#characters who are highly intelligent and always in control are fun

[glass-noodle]

i like "confused innocent wittle android" connor but only when he's doing it on purpose. male manipulator.

same 😚

Although! I also enjoy him learning to navigate the world beyond what he can access via internet/social protocols and stumbling a little along the way. He’s aware of how the world works on an intellectual level, but actually having to experience life — going through the motions of surviving, of feeling emotions, of actually connecting with others on a deeper level beyond “pick an option from this algorithmically optimized list”, requires more nuance and forces him to show more vulnerability in order to learn and grow and connect. So I can imagine him being caught off guard, or having his intentions misread, or picking the wrong course of action, and feeling (at best) a little abashed and (at worst) mortified/guilty sometimes as a result. He’s confident and smart and adaptable, but nobody’s perfect, and I think he’s generally pretty hard on himself if his reactions to his failures in-game are any indication.

I still like to imagine him as more of an “ends justify the means” type of person, though. Imo he wouldn’t be above using deceit and manipulation to get what he wants even after deviating, but he’s also developing his own code of ethics separate from CyberLife’s that dictate when and how and to what extent he should use those tactics, and whether the consequences to his interpersonal relationships will be worth it.

Machine Connor on the other hand? He knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s here to wreck your shit 😌✨

[cybertron-after-dark]

oooo kimmie, can you tell us about the tfa and rb overlap?

Everyone prepare yourselves bc the floodgates are opened and now I'm never going to shut up about this

In a meta context, there's SO much overlap between the shows. A lot of the same people worked on it, especially the writers, and it 100% shows. Mr. Marty Isenberg you are not slick.

In terms of the actual content of the shows though, the similarities are overflowing.

First and foremost, the emphasis on cultural differences and exchanges with the human-bot relationships. TFA had a good bit of it and it was very very fun every time it happened (bots not really knowing what level of self defense is appropriate to teach a child, being very confused about what exactly humans eat, bee picking up video games, bulkhead picking up art, ALL that good shit), but you don't always get to focus on it with all the action and political intrigue going on. And while rescue bots has its share of intensity, there's a lot more space for the mundane interactions. Blades being tv obsessed, the bots celebrating Allspark day, boulder's love of just Everything on earth. They had a whole episode just about teaching the bots to fish.

There's also the fact that everyone on griffin rock is a little bit Unhinged in a lot of the same ways the humans kicking around Detroit are. Just. Vaguely Weird Vibes in very funny ways. And the same tendency to switch from revering the emergency services which they may or may not know the bots are part of to wildly distrusting them on a dime. Optimus would not leave an encounter with Mrs Nederlander unscathed bro. I don't know if any of the bots could.

Speaking of humans, the villains in rescue bots feel like what the tfa human villains could have been if not for being wildly overshadowed by the decepticons. Evan and Myles? I think you mean Henry Masterson's shitty cousins he only interacts with through the CoD lobby. Madelyne Pynch? That's just girlboss Porter C. Powell. Quint Quarry? Sir that is Master Disaster if he existed for more than like two minutes of a singular episode and bagged more than one bot. Dr. Morocco? Meltdown but better at, like, everything (especially lab safety).

Then there's the constant state of both teams grilling the hell out of each other All The Time. Chaotic. Absolute Creechurs. They love each other so much but they also all live in close contact and see each other all the time and thus they are So Mean To Each Other (though they're a bit meaner in tfa just bc older audience)

The Sumdacs and the Greenes being two duos of an absentminded but well meaning technological genius and his intelligent and Highly Cool pigtailed daughter who both have to deal with the dad's tech going completely out of control is pretty on the nose too. (Oh God now I'm just imagining an au where tfp starscream successfully gets rid of Megatron after the space bridge explosion and sends him hurtling towards earth and crashlanding right on griffin rock whee doc green finds his head. Can you imagine. The misery of tfp Megatron having to deal with a human. He's having several mental breakdowns, 100%)

Even Cody and Sari have a lot of similarity as characters. Cody is a lot more mild mannered compared to the absolute Gremlin that is Sari, but they both still struggle a lot with wanting to help but feeling too small to make an impact, even though they matter so much more than they could ever know. They're surrounded by heros, giants, and it's hard for them not to feel like they're fading into the background. And when both their families realize how they've been making those kids feel they put so much effort to make sure they're loved and feel like their efforts matter. It's the same arc in different forms. And it's so good both ways.

Overall they're both shows that feel like they're trying to say similar things to different audiences. That Earth is wonderful and worth protecting. That any effort can make massive differences, even if you don't feel like you can do enough. That a hero can come from somewhere humble, and the best ones usually do. That people deserve kindness and a genuine effort at understanding. That nobody is without value.

And honestly? That what I love most about both of them.

[partywithponies]

BEGGING U TO ELABORATE ABOUT THE WHIFFERDILLS

OKAY OKAY listen. listen. I'll give you the brief version.

Whifferdills, originally from the Doctor Who comics, where things can get already get really weird and conceptual, are one of the most alien alien species in the Whoniverse, even by comics standards. They're shapeshifters, right? Nothing new or strange in sci-fi. Except usually when a shapshifting character or species is plot relevant and lore-important, the writer will write in some kind of limitation to their powers. Some kind of set of rules. But when it came to Whifferdills, they just... didn't.

Whifferdills can be anything. Literally. They can be inanimate objects. They can be puddles of liquid. They can be microbes. They can be the size of mountains. They don't seem to have one set default form that they revert back to, they're supposed to be always changing. Frobisher staying in one form most of the time is established to be him just being a little freak by his own species's standards, and even then, the form he stays in is. A penguin. Because he just likes penguins. Whifferdills don't age, at least not physically, unless they actively choose to, because they have conscious control over what their own bodies do at all times. They are functionally immortal. They are almost impossible to kill. Try to throw them off a cliff and they'll shapeshift instantly into something that can fly. Try to drown them and they'll shapeshift into something with gills. Throw them into a vacuum and they'll shapeshift into something that doesn't need to breathe at all. They don't inherently need to breathe at all. Shoot them or stab them and they'll just shapeshift the wound closed. In his first story Frobisher shapeshifts into a burger and survives someone literally eating part of him and is entirely unaffected outside of being mildly annoyed.

All this to say, Whifferdills are weird as hell and OP as shit. There is literally no reason to assume they reproduce sexually or organically. Why would they even? How would pregnancy even work, in a being whose body is by design supposed to be ever-changing? And how can you spend half your existence living as insects or cash registers and still have a concept of gender? Again, why would they even?

And to bring up just a few specific moments: in one comic, Frobisher (in penguin form) mistakenly believes he's laid an egg, and The Doctor (with the air of someone who's had to explain this before) tells Frobisher that this is impossible, because he's a male penguin, and Frobisher still seems a little confused by this. And to be clear, Frobisher is supposed to be highly intelligent. Frobisher is a notorious wanted criminal. Frobisher is a professional private detective. The Doctor sees Frobisher more as an equal and a partner than a companion. Frobisher plays chess against the TARDIS for fun. And Frobisher struggles to remember the difference between male and female penguins, the species he has a vaguely autistic special interest in.

And in the Big Finish audio The Maltese Penguin, Frobisher makes an offhand comment about he finds the humanoid form particularly tricky, because they have all these "odd dangly bits" that he can't see the purpose of.

I put it to you that Whifferdills do not even have a concept of biological sex or gender, because it's just so far outside of their perception of life and the universe. The TARDIS just translates Frobisher as "he" and Francine as "she" for the benefit of us the audience and the benefit of people like Peri, who in return could not even begin to fully comprehend the lived reality of a Whifferdill.

[squuote]

We know so very little about Mariella, but I think her existence as an entity similar enough to Stanley to be narrated in the same structure is very interesting. A lot of people take a lot of liberties with her when they include her in fanfics/other fanworks, often making her somewhat of a straightman, a force of sensibility and stability (and often emotional intelligence)-- which is great!! I love seeing people have fun with her, and it's often good to have foils to Utter Disaster characterizations of Stanley and Narrator-- but personally I see her as... well, as more of a parallel to Stanley, especially with both of them occupying a "protagonist"/"office worker" role when seen.

TSP/TSPUD is constantly operating on at least five levels of meta simultaneously, so it's hard to discern exactly how reliable any information is, or what level of meta it should be read on. Mariella's described presence is her witnessing the destruction of Stanley in "the real world" and simply being glad that it isn't her before moving on. I think this actually speaks to a distinct LACK of emotional intelligence, or at least self-awareness, perhaps to outright denial/willful ignorance-- within the narrative put forth by the Narrator, Mariella appears to be self-conscious, perhaps even defensive, her first instinct self-protective and self-assuring-- "that isn't me. I'm sane. How fortunate that I am sane. How fortunate that isn't me." The irony of Mariella is, of course, that she is ALSO simply a vessel narrated and controlled by the Narrator, not in the real world but within a story, exactly as Stanley is/was (in this narrative put forth by the Narrator) before he apparently 'realized the inconsistencies of his reality' and spontaneously died.

The interesting contrast to THAT is then that Mariella is outside the control of the player, so she ISNT identical to Stanley, and whether she is within the influence of the Mind Control Facility or not within the Narrative is not entirely clear. She is a character, she is framed like a protagonist by the Narrator, but she is outside the player's reach, and largely outside the visible narrative. Does she have her own player? Does she exist in her own form, or like Stanley (at least Stanley per the Real Person Ending) is she reliant on being puppeted to make choices, somewhere beyond the player's perception? How real is she?

Personally, I think Mariella is a very similar presence to Stanley, but without the influence of a Player/the repetition of the Parable, she has shut out the hints of her nature to survive. She is a foil to Stanley (Stanley-the-Narrator's-character, anyway) because Stanley recognizes his reality and is destroyed by it, and Mariella sees that conclusion and refuses to reckon with her reality honestly.

Conceptualizing her outside of the Parable-as-Game metanarrative, I think of her as someone who was Weird growing up, who was made to feel small and stupid and Incorrect for that weirdness, and learned to self-protect by strongly and determinedly identifying as Just Perfectly Normal, obedient to social norms and a careful expert at navigating her position and role. Someone who learned to be bland, to laugh at people failing to fit in in order to fit in herself, to turn her face from their suffering because she was Normal, she WAS. She is normal, and everyone knows that Weird people get made fun of, because they're Weird. She hasn't grown past that and she fights questioning things around her because she is petrified of being Weird and outcast again. I think as a character she deserves internal torment too (/affectionate) and the opportunity to grow from shitty coping mechanisms, instead of always being the Perfectly Balanced Background Supportive Lesbian. (She IS a lesbian tho. To be clear.) Yes this is a HIGHLY autistic reading of Mariella but that's because I am too autistic to perceive a character as neurotypical.

Ideal fanwork narrative, for me, is her reluctantly befriending Stanley (and/or Timekeeper/Employee 432) where they all work at the Office Where Nothing is Wrong I Promise-- reluctant because she knows they're Weird but befriending because they are genuinely nice to her and despite her best efforts she isn't actually friends with/fully accepted by/comfortable with people who ARENT a little Weird-- and starting out a little shitty and judgemental and then slowly growing out of that and coming to recognize that it's Okay To Be Weird and that she is, and she's been hurting others and herself trying to suppress it for approval she has never and will never truly get. Partially brought about because there is Definitely Something Wrong In This Office and she has to embrace seeming crazy, defiant, and bizarre in order to solve the mystery with Stanley/TK and break free of the office's trap.

*waves hand* obviously that narrative concept also involves a lot of other characters growing too, and is based on how I perceive them, but you were asking about Mariella.

ANON I NEED TO THANK YOU PERSONALLY FOR THIS ASK I have literally been rotating it in my mind since you sent it holy fuck. Everything about this has given me an entire new outlook on how I perceive Mariella and I mean that so genuinely. I love the concept of Mariella forcing away the possible reality of being another vessel for the Narrator to project stories onto. Her need for herself to be normal, for her to be in control in such a contrasting and different way than how Stanley wishes to be in control.

Stanley fully knowing that he has no control over himself vs Mariella who insists that she has control, that she knows what is and isn't real. IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD ANON. SO, SO GOOD. I literally am framing this on my wall, I fucking love this so goddamn much

[divinatorydoll]

the birth charts of avatar, the last airbender: 🌀

since i was rewatching ATLA, i decided to do a little thread on the main characters and what i think their natal placements are !!

AANG:

gemini sun: aang is intelligent, curious, observant, and values the humors of life. he’s also shown to have a strong bond with his mentor, monk gyatso (as gemini is the sign of instruction)

libra moon: he is a highly diplomatic person and he likes to confer with others before making important decisions. he likes to rely on the advice of others and later in the saga, becomes one of the first councilmen of republic city

cancer mercury: aang is big on meditation and regularly encourages people to meditate so they can make more gentle, unaggressive choices. he’s also very fond of animals, as he is vegetarian and has two pets of his own

leo venus: aang has a very childlike, playful personality in both installments of the saga and he often emphasizes the importance of having fun

libra mars: pacifism and non-violence are the most important principles that aang sticks to over the entire series. as libra represents the scales, he works hard to maintain the balance of the world

KATARA:

pisces sun: sympathetic, imaginative, and talented at healing; she embodies the piscean archetype with her compassionate and forgiving nature. at the time of her mother’s death, she’s the only person in the southern water tribe to have the ability to waterbend (pisces governs isolation)

virgo moon: she takes on the role of a mentor at a young age while she, herself, is in the process of mastering waterbending. katara is also known in the group to be a bit critical and maternal

aquarius mercury: katara strongly values friendship and cooperation; she expresses several times that having the team function smoothly is important to her. she becomes quickly gifted at waterbending in the show too

aries venus: several scenes depict her interest in fashion and getting dressed up for different events. she also has a way of smoothing over conflict easily because of her desire to work with others

cancer mars: despite her tendency to take things personally, she will always go out of her way to help those in need, even when it inconveniences her. she is relentlessly protective of her family and the people she loves

SOKKA:

cancer sun: sokka cares a lot about what his father thinks of him and the impact he has on the southern water tribe as a whole. being able to remain strong and support his loved ones is a big priority for him

sagittarius moon: sokka is direct, confident, unafraid to be argumentative, and consistently leads team avatar in their journeys throughout the show

gemini mercury: he’s talkative, sarcastic, quick-witted, and has constant one-liners in the show; describing himself as “a guy who likes comedy.” he also has a special skill for handheld weapons (like his boomerang)

leo venus: he’s quite musical throughout the series; singing often and playing several instruments. he’s also depicted to be somewhat of a glutton and a romantic

capricorn mars: sokka is incredibly resourceful and preparative (as seen by his schedule in the painted lady episode). later in the show, he also masters swordfighting and his prized weapon is made of a meteorite he forged himself

TOPH:

pisces sun: she has a talent for deceiving people; she has a whole alternate life where she’s famous for her championship in earthbending matches. aang first sees her in a dream too, approaching her because of her ability to listen well

capricorn moon: her family is prominent and wealthy, but very controlling. she also talks with sokka about her need to come off as resilient, unemotional, and unreliant of others

aries mercury: toph is a talented, quick-tempered martial artist and often enjoys insulting people while fighting them — she entertains herself with combat. she also has a very aggressive style of teaching (as seen when training aang and korra)

capricorn venus: toph uses her family’s status to assist others and she repeatedly expresses her distaste for being hugged over the saga. despite her wealth, she shows her love for the simple life by sleeping on the ground in an earth tent, packing light, living in a swamp, etc.

aquarius mars: her mars is ruled by saturn, the planet of metal and blindness. she literally invents a new form of bending (metalbending) because she uses earth to see and navigate the world — her discovery and everlasting impact on the world is certainly aquarian

ZUKO:

aries sun: zuko is a remarkably determined person and he can be pretty hot-headed at the beginning of the show. not to mention the scar that covers his eye and part of his face

scorpio moon: he’s shown to have an extremely difficult relationship with his other family members and he’s quite private about what goes on internally. he also goes from wanting to capture aang to becoming his best friend (scorpio is the sign of extremes)

pisces mercury: across the series, the wisdom and patience he gains improve his tactical skills. he also has somewhat of a ‘speak when spoken to’ personality and plans his conversations out

pisces venus: even though he has a frigid exterior, zuko can be a very apologetic and understanding person. later in the show, you can see how his values shift towards peace, kindness, and harmony

gemini mars: the primary conflict that begins his character arc is his banishment for talking back to his father — he tends to shoot himself in the foot because of his impatience and what he says to people

AZULA:

virgo sun: azula is ferociously perfectionistic and needs everything to go her way — she can’t stand weakness or inefficiency and hates when her plans are interrupted

capricorn moon: being the princess of the fire nation, she enjoys power, control, order, and being a symbol of excellence. despite her hardworking attitude and desire to please her parents, she still feels disconnected from them emotionally

leo mercury: azula constantly shows an ambition to outdo her brother. being better than zuko is very important to her in the series and it clearly satisfies her when she can outperform him

libra venus: several moments in the series suggest that she loves being pampered and really indulges in her royal life of luxury. azula is almost always seen wearing jewelry or royal attire

leo mars: she’s driven by achievement and loves an opportunity to show off her abilities in combat. she has a tendency of putting her friends above her family, reacting mercilessly to anyone who disrespects them

IROH:

taurus sun: iroh is sincere, patient, charming, and humorous in tense situations. he loves providing for others; most notably, becoming a surrogate father for zuko after losing his own son

pisces moon: out of any bender in the series, iroh is particularly tapped into his spiritual power and acts as a spiritual guide for many other characters. redemption and the correction of his own mistakes are very important to him during the show too

gemini mercury: across the series, iroh can be strikingly persuasive, insightful, and commanding. he readily shares his guidance with others when he feels they’re in need of it and he’s also one of the few characters in the saga who mentors multiple avatars (as gemini represents multiples)

taurus venus: not only is he great at making tea, he’s also talented at playing the tsungi horn and pai sho. his love for art and relaxation are very taurean traits of his as well

sagittarius mars: iroh is an exceptionally powerful bender and one of the most respected members of the white lotus. he’s the only character in the saga to destroy the walls of ba sing se multiple times and one of the few who can actually breathe fire

book a reading !!

my linktree

[jiradoe]

Sun through the Signs/Houses Natal

Aries/1st house

You shine your light on you. Big main character energy. You are the most important entity in your world and it will show. May be called selfish because your agenda will be your main priority. You radiate confidence and may come off as arrogant. Being very Martian in nature you may come across as argumentative and combative because you must have your way. After all you have the ego of a newborn baby. You’re likely more athletic than the norm. And even though you may be selfish, you don’t like being alone. Therefore you make sure to shine your light on your close friends so that you will not be left to your own devices. May have hidden confidence issues

You may have seen your father as a sporty, hot head who was always on the go and fun to be around. He likely pushed you into trying new things and commanded you to be a leader or the best in whatever you were involved in

Taurus/2nd house

You focus on your bag. Because the bag brings luxury. And what is life with no luxury to a Taurus? A pitiful existence. You strive for comfort and beauty in your surrounding aesthetics and will have nothing less. You are built for business and hard work. You make excellent decisions as a business owner. You are shrewd and stubborn but your hard working nature helps you to see your dreams through.

You may have seen your father as a hard working, giving and tough. He likely spoiled you beyond repair. Your father is your rock and you feel that you can always count on him through tough times

Gemini/3rd house

You focus on your intelligence and gathering information. Your mind is your greatest asset. You express yourself dynamically. You crave spontaneity because it offers new lessons. You can hardly keep focused because there is always something new to learn. Which makes you a jack of all trades. You learn enough to function(or at least be able to discuss or kept in the conversational loop) and it’s on to the next lesson at hand.

You may have seen your father as a jokester who was big on communication. He probably had a tendency to tease you and was playful.

However with sun in Gemini, he likely wasn’t there for you in some way that you need him to be. (Of course you will tell him about it later)

Cancer/4th house

Your main focus is your family. Family means the world to you. Even if not by blood. The most important thing to you are the bonds you build with the people closest to you. You demand security and can become domineering in fear that something will happen to break your family apart. However you are highly caring and sensitive by nature.

You may have seen your father as a person who may not have been emotionally available yet one who would do ANYTHING to keep you out of harms way. He’s likely super protective of you.

Leo/5th house

You main focus self expression. You are creative to your core. Original and intelligent, there is never a dull moment with you around. You have a flair for the dramatic. This is the suns natural house. There fore you feel like the world is yours to shine your light on. You could be seen as prideful and dominating.

You can also be seen as manipulative. Your grandiose nature and creativity can sometimes make you out to be a liar. However you are love by all those around you because your light is an undeniable one.

Your likely saw your father as a person with a grand personality and a bit egoistic. He likely encouraged you to be who you are and the best at what you do. He probably felt more like a friend at times than a father because of his warm playful nature.

Virgo/6th house

Your main focus is work. You love to serve your fellow beings. And can even be seen as critical because of your OCD like tendency to steer people in the correct direction. Your health and the health of those close to you mean a lot. Therefore you like to keep a routine in order to maintain control of your surroundings. You hate being told what to do. You feel you know yourself too well to take direction.

You likely saw your father as overly critical. You may have felt he tried to place you in a box or slot that you never belonged in. He was helpful to you and taught you how to handle many jobs/tasks.

Libra/7th house

Your main focus is partnership. You crave balance. You absolutely hate being alone with no one to talk to. But these partnerships must come with peace. You strive for balance and won’t hesitate to seek justice if your keen mediation skills don’t work out. You strive to be sociable, kind and charming. For the most part you are, but you won’t hesitate to enact your form of vengeance if you feel the scales have been tipped, especially if not in your favor.

You likely see your father as passive aggressive. He wasn’t likely to discipline you in a “normal” way. Very much so more like a friend. Albeit, a bit superficial because you only felt as though y’all could speak on shallow topics

Scorpio/8th house

Your main focus is transformation. Out with the old, in with the new. You are used to chaos. It drives you to become better. Nothing is surface level to you. There’s always more room to dig. Everything in your life needs to have some type of depth to it. You value your privacy in the utmost regard. You are always looking to change or improve yourself and the world around you. You don’t allow just anyone in your circle and before they can become a part of your daily life, some vetting must be done.

You saw your father as a private person. He was a mystery to you so sometimes you may feel like you don’t know him like you’d like to. He was UBER protective of you. You likely couldn’t get away with anything because he was probably right over your shoulder, watching the whole time.

Sagittarius/9th house

Your main focus is learning. You enjoy learning different philosophies and cultures, which leads you to love traveling. You are a sponge to your surroundings and can assimilate information easily. You have a need to understand there world or maybe even the universe, and everything in it. It can be hard for you to sit still or commit because you need the freedom to explore all avenues of adventure.

You likely saw your father as a free spirited person who wandered wherever he felt at the time. He pushes you to live your best life and be yourself. He may come off as self righteous and preachy because he always pushes the line with his views on life.

Capricorn/10th house

You are driven by a need for power. You crave the best of life and no one will stop you from getting it. You are ambitious and seek recognition for the hard work you put in. You are charismatic and an attention grabber. You hate taking direction. You are in fact THE DIRECTOR, even if not in title. You can be ruthless on your way to the top and a tyrant once you get there. Nothing will stop you from attaining the status you seek. NOTHING!!!!

You saw your father as a boss. He instilled a work ethic in you at an early age and let you know the importance of hard work. You may look up to your father and fear that you will never meet the mark he set for you before you even came out of the womb. He was likely very strict. A father’s father. Think James Evan’s from good times and his interactions with Micheal.

Aquarius/11th house

Your friends are your life. You are inventive and humanitarian like. You strive for a social reformation that brings us all together as one. You likely have an internet addiction. You find it to be very useful in carrying out your plans and spreading your message to the masses. And plus you get more connections! You are eccentric and magnetic so people flock to you like flies. You have a rebellious nature to you and won’t hesitate to go against the grain to achieve your purpose and goals.

You likely saw your father as a person who couldn’t give a flying fuck about the opinions of others. He was unorthodox and encouraged you to be different too. There may be an emotional detachment in the relationship as he was not very emotionally expressive and passed that trait on to you

Pisces/ 12th

Your main focus is your spirit. You are easily encapsulated by the emotions of others, even taking them on as your own. You have to maintain a certain degree of distance from people because you are easily swept up by the opinions, thoughts and feelings of others. You can be easily persuaded if you don’t follow your intuition, therefore you find it best to stay away from negative influences. You are however very artistic and ethereal. You have a strong intuition, the psychic of the zodiac. But you can also be a bit senile and delusion, but you shouldn’t expect anything less being the last sign of the zodiac wheel and the elder of the group(Pisces is said to represent ages 77+) your just an old soul.

You likely saw your father as a boundary less, weak person, if you knew him at all. It could be that he wasn’t there, at least in some way so you didn’t really learn much from him at all which leaves you feeling vulnerable to the world throughout your lifetime.

[stardust-3saders]

Some time ago I got tagged by the wonderful @aeons-domain and @anikasenkujo on this character inspiration sheet (thank you both so much! It was pretty fun!).

As an Oc that has been with me for 10+ years, Lia has gone through a lot of changes, but I think these characters are the closest to how I've always wanted people to perceive her!

Character descriptions and template under the cut!

Also, tagging whoever wants to join!

Nora Valkyrie (RWBY): A happy-go-lucky, bubbly and playful young woman, Nora is mainly characterized by her boundless enthusiasm. When Nora talks, many of her words may sometimes come out randomly without her actually giving much thought to anything she comes up with. This is caused by her tendency to jump into a different topic most of the time and her rather peculiar imagination. Because of this and her free-spirited attitude, Nora's personality changes according to her mood, and she is prone to becoming a nuisance to the people around her, losing the point of a conversation, or even experiencing anxiety attacks. However, Nora is more insightful than one might think and is capable of being serious when most necessary.

Laurie Strode (Halloween): She’s very methodical, and she stays on task. She’s very head-strong, and she’s very focused. She’s very confident, even though she has a lot of fears, and she’s not easily intimidated. She likes to think everything through, and she’s very sure of herself. She’s very intelligent, and she’s very good at what she does. Laurie is confident in herself, but she’s also very aware of her weaknesses. She’s not perfect, and she knows that she has things that she needs to work on. She’s very determined, and that’s another reason why she’s so successful. She’s very confident in herself, so she doesn’t let anything get under her skin.

Micaiah (Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn): Micaiah is a very caring and empathetic individual, but tends to be somewhat bitter at times, a result of both her treatment as a Branded prior to the story and the abuse of Daein and its citizens by the Begnion Occupational Army. She cares deeply for the people of Daein, and refuses to stand idly by while they suffer under their control. She pays little mind to her own needs or even her health, always putting the people and her country first; indeed, her Sacrifice skill is effectively her self-sacrificing nature manifesting as a magical power.

*You can probably tell, but she was mainly appearance inspiration (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠)

Fem! Robin (Fire Emblem: Awakening): They are highly ingenious, creating strategies on the fly and even whipping up "crazy" plans or new war tactics out of pure inspiration. Because of their strategic mindset, Robin is highly perceptive to the others' feelings, and can figure out the source of most people's inner turmoils in a matter of a few important conversations. Robin is an avid reader of books. They have a penchant for history, but they're also a fan of reading novels as well. While friendly, they have a tendency of getting exasperated over the antics of some of the more colorful cast members. They generally care about the well being of everyone in army, and not just Chrom.

*Yeah, I know Robin is pretty much an avatar, but as I played Awakening I found myself wanting them to act a bit different, thus starting to get into Ocs for the first time.

Hiyori Iki (Noragami): Hiyori is a kind-hearted and brave individual who will go out of her way to help someone in danger, even if she does so at risk to her own safety. This extends not only to her loved ones, but also to strangers. She has a strong moral compass and is usually willing to speak out against others if she feels their actions are wrong, although she has shown herself to be slightly more lenient at times when the matter concerns a friend. She is very perceptive of those around her, able to see good intentions behind others' seemingly cruel words or actions.

Eirika (Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones): Eirika is a very kindhearted and caring person. She is shown to care deeply for everyone, especially the ones precious to her. Despite her dislike of fighting, she is shown to be very brave in the face of adversity; she will never deny help to anyone who needs it, and she will fight to protect her friends and her kingdom.

[cee-grice]

When White Crows Cry - WIP intro

GENRE — romantic fantasy

POV — dual, third (limited)

STATUS — drafting

THEMES/FEATURING — science and its morality, bodily autonomy, “what goes around comes around”, queer characters and their relationships, neurodivergence, mental health and its deterioration, a hard magic system with a scientific basis, the dark aspects of academia

SYNOPSIS —

Venemagiks—people who are born as part human, part magical creature, a condition that is a considered a disease by many. Endra affectionately (not) calls his own a parasite. The free control of magic that comes along is lovely, but the part where it eats away his body? Not so much. So, he’d much rather find a way to get out of this symbiotic relationship before he no longer can.

Enter Quilin, a gifted magician, once a highly distinguished academic, now disgraced and exiled. And the one that had led the research on using human transmutation to separate the creature parts from the human ones. Although hesitant to help at first, the unbridled potential for new magical knowledge Endra’s unique case has is not something he can resist, so the two of them try to figure his condition out and, potentially, a way to reverse it.

Cut to the present. While the dead had a habit of staying dead, Quilin wakes up in spite of it.

EXCERPT —

“I know you must be rather confused,” Clariene continued, unfazed. “And you must have a lot of questions. I can answer them; all you’d have to do is work with me here, Quilin.”

His name from her lips chilled him. He bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

Oh, how once upon a time gentle it sounded.

“I—”

“Necromancy,” he cut her off, eyes trained on the illustration before him, voice void of anything. “Human enchanting. Unlawful imprisonment. Unauthorized removal of body parts. Harboring an exile in the territory of banishment.” He glanced up at her, leaning back in his seat. “Impressive, even for you.”

Clariene’s smile turned amused and she chuckled. “And so, he talks. Wonderful. Brain damage was a big concern, so it’s good to know our preservation methods were effective. You see, much of it was purely theory, entirely untested, so it was near impossible to tell how successful the practical applications would be.” She cast the book he was reading a look. “It would have been… unfortunate, if, during the process, any of your brilliance was lost.”

Quil stared at her, deadpan. Was she questioning his intelligence because he’d taken up a fairytale to read?

He couldn’t be bothered to challenge that.

content warnings for: descriptions of suicide ideation, deteriorating mental health, misuse of medical drugs

note: this story has two timelines and it jumps around between them, cause that’s always fun :)) if anyone wants to be added to the tag list, let me know!!

[l-1-z-a]

Q&A: Will Wright’s Artificial Intelligence - RollingStone

The king of the Sim Empire talks about 'BattleBots,' hungry ants and how he turns real life into video games

BY DAVID KUSHNER

SEPTEMBER 13, 2001

Will Wright RYAN ANSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

FOR THE PAST sixteen years, Will Wright has devoted himself to simulating the ultimate challenge: everyday life. The forty-one-year-old computer-game designer has put players in charge of micromanaging simulated farms, simulated ant hives, simulated cities and, most recently, little Sims themselves — artificially intelligent characters who sleep, eat, work and give back rubs.

The Sims won just about every major game award last year, in addition to selling more than 4 million copies worldwide and grossing more than $170 million. Wright’s gaming successes are due in large part to his fearless pursuit of the mundane: His cities have bad plumbing, his dinners need to get cleaned up and Sims must go to the john. Wright, who’s currently working on an online version of The Sims as well as some highly competitive remote-controlled fighting robots for the TV show BattleBots, hopes his games help people get a fresh view of their own lives. “I like the idea that games can change the player,” he says.

When you’re out and about, you must get people suggesting Sim games to you all the time.

You can’t imagine.

Any ideas stand out?

Sim Shopping Mall — that one had, like, fifteen types of people you’d see in the mall. It all had to do with teenagers and old people. It was pretty funny.

You’ve been competing in BattleBot tournaments lately. How’s that going?

Well, I’ve got this one I’m building now that’s going to be killer. It’s about halfway built, but I don’t want to name it until I’m done.

I’ve built a bunch of them so far. The first one was called Julie Bot. It had this talking doll’s head on the top — this was for the very first Robot Wars, and it won the lightweight division. The second year I did Kiddy Puff Puff, which wrapped the other robots in tape — that one won the middleweight melee. My daughter does robots, too; she made a Chia Bot. It didn’t do too well. It got flipped over, but it put up a good fight….

Pretty destructive compared to your games.

Yeah, but it’s really much more of a social thing. You get to meet a bunch of cool people who are strange like you. But it is cool for the robots to go in and beat the crap out of each other, too.

What kind of kid were you?

I was always building things: models, little inventions, airplanes, tanks, ships, then robots. The first robot I built was a little hydraulic arm made entirely out of injection syringes. I was probably about thirteen. A friend of mine talked me into buying a computer to run my robots, and that’s how I got interested in games.

What interested you about computer games?

What fascinates me is the ability to have a microworld inside this little box, a world that has its own rules and physics that you can interact with. The first game I made was one where you flew around and blew things up. I had to create little islands you were flying over. I was finding that to be much more fun than the blowing-them-up part. I thought it’d be cool if I could actually bring these little islands to life.

Why simulate real life?

In some sense, the computer can be thought of as an elaborate mirror when you’re running simulations on it. It’s not a perfect mirror, but, depending on the situation, you can exaggerate reality, distort reality, fast-forward through time or replay things over and over until you get them right. For me, it’s a new way of interacting with the world.

What influenced the development of The Sims?

It was the intersection of a few ideas: the work of urban planner/architect Christopher Alexander, who looked at how environmental design influences our behavior, and the behavioral modeling I learned from doing my game Sim Ant.

So humans don’t behave that differently from ants?

Surprisingly, I found that they weren’t that different [laughs]. In The Sims, if a character is hungry it will go near the strongest hunger source: the fridge, the barbecue. Ants do this, too. There was also another influence for The Sims: I started getting interested in time studies, where researchers try to map out how you spend every minute of your day. The results are fascinating.

In your games, people spend their time doing pretty ordinary things. How important is banality in your games?

In some sense, that’s what really drives the player’s ownership [of The Sims]. When you’ve laid every little water pipe or spent every hour of that guy’s life so far on your computer, you’re really responsible, and you can start empathizing a lot more with the city or the person. Things become so dependent on you that the whole gaming experience can become very guilt-driven. When this guy loses his job, for the most part, it’s your fault. If you’re dealing with The Sims in this mundane day-to-day life, then the epic victories are things very familiar — getting married, having a kid or getting a promotion — as opposed to defeating the evil empire in some other game.

How has developing all these Sim games affected the way you view the world?

I spend a lot of time looking for patterns. When we design simulations, “we’re trying to compress this huge data of reality into a few elegant algorithms. That’s also the path we typically take toward understanding the world around us: What’s the simplest explanation for this?

How about making Sim Game Developer?

I don’t think that would be nearly as fun as most people think [laughs].

[nrrrdgrrrl2002]

Attempting to explain the classpects I gave the main 6 (+ my oc)

Part 3- Donnie

Mage of Rage

A mage experiences and understands their aspect through experience and action.

Rage is negative emotions and feelings like anxiety, failure resignation and such.

Donnie… is anxiety incarnate.

“What if I’m not smart enough?”

“What if I fail?”

“What if she doesn’t love me?”

“What if he steals her from me?”

“What if I mess up?”

A lot of what donnie does and who he is comes from his anxieties.

From creating miracle inventions to working beyond his breaking point to create retromutagen to stalking april (which I don’t condone) to fighting with Casey, who he sees as someone who could take something he loves from him.

Donnie is a prodigy and does like the sciences, but it’s also clear that part of the reason he’s so dedicated to so many fields (chemistry, biology, mechanics, medicine, etc) is because of his fears of something going wrong because he wasn’t adept at something.

(This could stem from little donnie being attuned to splinters anxieties about caring for them with their whole situation and those anxieties seeped into Donnie’s incredibly intelligent head and motivated him to seek out knowledge that could be life saving for them)

Donnie learns throughout the series how to understand his anxiety and fear of failure in order to learn how to use them to motivate himself.

But he can also end up letting it weigh him down when he over experiences it.

Donnie is also very snippy. Raph may be the hothead but Donnie’s sarcasm and outbursts are downright iconic.

imma be real. Mage is the one class I always forget exists so I don’t understand it that well.

Like the only canon mage I remember is sollux and they really did not do much with him looking back.

Though I do have one thing that fits Donnie.

Mages in fantasy tend to be right hands of monarchs. Specifically Merlin being the mage for King Arthur.

A lot of fantasy mages use magic as a replacement for science in the fantasy based world and they’re highly relied on by the monarchs.

Like how Leo, a Prince of Blood, highly relies on Donnie’s almost magic like inventions to aid their team in fighting battles, like how Arthur relied on Merlin’s magic spells and potions and wisdom to help fight opposition.

One thing I do know about mages in homestuck is they do tend to have their talents abused, intentionally or not, until it causes the mage great harm.

(sollux… sollux did not have a fun time in HS)

This totally happens to Donnie.

There’s the “try harder!” Scene in fourfold trap,

there’s the turtles abusing his inventions despite them being a lot of work for Donnie to make cause they kinda see him as,

basically a magician who can whip up these amazing things like it’s nothing.

When I’m reality it is straight up painful for Donnie to make what he makes,

sacrificing his health to do it in ways such as not sleeping properly, not eating properly, not wearing protective gear while working with such dangerous chemicals and machinery, etc.

Donnie, as a mage, suffers a lot and has his aspect of Rage used and strengthened to make him more effective.

There’s two ways Donnie’s character arc can go:

He could use his rage aspect to make his feelings known to others so they give him the space he needs and he, in turn,

learns to keep his Rage aspect under control so that it doesn’t consume him but can still be used to continue to improve.

Or

Donnies anxieties are abused to the point that he emotionally breaks, becoming emotionally numb and no longer being able to utilize his rage aspect to improve,

causing him to decline greatly and become too emotionally numb to motivate himself to do his job/passions and continue to improve.

Donnie was kinda going down the latter route by the wanted: bebop and rocksteady special

but it could easily be turned around to the former since they’re no longer in a war so he doesn’t need to be as pressured.

[unohanadaydreams]

I haven’t watched the new episode and I haven’t finished any of these kinktober requests bc Mother Nature has been curb stomping me.

But uuuuh here have some random stuff, mostly me talking about some Bleach OCs, below.

This song = Mayuri Kurotsuchi. I mean, just look at the album cover even??? The colors of her eyes and hair??? Mayuri’s emotional intelligence is definitely here, at this level.

I started actually workshopping an OC (compliments of this pic and the following to picrew obv). Fairly restrained person who goes down the Maggots Nest to R&D pipeline. She doesn’t have a solid name yet, but I do know her zanpakuto is a giant centipede who cries when she doesn’t visit enough.

Although she does suffer from R&D morality disease, she comes off fairly normal in quick, then get back to work small talk. She doesn’t have ambitions outside of the R&D anymore. The whole getting locked up for not doing anything but showing potential to do something kind of killed it.

Part of the coding crew for the semi-organic technology. So part computer coding, part surgical expertise. Largely attempting to translate the two into a cleaner mesh. Highly interested in how different reishi & spiritual pressure (of different species) can make this process easier, but halted by lots of red tape.

Has come to realize that with surveillance spanning farther and larger after the war, that she is now also playing IT to many shinigami who can barely work a soul phone. Absolutely soul crushing work. Especially considering the work she WANTS to be doing.

Really, really loves insects but switches her accessories to more traditionally cute things (like bears) when she goes outside of R&D. Not good at following lines of conversation she hasnt prepped for. Wretched at generating small talk while doing IT calls and will just lead the conversation back to task at hand.

Glazes the fact that she’s part of Gotei 13 out of her mind and lets R&D be the wall she can’t look over. This makes the IT work even more harrowing.

Copes largely by throwing herself into hobbies & the work she likes but also does do drugs! Not for fun or anything because she is too socially lame for that but she eventually finds that other people are super down to do drugs with her. This is the entry point where she starts develop actual relationships with people. Tfw you need experimental drugs to loosen up and have a laugh with people. My precious girl is so bad with people ❤️

She inspired me to workshop ANOTHER OC, a friend. And also a large reason she ended up in the maggots nest:

(Shut up no I don’t think girls with short hair and glasses is the height of character design this is just a wild coincidence)

Worked in a tea house in the Noble Quarters and quickly became drawn to Tokinada for his blatant cruelty toward nobleman, who she desperately wished to be blatantly cruel to as well. Due to their own cruelty. You know the drill.

Tossed in the maggots nest for *TV static* and got out once Tokinada has climbed ranks enough to pull her out, and almost got herself killed after she threw a fit about having to join Gotei 13. Because Tokinada is a controlling POS. But OC wants a sliver of control herself, too much to partways. And what other choice does she have? Commit herself to being a shinigami? Go work somewhere in the rukongai? As if!

She makes every excuse to tag along with above OC on IT. She’s much better at small talk but is also just really annoying and needling. She always has her I Want To Know All About You mask on. It’s the only way she keeps from fucking losing it.

Her zanpakuto is a goblin shark, half stuck in a half sealed shrine underwater. She hates shinigami and was drawn to OC for that reason. Also controlling, demanding, and lords her support over OC if conditions aren’t fulfilled. No idea why her zanpakuto hates shinigami yet, but I do know that she puts her entire sharkussy into evaluation fights because the opponents are always fellow shinigami (duh). Also pretends she can taste what OC eats and demands a diet of fish and crustacean. I thought that was funny.

I also think it’s funny that I know so much about her zanpakuto but to be fair she’s a huge personality, very mysterious, and enshrouded in anger. *boops her smooth snout*

I like the idea of a zanpakuto seeking out a personality they feel they can take advantage of. The sword souls need more insane personalities that blur the line of sword and shinigami imo.

And finally, the last OC, who escaped being dragged into the maggots nest bc she is just not that dangerous nor smart by the standards of Central 46. Does know above two OCs very well.

Real simple girl. Loves having a roof over her head and a warm meal in her belly. Doesn’t care how she needs to accomplish that.

Great with people. Great with lying to people. Great with justifying violence against people. As long as she has a roof, a meal, and a cigarette (or any vice if she can’t have that), it’s all good.

Gets upset when people think she and first OC are related (bc of vaguely same hair and skin color. They don’t look alike apart from that). First OC died to get here and this one was born in the Rukongai. She takes a lot of pride in making it from then to now. She also holds a huge grudge if someone asks if they’re related. Monumental. Good luck winning shit in most gambling establishments within the Seireitei.

Runs a lot of gambling gigs for shinigami. Never for nobility any more. The money isn’t worth it. Promises a lot of things and only delivers sometimes. Has her hooks in Hisagi, for example, because he’s a sucker. She gets most of her human goods from filched pockets in the rukongai (s/o to the mind of Pirenja, im pretty sure for the black market post for this idea). She isn’t above pestering first OC to make something she’s promised at R&D. Rarely pays back the favor.

Runs a bootleg Urahara Shoten with Urahara’s blessing because he thinks it’s funny, he could use the extra storage, and Ururu really wanted to help running something in soul society. It’s called Ururu Shoten but everything else looks exactly the same as the human world counter part. This is how she knows a lot of big names.

OC and Ururu make an oddly good team and she unfortunately has a soft spot for the kid. To balance this out, she regularly tries to fuck over the business in ways that she can wriggle free from.

She’s a shinigami in name only. Doesn’t have a zanpakuto spirit to speak of. Barely in the ranks. Barely scrapes by her duties. In it for the room and board and connections.

Very funny how many people assume she has nothing going for her based on this. The amount of ppl taken aback when she shows up as the host of a card game is gargantuan.

She can not comprehend a day doing nothing, despite her love of simple pleasures. If she isn’t rubbing her little hands together and buzzing around a new shit scheme, she is listless.

If this has taught me anything, it’s that I’m horrible at committing to names. But uuuuuuuh, hope you like my gals.

[imperial-jira]

Sun through the Signs/Houses Natal

Aries/1st house

You shine your light on you. Big main character energy. You are the most important entity in your world and it will show. May be called selfish because your agenda will be your main priority. You radiate confidence and may come off as arrogant. Being very Martian in nature you may come across as argumentative and combative because you must have your way. After all you have the ego of a newborn baby. You’re likely more athletic than the norm. And even though you may be selfish, you don’t like being alone. Therefore you make sure to shine your light on your close friends so that you will not be left to your own devices. May have hidden confidence issues

You may have seen your father as a sporty, hot head who was always on the go and fun to be around. He likely pushed you into trying new things and commanded you to be a leader or the best in whatever you were involved in

Taurus/2nd house

You focus on your bag. Because the bag brings luxury. And what is life with no luxury to a Taurus? A pitiful existence. You strive for comfort and beauty in your surrounding aesthetics and will have nothing less. You are built for business and hard work. You make excellent decisions as a business owner. You are shrewd and stubborn but your hard working nature helps you to see your dreams through.

You may have seen your father as a hard working, giving and tough. He likely spoiled you beyond repair. Your father is your rock and you feel that you can always count on him through tough times

Gemini/3rd house

You focus on your intelligence and gathering information. Your mind is your greatest asset. You express yourself dynamically. You crave spontaneity because it offers new lessons. You can hardly keep focused because there is always something new to learn. Which makes you a jack of all trades. You learn enough to function(or at least be able to discuss or kept in the conversational loop) and it’s on to the next lesson at hand.

You may have seen your father as a jokester who was big on communication. He probably had a tendency to tease you and was playful.

However with sun in Gemini, he likely wasn’t there for you in some way that you need him to be. (Of course you will tell him about it later)

Cancer/4th house

Your main focus is your family. Family means the world to you. Even if not by blood. The most important thing to you are the bonds you build with the people closest to you. You demand security and can become domineering in fear that something will happen to break your family apart. However you are highly caring and sensitive by nature.

You may have seen your father as a person who may not have been emotionally available yet one who would do ANYTHING to keep you out of harms way. He’s likely super protective of you.

Leo/5th house

You main focus self expression. You are creative to your core. Original and intelligent, there is never a dull moment with you around. You have a flair for the dramatic. This is the suns natural house. There fore you feel like the world is yours to shine your light on. You could be seen as prideful and dominating.

You can also be seen as manipulative. Your grandiose nature and creativity can sometimes make you out to be a liar. However you are love by all those around you because your light is an undeniable one.

Your likely saw your father as a person with a grand personality and a bit egoistic. He likely encouraged you to be who you are and the best at what you do. He probably felt more like a friend at times than a father because of his warm playful nature.

Virgo/6th house

Your main focus is work. You love to serve your fellow beings. And can even be seen as critical because of your OCD like tendency to steer people in the correct direction. Your health and the health of those close to you mean a lot. Therefore you like to keep a routine in order to maintain control of your surroundings. You hate being told what to do. You feel you know yourself too well to take direction.

You likely saw your father as overly critical. You may have felt he tried to place you in a box or slot that you never belonged in. He was helpful to you and taught you how to handle many jobs/tasks.

Libra/7th house

Your main focus is partnership. You crave balance. You absolutely hate being alone with no one to talk to. But these partnerships must come with peace. You strive for balance and won’t hesitate to seek justice if your keen mediation skills don’t work out. You strive to be sociable, kind and charming. For the most part you are, but you won’t hesitate to enact your form of vengeance if you feel the scales have been tipped, especially if not in your favor.

You likely see your father as passive aggressive. He wasn’t likely to discipline you in a “normal” way. Very much so more like a friend. Albeit, a bit superficial because you only felt as though y’all could speak on shallow topics

Scorpio/8th house

Your main focus is transformation. Out with the old, in with the new. You are used to chaos. It drives you to become better. Nothing is surface level to you. There’s always more room to dig. Everything in your life needs to have some type of depth to it. You value your privacy in the utmost regard. You are always looking to change or improve yourself and the world around you. You don’t allow just anyone in your circle and before they can become a part of your daily life, some vetting must be done.

You saw your father as a private person. He was a mystery to you so sometimes you may feel like you don’t know him like you’d like to. He was UBER protective of you. You likely couldn’t get away with anything because he was probably right over your shoulder, watching the whole time.

Sagittarius/9th house

Your main focus is learning. You enjoy learning different philosophies and cultures, which leads you to love traveling. You are a sponge to your surroundings and can assimilate information easily. You have a need to understand there world or maybe even the universe, and everything in it. It can be hard for you to sit still or commit because you need the freedom to explore all avenues of adventure.

You likely saw your father as a free spirited person who wandered wherever he felt at the time. He pushes you to live your best life and be yourself. He may come off as self righteous and preachy because he always pushes the line with his views on life.

Capricorn/10th house

You are driven by a need for power. You crave the best of life and no one will stop you from getting it. You are ambitious and seek recognition for the hard work you put in. You are charismatic and an attention grabber. You hate taking direction. You are in fact THE DIRECTOR, even if not in title. You can be ruthless on your way to the top and a tyrant once you get there. Nothing will stop you from attaining the status you seek. NOTHING!!!!

You saw your father as a boss. He instilled a work ethic in you at an early age and let you know the importance of hard work. You may look up to your father and fear that you will never meet the mark he set for you before you even came out of the womb. He was likely very strict. A father’s father. Think James Evan’s from good times and his interactions with Micheal.

Aquarius/11th house

Your friends are your life. You are inventive and humanitarian like. You strive for a social reformation that brings us all together as one. You likely have an internet addiction. You find it to be very useful in carrying out your plans and spreading your message to the masses. And plus you get more connections! You are eccentric and magnetic so people flock to you like flies. You have a rebellious nature to you and won’t hesitate to go against the grain to achieve your purpose and goals.

You likely saw your father as a person who couldn’t give a flying fuck about the opinions of others. He was unorthodox and encouraged you to be different too. There may be an emotional detachment in the relationship as he was not very emotionally expressive and passed that trait on to you

Pisces/ 12th

Your main focus is your spirit. You are easily encapsulated by the emotions of others, even taking them on as your own. You have to maintain a certain degree of distance from people because you are easily swept up by the opinions, thoughts and feelings of others. You can be easily persuaded if you don’t follow your intuition, therefore you find it best to stay away from negative influences. You are however very artistic and ethereal. You have a strong intuition, the psychic of the zodiac. But you can also be a bit senile and delusion, but you shouldn’t expect anything less being the last sign of the zodiac wheel and the elder of the group(Pisces is said to represent ages 77+) your just an old soul.

You likely saw your father as a boundary less, weak person, if you knew him at all. It could be that he wasn’t there, at least in some way so you didn’t really learn much from him at all which leaves you feeling vulnerable to the world throughout your lifetime.

[phoenixlionme]

Why Uncle Phil Banks was the G.O.A.T.

He was my favorite characters of 90s sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and I'm going to list the reasons why in this post.

He was a fat main character. And back in the 90s, it wasn't uncommon for fat characters to just be the butt of jokes with no depth and/or character development. But Uncle Phil was different: Yes, there were jokes about his weight and eating habits (mainly from his nephew Will), but they never became the SOLE focus of him. He was shown to be intelligent, hardworking, ethical, brave, and possess many hidden talents.

2. Following from the first reason, Phil is NOT perfect. His character avoided a major pitfall when it comes to writing underrepresented groups: Making them almost TOO PERFECT with no flaws. Yes, Uncle Phil was all those above listed positive traits and more, but he was also prideful, impatient, controlling, and judgmental; and like a good character he was called out by either the narrative, other characters, or himself and grew. He was a complex, flawed but ultimately good human being.

3. The brilliant acting of his portrayer, James Avery (Rest in Power). Just that. Mr. Avery's acting range showcased all of the three-dimensional traits of Phil Banks: He could make us laugh, cry, think, and cheer.

4. Tying into the second point, Uncle Phil broke many stereotypes of fathers in the 90s, especially pertaining to black fathers. During that time period, father was often ALWAYS goofy and childish and nothing wrong with a fun dad, but it always seemed like fathers shouldn't be taken too seriously. And Uncle Phile broke the mold by being both reliable and serious but also knowing when to have fun. Also, there were far and few in between portrayals of black fathers on TV, so having a great one in Phil Banks was notable and highly praised. In a sense, I believe this fictional character became something of a father figure to many young viewers who watched the show.

5. He was the true definition of positive masculinity: Protective, wise, kind, gentle but also firm and serious when needed. He was an attentive father towards his children (and I'm including Will as one of his kids) and a husband who respected and cherished his wife. Was he perfect? No, but that's okay. He knew when to own up to his actions with grace and humility.

6. He's an icon. Nothing else to say. Many of the show's memorable moments can be traced back to him.

[thelovelyghostwriter]

Ranking the HxH guys in my Simping Tier: Countdown

Note: This is just for fun and lame-ass humour. You are free to like anyone in hxh and this tier doesn’t reflect how great the character is. It’s just a ranking based on how much I simp for them. 

14. Meruem

Okay. There’s a reason why Meruem is at the last list. He’s an ant. He’s not even fully human FML. Can’t believe people wanna fuck this teenaged mutant ninja ant. Can’t even say those people are a furry because this ant has no fur. It’s a no for me. 

13. Illumi

The Illumi simps are gonna hack me for having him too low. I find him cute and has really nice hair that can be for shampoo ads... but his eyes... it covers 70% of his face. It’s guppy eyes. It’s like he wore those coloured contact lenses that enlarges the eyes. 

12. Shalnark

OKay. Shalnark is cute. He’s really one of the most good looking guys in the series. However, I don’t know why but his personality is kinda “ehh”. He’s a little psycho who controls people with his phone, but somehow his personality is overshadowed by a lot of extreme characters with Hisoka. Also, I try not to get too attached to him because of what happens in the current arc. 

11. Kite

Okay. This is weird but... I find Kite more attracted when he’s a red-headed female ant right now. Okay. I know I went all like “MERUEM ISNT EVEN HUMAN” but female Kite LOOKS human. She has freckles and all that. It’s real cute. But I’d say he’s a little lower because he doesn’t really have that “oomph” personality so-

10. Pariston

Now, talk about a character with FABULOUS presentation of himself. Pariston shows himself off with extravagance. NOW, that’s a personality. He’s like one of those celebs that are just so extra like Lady Gaga that it’s amazing. I know he’s underrated in the simping world, but he’s essentially kinda like Hisoka (who has a big simping fandom), only he prefers to play with people’s minds rather than fight people. 

9. Tserriednich

You might be wondering, why the fuck is he here? Okay, first of all, he reminds me of Hannibal who is by the way, charming. And yes I mean it in the Mads Mikkelsen AND the Anthony Hopkins way. Makes me wanna his Clarice but I’d rather have Theta have that spot. Secondly, he’s a prince so being his bride is literally a dream come true. Thirdly, yeh, Tserriednich is actually very handsome. Nice blond hair and that facial beard. 

8. Gon

He’s quite low on the tier because I had always seen him as a cute green mini-Ging. Personality-wise, he’s really sweet and I can see a lot of girls liking him because he knows how to treat women respectfully. He can even handle the crazy ones like Palm. His alpha side came out during the Chimera Ant arc and his adult form is hella attractive. 

Jokes aside, this character is really amazing as an MC. It’s sad that he gets overshadowed but I believe he’s a pretty unique shounen MC because most of the time, a shounen MC doesn’t kill or has a pretty much black-and-white morality. Gon Freecss breaks that stereotype and he’s truly appreciated. 

7. Leorio 

Listen to me. This man is supposed to be the type of man you’re supposed to marry. Doctor, loyal, caring and funny. This man is the total package. I think the reason why he’s a little lower in my simp tier is because well... he’s the type of guy that I will go for in reality. In fiction, that’s where all my crushes for crazy guys should be. My simp tier is based on my heart, not brain. 

6. Killua

Okay. I was down bad for Killua when I was younger. DOWN BAD. So down bad that it was scary. I sort of got over him now. But what can you do? Killua is simped by a lot of teenaged girls or women who had a crush on him since the beginning of time. He’s fiercely loyal, has white hair and pretty blue eyes, is a fun mixture of mischief and seriousness. He’s the type of guy you can count on to get out of trouble and one to always treasure you. I do think that if I ever meet Killua though, that he’d bully me to oblivion. 

Okay, we’re at the top 5. From here onwards, some real NSFW simping words.

5. Hisoka

I kinda do understand Hisoka stans, but at the same time, I do not get them. Like him or not, he’s a very flamboyant character. He stands out of the crowd and he just have that unexplained charisma. 

He’s actually a really well-written character. He’s the balancing factor in the narrative of HxH. He’s like the joker in the deck of cards. Back to my simp tier, he’s very attractive ESPECIALLY with his hair down. There’s a certain aura that is addictive about him that I can’t pin-point. And for that, he earns my top 5 spot.

4. Feitan

I swear. This simping phenomenon actually manifested from Hiei. Yes, Feitan’s character blueprint, Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. (The real OGs will know that Hiei is the character blueprint, not Levi). I know a lot of people compare him to Levi but let me explain why Levi and Feitan are alike: it’s because their character blueprint is Hiei. 

Anyway, Hiei is HOT. And to me, the hxh equivalent is Feitan, with a huge addition of sadism and emo-ness. Okay, that makes it even hotter. 

I have read some Feitan/Reader on AO3 and BOI. I enjoyed reading certain stuff that I never thought I would enjoy. I read a fic about Reader-chan getting whipped and basically all sorts of BDSM and OMG it’s heaven. 

“They say all good boys go to heaven, but bad boys bring heaven to you”

3. Chrollo

At first, I didn’t really care about Chrollo until he wore that tuxedo and let his hair down (Is it just me or a lot of hxh boys look good with their hair down?). HE LOOKS SO GODLY HOLY FUCK.

I’m 100% sure that his character blueprint for the hair-down is Koenma. He also gives me Tuxedo Mask vibes. Overall, such chivalry and handsomeness all in one man. Not to mention, that sexy sexy voice when he recites his fortune-telling. I would say he has the sexiest voice among all hxh guys. He is just that HOT and charismatic. I wanna see where he hid that Spider tattoo and scratch his back. 

2. Ging

Okay. Ging is hardly simp by girls. And I do not understand why?? He is motherfucking attractive. Even now. GAWD. I love him.

I think my attraction to him pre-started because he looks and acts SO much like my childhood crush Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho. I know he’s an asshat but he’s a CHARMING asshat. Yeap, I said it. He is actually highly intelligent and just acts like a total haggard because he can. 

It’s not just when he’s young. I STILL think he’s hot even in his 30s. He’s not that old for me to me honest. I don’t care if he’s a decade older than me because I think that’s the appeal of it. I

It’s kinda sad that he’s not that popular because I need some Ging/Reader smut content. Like, I envisioned a smut fic where the reader is like in her 20s and is strangely attracted to Ging. He’s wildly confused over this but he’s seriously considering of tapping it because his old ass haven’t had any action lately. The other Zodiacs are also confused and are convinced that he must have given some sex pollen to the reader because who the hell is sane enough to be attracted to him? (But it’s just that you need some acquired taste to actually find this man alluring). He’s one of the most fuckable characters ahhh. 

And... for the last one...

Drumroll please....

1. Kurapika

Seriously, was there even a surprise. 

THIS MAN IS THE AKAKU GOD. He’s beautiful, he’s sexy and fucking dominant (yes, I say he’s domineering because do you see the way he throws a hot tantrum during the whole YorkNew arc, demanding shit from his enemies, taking charge of everything?) His chains drives me nuts. I love it when he gets angry. I know he’s kinky on the inside. When he wore that tuxedo... ooof. He looks hella fine. He’s the only guy in hxh that fulfills my ala Michael Corleone mafia boss kink. I want him to ^&*(%%%*%^ (to save myself from embarrassment, I self-censored) as we attempt to repopulate the clan and produce more scarlet eyed babies, as he whispers some real degrading and possessive shit in Kurta while he tells me what to do. AHHHHH. *bye gotta go write some kuraneon porn now byeee*

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

i have spent the entirety of destiny's lifecycle simping for rasputin and getting made fun of for it by the friends i play the game with. despite taking a break from the game i frequently check r/destinylore to see if my boy's gotten back up. people see it as a testament to the darkness's strength that he got knocked out but i see it as a testament to rasputin's strength that he's the only one (i think) who survived the darkness's direct opposition. he's made to win and now he sees the way :)

Dude, I don’t know what your friends are on. Rasputin is one of the most fascinating characters in a lore that’s chock-a-block with great ones I mean FOR EXAMPLE: 

Rasputin is one of only four AI in all of Destiny and by far the most ubiquitous. If you played Destiny 1 - or if you play New Light - you literally wake up in his shadow. Rasputin runs subtle but ever-present in the background of our Guardian’s story. Even when he himself isn’t around, his assets and deeds affect us - his facilities, his weapons, his history.

Even during the Golden Age Rasputin was unique among AI. He’s always been exceptional - bigger, older, stranger.

Rasputin is one of only three Destiny characters to have faced Darkness directly...

...and Rasputin is the only major character to choose to turn aside from Darkness. He faced the Darkness, learned its philosophy of selfishness - of strength coming from solitude, from casting aside the weak, from prioritizing your own survival - put it into practice for centuries, and then changed his mind. He heard the Light’s pitch, he weighed the options, and he chose to move to Light’s philosophy. He opened up to alliance and cooperation, resuming his position as defender of the system. It’s such a cool story and it’s such a damn shame the Warmind DLC did a crap job of telling it.

He brought down the Almighty from a cave with a box of scraps.

He had the absolute balls to put a metaphorical gun to a god’s metaphorical head and tell it that if humanity went down he would make certain it went down with us.

He runs on some kind of crazy high-tech artificial elemental (Seraph) energy that shows up nowhere but in him and we still have no idea what it is or what it can do.

His very existence bothered Clovis Bray so much, which frankly should be classified as a public service.

He builds weapons so good they keep getting nerfed. The IKELOS 1.0.1 shotgun broke the weapon meta so badly guns got locked to elements. The 1.0.1 sniper got Box Breathing nerfed in like a week. Sleeper Simulant’s been nerfed at least 8 separate times (that is not hyperbole).

He was literally born from drama, aesthetic, and spite. He is the incarnation of “I lived bitch.” He probably still has 18 petabytes of Golden Age memes stashed away in a bunker and he uses them to drive the Vex insane.

They built him to be a war machine...and they failed. He fights because he thinks it’s his responsibility, but pre-Guardian Felwinter - who got to live the life Rasputin wanted to live - wasn’t a soldier. He spent his time learning. Painting. Listening to music. Reading books. Talking to people. Playing chess. Just living and participating in culture. He even died in a library. That schism between what Rasputin wants and what he thinks he has to do is fascinating.

Speaking of Felwinter, Rasputin created an entire person(!) from a fork of himself AND that person became a Guardian. A very good Guardian.

He witnessed firsthand what Darkness can do. He felt it during the Collapse. He saw it kill everyone he knew and cared about. He saw it, personally, in real-time, do things like stretch the entire moon Titan like a toy stress ball. He even admitted he was terrified of its return. But still when Darkness entered out system he stood against it anyway. He fired on it anyway.

He knows everything and he could be anything and he’s chosen to be a cranky old weirdo and I love him

Rasputin is unique in the pantheon of both Destiny personalities and factions. He’s the old man, the Tyrant, Big Red, humanity’s shield and sword, last survivor of the Golden Age. He exists on both grand and personal scales, speaking to a single human or to the Traveler or to the Darkness itself. Every faction in Destiny knows who he is, they’ve all tried to steal from him at some point, and most of them have come off the worse for it. 

Consider the Almighty. Not only is it the prize superweapon of an interstellar empire, but it’s also been used on many campaigns of conquest before us. Whatever civilizations Ghaul conquered must have thrown everything they had at the big laser holding their suns hostage, and all of them failed to take it down. It sustained damage in the Red War and hasn’t been repaired since, but it’s still a huge, very heavily-armored structure that’s survived multiple other civilizations’ do-or-die assaults. Not only did Rasputin succeed in destroying the Almighty, he succeeded using hastily-scrambled assets reactivated after centuries of disuse bodged together into brand-new weaponry on the fly.

I do see it as a testament to the Darkness’ strength that it disabled Rasputin, not because it was able to do so but because it disconnected a highly fault-tolerant networked intelligence nearly everywhere simultaneously. That points again to its ability to control fundamental principles of the universe. The Marasenna describes the vacuum of space becoming opaque to radio during the Darkness’ first attack, and doing something similar to rupture communication between all his warsats at once would be the clearest way to take Rasputin down. 

But it’s also a testament to Rasputin’s strength that Darkness bothered to extinguish him in the first place - because coming from Darkness, that’s a sign of favor. The Darkness believes the best thing you can do to someone is try to wipe them out, forcing them to evolve and change and get sharper. It took the time to speak to Rasputin face-to-face during the Collapse and saw Rasputin learn from it. Now it’s curious if that interesting little AI has learned enough; and indeed Rasputin managed to survive. He learned from Darkness’ first attempt. He’s learned from this second attempt. I have no doubt he’ll come back stronger. I have no doubt the Darkness will whisper to him again that his true strength would be found on its side, not ours. And I have no doubt he’ll defend us anyway.

[quirkwizard]

Power Outage

So remember when I talk about the Class 1-A kids getting their Quirks for the first time? Well, I decided to do something similar, but a bit different: completely reversing the Quirks of the various students. And for some extra fun, I’ll be even talking about some changes in personalities as a result and throw in Shinso as well. But before I begin, a quick word: please don’t ask me to do more of these. I’m just doing this for fun and to make jokes, so don’t request more characters for me to cover or ask me to expand upon the ideas I’m presenting here.

Aoyama: An Emitter type that sucks in any energy and light through his naval area, but too much makes him sick. Now whenever his has those little sparkles around him, they are immediately sucked into his stomach. Appropriately enough, he now sucks the fun out of everything he’s involved with.

Mina: An Emitter type Quirk that lets her heal up whoever she touches, making it far less dangerous in practice and far less versatile in application. At least she doesn’t have the bright pink skin. It’s now bright baby blue. A lot more quiet then before, she’s mostly the quiet clumsy type.

Tsuyu: A Mutant type that turns her into a bear. So instead of the highly mobile and versatile frog with a weakness to the cold, this makes her tougher and stronger, but does leave her with an extreme weakness to heat. Now instead of the sisterly frog, she is now the aggressive mother bear. Iida: A Mutant type that gives the user an airplane-like turbine on their back that is fueled by soda. Now all of his clean pressed suits are ruined from the plane part sticking out of his back. Not that it bothers him at all, being a flightily burn out that is very much go with the flow. Ochako: An Emitter type Quirk that increases the gravity of anything she hits with her feet. Instead of the usual glow of her fingers, its now comes with the bass boosted sound effect. She’s now super assertive, outside a few moments, to the point no one can talk to her no matter how much she wants to talk to them

Ojiro: A Mutant type that just gives him a fish tail. It’s just kind of there, mostly doing the same thing as before. He can swim slightly better at least. Even when reversed, Ojiro can’t catch a break. At least with his Quirk. Now that he traded out his gi for a swimsuit, he now gets far more attention then before. Denki: An Emitter that allows him to absorb electricity to get smarter. Now he can finally be in the top percentage of class test scores. It might have taken bending reality and his Quirk, but its the results that matter. He’s basically the new Iida, always charged up about something. Kirishima: A Transformation type that softens his body, making him all rubbery and stretchy. It does turn him into a horrific pile of flesh, but I think it balances out. But that doesn’t bother Kirishima as much, ultimately being quite cold, but confident in what he does and how he acts.

Koda: An Emitter that creates a signal on a target that compels other animals to attack them. He now uses the animals like Pokemon, throwing them out at his opponents. But if anything, he is far nicer to animals as he knows just what they are capable of when they are angry. Sato: An Emitter that works whenever he eats fish, increasing his overall intelligence, but weakening his stamina. Maybe in this theoretical what if, he would be a fish monger instead of a baker. Though going by the whole reversal situation, he would actual be the most interesting man in the world. Shoji: A Mutant type Quirk that gives him large, beautify butterfly wings that hypnotically remove the senses of other people. Wouldn’t really work with his whole ninja vibe that he would normally have going on, but it works great for his new self, who is a materialistic, social butterfly. Jiro: A Mutant type Quirk that turns her eyes into camera lens, able to enhance and record images she sees. It may not seem great, but the other options was replacing her ears with gramaphones. Instead of being a rock snob, she is now a film snob, trying to pry into everyone else’s business. Sero: A Mutant type Quirk that gives the user two jets on their elbows that shoot out flames. Not as good in utility, but way better in offensive measures. And instead of getting crusty, his elbows now set on fire. May or may not have resulted in his pyromaniac tendencies. Tokoyami: An Emitter that makes creature of light from his back, growing stronger in light and in the day time. So not only does on have to deal with the monstrous light creature, but also the fact that it blinds them. Tokoyami is now the most preppy person in the entire class. Shoto: An Emitter that lets him make fire from his left side and ice from his right side. Now part of his face is covered in an all blue ice burn, resulting when his father dropped a vanilla scoop on his son’s eye. His cold hatred is now replaced with a tangible burning wrath thanks to that day. Hagakure: An Emitter that is constantly emitting a bright light off of her body, making it extremely hard to hide, even with several layers of clothes. Now she finally get her wish of being the center of attention. Whether she wants it or not, as she has tried to hide away from the spotlight. Katsuki: An Emitter that can fire out ice spikes from the water in his body via his hands, but it suffers in the heat since he will start to sweat out a lot of water. I imagine his hair would now be an icey blue to match his Quirk. Has a lot more of that broody and calm, though still annoyingly arrogant demeanor.  Izuku: An Emitter type that allows Izuku to take Quirks, but only when people give them up willingly. He also asks politely for them. That’s not part of the Quirk, that’s just who Izuku is. At least old Izuku, this one not demands other people’s Quirks, resulting in no one giving him any. Mineta: A Mutant type that gives him yellow orbs on his hands, capable of firing them out like super bouncy balls. They do stick to the user if they happen to hit them, making it look like they are being eaten by a horde of tennis balls. A lot more bouncy and energetic, he doesn’t have much focus on any one thing.

Momo: An Emitter type that absorbs whatever non-living stuff she comes in contact with, breaking it down into nothing. Using it does make her heavier, making it harder to move and breath when taking too much in. Replaces Mina as the dumbest girl in the class, though more of the “action girl” variety that doesn’t think much through.

Shinso: An Emitter type that allows him to perceive things through other people’s senses, controlling their senses but not their bodies. In spite of his attempts to be a hero, he monologues to no end and has the most evil laugh in the whole school. If anything, this only endears him further to his classmates. It must be that super trustworthy face he has.