took ten years for ACD to undo it and reveal that Sherlock had actually survived. Trying to recreate the atmosphere surrounding a beloved piece of literature in 1893 - that sort of thing has never been attempted before and would be television history. And in that light, it would make sense that they aren’t encouraging the rumours surrounding series 5. They need to make people think that Sherlock is “dead” if they are going to resurrect him. That’s the tinfoil hat speaking, but I can’t help but find it an intriguing idea. And I would be DOWN.

Still, they didn’t need to make series 4 bad for this to work. They could have just made it end sadly. Series 4 being bad and difficult to understand lost them a lot of viewers. And sadly, viewers are what make shows happen. In that sense, I think it could backfire very severely if that is their plan.

So there you have it. I haven’t lost hope. I think there’s still story and plot and characters that would make series 5 worth making. And of course I’ve only discussed surface narratives in this post. If some of the theories proposed by us (EMP) should turn out to be correct, it could fix a lot of the problems with series 4 and make for a fantastic gut-punch moment in series 5. But I will admit that I’m concerned it won’t be greenlit because people have lost interest. If it’s no longer likely to have a large audience because series 4 was bad, they may not be able to make it even if that was their original intent. Or they may need to really amp up the hype when and if they make series 5.

I hope this long ramble answered your question.

[hystericalweenie]

Just Another Day at the Office - The Sexperiment

George MacKay x Reader Series

Part Five: Make It or Break It

Masterlist

Summary: Y/f/n Y/l/n is doing better than ever; she’s finally in a relationship with the man she’s been constantly thinking about, she has some great friends, and she’s thriving at her dream job. Except, there’s one problem: being in a relationship with one of your coworkers can get really steamy, and can cause a lot of sexual frustration. Her new pitch idea may solve exactly that problem, but will George be okay with it?

a/n: I have absolutely no personal experience in magazine/journalism career, so the information in this fic will be provided with the knowledge I have conducted from research. With that being said, please don’t be mad if this is not accurate!!! **“The Sexperiment” is inspired by an actual Cosmopolitan article (here’s the link!) IM SO SORRY FOR BEING GONE SO LONG I’m here to finish this shit once and for all... I know it’s been a while, but I hold this series so close to my heart and I still have the same love for it as I did when I wrote my last chapter (I know it’s only been a few months but STILL) if you’re reading this, I just want to thank you for sticking around, you’re the best <3

Warnings: This is a slow burn fic, their relationship won’t happen in one night, so if you’re not into that, check out some of the beautifully written imagines that you can most likely find under the george mackay x reader tag. I might eventually write some of my own too :P At least one person’s saying “fuck” and there’s NSFW content..aka smut. You have been warned. Also angst :/ srry this is kinda short

I was in the worst possible situation I could have ever imagined: I had to choose between my dream job and my dream man.

Bree arrived home about twenty minutes later by herself. My bedroom door creaked open, signaling her arrival. She frowned at my appearance, which seemed to be mascara smudged all over my eyes and cheeks and swollen, bloodshot eyes.

She sat down beside me, pulling me into her. “Y/n, I am so, so, sorry.”

I let out a croaked sigh, “I-it’s fine, he was going t-to find out eventually.”

“I’m sure he’ll come around,” she rubbed my back soothingly. “I think he’s in love with you.”

“It doesn't matter if he’s in love or not!” I exclaimed, pulling out of her embrace, my emotions arising again. “He’ll never forgive me for this.”

Hot tears began to stream down my face and I felt my bottom lip tremble. Bree took it as a cue to leave me be, so she quietly exited to her own bedroom.

What the fuck was I going to do?

This job was the job I’d been looking for my entire life; it was the job I’d dreamed about working at. 

But, George... 

George was everything. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that George would have ever fucked up the way I did. I wouldn’t ever have to question his loyalty, he’d proven to be trustworthy and honest. He treated me like a princess, a way I’d only ever been treated by my father. I wasn’t sure if I’d hurt more without him or without a job. He never failed to make me smile or laugh, and he’d ensure that I always felt safe. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever fall in love again, until I met him.

I could get a job anywhere, but there was only one George MacKay.

I had to delete the article.

I headed to the kitchen and made myself two cups of coffee before cracking my knuckles and getting to work. 

Dean, 

This is an emergency. If you don’t reply now or tomorrow, I’m going to be in deep, deep shit.

I didn't have time to wait for his response; I got right to work. 

What are people into nowadays, I thought to myself. Sex.

Ping. I clicked on my email.

Y/n,

What? 

Well, anything’s better than the fucking Sexperiment article. 

Dean,

I have to write a new article. George found out. BAD. Can’t release it, I have to fix this.

Also, would you say your penis size relates to your shoe size at all? It’s for the article.

Promise!

Well, I thought, here goes nothing. My fingers began typing immediately. The caffeine made my fingers shake slightly, but I was determined to write anything. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get George back, but I knew I had to. This was a start, at least. 

Ping.

Y/n,

Knew that was going to happen. I’ll help you out, but you owe me. Can we do this tomorrow though? It’s Friday night. Uhhh and to ur other question: I don’t think so. Not going to elaborate more than that. Hope that’s good enough.

I rolled my eyes.

Dean,

Fine. I’ll send you my drafts and you better respond as soon as you can.

I prayed to every possible higher power that this would work. I began conducting research, reading articles and articles about the relationship between the size of a man’s penis and the size of a man’s feet. I wrote down statistics, quotes, and scientific evidence–making sure to exclude any personal experience. I spent hours explaining the theory and science behind it and citing every single quote.

I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen, but I prayed that Connie wouldn’t be too pissed at me and George would hopefully see how genuinely sorry I was. I knew I’d fucked up, I got too caught up in trying to impress my boss that I practically sabotaged my own relationship in the process. I hadn’t received a single text message or call from him. I missed the way he smelt of sandalwood and vanilla, I missed entangling my fingers in his soft, sandy locks. I missed the way his skin felt against mine and his velvety voice when he called me “love”.

Tears ran down my cheeks once again as these memories lingered in my head. I stared at my computer screen, my eyelids drooping; I needed a break. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I decided that I was going to be entirely committed on staying up all night. Making a sandwich for myself, I sat and watched television for a moment, attempting to distract me from my obvious thoughts. And once I felt slightly more energized, I resumed reading articles, highlighting quotes, and writing. I continued this until Bree woke up, yawning as she swung her bedroom door open.

“Jesus, Y/n,” she observed, my figure at the kitchen table still hunched over, staring at my screen. “Were you up all night?”

“Yeah,” my voice was raspy from exhaustion. “There’s a pot of coffee waiting for you.”

She smiled softly, walking behind me and wrapping her arms around me. “All couples fight, you know.”

I sighed, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore; I need to get this article done.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You’re writing a new article?”

“Of course I am,” I defended, my eyes not leaving my screen. 

She poured herself a cup of the hot liquid.

“You love him.”

My eyes began to water and I fought to blink it away.

“Damn right I do,” I muttered to myself, though I was sure she heard me.

After finishing the draft of the article, I sent it over to Dean. Bree suggested that we go see our friends to distract me, but I wanted to stay home. I needed to write the final draft, and see George...both as soon as possible. Bree stayed around to make sure I’d be okay, watching television with me until Dean responded back with the edits. Once he finally did, I was rewriting the article and using his edits to perfect it. Once I’d finally finished it for Monday, I shut my laptop, grabbed my keys, and began driving to his house.

After parking, I climbed up the stairs until I reached his apartment door. I knocked a few times, nerves churning inside my stomach as I pondered all of the possible reactions he’d have. My biggest fear was that he’d never want to see me again. The door opened, revealing himself in a t-shirt and pajama pants, eyes puffy and bloodshot; I was sure my eyes looked the same.

 “I-” I began, letting out a sigh. “I rewrote the article.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“It’s still sex-themed, but it doesn’t have any connection or correlation to you,” I explained, my voice beginning to croak. “I can email it to you, if you’d like. You can read it, see if it’s okay first.”

He shook his head silently. It was apparent that he didn’t know what to say either.

“I know I fucked up,” my voice broke and my bottom lip trembled. “I shouldn’t have come up with an article like that, it was so fucking awful of me to embarrass you in front of your coworkers.”

Tears began to run down my face and I couldn't help but hiccup.

“P-please, George,” I whimpered.

His eyes began to well with tears of his own, and he pulled me into his arms. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you outside of the restaurant,” he whispered, hugging me close to him.

“Oh, George,” I sobbed. “That was nothing; all you’ve done is treat me like gold, and I nearly exposed our fucking sex life to the world.”

He pulled away, cupping both of my cheeks with his palms, his blue orbs staring into mine, his eyelashes thick from wet tears and the whites of his eyes red.

“Please,” he begged, his voice cracking, “don’t lie, nor do something behind my back ever again.”

I pressed my hands against the backs of his, still holding my face in his palms. 

“Never again,” I confirmed, throwing my arms around him to feel the warm embrace I thought I’d never feel again. I could inhale his scent, hear his heartbeat through his chest, stare into his ocean blue orbs, and feel the soft sandy curls on his head.

He read the article, and though it made him slightly uncomfortable that I was writing about penises, he designed simple art that would make the article pop in the magazine. Then, we laid in his bed for hours, listening to each others heartbeats, listening to our breathing rhythms, staring into each others eyes as if we were silently communicating to one another. 

We decided to take a shower together, stripping each other of our clothes slowly and meaningfully. Once the hot water was running down our bare skin, we washed each other; shampooing each others hair slowly and washing our bodies tenderly, leaving kisses on wet shoulders and necks. Once we got out and dried off, we got back into his bed and maintained a spooning position, his bare torso against my bare back, as we dozed off to the warm, comforting feeling of our bare skin touching. 

Monday morning, I sat down at my desk and sent the new article to Connie, anxiety making me bite my nails as I waited for a response back. 

Ping.

Oh, no, I thought to myself.

Y/n,

Meet me in the conference room with Dean.

Connie

I sighed, exchanging looks with Dean–whom was reading the email over my shoulder–before we made our way to the conference room. She stood, her arms crossed, as we entered the room. I gulped, heart racing and sweat starting to form at my palms. The two of us sat ourselves, waiting for her to begin.

She joined us in a chair across from us, her elbows resting against the table.

“Well?” she began, her voice questioning. “What happened to the article?”

Dean looked at me, waiting for me to speak for myself. I braced myself before talking.

“The Sexperiment article wasn’t working for me, Connie,” I explained nervously, “I wasn’t having much luck writing it, and I wasn’t confident that it’d reach the magazine’s standards.”

I had to lie; I couldn’t tell her that the article nearly jeopardized my relationship. Dean sat next to me, silent.

She sighed, “I hope this one will reach the ‘magazine’s standards’, then,” she mimicked, before standing up and flattening her skirt. “I’ll publish the article, but this is a warning: do not change your article without contacting me first.”

And with that, we were dismissed, panic still swimming in our stomachs. Well, I thought, I chose George over my job; what else was I expecting?