#like they’re together as humans but there’s no external need to be

[aerois]

Sooooo Axel probably gonna have some awkward ass reunions with the other Organization members, the potential for drama is unparalleled

[withlovelunette]

How to construct character psychology!

– Introduction

Hello hello! :D I’ve been very slow with my writing lately due to uni work (and some unforeseen health issues), but I’d like to still be able to make content and be interactive in the writing community, so I’m here again to share some advice based on my own experiences! One of my favourite things about writing is writing characters, specifically constructing a character’s psychology. I’d like to preface this post by saying that while I’ve had formal classes in psychology, I’m by no means any sort of expert within the field, and I also don’t believe that every aspect of how a character is written needs to be rooted in realism. However, I do want to share some insights that I got from it, and also because I feel like “character psychology” has this very mystified weight to it that makes it seem a lot bigger and intimidating than it needs to be.

So! My goal is just to share some advice on how to break down a character’s psychology and work from there! If you like what you read and would like to read more, I’ve also written a post about creating “complex” characters, which you can find the link to here! Aaand yes I think that’s about all I have to say beforehand, I hope you enjoy :,)

What do I mean when I say psychology?

Before getting into the nitty-gritty, I’d like to start with the basics, just to make sure people are on the same page when reading this post. When I’m talking about psychology here, I’m specifically referring to a character’s cognition, as in how they process information and act on it/make judgments. I’m not necessarily referring to personality in this case (although personality is an aspect of psychology, but I’m more so referring to personality as a consequence of cognition here, rather than as a collage of traits and behaviour).

Another thing I want to clarify is that exactly how much of human behaviour is nurture vs nature is a hotly debated topic that I’m completely under-qualified to take a stance on, but for the sake of this post; I believe both are equally essential aspects of human behaviour, so just keep that in mind! (I’m looking at any behaviourists in the chat rn). That being said; I’m not really comfortable treating psychology as “nature” (as such rhetorics are often used in gender-essentialist and other bigoted ways of thinking), so my main focus will be nurture, since that’s what is most readily observable!

Determining character motivation

If you’re working with very little or bare minimum characterization, my recommendation is to consider; what motivates a person to act? And by this, I’m not referring to the external quest or goal behind the character, but rather, what’s the core of what motivates your character to act at all? Even in grand, epic adventures of good vs evil, where the external goal is as simple as “putting an end to whatever evil the bad guys are doing”, there needs to be a reason a character is specifically on the side that they’re on. Multiple characters can be on the same side, but they might find themselves on that side for vastly different reasons, even when their exterior goals are the same. From there, you’ll want to consider what informs this motivation in particular.

One technique I love to employ, when still figuring out my character, is to have them make some sort of bizarre decision, a decision I’d initially think to be improbable for this particular character, and then try to list off various justifications or variables that would allow for this character to make this particular decision. There’s a couple of reasons for why I do this.

1) It removes some of the pressure to have a perfectly cohesive, perfectly put together and neatly defined character from the get-go. The drafting process isn’t just for plot and story structure’s sake, it’s also there for you to experiment with characters! Having your characters make story altering decisions that possibly challenge or contradict themselves is a great way to make sure that you’re writing active characters as opposed to more passive ones, and I think the first couple of drafts should really be a playground for you to see just how far you can stretch your characters based on their characterisation.

2) It helps me clarify what is and isn’t important in my character’s decision making. I’m a firm believer that most decisions/actions aren’t inherently in or out of character; it just depends on whether or not the readers/viewers can understand the character’s thought process behind their decision, and this ultimately comes down to how well you, as the writer, conveys the character’s priorities when they make decisions. If you’re established that a character acts based on a code of honour, an exterior source to morality and conduct, then the justifications and reasonings they would use to justify murder would likely be very different than a character who acts based on their own convictions. This is also a great way to show character development; by showing how a character’s decisions gradually change as their cognition change as they develop.

3) It allows me to explore nuance and make note of potential contradictions within the character’s way of thinking—which is often the most interesting aspects of a character’s psychology, at least in what I enjoy to write and read. Most real people don’t have perfectly cohesive morals, and most people can’t always act congruently with their morals either, so allow for your characters to make some bizarre decisions! See how far you can stretch their cognition! These decisions don’t have to be canon to the story, but it’s a good way to actually solidify what line of thinking your character makes when faced with difficult and potentially morally indicative choices.

Work your way backwards!

If you already have the overall traits and behavior of your character pinned down, you can always work your way backwards! As a pantser, this is a very common occurrence for me. I have a character with a clear goal and defined characteristics, but they’re completely uninformed so far, as I usually discover the cause of their motivation and characteristics as I write the story. As such, most of my characters don’t have any sort of backstory established until I’m much further into the process, as I discover it as I go along. So here’s some things I look out for in my character writing when creating a backstory after I’ve already established a character.

1) What are some things the character is often drawn towards? Humans are typically very habitual, a lot of us enjoy some sense of familiarity (to varying degrees depending on the person), and taking note of what your character tends to gravitate towards can be a great stepping stone to fleshing out backstory. An example could be a somewhat cold, stoic character who’s incredibly picky with their relationships due to trust issues (pretty common characterization) has a tendency to let their guard down more when around elderly people. Why is that? Maybe they were raised by very old parents, or even grandparents. Maybe it’s a cultural thing to treat elderly with more respect. Maybe it’s a religious thing. Maybe it’s because elderly people have treated them with more kindness in the past, etc. Note that this can be flipped too! Maybe this character feels uneasy around people closer to their own age, or even people who are younger than them.

2) How does your character socialize? The way a character approached social settings can often be very indicative of how they were raised, as that tends to affect how people form attachments (according to attachment theory in psychoanalysis, at least). Are they very sociable? If so, why? Is it because they’re accustomed to being around a lot of people? Maybe they had a very large family, or maybe they had a family that took part in a very active social sphere. Maybe this character just comes off as sociable because they understand the value of social connections. Why’s that? Maybe their family have a political influence, or maybe they have a business they want to sell, etc. Or maybe it’s the complete opposite; maybe this character grew up with little to no family at all, and that’s why they want to make friends and connections. If so, then maybe that affects how they make decisions, leaving them incredibly loyal and somewhat co-dependent. Even the smallest character traits and behaviours can be expanded upon to inform you of how that character was possibly raised, it’s really just about digging into said behaviour!

3) How receptive are they to new experiences or other people’s perspective? This is also somewhat linked to attachment theory, but it doesn’t have to be approached that way! The reason I bring this point up is because I find that a character’s receptiveness is often a good way to gauge their relationship with their parent. For example, a character with very strict, traditionalist parents might adopt that outlook on life because it offers them a sense of stability and security. They weren’t raised to be adaptable or to adjust themselves to new experiences, and thus have a difficult time accepting things outside of their established paradigm. This would suggest that this character likely didn’t rebel much to their parents’ outlooks on things (or if they tried, they failed), since they adopted said outlook for themselves. Another way to write this character (with the same premise) is to have them react in the opposite way; maybe they are super open and receptive because the rigidness of their parents prevented them from ever experiencing anything. Maybe the status quo bored them, or maybe they see their parents as narrow minded. This characterisation suggests that there’s possibly more tension (not necessarily in a negative way) between the character and their parents.

Interplay between morals & behaviour

A character’s morals and behaviour don’t always have to align. Like I mentioned in an earlier point, humans hold a lot of contradictions, and how people cope with those contradictions can vary. However, how do you determine if a contradiction is purposeful rather than a case of out-of-character writing?

Let’s say you have a character who views all animals as sacred, and this is something they were raised with. Suddenly, this character is thrust into a situation in a different world/kingdom/region/etc. where eating animal meat is the only viable food option to survive. They decide to do it, despite their morals directly conflicting with this behaviour.

One way this character might justify this is by thinking “well, my intentions matter most, and my intention was never to hurt animals, so while I feel bad for killing an animal for food, my intentions of doing so respectfully makes this action more acceptable to me.”

But another character in the exact same situation might not be satisfied with such logic. Maybe they see intentions as irrelevant, and only care about the consequences of their actions. If it’s been established beforehand that a character is consequentialist, then this action, paired with the justification above, would feel incredibly out of character, because the logic behind the justification is not intuitive to the reader.

Whether a contradiction feels purposeful or out-of-character ultimately boils down to what information and how much of it you’ve given to the readers, so that they have the information necessary to break down the interplay between the character’s morals and behaviour. 

Using other tools (cognitive functions, socionics, enneagram, etc.)

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m very interested in various types of typology (mbti probably being the most popular and well known one), and while I consider all forms of typology to fall under pseudo psychology, I often use these tools to help me better understand my own characters better! I personally gravitate towards cognitive functions (which is not the same system as mbti, even though it uses the same letter system) as they help me put into words my character’s cognition, and enneagram, which describes behaviour and motivations that arise from a person’s upbringing and coping mechanisms. There’s other things you can take into consideration as well, like socionics, temperaments, attitudinal psyche, etc!

I’m not suggesting you use these as replacements for developing characters, but they can be great supplements when trying to dig deeper into your character’s psychology! I’d also argue that you get more out of putting these systems into use if you learn about typology and analyse your characters yourself instead of taking a test for them, but I’m also very biased in this regard, since I enjoy analysing my characters myself :,) And there are times where I’ll take a few tests to help solidify my breakdown if I’m having a difficult time labelling my character correctly. Honestly, just have fun with it!!

– Outro

Sorry for yet another lengthy post! And sorry it was a bit later than I’d anticipated, I had a much busier weekend than I thought I’d have, so I kept having to squeeze writing in anytime I had enough spare time to sit down, and then I stumbled across a series of health complications that I’m still trying to sort out. Which, speaking of, thank you so much to everyone who’s been wishing me good luck! I’m still working on figuring out what’s wrong, but I’m making progress!

As usual, my asks and messages are always open, so feel free to shoot me a message about anything! Even if I may be slower with my replies ^^; Thank you for reading! <3

[dazaiandhislovelybandages]

Can you write one where it’s Dabi x villian reader and she gets fatally injured while they’re on a mission and Dabi tries help her but there’s nothing he can do. I need it to be really angsty.

Right Person, Not Enough Time {Dabi}

A/n: okay I love myself a good angst, especially when it is about Dabi, Dazai or Mammon from Obey Me so I will try to make this as angsty as possible

Pairing: Dabi x fem!villain!reader

Trigger warning: character death, mentions of fires, scars, mentions of slight self hatred

If Dabi knew that the mission was going to be so difficult he would have kept you slightly closer to him. It wasn't like he didn't trust you, or that he thought you couldn't defend yourself. He knew that you were powerful. He had witnessed is countless upon countless of times. Your quirk was one of the most powerful quirks he had ever witnessed and he had witnessed a lot. And it wasn't just your quirk, the way you fought was mesmerising.

But he couldn't help but... worry whenever you were on missions and he would have very much prefered it if he went to your place. There wasn't really a way in which he could explain it. The two of you weren't exactly together. There were a few casual one night stands here and there and you would both flirt with each other more often than 'just friends' do.

Despite that, you weren't together. He didn't know how you felt about him -hell he didn't even know how he felt himself; did he like you romantically or was it because of the fact that you weren't disgusted by his appearance?

He hadn't made any efforts to confess to you either. It wasn't out of fear of rejection, that was for sure. He had lived his life in such a way where he didn't feel anything. He had never come to terms with his feelings in general so when you appeared all of a sudden like that? No, he didn't want to even try and think about his growing feelings towards you.

Whether his feelings were clear or not, there was one thing he knew for certainty: he wanted to protect you. And if, after his plan was finished, there was a future for him then he wanted you to be in it.

So when he couldn't spot you in the middle of the fight with some pro heroes, he began going a little crazy.

"Where is she?" The collar of Shigaraki's jacket almost turned into ashes.

"What are you talking about?" Shigaraki continued looking at the fight from the roof of one of the nearby buildings, his calm demeanour almost eery.

And then there you were. He had a clear view of you from the roof of the building. Despite your abilities you were overpowered with three of the strongest pro heroes having surrounded you.

Dabi would have jumped if it wasn't a five stories building but for obvious reasons he couldn't so he ran down the external staircase as fast as he could. And if his legs didn't get him to you on time, he would chop them off with no second thoughts.

But when he reached the end of the staircase, not only had the pro heroes left but you were laying on the ground. You. His... love. The only person who saw him as a human being. One of the kindest people he knew. The person who had the most gentle hands and the softest skin his rough and scarred hands had ever touched. You were laying on the cold hard ground and not in the softest bed there was, surrounded by pillows and the warmest blankets.

"Oh... oh no, no, no." He only allowed himself to kneel next to you after having created a fire ring around you.

"Dabi."

"There's blood all over you." He had never heard himself sound so... worried. His hands were shaking as he slowly wrapped them around your body as gently as you had touched him, lifting you up to place you on his lap. "It's not your blood right?" He swallowed so hard you actually heard it. "Stop breathing so heavily, it pisses me off doll. Oh fuck where is this blood coming from."

"Me..." You groaned, shifting slightly in his arms.

"Well.... stop bleeding then I am here now as-"

"As what?"

Oh he knew what you were doing. You were playing a very dangerous game. A very very dangerous game.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not leaving until we fix this-"

"There's nothing to fix, love."

"There is. There is so much we have to fix, starting with that blood." He couldn't look you in the eyes. He was so focused on trying to figure out where your injury was. But he couldn't because there was just so much blood and the fact that he was crying bloody tears didn't help either.

"Fucking hell. I can't fix this if you don't tell me where-"

"Dabi?" Toga's voice never reached him.

"Just fucking talk to me, I can't fix this if you-"

"Were you thinking of me?"

That was such a strange question. He found your words so... not right. Why did it matter? It was not like you were going to die. And not once had you asked him something like this.

"Of course I was... hell... yes I was." He stuttered, taken aback. But then the words left his mouth so naturally as if he had been holding them back ever since he first laid his eyes upon you; which was actually the case. "I was thinking about you the whole time. Every. Single. Second."

"Good." You whispered.

"I mean of course I was. I would be crazy not to think about you. I would be crazy without you, don't be silly doll." He chuckled.

"Twice...?" Toga turned to look at the man and if Dabi had turned to look at her then he would have seen that she was crying as well. And so was Twice.

"And if you were to leave me I'd drive myself crazy." He continued. "But why are you asking that." He finally looked at your face with blood coming out of his burnt tear ducts. "Come on." He shook your body slightly. "Answer me, come on."

"Twice..." Toga's voice broke as she turned towards the older man.

"Let him be... may she rest in peace."

[justdrawlynn11]

So in the Sonic underground au how does being roboticized work with them already being robots? (Side note I love this au so much, Sonic underground was my favorite show growing up)

Okay, so here’s what I got for roboticization in the Celestial Underground Au. So the factor of being roboticized is in multiple levels to it.

Roboticization in the CU Au is a bit different from the original source(Sonic Underground) due to multiple factors, such as the main cast and at least over half of the population of Superstar Kingdom (yes that’s the name of the kingdom for now)being animatronics.

Roboticization physically enhances an animatronic and ‘human’ person’s body and ability, it’s like an “upgrade” of sorts.

In depth explanation below.

Physically:

For humans it works the same as it did physically for any organic (there’s plenty of different animal species)characters from Sonic Underground, with all of their flesh being converted into metal.

Animatronics on the other hand, when getting roboticized, are “upgraded” to be superior to their former selves physically and strength wise.

Any clothes the roboticized wore when roboticized will also fully fuse with the “person’s” body(like the original from what I can tell), no need to change clothes when roboticized or something.

Mentally:

Mentally on the other hand is a different can of worms. Overall from the outside the roboticized are not their former selves, being a husk meant to fulfill either the command of the Creator or his forces, or to be ‘improvements’ of their former selves to create the Creator’s desired superior world.

For most roboticized people their former consciousness is basically in a comatose state, unaware of anything happening and basically in mental storage asleep.

Then there’s rare cases, like with the chamber that Moon was roboticized in not comatosing the former self, but them being trapped inside their own heads and forced to watch their bodies move out of their own control(the Creator made this chamber like this because Sun’s magic wouldn’t work if he was permanently comatose, he also tested it on a few people before Moon).

De-Roboticization and a bit on Sun and Moon’s powers:

First off, a character’s innate magic is separate from their magic medallions. The medallions add onto the characters magic ability but they are separate(Like hair extensions or something). Sun’s VERY powerful magic for example isn’t related to his medallion, but his magic can boost the power of his or his siblings medallions.

So for de-roboticization I need to address Sun and Moon’s medallion powers. They are the vocalists of the family and if they were to sing the theme song they couldn’t be allowed to sing together or else they’d probably explode everything(I’ll explain the siblings powers fully later and how they collaborate with each other), but alone they’re not strong enough to do more than use it as defense/offense.

BUT when their medallions(individually) are boosted with an external power they have the power to basically mentally de-roboticize someone, or at least give someone who had no control over their own body via an evil force(like possession or something) control over their body once more.

They cannot do this to each other with their own respective medallions(Sun couldn’t de-roboticize Moon with his own medallion and had to use Moon’s, same would go vice versa) so that’s why Sun needed to use MOON’S medallion to help Moon stop being trapped in his own head(they can use each other’s medallions if needed via a spell).

The magic is only the first part, as the second part of de-roboticization is allowing someone to gain full control of their body back, for example while Moon could move his body and prevent himself from actively attacking, his body was still IN attack mode and was trying its best to do as much harm as possible.

Here’s where Solar and Sun’s collaboration comes into play. Sun asked Solar for help in seeing if they could get Moon back(before Moon’s de-roboticization), and Solar agreed. So he tried his best to semi-self teach himself how to override and get rid of any influence the Creator has on a hosts body(like the coding).

Sun tried his best to help where he could and neither of them really PLANNED for Moon’s de-roboticization to happen as soon as it did(the trigger for the reunion), so Solar was working the best he could(with Nexus’ help now that Sun wasn’t hiding from the triplets and he didn’t have to keep it a secret).

They found out how to override and get rid of the Creator’s influence on a roboticized persons code and body

ALSO-

For the hypothetical question of ‘Why didn’t Sun or Moon use their powers to de-roboticize people before this point?’:

They didn’t know that they could just give others their free will back with extra magic for a boost, and they were trying to not get caught as well as they could and the Creator could’ve tracked them if they used enough magic to give someone their mental freedom back, and they’re probably aware that using their medallions together would cause everything to explode(or something). Sun had gone off of a last ditch effort from Solar’s hypothesis in order to try to de-roboticize Moon. Sun had told Solar about Moon’s old nightmares for potential futures(I will write about this one tomorrow), Solar then created a hypothesis based off of reversing the nature of the future Moon was so scared of that he got nightmares. And it worked.

My little goober trying to unpack all of that after spending multiple days contemplating this topic and staying up far to long to finish answering this ask(I also went to my state fair earlier and I’ve been up for about 20 hours when I need to be fixing my sleep schedule) (@derpymuffins33)

[em-dash-press]

6 Steps to Create Fictional Creatures

Your newest story idea might require more extensive creative skills when it comes to creatures in mythology. You can use mythic creatures from centuries past or make new fictional species specifically for your plot. Check out these steps to create fictional creatures that feel just as real as any other animal or being.

1. Brainstorm a Big List

There are so many mythical creatures to consider while planning your next story. Some beloved options include:

Dragons

Griffins

Centaurs

Hydras

Harpies

Create a list of every fictional creature that interests you. Make sure to check out various mythologies from global cultures to expand your possibilities.

If you want to make something entirely new, list creatures that inspire you. You can draw from various elements of their backgrounds to invent something new that resonates with readers.

2. Match Creature Characteristics to Your Plot

Picture The Hobbit. Smaug is a crucial part of that novel’s plot. He represents the negative impulse to hoard wealth beyond what you need. That message wouldn’t be represented if Smaug was a kelpie, which represents perfection.

Consider how your creature’s appearance, behavior, and abilities will serve your plot or theme. If they tie together in at least one way, your mythical creatures will feel integral to your story.

3. Draft Creature Backstories

Characters need backstories because real people always have history. You don’t necessarily need to make them extensive, but they’re worth building as you create incredible characters.

Fictional creatures work the same way. They need a history on some level unless your character is somehow creating them in real time during your story.

Give your character’s species an origin. They’ll need an individual history that includes things like where they live and what their motivations are. Does your creature only care about surviving? Do they have a family they want to protect? Is there a dream motivating their decisions or goals?

You may not need to create all of these details for well-known creatures like werewolves, but they do help when you’re making an individual character your readers will get to know.

It’s also helpful to decide how your creature interacts with other creatures or humans. Are they a predator or prey? Do they act aggressively or not? These answers not only inform who they are as an individual but also what roles they can play in your plot.

4. Work on Their Design

There are some great sites for visualizing human characters, like Backstage or Pinterest. AI-generated images aren’t your only option. However, it may feel more challenging to find a generator site for mythical creatures.

You can search for creature inspiration on places like Pinterest or look up your creature’s species at places like Generator Mix. Writers with bigger budgets could also pay an artist they follow on social media to draw what they visualize based on what you’ve already figured out about your creature.

You’ll want a visual reference point for things like your creature’s physical features (plus clothing and accessories, if they wear them). When you’re one year and 200 pages deep in a manuscript, you may forget tiny details like how your creature’s scales look or whether they have mismatched toe nail colors.

A reference picture also helps writers remember how their creature’s appearance may affect their characters. A zombie gnome might terrify one character while they garner sympathy from another character who loves gnomes.

5. Add Magic (or Not)

Will your creature have magical abilities? Why or why not? The answers to these questions point out their purpose in your plot. Maybe they make magical abilities become useless in their presence. 

If your creature gets to use magic, remember to answer the most essential questions for creating a magic system, like:

What does the magic help your character do?

What can’t the magic do?

What are some external or internal limits for the magic users?

Is there a cost to using this magic?

What’s the most important reason your character or creature uses their magic?

6. Assign a Motivation

Even if your mythical creature is only running around in the dark by themselves, they’ll have some kind of motivation. That could be things like:

Finding their next meal

Discovering shelter

Tracking down their enemy

Looking for their offspring

Defending their territory

Seeking their purpose

Chasing a dream

Your creature may need a more purpose-led motivation if they play a key part in your plot. They could also just need to eat, which causes the mayhem necessary to move your plot along.

If you can’t think of a motivation, ask yourself if this creature is necessary in your story. Sometimes we get lost making creatures or characters because it’s fun, not because they’re essential to our plot.

-----

No matter what you want to write, these tips should help you create the mythical creatures your story needs. How in-depth your planning goes is up to you. There’s no required amount of planning for any character. You can always add details to their outline or character profile along the way.

[pendarling]

★彡𝓜𝓪𝔂𝓫𝓮 𝓦𝓮’𝓻𝓮 𝓟𝓸𝓵𝔂𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓼? (𝓞𝓣3 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓽𝓼)彡★

Person A and B fell in love in the same city growing up. But when college/university came around, Person B had to move away and they lost contact. After some time, Person A falls in love again with Person C, a new person in town. They start dating and talk about their past lovers/crushes and they just so happen to connect the dots and figure out they both fell in love with Person B. Knowing that, they both start to look for Person B together to reunite.

In an alternate world, imagine Person A and B are vampire rivals who were secretly pining for each other. Enter Person C, a normal human who just so happens to have the preferred blood type of both A and B. In their quest to win Person C over for harvesting they both end up falling in love with C. Now, all three of them are left confused and flustered all the time.

Person B and C are already in a stable, normal and loving relationship for a long time. They live in a nice home and pursue good jobs. However, when a new neighbour, Person A, moves in they find that they have a lot in common with them. Both partners fall in love until out of guilt, Person B and C admit to each other they both have feelings for A. Shocked that they feel the same way, they decide to try and invite Person A into their relationship with dinners, movies, carnivals etc… each time, these meet ups slowly start feeling more like dates. But to Person A they couldn’t be anymore dense.

Person A and C are the type of people who don’t like violence. Person B on the other hand, doesn’t mind. A and C work together to show B aggression is not the answer to everything and C convinces them how to defend themselves better. In the process, they all learn they’re definitely not monogamous.

Person C is a huge flirt, they love to tease everyone with their comments but especially Person A and B who never seem to show interest or always shut them down. A little dissuaded, they decide to stop but it turns out B and C actually really enjoy it and begin to flirt back.

Person A is a rational person who plans out their life and expects to be married and settled by a certain time at a certain age. To increase their chances of meeting that goal, they start advancing on two different people and comparing their results. They decide that both were suitable but now all they needed was to get them to meet up and fall in with each other through a series of ridiculous plots.

Person A and B are really good at almost everything. Person C is more into obscure interests. While C admires A and B for being so talented they think of themselves as lesser than both of them while A and B agree that C is superior. Their admiration for each other quickly turns affectionate.

Person C and B are introverted, Person A is an extrovert. Through so much common interests C and B fall in love and because they can always rely on Person A to do the talking, A begins to feel appreciated too.

Person A and C work as baristas during separate shifts (morning/afternoon) both of them meet Person B and always personally serve them with cute messages on their cup each time. The staff think Person B is a player and notify A and C, but this only motivates them after finding out they both like B and agree to make them their next S/O.

Person A likes B but not C. Person B and C like each other and A. It seems like A can’t come around to seeing C other than a friend. But after B takes a long trip away from home, C starts pining after A again who rejects all their advancements. But as soon as Person C gives up, Person A can’t stop missing them.

After Person B and A break up due to external reasons they still have deep feelings for each other. Determined not to betray A, B forbids themselves from falling in love with anyone other than A. But it becomes apparent that Person C is an exception and so they give it a shot and begin flirting back. Person A reunites with B and they resume their old inside jokes and fall in love again. Person C starts to feel awkward and distance themselves but is surprised to learn that Person B has shared all their experiences with A and they’re also crushing on C too.

Person B and C are rich upstarts who caught the attention of media fast for being the ultimate power couple. Person A knows Person B and C personally but as a normal citizen, they don’t care much for the wider public. Until one day Person A accidentally finds themself a part of a scandal after a picture is leaked on the internet. People start claiming Person A is a secret partner that cheats on both B and C so now they risk losing their job/friends etc. Person B and C decide to step in and lie that they are actually in a polygamous marriage with A. Now, all A needs to do is play the part and hopefully not actually fall in love.

Person A, B and C find it hard to meet rent on their own, especially when living with previous bad roommates. They decide to share the same living space for convenience but end up liking the way they all work in unison more smoothly than they thought. Perhaps they can do this long term?…

Person C can tell that A and B are really bad flirts who are oblivious to their love and helps set them up. When they do eventually confess their feelings, it’s now Person C’s turn to be set up for love.

Person B and C are very physical and love to show their affection with touch. Person A much rather prefers the use of words and spending intimate time alone with them doing what they like.

~~~

MASTERLIST

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Hi, following up again:

If they've already found me...

why haven't they done anything yet?...

I know they want this one under control more than any other renegade. To the point where I know for a fact I wouldn't be the first human to be used to get them. Because at this point, if they haven't come to get me to use as bait...

what in Omega's eternally disorganised sock drawer is going on?

How long would it take the Celestial Intervention Agency to find someone?

So, if the CIA already knows where you are but hasn’t made a move, you’re probably feeling a bit like a mouse waiting for the cat to pounce, right? Let’s break down what might be happening, and why you’re not in a Gallifreyan holding cell right now.

🕵️‍♂️ The CIA’s Strategy

Surveillance and Data Gathering: The CIA might be watching you closely, gathering intel on your activities, interactions, and any potential leads you could provide. They’re generally meticulous and patient, preferring to have a comprehensive understanding before making a move.

Bigger Picture: There could be a larger operation in play. Your Time Lord renegade might be part of a bigger network or involved in activities that the CIA is monitoring. Moving on you too soon could tip off other targets or jeopardise larger plans.

Bait and Trap: You might indeed be seen as bait, but they’re likely waiting for the perfect moment. The CIA love a bit of strategic patience. They could be waiting for your Time Lord to make a move or reveal something crucial.

Internal Politics: Gallifreyan politics are complex. There might be internal debates, power struggles, or other bureaucratic reasons delaying action. Even within the CIA, there can be conflicts and differing opinions on how to handle this.

Resource Allocation: They might be stretched thin dealing with other crises or missions. Gallifrey isn’t without its own internal and external challenges. Your case might be a priority, but immediate resources could be allocated elsewhere temporarily.

🤔 What Could Be Going On?

Deeper Investigation: They could be conducting a deeper investigation into your Time Lord’s activities. Perhaps they’ve uncovered something bigger and need to piece it all together.

Unexpected Variables: Something might have thrown a wrench into their plans. A sudden development, either with your Time Lord or elsewhere, could have shifted their focus temporarily.

Operational Risks: Moving on you might carry risks they’re not willing to take just yet. If your Time Lord is particularly dangerous or has unpredictable allies, the CIA could be treading carefully.

Waiting for the Right Moment: Timing is everything. They might be waiting for the most advantageous moment to act, ensuring maximum effectiveness and minimal risk to the Web of Time.

🏫 So ...

The CIA’s silence doesn’t mean inaction. They’re likely playing a long game, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Remember, the wheels of Gallifreyan bureaucracy turn slowly, but they turn with purpose.

Wait ... who's that over your shoulder?

@jillthecia-agent

Any purple text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired😴

[steterweek]

Steter Week 2023 - Text Prompts

SUNDAY, JULY 23rd

OBSESSED AT FIRST SIGHT Love? Intrigue? Absolute annoyance? This instant connection is born out of obsession.

OR

MEET UGLY The opposite of a meet cute, these first moments are ugly.

MONDAY, JULY 24th

IN VINO VERITAS “In wine, truth.” Whether it’s humans or wolves imbibing, tongues are loosened and the truth comes out.

OR

MISTAKEN IDENTITIES No matter how connected or research-obsessed Peter and Stiles may be, bad intel can still lead to a mistaken identity.

TUESDAY, JULY 25th

YOUR ENEMIES ARE MY ENEMIES Nothing brings a couple together like a common enemy. And in this case, any enemies, no matter how serious or petty, are vendettas shared.

OR

I'M NOT STUCK IN HERE WITH YOU, YOU'RE STUCK IN HERE WITH ME Whether it’s Stiles, Peter, or an external force, someone has greatly underestimated how this situation is going to go down.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26th

ANCIENT THINGS Old gods and forgotten places, treasures and tomes lost to time. Are they hungry? Are they angry? Why have they returned?

OR

COMPETENCE KINK The best home cooking they’ve had in their life? Cutting a bloody swath through the battlefield? This display of competence is the spark that lights their fire.

THURSDAY, JULY 27th

ASSHOLES IN LOVE Who loves a complete dick more than an utter asshole? Maybe they’re only little shits to everyone else, maybe snark is their love language, but one thing is true: These two are total assholes.

OR

PORN STAR AU They could be stars, directors, editors, or lowly interns, working traditional porn or cams in this Porn Star AU.

FRIDAY, JULY 28th

VENGEFUL VIOLENCE AS A LOVE LANGUAGE Tokens of affection? Quality time? Acts of service? Maybe all of the above, with a little (or a lot) more blood spatter than usual.

OR

FAIRYTALE REMIX A dark, traditional story turned on its head, or a fairytale brought into the modern age, this myth has a twist.

SATURDAY, JULY 29th

ONE LAST TIME BEFORE ____ They go? They end it? They see each other again?

OR

I NEED YOU TO GET ME OUT OF THIS BAD DATE They could be a go-to for a bad date escape call, a last resort, or an amused stranger who decides to save someone from the worst first date ever.

ANY DAY

FREE DAY These prompts are just suggestions, feel free to ignore them and write your own thing while tagging in Steter Week!  

Check out the visual prompts here!

[creativestalkerrs]

write vivid character description and personalities

I posted this on my Substack blog as well, subscribe to that for more content. Apart of creativestalkerr’s writing lessons.

writing good character descriptions to maximize your character, their personality and their story.

When creating strong characters that stand out, choosing traits for them not only advances your character but can help advance the overall story and plot. Your description of your character(s) is woven into the story itself.

Value of Your Characters: As we have discussed in previous lessons, values with your character are extremely important. Your character and plot are linked to each other, and thus the value as well.

When you write your story both your character and your consumer are going throw the narrative together. What are you, as the writer, teaching us about your character? You want to connect your consumer with your character despite the differences. So, look at their core traits and central human expressions and emotions. What are their envies, desires, disappointments, and loves?

Think about the emotional impact that your character can have. You want your consumer to feel for them, to have that emotional connection. They don’t need to have that connection right away, but at some point, it should connect. It’s up to you what you want to have to happen.

An overarching plot that your character goes through as well as the overarching impression you want your consumer to think about and relate to. How are we going to see everything about your character?

Think about: traits, the order you want to share these traits, and manifesting those traits into your plot.

Perspective: I won’t get too into depth about perspectives as I already did a lesson about perspectives and narratives, but what I will say is that you want to know what/whose perspective the story is in. This will give you more room to think about how you can tell your story and describe your characters. If it’s in the first person, how will the story be told if it’s in the third person?

Are we in the headspace of your characters? Do we truly know every detail about them? You must tell the story through some sort of lens.

Plot-Based Descriptions: As the story goes on both the plot and your character should move together. The two go hand in hand. If you don’t have a plot, you don’t have a character, and vice versa. You also want to make sure that your consumer feels as if they're in the story with your character.

When writing you want to weave your character descriptions into the plot as both are growing together. When you choose character traits, you want to think about how they will highlight and push your plot forward. Balance both negative and redeeming traits so your consumer will like, and care about your main character. Ask yourself, what traits do you want your consumer to know? What we learn about a character should change scene by scene.

Where is the character at the start of the story and where are they at the end? How do you get from point A to point B?

Asking yourself these types of questions can help get the ball rolling. You want to build with the character change. Balancing scenes where characters are showing off their strengths and scenes where they are showing off their weakness gives a look into their human nature. Explore scenes where they show off both and ask yourself, which one is more important to show off?

Direct and Indirect Descriptions:

Direct Characterization: The writer straight up tells the consumer about the character and doesn't really show anything or what the character is doing.

Indirect Characterization: This is where the character reveals who they are through the things they do. They show these traits through the actions they do in the story.

This can be shown by the words they say, the things do, and how your character sees the world around them.

Internal and External Traits: This is more connected to what's going on in your character's internal thoughts and how those thoughts can be expressed externally.

Internal Characteristics:

This can reveal;

Emotions

Thoughts

Goals

Dreams

What they want out of life

How they feel about things

Their emotions and mental responses to the things in their past.

How is their past haunting them?

How is their past helping them?

What are their goals in the future?

Their mood at that given moment.

Outer Characteristics:

This can show:

Appearance

How they sound

What their speech is like

The words they use

Behavior we see

Names

Their community and their stance n the world around them.

Best Practices: The best thing you can do for yourself in your writing is try and describe everything, not just what something or someone looks like or what they hear, but what they taste, talk about, touch and smell. Describing things in these terms can make your writing so much richer.

Make sure to research who your character is. Ask questions about them. Your goal is to make them feel real. Get real experiences and stories and dissect them for your character.

​​~Vocabulary~

Traits: a distinguishing quality or characteristic, typically one belonging to a person.

Advances: move forward in a purposeful way.

Woven: include an element in (a story or pattern).

Human Expressions:  of, characterizing, or relating to man and mankind

Envies: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck.

Desires: a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.

Disappointments: sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations.

Loves: a strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person or something, as that arising from kinship or close friendship

Overarching: it affects or includes everything

Human Nature: the general psychological characteristics, feelings, and behavioral traits of humankind, regarded as shared by all humans.

[gloamvonhrym]

oh I never posted all my silly phoenicis worldbuilding (birdbuilding) that I did while in fanfic writing hell

here’s a huge mostly-boring set of notes expanding and/or playing havoc with canon. I’m putting it here for future reference. maybe to link to it for funsies if I ever post this hell fic

phoenicis is a small insular nation with little social hierarchy, living on inhospitable mountains inaccessible to anyone except other birds. phoenicis has therefore evolved on a somewhat separate cultural track from everybody else in tellius. in this essay I will

economy/practical shit

implicitly in canon hawks are intensely community-oriented. again, they’re a small nation without much hierarchy, and with some preference for chaos. they all “just do what needs to be done”, paraphrasing ulki. they’re not the Strong Guys for the heck of it: they work together to protect & care for their own, and harbor a strong sense of collective duty and trust.

so they’re commies

with serenes out of the picture they’re the biggest commies in tellius

they don’t have currency, that’s some human shit. to each according to their need etc

(exactly how small and close-knit is. phoenicis? small enough that kilvas, a similarly small nation with even fewer resources, could kill everyone on the home front in basically a day when it was left undefended. so. take that for what it is)

infrastructure

minor architecture tangent: we don’t see much of phoenicis & kilvas except for the exteriors of their respective castles, which is kinda boring. obviously not everyone lives in the castles. but phoenicis DOES have some other visible infrastructure, namely the funky detail of these open doorways built into both the castle itself and the surrounding cliffs:

(I don’t know if there’s any kind of proper name for these, because obviously irl we don’t need them and they’re not a thing. I’ve been calling them sky doors, and I might have nabbed that from rebecca roanhorse’s “between earth and sky”, although idk if she in turn nabbed it from anyone else)

anyway there appears to be no actual barrier on these, at least not externally. what did I say. commies. who’s gonna rob and kill you in your own home, in your little nation-commune, where nobody except other birds can get to you, and everyone trusts everyone else to do their duty and provide for each other. (the answer is that other birds will betray you, eventually. sad!)

anyway it’s boring to stick around the castle 100% of the time. I imagine that this architectural idea continues down into the valleys, where maybe artisans can make stuff and services can be provided and bargain economy shit can happen

hawks have seemingly only been pirates for the last 20 years or so, and they do piracy for the sake of vengeance rather than need, and they can’t do that much of it because there aren’t a ton of them; and unlike kilvas, they abstain from trade with the whole rest of the continent, and are isolationist by choice. so they must be self-sufficient in basically every way. someone’s got to be making fabric, making clothes, making shoes, forging metals, creating pottery, creating music and art, administering medicine, providing education, etc, somewhere.

healthcare

tangent about medicine: phoenicis is probably the only nation in the continent that has historically had no contact with healing magic at all. the herons had innate healing magic, and everyone else either has human mages or contact with human mages. but phoenicis is on its own. their medical science is therefore more advanced by irl standards, because it has to be. they know more shit about practical mundane antitoxins, antibiotics, wound dressing, surgeries, anesthetics, and complications. it’s less pleasant than magical means, but it works.

(canonically, healing magic works on wounds and not so much things like regular illnesses, so everyone’s still got some mundane medical care; but when that’s ALL you’ve got, I think it follows that you necessarily come to understand the pure mundane science better than most other people. I bet phoenicis has bred its share of real scientists. if anyone in tellius is going to invent electricity,) (also: they might value physical strength very much, but because they’re commies, I figure they take care of their sick/disabled/injured pretty well, and most of them are at terms with the fact that not everyone can be the Strongest Guys. reyson’s complex about being too weak to live is likely more due to survivor’s guilt, helplessness to protect others/wreak revenge personally, and a post-traumatic focus on violence as a primary determinant of outcomes, rather than any actual pervasive cultural messaging that he’s useless.)

age

hawks live to some, what, 300+ years? janaff says a 24 year old should barely be speaking, but I feel like his ass was just being dramatic, similar to the way we needle real-life 18 year old adult humans about being tiny babies. there’s no reason why any creature should take 20+ years to be at least functional, that would be a huge evolutionary disadvantage. I posit that hawk adolescence is considered to last roughly age 20 to 70 (with heron adolescence lasting somewhat longer, given their longer lifespan; maybe to 80-85, such that reyson has somewhat recently hit true adulthood by the time PoR rolls around).

teenagers are stupid. hawk teenagers are REALLY stupid. chaos predilection + hormones. many of them will gleefully pick a fight over any dumb thing and be horny about it. strong with the vigor of youth, but exceptionally poor sense of their own limitations

by age 100+, their temperament evens out; but any contender for the king’s power is probably going to come from the young crowd at any given time. speaking of which,

government

there isn’t much of one. phoenicis is not big. everyone knows everyone and they’re very efficient commies so everything gets done that needs to get done. tibarn has 2 dumbass advisors. who needs a secretary of state.

the title of king goes to “the strongest” (I assume the intent is that this is determined by combat, against self-selected challengers who get to take over if they win, wakanda style). although canonically, his power is that he gets to call some shots but doesn’t really get any special privileges or reverence beyond that, which is nice because it means that if the king became super unpopular, the rest of phoenicis could probably depose him without much trouble if they wanted to. no divine rights here.

(worth noting: I think tibarn’s characterization is super different between fe9 and fe10, with RD tibarn being a lot sassier and more informal. FEH skewed towards the RD vibe, and I think they were right for that. given the hawks’ uniquely relaxed philosophy towards royalty, their insular culture, and the likelihood that they all knew tibarn by name before he ever had a title, it wouldn’t make sense for them to do a lot of formalized bowing and scraping. RD tibarn would never have unironically addressed caineghis as “o majestic king of lions” or whatever he said)

(by contrast, apparently, in japanese, reyson consistently addresses tibarn formally (and also naesala, up until naesala betrays him). I don’t speak japanese and can’t really count this as an aspect of my experience of these characters, but I wonder if the other birds also address each other in this way, or if it’s a trait peculiar to reyson.)

family

families are not nuclear. hawks raise their kids pretty communally, foremost in unstructured “flocks” (households or clusters of households). actual bio parents may or may not be closely involved

parenting is kind of hands-off overall. the concept of adult supervision falls away pretty fast. “let your kid do the stupid dangerous thing so that he learns what’s stupid and dangerous” ass culture; learning by experience is optimal, and if you’re not adequately responsible then others are less likely to be sympathetic and/or have your back in turn. hawk kids tend to gain squads quickly, and they often hang together for life ride or die

if a young hawk is neglected or entirely rejected by their home flocks - rare, but not impossible - likely someone else will pick up the slack, if not adults then some loyal friends

relevant headcanons: tibarn, ulki, and janaff have been sticking together since an early age. ulki in particular had some problems - his original family did not appreciate that he kept overhearing things he shouldn’t, and he was way too autistic to know what was meant to not be repeated, so after not too long he became a bit of a lone wolf. tibarn and janaff already knew each other - janaff’s exceptional sight didn’t cause him any similar problems; and were initially concerned with ulki’s misfit status, but his ability was a valuable bonus. they all adopted each other.

food

the main thing hawks don’t do is cook. because they mostly eat raw meat, fish, and bugs, which is very sexy of them. I imagine every household has certain members designated to hunt regularly on its behalf. add that one to the chore chart

(maybe someone starts experimenting more with cooking when herons are there, and further when phoenicis is open to international relations. for fun and community!)

gender

ok the shit I made up, let’s go off the rails

hawks are queer-normative. in that they don’t give a shit about the anatomy or superficial presentation of who sleeps with whom. most of them are equal-opportunity in that regard

they are, however, by human standards, masc-centric to a sort of absurd degree. they’re not dumb senseless brutes (see again, commies, intense intra-community trust); they’re also probably not the most emotionally available fellas

(“but wouldn’t this level of intra-community trust result in greater emotional availability, not less?” look I’m not saying they’re scared of it. but why would you cry out your feelings with some other guy when you could be killing animals or committing piracy about it.)

gender presentation: I said equal-opportunity in terms of sexuality. might be because it’s a little difficult to tell. the games appear to have no female hawk characters but in MY headcanons their presentation is just masc-centric across the board, and maybe they skew a little less sexually dimorphic in general, so you wouldn’t know anyway

most hawks are he/hims. that’s just a quirk. like discworld dwarves but with less to say about it. just a nation of butches, for fun

bad gender parity in the tellius games? how do you know janaff isn’t a he/him lesbian

hawk dress is largely unisex, earth-toned, and utilitarian. not necessarily fully unadorned - tibarn has an earring & a few other things, including a necklace (feathers; battle trophies?) - but he’s still pretty rugged. nobody is flashy.

nothing AGAINST conventionally feminine presentation per se. hawks would chafe against overly rigid norms. but the way medieval-fantasy femininity looks, they’d probably think it’s a little odd in a practical sense. but who knows. maybe leanne starts something with those she/her pronouns and flowy dresses yk.

(tangent on clothing: phoenicis isn’t really friendly for something like cotton crops, but they can have wool, because goats & sheep can live on mountains. I’m also happy to make up that there’s some kind of hardy tellius breed of mulberry-adjacent tree, which can grow at least somewhere in phoenicis, resulting in the availability of silk and maybe barkcloth. or something. idk I’m not that kind of historian.)

sexuality

hawks primarily value strength, physical + emotional. we knew this. again, doesn’t make for the greatest emotional intelligence. overt softness is not the thing. tibarn kind of sucks at the direct empathy that reyson claims all living beings share, for instance. 2 hawks in a fight would rather tussle it out than waste time talking.

this carries over. in a partner, again, attraction tends to disregard sexed anatomy, but the most valuable thing is being well-matched physically. being creatures of chaos, they trust their impulses, they like a challenge, they don’t mind a fight, and they probably don’t super want to be with someone they have to worry about hurting

(hence that kind of hot chemistry between tibarn & nailah. also janaff hits on lucia at first glance bc she’s a knight obviously she’s got some beef babeyy)

pursuant: by and large, hawks really don’t find herons very attractive. that delicate graceful peaceful affect is kind of a mystifying ideal to them. it’s like art - nice to look at, ig, but what would you actually do with it. people significantly weaker than you are for you to protect, not sleep with. tibarn is a notable exception because he is down bad for reyson

and reyson is like an alien, and tibarn is maybe a bit of a freak for being into someone so fragile. you are the very strongest guy, tf you want with a boy who breaks if you look at him wrong. what do you get out of that sir. he has complexes about this :) but I’m not going to elaborate on that because that’s what hell fic is for

“herons in phoenicis: conceptualizing the vulnerable body in hawk-normative society”, the title of my tellius gender studies thesis at the university of crimea or whatever

speaking of reyson. what does this mean for him. I need to talk about it because I’m obsessed with him. the commie stuff isn’t that much of a culture shock at least

but have some added fuckery: sole survivor, adapting to another culture, learning another language; lone chaos-sensitive empath in a sea of macho chaos-oriented dudes who aren’t very attuned to that kind of thing; also extremely physically distinctive in a way that is kind of weird at best

how do you even maintain a sense of personal identity when the baseline relevant factor is “you’re incomprehensibly different from everyone around you in every way possible”? I think reyson experiences some Gender about this. the most masculine heron is still a lily reed compared to even a fairly femme hawk

reyson’s gender, per the rest of the continent: male. reyson’s gender among hawks: heron

I imagine leanne is somewhat shielded from this once she comes round - she’s able to lean on reyson and naesala, and I figure she does, pretty heavily, considering she picks up maybe a few words of the modern tongue over the course of 3 years. she’s deliberately feminine, and also has already chosen her own terrible boyfriend [affectionate]. she’s not without her own traumas, but she’s more supported, and maybe is even in a place to kind of enjoy the confusion & attention she garners from being the sole girly-girl. I feel like she would.

and her terrible boyfriend [affectionate] is a raven, not a hawk. and by contrast, ravens are VERY attracted to herons. because herons are pretty. and ravens like shiny pretty things.

misc

I’m not quite committed enough to make constructed-culture art, but in my mind hawk visual & aural culture resembles late antique/early modern celtic styles in a few ways. insular culture yk. some book of kells bullshit.

(kinda weird, upon reflection, that phoenicis isn’t full of ancient tongue speakers, considering serenes was allegedly one of the few nations they were ever friendly with. and yet even tibarn understands very little ancient. at the very least, being the most isolated nation, it would make sense for the hawks to have their own modern dialect. but they don’t, that would have been hard for an FE game to pull off, and I’m not enough of a linguist to try. so it is what it is! maybe, even though they don’t fraternize with other nations, they’ve always kept pretty close tabs on them just in case, the necessity of spying facilitated the shift to modern. whereas serenes never did that. anyway sometimes the hawks sound a little irish in my head.)

they are also superstitious. all those lonely windswept coastal peaks, there’s a lot of howling winds, spooky nooks, weird environmental physics interacting with weather phenomena. you end up with stories about folk monsters. hawks know shit about ghosts, fairies, sirens, and banshees, and how to placate them if you piss them off. also the herons sometimes scare people to death because they wear nothing but white and drift around like specters.

I also have a lot of headcanons about herons. but they’re more feelingsy. so I’ll leave that go. I might add to this as I remember more stuff

[venusiastro]

The Venusian and Ketuvian Bridge: Raw to Refined

The planetary order of nakshatras is one that unravels from embryonic into incarnation. Though we start traditionally with Ketu, it all starts and ends with Mercury. The thought and consciousness. Then traverses into the life force and brunt of karmic baggage into Ketu and all at once is spilled into the fertility of the Venusian womb and out into the consciousness of Sun, and into the subconscious of moon, and so forth. Before we become realized we are to be completely raw and unrefined and then refined into complete embodiment. This is where the brunt of Ketu and Venusian energy is stored.

Ketu is our deepest instinct and ties to our past selves, to our etheric and heavenly selves. This is the most untouched and unbridled energy. Ketu is deeply unconscious and focused on the meditative state of formation. The stillness before consciousness is fully given. The body without a head. The involuntary twitch as you nod into sleep, the pull of motivation when you’re bored. The need to step back and take in when you’re too involved and immersed. Taking time to only put together the most authentic parts of yourself. This is where energy is the most chaotic and dispersed as well as the most internally contained. It’s paradoxical in that regard and that’s why Ketu energy is considered to be the most raw. The most unrefined part of our energy. The part that is so lived in and comfortable it becomes a natural instinct without conscious thought. Ketu is deeply connected, to the roots of humanity. Our primal virility and our connection to “something bigger” at play. Ketu allows, first and foremost. It is passive and receptive, yet it’s brooding and detached. It allows the external to pass by untouched or unscathed as their bodies move through the world without connecting to the physical fully. This can feel like you’re walking in a bubble, your feet are touching the ground but you’re floating regardless. Much like the first stages of conception. This is where we see Ashwini, Magha and Mula nakshatras arc play out so beautifully. Ashwini is the unconscious part of creation. The part that is so transcendent and far from the body that it can become obsessed with self realization and embodiment. But it’s still raw and untouched, brunt and forceful it charges into the world with an unbridled and confident stride. This energy is possibly the most crystallized part of Ketu. As it’s just the seed. Magha is the embodiment of conception itself. The pouring of lineage and ancestry into the seed. The act of coitus and the expression of passion and merging into the other. The most praised nakshatra is Magha. Being that of bloodline and pedigree as well as the mid point of Ketu energy. They’re very connective and connected. Both to their past and the present as well as the optimism of future expression. Magha is about the self realization from others. Having been influenced and heavily sheltered in Ashlesha we pour into Maghas self liberation and severing of the purity and containment of the mother. Completely indulging the the self and fully embodying the self without being touched by influence. And rather, becoming influence itself. From here we are finalized into Mula. The most detached from influence of outside and external attachment. Mula is fully embodied and this can be seen as daunting as Ketu is all about severing and detaching from the world and it’s illusion. This can be scary when most of the world is comforted and immersed in the 3D illusion. We often lie to ourselves in order to cope with the harshness of reality. Mula is the destruction of that self delusion and is the most cutting and rooted nakshatra. They are also the most influential themselves in that regard. Because they are so far from the world itself they can run into feeling very deeply isolated. But they are the most liberated and free from the worlds grasp and structure. They are the truest to their roots and most primal selves. They can also feel the most disconnected from source because of this. The energy they have is almost like a vacuous loop. The internal is void like and transcendental, the external only feeds the detachment or causes them to fully indulge into their abysmal depths. They’re soul divers and can reach the bottom of themselves as well as others and this can be terrifying. But it is necessary to go into the darkest caves to find the most beautiful gems.

From here we jump into the refinement of Venus. Going back to Ashwini and being the most brash and self conscious we lead into Bharani. The celestial womb, the passage of the unconscious and rawest material into the embodied and crystallized form. Bharani is fertility and the bridge of the past self and past life into the present self and present life. The refinement we see is that of self actualization as well as self awareness. They also are fully aware that life alone is life half realized. The other whether a partner or friend or soul tie is the most connective and inspiring force to live a soulful life. That without the resurgence of passion and life force through connection, there is no other way to be fully oneself. You cannot sharpen a blade without a whetstone, you cannot mine a diamond without a hand. You cannot create without a muse. You cannot create a true living life without an egg and sperm. Bharani is self realization through the other. From here we lead into the most romantic and relational Purva Phalguni. After Maghas bloodline, connection and procreation, we have purva phalgunis pleasure and enjoyment of refining and indulging in the senses. Of fully partaking in the partner and enjoying another through merging. Venus is all about taking the energy given and creating something harmonious and at its highest potential crystallized and refined. Purva Phalguni is the blooming garden after the rain. The creative knot between Magha and Purva Phalguni is unmatched and deep. Purva Phalguni is all about the sensorial opus and creating everything around them into synchronized harmony. Purva Phalguni is also one of the fiercest nakshatras for this reason. The beautiful has to go through the most intense pressure in order to be a pleasure, which seeps into Purva Phalgunis tie to bondage or BDSM. Going through the absolute most severe sensations to reach the highest elation, they are concerned with the entire sphere of what pleasure is. They are deeply critical and will only indulge in the best of their work. They pay no mind and have no interest in what is not authentic or truly harmonious. They’re deeply tied to the harvest much like tropical Virgo, Purva phalguni is the abundant harvest and enjoying one’s rewards after the hardest work. Creating the dream and entering into it. From here we go into the final and highest octave of Venusian refinement and enter Purvashada. After we see Mulas ultimate liberation and individualization from illusion, Purva ashada is the master of overcoming and triumphing over what is disingenuous. Much like after you reap the harvest you must pick through all of what you’ve gathered and choose only what is the best and of the highest quality. Purvashada is often seen as biting and severe because of how deeply engrained the need for ultimate refinement is. They will only take what has been tested after Mulas cutting and severing nature, Purvashada is the pressure and the ultimate reveal of what is best. This standard can be daunting and cause quite a stir in others as they can be incredibly penetrating and mirror like in this. Their internal standard is intimidating and hard to overcome. They tend to focus solely on creating their best and doing their best in everything they do. They’re not ones to accept just anything. They do expect this in those around them as well. Partnership is important to them but they will not settle for any less than what is their idea of best. From Bahranis innate need for devotion and purva Phalgunis self actulization through relation, Purvashada is mostly focused on the self refinement and being a standard or muse as well as the artist. Creating reality as an extension of their internal kiln.

Both ketu and Venus are bridges into the next. But being the precursor to the rest of the celestial drama we unfold from the unconscious into the refined. From the idea into the reality. Taking what is raw and unfiltered and making it beautiful and harmonious. This is much like life itself. From a mere thought or passion into living breathing life. The refinement of energy is a dance between the dead and living.

[ask-serendipity-sky]

People think relationships are bed of roses. We as bystanders at times forget that jikook are human with human emotions. On some days, things just don’t go your way no matter how much we wish that. Using my relationship as an example, my irritation with my job or a sibling sometimes bleed into my relationship. I get mad at him for things that aren’t his fault during these period. Damned if he asks me to share my burdens, damned if he doesn’t 😭😭. He doesn’t care if he doesn’t ask, he’s invading my space if he ask. No relationship is faultless. Even an angel would have bad days in their relationship because we are subject to external factors that affect our mood and behavior. You get mad at your partner for leaving the toilet seat up, spilling the milk, wearing your fav tshirt, snooping through your phone, rolling their eyes at you, forgetting something you told them etc. I want people to remember that jikook are human and surely they go through these things. It’s normal. Some people believe that when we point out that things aren’t right somewhere then we’re questioning their bond. No, we aren’t. Couples get mad at each other and delay saying sorry just because🤷‍♀️. Couples do petty and childish things out of anger, to retaliate or call for their partners attention.

Except we want to gaslight ourselves into thinking everything was perfect, it is a known fact that they were going through something last year and it was evident in the content. The only content where I felt things were slightly okay were hobi’s listening party and then TMA bangtan bomb. The vibes in all other content was strange. it’s okay to admit that.

My friend and I were speculating that it may have to do with jm deciding to live with his manager and his partner having a problem with that and not understanding why he needed to live at someone’s else house which may have led to petty fights and passive aggressiveness which may have bled over to some of those content. We would never know and that’s okay as long as they’re fine now. I can almost imagine the dialogue:

jm: hey babe!! How are you?

jk: you’d know if you were home🙄🙄

Let’s keep supporting them😍😍

Hello anon,

Yes! All of this! Noticing these little things in their behavior and comparing it to the relationships we know just helps piece it all together.

Ah, I had forgotten about TMA. I felt they were trying there lol These guys are pretty obvious. They do these little petty things and the next second they are looking for the other and make things ok.

Ah yes, that all sounds very likely. At the time of all this content, we didn't know that Jimin was basically living at Pdoggs. But now that we know, things make more sense.

Thank you for sharing!

[ohtobeleah]

😤 I read WIO and I am screeching!

😤 So, let me get this straight. Honey and Jake are not actually divorced yet. They’re separated. He claims to love her and yet, during their separation, he’s had one night stands?

Yeah…no.

And then, on top of all of that, when he asked why their marriage is over, he still doesn’t understand that it was because he’s a bad husband?

Did he actually understand the words and let it sink in that it wasn’t an external factor that ended his marriage? Did he process those words and thought long and hard about it? Moreover, if he claimed to love her so much, why was he fooling around with other people?

As I would say, “you have two hands.”

I am aware that I am biased against Jake right now and I am owning it. At this point, he’s not winning Husband of the Year and I want to dick punch him right now.

This chapter is making me experience a depth of rage and sadness. Like, what the heck. Mostly it’s rage because that’s easily accessible and identifiable.

I am kind of upset at Honey for sleeping with Jake but I can understand why she did it.

From what I see, they’ve been separated for a year and a girl has needs. There’s only so much your hands and toys can do and, apparently, some people want the human connection. (I’ve never been in a relationship so I wouldn’t know about all of that.) On top of all of that, she’s diagnosed with an aggressive stage of cancer and she doesn’t know if she will survive. Before she leaves for the hospital, she wants that connection before everything changes even more. Because, depending on the procedure, in her mind (at least to me), Jake isn’t going to want to be with her when her body has changed and there’s no telling if the surgery is successful.

The flashback made me 🤦🏻‍♀️, to be honest. Even when they got together, it didn’t show Jake as doing anything to back up his claims that he wants to be with her. From what I’m reading, I think it’s a matter of pride that she dumped him before he could dump her.

This is a heart wrenching chapter. I’m still just thinking, “Jake, you ignorant slut.” He’s really not paying attention to what she said, huh? Again, I can see why Honey didn’t tell him about her diagnosis. Also, funny that you should mention that statistic with the gender disparity. That’s what I was thinking when I started reading the fic!

In any case, the dynamic between Jake and Honey in this chapter is making me think of Taylor Swift’s “exile” because Jake is so clueless as to why their marriage is broke and Honey is just ready to move on. The real question he should ask is “what has he done to remind her that they should be together?”

THAT’S the real question.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen but I definitely want Honey to get better and move on. Anyway, thank you for the chapter!

“what has he done to remind her that they should be together?”

And that the BIGGEST question especially when we look at the whole idea behind the series.

Sick!wifey deserves to be loved and chosen, not almost loved or almost chosen

[brightbluedot]

god i finally figured out why season 2 bothered me so much: emotionally, and in many ways on a plot level, it felt as if season 1 (and, yk, the book) had never happened.

we end season 1 with crowley and aziraphale seemingly pretty secure in being unattached to heaven and hell -- after all, they both left their posts, and we leave them on a joyful “to the world.” in short: they’re on Their Own Side, Together in all of this, and they seem happy about that.

then in season 2, we’re supposed to believe that aziraphale wants to go back to heaven? for any reason at all? we don’t see any evidence of that before the very end. we see crowley suffering because he’s no longer affiliated with hell -- he’s living out of his car and having to deal with surprise visits. aziraphale, meanwhile, seems firmly entrenched and quite content as an earthly bookshop owner -- that’s all we see him concerning himself with apart from gabriel; he has no equivalent to crowley’s experience fielding questions about his old job. even when he takes gabriel in, it’s portrayed as a denomination-agnostic act of kindness, not factional loyalty. he just doesn’t seem to miss it, at all.

so that’s out of fuckin nowhere, for my money. and then in terms of the relationship progression -- girl WHY is that coming from random side characters sitting crowley down and the whole gabriel/beelzebub example? why couldn’t it have come from any kind of self reflection about or continued pursuit of how they’d gotten closer during and since the events of the book/season 1? we didn’t need heavy-handed external factors to convince us, the audience, that those two had sth goin on; it felt bizarre that they did -- not that they’re not allowed to be oblivious, that can be great fun and it’s certainly in character, but one would hope that the breakthrough moment could feel organic and be a result of interactions between the two of them in this new post-armageddon dynamic.

and then on top of that, like, WHY weren’t heaven and hell scared shitless of them anymore after the holy water/hellfire stunt they pulled? why was there not even a single mention of any of the human characters pivotal to the book/season 1? like, I understand that the actors might not have been down to reprise the roles, but not a single mention of adam and the them? of anathema and newt? even of fuckin shadwell? just, anyone? the core of Good Omens Proper is about how wonderful EARTH and HUMANS are. why was the sequel about contrived drama between heaven and hell? how was that supposed to power a love story for aziraphale and crowley, who are supposed to be Team Earth? whatever happened to “to the world”?

TL;DR: imo, if that final conflict was going to land at ALL, this really should have been an earth-centered story in which we saw BOTH aziraphale and crowley feeling aftereffects of their changes in professional status, while also grappling with what it means that they’re not pretending not to like each other anymore. otherwise, to me, it just feels contrived, cheap, and utterly divorced from everything that made us like them in the first place.

[disneymbti]

hiiii !!! could i request for hiro hamada and wasabi from big hero 6? thanks :)

Hi there, Mikey! I really hope that you like this a lot!

Hiro Hamada's MBTI Type, Big Three and Enneagram Type

MBTI Type: INTP [The Logician]

INTPs prefer spending time alone so they can explore their rich inner world, and prolonged exposure to big groups of people can make them feel drained.

Their focus lies more on understanding the big picture than on noticing the tiny details. They want to know how things connect together, which gives them great intuition for solving complex problems.

As the most thinking-oriented of the types, they rely on logic rather than emotion as their main influence in decision making.

An INTP normally likes to keep their options open rather than locking themselves into a commitment. They’re flexible and spontaneous, which allows them to capitalize on opportunities that come available at the 11th hour.

Big Three: Gemini Sun, Cancer Moon and Aquarius Rising

Gemini Sun: Geminis are chatty and talkative, priding themselves on being in-the-know when it comes to news and gossip. Their dualistic nature allows them to see situations from a number of perspectives.

Cancer Moon: The emotions of Cancer Moons have no limits, restraints, or depths. This is a cosmic placement that often leads to sweetness, kindness, emotional awareness and responsibility. 

Aquarius Rising: This rising sign can speak lucidly on a number of topics, using their lofty knowledge to charm crowds and solve problems alike.

Enneagram Type: 5w4 [The Philosopher]

Basic Fear: Types five with a four wing are afraid of being helpless and incompetent. They tend to overcompensate for this by spending their time developing new knowledge and skills to feel useful and worthy.

Basic Desire: Their basic desire is to feel helpful and able. They express this by passionately pursue knowledge and understanding of the world.

Philosophers tend to guard themselves by withdrawing from others, which may lead to loneliness.

Wasabi No-Ginger's MBTI Type, Big Three and Enneagram Type

MBTI Type: ISTJ [The Logistician]

Introverted ISTJ types process the world internally. They tend to feel drained after social events and need time alone to recharge.

Highly pragmatic, they tend to focus more on the details, rather than the bigger picture. They make decisions based on what they see and know right now.

Logisticians prioritize logical thinking and are more concerned with facts than emotion. They believe the truth is more important than people’s feelings.

They are very structured and organized, preferring to plan ahead and follow rules and processes. They are disciplined and have a strong work ethic.

Big Three: Virgo Sun, Virgo Moon and Virgo Rising

Virgo Sun: Governed by communication planet Mercury, Virgos are the thinkers of the zodiac. Virgos process information with diligence and use facts to solve problems.

Virgo Moon: Virgo Moons use their calm nature to gain deep clarity on matters, filtering questions through their kind, but reasonable, lens.

Virgo Rising: Virgo ascendants are the fact-finders and checkers of the zodiac. They are fair-minded and slow to anger.

Enneagram Type: 1w2 [The Activist]

Basic Fear: People who are type one with a two wing generally have a basic fear of being immoral and making impure choices. They avoid this by making a conscious effort to make ethical choices.

Basic Desire: They also have a natural desire to be upstanding and humane. They try to fight for the rights of those less fortunate and love being hands-on in making a difference by volunteering in their community.

Activists tend to respond to negativity by redirecting their emotions in order to gain a sense of control. In type ones with two wings, this may lead to sudden outbursts or breaking points, as they work through their emotions more externally.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Transfiguration of Our Lord (2/11/24)

Primary Text | 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

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

Dear People of God,

          With a name like Transfiguration for today we might be led to believe the only thing going on is the Transfiguration of Our Lord—when on the mountain Jesus’ face became mysteriously bright with light. Historically, and to this day, when it comes to the Transfiguration, there has been a hyper-focus on the light coming from Jesus’ face—trying to make it a sort of mystical experience. By doing this, we have pulled a Peter and James and John who were terrified by this sudden, overwhelming light—which caused the disciple Peter to not know what he was saying and blurt out “Lord, let us build three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For our purposes, I would compare the Transfiguration to a great, big highlighter. When Jesus shone with his light like that, it was as if God took a highlighter to Jesus. Now who doesn’t like a good highlighter. I have all the colors, green, purple, yellow, red, blue, pink. Although the colors can be fun and pretty, they’re function isn’t for their own sake. That’s what a marker is for. So, what was God using a highlighter to emphasize? We know God wasn’t doing this as a joke to jumpscare the disciples. Nor was he doing it to play games with them. We hear it in the next verse that St. Mark reports, he says: Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” (9:7). With this in mind, instead of calling it Transfiguration of Our Lord, we could call this day Declaration of Our Lord. On this mountain God declared to his disciples who Jesus is—God’s Son, who he dearly loves, and that they need to hear him. God turns Peter and James and John away from the wonder of what they saw and points them to the words that come from Jesus’ lips—Jesus, the Son of God, the only one who speaks life into being when there is no life to be found otherwise.

          The Lord God Almighty wants us to listen to Jesus. That means that Jesus has a voice. A voice all his own—not one of our own making. This has implications for us in our belief. Because there are other voices out there which aren’t His voice—some claiming to be his voice, and others just competing against his voice, such as this: That some will say that we construct our faith—whether to tear apart what we previously believed, or to pick up the pieces and put something together from the ruins. Although such an approach is appealing, because we like when things are in our control, it isn’t actually gospel—the thing that liberates us. It is rather a life built on the law—just a different law than the one we had before. Let me put it this way. We don’t, in actuality, want a Lego-god. A god-made-of-Lego-blocks that we have put together. It's a matter of who is the one who builds our faith. Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17). Something external. The Holy Spirit does it all. The human being is passive. The gospel isn't comparable to "Go to all nations and say, 'Now, here's your Lego set. You put them together.'" So, we begin to say: "This block can be a Trinity block. I suppose this block can be a Creed block, etc." Such an approach is what the Scriptures call a “burden.” Whenever faith is put in our own hands, when it is up to us to keep and maintain and build it, our comfort is taken away. Whatever is in our hands we cannot keep. But whatever is in God’s hands, that we will never lose. The gospel (which is the voice of Jesus) is from beyond ourselves—so our faith is not in our own hands but in God’s hands. In the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, in whom we are justified by faith alone—the old you is put to death, the new you is raised to new life. So, if one says "Christ is Lord" or if one believes rightly in the Trinity or the Creed, it is because God has brought them to it. The Holy Spirit works everything, in everyone (1 Cor 12:6).

          Again, there are many voices out there. But only one voice is a light—that is, there is one voice with highlighter dashed all over it—so that St. Paul can refer to it as “the light of the gospel” (2 Cor. 4:4). That is, Jesus’ voice alone. How do we recognize his voice and distinguish it from others? We know this much, it is not the voice which proclaims Jesus as your taskmaster which says— “if you really love Jesus this is how you will live.” Strangely enough, Jesus the Taskmaster is dominant through both ends of the right-left political spectrum. This is nothing other than taking a ruler to yourself and saying a tentative, “Hopefully I can do enough and be good enough and God will smile upon me.” This always ends up being a proclaiming of ourselves instead of a proclaiming of Jesus Christ—which leads either to smugness, or to despair. This fake gospel voice has shattered the faith of many. God, this Holy Trinity we believe in, does not want us to know him as Taskmaster. Let us draw from our heritage in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, where it says: This is how God wants to become known and worshiped, namely, that we receive blessings from him, and indeed, that we receive them on account of his mercy and not on account of our merits. This is the richest consolation in all afflictions, which the opponents destroy when they trivialize and disparage faith and only teach people to deal with God through works and merits” (4:60), that’s from the article on justification. This is to say that the God we worship in Jesus Christ doesn’t want to be known by the things you and I do or don’t do, that instead God wants to be known by what he does, as giver of blessing, of his undaunted faithfulness, as the one who does not exact against us our every little failing, God wants to be known as the one who graciously lifts us from our burdens, embraces us and gives us new life. At the Transfiguration, or the Declaration, God declares Jesus as his beloved Son—which ends up being a promise from the Father to the Son. Now Jesus, God’s beloved Son, turns around to you with that same promise and gives it to you, saying “You, child, are My beloved. I have made you My beloved. I have a righteousness apart from the Law, and I make you righteous by taking away your sin. Readily, gladly, freely, and surely. First in your baptism. Then in communion and in the oral preaching of My word. And then on and on all your life without stopping. My light shines in your heart not on account of what you have done but on account of what I have done for you—in dying on the cross and rising from the dead. God’s thoughts for me as his beloved Son are also God’s thoughts for you—because he has graciously brought you to me.”