#measuring knowledge base content

[anthrobytes]

User Feedback on Post Sales Content: Where to Start?

How do you collect feedback and measure of how your post sales content is being used? This article covers 3 easy ways to get started.

Your company spends a lot of money and time creating post sales content to onboard customers and help them solve their problems. And big props to you for doing that. It’s important in the traditional product development cycle and critical in the product led growth space. But are you getting user feedback on post sales content? What do your customers think about that content? In another article,…

[gf2bellamy]

Hi! So… glasses was perfect, better than I could ever imagined. I’m in desperate need of a part 2 (if possible and you’re feeling inspired to write one)

I was thinking that maybe reader gets payback for all the teasing Spencer has been doing. I would also love to see confess they’re into each other. I don’t know, I’m just craving something super cute around glasses!Spencer because I feel he’s underrated and deserves so much love!

Anyway, take your time and thank you so much!!!!!! 💞

glasses ( part two ) — spencer reid

pairing: spencer reid x fem!reader ( no use of y/n ) content warnings: nothing i think a/n: hi hi !! i hope you like this !! also this is part two to glasses but you don't have to read glasses to understand this one <3

glasses — spencer reid ( part one )

It started with Elle.

You had been completely oblivious. But Elle saw it immediately. One day, she pulled you aside, her expression unreadable, though there was a glint of amusement in her eyes. She handed you a small tube of lip gloss, the same one she had seen you apply absentmindedly before.

"Reapply," she instructed simply.

You blinked at her, confused. "What? Why?"

She smirked, tilting her head toward where Spencer sat at his desk, poring over case files. "Just do it. And then watch Reid."

You narrowed your eyes at her, trying to decipher whatever game she was playing, but she only raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying your confusion. "Elle," you tried again, but she just patted your shoulder and walked away. So, with no real reason not to, you did as she said. You pulled out your lip gloss, twisting open the cap before carefully swiping it over your lips. The faint scent of vanilla filled the air as you pressed them together, ensuring an even coat. Then, feeling a little ridiculous, you turned your attention toward Spencer.

And that’s when you saw it.

The second he glanced up from his paperwork, his eyes locked onto your lips. His gaze lingered, just a fraction too long.

Huh. Interesting.

You bit back a smirk, tilting your head slightly as if deep in thought. You pretended not to notice how Spencer was still staring, how he fumbled with his pen, flipping it in his fingers before dropping it completely.

Oh, this was good.

The best part? It wasn’t just a one-time thing. Now that Elle had pointed it out, you started noticing it all the time. Spencer Reid, with his genius IQ and encyclopedic knowledge, was absolutely, hopelessly distracted by your lips. So, naturally, you had to have a little fun with it.

Right now, the two of you had just finished lunch and were heading back. It was paperwork day, arguably the least exciting part of the job, so you had to find some way to make things interesting.

And what better way than messing with Spencer?

As the elevator doors slid shut, Spencer launched into one of his many tangents, this time about a newly opened museum. His hands moved as he spoke, fingers gesturing in the air as he rattled off historical facts.

"—and what’s really fascinating is that they’ve reconstructed artifacts based on 3D modeling of unearthed fragments. They even have an interactive exhibit where visitors can—" He turned his head toward you, mid-sentence, just as you reached into your bag and pulled out your lip gloss.

Casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world, you twisted the cap open and swiped the applicator across your lips, pressing them together for good measure. The subtle shine caught the dim elevator light, and when you flicked your gaze back up at Spencer.

Oh, this was too easy.

He had completely short-circuited. His mouth was still slightly open, like he was about to finish his thought, but no words came out. His eyes flickered down to your lips, then back up to your face, then back down, as if his brain was refusing to cooperate with him.

"You were saying?" you prompted innocently, capping the lip gloss and tucking it away.

Spencer swallowed thickly. "I—uh, the, um…" He blinked rapidly, pushing his hair back in frustration. "The… the museum," he finally managed, though it came out weaker than intended.

"Right," you nodded, biting back a smile. "Something about 3D modeling?"

Spencer exhaled sharply through his nose, clearly realizing what had just happened. His jaw tensed for a moment, like he was debating whether or not to call you out on it, but then he just shook his head, letting out a defeated chuckle. But as you stepped out, you felt the warmth of his hand brush against yours, his fingers just barely grazing over your skin before pulling away.

The second time you messed with Spencer was in the morning.

You suppressed a yawn, still trying to wake up, when suddenly a coffee cup landed on your desk. You blinked in surprise, looking up to see Spencer standing there, holding his own coffee while he plopped the extra one down in front of you.

"Oh my god, thank you," you said, wasting no time in reaching for it. Without hesitation, you took a sip, sighing in appreciation as the warmth spread through you. Spencer gave a small, pleased smile. "Do you need help with—"

He stopped mid-sentence. Completely froze.

His mouth hung open for a beat, and his eyes flickered, first to your face, then down to the cup in your hands. Confused, you followed his gaze, looking down at your coffee cup. And that’s when you saw it. A small, perfectly shaped imprint of your lip gloss stained the rim.

You barely had time to process it before Spencer looked back up at you, his expression somewhere between dazed and fascinated. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and his fingers twitched against his own coffee cup like his brain was desperately trying to reboot.

You tilted your head, feigning innocence. "Spence?"

No response. He was still staring. You suppressed a grin, watching as his lips parted, like he wanted to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he licked his lips absentmindedly, his gaze once again flickering to your cup before darting back up to your mouth.

"Everything okay?" you prompted, leaning forward slightly.

Spencer visibly jolted, like he had just snapped out of a trance. "Uh, yeah! Yes, um… fine. Totally fine."

You raised an eyebrow, biting back a smirk. "Are you sure? You kinda just… stopped talking."

"I—no, I just—" He let out a short, awkward laugh, pushing his hair back. "I, um… lost my train of thought."

Your smirk deepened. Bingo. "Must not have been important, then," you mused, taking another slow sip from your cup, making sure to leave another lip print behind, just for good measure.

Spencer's gaze dipped to it again, and you swore you saw the tips of his ears turn red before he cleared his throat and walked away.You watched him go, utterly delighted.This was way too much fun.

He was fine. Totally fine. Or, at least, that’s what he kept telling himself as he all but fled from your desk, gripping his coffee cup like it was some kind of lifeline.

But he wasn’t fine. Not even a little bit.

Because now, all his brain could focus on was your lips. And the way your lip gloss had left the faintest mark on the rim of your coffee cup. It should’ve been such a minor thing. Just a simple, fleeting detail. But his traitorous brain had decided that, no, this was now the most fascinating thing in the world, and it refused to think about anything else.

And the worst part? You knew.

Spencer knew you knew. The way you had tilted your head, the way your lips curled into that barely-there smirk, the way you had taken another sip, slowly, deliberately, just to leave behind another lip print.

It was calculated. It was a game. And he was losing.

He groaned internally, practically collapsing into his chair at his desk, scrubbing a hand over his face.

This wasn’t fair. You weren’t fair.

And soon enough it all blew up.

You were standing beside Spencer’s desk, waiting for him to finish packing up his bag so the two of you could head home. It had been a long day, filled with paperwork, caffeine, and your ongoing mission to see just how flustered you could make Dr. Spencer Reid.

(So far? Extremely flustered. Success rate: 100%.)

You sighed softly, shifting your weight from foot to foot, watching as he meticulously arranged everything in his bag It was endearing, really, how precise he was about everything. But it also meant that waiting for him to be done took forever. But just as Spencer was slinging his bag over his shoulder, something caught your attention.

Across the bullpen, Gideon and Hotch were whispering to each other.

And not just casual, offhand whispering, either. No, this was a serious discussion, low voices, furrowed brows, the kind of conversation that made your curiosity spike instantly. “Spencer, look,” you whispered, nudging his arm and nodding toward them.

Spencer followed your gaze, adjusting his bag slightly. “What about them?”

You leaned in a little closer, lowering your voice. “Can you read lips?”

Spencer turned his head to you, and that was his first mistake. Because in the process, he suddenly realized just how close you had gotten.

Your face was inches from his, your breath warm against his skin. Your lips, still glossed and shiny from whatever devilish brand you insisted on wearing, were parted slightly as you focused on the two men across the room.

And Spencer malfunctioned.

His brain short-circuited again, completely abandoning the concept of words.Because all he could think about was the fact that no one should look that good while whispering about FBI superiors.

You noticed immediately. And, because you were you, you pounced. “Oh my god,” you gasped, turning to him fully, a slow grin spreading across your face. “Did you just—? Again?”

Spencer blinked rapidly, adjusting his bag strap like that might somehow fix the situation. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Your smirk only deepened. “Spencer, I asked you to read lips, not stare at mine.”

“I wasn’t—I wasn’t staring!” he protested quickly, but his voice cracked just slightly, and you knew you had him.

You leaned in again, tilting your head playfully. “Are you sure? Because I think you like my lip gloss a lot.”

Spencer immediately turned red. “I—I do not—”

And that’s when it hit you. You had been teasing him for weeks now, enjoying how adorably awkward he got every time you applied your lip gloss in front of him.

But why did he get flustered? Why was he staring at your lips in the first place?

Your smirk softened into something softer, something a little more real. “You know…” you started, voice quieter now. “You could just ask me out, Spencer.”

His eyes widened. “I—what?”

“You heard me.” You raised an eyebrow, holding his gaze. “If you like me, you could just… ask me out.”

Spencer opened his mouth, then closed it again, looking thoroughly overwhelmed. “You—you’d say yes?” he asked hesitantly, like he genuinely couldn’t believe it.

You laughed softly. “Spence, I would’ve said yes ages ago.” There was a beat of silence.

“Would you, um… like to go out with me?” Spencer blurted, his words rushed but sincere.

You beamed. “Yes, genius. I would.”

Before he could process that, you leaned in and pressed a quick, soft kiss to his cheek. When you pulled back, you definitely saw the way his breath caught, the way his fingers twitched at his side, the way his gaze flickered down again.

“You like my lip gloss so much,” you teased, tapping his cheek lightly, “now you’ve got an imprint of it.”

Spencer blinked. Once. Twice.

You grabbed your bag, completely casual. “Ready to go?”

He just stared at you, like his brain was still buffering. You had definitely broken him this time. Suppressing a laugh, you grabbed his hand, tugging him toward the exit.

Yeah. This was your best idea yet.

[ghostlyferrettarot]

🎲🖤Chiron in the signs🖤🎲

❗️All the observations in this post are based on personal experience and research, it's completely fine if it doesn't resonate with everyone❗️

✨️Paid Services ✨️ (Natal charts and tarot readings)Open!

🫧Join my Patreon for exclusive content!🫧

🎲If you like my work you can support me through Ko-fi. Thank you!🎲

🗝Masterlist🗝

🗝Chiron reveals where we possibly have wounds, what hurts the most in each of us. With that, this influence guides us through a journey of suffering and liberation throughout life.🗝

🎲Chiron in Aries: is a more individualistic, impetuous and impulsive energy and such influence can "hurt." is affected by a possible feeling of worthlessness. These are people who may not value themselves (or may not know the exact measure of their value). Therefore, he should not fear his initiatives nor his own strength. At some point in life, the native must embark on a journey of self-discovery to overcome any feelings of helplessness that arise during life.

🎲Chiron in Taurus: can give rise to some problems related to insecurity or self-esteem. They may resent not considering themselves attractive or for some physical attribute that they dislike. Insecurity can also be due to the scarcity of some material good that he considers essential. It can be money, property, in short, anything he needs to feel safe and stable. Once he achieves such achievements and goals, insecurity will tend to decrease. People with this positioning have to learn to value themselves more in order to heal.

🎲Chiron in Gemini: May indicate a need to find your own voice. They can be very imaginative and creative but can have some problems expressing themselves. They relate more to their outgoing and spiritual side, some seek time for seclusion, introspection, and reflection. Individuals have difficulty learning rigorously, mechanically, but they still acquire knowledge by paying attention, capturing the deeper messages.

🎲Chiron in Cancer: Those with this positioning are more likely to feel out of place, sometimes thinking that they are not loved or that they do not receive enough love and attention. These are people who are more inclined to care for others, but they also need to be cared for. Learning to take care of their own needs is the key to balance, so they can feel complete. Opening your heart and accepting the love of others is also essential to healing any inner pain that may arise.

🎲Chiron in Leo: It can influence some feelings of dismissal, which eventually causes these people to feel unrecognized or not feel creative enough. These natives may think that their talents are or have been neglected, they may feel that they never had the opportunity to shine. The difficulty they demonstrate in expressing their own talents may be due to a repressed childhood or other various situations. To help overcome it, the individual needs to find a way to get closer to her inner child and awaken her creativity.

🎲Chiron in Virgo: may indicate possible changes in health or the feeling that personal problems are never definitively resolved. This influence can give the person a different way of dealing with the body, healing and health, in addition to work and routine. It can make the individual overly critical. It is recommended to learn to face imperfection, something that can be very difficult for them. . The fact is, since they tend to naturally be a perfectionist, they could use this trait where it is most welcome: in the spheres of healing and work.

🎲Chiron in Libra: May suggest possible problems in relationships with people. Relationships with some individuals may be more difficult and you may constantly have to deal with someone who is rude or rude. Or someone selfish or unfair. It may also indicate that this person is more likely to feel hurt or rejected in a relationship. You need to contain your impulses to achieve everything that the Libran scale means. The solution may involve better communication, more harmonious relationships, and the use of logic and common sense.

🎲Chiron in Scorpio: may suggest resentments or losses, material or symbolic throughout life. may, in some ways, suffer losses at an early age. Or feeling like a part of yourself has died due to irreparable losses. He may be afraid of his power to "dive" into the hearts of others, just as he may feel helpless. You are advised to enjoy life more lightly, because even when we lose something or someone, our life goes on and we can still become richer and more experienced with what we have or achieve.

🎲Chiron in Sagittarius: may suggest a certain lack of incentive in life or possible ruptures in your beliefs and values. In the sign of Sagittarius it may suggest wounds in the person's structure of faith or natural enthusiasm, which may have been discredited or missing. had no incentive. This positioning may suggest a break with spiritual traditions or teachings that may cause pain. People with this positioning may feel confined to a mundane existence. When you realize that there is wisdom in your own heart, your healing process begins.

🎲Chiron in Capricorn: May suggest some difficulty achieving goals in life and dealing with authority. It can suggest the difficulties that an individual may have in satisfying his or her greatest desires. From an early age, his ambition may have been restricted or he may have encountered many obstacles that were difficult to overcome. Perhaps you have lacked incentive from family or friends, or you have encountered inflexible bosses, etc. To overcome this, these natives must believe in themselves again, because then they will have more energy to pursue their ambitions.

🎲Chiron in Aquarius: can suggest wounds in collective concepts, freedom or personal originality. It may suggest feelings of inadequacy and social rejection. Aquarius brings a desire for freedom, originality, and the collective good, and such positioning can undermine such things, making the individual eventually feel uncomfortable dealing with people, groups, and tribes, and more likely to feel disconnected or isolated. To find the path to healing, they must learn to be themselves and appreciate their differences. This can be a difficult lesson, as some are not as comfortable in their own skin.

🎲Chiron in Pisces: may suggest wounds in beliefs, intuition, and the willingness to help those in need. People with this positioning in their birth chart may have been wounded by being wrong about others, suffering disappointments or betrayals. It suggests possible existential crises. This individual may eventually suffer a religious or spiritual crisis or lose faith in the world and others. They must balance their feelings and understand that there are disappointments along the way, but they can be overcome. That way, they will be able to find a cure for their problems.

[insipid-drivel]

Warhorses: Which horses are actually good candidates, anyway?

This post is in honor of @warrioreowynofrohan, who asked the question in the comments under my guide, "Horses: Since There Seems To Be A Knowledge Gap". Their question, "Given what you said about too much weight breaking a horse’s spine, how did that work with knights in plate armour?" is one I'm going to try to answer here, since the answer can be very nuanced depending on where and when you're talking about.

Also, while I was a stable hand for years as well as a rider, I never had the opportunity to directly learn more ancient styles of tacking, horse training, and combat, so I don't have any direct experience to draw from with regard to horses used for military purposes. I'm still gonna do my best here with what I know, and research what I don't.

As I've covered in the past, large horses (draft horses) make less-than-ideal warhorses, and so do carriage horses like the elegant and dramatic Friesians.

Let's begin by addressing this from the perspective of creative writing. For you writers and content creators out there, an essential part to the continuity of any historically-themed work you do involving horses will be depicting breeds of horses that didn't exist before a certain time in history. I'm going to approach this question from the stance of, "Medieval-type era warhorses". Horses were used in warfare as late was World War II, but actual horses you ride into battle with knights and archers and bannermen? We actually have to drop the subject of specific modern breeds altogether aside from using them for comparisons.

When discussing warhorses, various cultures have approached them differently. Some cultures will value a specific type of horse above all others, such as the Mongolian Steppe Horse or the American Mustang. Other cultures, which may be from biomes and territories where multiple types of horses are needed for different forms of warfare and tactics, value whichever horses can get their jobs done without their riders getting killed.

Carrying vs. Pulling:

Horses have been used in warfare since as far back as 4000 BC, but their first applications were more as chariot horses. Humans have been riding and working with horses since before we even had stirrups to more easily ride them with! As archaeologists and anthropologists make more discoveries, the more we learn that we humans have been working closely with horses since before we had specialized tools to ride them with. The very first warhorses pulled chariots or carts, which is much easier for a horse's anatomy to handle compared to carrying a heavy weight like an armored rider on their backs, which puts stress directly on their spines where they have very little supporting muscle for supporting a lot of heavy downward weight.

Warhorse Size Categories:

Really, any breed of horse can apply to a niche in warfare if it's needed enough. Even very small, delicate horses have had their place in the history of human combat! Before I continue, it's important to know that there's a unique unit of measuring a horse's height. Rather than measuring a horse's height in centimeters or inches, they're measured in units called "hands". A single "hand" = ~4 inches/10.16cm, and a horse's height is measured based upon the distance between the bottom of their hoof to the tallest part of their shoulders, just at the base of the back of their necks. We don't actually include neck length/head height in a horse's measurements with traditional measuring.

Another rule of thumb: The average horse cannot safely carry anything heavier than about 30% of their total body weight. This is a serious factor to take into mind when deciding on a type of or breed of horse for a mounted warrior of any kind: You need to factor in the OC's starting body weight, and then add on the weight of armor, weapons, and any armor the horse itself may wear along with the weight of its tack.

Light-Weight Horses:

A few examples of lightweight horse breeds whose ancestors have historically been used in combat are Arabians, Barber Horses, and the magnificent Akhal-Teke. Lightweight and delicately-boned horses like those are best applied for military maneuvers that require precision, speed, and endurance, and the rider themselves should specialize in some form of combat or reconnaissance that doesn't require them to wear heavy metal or laminated armors. Archers are good candidates for riding smaller horses, or lightly-armored swordsmen like an Ottoman Janissary.

Central-Asian and North African horses also benefit from having a higher tolerance for hot climates. They can absolutely suffer from heatstroke and cardiac arrest from being forced to run and work in extreme temperatures and should always be provided with the same protective measures in a heatwave as any other horse, but they have a little bit of an edge over horses descended from freezing and temperate climates.

Medium-Weight Horses:

Medium-weight horses started showing up in the archaeological record around about the Iron Age, where chariot warfare was becoming an increasingly utilized form of mobile combat, and people needed bigger, stronger horses capable of pulling heavier loads - such as a chariot with two passengers rather than just one. As cultures began to develop heavier-duty armors made of metals and laminated materials, it also became important to breed horses that were tall and stocky (muscular and with relatively short spines compared to their height), and therefore more capable of carrying riders in increasingly heavy armor. Medium-weight horses were also essential at the dawn of the gunpowder age when the cannon came into use in siege warfare for pulling the heavy, iron cannons into position.

Medium-weight horses are really where we see the beginnings of knights and other warrior classes on horseback come into the forefront of warfare. When you have a horse that's big and strong enough to carry heavier armor and heavier weapons along with a rider wielding them, you have a much deadlier force at your disposal. Strikes from a sword or spear from the back of a galloping horse basically results in a sword capable of cutting through enemy soldiers like a hot knife through butter.

Important Note: Traditionally, cavalrymen wield blunt swords when attacking from a charging horse's back. When a horse is charging at full speed, the sharpness of a blade becomes less important than the blade's ability to stay in one piece when it impacts hard armor and bone. A blunted edge basically turns a cavalryman's sword into a thin club that's better at holding up against smashing through multiple layers of armor and bone compared to a thinner, more delicate sharpened edge that can shatter from a high-speed impact.

Heavy-Weight Horses:

The direct ancestors of modern draft horses, such as the Shire Horse, only began to appear around about the beginning of the European Medieval Era, and were far and away not even close to the enormous sizes of the draft horses we have today. Any horse counts as a "Heavy-weight" classed horse if its weight exceeds 1500lbs/680kgs.

Heavy-weight horses were really more bred for pulling enormous weights rather than carrying knights. While yeah, there is some evidence that suggests that heavy-weight horses were used by heavily-armored knights, historians argue a lot about whether it was a rule or an exception (such as with Henry VIII, who continued to ride well after he had begun to weigh more than 350lbs/158kgs, and even went to war in France in his final years on horseback). Generally speaking, medium-weight horses tend to be the right balance of agile and strong for carrying someone that's going to actively be fighting. Heavy-weight horses were bred to be a lot more tolerant to the chaos and frightening stimulation of the sounds of battle, but medium-weighted horses generally tended to be more suited to moving efficiently through dense packs of soldiers and weaving around other horses.

Ponies:

While actually being the smallest class of warhorse, ponies were essential when it came to carrying cargo and working as pack-horses. In certain forms of terrain, such as mountains, large horses pulling big carts full of supplies or soldiers could often be extremely impractical. In situations where an army needed to move on foot and form a narrow line in order to travel, ponies were able to traverse much narrower and rougher terrain while carrying smaller loads to their destination, when heavier horses would struggle more under their own weight and dexterity.

Europe-Specific Terminologies:

If you're a writer reading this and writing a piece set in the European Medieval age, there are specific terms used for the different classes I listed of warhorses above that I'm gonna list:

Destriers: The Destrier was a universal term for the iconic knight-carrying, jousting horse. They were also sometimes referred to as "Great Horses" due to their reputations in combat settings. Destriers could have just about any appearance, but were rarely taller than 15.2 hands, or 62inches/157cm. They were capable of carrying heavily-armored knights (although knights in full plate mail rarely rode into battle and stayed on the horse the entire time - they tended to specialize at grouping up and killing a lot of footsoldiers swarming them at once and preventing breaks in defenses from being overwhelmed by an oncoming army; in the case of Edward the Black Prince, we have substantial evidence in the form of his surviving brigandine that a mounted soldier or knight was more likely to wear chainmail and brigandine with a tabard on their body with their arms, feet, and heads the most heavily armored in plate when they intended to fight on horseback, making them a little lighter and more maneuverable, but I may be waaay off base there because I'm thinking of more of Italian soldiers who used full plate and how they applied it in battle more than any other example) and wearing armor themselves.

Interestingly, the sex of a destrier was often chosen strategically. Stallions (horses that haven't been neutered) are more aggressive, and could both act as combatants on their own if their knight was dismounted or killed, but could give away an army's location if they were attempting to move stealthily. Stallions whinny and shriek a lot when they're horny or arguing with each other, which is most of the time.

Mares were often chosen by Muslim armies for being much less vocal, and therefore much more capable of stealth. Geldings (neutered males) were the preferred mounts of the Teutonic Knights, a Catholic military group, since they couldn't be stolen and used to breed more horses for the enemy army.

Coursers:

Coursers were the most common Medieval European warhorse. It's important to remember that in Medieval Europe, most armies were almost entirely comprised of common men - serfs subject to the will of their landlords, not far removed from slaves in many ways - who couldn't afford the highly-prized and expensive Destriers. Coursers were usually a bit lighter than Destriers, but were still strong enough to carry someone wearing armor. Coursers were also a little more utilitarian, because they were also sometimes used in hunting as well as warfare, so they had a valuable use outside of warfare that the owner could benefit from.

Rouncey:

A rouncey was an all-purpose horse that could be used for leisure and travel-riding as well as be trained for war. They were a lot more likely to be found on the farm of a serf or independent farmer of some kind, as they could fill a lot of different roles depending on what they were needed for. Their sizes weren't really important as much as their ability to get the job done.

It's also critical to remember that, when talking about warhorses, we're usually talking about eras long past. In general, thanks to resource availability and incredible advances in medicine, modern humans are significantly taller, and therefore heavier, than people from the European Medieval era and prior. While fatness was valued in many cultures for its suggestion of wealth, most working-class and serf-class people worked intensely physically-demanding daily lives just to maintain their own homes. They were a few inches shorter on average than we are today, had greater fluctuations in body fat distribution depending on how harsh or bountiful the harvest season had been and the season in which a war was taking place (the average person's weight would swing by 30lbs or more on average every year prior to the industrial era), and cavalry were usually chosen based upon skill in the saddle as well as physical size when considering the application of medium or heavy armor being placed on the horse's back and body.

[moniquill]

Just wanted to say that I greatly admire your ability to just keep calmly reiterating your position in the face of someone who really really wishes you were holding a different one and has decided that the best way to accomplish that is to insist that you already espouse that other position. An excellent non-escalation tactic that I hope to one day be able to apply as gracefully as you are.

Yeah, I've worked with teenagers before - like, professionally. I've taken classes about this exact thing! Gonna quote myself from another post I made back in 2018 that's mostly unrelated except for this part:

I went into a career where a lot of very specific knowledge is required.

I had to learn about verbal crisis intervention and crisis co-regulation. I had to learn about helpful vs. unhelpful language:

“I can only imagine how that must feel.” or “Do you want to tell me how that feels?”

vs

“I know how you feel.”

and about being cognizant of my own emotional state and my nonverbal communication and how they effect a situation.

(What am I feeling right now? What does this person think, feel, want, or need? What am I communicating to this person? How is the environment effecting the situation? What’s the best thing for me to say? What’s the best thing for me to do?)

I had to learn about active listening, about reflective statements and summarizing content and emotions:

“I can see that you’re [overwhelming emotion, usually angry or sad but sometimes bored or frustrated] right now, and I want to help, can you tell me about it so we can figure out what to do?”

vs

“Stop doing [inappropriate behavior]!”

(extra least-helpful-thing-ever points for bullshit like ‘You know better’ or ‘We already went over this’ or ‘You’re too old for [behavior or coping skill]’ or other such boderline-to-flagrantly abusive language that I’ve seen other people say in response to maladaptive coping, including shitty and/or inexperienced staff)

I’ve had to learn about offering validation and support. I had to learn about how to talk to others to help them connect emotions with behaviors so that they can learn to be self-cognizant and learn more effective coping strategies [than harming self/others] for managing emotional crisis.

I was taught whole units on the subjects of ‘Don’t make it about you’ 'Don’t get caught in a power struggle’ 'Don’t get defensive’ 'Don’t focus too tightly on details; understand the larger situation’ 'Understand the other person’s point of view and motivations’

These are specific strategies for dealing with human beings (oneself and others), and they’re super effective.

I mean, these classes I’ve taken boil down to 'how to not be a super shitty human being’.

And none of them are taught as requisite curriculum in public schools, or even college. All of them have been entirely optional and tied to this specific career path. Math majors don’t have to take these classes.

Why is that?

How have we arrived at a place, in education, where we espouse that it will be more important to literally any human being that they be able to solve a quadratic equation than be able to analyse one’s own anxiety and manage overwhelming emotions (and help others do the same)?

One of the problems on my homework tonight was:

“The deck on this house is a triangle. The distance from the base to the apex is nine feet longer than the base is wide. If the area of the deck is 68 square feet, how wide is the base?”

(This requires me to know that the area of a triangle is ½ Base(Height) and to parse the equation as 2(68) = B(B+9), therefor B^2 + 9B – 136 = 0 oh look there’s my solvable quadratic equation)

But in the real world, if I need to know how wide the deck is, I’m going to use a tape measure. If I don’t have a tape measure, how the fuck did I work out the area of the deck or the proportions of base to height in the first place?

This is not a task that will be asked of many people in their lives, and yet proficiency in this task is required if you ever want to have a non-minimum wage job.

Meanwhile, most people will at some point in their lives be called upon to comfort someone who is experiencing an overwhelming emotion. Many people will be placed in a position of authority over children. Some will be placed in a position of authority over people who are neuroatypical, or who have experienced trauma, or who have learned maladaptive coping skills, or who for some other reason may display behavior which is not immediately comprehensible to an outside observer who doesn’t seek understanding.

We live in a world where cops and doctors were certainly required to be able to solve quadratic equations at some point to be allowed to progress in their education and credentialing, but where they probably/demonstrably weren’t taught how to deescalate a person who is emotionally flooded to the point of violence (see this post: TW for gif of police violence on a minor). Where they weren’t taught about helpful vs. unhelpful language, or what constitutes instigating and triggering.

We live in a world where empathy and emotional cognizance are electives, but higher math is required.

Why is that?

I think these kids who are frothing-at-the-mouth angry would really benefit from Conflict Co-Regulation being a mandatory part of public school curricula.

[theambitiouswoman]

Personal Fulfillment: What it is & what it isn't

Personal fulfillment is essential because it contributes to your overall wellbeing, happiness, and a sense of purpose in life. It provides you with a sense of meaning and direction, helping you align your actions with your values and aspirations. When people have personal fulfillment, it boosts their self-esteem, and self-confidence. It brings a sense of accomplishment, happiness, and fulfillment, leading to greater life satisfaction. Personal fulfillment fuels motivation, driving people to pursue their goals and dreams with persistence and resilience. It also has a positive impact on our relationships, as fulfilled individuals bring positivity and fulfillment into their interactions, resulting in healthy connections.

Conversely, those who lack personal fulfillment may feel lost, dissatisfied, and purposeless, leading to emotional distress, strained relationships, increased stress, and missed opportunities for growth and personal development. Pursuing personal fulfillment is crucial for living a fulfilling and rewarding life.

What personal fulfillment is:

Pursuing your passion: Engaging in activities or pursuing goals that align with your passions and interests. For example, if you love writing, starting a blog or writing a book can bring you a sense of fulfillment.

Setting and achieving meaningful goals: Setting goals that are meaningful to you and working towards achieving them. This could be completing a degree, starting a business, or making a positive impact in your community.

Building and maintaining meaningful relationships: Cultivating relationships with family, friends, and loved ones and investing time and effort in nurturing those connections can bring a sense of fulfillment and happiness.

Continuous personal growth: Committing to lifelong learning and personal development. It can be achieved through acquiring new skills, expanding your knowledge, or challenging yourself to step out of your comfort zone.

Making a positive impact: Contributing to the well-being of others or the greater good. This could be through volunteering, supporting charitable causes, or working in a career that allows you to make a positive difference in the world.

What personal fulfillment isn't:

Chasing external validation: It is not solely dependent on seeking approval or validation from others. It is about finding inner satisfaction and contentment rather than constantly seeking external praise or recognition.

Material possessions: It is not about material wealth or accumulating possessions. While material comfort can enhance certain aspects of life, fulfillment comes from experiences, personal growth, and meaningful connections.

Comparing yourself to others: Personal fulfillment does not come from constantly comparing yourself to others and measuring your worth based on their achievements or possessions. It is about recognizing and appreciating your unique journey and individual progress.

Settling for mediocrity: It is not about settling for a life that feels unfulfilling or unchallenging. It involves actively seeking growth, setting high standards for yourself, and striving for excellence in areas that are important to you.

Ignoring self-care: You cannot achieve personal fulfillment if you neglect your own physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Taking care of yourself, prioritizing self-care, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance are crucial.

[jungkoode]

THE 25TH HOUR | O3

“𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐒”

"The most dangerous temporal anomaly isn't the one you can measure. It's the way your body remembers what your mind forgot."

next | index

— chapter details

word count: 2,5k

content: underground medical facility shenanigans, memory tests with Jin and Yoongi, Jimin being a chaotic enabler, involuntary physical responses defying temporal physics, and the team placing bets on how long Yoongi can maintain “professional distance" with leather gloves involved.

— author’s note

Y'ALL. The medical examination scene has been living in my head rent free for WEEKS. You know those moments when you're trying to write something serious and professional but your characters are like "no❤️ watch this"??? Because same.

We've got Jin being the only responsible adult, Yoongi attempting to maintain professional distance (and failing spectacularly), Jimin choosing violence as a lifestyle, and Y/N's body remembering things her mind doesn't. Also featuring: temporal physics being completely ignored in favor of sexual tension, inappropriate uses of leather gloves, and the team collectively deciding to Look Away™️ when things get spicy.

Speaking of the team - can we talk about how Jimin has evolved into this chaotic force of nature who just EXISTS to make Yoongi's life harder??? The way he just *gestures vaguely* KNOWS THINGS and chooses to use that knowledge for evil?? An icon. A legend. The reason Yoongi's blood pressure is through the roof.

Also, fun fact: This entire scene came from me thinking "what if we made temporal physics sexy?" and then it spiraled into... whatever this is. Shoutout to my physics professor who would probably have an aneurysm reading this. Sorry not sorry, but time manipulation is hot now, I don't make the rules.

Anyway, get ready for some quality UST featuring: precise measurements of inappropriate physical contact, clinical descriptions of sexual tension, and Yoongi pretending he's maintaining professional distance while everyone else pretends not to notice him failing miserably at it.

— read on

AO3

"Stabilized!" 

Namjoon’s voice blooms across the room.

Agent Min releases your wrist like it's burning him, despite the fabric barrier. The sudden loss of contact sends your temporal readings fluctuating—a 0.7% variance you automatically note.

"Gloves?" Jin asks, already reaching for a drawer.

"Please." 

The leather gloves hit his palm with practiced accuracy. He pulls them on with movements too precise, too controlled. Black leather, reinforced temporal shielding based on the metallic thread pattern, custom-fitted.

The man before you—Jin—carries himself like a medical professional, if medical professionals used quantum resonance meters and discussed memory patterns like cellular structures. Your analytical mind categorizes the differences: standard medical equipment replaced with temporal monitoring devices, traditional vital signs supplemented with chronological variance readings.

"Sit down, please." His instruction carries the same clinical tone you'd expect from a regular doctor.

You comply, settling onto what appears to be a medical bed. The surface feels wrong—vibrating at a frequency just slightly out of sync with normal time.

Agent Min shuffles through data streams with the doctor, their voices low but intense:

"...temporal resistance patterns..."

"...cognitive overlay rejection..."

"...signature destabilization risks..."

"Can I at least know what you're planning to do to me?" You interrupt their technical exchange, keeping your voice steady.

"Memories." Agent Min turns immediately when you ask. "We're attempting to reintegrate your memory backup."

"What memory backup?" Frustration edges into your voice. "That's not technologically possible with current—"

Agent Min exchanges a look with the doctor.

"Have they explained?" The doctor asks. "About forced memory integration?"

"Yes," Agent Min runs a hand through his hair. "Hoseok and Jimin made that abundantly clear."

"So my hands are tied regarding information transfer," the doctor says, settling into a chair facing you. His temporal signature reads oddly stable compared to the others you've encountered here.

"But you're planning to inject memories?" Your mind automatically starts calculating the energy requirements for quantum information transfer. "The technological limitations alone make that scientifically impossible—”

"Memory injection is actually quite different from..." He stops, glancing at Agent Min before sighing with something like fond exasperation. "Alright, let's start here—tell me what you know about this world."

You frown, analyzing the request. "What could I possibly know that you don't? You clearly have access to technology and information beyond standard clearance levels."

"Trust me," Agent Min murmurs, "we don't."

The doctor rolls his eyes at him. "We need to gauge the level of bleed-through this time."

"Bleed-through?" You ask, the term spiraling with curiosity inside your head.

"Min, timeline shifts since her last reset?"

"None." 

"Well, at least there's that."

"Timeline shifts? Resets?" Your mind tries to parse terms that shouldn't exist in any approved temporal physics database.

"Please," the doctor says, "tell me what you know about this world."

You analyze the request, breaking it down into quantifiable components. "That's an incredibly broad query. Could you specify the parameters?"

"Start with temporal mechanics," he suggests. "How does time work?"

The question seems absurd—like asking how gravity works. It's a fundamental constant, documented through centuries of quantum research and temporal physics studies.

"Time is regulated by the Chrono-Sync Network through quantum resonance frequencies calibrated to maintain perfect temporal alignment," you explain, falling into the familiar rhythm of technical exposition. "The Master Clock, located in Sector 1, generates the base frequency that all Chrono-Sync Watches must match within 0.001% variance. Any deviation beyond that threshold triggers automatic correction protocols."

"And this system has always existed?" Agent Min's question carries an odd weight.

"Of course. The Network was established in 2157 following the Quantum Wars. It's basic history." Your voice holds the slight edge of someone stating the obvious. "The temporal monitoring system prevents chronological warfare by maintaining universal time synchronization. Before the Network, temporal terrorists could manipulate local time fields, creating devastating paradoxes."

"What about before 2157?" The doctor—Jin—asks carefully.

"Temporal chaos. Unregulated time flow. Multiple competing chronological frequencies." You recite the facts with precision. "That's why CHRONOS was developed—to prevent temporal warfare through standardization. The historical records clearly document the devastation caused by chrono-terrorism."

"And the 24-hour cycle?" Agent Min's question seems to carry extra significance.

"The natural human circadian rhythm." Your response is automatic. "CHRONOS simply enforced what was already biologically standard. Studies have proven that deviating from the 24-hour cycle causes severe physiological and psychological damage."

"Really?" Jin's pen scratches against his paper. "No other possible time structures?"

"The 24-hour cycle is scientifically proven to be optimal for human function," you explain with the precision of someone who has spent years studying these principles. "Any variation would create cascading temporal instabilities. The human brain is specifically calibrated to function on this cycle. It's elementary temporal biology."

"Friends? Relationships?" Jin's pen moves steadily, changing topics with suspicious abruptness.

The shift in questioning triggers a slight increase in your temporal readings—0.02% variance. Within acceptable parameters, but noteworthy.

"Limited social interaction to maintain optimal temporal efficiency," you recite. "Two approved recreational contacts: Lisa Martinez from the Academy, Thomas Park from my housing block."

Agent Min's jaw tightens fractionally at the second name. The reaction is precisely 0.23 seconds too fast to be casual. You begin calculating potential causation factors.

"And that seems normal to you?" Jin asks. "Limited social interaction for efficiency?"

"Of course. Personal relationships introduce temporal variance through emotional instability." The words feel rehearsed somehow, like a textbook you've memorized but never quite internalized. "The Network functions best when all participants maintain strict chronological compliance. Emotional attachments create unpredictable temporal ripples."

"What about deviation?" Agent Min's voice carries an edge. "Have you ever wanted to break schedule? Act outside approved parameters?"

"That would be highly inefficient.Temporal compliance is crucial for societal stability. The system exists to protect us from chronological warfare."

"You've never questioned it?" Jin presses. "Never wondered why everything is so perfectly structured?"

"Structure creates efficiency. Efficiency creates stability." The response is automatic, but your Chrono-Sync Watch registers a minor desynchronization. Curious. "Why would I question proven temporal mechanics? The data is irrefutable."

"Because your body already is," Agent Min says quietly.

You start to protest, but then you notice: your hand is reaching for your watch again. Seven minutes exactly since the last check. You've been doing it the entire conversation without conscious thought. You immediately begin calculating the statistical probability of such precise timing occurring naturally.

"That's..." You search for a logical explanation. "That's just good temporal maintenance. Regular monitoring ensures optimal synchronization with the Network."

"Is it?" Jin asks. "Or is it programmed behavior?"

You calculate probability matrices for their increasingly concerning implications. Their questions display either dangerous ignorance of basic temporal physics or... something else. Something that makes your precisely ordered world feel slightly off-axis.

"I'm not programmed." The words come out sharper than intended. "I have free will. I make my own choices. I'm certified in temporal monitoring, scheduled to start at the Center tomorrow morning. My employee ID is A-735, my clearance level is—"

"Perfect temporal compliance," the doctor interrupts, making notes. "Standard citizen programming. What else?"

You frown at his word choice. "Programming?"

"Just continue," Agent Min says. His eyes haven't left the temporal readings displaying your vital signs. You notice his attention seems to focus on specific frequencies—ones that shouldn't matter according to standard temporal theory.

"I..." You retreat into facts—the only stable ground in this increasingly unstable situation. "I grew up in Sector 4. Parents are both temporal compliance officers. Sarah and James Chen. I attended the Academy of Temporal Sciences, graduated top of my class in quantum mechanics and chronological theory. I live alone in approved housing block 7B. My daily schedule is optimized for maximum temporal efficiency as required by—"

"Parents' names?" The doctor interrupts again, looking up sharply.

"Sarah and James Chen," you repeat. The names feel solid in your mouth. You remember Sunday dinners, temporal compliance lessons, your mother's smile, your father's strict adherence to schedule. 

Memory integrity: 100% clear. 

"At least they didn't give her a husband this time," the doctor mutters.

Agent Min clears his throat loudly. The temperature in the room drops 0.3 degrees.

"A husband?" You ask, latching onto the inconsistency. Your mind automatically starts calculating the statistical probability of memory tampering based on their behavior. The results are concerning.

"Different reset," the doctor waves dismissively. "Continue. What do you know about CHRONOS?"

You catalog his dismissal for later analysis, noting the 0.47-second delay before his response. "The artificial intelligence system that maintains temporal order. Created in 2157 to prevent temporal warfare and ensure humanity's survival through perfect chronological control."

"What about anomalies?" Agent Min asks. "Temporal variance? Chronological inconsistencies?"

"Contained and corrected." You watch their reactions carefully, measuring micro-expressions against standard behavioral baselines. "Any significant temporal deviation is identified and eliminated before it can destabilize the Network."

"And what happens to those who deviate?" Jin's voice is carefully neutral.

"They're..." You pause, discovering an unexpected gap in your knowledge. Curious. Your temporal compliance training should cover all aspects of the system. "They're corrected. Brought back into alignment with standard temporal flow."

"How?" Agent Min presses.

"That information isn't included in standard temporal physics education," you admit, analyzing their reactions. Their behavior suggests they know something you don't—a statistical impossibility given your education level and clearance. Your hand automatically moves to check your watch again.

"What about emotional responses?" Jin asks suddenly. "Do you experience feelings that seem inconsistent with your memories or experiences?"

Your body chooses that moment to lean slightly toward Agent Min without conscious input. You straighten immediately, analyzing the movement with growing frustration. The proximity increases your heart rate by 3.7 BPM despite no logical reason for the response. Your temporal signature shifts by 0.06%—still within compliance range, but the pattern is... concerning.

"I..." You stop, recalibrating. "My responses are within normal parameters."

"Really?" Jin asks. "So your heart rate always spikes around strangers?"

You glance at the monitoring equipment—your pulse is indeed elevated. "That's likely due to the unusual circumstances." Your voice maintains professional detachment even as your body betrays you by shifting 0.2 centimeters closer to Agent Min.

"And the temporal resonance patterns?" Jin gestures to another reading. "The way your signature stabilizes with proximity to Agent Min?"

"Coincidence," you say firmly, even as your body shifts another 0.3 centimeters closer to him without your permission. "Temporal signatures naturally seek stability. It's basic quantum mechanics."

"With specific people?" 

“Jin.”

"I..." You check your watch. Six minutes exactly until your next scheduled check. The wrongness of potentially missing it makes your skin crawl. "This isn't... I don't..."

"What we are trying to say," Jin interrupts, "is that perhaps your understanding of this world isn't as complete as CHRONOS wants you to believe."

You start to argue, but then you notice: Agent Min has shifted exactly 2.7 centimeters closer. The movement carries too much precision—like he's performed it countless times before. Like he’s anticipating something. 

Your hand reaches for your watch again—five minutes and forty-three seconds until your next scheduled check. The compulsion feels simultaneously natural and foreign, like a subroutine you never consciously installed.

"Then choose to skip your next time check," Agent Min challenges.

Your hand is already moving toward your watch. You force it down, but your skin crawls with the wrongness of it. Five minutes and thirty-eight seconds until your next scheduled check. The knowledge sits like lead in your stomach.

"This proves nothing," you argue, even as anxiety builds at the thought of missing your seven-minute mark. "Regular temporal monitoring is simply good practice. The Network requires consistent synchronization to maintain stability."

But your mind is already cataloging the inconsistencies:

- Why does your body respond to Agent Min with mathematical precision?

- Why do you check the time every seven minutes with mechanical accuracy?

- Why does breaking that pattern feel physically wrong?

- Why can you remember every detail of your life with perfect clarity, yet find gaps in your knowledge of the system itself?

"I..." You swallow hard. "I need to check my watch in five minutes and thirty-three seconds."

"We know," Agent Min says softly. 

His gloved hand twitches.

Voices interrupt your pondering.

"The quantum resonance patterns are fascinating but I think I'll pass on another lecture from Namjoon about temporal mechanics," The pink-haired man suddenly announces, sauntering into the room. 

He immediately starts fiddling with Jin's equipment, who doesn't even flinch—just continues monitoring your readings.

"You'd think after hundreds of timelines he'd have a more interesting way to explain it," Hoseok adds, dropping into a nearby chair.

“Doesn’t matter how many times he explains, I don’t get shit.” Jimin responds. Then, glances between you and Agent Min. "So what's the story this time? Three kids? White picket fence? Nuclear family in temporal compliance heaven?"

Agent Min's foot connects with his shin. Hard.

"Ow! What? I'm just asking what narrative they programmed this time. At least it's not—”

"Jimin." Agent Min's voice carries warning.

"Not that you'd remember," Hoseok says, grinning despite the tension, "but last reset they gave you this whole elaborate backstory. Husband named Richard. Real piece of work."

Your mind tries to process this. "Richard?"

"Oh yeah. Super by-the-book temporal compliance officer. Yoongi spent months trying to trigger his outlier potential just so he could—”

"Hoseok." Agent Min's temperature spikes 0.4 degrees.

"What? I'm just saying, you did try to convert him. Multiple times." Hoseok's grin widens. "Though we all know it wasn't because you wanted him on the team."

Your analytical mind catalogs Agent Min's reactions: jaw tension increasing 15%, pulse elevated to 67 BPM, careful distance from your position maintained at exactly 1.2 meters in case temporal stabilization requires contact.

"The temporal variance patterns are unstable enough without adding cognitive stress," Agent Min says, voice clipped. "Focus on the present reset."

"Present reset," Jimin mimics, still rubbing his shin. "Like you weren't calculating exactly how many anomalies it would take before CHRONOS had to—”

"12 minutes," Agent Min cuts him off. "Either help with the readings or get out."

You find yourself analyzing his response with unusual intensity. "You can influence CHRONOS' resets?"

"No," he says too quickly.

"Yes," Jimin corrects.

"Sometimes," Hoseok clarifies.

"It's complicated," Jin adds, not looking up from his equipment.

Your head starts throbbing again. Agent Min takes exactly one step closer—close enough to stabilize your temporal signature if needed.

"You rewrote time to... eliminate my husband?" The words feel strange in your mouth. You have no memory of a Richard, no context for their claims, yet something about Agent Min's reaction feels significant.

"Technically, CHRONOS rewrote time," Jimin says helpfully. "Yoongi just... creates enough temporal instability that CHRONOS has to adjust things. Usually in ways that coincidentally benefit him."

"After trying to trigger Richard's outlier potential," Hoseok adds.

"Which didn't work," Jimin continues.

"Multiple times," they finish together.

Agent Min's hands clench at his sides. The room temperature drops another 0.5 degrees.

"Your temporal signature is spiking again," he says instead of addressing their comments. "Focus on the cognitive process before—"

"Before what?" You press. "Before you rewrite time again? Before CHRONOS erases more memories I apparently don't know I have?"

His eyes meet yours, and for a moment something flickers in them—frustration, resignation, something else you can't quantify.

"Before we run out of time," he says finally. "Again."

"Always running out of time with you two," Jimin mutters. "Some things never change, no matter how many resets."

You want to ask what he means, but your nose starts bleeding again.

It starts as a single drop—precisely 0.03 milliliters. Your analytical mind starts calculating the iron content before Agent Min moves.

His response time is 0.33 seconds—faster than standard human reflexes. The motion carries too much familiarity as he steps forward, black-gloved hand already reaching for your face. The leather is cool against your skin as he catches the blood with clinical efficiency, his hand remaining steady under your nose.

But there's nothing clinical about the way your pulse jumps 7 BPM at the sustained contact.

You look up, trying to analyze his expression, but his focus remains fixed on the task. His jaw tightens almost imperceptibly—you notice his masseter muscle contracting at 23% more tension than baseline. He makes a soft sound of disapproval as another drop falls onto the black leather.

The contact feels... correct. Like your body recognizes something your mind can't compute. His gloved hand doesn't waver, maintaining its position.

Temperature at point of contact: 2.3 degrees above normal, even through the leather.

Proximity: 34.2 centimeters closer than his usual maintained distance.

Your cognitive functions: Surprisingly compromised.

Jimin clears his throat with exaggerated purpose. Agent Min's head snaps toward him while his hand remains steady under your nose.

"Jin." His voice carries an edge of urgency. "Ready?"

Jin's fingers move over his equipment. The device in his hands emits a soft hum at exactly 432 Hz, releasing a cloud of temporally charged particles that coalesce into a perfect sphere.

"Yeah." Jin lifts the sphere with careful movements. The air around it distorts slightly—light bending at impossible angles.

"What is that?" Your voice remains steady despite the way your skin prickles with increasing temporal static. Agent Min adjusts his gloved hand slightly, catching another drop of blood without breaking contact.

"Memory backup." Jin adjusts something on the sphere's surface. "This shouldn't hurt, but temporal cognitive recalibration can cause some discomfort."

"Discomfort," Jimin mutters. "That's one way to put it."

Agent Min shifts slightly—angling his body 3 degrees more toward you, his hand never leaving its position. A protective stance your mind recognizes from standard security training. But this feels... different. Personal.

"Your neural activity is spiking" he says, voice carrying that strange mix of professional distance and something else. Something that makes your chest tight. "We need to—”

"How many times have you done this?" The question slips out before your analytical mind can stop it.

His free hand twitches—an aborted movement toward you that he catches at exactly 2.7 centimeters of motion.

"Too many," he says softly. Then, catching himself: "A-735, focus on maintaining cognitive stability. Your vitals are—"

"Going crazy because you're too close," Jimin interjects helpfully. "Maybe step back a few meters? You know, for medical purposes? Her heart's about to beat out of her chest."

Agent Min doesn't move. If anything, he shifts 0.3 centimeters closer, his gloved hand remaining steady under your nose.

"The proximity helps with signature dampening," he says, voice clipped. But you notice his heart rate has increased to 68 BPM.

"She's already stabilized in here," Jimin sighs. "You heard the man.”

"You are wearing the gloves, right?" Hoseok asks suddenly, eyeing Agent Min's position. "Because the way you're hovering—"

"Of course I'm wearing the gloves," Agent Min snaps, though his hand remains perfectly steady under your nose.

"Just checking," Hoseok raises his hands in mock surrender. "Given your track record with protocol 47.3..."

An adjustment of your position creates an unexpected point of contact—your knee brushing against what your analytical mind immediately identifies as anatomically significant. You immediately begin calculating the exact angle and pressure of the contact before you register its implications. Your body's response is both immediate and puzzling—heart rate increasing by 12 BPM, skin temperature rising 0.24 degrees.

Position correction should be simple. Yet your body seems to know exactly how to shift to maximize the contact pressure—a knowledge that triggers several questions about muscle memory and timeline retention that you file away for later analysis.

His gloved hand remains perfectly steady under your nose through sheer force of will.

"Wow, that ceiling tile is fascinating," Jimin announces suddenly, tilting his head back with exaggerated interest.

"Absolutely riveting," Hoseok agrees, studying his shoes with intense concentration.

Jin becomes very focused on adjusting his equipment settings.

Agent Min's voice comes out exactly 0.7 octaves lower than usual: "A-735. Position adjustment required."

You move with deliberate precision, establishing appropriate professional distance. Your body protests the movement with an intensity that warrants further investigation—when you're not calculating the exact newtons of force his masseter muscle is exerting. 

"7 minutes," he grits out, the words tight with restraint. His tongue presses visibly against his cheek as he inhales deeply. "Jin, if that sphere isn't ready in the next 30 seconds—"

"Working on it, boss," Jin responds, still very interested in his calibration dials.

"Maybe if you stepped back..." Jimin suggests helpfully, still studying the ceiling.

"Can't," Agent Min responds through what sounds like clenched teeth. "Nosebleed."

His gloved thumb twitches minutely against your skin. The movement suggests significant muscular tension—likely from maintaining precise control over multiple physiological responses.

"You could just let someone else—" Hoseok starts.

"No." 

"You sure there hasn't been any... accidental contact?" Jimin drawls. "Because this is giving me déjà vu from timeline 466 when you claimed you were 'just stabilizing her' but really—"

"6 minutes," Agent Min cuts him off. His temperature rises another 0.2 degrees. "Seokjin.”

Jin holds up the sphere, which now pulses with a soft golden light that matches the traces you've seen Agent Min leave. "Ready. But Yoongi..."

"I know." Something in his voice makes you look up again. His eyes meet yours for exactly 1.2 seconds before he looks away, though his hand doesn't waver from its position. "It has to be different this time."

"It's always different," Jimin says quietly. "Doesn't change how it ends."

Your nose threatens to start bleeding again. You feel Agent Min's gloved thumb shift slightly against your skin, ready to catch any new drops.

Time: 01:59:00 AM.

Temporal stability: Rapidly decreasing.

Questions: Infinite.

The way your body leans toward him without conscious input: Concerning.

The way he maintains careful fabric barriers between every point of contact: Even more so.

taglist: @cannotalwaysbenight @livingformintyoongi @itstoastsworld @somehowukook @stuti2904 @chloepiccoliniii @kimnamjoonmiddletoe @ktownshizzle @yoongiiuu93 @billy-jeans23 @annyeongbitch7

© jungkoode 2025

no reposts, translations, or adaptations

[audliminal]

It's Just a Game, Right? Pt 3 Redux

Masterpost

"It's a pun." Tim announces, the second he steps into Bernard’s apartment. He waves a folder at his boyfriend, moving to spread it’s contents out on his table.

“What’s a pun?” Bernard asks as he leans over to look at the annotated sheet music Tim has produced.

“The random notes are discordant because they’re off-key. And the off-key­ notes are the key to the Caesar Ciphers.”

“Oh,” Bernard says, leaning in closer to read one of the notes. The person Tim had hired had done an exceptional job; they were a bit bemused by the request, but once they’d gotten started they’d managed to transcribe a clean copy of Space Oddity, and then they’d not just identified the incorrect notes, but explained why they were wrong. Tim wasn’t sure all the information would be necessary for the puzzle, but it had been interesting nonetheless.

“Also I made a mistake the other day,” Tim says. “I’d assumed that the key to the ciphers wasn’t in the scale, because a scale has seven notes, but actually it has twelve.”

“Wait, what?”

“The chromatic scale; the complete set of possible notes in nearly all western music,” Tim clarifies. “Not the eight notes that make up a standard key, but the twelve that encompass every note available in a single octave. Apparently it’s not always twelve, though. The number of pitch classes can range a lot, though most stay below twenty in number. The Gamma scale, interestingly, was invented for the 1986 Beauty and the Beast film, in order to create near perfect triads. I couldn’t really tell the difference, but the sample notes sounded… interesting.”

Bernard, who had torn his head away from the musical score, stares at him for a long moment, before he starts to grin.

“You went on a Wikipedia dive.”

“I did. It was very interesting and also, very much not my field of expertise. Also, most of what I read doesn’t relate to your game.”

“That would be crazy if it did,” Bernard says.

“The point being, that some of the discordant notes correspond with the shifting of the images. Whichever incorrect note is closest in measure to the moment the image changes, is the key to that individual cipher, with how much it’s been shifted up or down.”

"Damn, okay." Bernard looks back down at the sheet music, then straightens. “A pun, huh? Good to know they have a sense of humor.”

“Puns are quite literally a play on double-meanings so they’ll probably pop up elsewhere. In my experience they’re pretty useful in puzzle and riddle design.”

“Huh.” Bernard tilts his head considering the new information. “I wonder if the Riddler uses many puns...”

"All the time, actually."

"Dude, why do you just know that?" Tim freezes, remembering too late that most people don't have access to dossiers on every rogue. "No, never mind I know you're like, weirdly knowledgeable about the bats and the rogues; I shouldn't be surprised."

"Well, maybe everyone should pay a little more attention to rogues’ MOs," Tim says pointedly. "They are generally considered to be the most serious safety threat in Gotham, after all.

"I mean, I know generally what their deals are, I just don't go all Genius-Mode about it." Bernard laughs, then gets a thoughtful look on his face. Oh no, Tim thinks. "Hey, maybe the bats should, like, commission your help to deal with the Riddler. I'd bet you'd work through his weird puzzles in like, ten minutes!"

"I feel like they're doing fine as is."

"Yeah, I guess, but like. What if they could do it even faster, right?"

"Maybe." Tim fiddles with his pen. "Do you want to know what else I found?"

“Yes, please.”

"I noticed that the length of time for each photo was different each time. I thought it might be a choice based on the music, since they always shift in time with a note, but there wasn't any logical pattern I could find there."

"I mean, that doesn't seem like a dead-end, that just sounds like we're missing something."

"Exactly. So I made a list of the duration between each incorrect note, and I ran that through a code checker, and it turned out to be encoded in base 26." Tim sets down the next page in his folder and points to the corresponding list of numbers, and then below it, to where he's written out the translation. With any luck, Bernard will focus on the transcription, and won’t ask what code checker Tim used.

"Dude." Bernard says, eyes wide as he stares at the page. “That’s ominous as fuck.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Tim says. When he’d gotten the translation back, he’d felt his blood go cold. He’d practically much fled the Batcave, as soon as he had the software properly closed.

"This is so cool!" Bernard exclaims grabbing at Tim's shoulders and shaking him lightly, accidentally pulling his attention back into the moment. "How have I not dragged you into solving ARGs before this? You're actually so good at it! Just wait till I tell everyone on the forum!"

Tim blinks, Bernard's sudden excitement is a jarring juxtaposition against the words on the page; completely unlike the dread and adrenaline that starts to kick up in Tim’s stomach when he thinks about it. But he can’t blame his boyfriend; this whole thing is just a game. And the people that wrote this, that made these videos, that encoded these messages – the real people, are having fun. He should be too.

Tim takes a deep breath and does his best to match Bernard's excitement. But the words on the page keep staring back at him.

help us please help us

[howtofightwrite]

One of my characters is forced to kill one of their childhood friends to save a bunch of people and I'm wondering how quick (or painful) can you make their death with just a knife? Thanks for your input!

I'm not sure exactly how fast a bleedout from a severed femoral or carotid artery is. In the former, we're talking less than a minute, in the latter, death occurs within seconds. Being able to reliably open the artery you want does require a bit of anatomical knowledge, so getting the most value out of a knife isn't something that any character would automatically be able to do.

As for how much it hurts, I dunno. Neither one is particularly high on my bucket list, so I'm content on leaving that as a question mark.

From personal, subjective, experience, the condition of the blade has a bigger impact on how much it hurts. A clean, and sharp blade, fresh from the factory (or carefully sharpened and honed) will hurt less than a poorly maintained blade. In the latter case (or, with cat claws, as I was recently reminded), you can feel the foreign object catching and ripping your skin. It's an unpleasant sensation, and, far more painful than a clean blade.

In fact, my most painful laceration experience came from a hose attachment that came apart while I was using it, and ended up getting jabbed into my thumb. As a safety measure, if you find yourself in a situation like this, turn off the water beforetrying to repair the attachment.

In contrast, the scar on my right index finger was almost painless. It was a brand new knife, which I fumbled. (Specifically it's double bladed, and the handle is a little too short for my hand. I accidentally knicked my left hand on the base of the fore-blade, and instinctively, flicked it away, gashing my off-hand.) At the time, I didn't even feel the cut, and then saw what I thought was a small welt... before it started bleeding. There is some truth to the cliché about not feeling a cut when it occurs, but the blade needs to be in immaculate condition for this to occur.

How painful can you make it, intentionally? This is not going anywhere pleasant, but I'm not sure there's a limit. That's not sarcasm. There is a point where too much pain can cause someone to slip into shock and die, but, for someone with sufficient sadism, there isn't really a limit. The problem is that a knife in an experienced and knowledgeable hand can do horrific things to someone without killing them. If the point was to inflict pain and suffering, that could be drawn out for day. Probably weeks.

As for the scenario, I have reservations. I'm reading a lot into the way you phrased the setup, but there is something very artificial and, more than a little cliché, about the villain strong arming a protagonist into violating their morals. Particularly on ticking bomb scenarios.

In a lot of cases, neither side really gets anything of value out of the interaction. The villain gets a tiny bit of room to wag a finger and say, “we're not so different now,” but, really, they would have done that anyway. And the hero gets to have a chunk of their credibility chipped away, for no real benefit. In this case, I specifically mean their credibility with the audience.

The reason I say that is because this is a downright inhuman thing for someone to do. Kill someone who you presumably care about, or save the lives of five thousand randos. One of these things is an abstract concept, and the other is a person.

Now, the problem is, for you, both are abstract concepts. Your hero's childhood friend is not a real person to you. They are, at best, a simulacrum, but one you know is fake. Similarly, the mass casualty event is something you also know is fake. Even more so because you have already chosen the outcome. This means that, for you, this is a simple trolley problem. However, the evaluation would be radically different for your character. In situations like that, it is possible they'd elect to kill their friend on the basis of there being fewer casualties, but that kind of cold calculus is borderline monstrous.

This doesn't mean that you can't create a compelling scenario where a character ultimately needs to put down their friend. But, it is a deceptively difficult scenario to credibly engineer, and even then, can frequently result in massive plot holes. So, it can be done, but proceed carefully.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[boatshoesdude]

one piece of anti-trans rhetoric that pops up now and again is the "your skeleton is your agab" thing, which for some reason turns into "archeologists will know your agab" (which is a very weird scenario that I don't like to think about for other reasons. Like why my grave specifically? What do they find? Was I helpful to their research? Why does the thought of someone touching my skeleton send shivers up my spine?)

anywho, I'm learning about archaeology atm and thought I'd share some cool archaeological info about actual grave identification!

Number one biggest point of note for this argument that "oh but archaeologists will know" is that if an archaeologist is handeling your bones someone has done something very wrong. A forensic anthropologist is who you're looking for! These are going to be the people trained in all the science/medical stuff and are dealing with humans. Cause there's a big difference between idenifying a sword, and idenitying a person. Two different sects of knowledge that work together, sometimes its the same person, but most times the body will be "handed off" so to speak to the forensic anthropologist while archaeologists work on the physical grave site. this leads to my next grief with the retoric; identifying gender when it comes to graves is mainly guesswork, very educated and very well researched guesswork, but guesswork non the less. When archaeologists are looking to identify the gender, you're looking at the grave itself and its contents (plus historical records and research and yada yada yada). If we know "hey men were typically burried in suits, with watches, dress shoes, and had masculin names" and the grave that's found matches all of the above, then yeah it'll probably be marked as a male skeleton.

you can say "oh but what about height charts and science!?!? The hormones in your body! They'll know!!!" But listen, humans show very very little sexual dymorphism, and humans come in all sizes. It is easy to tell a deer skull's gender because males have rivets where the antlers grow and fall off, where females do not. It is much much harder to tell the difference between a male and female pelvis even though female pelvises (pelvi?) are typically bigger (unless you're trained for body id and have many different factors to aid you). Theres just not enough information to go off of for identification! Humans change in size, yes depending on sex, but also on a million other characteristics like diet, medical history, ethnicity, medication, exercise, so if out of a hundred men, one end up 5'4 with wide hips while the others are 5'10, well them something probably went different with the growth of the 5'4 guy!!! Plus, the standard mesurments used to determin the stature of a person are based on white europeans from historically healthy families, meaning that the measurements are only accurate if you're looking at the body of a white european from a historically healthy family, but that's a side thing that doesn't matter if you have a (mostly) complete skeleton. "But what about the hormones!!!" I hear people in the back screaming. And I have two little things to note for that. 1. Research is really expensive and if you want to justify spending money on identifying the sex of a body you'd better have a really solid research base behind it and 2. Theres so many better things you could learn through bone analysis taht isnt "this person was trans" (unless thats your research topic you do you boo). What does that have to do with hormones you ask? Well bones change with time and as you change, right? So if you take hormes, your skeleton will reflect that. Now its not going to like change your pelvic shape or something, but it will show chages.

Say that a cis woman goes through menopause and then takes hormone supplements for it, that will show change, and change that is important to archeological research. One of the effects caused later in life after menopause is often osteoporosis, the body has a hard time taking in and processing calcium, so it leeches it from the bone, making bones more brittle and prone to breaking. Well, hormone supplements after menopause mitigate osteoporosis, so the bones are stronger, which you can tell from stuff like bone density, to less fractures in the bones in old age. So say you have a city of people you're excavating, and you can tell these people, city-wide, had stronger bones in old age, with less fractures, than most other cities. What this can tell you is that these people had systemic access to medical care that allowed them to live longer, which tell you A LOT about the people that you are looking at and the city they lived in (ya know, the primary reason for archaeological research).

if theres anything take takeway from this post let it be 1. Archeological aren't interested in your agab unless they are specifically looking for it and 2. HAND OFF MY BONES!!!!!

[zaahvi]

Hi!!! I would love to hear any and all hcs about the evanuris and the forgotten ones that you have!! If there's a lot, tell me your favorites :) please feel free to yap to your heart's content !!

ps I think your designs are so beautiful and thoughtful!! (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

hello!!! thank you sm that's so lovely!! i am so glad you like my designs and are interested in my hcs :)

i got two asks for these so i am splitting it between the two!! for the first i answered with my forgotten ones hcs, with a little mention of the story of elgar'nan and the emotion wiped from memory. for this one i'll share some of my evanuris hcs.

i do indeed have a lot so i'm going to focus on the most fleshed out headcanons i have rn which are for dirthamen and falon'din! who also happen to be my favs alongside ghilly <3 who is also here a bit. if anyone would like to hear about the others just ask but i'm restricting it to those two for this post because otherwise it would get super super long!

previous -> forgotten ones hcs

The Twins

dirthamen was the original spirit; a spirit of purpose, to be exact. he was asked by elgar'nan to join him in creating a body, but his soul was conflicted. part of him was fascinated by it and eager for the knowledge he could discover in his new form, while another part wanted to remain as a spirit so he could continue giving guidance to people without any limitations that a physical form would grant. in the end he decided on making a body, and when he did, the two conflicted parts of his spirit shattered the one into two:

one part, "dirthamen", remained as he previously was, and favoured the pursuit of knowledge, as well as sharing it & teaching others;

the other half became twisted into despair, and clung to sites of death - elves slain by the titans' wrath - to guide their departed spirits back to the fade. he became known as falon'din, friend of the dead.

Falon'Din

falon'din found purpose serving as one of the generals in the titan war. being able to feel deaths and departed souls, he was one to take safer measures to preserve more lives. because of this he also discovered that the titans' deaths severed their connections to the dwarves, allowing them to develop their own wills (another hc i have based on this codex). he convinced the other evanuris to spare the dwarves whenever they slayed the titans, as he felt their passing too.

after the war:

with his role as general now redundant, and no more departed spirits to guide back into the fade, falon'din finds himself purposeless. he succumbs to his despair.

dirthamen tries to help him by encouraging him to find another purpose, or find distractions & coping mechanisms, but all are short lived. despite this, falon'din still tries, with each attempt at distraction becoming more desperate than the last, and he falls into bad habits very quickly.

it continues until he comes to a realisation: that he was content while carrying out his purpose to guide souls unto death. but with no dead to watch over, he could not fulfill his purpose anymore... unless he made some dead himself.

corruption arc!!!

falon'din grew desperate, and began capturing servants and slaves of other gods. elgar'nan and andruil were first (he hated elgar'nan because he blamed him for dirthamen's spirit splitting, and just did not get along with andruil at all), and then a rebellion outpost of escaped slaves was hit. one by one, falon'din would sacrifice them in his temple, and guide their soul into the afterlife. of course, a lot of them weren't exactly thrilled about the person who just murdered them trying to be a gentle guardian of death, and their refusal to follow him just made him spiral even more.

the gods grew anxious as more slaves disappeared. they noticed falon’din acting differently and grew suspicious. each of them sent scouts to his temple, and only dirthamen’s returned, stating the others were captured by falon’din’s generals as sacrifices. 

the evanuris became more defensive of their people, and falon’din mainly stuck to the rebellion. it was only when a group of his soldiers overpowered mythal’s forces and captured her slaves did she push for the gods to finally act.

// and that is where solas' story from the temple of mythal comes from! i haven't yet thought of the conclusion - as in, what happens to falon'din after they kick his ass at the temple. he definitely undergoes some changes that make him more muted to his own feelings (maybe some alternate form of tranquility?), and leans into that mysterious guardian of death persona more. as my favourite quote at this point goes: "He would become death, but used to be more."

Dirthamen

my favourite evanuris <3 i have a lot of thoughts about him and he is involved in a lot of my headcanons. but i'll focus on the big one, which i've talked about before because it was a pre-veilguard theory i had! link here if you're curious.

dirthamen's spirit fragment came into the world eager to gain new knowledge, and that desire always stuck with him. it just grew more and more as he gained more power, status, and good ol' hubris. he would do anything to know all there is about the world.

the rebellion

my theory was that dirthamen sort of aided solas' rebellion.

so in my headcanon, dirthamen's spies came across the rebels' plans against him and traced them back to their hideout (if anyone could, it's the god of secrets and knowledge) and dirthamen showed up there and struck a truce with solas (who didn't really have much of a choice honestly). the trade was that any of dirthamen's subjects could join the rebellion (and thus become free) if they wished, and in exchange dirthamen would get any knowledge collected on the other evanuris. the other gods, except mythal because she was also lowkey helping solas sometimes, ofc did not know this - yet.

ghilly

the other part of that theory is that dirthamen helped ghilan'nain make her experimental monsters (rather he supplied the funding lmao). the idea is that the briney grey goop from the horror of hormak is some sort of executor shit -> executors were attacking dirthamen's temple -> he fought them off and found the grey goop. ghil was eager to experiment with it and dirthamen was all for it. in secret, he provided her with any materials and test subjects she wished for, yes even people (while being in a truce with the rebellion!!! this fuckin guy!!!)

when ghil was offered godhood in exchange for destroying her creations, dirthamen wanted her to refuse; to let her creations live. but ghil didn't want to; she was born a mortal elf and had worked so hard to get to where she was. they fell out. dirthamen did tell solas, who could not stop ghilan'nain but convinced her to spare some of the sea creatures, at least.

betrayal time

of course, eventually, the evanuris found out that dirthamen (& mythal) were helping the rebellion. (haven't decided how they found out but i like to think it was ghilly because. friends to rivals ough.) because dirthamen wasn't against using the blight and mythal was, they were willing to give him another chance... if he took solas' lyrium dagger from his hideout and hands it to the evanuris. dirthamen, inclined to side with the more powerful party out of self-preservation (and protection of everything that is his), does so, and that is how the evanuris are able to kill mythal.

the story continues as in lore after that. there is a bit more i have about dirthamen post-black city... but this post is long enough already. i hope it wasn't too rambly! :)

[lovecolibri]

Wait. You mean, Oliver saying he avoids the fandom was not about Buddie fans or the whole 911 fandom? Huh. Well, it's good to know he doesn't hate us like some people claim. Haha

Look. I Do Not Know That Man, so I'm not going to claim I know exactly what he was thinking or what exactly he meant when he said that, and I won't pretend he hasn't had run-ins before with fans.

But.

He shared a lot of fanart celebrating bi Buck, so we know he sees video edits, some that are so good he "cries in the shower" about them. (And if he's seeing generic 9-1-1 ones, surely Buddie ones posted by the same people will have come across his feed, no?) He shared a lot of fanart celebrating bi Buck, so we know he sees fanart, and again, a lot of those artists also post Buddie art which he likely would have seen. He and Ryan have both talked about some sort of nebulous knowledge of Buddie fic so at the very least he knows it exists.

That comment about separating from fandom was absolutely based partly on his previous experiences with fandom. He has deactivated or rarely posts on his public-facing SM acounts (he probably does in some measure want to look at and follow sports acounts (and maybe other content) without people being weird about it) and that happened ages ago, and was done to protect his own peace and mental health as he recognized what boundaries he needed for himself.

HOWEVER.

One look at the absolute train wreck that happened over the spring, summer, into the fall, and stuff we are still seeing now, is also ABSOLUTELY part of the reason he said what he said. It was VERY pointed about being directly involved with fans/fandom, and also served as a reminder that *whatever* is to come in 8b, people should not be turning to him to engage in the way that man did. He does not approve, never did, and does not comport himself the same way.

I do believe when the time comes to roll out the storyline they have been sitting on since s4, that he will share some supportive fanart again, and he and Ryan will like gush about all the things they've had to keep quite about for all these years. But that will be the extent, and no one should expect him to be out trying to rake in cash posting headcanons to the internet.

[victoriadallonfan]

Still doing trigger events? How about this:

Cormac didn’t have many friends growing up, but now, in college, he has a lot of friend groups. No best friend, though; he’s acutely aware that given the choice between him and someone else each friend in each group would pick someone else. He tells himself he’s okay with this, and tries to be content hanging out on the peripheries. Of course, if one of the people he considers a friend asks him for help, he drops everything, like a good friend. Trying to be a good friend to all these different groups, balancing when to see which group, he finds himself falling behind on his thesis and still not seeing everyone enough, creating stress and fomo in equal measure. But once the thesis is done, he invites all these groups out for dinner. All is going well until he starts choking on his food. He spends several minutes retching, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat, and when he finally throws it up, on his hands and knees, he realises it’s dead silent, and not a single person got up to help. Why not? Did they think he was joking? Were they too shocked? Doesn’t matter. Trigger.

Oh this was a tough one!

So the end point that crystalizes it all is that he doesn't understand WHY this happened, with a throughline of his being able to seemingly "understand" his place/position, and an iota of harm/danger.

I ultimately settled on Thinker-Stranger (sub Master).

Power:

Vassal (Thinker-Stranger, sub Master) - Vassal has the ability to devour the knowledge of anyone around him within 5 meters - though information must relate to himself - allowing him to gain all of said knowledge in a burst of data, with some leeway for adjacent matters involving him depending on Shard allowance. His targets do not immediately notice the missing information, a sort of face blindness occurring in retrospect, but far more broad in scope.

In return for this data drain, his power also sends in a package of information that cements Vassal as a trusted "underling", "subordinate", "acquaintance" etc etc. in all future interactions. This effect is incredibly subtle, and not something that Vassal can manipulate, often working in tandem with the face blindness to fill in the blanks as him always being "that guy".

Beyond range, Vassal's power has several weak points he works to cover: His power only works via line of sight, anyone who has already been under his power is now immune from future uses, and his targets' opinions on him will change based on his behavior if he isn't careful. It's very easy to go from friendly acquaintance to irritating guy you know but keep around, for example, which can be dangerous around certain capes.

In practice, Vassal was an on the ground member of the Watchdog branch of the Protectorate and then found himself as a member of Foresight, and not much has changed between then and now. He was rarely in costume beyond PR and meetings, preferring to use various disguise kits and aliases for his work.

Vassal is an infiltrator, someone who makes himself known on the fringes of a suspected criminal organization (often by using his power on people on those fringes to create a network) before slowly using his power one by one on greater people in power. He becomes a trusted lackey, an extra pair of eyes they might need, a friendly face in a bar they might go to for information, and when playing his cards right, an outright advisor.

It's a dangerous, precarious position, but he's good at his job and more often than not has the PRT and more colorful heroes swoop in on the information he delivers.

More dangerous than all of that, however, is his secret. He had used his own power on his "friends" the day that he triggered, learning everything they knew about him, and immediately regretted the aftermath. Guilt fed into his actions as he worked to make sure they had his undivided attention to make up for what he had done, using his position in the Protectorate to help with that, but he wouldn't lie and say he wasn't relieved that they all died during Gold Morning.

However, he knows that anyone learning about this is a quick way to ruin the true relationships he's made with his fellow heroes, and silently dreads the day someone with the right power or resources exposes him for what he did.

[lizardlicks]

a thing I noodled up based on @ablueeyedarcher's shifterverse AtLA AU setting. The only needed context is that Zuko's other side is a fire ferret, and Sokka's is a fucking huge wolf.

Ozai hasn't settled into his new.... living arrangements (temporary living arrangements, he keeps forcefully insisting in the privacy of his own mind) for very long. He can't sense the sun the way he used to, can't feel the crawl of time as measured by Agni's looping path, but there is at least enough light that falls through what passes as a window high up on the wall of his cell that he can make a close enough guess. His generous (traitorous) son had the decency to face a Child of Agni to the South. 

It's been a few days at least, maybe even a full week by his estimation, when he's jolted out of sleep by a distinct sound. Keys turning in the lock of his cell door. Ozai sits up, takes a moment to compose himself, smoothing down the plain prison robes he's been dumped into, then rises to meet his loyal subject.

"I was expecting you soon--" his greeting dies on his tongue. Ozai does not find Azula standing in the doorway. Neither is there a general, no dedicated council member or magistrate. Not even a lowly clerk. Instead he's surprised to find the Avatar's obnoxious Watertribe pet. He's leaning against the wall opposite the cell, the door of which stands wide open. The peasant casually flips the key around his fingers as he fixes Ozai with a cold, blank stare.

There's something in his other hand but Ozai can't tell what it is. Metal-- gold, twisted and misshapen. Ozai narrows his eyes. The Watertribe seems content to let him marinate in the uncertainty of their shared silence. Finally Ozai’s mounting intrigue gets the better of his judgment. 

“Did the Avatar send you to taunt me,” he asks.

"No." 

"My son?"

"No."

"Your chief, then."

"Just me.”

He's strangely reticent. A few days ago this boy wouldn't shut up the entire airship flight back to the Fire Nation capital. Now he stands and watches Ozai with an unnerving intensity. There's an open door and a wide gap of freedom between them. Ozai can see that the teen's leg is still well bandaged, though he's not aided by any crutch or cane at the moment. He could bolt and make a bid for freedom easily. This knowledge isn't comforting. Rather, it feels like a trap. He narrows his eyes at the boy and asks, "Why are you here?"

The watertribe answers him by throwing the scrap of metal down onto the floor between them. It lands in the sliver of morning light Agni has painted on the floor, and now Ozai can recognize it for what it is, despite its extremely crushed state: the animal cage that sat on his desk. It had sat on his desk for years and no one questioned it.

"Aang would be really sad if I culled you in your cage like you deserve, so I'm going to give you the fighting chance you never gave him. The way is clear. There's a weapon rack in the guard barracks." The Watertribe's lips peel back from his teeth in what could be called a smile if one was very generous and used the term loosely. Dawn light glints off his large, sharp eye teeth. Ozai feels fear hollowing out his stomach, and adrenaline hits his veins like ice water. "You have a twenty second head start. I suggest you run.”

[gacha-incels]

[Exclusive] "Namu Wiki, a Haven for Sexual Exploitation Content, Grows in Size… Remains in a Regulatory Blind Spot"

published Oct 16 2024

Kim Jang-gyeom, People Power Party Lawmaker, at National Assembly Audit Namu Wiki Headquarters in Paraguay, Generating Revenue in South Korea

this article is originally in Korean and has been mtl and edited into English here. it’s not going to be 1:1 but the basic info should be there, if you see any discrepancies though lmk and I’ll edit it asap. thanks everyone for your continued help and understanding.

During the pandemic, exposure and advertising revenue surged Affiliated 'Arca.Live' Faces Issues with Illegal Pornographic Content Distribution Selective Compliance with Korea Communications Standards Commission's Regulations

The participatory knowledge-sharing site "Namu Wiki" is expanding its reach through illegal content, yet remains in a regulatory blind spot, according to reports. Although its headquarters are located in Paraguay, Namu Wiki generates substantial revenue in South Korea while selectively responding to requests for cooperation from the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC).

According to data obtained by Kim Jang-gyeom, a People Power Party lawmaker and member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, Namu Wiki's combined PC and mobile advertising banner revenue approximately doubled during the pandemic. This increase was attributed to a significant rise in both exposure and click rates, which nearly doubled.

From April 2019 to October 2021, over a span of 2 years and 7 months, the estimated revenue generated by a single advertising banner on Namu Wiki amounted to 479.85 million KRW (approximately 359,000 USD). During this period, the total number of ad impressions reached 19.15 billion, while the total number of clicks was around 2.09 million.

The affiliated platform "Arca.Live" has also come under scrutiny due to issues with the distribution of illegal pornographic content. Despite these concerns, Namu Wiki’s response to regulatory oversight has been selective, responding to requests from the KCSC on a case-by-case basis.

This situation has raised concerns that the platform, while continuing to grow its user base and revenue, is not sufficiently addressing the illegal content problem. Calls are mounting for stronger regulatory measures to prevent illegal and harmful content from spreading on online platforms such as Namu Wiki and Arca.Live.

During this period, Namu Wiki's advertising revenue steadily increased each year: 112.05 million KRW (approximately 83,900 USD) in 2019, 177.1 million KRW (approximately 132,600 USD) in 2020, and 190.7 million KRW (approximately 142,700 USD) in 2021. Monthly revenue ranged from 7 million to 15 million KRW (approximately 5,200 to 11,200 USD) in 2019 but rose to around 20 million KRW (approximately 14,900 USD) per month by 2021. Considering that the last two months of 2021 were not included in these figures, the total advertising revenue for that year is estimated to have surpassed 200 million KRW (approximately 149,000 USD).

These figures represent the revenue generated from a single advertising banner on the Namu Wiki website. The platform's total advertising income is likely several times higher, possibly even reaching multiples of ten.

The number of ad impressions also saw significant annual growth: 3.7 billion in 2019, 7.6 billion in 2020, and another 7.6 billion in 2021. Monthly ad impressions were in the range of 400 to 500 million, but doubled to around 700 to 800 million in 2021. If the trend continued at a similar rate towards the end of the year, the total number of impressions in 2021 is expected to have exceeded 9 billion.

The number of ad clicks, which directly impacts revenue, also showed changes: 510,000 clicks in 2019, 850,000 in 2020, and 720,000 in 2021. In 2019, monthly clicks fluctuated significantly between 15,000 and 75,000. From 2020 onward, however, the numbers stabilized at a relatively higher level, ranging between 65,000 and 80,000 per month. Assuming a similar trend continued towards the end of 2021, the overall annual clicks are expected to be comparable to the previous year.

Since Namu Wiki’s headquarters are based in Paraguay, its exact revenue structure remains unclear. Nonetheless, the platform is known to generate income through advertising on its site as well as through its affiliated websites such as Arca.Live and Namu News.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), Namu Wiki's regulatory authority, has previously granted the platform a high degree of autonomy. Even when reports were made regarding inappropriate content or potential defamation on Namu Wiki, most cases resulted in "no action" decisions.

Meanwhile, issues have arisen with Arca.Live, a community site under Namu Wiki, which has been involved in the distribution of illegal pornographic content, including material featuring children and adolescents. Recently, it was confirmed that "deepfake" sexual exploitation content was being disseminated through Arca.Live. Although the site is fully serviced in Korean, harmful content remains accessible without age restrictions, facilitated by the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and unrestricted sign-ups.

Following criticisms, Namu Wiki removed some pornographic content from Arca.Live in August at the request of the KCSC. However, the platform has maintained a lukewarm stance, declining to participate in regulatory meetings with the commission. It is reported that communication between Namu Wiki, which is based overseas, and the KCSC primarily occurs via email.

This has led some to call for the KCSC to move beyond self-regulation and take a more active role in content review and regulation. There have been repeated concerns about the platform's lack of transparency regarding information sources and the absence of any measures against discriminatory or hateful content.

Lawmaker Kim Jang-gyeom criticized Namu Wiki, stating, "Namu Wiki has become a primary conduit for the spread of illegal content, including deepfake pornography and fake news. While it presents itself as a self-edited encyclopedia based on collective intelligence, it allows for malicious edits and stigmatization."

He further stressed the need for the government to implement strong countermeasures against the illegal and dangerous aspects associated with Namu Wiki.

[amuelia]

Hey Amulia i reall, like your Art

But Roose Bolton gives a less sinister apperance in your drawing and not the sociopath he is in the story

So my request is can you draw a young Roose Bolton who Experiments with fresh human skin , which would be Story-wise logical based of his comments on the Qualität of it from his older version in Reek III?

"Only Lady Barbrey, whom you would turn into a pair of boots … inferior boots. Human skin is not as tough as cowhide and will not wear as well. By the king’s decree you are now a Bolton. Try and act like one. Tales are told of you, Ramsay. I hear them everywhere. People fear you.” [...]

“You are mistaken. It is not good. No tales were ever told of me. Do you think I would be sitting here if it were otherwise? Your amusements are your own, I will not chide you on that count, but you must be more discreet. A peaceful land, a quiet people. That has always been my rule. Make it yours.” - Reek III, aDwD

There are some important aspects to the Roose - Ramsay dynamic:

a) The only reason Roose was interested in seeking out Ramsay is that he ran out of options, and Ramsay is the last person available who shares his Bolton blood. Personality-wise, he and Ramsay are very different.

b) Nevertheless, because Ramsay is born as a bastard of a peasant woman, Roose sees his blood as "tainted", repeatedly refers to it like that, and blames it for Ramsays bad nature

"Perhaps such service might atone in some small measure for whatever crimes his bastard blood has led him to commit." He shrugged. "Or not. When the war is done, His Grace must weigh and judge. By then I hope to have a trueborn son by Lady Walda." - Catelyn VI, aSoS

c) Ramsay is a peasant's son, didn't grow up at the Dreadfort, and did not have a nobleborn's education. He got raised by his servant Reek and his mother. Most of his "education" appears to be what these two taught him.

“Bulls are strong. Bears. I have seen my bastard fight. He is not entirely to blame. Reek was his tutor, the first Reek, and Reek was never trained at arms. Ramsay is ferocious, I will grant you, but he swings that sword like a butcher hacking meat.” - Reek III, aDwD

"The woman disobeyed me, though. You see what Ramsay is. She made him, her and Reek, always whispering in his ear about his rights. He should have been content to grind corn. Does he truly think that he can ever rule the north?" - Reek III, aDwD

d) Roose looks down on lowborn people, and knows keenly about the differences between nobles and commoners.

"—my lord, when you should have said m'lord. Your tongue betrays your birth with every word you say. If you want to sound a proper peasant, say it as if you had mud in your mouth, or were too stupid to realize it was two words, not just one." - Reek III

In the entire Reek III chapter you can see Roose being exasperated with Ramsay and mocking his bad/impulsive decisionmaking and lack of know-how around navigating complex political situations.

The meaning of the human boots line becomes pretty clear when you look at the line that follows directly after:

Human skin is not as tough as cowhide and will not wear as well. By the king’s decree you are now a Bolton. Try and act like one.

Like, any peasant can try out making boots out of human skin and then notice they don't work, but a real noble would not even attempt this in the first place because they would have teachers and servants that can inform them. Anyone with a real noble Bolton upbringing would have heard a story about a Bolton wearing human skin in a history lesson, ask the maester if that is actually possible, and get taught that it is not as tough as cowhide. Ramsay is lacking even knowledge as basic as that.

Ramsay is not being mocked for merely lacking experience, he is being mocked for his entire existence: a baseborn rube whose only reference for "being a Bolton" is peasant stories and legends.

The flayed man was the sigil of House Bolton, Theon knew; ages past, certain of their lords had gone so far as to cloak themselves in the skins of dead enemies. A number of Starks had ended thus. Supposedly all that had stopped a thousand years ago, when the Boltons had bent their knees to Winterfell. Or so they say, but old ways die hard, as well I know. - Theon IV, aCoK

Roose made a face, as if the ale he was sipping had suddenly gone sour. “There are times you make me wonder if you truly are my seed. My forebears were many things, but never fools. No, be quiet now, I have heard enough. - Reek III, aDwD

They hunt together, the Bastard and this Reek, and not for deer. I've heard tales, things I can scarce believe, even of a Bolton. - Bran II, aCoK

Ramsay's persona appears completely informed by northern legends about the Boltons; scary stories about flaying people and wearing their skins which were likely all he had growing up to model himself after. Ramsay thinks fear and cruelty makes him respected, and where Roose acts polite and lordly in public, Ramsay fully embraces ancient/mythical customs like using flaying as threats and ferocious displays.

Jon saw no reason not to tell him. "Moat Cailin is taken. The flayed corpses of the ironmen have been nailed to posts along the kingsroad." - Jon VI, aDwD

Belthasar Bolton's Pink Pavilion made from the flayed skins of a hundred Sistermen... - tWoIaF

"Save me the Freys," the Bastard was shouting as the flames roared upward, "and burn the rest. Burn it, burn it all." - Theon VI, aCoK

King Royce Bolton, Second of His Name, is said to have taken and burned Winterfell itself; his namesake and descendant Royce IV (remembered by history as Royce Redarm, for his habit of plunging his arm into the bellies of captive foes to pull out their entrails with his bare hand) did the same three centuries later. - tWoiaF

The books always play coy about just how much of the "old customs" are still present in the Boltons and it is generally part of their stereotype and what people will rumour about; however it is clear that by the time of the modern story, it is NOT what they present as their public image.

Eddard Stark had never had any reason to complain of the Lord of the Dreadfort, so far as Jon knew, but even so he had never trusted him, with his whispery voice and his pale, pale eyes. - Jon VII, aDwD

Domeric, who is a trueborn Bolton, gets a good education like any other nobleborn, and is said to have enjoyed reading history books and to have the potential to be a good jouster (both kind of serving as contrast to Ramsay). Roose praises him for those "normal" traits.

"For the moment. I had another, once. Domeric. A quiet boy, but most accomplished. He served four years as Lady Dustin's page, and three in the Vale as a squire to Lord Redfort. He played the high harp, read histories, and rode like the wind. [...] Redfort said he showed great promise in the lists. A great jouster must be a great horseman first." - Reek III, aDwD

Roose is for sure guilty of many crimes (he even admits to rape on page) that he could be arrested for, however, the point of the human boots is not to draw a parallel between Ramsay's and Roose's hobbies, but rather, to illustrate their differences. Perhaps the Dreadfort still tortures by flaying (though Roose, as most lords, generally delegates such work; see here, here and here), or has the rumoured room of human skins, or any such things; but here Roose specifically mocks Ramsay for his bad education and lack of cultural knowledge. Roose would not have to "experiment" as Ramsay does; he would be taught by his father and teachers in the ways of his house, and emerge a man highly educated and skilled.