#tertiary function

[scorittanius]

bored, might lorepost about male harpies and their roles within a flock / interspecies clan later

[calyxcurl]

proud to be the (so far) 0.5% of people who use a phone with a smart stylus

if you use multiple, pick the one you use the most, not your preferred one.

[normcore-tertiary-character]

help, the absolutely unhinged tommy discourse is back on my for you page

[mistype360]

mbti tertiary functions (boredom functions)

INFJ/ISFJ: true crime, scrolling through wikipedia for hours, looking up riddles, scrolling through "onlyjayyus" tiktok, has a huge duolingo streak

ENFJ/ENTJ: uses se to support te/fe ambitions (sports, performing arts, community service, cleaning)

ESFJ/ESTJ: fantasizing, vision boards on pinterest, adding items to amazon wishlist, makes a bucket list for the year,

ESTP/ENTP: touches grass, hangs our with friends, class clown, watches reality tv, starts drama for no reason, debates on the internet (or fights irl if you're an estp 👀)

ESFP/ENFP: random urge to organize computer, random internet debates, creates new playlists, watches video essays about random topics, argues with friends about either stupid or smart things

INFP/INTP: reminisces about things. procrastinates. overthinking past conversations in the shower. collects cool rocks. photography. listens to the same song over and over again.

ISFP/ISTP: planning and...stuff. zodiac, psuedoscience, etc. strategic/world building video games, has a whole fictional world planned out in their head.

INTJ/ISTJ: "write in their feelings diary" 💀 IM SORRY, introspection, often known as super "self aware" as a result, watches nostalgic or comfort movies

[drdemonprince]

Hi! I just wanted to hand something off to you. I was the one who asked about self-harm, cutting in my case, as a positive expression of sexuality (though I used sexuality as shorthand for what I consider a tertiary feeling to traditional sexuality, something that I think more closely describes my relationship to cutting as an asexual person, but that's a tangent). Anyway, your exceptionally open-minded reply bolstered my confidence, like, a lot. It motivated me to start pulling together relevant resources with help from other users in the Death Panel discord server. The first thing I was given back was a piece which immediately changed my life, and I wanted to share it. More specifically, I've always found something bothersome about the concept of "harm reduction" as a keystone in the topic of self-harm; primarily that it leaves open the "rhetorically" undeniable assertion that the ultimate reduction in harm would be abstinence of that harm in its entirety. I wanted to point especially at the concept presented in this article which concerns the definitive delineation of harm. I've tried like 4 times now to summarize the point made, but I cannot in a way which is as satisfying as the piece itself: https://pasleciel.substack.com/p/measure-once-cut-twice-in-defense Thank you again, because your act of understanding has genuinely saved my life. I don't think I'd have felt like I had a leg to stand on without your reply.

Thanks for sharing that link, I will check it out! I'm really glad you messaged and glad that my reply was helpful to you. I think "harm reduction" does kinda present the stigmatized act as one that does still cause some harm -- and in presenting it that way, it tries to convince the skeptical that permitting a behavior is better than attempting to ban or control it because acceptance allows that harm to be mitigated or worked around. That position still presents the behavior as a thing to be permitted or tolerated by others rather than the individual's right and sole business no matter what. The harm reductionist model came into being in order to push back against forced abstinence, forced institutionalization, and forced treatment -- the norm was already to rob the person engaging in the behavior of their autonomy by default, and so an argument for giving that autonomy back kinda had to be made. But abandoning that sort of thinking entirely and abandoning clinical judgements of excessiveness or harm is the logical next step.

If we continue trying to drag more behaviors under the banner of the "socially sanctioned" one by one -- as the piece you linked puts it -- instead of doing away with the power of social sanctions entirely, then we don't really get very far. We keep having to prove that the behavior has some prosocial and positive health benefit. I've always favored total libertarian anarchy instead. A person should be free to remove body parts, cause themselves disability, scar or mutilate themselves, change the shape of their body, change their body's functionality etc as they see fit because that's theirs to decide, and anything less means that people have the authority to judge whether their reasons are "good" enough (which usually turns into demanding that the person prove that the changes they want will make them more valuable to somebody else).

All said, I'm really glad you find cutting enjoyable and meaningful, and I brought up the example to my disability ethics class at the medical school this week thanks to you.

[eaglet-if]

Орлёнок (Eaglet)

Орлёнок (Eaglet) is an interactive story set in a country similar to 1910s-1920s Russia. You're a member of the overthrown Imperial Family, shaping the future of the Empire by virtue of arms.

It aims to be equal parts role-playing, dress-up and strategy game, with an emphasis on romance.

Although there will be no explicit nsfw scenes, it does include graphic descriptions of the horrors of war as well as personal tragedies, so please refer to the content warnings at the end of this post.

(as the project is still a wip, this overview is somewhat incomplete and will be gradually updated in tandem with the progress of writing)

DEMO: here (v0.0.2a, 21.06.2024)

Forum post: here

Number Spelling Function (IF writer resource): here

Secondary project: @a-dying-wish-if Tertiary (mini-)project: @perceptron-failure-if Quaternary project: [redacted]

The Empire of Nevetskiya - old, proud, and utterly dilapidated. While the Industrial Revolution has enabled other Monarchies - after a few quickly suppressed workers' uprisings - to become modern colonialist superpowers, exerting their influence all over the world, Nevetskiya is still overwhelmingly agrarian, and barely holding onto its outlying territories acquired in golden times long past.

Your Father Emperor, while ruling with an iron fist and unquestionable authority over the common people, is completely dependent on the shaky loyalty of the High Nobility, who frustrate any attempt to modernize the economy or administration, out of fear upstart merchants might, in time, replace the old Aristocracy.

When a sloppily executed coup d'etat eventually leaves your family dead and you a refugee, it becomes time you grab the reins of your destiny and amass an army to liberate and rebuild the country in the way you envision.

(this is meant to be a concise overview - a more exiting and detailed description of features can be found in the offical Interest Check Thread post)

extensive character customization

extensive army customization - both in a strategy and in a dress-up game sense

focus on story over stats - success is determined on the battlefield, not by your character's personality

five distinct regions with a wide cast of characters

complex personality system - for example, how your character actually feels and what they show to the world are separate things

several ways to rule - will you become a traditional Monarch, a Military Dictator, a democratically elected Head-of-State, or maybe proclaim yourself a Living Saint?

choose how much modernization is needed - will you allow women to bear arms, at the cost of offending the traditionalist nobles? Introduce tanks at the cost of foreign powers gaining influence?

how far will you go for victory? A political police, mass executions and the use of special types of weaponry might give you an edge, but is your vision really worth it?

a total of ten romanceable characters

(this naturally might contain slight spoilers)

The ROs

★ Yakov Tymofiyevich Sokolovskiy / Liliya Tymofiyevna Sokolovskaya ★

The Intelligence Director (gender-selectable)

One of your four original companions. As a member of the High Nobility, you've met them before - maybe you've even been childhood friends?

But even if you know them, it's hard to tell what they're truly like, as they seem to switch personalities effortlessly depending on the situation.

Their work is a mystery to seemingly everyone, but they always get results: as long as you let them act freely, no enemy agent has any chance to harm you or your cause.

Age: mid-20s

★ Semyon Ivanovich Orlov / Selena Ivanovna Orlova ★

The Cavalry Officer (gender-selectable)

One of your four original companions. A war hero and renowned expert when it comes to horses, the only reason they were not yet promoted to a lofty position in the War Ministry is their pragmatic approach to new developments, which hasn't mixed well with the typically very traditionalist views of the old Imperial officer corps.

Possessing a subdued but strong charisma and deeply respected by their soldiers as a wise parent figure, they are a solid pillar of support to you, and will reliably get things done - though some people might consider the cost for that too high sometimes.

Age: early 30s

★ Mikhail Pavlovich Voronin / Marina Pavlovna Voronina ★

The Young Visionary (gender-selectable)

One of your four original companions. They shot up through the ranks by impressing the War Ministry with bold new ideas for utilizing modern technologies and are hailed as a genius by many - though the older officers dismiss them as a dreamer at best and incompetent fool at worst.

With you, they hope to have found someone who'll appreciate their visions for the future - plus, their relative eccentrism has left them in dire need of a friend.

Their technical expertise might just prove to be the key to your success - if you can secure the foreign support needed to get the modern equipment needed to utilize it.

Age: early 20s

★ Leon Isayev / Leah Isayeva ★

The Noble Academic (gender-selectable)

One of your four original companions. Born to wealthy nobles, they graduated the Imperial Officer Academy with perfect grades, and feel honour-bound to your family.

They were the one to gather your initial force of loyalists and act as your primary advisor. But their loyalty is to the Imperial system, with you just a symbolic representative - can you convince them that you and your vision deserve their loyalty beyond that?

Age: late 20s

★ 'Little' Semyon/Selena Shvets ★

The Hero (gender-selectable)

A young cavalry officer and leader of your Southern Forces. A protegé of the "other" Semyon/Selena, they lack their cynical pragmatism, but make up for it with a firm belief in the triumph of a better world.

Some may call their optimism naive, and their personality has been mockingly compared to a Golden Retriever, but they have proven time and time again that underestimating them on the battlefield results in a crushing defeat.

Age: early 20s

★ Nikola ★

The Rebel (nb)

Leading an anti-authoritarian peasant uprising in the West, Nikola is more likely to be your enemy than your ally - but they don't seem to care enough about politics to refrain from flirting with you, so... there might be a basis of mutual understanding there?

Their personality is pretty sweet, at least - if you ignore the fact they'll cheerfully gun down prisoners if they feel like it.

Age: mid-20s

★ Rakhmil/Rakhilya Feldman ★

The Logistician (gender-selectable)

A member of the Western Rebel Army and best friend of Nikola's adoptive sibling, they've poured their soul (and countless nights without any sleep) into somehow maintaining the rebels' supply network in the face of their rapidly swelling numbers.

Unhappy with Nikola's carefree attitude, they might end up aligning with you instead in order to save their cause.

Age: late 20s

★ Arseniy Matveyevich Lebedev / Amaliya Matveyevna Lebedeva ★

The Enemy (gender-selectable)

Grand Duke Lebedev, the main leader of the Aristocrat faction, stood by and watched when your family was executed. Arseniy/Amaliya is their younger sibling, and serves as military commander of his personal forces that aid several warlords in their efforts to establish their own petty kingdoms.

But they're already uncomfortable with their brother's methods, and if you can convince them that you're not actually "an incompetent little puppet who's trying to ruin the country out of arrogant delusions", they might become a very valuable ally.

Age: mid-20s

★ Lyudmila Demyanovna Naumova ★ (f)

A minor noble who reluctantly turned into a Warlord in order to protect her territory and her people. All she wants is peace - but she'll not hesitate to fight if she believes it necessary.

Unfortunately, you can't just ignore her - all must choose a side in this war - but you have options how to deal with her. Will you subdue her by force? Or fall back on the age-old option of political marriage to secure an alliance?

Age: late 20s

★ Jan/Jana Novotný ★ (gender-selectable, under certain circumstances)

A member of your Personal Guard who has distinguished themself and eventually rises to become its commander. Others might betray or doubt you, but Novotný only cares about one thing - your continued, unharmed existence.

And they will go to any lengths to guarantee it.

Age: mid-20s

CONTENT WARNINGS

...will be added as they become relevant in the demo.

[lizardthelizard]

i'm a really firm believer that one of the biggest reasons as to why the (original) red dwarf US pilot failed so badly (amongst, let's face it, a litany of other reasons) is because they seemed to just forget that Rimmer is supposed to be one of the two main protagonists. He has less than 10 minutes of total screentime (and a lot of that time is spent as a tertiary character hanging around with Lister and Kryten) vs about 17 minutes of screentime in 'The End'.

And, I completely understand that they were trying to squeeze Kryten into a pilot that he was never originally a part of, and that they would ultimately have to cut down pre-existing scenes in order to achieve that, but...trimming down Lister and Rimmer's opening scene from 5 minutes to a minute and a half has a massive, negative impact on both Rimmer and Lister's dynamic and also each individual character respectively, particularly Rimmer, who doesn't get the chance to make up for the lost screen time elsewhere. Let's not even mention how they scrapped Rimmer's exam scene completely.

To me, it just feels like such a fundamental misunderstanding of what made the show so good in the first place. YES Lister and Kryten have a great dynamic, YES Lister and Cat have a great dynamic, but Lister and Rimmer's dynamic is integral to both the plot and to each character individually. Rimmer in the US pilot is forgettable and functionally useless. We don't really see enough of him to get a feel for his character or proper glimpse into his relationship with Lister. So, when he's brought back as a hologram and Lister and Holly roll their eyes about it, their disdain doesn't even feel justified. Sure, the version of Rimmer we've seen in this pilot isn't particularly likeable I guess, but we don't even know him well enough to really make that decision as an audience. Rimmer in 'The End'? There's already such a good feel for his character and we know exactly what his relationship with Lister is like and so we know exactly why Lister is dreading Rimmer's return as a hologram specifically.

It just feels bizarre to me that they messed up one of their main characters as badly as they did. Even if they'd managed to fix the countless other issues that the US pilot carried, it still wouldn't have worked when you've completely messed up your main character's foil.

[dangermousie]

The best cdrama you probably haven't watched - Tribes and Empires Storm of Prophecy

Most of my airing cdramas are ending within the week and unless we get a lot of other good replacements, it means time to rewatch a favorite.

And this favorite? The sprawling, epic fantasy Tribes and Empires Storm of Prophecy. Tribes has a huge cast (one of criticisms I've seen leveled at it - but that is why I love it; it's epic in every sense of the world), but it centers around three very different men - Shaofeng Heye (Zhou Yiwei), a son of a murdered barbarian chief who will eventually lead the rebellion that tries to topple the empire, Muyun Sheng (Huang Xuan), a disregarded prince who is half-fae and whose mother was supposedly the emperor's great love who he mourns (the truth is so much darker and more complicated) and Muru Hanjiang (Shawn Dou), the cursed son of the chief general who was abandoned to live on the street due to prophecy. Sometimes they are allies, sometimes enemies, sometimes both at once.

Despite the huge budget, it was not a hit either in China or internationally - people complained about the slow pace, the large cast and the lack of ending (the drama is 70+ eps and tells only half the story.) I loved every second of it. I grew up reading Russian novels which were also sprawling, with a huge cast, deliberate pace and often lack of resolution at the end. Perhaps that is why the one audience where I think it was a hit was the Russian-speaking cdrama fandom (all the MVs I can find, btw, are made by Russian speakers.)

(The above is a gorgeous general MV)

Why do I love it? Other than the amazing visuals (it's directed by Cao Dun, all of whose dramas are genuinely stunning looking), there is the fact that it really feels like a window in a whole other world - epic and a little alien, complex, full of horror and beauty.

And there are the characters and the narrative. Because this drama does not hurry, it's not only the mains who get fleshed out - secondary and even tertiary characters are fully-fledged. Two of my favorite characters are emperor and empress - two intense monsters locked in an emotional cage with each other, clawing at others and themselves, as bystanders die.

This is a dark dark world - made before the censorship tightening up, there is none of that "tireless emperor ceaselessly working for the people" nonsense or even other character spouting about working for the greater good. The emperor and most of the imperial family are monsters, grasping for power, lives of people as ants to them. Some characters do have ideals but they are not glib or easy or fit within modern parameters. This is a narrative that starts with Shaofeng Heye's entire tribe being wiped out because of an act of kindness by a boy (and his tribe and other tribes are locked into a life death struggle for resources perpetually.) Blind loyalty to the crown is not viewed as a virtue - Muru Hanjiang's father is a monster for throwing his infant to die due to a prophecy that states he's a threat to the throne.

(another general MV)

Also, me being me, there are ships. There are a bunch, but my favorite is Muru Hanjiang x Su Yuning. She's a minor noblewoman picked to be a crown princess because her horoscope says that whoever she marries will be the ruler (interestingly, MHJ's prophecy that upended his life is that he will end the rule of the Muyun dynasty - clearly they are meant to marry at some point, heh) and she has no choice about it. Their love is glorious and largely unspoken and kinda doomed; the way the drama ends with her ditching literally EVERYTHING and following him and his clan to horrifying exile that might result in death (and even as he still tries to drive her away to protect her, she knows what he's doing and vows to wait for him) is glorious.

This MV for them is amazing:

I also loved Shaofeng Heye and Princess Muyun Yan Shuang. Not functional in the least but so hot!

(The third main OTP of the prince x spirit, I liked but not as much as these two.)

Anyway, this is my next rewatch.

[bat-the-misfit]

eight or nine years old me playing this song all the time on dance dance revolution wtf

[flapmemelord]

THANK you @onelastskip for that suggestion.............. might be a little late but.... here's why I think ESFP fits Elio to a T (and I can't wait to see how his shortcomings get explored especially in regards to functions...) (it delves with a few hcs, but addresses spring semester and stuff adressed in blank-house asks)

SO !!! ESFP (Se-Fi-Te-Ni) Elio right? Dominant Se makes a lot of sense for Elio. Se is all about getting sensory enjoyment out of life. He likes expressing himself through his physicality (and is good at it), sports in part but not only. He's known for participating in more than a few events thrown by the SGB (to the point of having a nickname because of his infamous way of filling out forms / to the point deja said the wall climbing event was for him). Elio is very open to new situations and quick to say yes if invited, an on-the-whim kind of guy and liking it that way. He can come off as a showoff (cue him destroying everyone in bar holding spring festival game and/or challenging high confidence mcs) superficial ("I didn't know people could argue so much about a prize" / he feels like he has to justify himself and tells Deja he has layers when confronted about his music tastes) or comes off as childish (quick to guilttrip if he likes mc enough, pouts) which are traits Se doms are likely to be labeled as. Misuse of Se might include relying too much on immediate feedback and / or external stimulation for satisfaction, being careless with decisions or relationships (which is what I'm working on for Elilo (Elio/Lorelei)) It can also mean having no focus or defined goals (lack / misuse of Ni) which lead to insecurity (which i could see being explored on the meager chance Elio is the breakup route and he goes back home)

I believe Ni (intuitive connections, reflection on meaning and implications, generating visions of the future...) grip in Elio shows up in how clingy he is, probably as a consequence of some form of paranoia (misuse of Ni) (Bottom stack functions tend to be used as defense mechanisms) (Ni grip might come off as the person acting out of character, in here, him being so suddenly hit by a lack of confidence, and needing to be reassured through that clinginess) The best guess I can do right now is he has issues around emotional permanence, but it's a shot in the dark. Well, at least Ni grip in Se doms can show up as looking for meaning and/or purpose but in the wrong places.

Elio is shown as someone that will avoid confrontation and is described as one who holds grievances. There's failure, I feel, from his part to resolve negative feelings which push him to suppress. It looks like a case of Fi failing him. Despite that he's mostly empathetic, sensitive and displays emotional intelligence (has signs of healthy Fi expression) (he's good at calming down a situation where tension arises, cue mc and percy not getting along - and immediatly vouching for him, or easing down the discussion if mc calls him and percy out for getting distracted in the study room event).

Tertiary Te (imposes order and is about efficient behavior, pushes to make effective decisions based on data) loop is what happens when there's Auxiliary Fi resistance. Because Fi is the need for moral integrity and self acceptance, immature ExFPs can use Te to distance from it. It can show up as burying negative feelings under coarse expressions of power (like Elio did in the breakup!percy comic I made), self-image problems or insecurity (which Elio display). The grievance thing makes me think Elio might show to be quite vindictive which is another sign of Te loop. I personally hc he's the possessive LI, which would align with the fact being territorial / domineering is a common unhealthy tertiary Te trait.

Funnily I think his reading of Reynah can both be read as an expression healthy Fi yet a Te loop tendency. It's both him understanding where people could not like her (getting her flaws, her shortcomings) but it's also him believing critical judgement to be objective. There's the expectation in what he says for Reynah to meet him on his ground (for her to talk) the way Deja does, when that's not necessarily how getting closer to Reynah has to go.

Next I'll make both Percy and Rhys' type analysis since they're both ISTP

[writingquestionsanswered]

i'm writing a fantasy book and i have a lot of sort of nameless guards and soldiers in it. like i have these higher ranking soldiers who are named and relevant and they all have a team of nameless guards with them pretty much always. in my first draft i've often found that it gets kind of annoying when i constantly have to repeat "one of the guards" and "the other guard" and "the remaining guard" and phrases like that. at the same time i don't want to start giving them all names since they're not that relevant individually and it's a fantasy so there's already some words and names to remember so i don't want to bog it down with ones that aren't all that important. sorry this is so long but essentially do you have any advice or ideas on how to differentiate between nameless guards without being too repetitive and without introducing a bunch of new names?

Repetitive Reference of Background Character Group

"Background characters" (aka "tertiary characters") are a fundamental part of storytelling. They populate the worlds of our stories, giving them depth and authenticity, and often they perform necessary but minor functions like driving our character's bus, locking their cell door in a dungeon, or delivering drinks to their table with a timely joke during an awkward dinner date.

When we have recurring background characters, such as a nameless mob of guards or lackeys surrounding a more important character, it can feel like they're being overused... especially when you have to use a generalized term like "the guard" to refer to them all.

There are a few things you can do to dial it back, but first, here's an example paragraph we can play with:

"Bring us the prisoner," Sir Bellamy said, gesturing to one of the guards. A trio of guards left the room and returned a moment later with Lord Peckham in tow. He was forced to kneel, and Sir Bellamy responded with a sneering grin before waving the guards away. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked, delighted when he saw Lord Peckham shiver with fear. Several guards pointed and snickered. One of the guards nudged him with the toe of his boot. "Answer 'im already!" "I... I confess... I do not know." A few of the guards hissed in disbelief. "Truly?" Sir Bellamy asked, his voice dazzling with amusement as he traded looks with the head of his guard. "Could you really be so unaware of the goings on in your own household?" The guard to Lord Peckham's right slapped the back of his head to prompt him to answer. "I do not know of what you speak," he answered, voice shaking.

This example features seven references to the background guard group, which is a lot. Let's see what we can do with that...

1 - Try to Eliminate Some Uses - When we have a recurring group of background characters, it can be tempting to constantly refer to them when they're on the page. We want to remind the reader they are there, but this often translates in a lot of unnecessary references. So, the first thing you'll want to do is see if you can go through and eliminate some of the uses. For example:

"Bring us the prisoner," Sir Bellamy said, gesturing to one of the guards. A trio of guards left the room and returned a moment later with Lord Peckham in tow. He was forced to kneel, and Sir Bellamy responded with a sneering grin before waving the guards away.

We can easily eliminate two of the three references here. If a trio of guards leaves the room when Bellamy says, "Bring us the prisoner," it's not necessary to clarify that this question is directed to the guards. If he says, "Bring us the prisoner," and a trio of guards leaves the room and returns a moment later with said prisoner, it's obvious that's who the order was directed toward. Also, waving the guards away is a throw away action. It doesn't accomplish anything important because it doesn't really matter where the guards are in relation to Lord Bellamy in this scene. And, it's also mentioned later that there are guards on either side of him, so it's a confusing action anyway.

2 - Don't Be Afraid of Naming the Occasional Background Character - While we never want to go overboard with characters in a story, it's really more that we don't want to load up our story with unnecessary characters. But if you have a recurring background character, such as a teacher, a few people in a group of high school friends, or a few soldiers in a group of city guards, it actually works to your benefit to give two or three proper names. Not only does this cut down on the generalized references, but it also adds depth and authenticity to the group instead of letting them be a completely nameless, faceless mass of people. And when these characters are named because they occasionally say or do things that matter, they're not unnecessary. They serve a purpose. And this is fairly common in genre fiction, especially in fantasy. For example, there are over 400 named characters in George R.R. Martin's book A Game of Thrones. Many of these characters are just background folks who occasionally say or do things that matter in the story.

So, back to our example, we have the following two lines:

One of the guards nudged him with the toe of his boot. "Answer 'im already!"

And

Sir Bellamy asked, his voice dazzling with amusement as he traded looks with the head of his guard.

What if we gave the head of guard a name? Let's call him Sir Hugh.

So, now it is Sir Hugh who nudged the prisoner with his boot, and who Sir Bellamy trades a look with.

3 - Adopt a Few Sensory Nicknames - In addition to actually naming two or three people in the group, you can give one or two a "sensory name," or in other words a name that relates to a sensory feature about them (how they look, sound, smell, etc.) as a way of helping differentiate a character without actually naming them. So, let's say that among Sir Bellamy's guards there's strapping redhead, so let's refer to him as "Big Red." Since this nickname comes with mental imagery, it's easy to remember.

Now, let's re-write the excerpt using all of the above:

"Bring us the prisoner," Sir Bellamy boomed. A trio of guards left the room and returned a moment later with Lord Peckham in tow. He was forced to kneel, and Sir Bellamy responded with a sneering grin. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked, delighted when he saw Lord Peckham shiver with fear. Several guards pointed and snickered. Sir Hugh nudged him with the toe of his boot. "Answer 'im already!" "I... I confess... I do not know." A few of the guards hissed in disbelief. "Truly?" Sir Bellamy asked, his voice dazzling with amusement as he traded looks with Sir Hugh. "Could you really be so unaware of the goings on in your own household?" Big Red slapped the back of Lord Peckham's head to prompt him to answer. "I do not know of what you speak," he answered, voice shaking.

Five of seven instances of "the guard" have been eliminated.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[guided-by-the-skies]

FRIDAY 13TH | MBTI AND FEAR SPECIAL

🦇 Ni types - scary to other types due to 'uncanny valley' effect. Hard to read due to dominant introverted function

🦇 EXXJ tend to get 'addicted' to fear. Often a counterphobic 6 in the enneagram. Seek out things that scare them as a way of processing it

🦇 INxJ by far the most likely to accidentally go down the conspiracy rabbit hole. May end up scaring themselves or spiral into paranoia

🦇 INxJ also tend to have a complex and byzantine inner world that can seem dark and scary to some, especially when the subconscious is unintegrated

🦇 xSTP can appear 'fearless' and even appear like a psychopath/sociopath because of this, especially to F types. Yet in reality a healthy one tends to have unusual or unexpected fears that they may keep hidden due to fear of judgement

🦇 Inferior or tertiary Fe can struggle with comforting others when scared. May feel VERY awkward and not know what so say

🦇 xNTx can struggle when there is not enough to keep their brain occupied. Instead it can turn to random fears and worries. ENTP in particular can benefit from having a challenging enough life so they don't spiral into fear Therefore like xSTP types they can do well as an emergency responder or in similar jobs

🦇 INTP make AMAZING horror writers, tends to be classic visceral horror like stephen king. Meanwhile INTJ can make a great psychological horror/thriller writer. INFJ can do psychological horror AND tug at your heartstrings. They are also most likely to come up with the most original/fresh/warped/twisted takes where you then wonder 'how does your mind come up with that?'

🦇 xNFP most likely to be disturbed by content they see online, followed by INxJ, who are often more sensitive than they appear

[plural-rambles]

we actually have a question for you/SOA (no pressure to answer if this is overstepping!)

we’ve seen some of y’all use the term primary, and none of us have seen that term before. is that specific to you? or a community term?

either way we are autstic about both systems and being a system, so please give as thorough of an answer as your willing to!

thanks c:

Not oversteppin at all :]

It was talked about in this post already

Primary, alongside Secondary and Tertiary, is something we came to ourselves. Primary is the one in control of the body, filling the collective conscience, Secondary is whoever is accompanying the one in Primary, Tertiary is everyone else.

When the other post was made, we had a frontspace, but it has since been dissolved and we don't use it anymore. Primary and Secondary function the same though. Only thing that changed is that we now roam the innerworld and can easily access anyone by request. But it's still the same control and company, and still most easily passed with a kiss.

Now that frontspace is dissolved, conscious and co-con would apply to us better, but we still like our Primary/Secondary dichotomy. Tertiary isn't really necessary though, that was 'other folks in frontspace not involved in frontin' but now it would be literally the entire system minus usually 2-4 people.

And handshake on bein Autistic about plurality <3

-- Fallout || he/it/rot/nuke+

[internetgiraffekid1673]

KittyBella AU Beta Couple TieBreaker Poll

Thanks so much to everybody who voted in the first poll, but now we have a tie!

If you're new here and can't be bothered to read the first post, I'm developing a KittyBella AU where AdriNino replaces DJWifi as "earlygame couple with their shit together," but I intend for Zoe and Alya to get together and have an identity reveal much earlier, and generally be more functional than Adrienette. To balance the universe, we need a lategame disaster ship. This is the tiebreaker poll

Before you vote, do remember that while Chloe and Marinette will both be secondary characters (as opposed to Zoe and Alya being the main characters), Kagami will most likely be a tertiary character. The results of this poll may change that!

Also, keep in mind that Kagaminette's shipmate is most likely Chlobrina, while Chlonette's shipmate is most likely Lukabrina.

[decepti-thots]

🔥megatron?

Megatron being a "point one percenter" is. Stupid. On the one hand this is because I find that entire weird tertiary element pretty stupid full stop- I have never understood the point of it, since anything it does ostensibly explain is already explained by outliers or whatever, and it goes basically nowhere thematically at any point? Like, hand on heart, can anyone give a serious answer as to why this new element was introduced, in terms of actual plot function, without it being something the concept of outliers already covers (so, Minimus being a loadbearer). But also I think even then, Megatron specifically being one is stupid, because that undermines like, three whole seperate points the comic wants to make with his character, to have him being Actually Different to other cold construct mechs, in a way which makes him Actually Stronger or whatever. (One runs into this general issue in the comic in more than one place, ngl.)

The only thing it does is that it gives Megatron the implicit history of knowing he has a spark that he absolutely could not have as a cold construct mech, which gives a little texture to his backstory- but there are a million ways to do that which aren't 'some people have Special, Superior Souls' or whatever; 'all cold construct sparks are an identical shade of blue, forged ones sometimes have variation since they don't all come from a single identical source', there, bam. It feels like one of those ideas that should have been trimmed out during an early editing process and just… wasn't, which happens a few times during the comic. Not quite enough 'kill your darlings' going on in terms of a lot of the worldbuilding, tbh, and I think this is one of the most standout instances during its run!

[indignantlemur]

Not sure if this got asked, but are there trans/nonbinary people in your headcannon of Andoria? (Or the equivelant for Andorian culture)

As a courtesy: please consider this a content warning for the discussion of alien asexuality, alien perceptions of gender and identity, and alien cultural taboos surrounding infertility. Answer below the cut.

This question was inevitable, of course, but I still spent some time considering my answer. The following answer is based upon the biology and evolution that I set out for Andorians over twelve years ago, with some minor updates as I've returned to writing.

Firstly, and perhaps of eminent importance to this discussion: Andorians are not Humans. While there is overlap in some aspects between Andorians and Humans on a cultural and psychological basis, they are biologically different on a fundamental level. It is not fair or correct to assume that they experience the world, and themselves, in the same way that Humans do.

Again, I must stress that down to the very structures of their brains, Andorians are inherently different from Humans. Applying Human ideals, cultural standards, and anything that could be classified as a Human notion to Andorians is nonsensical.

So, to answer your question:

Do I think that there are Andorians who do not feel that they are male or female, but rather something in between? Sure - but it's relatively rare.

Andorians do not experience body gender dysphoria - or even body dysmorphic disorder - as a percentage of Humans do. A Human could describe either phenomenon to an Andorian, but while an Andorian could parse the information intellectually there would be no basis for comparison within Andorian psychology. A real world comparison would be that, in much the same way that I could describe my chronic pain to a healthy individual, no healthy individual can truly understand what it means to actually live with chronic pain. (I certainly didn't, until I developed a chronic, complex disease myself. I thought I did, but I now know that my previous understanding was woefully shallow.)

Typically, when an Andorian feels the need to take on an identity other than the one they were born with, it is a trivial matter that can be handled in an afternoon, barring surgical alterations which may be more complex and require more time.

If Bashir can make Quark a functional Ferengi female in an afternoon, hormones and all, by DS9's era then I see no reason why the beginnings of those procedures could not exist in Emigre's era. They might be less refined or less efficient, as there's quite a bit of time between the two eras, but at this point who exactly is going to stop me from handwaving the details?

But, I think, the more important question here is: do Andorians make a fuss about non-binary individuals, or individuals who transition from one identity to another?

The short answer is: No, not really. It's literally given no more importance than the state of the weather aboveground, in most parts of Andoria. Given that Andorians live in subterranean colonies... well, enough said.

Andorian society cares about exactly one thing - the preservation and perseverance of the community. In simplistic terms, this means babies. As long as your quad is popping out babies, the rest of society does not care what's in your pants, what you do with it, or who with.

Their entire evolution as a species and as a society has been geared towards surviving Andoria's harsh conditions and ensuring that the maximum number of offspring survive to adulthood. Everything after that is rather... secondary? Tertiary, even, as a concern.

In a same-sex quad? Doesn't matter. At least one of you needs to contribute to making a baby (or four), and the government doesn't care who with or how so long as the child's bloodline is tracked to prevent inbreeding.

One of the quad members is infertile? Andorian society's response as a whole is: don't ask, don't tell. Infertility was, and still remains a huge taboo in polite society amongst Andorians, but as long as someone in your quad contributes to the population it doesn't need to be publicized or critiqued. Track the bloodlines, and as long as the population replacement remains positive no one cares to look more closely.

Asexuality is more complicated amongst Andorians, as some Andorians genuinely aren't interested in playmates or breeding in spite of being otherwise healthy. However, much like how introversion is considered a symptom of a deficiency of trace minerals in the diet, a sudden loss of libido is often a sign of a severe hormonal imbalance. But - again - as long as the population replacement level remains positive and someone within a married quad contributes to that, society doesn't care.

All of this, hilariously, means that what Andorians would consider 'queer' or 'outside of social norms' is actually... just being childless. Everything else, everything that Humans have struggled to accept and incorporate into society for hundreds if not thousands of years, is considered so normal and par for the course that it barely merits any mention in Andorian society at all.