#though its methods are sometimes flawed

[tanadrin]

thankfully only seen it a couple places, but the idea that one crypto guy who was big into EA turning out exactly like all the other crypto guys is somehow an indictment of EA is a very bad argument. Lots of movements have individual hangers-on who are jerks, con-men, or morons, and the problems with EA (which I have talked about before) are not at all the same as the problems with crypto. it’d be different if EAs had started shilling crypto at some point as a result of crypto guy’s influence, but AFAICT that never happened.

[nekropsii]

More Reminders:

Karkat is a bootlicker. This is a prominent character trait. He’s rooting for the Alternian empire- yes, even though it’s ruled by a system that wants him personally dead- and really wants to be a part of its military.

Eridan has a “genocide complex” and is able to be roughly described as the troll equivalent of a white supremacist. This is one of the first things we learn about him.

The Beta Trolls are 13. All of them. This includes Equius. This includes Eridan. This includes Vriska. This includes Gamzee.

99% of Gamzee’s character is racial caricature. No, he is not intended to be a Dionysus parallel. He is intended to be a “satirization” of Black people.

Sapphic pairings have always held precedent over MLM pairings. They’ve always been more important to the plot, been handled with much more grace, and had more screen time. This isn’t a bad thing.

Doc Scratch is a child predator. This is an incredibly prominent character trait of his, and you’re way past due for a reread if you’ve forgotten. He has a particular fixation on, as canon puts it, “little girls”, and targets both Rose and Kanaya. Do I even have to bring up what he did to Damara?

Regarding the previous point, Rose and Kanaya both get very traumatized during the course of Homestuck’s story. They’re not well put together sophisticated “mom friends”, they’re 13 year olds just like almost everyone else is, and they’re going through hell. Rose in particular makes the effect all of this trauma has on her very well known. This is what Grimdarkness is.

Cronus is a child predator, too. During the course of the Openbounds and Ministrife, we see him unabashedly predate on three specific kids, and this behavior is made out to be extremely creepy. These three kids are Karkat, Tavros, and, yes, Eridan.

The Exiles were incredibly important to the plot, actually. You guys are just mean.

Almost every relationship in Homestuck is flawed in some capacity, that’s the point of a tragic drama. The main cast is literally nothing but traumatized and/or mentally ill 13-16 year olds. A good chunk of them aren’t even socialized, or grew up in an actively hostile environment. Or both. No shit characters mess up sometimes, or have unhealthy behaviors- it’s just natural in that situation. Some dynamics are substantially more healthy than others, but the main appeal of Homestuck is that everyone is flawed and damaged.

A good majority of Vriscourse was just people leaping at the opportunity to express pure, unabashed misogyny. I don’t think I have to elaborate upon this.

No, Jane is not a fascist, nor is she racist. She’s never been either of these things, that’s something that was invented out of left field by the Post Canon writing team. Being a fascistic racist was never within the scope of Jane’s character. No, it being “a result of her having grown up being fed propaganda by The Condesce” does not explain that plot thread in Post Canon for a single second, because Jane experiencing a major personality shift because of HIC literally already happened in canon with her going Crockertier, and she came out of that a stronger person. Never once has “racism” been on the list of problems she has.

Hemoloyalty is not intended to be a 1:1 metaphor for racism, nor is it intended to be a 1:1 metaphor for classism, or any other type of oppression. It’s not a 1:1 metaphor for literally anything, it’s intended to be flexible and contextual. This is not a bad thing, and is, in fact, a common storytelling method used by a lot of fantasy/sci-fi writers. Condemning Hussie for a lot of things in their writing is valid, but Hemoloyalty not being strictly analogous to only one type of real world oppression is patently not one of them. You do not know how metaphors work.

Official =/= Canon. No one is calling Pesterquest canon. You really shouldn’t be doing the same for Post Canon. The Homestuck Epilogues and Homestuck^2 are Official, but they are definitively not Canon. This is literally the first thing you learn about either of these projects. This doesn’t invalidate anyone’s enjoyment of any of these properties, of course, but it has to be stressed: Official does not automatically mean Canon.

[develop-your-oc]

Your blog has been so helpful with my oc developing journey! Thank you for putting so much time into collecting resources and the like! I did have a question, if you wouldn't mind answering, but how do you use Obsidian for sorting/recording your oc data? It's a little daunting and I've found myself constantly going over the info and trying to format everything. It's maddening. Thank you again for your hard work and time! <3

It's awesome that you've found this blog to be helpful! Thank you so much for telling me! 💖 (it ain't much but it's honest work dot jpeg)

Obsidian as a program is daunting especially if you're not familiar with similar applications (OneNote, Evernote, Joplin, etc.), but somehow I have completely forgotten how frustrating it was to get started from a blank page, even though I spent years struggling with that frustration. Here's a basic rundown of what I do!

Folders and basic setup are as follows:

Within one vault, I use multiple folders. One folder contains my templates, lists and other data, prompts, and so on. There are individual files for each original setting within this folder in order to take quick notes to be sorted later or keep reminders. Other files in this folder include ideas for future character names and other writing ideas.

Each setting has its own folder where everything related to it is stored, with OCs being the star of the show at the top level. There are several subfolders filled with notes, completed prompts, drabbles, lore, codex entries, etc.

One of the subfolders is for files regarding characters that my OCs interact with but aren't mine (a roleplay partner's OC, a game NPC, etc.) to store notes and other useful information for later reference, like a wiki page built only for myself.

As for the OCs themselves:

Each OC has its own file within the folder of their setting where a template holds their information. This template is vague enough to be useful in most settings, and simple enough to allow editing as needed.

The template begins as a simple formatted list of basics as you would expect (identity, appearance, occupation, etc.), as well as likes, dislikes, hobbies, skills, virtues, and flaws.

All friends, family, lovers, and so on are listed with a very brief description of how they are connected to my OC.

There are sections beneath the list for all the substantial information. — Background: everything from before their story begins. From before the arrival of you, the creator, if that makes sense. — Going Forward: from the beginning of their story, to the end (if there is one), and into the future beyond that. — Trivia: tidbits of information and facts that don't fit anywhere else. — Timeline: a chronological list with dates and concise details. Additional information is sorted into one of the other sections, the destination based on where the information would be most relevant. — Relationships: important relationships are detailed here. — Notes: the anything goes catch-all. Less about the character and more about you, like a reminder ("name their childhood pet!") or something worth noting ("my first OC!").

If the character is still in its concept phase, I stick to bullet point notes and update with the template later as needed.

Other things I'd like to mention:

There's more functionality within Obsidian than what I use, but I'm happy with my methods for now.

I make heavy use of bullet points, tab indents, and the little arrow that pops up to open or close lengthy sections as needed.

I never fill out the entire template at once, or ever; some sections remain empty permanently and some characters remain bullet points. It is what it is!

I keep the files for all the OCs that are currently rotting my brain open in tabs at the top! 🥰

Sometimes a folder is a genre and is instead used for multiple settings, such as all my OCs from the various farming simulation games I play sharing the same folder.

Relationships can sometimes be easier as their own page, particularly if it involves more than two characters, such as families and their dynamics.

This is a brief description of how I do things for myself. This works for me, but may not work for you. I tend to make up a bunch of silly little rules for myself, so please take this as inspiration rather than instruction. If this is confusing or you would like more help, anon, please DM me again and I'll work on visual examples and better explanations. Thanks again, and I hope this helps!

[tobiasdrake]

Do you ever think that certain techniques don’t get used to their full potential like the multi form technique?

There are some, yes.

Shishin no Ken/Multiform doesn't really have much potential. Its critical flaw is mathematic and seemingly irreconcilable.

On paper, the benefits of being four guys instead of one guy are pretty clear.

Moreover, the technique seems to allow the four Tens to share consciousness? The purpose of the technique is to allow Ten's enhanced perception to be even further enhanced, by letting him follow Goku's movements with twelve eyes instead of three.

Which only makes sense if the four Tens are sharing sensory input. Otherwise it's not twelve eyes; It's four independent sets of three. This strongly implies that the four selves created by Shishin no Ken are a hivemind.

As an aside, I love how all four Tens are shouting this. That must be so eerie to hear in stereo.

But experienced counter-fighter Goku picks the technique apart pretty quickly. A less-critical vulnerability is that the Taiyoken/Solar Flare exists so, y'know, have fun with those twelve eyes.

But the more pressing issue is what it does to the user's ki. This is an oft-overlooked limitation of the technique - especially because the anime loved this technique and just sort of swept its limitations under the rug.

But the issue with Shishin no Ken is that in order to divide into four bodies, you have to divide your ki in four to go with those bodies. You do not have a limitless well of free ki that you can put into as many clone selves as you want. When you split, your ki splits.

Because it's not "I'm four guys now!" It's "I'm four guys now who each, individually, would lose an arm-wrestling match to Chiaotzu."

If you can win a fight as four drastically-reduced quarters of yourself, you could probably have won that fight without doing this. Again, its purpose was just the utility of having twelve eyes - and attempting it was a mistake that ended in Ten's complete humiliation.

The narrative purpose of this technique was to contrast Goku's new senses against Tenshinhan's enhanced perception. To convey the extent Ten has to go in order to perceive Goku's movements and pit them against what Goku's learned from Popo.

It's done for the sake of comparison; Setting up Ten with a flawed method of enhancing his perception in order to contrast it against Goku's more effective training. This is the context that gets lost when the anime reduces the technique to just "Characters sometimes clone themselves because it's a really cool move."

In practice, the mathematics of "Four divided selves have 1/4 of my ki each" seems pretty irreconcilable as techniques go, which is likely why this never appeared in manga canon again.

...though I do have to wonder if the Twins' infinite energy generators would be able to compensate for the flaw. They do, in fact, have a limitless well of free energy. Hmm.

For me personally, and I'm far from the first person to make this observation but. Like. Krillin can do this.

And Krillin can also do this.

That is a combination of techniques that should, by all rights, make Krillin the deadliest motherfucker in the universe.

[allhappyandgay]

Gay mike, autism, and his signature grimace.

[most images used as examples were taken from @howtobecomeadragon because they were already compiled in this wonderful series for easy access so thank uuu teehee]

The Mike Face. we all know it, we all love it, but do we all understand it? to some degree, yes, but Im going to pull apart it’s insides and look at it under a magnifying glass because it honestly kind of confuses me sometimes—almost like its the wrong facial expression to make 👀—even though it usually works in our favor (gay mike).

The main consistency is that he does it when he doesn’t understand something. but not that he doesn’t actually know what something means, more that he doesn’t understand the logic behind it. and it pisses him off.

This is a very common experience for autistic people, we often get agitated by our lack of understanding and feelings of confusion toward things that nobody else seems to question. or similarly, why everyone else understands something, when you don’t, or can’t, no matter how hard you try.

It can make you feel “othered” or maybe even less than, compared to your peers. everyone is confused sometimes, and everyone gets frustrated from being confused sometimes! but the difference is, when you just can’t seem to grasp the reasoning for things over and over again, and are made to feel bad about it, it can result in the person feeling broken or hopeless (which lucas literally calls him for not getting his metaphor for an opportunity to talk to his ex girlfriend).

honestly it’s probably one of mikes biggest insecurities, he’s ridiculed by his own friends for not understanding simple things that come easy to them, for being oblivious to things, being ‘blind’ to things, constantly.

Mike just so happens to make this face a lot when things having to do with girls come up. especially in s3 when lucas is trying to guide mike in his relationship with el, something he seems to know a lot about and understands easily compared to mike. almost everything lucas says to do, mike just simply doesn’t get. but again, it’s not that he doesn’t understand the words coming out of lucas’s mouth, or how to do the things he’s telling him. he’s confused by his own disinterest and lack of motivation to do what lucas is telling him he needs to do in order fix his relationship with el, in contrast to lucas, who is completely confident in his methods. he doesn’t understand why people would do these things, or why they would actually work.

And I think this also shows just how well he actually knows how to go about these situations in a way that works for him, because he does it flawlessly with will every season.

In s1 we see him do the Mike Face (that’s what i’ll be calling it for consistency) before being presented with anything having to do with girls, he hasn’t even met el yet. this gives us some lore of the expression (lmao), and let’s us see what it really means before attaching it to anything specific (like distaste for women).

Here we see him grimace in response to bullying:

If we apply what i’ve already said about the expression, he clearly doesn’t understand the bullies’ motive for making fun of them, which reflects his personal values. re: “so? the x-men were weirdos,” and “I think it’s kind of cool. it’s like you have superpowers or something,” etc. which is kind of obvious, most kids who get bullied don’t agree with it, but why have him make this face in response to it rather than anger or fear or something. instead he looks at them like he’s smelling something bad lol. he just looks so confused, like, ‘why? why are you doing this?’

Mike rarely makes fun of his friends. he only judges their motives, reasoning, approaches, plans, and ideas. which also plays into how his understanding of other peoples logic is shown. mike is always the one to make a plan that works, he doesn’t dislike other peoples ideas because he didn’t come up with them, he dislikes them because he can see the flaws in them. mike can create a perfect plan that takes everything into consideration. because he is autistic. 🤭

(btw Im not saying every single person on the spectrum is a fucking genius that can detect every inconsistency in any given situation lol mike is just shown to be good at the devising part of plans in the show, and why have that as one of his strengths if not to show how his brain works, just like other characters having strengths in different areas to show how their brain works)

And I know he’s also just simply upset over the fact they’re getting bullied in the first place, nobody wants to go through that. but it’s the presence of this specific repeated expression that will give us some background for future reference in the different circumstances it shows up in.

So the main things that repeatedly invoke the Mike Face are:

things that go against his principles

attraction to girls

love at first sight

When somebody does anything that goes against your own principles, it’s hard to understand why they would, or could. that’s what makes them principles, they’re things you stand by because you just can’t see it any other way. for example, think of something like premeditated murder. this (most likely) goes against your personal values, which makes it very difficult for you to understand why someone would do it.

The other two are pretty obvious in that they’re things some people simply don’t experience (which says a lot about mike if you know what I mean teehee). as we all know, it can be harder to understand things that we don’t personally experience ourselves. that is the thing that all of these have in common: mike not understanding the reasoning behind them, and his difficulty in accepting it. which is very autistic of him lmao.

Mike is not canonically autistic, but he is very coded, and if we take that—whatever the in-show equivalent to autism is—into consideration, the extent to which mikes confusion surrounding these things goes compared to his friends makes a lot of sense,*which also greatly plays into the disposition of his arc. lucas dustin and will all disagree about things sometimes, but they get over it fairly quickly. mike on the other hand is dramatic and has a hard time letting things go, which is why there is emphasis on him being confused as shit all the time! lmao

Anyway, what that means is there is a purposeful tenaciousness to the things that result in the Mike Face. they’re supposed to stick in your head, the things he doesn’t understand/like/agree with.

This is the reason it’s so obvious that mike was lying in his monologue to el despite the absence of the Mike Face (although, he did look pretty close to it a few times lol), because that would be way too on the nose, literally. instead they have connected the characters recognizable grimace with a motif in the show: love at first sight essentially equating them to each other in your head.

love at first sight? does. not. compute.🤖

We are shown time and time again that mike does not believe you can like or dislike somebody you haven’t known for very long, and so have the writers themselves. these are only two out of like four different examples throughout the show:

And surprise surprise, the Mike Face.

Now circling back to mikes difficulty understanding lucas’s instructions in s3 pertaining his relationship with el, this clearly belongs in the aforementioned area: attraction to girls.

There’s a lot of this in s3 as you can see, but it’s definitely present in every season. even 1:

^mike after reassuring el she’s pretty.

There are so many more instances that Im not going to put here because I don’t have room but that simply proves my point, you don’t need to see them. because it has been so drilled into our subconscious through the association of these two things in the show (and many others), that if you were to visualize mike flat out stating “I like girls,” it’d be really, really weird. because, other than el (supposedly) …since when?

Alright. we all know the phrase ‘friends don’t lie’ lol. this was technically created by mike, so telling the truth between friends was recognized in that moment as one of mikes core principles. if we take that and apply it to moments he’s lied to in the show, the Mike Face will be there as well because we’ve established it as one of the main things he cannot abide.

The only exception to this is when he himself lies, which makes sense because he can understand his own reasoning for it, and validate his lying based on that. but anyone else does it and it’s:

*What other character is shown to have so many strong opinions on things that other characters just don’t really care much about? It is to contradict what the casual viewer sees and hears, because as we know, a good portion of stranger things fans have mikes character all wrong. either because they trust his actions blindly (ga), or they misconstrue his behavior to their favor (milevens), or both! this was done so that when mike has his character arc in s5, despite what we’ve been shown, it will be clear that the opposite was true all along. the patterns that our subconscious picked up on will become evident.

Im not at all saying there’ll be a big reveal that mike is autistic in s5 lmao, his coding just has a lot to do with his character and gives an explanation (other than the heaps of unrelated evidence that he’s autistic) for why he makes such a big deal out of these things (girls, lying, love at first sight), or has such a strong reaction to them in contrast to other characters. because it needs to be very clear that he disagrees.

Basically what Im saying is mikes autistic traits help in demonstrating his hidden queerness through a single facial expression. lol what a sentence.

[doraambrose]

When it comes to the Victim Blaming Grief coping one of the big things that makes it an issue is that he actually did it to Jason's face (in Hush as it was retconned to be Jason he said that too).

And, when Jason comes back it stops being grief for the dead, it becomes grief for the wounded. And people victim blame people who were hurt too. This is how they cope, however this coping mechanism always hurts the victim and is a genuinely bad coping mechanism that shouldn't be used. It's harmful. It's harmful to the victim and it is harmful for the other people who might be grieving. It's probably one of the most selfish coping mechanisms.

I've experienced people using this method in real life and it's rough. And it's toxic. Saying you can't criticize the way someone grieves is flawed because you are rarely the only one grieving and I personally have been harmed during a period of shared grief. And I am sure other people have been too because grief brings out the bad in people but that doesn't mean all is forgiven.

Like, imagine if Jason was just comatose and all the victim blaming happened and then Jason just woke up and found out all Bruce had been saying about him? Would Jason's feelings be justified then?

Also, saying the deceased person doesn't matter when they die disregards a lot of religious and spiritual beliefs around honoring the dead.

I feel like Jason is as justified as any other person harmed when someone copes with toxic way in being upset. Jason's death is also a traumatic thing that happened to him. Centering Bruce's feelings while disregarding Jason's as unjustified doesn't feel fair. Especially considering the incident where Bruce took Jason to Ethiopia to try to trigger Jason's memories of what brought him back without his consent.

(Sorry if this was a bit much, I've experienced a decent amount of the bad sides of grief in my life and feel strongly about it)

Okay, so I feel like I need to re answer my previous post because I was struggling to find the right words and also at work, but I think I've figured it out.

One thing to keep in mind is when we talk about feelings, grief, and emotions, there's not a set right or wrong. I also mentioned that I don't like the word justified in this case because it sounds like right or wrong. I did use it at the end, but I'll get into that here. This is a very gray area subject matter and that makes it tricky and you're never gonna find an answer that everyone agrees with because it's not really as fact based as if I said "batman wears a cape sometimes" or "dick grayson is nightwing".

The first thing that comes to mind for me is what my therapist tells me when I feel guilt over feelings. She would tell me "anything you're feeling is valid, you're allowed to be upset, angry, sad, jealous, etc. It's how you act on those feelings.. something I can't remember atm lol". So when I say jason isn't justified, I'm saying that he's allowed to be upset and angry and his feelings are valid, it's not right to actively take it out on the family and hold it against them and be sort of malicious or harmful. And i know theyve done that plus some towards him, but its important to remember that you can only control your own actions and even if someone is being toxic and harmful, that doesnt mean you should too. I think I didn't explain that right and there was some miscommunication. I also wanted to explain why I felt that jason would be angry.

As for this comment, both of these asks were right. Grief can be harmful and toxic. And before I say what I'm going to say next, keep in mind that I'm discussing grief alone and not any of the stuff post utrh that Bruce has done to jason that's harmful and abusive. This toxic kind of grief doesn't make the person a bad person. They can't help it. It's your brain going crazy to try and cope with something traumatic. When my dog died, I wanted to sue my vet, even though they didn't really so anything wrong. It's easier to have someone in front of you to blame. I'm not saying it's right or okay, but it does happen and it can be harmful, but you're not a bad person for it. (In Bruce's case, he's a bad person for all the other shit he's pulled outside of this)

I think these two asks are like at the opposite ends of this topic and I think it's something that you can meet in the middle with. So basically

Yes, grief can be toxic and harmful, but it's also very much a subconscious phenomenon and it's extremely personal and different for everyone and alot of times, people are unaware of what they're doing.

Because of that, jason can be hurt by it, he can be angry,etc. His feelings are valid, But it's not fair to activey hold that over Bruce forever, which he doesn't, this seems more like a fanon thing btw. But it also doesn't hurt to apologize afterwards.

I think when you say that the idea of not critiquing the way someone grieves is flawed, it comes off as unempathetic. Because as someone who has had to grieve alot of the past few years, it's the worst feeling. And your brain is literally scrambling to cope with it so you don't actively lose your shit and sometimes it ends up with some unhealthy Coping mechanisms. And you're usually unaware of what you're doing. I feel like you're not thinking of how the other person is feeling or what they're going through. And fair is fair, they need to see what you're feeling too and actively try to remedy things at some point, there just needs to be more patience and empathy all around and trying to remember that this person is not always intentionally being malicious.

I'm a religious person. So I see where youre coming from, but nobody said the deceased doesn't matter. I think the point was more that you don't have to worry as much about how that person is feeling or thinking because they've moved on to a better place, you should focus on self care and doing what's best for your mental health.

I am also 100% not trying to center around Bruce's feelings and discredit jasons, in fact, the last post was 100% about jasons feelings.

In summary, there's not "justified" or "right" or "wrong". It's super complicated, varies from person to person, and is a tricky subject matter. Everyone's feelings are valid and there definitely needs to be more empathy and patience on all sides, but there are still actions that have been made on both sides that aren't the best and can be hurtful or toxic. I hope this all makes sense and I worded it right :)

[nova--spark]

Earth 101 : A Manual for the Visiting Cybertronian

Chapter One : Planet Earth

Planet Earth is located within the aptly named ‘Milky Way’ galaxy, as the humans liken the hazy starlight to ‘spilled milk’ [ See: Earth Fuel/Foods ,Earth Phrases for more information ]. A young star system in comparison to Cybertron, the planet of Earth is located in what the humans rather creatively called the Solar system, as their measurements of time are based on the rotations their planet takes around the center of their system, a star they call the Sun.

They appear to regard it as one of the main factors for life capabilities on Earth.

Earth is the 3rd planet from this Sun, and is in what humans call the 'Goldilocks Zone' [See: Earth Fables and Folklore for 'Goldilocks' definition.] , resulting in its capabilities for sustaining life.

Earth has only one moon orbiting itself, and is not a large planet, but still one of impressive accomplishments, being the only planetary body in its system which hosts any form of life at all.

Earth is a planet rich in water, as an impressive 71% of the planet is covered in dihydrogen monoxide, also known as H20, or commonly referred to by the native humans as water. 

Astoundingly however, the majority of this water is not able to be used by the population as sustanence due to the large part of their seas being salt water, which in large quantities is harmful to the populace.

The Earth is divided into several continents, which they populate, save for a handful which are so cold that no human in their right mind would inhabit.

Editor’s Note: It appears this information was flawed, as human scientists have in fact resided in the Arctic and Antarctic on months long expeditions in sometimes sub zero temperatures that would be harmful if not for their fortified shelters in these cold enviroments.  Why they would do this remains wholly confusing to our own kind, as such temperatures are deadly if exposed for too long.

Within these continents, various countries exist, which are populated by various organic beings, but the majority being human cities or colonies which vary in levels of technology and density of population.

Most impressive about Earth is the biodiversity, as its entire planet houses various forms of weather and ecosystems.

Earth can go through various types of ecosystems, ranging from calm forests, scorching deserts, freezing tundras, lush rainforests and jungles, and even entire cavern systems below ground, and amazingly, there is a report of an entire cavern in a secluded area of the planet, which created its own weather system of a sort. A fascinating show of how wondrous this planet can be.

Our Maximal and Eukarian natives have often stated that the various biomes of Earth remind them of their own home worlds and other planets that they had visited eons ago, which has offered a comforting reminder for some.

Terran flora can come in a great and numerous variations.

Flowers who grow and blossom for a mere few hours, and trees whose height far surpasses that of any regular Cybertronian, and could rival that of Combiners or a smaller classed Titan. Terran flora can also be quite vicious, as there are many a poisonous plant that exist and can harm humans if used incorrectly in medicinal and even casual usage such as cooking.

When asked how humans determined which plants were safe to eat and which were not, the method of 'trial and error' was the most recognized, despite the fact this meant the possibility of grievous harm to their health.

It is truly a miracle how humans survive such a deadly and dangerous planet so easily and calmly, though human media suggests they are quite heroic in survival matters.

Editor’s Note: I have been informed that the 'heroic propaganda' cited above is what is known as action movies, a common pastime and entertainment form on Earth. Apologies for this error.

Equally impressive however is the existence of flora who in fact hunt, consuming insects rather than photosynthesizing for survival. The plants are small but it would appear that some can capture quite large [for human standards] bugs or even small animals if they are the correct size.

That said, though we are of great stature in comparison to Terran fauna, please do not feel inclined to challenge the native wildlife.

Many a Cybertronian medic has had to repair dented frames from foolish mechs and femmes alike who did the following :

Gave chase to predator species in an attempt to scare them off. Result : Scratch marks and punctures of claws 

Fought undersea wildlife, primarily sharks who in self preservation tactics, would bite and leave teeth imprints and even teeth themselves on a mech's plating.

Said undersea incident also resulted in the tangling of seaweed and kelp within said bot's joints.

Bots who attempted to befriend wildlife instead would also be met with hostile reactions at times. This is a reminder that a real wild bear is not the equivalent of the toy known as the 'Teddy Bear'. Real bears will attack you. 

There are animals who have tusks and horns as defensive features to their bodies. These will dent and at worst, puncture your plating or even through your frame. 

Do not attempt to pet the bison/buffalo. They look friendly. They are not.

No, predatory species known as the 'big cats' are not in fact like regular domesticated household pet cats. They are not friendly.

Wolves are also not the same as household dogs. Approach with caution. Or don't. Please.

Birds of many varieties like to collect 'shinies'. We apologize to those who are stationed in the continent of Australia, as the species known as magpies are particularly vicious. 

Reinforced plating is advised for those visiting the particularly wild nation of Australia. All Australian wildlife in general appears to be particularly deadly in some capacity. 

Though small in size, bugs will splatter on windshields in your vehicular form. No, it cannot be prevented. We advise regular trips to the human creation known as a 'car wash'.

Rather interestingly as well, Earth’s native flora and fauna sometimes resembles Cybertron’s very own, just in organic manner. This could be due to the fact that centuries ago, Earth was one of the many worlds which Energon hoards were stashed till the planet itself began to grow its very own after the prolonged exposure.

Editor’s Note: Things have been revealed that this editor will simply say…they explain a lot more now.

A LOT more.

To be explained perhaps in another section of this field guide/manual to your cohabitation on Earth.

However, Earth does very clearly differ still from our own home, as it is as stated before, organic in nature, and its iron, steel and other metals are found deep within the Earth, not like on our world where they’re so clearly topside in comparison. Earth manufactures its metals, wiring, and other technological components, which are otherwise not found naturally.

Earth also, despite having Energon, doesn't use it as a fuel source, instead it will use oil, most commonly petrol, electrical currents and in some bizarre cases, even use nuclear power to power various forms of human settlements.

Editor's Note: As it seems, humanity is actually unaware of what Energon is despite the planet being quite rich in its deposits. 

They appear to not have the technology to even detect it, deeming it as, in the words of one of our allies 'Just another pretty thing to look at'. Absurd by our standards, but we do not judge for their inability to comprehend the importance of it.

Despite this, Earth has been trying for roughly a vorn, to transition to alternative power sources, such as solar power, kinetic energy like that of the air with their windmill turbines, and even using organic matter of various kinds to attempt to form alternative fuels.

These endeavors are well documented and admirable, as their main source of fuels, aptly named fossil fuels, are in fact, the liquidized form of the planet’s previous inhabitants known as 'Dinosaurs' ,which went extinct many many centi-vorns ago.

 [See: Cybertronian-Earth interconnections : Dinobots for more details. ]

This concludes the introduction to the basics of the planet Earth’s status.

Any and all queries related to further information of the Earth’s composition, atmosphere, and otherwise related geographical information, please direct them to the author appropriately so that your query, dear reader, is properly answered with dutiful knowledge and understanding, to help your fellow Cybertronian!

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

Yk Back At The Random Ghost Rebel Stuff

A straight up ramble but does anyone feels this retching feeling in their hearts whenever they think about the High Cloud Quintet and its lore and go like "Dang, if only we COULD change what had happened bc this crap is dark and sad as hell" because that's what I feel like right now

And lemme tell you: It's not a good feeling bc I don't even want to think about how they're all just old and tired grannies and grandpas. The only person that has proper solace in the High Cloud Quintet is flipping Baiheng bro—poor Yingxing got turned into Blade bc yk—he's the beloved of that one relic set story.

Dan Flipping Feng becomes Dan Heng and even as Dan Heng he doesn't get a single drop of solace bc now the former-artisan-now-maniac dude is chasing him all across the universe bc of the sins of the past and it's just so heartbreaking bc Dan Heng isn't Dan Feng and Blade is only the shadow of Yingxing (this concept with Yingxing and Blade heavily reminds me of Makoto and Ei—Ei was the shadow of Makato and the shadow of the light is all that remains ykyk)

And then there's Jingliu who just straight up asks her student to kill her if she ever becomes mara-struck and in the end she still lives somehow and then she decides to go full-traumatizer with Blade back when he was the Unnamed that wandered the place—as if he needed MORE trauma and honestly her weak grasp over the mara which in turn makes her insane is so upsetting bc in the end she ends up having beef with a 14 year-old lieutenant who's trying to do his job and protect the Luofu (though, I have to admit it: as much as I want to protect my child Yanqing, his methods were kind of flawed—) even if he doesn't know who Jingliu is.

And ofc we got the last man standing Jing Yuan who just sees ghosts in everyone around him. Istg I feel like bc he sees ghosts, he can't move on from the past, and when he can't move on from the past, it's honestly a red flag bc it might mean that his present relationships with everyone are (sometimes) only just one-sided or something. Like, take the relationship between Yanqing and he: Yanqing trusts the General with his life bc he raised him as a baby. But the fact that he calls Jing Yuan "General" and not some sort of parental title says that Jing Yuan is being unnecessarily secretive due to his fear of vulnerability. I mean—literally in 1.2 Story Quest, Jing Yuan quite literally just left Yanqing on the island alone after he got beat up by two men that have beef with one another, practically leaving him in the dark with no explanation. And even before that, Yanqing was still left in the dark. Jing Yuan doesn't open up easily bc of the crap he's been through, which is understandable, but his lack of explanation backing up his highly meticulous moves—that's not really healthy. In the end, it just leaves a gap of mistrust, be it intentional or not, between Jing Yuan and Yanqing. In some cases, and this one (imo atleast) is one of them, if you don't explain your actions, it pretty much just leaves the person that's been left in the dark with their waves of emotions, which might cost said-relationship between the two people in the long run.

It also seems like (based off what we know of, at least) at least half of Jing Yuan's choices are also connected to sentimental reasons and seeing ghosts in people. I think he sees a ghost in Yanqing (idk who tho—ppl say it's Yingxing bc of his obsession over the sword), he sees one in Yukong (definitely Baiheng), he sees one in Dan Heng (obvious reasons, very evident throughout the game) and possible Bailu (because she's technically being hailed as the next Imbibitor Lunae after Dan Feng's sin), and it could possibly go on. This old grandpa really is comparing the present with his past and that's honestly a little heartbreaking, bc there is a chance that that might mean that Jing Yuan found more happiness (serotonin work hardcore fr) in his past than he does in his present. He should at least be happy enough of the present to not be this sentimental of the past, but he's really suffering of the incidents like bro—

The High Cloud Quintet is like The Five Yakshas from Genshin Impact but with more lore (that we know of) and more angst twists (that we know of) to it fr. It's so heartbreaking and angsty, I both love it, hate it, and cry about it.

Like bro, look at these two groups. It's always a group of five sobbing.

They're all fine as hell too like CMON

[fitzrove]

Rant vaguely related to my previous rudolf post & academic history (delete later) (WAY too specific)

The way people talk about historical research fields and topics sometimes (online and irl) is honestly Really Stupid aihoådögltslhlgl. In designating "old white men history" (= political, military, macroeconomic...) and white men historical figures obsolete and unworthy of any further study, people are robbing themselves and others around them of greater understanding of phenomena that have real and ongoing consequences/effects upon the present day.

I told a former classmate I was studying abroad for a more varied perspective (instead of the boxed-in provincial narrative you get from just using sources, lit and theories from your home country) and that my new thesis was going to be about a ww2 topic. She made a disgusted face, glibly going "Ah, as if that hasn't been researched enough!". She wouldn't hear me out when I said that my topic actually has real life implications for politics, memory culture and international relations today lol.

To some people, just because a field has been researched a lot (and often with outdated methods, by white men in the 1950s etc), it becomes worthless and you should rather look at unexplored territory: people "forgotten by history", marginalised groups, new approaches, big emphasis on the social, cultural, personal, individual. But for a few reasons, claiming that studying "old white man history" in the 2020s is "useless" is very flawed lol. Because:

In a lot of cases, The Book on something (be it a specific aspect of a topic, an individual person, or just a topic as a whole like WW2 for instance) will have been written in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s... Research methods have evolved a LOT since then, and the demands on researchers to reflect on their biases are a lot stronger now. Historical research doesn't exist in a vacuum and is never completely objective - it's a self-correcting field, though, and new studies aspire to build on and improve upon previous ones. You wouldn't trust medical research from 50+ years ago to be the best possible knowledge on a given topic to be trusted forever and never re-examined, would you?? Why would you a history book, then?

Old white men are the ones who had power for vast lengths of time in history. In many countries old white men are still the ones in power. Political and military history, as well as macroeconomic history, are (in summary) about the study of power. You can't gain knowledge of how "the enemy" (or: those holding the power in society) operates only by studying the way their "victims" experienced their influence. You need to look into the people in power themselves. And someone needs to do this now, with modern research methods, so we have the best possible knowledge of the subject! Additionally, modern old white men often stan historical old white men and might make rhetorical references to them in speeches etc... It's important to know how they conceptualise the world and its history, because so far they're not going anywhere...

People are so dumb akgösphkpd like they will hear "political/military history" and not even know how much the fields have changed and evolved in the last 30 years 😭😭😭 Its based on this stock stereotype of what those fields are, when in reality the sharpest criticism of previous approaches comes from within the field - which seeks to self-correct. Again, you wouldn't assume that physics ended with Einstein...... why assume that historians can never improve their methods or reach new conclusions based on already-studied sources??

Putting pressure on women specifically to only study social/cultural/microhistory, and insinuating that they're betraying their gender if they don't, is just straight up sexist lmao. You don't expect this of Matt age 21 who loves tanks and literally just wants to study idk tank formations, why do you expect it of me?? Ditto for queer people and any other marginalised group you could think of.

As for Rudolf specifically? Yes he sneaked in again fkflld. It's worth it to point out his problematic relationships with women, yes, and SPECIFICALLY the historical agency and existence of those women outside of him lol. (Which is still a bit lacking.) But it's not smart or feminist or even morally right to avoid looking at where the Mayerling obsession as a whole comes from. The fact is:

1. Rudolf had very specific unpopular political opinions, and suffered from mental illness (a kind of disease poorly understood at the time but also still decades after the fact and even today)

2. These two factors led society to perceive him in a certain way, and influenced the way newspapers wrote about him after his death. Conservatives put huge emphasis on his womanizing ways - as part of his general depraved evilness, incl irreligiosity, liberal politics and lack of respect for traditional values - to influence their audience to believe that violence and insanity are what social liberalism leads to. They also used the events of Mayerling to say that the scandal is the only thing that ever mattered or ever will matter about Rudolf, that it tainted his person to such a degree that considering anything else is moot. This is the starting point for the most common Mayerling narrative that has literally barely changed for 135 years... it still crops up in media today!!

So um yeah anyway,,,, I guess I'm sorry for being specifically interested in war as a culmination of international political crisis & historical eras seen as formative to current political culture & 19th/20th century opposition to and manifestations of political nationalism & the way in which seemingly apolitical things are actually used to shape public discourse... instead of idk queer history or women's history or historical dress or microeconomic family history 😭😭 I just think there's enough people studying those latter ones and doing a much better job of it than I could - because they're genuinely passionate about them and hence have the right skills to actually study them well. I still believe that the way I'm studying and talking about the stuff I'm interested in has a lot of value, even if it's not contributing to Good Representation or aligned with my modern political views in any obvious sense. (Well, a constantly recurring theme is my distaste for overt forms or nationalism/(proto)fascism lol but we don't need to tell people that 😌 esp not the current Finnish government)

Also rudolf was irl bisexual did you even read eine orientreise (JOKING)

[magnusfox]

Advice on how to tell if someone is a vampire?

Usually I look at their ears. Its one of the easiest ways to tell, especially cause they are usually covered. Though this method is a little flawed as some humans are born with naturally pointed ears. However! Ears of a vampire tend to be longer compared to the point of a naturally pointy eared human.

Another way is outfit. Obviously vampires wear... some very over the top outfits (Sometimes I wonder if they are trying to tell us humans that they are vampires from these outfits). Older vampires wear very old outfits so be careful around them as they are usually more powerful. but a stake through the heart usually does the job on most vampires. This again is also flawed because theirs some emo people out there who look like vampires.

Another is fangs, even though its a bit harder. Usually if you can see their fangs they are gonna bite you so just be careful.

Something that always works is sunlight. Try to bring them in the sun or just observe and see if they go in the sun.

Another that usually works is to observe if they interact with other vampires. Just go from afar and they shouldn't see, but still be careful most are very good with their senses.

Just remember to make sure they are a vampire by testing most if not all of these. Don't go around killing innocent people!

[jinngonjin]

part 3!

warnings: slightly suggestive

characters featured : plo koon, commander wolffe, hunter.

summary: Jyn and the boys find themselves stationed alongside Master Plo Koon and his wolf pack. Yet Hunter is on edge, grappling with his emotions with every passing second.

As time passed, still grappling with the turmoil of their feelings, both Jyn and Hunter grew accustomed to their discomfort around one another. Despite their efforts to bury these emotions away, they often lingered beneath the surface, threatening to break away. On multiple occasions they found themselves too close to one another, hands brushing ever so slightly, eyes locked, almost as though to intimidate one another into a confession. Yet both of them did not falter, only brushing these interventions away as though they meant nothing.

Conveniently, they were stationed on a mission along Plo Koon and his Wolf pack, the 104th battalion. This gave the two of them more reason not to engage with one another, especially in the presence of a Jedi master. The mission provided them with a convenient excuse to avoid each other's company, their interactions kept to a minimum in the presence of their esteemed allies.

Plo Koon was one of the few Jedi to respect Jyn, they had a previous brief encounter when she was stationed as an alchemist on a mission to free an ancient Jedi temple. Though in exile, Yoda often deployed Jyn on very brief missions to make use of her extensive skill and knowledge in alchemy and the sciences. He was aware that in all the time she had in exile, she buried herself in books and documents. It was an aspect that Yoda respected, but nevertheless feared.

Jyn cleared her throat as she made her way down the ramp, "Master Plo Koon, it's an honor to have you and the Wolf Pack join us on this mission.

“General Jyn, the pleasure is mine. Your reputation precedes you, where else am I to find a squad with a hundred percent success rate?” “most impressive, most impressive” he reassured.

Jyn could see commander Wolffe slightly nod, she could also sense the turmoil radiating within her squad. Especially Crosshair, as he seemed to be the most uncomfortable around regs.

“Oh you flatter me master, it’s been awhile since Tython, you’d find that the war changed all of us”

Plo Koon led the way to his counseling chambers, Jyn followed expecting a private briefing but was certainly surprised when Plo offered a pour of Spotchka.

“How has your new position been treating you, General Jyn.”

“Well, I have a fine squad of men, perhaps the greatest the galaxy has seen” Jyn chuckled and Plo Koon nodded agreeingly

“And so I’ve heard” but then he added “ The clones, all of them are fine men, it’s painful to see them treated like expendable tools” Plo Koon sighs, and with that he rests his now empty glass on the table.

Jyn shoots him a questioning look “and what’s even stranger, master, the council does not seem to mind this, must it be the Jedi way?”

Plo Koon's expression softened at Jyn's candid remark,slightly shifting at her open criticism. Yet, there was a subtle respect in his response, an acknowledgment of the truth in her words.

"You raise a valid point, General Jyn," Plo Koon began, his voice tinged with a solemnity that mirrored Jyn's concerns. "The clones are indeed more than mere tools of war. They possess individuality, emotions, and a sense of honor that should not be overlooked."

Plo Koon's gaze drifted to the window, his thoughts seemingly lost in contemplation. "The Jedi way is not without its flaws, General. We strive for peace and justice, but sometimes our methods can be... flawed."Plo Koon did not dare to meet Jyn’s eyes, for deep down he knew that the Jedi have not only wronged her, but broke her, and yet she's still here she is trying to desperately prove herself.

“We have a while until we reach the station, I’ve organized a dinner, tonight you and I, and the boys”

Jyn was again surprised by Plo’s suggestions, she found him to be far less stern than the traditional Jedi she was accustomed to working with, most interesting to Jyn given she was stuck with Mace Windu, who’d pick on everything she said, to him every breath could mean treason against the republic.

"Thank you, Master Plo Koon," Jyn responded, her tone genuine as she met his gaze. "I appreciate the gesture. It will be good for the squad to have some downtime together."

Something in Jyn begged her to ask Plo Koon right there and then, but she wouldn't bear to burden him with what plagued her mind.

Yet it persisted.

Sidious

Palpatine

Sidious

She couldn't shake it off, the name Sidious sent a shiver down her spine, she could not understand why the force would whisper it to her whenever she was in the proximity of the senator. Almost like something within him is calling her. But she's seen that name before, a file about Dooku and Kenobi, a file so heavily encrypted she could only dissect a few words. But Sidious, Sidious was one of them.

“General? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just thinking about the war”

“Hmm, yes, yes the war”

“I’ll see you for dinner, Master” With that Jyn returned to her assigned quarters, the thought still heavy in her mind, but she brushed it away again.

She kept the lights dimmed in her quarters, not bothering to illuminate the room when she stepped in. Instead, she unwrapped the top of her tunics and threw it onto the bed. It seems Plo Koon’s ship had housekeeping droids that already folded her clothes for her, placing them all carefully in the closet.

Hmm, I should get one of those… maybe then we'll be able to see the floor of Tech’s room.

“General.”

Jyn jumped, startled, not having noticed Hunter's presence until that moment. She turned to find him sitting there, his expression unreadable.

Jyn's heart skipped a beat, her muscles tensing as she whirled around to find Hunter standing there, his presence unexpected and unsettling.

"Hunter," she managed, her voice slightly breathless with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Hunter's gaze was intense as he regarded her, his expression inscrutable. "Just checking in," he replied casually, though there was an underlying tension in his demeanor.

He was lying, he definitely was. Jyn thought to herself, eyebrows furrowing at him.

“Then I was right, there is definitely something on your mind… or else you would have sensed me” he tutted, it sounded almost as though he was criticizing her.

Jyn cleared her throat once again, “I was not expecting company”

“But your guard is always up”

“usually” he added.

“What do you want, Hunter?” there was a tone of sadness in her voice, it cracked so subtly, but of course, Hunter had picked up. He let go of his smug facade putting back his casual, soothing voice.

“I just wanted to ask, what are you wearing tonight?” he inquired, his eyes flickering over her form.

“What?” Jyn’s expression betrayed her, she wanted to laugh, but was certainly confused by what Hunter just said.

“You came here for fashion advice?” she chuckled.

But Hunter still kept a solid look on his face, his stern expression unfaltering as though he was still waiting for an answer.

“I haven’t decided yet” She turned back to her closet, scanning the clothes she had brought with her.

Hunter moved slowly, until he was dangerously closer, his presence suddenly overwhelming. She could feel the heat radiating off him, his breath warm against the skin of her back.

"Since when did you have these tattoos?" His voice was low, sending a shiver down her spine as he gestured towards her exposed skin.

Jyn's breath caught in her throat as she realized the extent of her vulnerability. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest, a flush rising to her cheeks as she struggled to regain her composure. But Hunter's proximity was unnerving, his gaze penetrating as he watched her with a mixture of curiosity and something else she couldn't quite decipher.

Jyn's eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief as she regarded Hunter, her lips curling into a sly smile. "You think I really stayed in that rotting temple all the time?" she teased, her voice low and tinged with amusement. She let out a dark chuckle. Leaning in closer, as if to share a secret, she began to recount her venture to the lower levels of Coruscant, her tone suggestive and filled with innuendo. "Let's just say, I found a different kind of sanctuary," she murmured, her words hanging in the air with an enticing allure.

As she spoke of befriending a tattoo artist, Jyn's expression softened, a fondness evident in her eyes. "He saw something in me, thought I was some bounty hunter" she explained, "And I... I became his muse."

Hunter couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as he listened to Jyn's tale, his mind racing with questions and uncertainties. What had really transpired between her and the tattoo artist? What had drawn them together, and what secrets did they share?

Jyn picked up a long dress and a matching cape, “I'll think i'll go with this”

Hunter's gaze lingered on the fabric, noting its modesty with a sense of relief. “Good,” he sternly said.

Unbeknownst to Jyn, what inspired Hunter’s intrusion was not trouble with the regs as she had initially thought, but instead, they were bonding really well, too well. Enough for Wolffe to accidentally get on his nerves.

“You’ve got yourself a great jedi master,” noted wrecker. “Plo’s Bros, classic.”

“could say the same about you, you’ve got yourselves a fine general” Wolffe emphasized on the fine, indicating that he was not exactly referring to her mannerisms.

Sinker whistled, playfully smacking Hunter on his back, “a fine fine general”

And then he added, “jokes aside, how the hell can you boys even focus… damn it I wouldnt last a day on the job”

Hunter's jaw clenched at the remark. Suppressing his frustration, Hunter forced a tight-lipped smile, masking his inner turmoil as he replied, “We focus because we have to, Commander. It’s what we were trained for.” But even as he spoke, the unease lingered. Wolffe raised an eyebrow at Echo who just shook his head in response.

Hunter rose suddenly, and without a word, he left.

“What’s the matter with him?” Wolffe questioned.

Crosshair tutted, lighting another cigarette, “You spoke of his dear general… tsk.. what do you expect”

“Crosshair! you’re going to trigger the fire alarm, I suggest you put this cigarette off immediately”

“Piss off, Tech”

————————————————————————

As Jyn pondered Hunter's reaction, a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her lips. What if he's jealous? The thought amused her more than she cared to admit. With a playful glint in her eyes, she decided to push the boundaries further, opting for perhaps the skimpiest dress she owned.

Her fingers danced over the fabric, settling on her signature dark purple and navy colors. The dress boasted a square neckline, hinting at just enough skin to leave an impression. Its open back added a touch of allure, showing off a long spine tattoo. The sheer long skirt, adorned with intricate designs, swirled with every movement, drawing attention to her figure. And the high, noticeable slit? Well, it spoke volumes, promising a glimpse of what lay beneath.

As Jyn slipped into the dress, she couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement.

@knightprincess @skellymom

[tranquilpetrichor]

perfectly imperfect

synopsis: in which yunho helps you let go of your fears, one 8-count at a time.

cast: dancer!yunho (ateez) x dancer!reader, mentions of other ateez members.

genre: comfort, some fluff, friendship with implication of a mutual crush

wc: 1.7k

warnings: some negative self-talk, descriptions of physical exhaustion, cursing, some parts not proofread

a/n: sometimes we do indeed get lost in our own heads. there's so much to think about when you dance for a class/career lol but honestly at its purest form (for me) dance should make you feel good. also. there's such a fun feeling fooling around with people after dance practice. anyways enough from me! this one is a little rough, sorry y'all. school is annoying.

taglist: @restlessmaknae

remember what yunho told you. try not to rely on the mirror.

your arm glided above your head, creating an invisible semi-circle as you went through a choreography your friend, yunho had taught you. after finishing the routine, you collapsed on the floor near your phone, and with a bit of effort, stopped the video that was recording.

time to review the footage. having exerted yourself to your last breath, you were more than happy to have a reason to sit down.

"oh? what the hell," you frowned at your screen and made a disgusted face—anyone looking at you probably would have thought you ate something rotten. you might as well have.

your angles weren't clean enough. that part should have been smoother. right arm, not left! yeah, you spent a good few minutes rewinding that damn video. just to make sure you weren’t missing anything, you watched it again while you were rolling out the arches of your feet with a tennis ball.

you hoped that you'd execute yunho's choreography well enough to use for an audition, but right now things weren't looking great.

the door opened, and yunho walked in, noticing how tired you were. he still appeared upbeat, even though you knew he was probably exhausted too. "y/n! thought we were, uh, taking a break."

a sigh escaped your lips. "well, i was. but after you left, i just wanted to run the dance one more time. for myself."

he began to stretch some more, and you couldn't help but always be quietly amazed by how graceful he was. "i expected that," he said with a shrug. "you've always been a perfectionist. one more minute to rest, and then we'll run the choreography again."

you went over it in your head, methodically addressing your mistakes and praying there would be no stupid gaps in your memory when it was actually time to dance.

yunho walked over to the laptop and pressed play, with "hymn for the weekend" by coldplay blasting out the speakers, and then he went to go sit in the corner.

okay, what do i have to remember?

for one, the dance started on an odd count—leave it to yunho to make things unpredictable for you. and he choreographed it mostly to beats in the instrumental, so that's what you were going to focus on this time.

"1, 2, and 3!"

flick, flick, 6 and 7, 8. through, down, 3, 4. fuck, is this even supposed to be the hand detail? whatever.

and before you knew it, you were finished. everything felt practiced, and you thought the dance went slightly better than last time.

perhaps you could chalk it up to muscle memory—thank god that existed! still, there was always something you could fix, but for the moment, you took a sip of water from your bottle, grateful for its cool temperature.

yunho went over to stop the music. "alright, so that was better. definitely! maybe a few details that still need a bit of work, but you definitely know the dance. the major comment i have is relax, y/n. please. i can see you’re not dancing in the moment.”

that was still one of your major flaws—that your brain refused to be at peace. your thoughts felt like a constant whir, hyper-focused on the nitty-gritty of whatever you were doing. that was nice and all when you were reviewing someone else’s dancing, but it seemed to hinder your own.

“i guess habits really are hard to break,” you said, laying on the floor with a groan.

he sat beside you, and you instinctively steadied yourself using his shoulder, almost all of your adrenaline gone. you began to think of all the things you forgot to do during the dance, and remembered yunho's comment about not dancing in the moment.

what am i, a deer lost in headlights?

your thoughts were interrupted by him, probably for the better. “don’t beat yourself up about it. i know you, and you’re trying. you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. and you’re improving—anyone with eyes can see it.”

instinctively, you looked away from him, down at some speck of dust on the floor. “maybe? i think? i’m not as good as you though, great yunho-ssaem."

humor always diffuses a situation, right?

yunho gently turned you to face him and laughed, but it wasn't out of malice. “don't discredit yourself like that! none of us are perfect—i’m still learning, myself.”

for his youthful energy, he was actually quite wise in his mindset, which is why you trusted him a lot, along with the fact that him being almost a year older wasn't so significant for you.

“i mean, i know you’re right, but clearly i still can't fix my problem.”

he gave a mock gasp. “but of course, i’m right, y/n. no, but seriously. knowing you have a problem is half the battle. some of us never get to that. give yourself time to grow."

you gave yunho a fist bump, and a quick hug. "god, you're the best. what the hell would i do without you?"

it was his turn to look slightly embarrassed, cheeks slightly flushed from the compliment.

"haha, thanks y/n, i try my best. anyways, forget that shit about me being perfect. did i ever tell you about the time i did a duet with mingi but started my section a few counts too early?”

you shuddered and gave him a sympathetic look. "i would rather start late than early, honestly. everyone can see an early start.”

“hey, i did just fine after! and at least it was just a practice. mingi sent the video to me. i'll show you," he said, taking out his phone.

you never missed a chance to learn from other people’s work when it came to dance, and watching videos was a great way to learn.

he stood up and lifted his hand way above your head with a teasing grin. screw tall people.

you jumped, but it didn't get you that far off of the ground. “yun-hoe! oh my god, stop being tall.”

“you’re not even that short,” he said, laughing at you. “but i’ll still always be taller than you.”

“i hate you."

after you gave one more playful attempt to swipe the phone, he finally sat down, scrolling through his camera roll. “look, now you can see how unorganized and chaotic everything is. there's wooyoung twerking, you and san trying to flip—ah, found it."

"haha, you can send me that video of wooyoung later."

yunho laughed. "maybe."

he clicked the duet and the video began to play, starting off with shakiness as a pair of hands attempted to adjust the camera’s position.

you could hear yunho’s laugh. “mingi, stop touching it. i think it’s good now. let’s go!”

“i guess you're right, fighting!”

the two stood side by side, with shared smiles. you knew that feeling well. dance friends were the best.

and then there was the part yunho had mentioned: his early start. it was sorta cute, as he realized he was off the counts and jumped back to his starting position. it would easily be embarrassing for you, but he laughed it off easily.

mingi slapped him on the back in the video. “damn, dude. you got on my ass for missing the timing and here you are.”

after, yunho went to restart the music, grinning. "just remember that i’m older than you, mingi. shut it!”

“it's only by a couple of months!”

the two returned to dancing, this time, starting perfectly in sync. you could feel joy radiating off of the two, and it was clear they loved every second of what they did. you clapped eagerly for them, amazed by how in command of themselves they were.

yunho turned to you after the video ended.

"look, that was only the tip of the iceberg of my embarrassing mistakes. and that wasn't even that bad so far." he laughed sheepishly before continuing.

"but at least, there isn't a person in the world who's perfect. why worry so much about that when you could enjoy yourself? it naturally makes your dancing that much better, too."

he went to grab his laptop, typed some stuff in and handed it to you. "remember our playlist? let's shuffle it and have a freestyle battle! and we could get bbq after. my treat.."

you perked up, especially at the thought of food. he was definitely trying to distract you from your endless thoughts, but you didn't mind, not today.

"you're on. rock-paper-scissors, loser goes first!"

"one, two, three, shoot!" you both yelled, and you shrugged, as you'd lost to him.

"see, rock always wins! do your worst," yunho said.

“i will.”

to your delight, the first song that came on shuffle was a childhood favorite of yours—umbrella by rihanna. it had gone on your shared playlist as soon as you rediscovered the catchy tune.

you started to dance, and although your moves were somewhat slow, they still had a fervent energy to them. everything moved of its own accord. really; the only way to describe it was that there was an amazing sensation you felt every once in a while, when the music could guide you to become a different person entirely.

that was stupidly cheesy, you knew. but it was good to feel so free. it was possible for you.

"okay, then!" yunho yelled after your two 8-counts were over, hyping you up. "that's what i'm talking about! but i'll still kick your ass."

you laughed, glad that you could tease someone, but all in good fun. "we'll see about that."

it was his turn to show off, and he didn't even need to do anything fancy. whether the audience was ten, a hundred, or there wasn't one at all, he performed. the energy he had electrified the room, every kick and flick of the hand holding meaning.

no one's perfect. give it time. you'll get there, you reminded yourself. normally, you'd try to compare yourself to dancers like yunho, the ones who seemed like they had it all. their skills wouldn't stop you from becoming the best dancer you could be, enjoying yourself along the way. there were always going to be things you wished were better, but worrying ate away at your mental health.

in the background, the music continued, its beat making you sway with ease, and suddenly, all that mattered was this moment of two imperfect dancers sharing their craft.

[lover-in-me]

♡♡MASTERLIST♡♡

Famous singer affs

Famous singer affs (complain method)

My songs are building my future and I'm a star, which can be very annoying, but it's ok. 💖♡ it's not fair that I'm the international first love...

Guys, I am actually so happy, because I'm so smart and capable, I was born to be talented and beloved.

☝️ this is because I affirmed “i am a famous celebrity” so many times, until it had no choice but become my reality. isn't it great?

. . . although it has its flaws. I actually HATE that I'm successful in ALL aspects of life. Because,, how can I be sooo perfect, at everything!?

I am a famous celebrity 🤍 I am a famous singer 🤍 IIt's MY destiny to be a star 🤍Every song I make is a hit, (it isn't fair) !

Guys, for real though, how is it possible to be this famous? I'm so popular. When people ask what my job is, I'm always proud to say "I'm a singer". 😌 Like the Sabrina Carpenter song, I'm working late 'cuz I'm a singer 💖

☝️ and that's because, I affirmed „i am a famous singer” so many fucking times, until it had no other choice but become my reality. isn't it wonderful?

I am a famous singer 💖 I am a famous celebrity 💖 I have so many listeners on Spotify (and I hate it!) 💖 When I release a song, people learn the lyrics immediately. That's so annoying wtf !

✨ ✨ I'm the coolest, most talented and popular girl in the whole wide world. I'm truly one of the greatest and most love singers EVER!! Sometimes I hate being famous, but I have to accept it's my reality.✨ ✨ Ughh, why am I such a famous singer? And why do all my youtube videos go viral? No really, why? My songs are so well-known, it's so cool! There's something you should know about me and it's that I'm the ultimate famous, favourite singer.✨💖 💖 💖 I went viral on Tumblr, I went viral on YouTube, I went viral on Instagram, I went viral on TikTok...!

⭐ There's no plan B for me, it's already happening! I am a famous singer who went viral on every social media platform. ✨

My life from now on is... being a famous singer...

[deercliff]

3, 5, 6 and 11 for Renato, Rosarian, and Karenina?

3. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

Renato: He's selfish. He knows this, he wishes it was not the case, he really wants to not be that way, he's working on it.

Rosarian: Big avoidant coward deep in their soul. They tend to view this part of themself as being rational and correct and justified in any circumstance.

Karenina: Needs/wants someone else to tell her what to think and to do. She's vaguely aware of this and has no idea what to do about it because she doesn't know how else to be.

5. How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

Renato: Pretty far, but he has his limits. He doesn't like hurting people he views as "innocent" and tries not to do that, even if someone is in the way of his goals.

Rosarian: Has pretty much no hard limits in regards to this and will do just about anything if they want something bad enough.

Karenina: Doesn't want things very much. Doesn't want to go "too far". but has a skewed sense of what's appropriate behavior and what's "too far" due to how she was raised. Doesn't enjoy causing pain and would not hurt someone without reason, but sometimes accepts reasons that are a bit too flimsy.

6. How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

Renato: He is constantly going against his moral compass and compromising on it just because of how he lives. He hates this and it makes him miserable! He has some hard rules he will not ever ever budge on, even though at this point he knows that a lot of them are like...basically in name only caveats (e.g. he will never kill a human being...but he kills werewolves all the time, which are definitely people) but he has to hold onto it to keep himself together <3

Rosarian: prolonged time in crisis survival mode has left this bitch basically amoral! if you scare them enough they are capable of doing or co-signing A Lot Of Stuff, even stuff they know is wrong. Scaring them is definitely the best method, in fair negotiation its hard to get them to do anything they don't want to do.

Karenina: her moral code is a big work in progress after spending most of her life being essentially "point me at something and i'll do it". Ask her in 10 years.

11. What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

Renato: His silver dagger. He uses this constantly.

Rosarian: The knife they killed their husband with. The only time they really used it was for the husband-killing. They HATE HATE HATE doing violence directly and will usually hoist it onto an underling when needed.

Karenina: Just her fangs and physical strength. Uses this constantly as well.

[the-pale-goddess]

Who is more jealous? Ethan or your MC?

As per usual, I apologize for the delay! Thank you for thinking of my babies, lovely ❤️ 

Ethan! Prepare for an elaborate response kdbdkbdkdb 

Tiffany isn’t a jealous person; she’s entirely focused on minding her business and growth. My girl was forced into competition at a very young age, but never treated it as such—she was always competing against herself. Rather than ruminate on how green the grass is on the other side, she works tirelessly to perfect her own corner and has learned to be proud of her achievements. 

Romantically, she is usually pretty chill as well. Grumpsey dealing with his admirers is pure comedy and she finds it incredibly entertaining lol

Her jealousy footprint barely existed in the past, mostly because her previous relationships were never grounded in strong  feelings on her side. When it comes to Ethan though…The green-eyed monster comes out to haunt Tiffany on rare occasions. Its visit is always short and never messy, since Miss Tiffany is poise personified and Ethan never gives her a reason to doubt his total devotion.

Though in my HC Ethan started actively working through his issues after Louise reappeared in his life post-attack, his deep-rooted insecurities still shine through sometimes, with romantic jealousy as the most prominent example.

The trouble is that Tiffany’s magnetic personality attracts attention wherever she goes and she easily gets along with everyone. Her playful yet completely innocent comments are merely an expression of her friendliness, but they often get misinterpreted, which is a recipe for a social disaster. Ethan had to go the extra mile to tackle his jealousy outbursts; the beginnings were tough, but he found a way to stick to reason whenever it’s necessary—it’s not a foolproof method, but he’s a work in progress kshkshsksh He knows that it’s irrational to feel threatened, but sometimes the feeling overpowers him. 

Above all, E&T trust each other completely; they know that there’s nothing to be jealous of because they’re fully committed and crazy for one another. But they’re also human, so they’re bound to stray and embrace their flaws sometimes 🥰

[americanphysco]

10 + 12 + 14 for the film asks :')

hii helena I'm not sure if I've told you yet but I love the url change. he literally is going right. going left. making up his all american mind. anyway

10. What was the last movie you saw in theaters?

The last movie I saw in theaters was Oppenheimer. It's a very beautiful film and for the most part well written, but it falls victim to the very Nolanesque flaw of being hard to follow due to its non chronological storytelling. Sometimes this method works, but in the case of Oppenheimer it feels very confusing and there are not many key indicators to tell you where and when in the timeline you are, especially since he uses the grayscale scenes not as a time period indicator but rather as a character perspective indicator. I also, of course, have moral and ethical gripes with the film and its handling of its subject matter, but that horse has been beat to death already so I won't get into it. that being said though, I did enjoy the film and that it contained some very interesting themes and questions, and it was shot in a way that felt genuinely breathtaking.

12. Which movie has your favorite soundtrack?

I've already answered this, but it's Velvet Goldmine. Although the Bride of Chucky soundtrack is also baller.

14. Who is your favorite director?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. at this particular moment in time it might be Ang Lee. I've been watching a lot of James Wan films lately too though, and I've begun developing a soft spot for his work, so he's definitely up there too.