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watery-melon-baller · 3 years

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As expected, here are some of my favorite of Danny’s powers entires on the fan wiki, in no particular order.

Healing Factor: In ghost form, Danny is capable of healing at much greater speeds than that of an ordinary human, likely due to his body's ecto-biological structure.... The limits of his regeneration is unknown, so it unknown if he can regrow missing limbs.

I’m sorry, but just the THOUGHT of Danny getting his limbs cut off Animorphs-style just so he can regrow them...

Aerokinesis (Apparently): In Identity Crisis, when Danny split himself into Super Danny and Fun Danny. Super Danny's hair and cape constantly wave as if there was the wind - even when there's no wind at all. It is possible Super Danny was manipulating the wind or this could be an error.

Just... the analytical way this is approched, and the “apparently”... sgsdffgdssgfs. Also just the mere fact that Super Danny’s wind hair gets its own entry on in Danny’s Powers section.

Supernatural Equilibrium/Balance: Probably due to his flight and agility, he has the ability to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium in any position imaginable. He seemed able to adjust his position almost by instinct, which enables him to balance himself on a scythe, balanced on a rope at great high, and perfectly walk on a wall like if it's the floor.

Danny is a gyroscope confirmed.

Fusion: This power, when activated, allows him to simultaneously merge with another ghost at once, giving him access to their powers. To activate this, Danny must overshadow the ghost whom he wishes to combine with. Fusing with another ghost requires Danny to have the physical and mental resilience to handle the strain. It also comes with great risk, as the other ghost user could potentially overwhelm him.

FUSION FICS FUSION FICS FUSION FICS-

Photokinesis: Danny can project light from his hand using ecto-energy... In "Double Cross My Heart", he created a Flashing ecto-energy ball that explodes in front of The Guys in White, releasing a great amount of light in order to distract and blind his enemies. In "Urban Jungle", Danny generates light with his hand when he goes into the dark Fenton Works' lab.

I don’t know I just really like this one. People really be sleeping on this one (Including me because I absolutely forgot it existed and now I’m thinking of several points this would have been very useful to know). Like it’s just cool and practical for a myriad of scenarios.

Telekinesis: Danny can surround objects with his ecto-energy to make them move from a distance. Inexplicably, Danny has only been seen using this power once, to give a rake to the Box Ghost, and it is never seen nor mentioned outside of its one appearance.

THE TELEKINESIS THE FUCKING TELEKINENISIS DSSDDSGFFGHGHS-

Exorcism: Danny can separate a possessed person from a ghost overshadowing them simply by grabbing them with his hand or using a ghost ray. He separated Paulina using a ghost ray; he can do this by overshadowing the person, although he didn't use it with Tucker due to his power.

This one’s honestly just really interesting and I can see some story potential in it; I don’t see a lot of stories involving overshadowing in general, but I think it would just be cool to see how people might play around with it.

#Danny Phantom #Fandom #Fanfic #Danny Fenton #Just looking through this wiki MAN is Danny OP #I still didn't find another basic power besides flight that I can give him to start out with right after the accident

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oh-boy-me · 3 years

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sooooo.... noodle my doodle... whatcha think about those birth dates they just released, hm?

So birthdays mean sun signs and I’m guessing that’s why you’re interested 👀

Jo-kun is luckily interested in astrology and knows more than I do, so we talked about it a bit heheh

Also we haven’t talked about ANY birthdays/zodiacs so we’ll throw in the demon bros as well below the cut~

And keep in mind that astrology is just for fun, and these characters are up to individual interpretation, so you may have ideas that differ from ours and that’s fine! Additionally, none of this is meant to be a criticism or attack on people who share these signs, since just because you share one sign with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you’re similar people.

Edit: I forgot to explicitly clarify, but the moon and rising signs assigned are just headcanons, as there’s no way to know those without an exact birth time and place

Briefly, here are what tend to be considered the general, unifying traits of the elements as sun signs, so that we don’t have to repeat ourselves by constantly saying Taurus act like an earth sign. (Summaries courtesy of Jo)

FIRE (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) Dedicated, Enthusiastic, Passionate, Visionary EARTH (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) Clingy, Grounded, Reliable, Practical AIR (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) Intellectual, Quick, Analytical, Sociable WATER (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) Sensitive, Emotional, Easily Influenced, Intuitive

Diavolo (10/31 - Scorpio ♏️)

We will, briefly, dear reader, pretend that Diavolo’s birth date has nothing to do with Halloween. A magnetic personality with a firm control over his surroundings (with the aide of his position as royalty), this water sign is as intuitive as they come.

Witty, free-spirited, and innately curious, even when his decisions seem immature, Diavolo allows his two sides (royal duties and childish ideals) to merge together nicely in the way that a Gemini moon would. He’s an optimist with a zesty personality, but also knows when to be serious, so a Sagittarius rising would make sense.

Barbatos (8/22 - Leo [Virgo Cusp] ♌️[ ♍️])

Being born the day before the switch, Barbatos holds the Leo qualities of being loyal and generous, but the Virgo qualities of being logical and hard working. He can be unreasonable and critical at times, but his regal personality offsets the sting to most of his words.

He’s a harmony seeker and a team player, though those who aren’t on his side will be off put, so a Libra moon works for him. His organizational skills, coupled with his skills as a natural caretaker, often leads to others seeking out his advice should they find themselves in trouble, which suggests Virgo as his rising sign.

Simeon (2/10 - Aquarius ♒️)

Friendly yet detached, Simeon shows all qualities of an air sign, but with a flare for curiosity. His eccentricities and tendency to not give up either draw you to him, or away.

He’s slow to anger and shows his devotion by fostering his relationships over a long period of time. However, this makes it hard for him to let go of past relationships, so a Taurus moon would make sense. And as we’ve seen from his directing, he has high expectations for both himself and others, and while he's often quite mature, it also makes him aloof, so a Capricorn rising can work.

Luke (7/15 - Cancer ♋️)

All the traits of a water sign are very visible, and Luke's caring and loyal nature, along with his ability to hold a grudge, be clingy, and seek security, cement his spot as a Cancer.

Luke often finds himself with no choice but to fully embraces his emotional state, and if not careful can fall into egocentric defenses, so the emotional fire sign Leo would work as his moon sign. Idealistic yet sensitive to the truth, he can come off as impractical, so we can see Pisces as his rising sign.

Solomon (12/9 - Sagittarius ♐️)

A seeker of freedom and a philosopher of sorts, the fire signs traits are certainly well honed for his pursuit of knowledge and power, though this can be seen as reckless and/or tactless.

He prefers witty and light banter over a deep conversation about emotions, which may be because he struggles to actually conceptualize them into words, so a Gemini moon would make sense. His circumstances (natural caution towards others, responsibilities, and being the only other human) means he ends up hiding what he's really thinking underneath a calm facade, resembling a Scorpio rising.

Lucifer (6/6 - Gemini ♊️)

So Lucifer’s birthday is 6/6 because of 666. That is why. But ignoring that, he has his “two sides,” his business side and his fun side, and they never overlap. He fits the general air sign qualities well, and he's clever and witty in a dry way. However, he's also capable of being moody and restless, and can be immature in his reactions.

For his moon sign, we can see him as an Aries, as he’s quick to anger, but cools down easily too, and is very assertive. On the surface, he’s mature, organized, and expects a lot, so he seems like a rising Capricorn.

Mammon (9/10 - Virgo ♍️)

Mammon is an interesting case, because he does fit many Virgo traits, but he has to care for them to show. He’s hard-working, surprisingly logical and observant, and incredibly innovative. He also worries, has trouble staying still, and always wants more.

He’s also very emotionally mature and nurturing as a result, but is quite fragile and can be overbearing, so a Cancer moon makes sense. On the surface, he is instinctual, with a loud presence, and asks forgiveness instead of permission, so he seems like a rising Aries.

Leviathan (4/9 - Aries ♈️)

Temperamental and reckless, yet endearingly audacious, he represents all the qualities of a fire sign. Levi is passionate and VERY intense about those passions. He also gets very defensive, and is quick to lash out the moment he so much as perceives an attack.

For some reason, his potential other signs were pretty hard to think of! We can see a Leo moon, since he trends towards leadership roles in his comfort zone, and can be a bossy drama queen, though he’s also very loyal. On the surface, he very much does his own thing, so he could be a rising Aquarius. (Which, yes, would mean that the sea serpent has no primary water signs.)

Satan (10/20 - Libra ♎️)

Charming and diplomatic, Satan appears even-tempered most of the time, however, he's also quite superficial and tends to seek approval from others inadvertently. He shows obvious signs of typical qualities of an air sign.

A social climber of sorts, he tends to shut down his emotions, which ends up repressing them, leading to his wrathful outbursts, making him a good Capricorn moon. He’s pleasant on the surface, putting his relationships over his true feelings, so he seems like a rising Libra.

Asmodeus (5/15 - Taurus ♉️)

Sensuous, determined, and a lover of beauty, Asmo is as steadfast as any other Earth sign. While greedy for attention and beauty products, his unyielding attitude towards his goals can be considered admirable.

He tends to wane poetic about his emotions, even if it ends up being a bit much. And while he can be very unselfish about his desires, it means he sometimes ends up his own worst enemy, so a Pisces moon would make sense. On the surface, he's confident, dramatic, and attention-grabbing, but this can also make him demanding. Leo would be a good rising sign for him.

Beelzebub + Belphegor (3/11 - Pisces ♓️)

They're both emotional, like most water signs, but they're expressed in different ways. Beelzebub is empathetically intuitive while Belphegor tends to be more compassionate. Both of them can be easily influenced to becomes depressed, and can become stubborn when it comes to the things they believe.

Beel is conflict avoidant and seeks balance in his family, staying as diplomatic and cooperative as he can, so a Libra moon would make sense. On the surface, he comes across as strong willed, dependable, and a little bit of a hedonist, so a Taurus rising would work.

Belphie leans more towards hiding his intentions, and those intentions are often scheming or petty, so he could be a Scorpio moon. He’s also guarded and quiet around those outside of his circle, so Scorpio would once again work as his rising.

So to summarize (cute little chart courtesy of Jo)

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animebaby00 · 3 years

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I Don't Deserve It: Chapter 3 (FINAL)

When Shoto gets a nasty stomach bug, Izuku stops at nothing to take care of him.

But Shoto can't help but wonder why ?

(Link to Chapter 1): ⬇️

(Link to Chapter 2): ⬇️

The few times Shoto had forgotten to brush his teeth before bed had left him with an absolutely disgusting taste in his mouth the next morning.

However, that taste was NOTHING in comparison to the absolutely sickening, bitter, revolting, acidic flavor that coated his tongue once he woke up.

He pursed his lips sourly, positive that even the flavor of actual vomit coming up wasn't as bad as this. It was almost at the point of making him feel nauseous all over again, but with nothing in his stomach, it was just a mild queasiness.

He harshly blinked his eyes, taking note of the yellowish gleam in the room. It still must have been day time,but later afternoon due to the position of the shadows casted along the wall.

How long had he been asleep?

He sat up slightly, decently warm due to the blankets covering his form, but he wasn't overly hot, nor suffering from chills. He actually felt...better. Well, better than this morning at least.

But he still ached to rid his mouth of the bitter after tastes from earlier.

Shoto heaved himself up more, relieved that his body didn't act against him like it did several times before, and he was actually able to sit up without much protest. However, right when he did, the click of a door sounded in his ear and he caught sight of Midoriya reentering his room, a large, brown tray balanced on his arm.

This whole entire situation was turning into one of deja vu.

Midoriya made it about halfway into his room before he noticed Shoto's wakened presence, his eyes immediately perking up with a gleam of happiness once he did.

"Ah, Todoroki. You're awake." He said, a soft smile gracing his lips.

Shoto nodded, "Y-yeah." He looked back at the curtained window, " How uh...how long was I out?"

"About 4 hours. I was going to wake you up when I came back in here but I guess I won't need to," sock covered feet padded over to the bed and he leaned down to set the tray on the bed's edge, keeping his gaze upward as he did so, "How are you feeling ?"

Shoto's eyes widened a bit.

Such a simple question to answer, but to him, it felt highly difficult.

He knew it was just a simple inquiry about his wellbeing...but it was rare that he had ever been asked "how he was feeling".

He could say that he felt 100% better, say that he could leave Midoriya be and apologize for the unnecessary trouble. However, as proven from earlier, Midoriya was highly analytical (about the most odd things he may add) so he knew that if he tried to lie, the boy would no doubt be able to deduct it. It wasn't a complete lie though. He did feel better but-

"Not...too bad" he answered, noticing that even his voice sounded better, and he was deeply relieved by that "Not as bad as before."

Midoriya grinned "I'm happy to hear that !"

Shoto was a bit puzzled by the boy's eagerness, but that feeling completely diminished once he noticed Midoriya moving closer to him. His hand was slowly raising up, and in no time, it found a place against the skin of his forehead.

He froze in his place

"Well, you definitely look better." Midoriya concluded, "And your fever came down. I think you just caught that 24 hour stomach bug that's been going around."

Shoto blinked, "Stomach bug ?"

The freckled boy nodded, "Mmhm. I guess we've been so busy with our hero work and school that we didn't really notice it. But it doesn't last long." He pulled his hand away, "You should feel better by tomorrow, but make sure you take it easy."

Shoto watched as Midoriya reached over to grab a water bottle from the tray at the end of the bed, "Here, you should probably drink something after getting so sick. Don't need you getting dehydrated, but make sure you drink it slow. Are you still feeling nauseous at all ? Or dizzy? I brought some medicine if you are."

Shoto put a hand to his stomach, feeling slightly uneasy in answering.

He stayed silent, and a frown immediately crossed over onto Midoriya's face.

"Todoroki ? Are you okay ?" He asked frantically, tossing the water bottle to the side,"Are you feeling sick again ? Do you need the-"

"Why are you doing this?"

The question seemed to linger in the air. It was quiet for several seconds as Midoriya's face fell completely blank.

He slowly sat back down.

"What do you mean?"

Shoto looked down at his lap, "You know," he mumbled, gesturing to himself, the bed, and the tray at his feet, "All of this. Bringing me to your room, cleaning up the mess I made,the cold rag, bringing me water and medicine…"

"Helping me." He thought, but didn't say. Damn it, he really was pathetic. Just picturing what his father would say to him right now sent a flood of pitiful thoughts through his brain.

He was no better than a starving mutt scrapping up food from a trash can outside of a restaurant. A rotting, shriveled up tree in the cold depths of winter.

A piece of work. A nuisance. A waste of time.

A pathetic excuse of a human being, let alone a hero.

"Well that's obvious," Midoriya's chipper voice sounded, no ounce of remorse in sight, "Because you're my friend."

Shoto inwardly grimaced.

Friend.

The oh so Midoriya-like response that he knew deep down was coming.

But even so…it just wasn't right.

He slowly shook his head, fingers rising up to rub at his sore temples "God I can't believe this…"

"Huh?"

A sigh left his lips and he directed his bi-colored gaze to rest on Midoriya's deep, confused, green irises, his next words heavy on his tongue.

"I'm...I'm sorry Midoriya."

The freckled boy blinked, eyebrows furrowing at his sick friend, noticing how his presence seemed to suddenly freeze over them in a bitter chill.

What?

"Sorry?" he asked, his tone light and wavering in disbelief "Why are you sorry?"

Shoto pressed his lips into a thin line, his head tilting downwards, bangs covering his eyes. Slowly, he turned his head to the side, seemingly in an attempt to avoid Midoriya's perplexed stare…and the topic of explanation.

He looked so...dismal. Or maybe, upset? Disappointed? Honestly, Midoriya wasn't sure.

He actually wasn't sure about a lot of things in concern of Shoto today.

Everyone gets sick. That's inevitable. But Shoto seemed so completely and utterly...bludgeoned by it, that it had made Midoriya very concerned.

Shoto had to have not felt 100% that morning, considering how badly he had thrown up. He had hidden it well even though Midoriya could have sworn that his complexion did look a little green. But then, things continued to take their turns.

He hadn't mentioned feeling sick at all during their time in the bathroom, kept brushing off that he was fine. He had tried to avoid Midoriya's help and care, tried getting up and leaving when he very well wasn't capable of doing so.

And now, here he was, looking down at the bed, fiddling with his fingers like some child who had just stolen some cookies out of a cookie jar, apologizing for something that no other person ever would.

But why?

Why did he seem so regretful, so beaten down, so depressed?

Midoriya began to gain a bit of realization

He had seen that face before, at least ones similar to it. At their battle during the sports festival, in the hospital after beating Stain, those tiny increments he would encounter his father or talk about his mother.

Others wouldn't be able to see it, but Midoriya could. That look…

...was a look of guilt.

It was then that he understood. Maybe not Shoto's exact position, as no one could possibly understand what he'd been through completely. Midoriya knew he probably never would, but he was going to try his hardest to make Shoto understand HIS position, even if it was just a little.

"Hey, Todoroki." He tried, scooting closer to the male's side whilst looking down at the bed as well, , "You know...I actually used to not like asking for help either."

Midoriya ghosted his gaze upward for just a moment , and caught a twinge of movement from Shoto out of the corner of his eye. At least he got a reaction and confirmation that he was listening.

He picked at the blanket below him with his fingers, "I'm sure you already know this," he said softly, "But it was pretty much just me and my mom growing up. With my dad not in the picture, she was the one who always took care of me. She worked quite a few jobs a week at cafes and stores to keep up with expenses while also looking out for my well being at the same time. "

The soft smile on his lips faded some as he continued.

"I would usually stay at Kacchan's house after school when she couldn't pick me up, sometimes I would even spend the night or fall asleep on the sofa because she would get back so late. And when that wasn't an option, I would go to the office and do homework until she was able to come get me, but I never truly realized just how hard she pushed herself until I got older."

Izuku stood up and walked over his dresser, hand reaching out to pick up a framed photo of him and his mother, finger smoothing over the glassened face.

"She always had weekends off with me which made me happy. We would watch movies, play hero, go to All Might's autograph signings, and we'd always have so much fun...but I would begin to notice how she would doze off halfway through a movie, how sometimes she wouldn't lift me up as high, or how sometimes she would walk slower than normal. I never noticed...how tired she was. How worn out working so many different shifts made her, and on top of it she had to take care of me. It made me feel...guilty."

He set the photo down and turned back around, now finding Shoto's bi-colored gaze completely on him, focused and set, like he was mentally relating to what Midoriya was saying.

"Once middle school started, I decided to try doing more things for myself. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing my homework by myself, and other things. At first, it was easy, but then I found my time was slipping away because of my studies and my hero research. Sometimes I would go a day without eating, other times I wouldn't have time to study for a test and my scores weren't the best. I had to keep reminding myself that sometimes my mom had it way worse than me, and so I kept doing what I was doing. But I always found it strange how she would ask me if I was okay or if I needed help when she was the one working 3 jobs while also taking care of a kid."

Shoto parted his lips to speak, his inquisitive words just barely above a whisper.

"W-what did you do?"

Midoriya sighed before his lips curled up into a sympathetic, knowing smile "Denied it. Told her I was fine and that nothing was wrong."

Shoto looked down at the bed, "Oh…"

"But of course, schemes, whether good or bad, have to come to an end somehow. And that happened to me in one of the worst ways possible."

"How?"

Midoriya chuckled sheepishly,"I brought home my first test...with an F."

Now that was something. Midoriya had the 5th highest grade level in their class so he was no doubt a good student. To say Shoto was shocked was an understatement.

"Naturally, this caught my Mom's attention, and soon as I got home she set me down to talk. I knew then and there that I had to tell her what was going on and that I would only make it worse if I tried to hide anything so I told her everything from start to finish. I told her I felt bad for her and that I always worried that she was working too hard. I explained absolutely everything, but in the end, instead of her being mad, she did something that I'd always remember for the rest of my life. She took my hand and said 'Izuku, I want you to understand that no matter what, you can always come to me if you need something. No matter how tired I am, no matter what time it is, I'll always be here. It's my job to look after you. We can't do everything by ourselves, we can't be who we want to be without others. Help is a life necessity and everyone needs it sooner or later, even if they don't think they need it or deserve it. Asking for it and accepting it isn't a weakness…'"

Midoriya trailed off for a moment to walk back over to his bed to sit, and gently placed a hand over Shoto's folded ones, tone warm and reassuring.

"In fact...it's one of the greatest strengths a person can have.'"

Something clicked then. Midoriya's words...he wasn't sure why but they ignited something. A feeling that he couldn't pinpoint.

It took so much in the past for him to be convinced that help or assistance was a sign of weakness. All of the stern lectures, orders and put downs that he could be better. The never ending struggles that he conquered by himself and only by himself because that's what he was taught to do.

It was all changed by a simple story from a person he hadn't even known for a year.

"And you know," Midoriya added, "If a hero is sick, then they can't perform at their best for other people, so the best thing for you, whether you like it or not, is rest."

"Yeah." he sighed, "Your right. I...can actually see that now. I guess my old ways got to me. I'm just not used to this," he shifted in place, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Midoriya said with a smile, "I'm your friend. I'm happy to help."

He grabbed the water bottle for the second time, "Here, I imagine the taste you have in your mouth right now isn't too pleasant."

Shoto breathed a light chuckle and put the rim of the bottle up to his lips, "You have no idea." He took a few sips, relishing in how nice the coolness of the water felt in his parched mouth and dry throat.

"I've been sick plenty of times before so I have an idea. Now," Midoriya stood, "Do you maybe want to try eating something? Some crackers or some toast maybe ? You should probably try and keep your strength up."

"Yeah...crackers are okay. I'm not as nauseous as I was earlier so I think I can stomach it."

"Great ! I'll be right back then. Call if you need anything else, okay?"

"...Sure."

Midoriya turned to head out of the bedroom, hand reaching out to grab the handle of the door.

"Midoriya ?"

He paused his movements and turned his head.

"Yes, Todoroki?"

And then he saw it. That oh so, rare, genuine little smile that seemed to brighten up the whole room.

"Thank you."

Two simple words, but to Midoriya, they meant a million.

#mha #my hero academia #shoto torodoki #izuku midoriya #sick shoto todoroki #caring izuku midoriya #talking #support #friendship #understanding

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greyias · 4 years

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FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 18

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something’s rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won’t rest until he finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic’s top spy can handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Author’s Notes and Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Crossposted to AO3

The Heorum Complex technically stayed open twenty-four hours a day, because intelligence work never slept. However, the office experience varied wildly depending on the time of day. In the daytime, it was abuzz with activity. Agents sat at terminals working through reports and intel, analysts dutifully sorted through the steady stream of data being fed in from across the galaxy, and all the office support staff bustled about in the typical work day grind. The aroma of fresh-brewed caf would sometimes waft from the various kitchenettes and a constant background buzz of chatter filled most of the rooms.

Nighttime was a decidedly different mood. Darkened terminals and stations replaced the bustle of workers, doused in shadow after the overhead lights switched off for the evening. The shadows of the abandoned desks and chairs stretched across the empty rooms, like long, spindly fingers reaching out. The hum of constant chatter gave way to the clank and hum as the cleaner droids made their rounds on each floor. The sharp, antiseptic scent of the droids’ cleaning solution would overpower everything else. It was almost as sharp and jolting as a steaming mug of caf, although not nearly as pleasant to take in.

If Theron were being honest, a steaming mug of caf wouldn’t go amiss right now. He needed to focus and had a long, grueling task ahead of him.

Tonight wouldn’t be the first night that he’d lost track of time and been the last one out — although the previous instances were unintentional. Today he’d made a show of getting too absorbed in his assignment; decoding some intercepted transmissions from an Imperial base that Marcus wanted a rush on. Theron had cracked the cipher earlier in the day, but feigned ignorance to draw out his time on the terminal as long as possible. He’d grabbed a station in the far corner of the room where no one could easily sneak up on him and spy the second set of coding he was working on.

Getting into the backdoor of the SIS mainframe was a tough task — as it should be. Technically, Theron shouldn’t have been able to do it himself, but it seemed like every time they closed up one vulnerability, he would nose out another exploit. He’d report this one… just as soon as he wrapped up here. Now, technically he still had access to these files via normal channels, but that would have left a record of him looking into a closed investigation. He needed to keep his inquiries into Darok off the radar until he found the proverbial smoking barrel. Meaning he needed to be very careful about what network activities they could trace back to him.

Most of his work during the day had been meticulously finishing his code. He’d kept the decryption up just in case any nosy coworkers wanted to stop by for a chat, although most seemed content to leave him be. Jonas once told Theron that he got a certain look in his eye when he was “getting obsessed with a job” — whatever that meant. Of course, Jonas was always saying things like that. Theron was pretty sure his fellow agent made half of it up just to get a reaction.

No matter.

As the chrono edged past the hour and the whir of the cleaning droids faded into background noise, Theron decided he was truly alone. He dropped his subterfuge and used his backdoor to access the data on the Tython and Korriban investigations. With Highwind’s clue in mind, he pulled up the archived security footage from the Jedi Temple. The recovery team managed to save several recordings in addition to what Theron had during the operation. He used Highwind’s liberation of the temple as his starting point and slowly rewound the footage. Even though he’d witnessed it all live, there was something still a little mesmerizing about watching the whirl of her lightsabers, even in reverse. She truly was a master of the form, that was hard to deny. If the action was difficult to follow in holo form, it must be positively dizzying to witness in person.

Her part in the footage was over quickly enough, and he focused his attention on the entire picture. He watched as the imperial figures on the recording in their attempt to set up their doomed attempt at a trap for the Jedi Master and her crew. Some stirrings of angry feelings tried to resurface, but he pushed them away. There was no time to indulge in that sort of nonsense. He had a much more important job to do.

It was a painstaking and at times infuriating process to watch as the Imperials ransacked the temple in reverse march. But he remained focused, steadfastly analyzing the images until a flash of something caught his attention. He paused the footage and shuttled it until he found it. He grabbed a still frame and brought it over to another piece of software to enhance the image and zoom in on the activity right outside the library. The details were a bit obscured from the cropped image, but was able to just make out a tall, imposing Chagrian in robes handing off what looked like an artifact of some sort to a group of Imperial soldiers.

Frowning, Theron zoomed in on the artifact more, and ran it through a program specially designed to enhance blurry and pixelated images. It used a combination of algorithmic predictions and artificial intelligence to fill in the blank pixels at higher resolutions. The processing power required by the program was intense enough that it was prohibitively expensive to deploy into the field, so Theron didn’t get a chance to use it much. He watched the screen in fascination as the software worked its image reconstruction magic in almost real time, seeing the pixelated details of the artifact slowly sharpen into focus. If he was a betting man, he’d put a few credits on this being the missing Rakatan artifact.

Target confirmed, he grabbed a few stills from other angles and repeated the process, until he gathered enough high-resolution stills to stitch together a rough, fully dimensional holographic representation of the stolen item. None of this told him the function of the artifact in question, or even why someone would go through the farce of storming strongholds of the galaxy’s most powerful Force users to retrieve them.

He pursed his lips together and set up a database query on his reconstruction and let it run. As the numbers and results flew by on the screen, Theron let his mind wander to the best way to determine the function and importance of the artifact. There were a few archaeologists in the Republic who specialized in Rakatan culture and tech who might have some insight. There would probably be too many questions though if some agent showed up at their office with an image of some old ruins, asking about their potential destructive capabilities and security risks. There was always employing a disguise, maybe an amateur archaeologist, a writer doing research for the next sensational holonovel. It could definitely yield some answers on why the Empire would go through the trouble of raiding Tython to get the artifact — or it could expose his investigation.

Theron decided not to risk it. Best to see what information the SIS database had and go from there.

While the query ran, he pulled up a report that someone in Analytics appended to the Tython incident. They’d scrubbed the comm logs and been able to get a clean image of the Sith Lord that Highwind had spoken with. Theron couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the numerous comments scribbled in the margins about the Jedi in question. Most of it was speculation about the Hero of Tython’s ridiculously competent combat capabilities, which Theron was becoming fairly familiar with at this point. It was the notes on the identity of the Sith Lord that Theron found more interesting. Apparently it had taken quite a bit of cross-referencing, but the report writer identified the figure as one Darth Arkous, a member of the Dark Council in charge of the Sphere of Military Offense. It made sense for someone in his position to be involved in the raid on Tython, but…

That funny niggling feeling that had plagued Theron from the start of all of this reared its head again. On a hunch, he pulled up the mass of data he’d siphoned off from Korriban. The nerds in Analytics had yet to finish delving into the virtual playground of potential intel, and the security footage that he’d obtained looked like it was on the bottom of the priority list to process. It suited him just fine, especially now that he knew what he was looking for.

Once again he started at a common reference point. This time was the stormy expression of his Jedi Knight Extraordinaire marching out of the Academy after Jensyn executed the Dark Council member in front of her. Theron tapped his finger on the desk, watching the angry set of her jaw and the dramatic fluttering of her cape as she made her way off camera. He blinked, but kept his eyes on the screen, curious to what he had missed after he’d looked away from the Academy’s interior. As the footage scrolled forward, he watched the dizzying activity of the SpecOps secure the temple. From this angle, they almost resembled little ants darting about. In fact, there was so much activity he nearly missed the elevator doors on the second floor opening as Jensyn stepped out. Theron paused his shuttling and cross-referenced the timecode as he paged through the various files to see if there was a better angle. The third recording that had a clear, unobstructed view of Jensyn handing off an artifact to one of his men. The soldier tucked the artifact under his arm and immediately headed for one of the shuttles leaving the surface. Theron viewed the entire exchange with a deep, troubled frown.

He repeated the process he’d used on the Tython footage, cobbling together various angles of the artifact together into a holographic representation. He pulled up his reconstruction of the other stolen artifact from the Jedi Temple and laid it and its Sith Academy counterpart side-by-side. They were an exact match.

His jaw ached as his teeth ground together, that familiar anger bubbling up from deep within his gut. The brooding session was cut short by an alert letting him know that his database query had finished. A quick reshuffling of his programs had everything up on screen, and Theron stared at the twin stolen artifacts alongside a readout from the SIS database confirming they were Rakatan in origin. The liner notes were sparse, as there was scant information available. No confirmation on their function, but a suspected origin from the Lehon system with a possible excavation date from nearly three hundred years prior.

“Gotcha,” Theron muttered in grim satisfaction.

There was no one around to hear it. And this sort of circumstantial evidence probably wouldn’t be admissible in any court, but it was enough confirmation for Theron that his suspicions had been warranted. Darok lied about the reason for the raid on Korriban. Or, as it was becoming clear, a robbery.

He made a few discreet copies of all the files pertinent to his investigation, being sure to diligently scrub each step of his data trail. It had edged past dusk into evening by the time he completely wiped his activities from the system. It was late enough that the commuter traffic thinned out, and the hovertrain ride back to his apartment was quiet, with only the occasional drunk swaying in the corner that paid him no mind. The trip was just long enough to mull over the evening’s revelations, and plan to dig further into his files back in the safety of his apartment with some leftover takeout.

A plan that, like most of his well-thought out ideas, derailed the moment he got in the door to his apartment. His implants sent him a ping — the HoloNet trace on Darok had picked up activity. No rest for the weary, nor apparently time for a meal of stale takeout. He pored over the details of the alert. Apparently Darok had arranged for some ships for travel. It was the destination on the manifest that made Theron quirk an eyebrow: Manaan.

“Now why would you be heading there?” Theron mused aloud. Much like in the empty office, there was no one to answer. It was just as well, because there was only one way to answer that question.

It was well past midnight by the time he’d made his own travel arrangements and a craft a proper cover story for them. He was about to close up everything for the night and catch a few hours of sleep, but as he stared at the screen, he hesitated. He sat in contemplation for a few moments, before opening up his mail terminal, and began typing.

To: Greyias Highwind From: Theron Shan Subject: Noteworthy

It looks like our old pal is on the move in a few days here to Manaan. I’m gonna tag along — at a distance — and see what our friend is up to. I also found some rather interesting things in my research today. One might even call it noteworthy. If this lead pans out, I’ll have my astromech contact you with the details. Hopefully you’re all rested up and recovered after your little adventure.

I think things are about to get really interesting.

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #oc: greyias highwind #otp: adorkable #smoke and mirrors #SoR Fic O Doom #swtor #fanfic #greyfic

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habitmorelikefuckyou · 5 years

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EverymanHYBRID - Pacing, Character-Driven Plots, and Comic Relief

Everyone shut the FUCK up I’m shifting into hyperfocus mode

In all seriousness, EverymanHYBRID is one of my favorite series period, and I have SO much to say about its writing and production. It’s, in my Personal Opinion, probably the best-written of the main Slenderverse ARG (Though I’m willing to admit that this is probably influenced by personal bias and you’re absolutely allowed to disagree). And I just want to go in-depth with some of my favorite elements!

(obvious spoilers for EverymanHYBRID if you haven’t seen it)

I think HABIT, and the way his character is written and used, is probably the best place to start.

HABIT, in my opinion, is an EXTREMELY interesting villain- right down to the concept. HABIT is literally the personification of the darkest, most horrible things people are capable of. He is a literal embodiment of humanity’s sins. That is quite possibly one of the scariest and most cosmically threatening concepts they could have chosen. And what’s even more interesting is the way they then approached that concept-

They made him fun.

That’s something I see everyone who watches EMH hook onto. The villain, the main antagonist, the horrible old-as-time pure evil mastermind, is a fun character! He’s witty, he’s funny, he’s rude in that flippant, crude, lighthearted way we’ve come to associate with characters like Deadpool. He doesn’t act with any sort of discernible logic or pretense. And that’s the point.

Let’s skip ahead to the last stretch of the series for a moment. After “:D”, pretty much the rest of the videos consist entirely of Vinny and Habit alone, with occasional appearances from a very traumatized Evan. That’s 25 videos- about a full fourth of the story. The final 1/4 of EMH is almost entirely Vinny and HABIT. Now, why is this important? Well, look back to the beginning. If you look at this entire series with an analytical perspective, you realize that among some other themes, one aspect of the series never leaves entirely- its humor.

No matter what arc or event the story touches on, there’s always some form of comic relief. It wasn’t always doom and gloom. One of EMH’s trademarks, in my opinion, is how they constructed the plot to move consistently between those two tones, and even mix them.

How does this relate to HABIT? Think about that thing I said- for the last fourth of EMH, the only characters we get to see for the most part are Vinny and HABIT. Vinny, at this point, is a very changed man. He’s not the same college guy making videos with his friends that he was in video one- he’s worn out, scared, broken. Before this, all of the humor or heart the story had come from the guys’ interactions, but Vinny is alone and empty now- he can’t provide that without breaking character.

And THAT is why HABIT being a fun, flippant character is so important. He not only gets to have that creepy, unhinged vibe- it’s a utility. It’s a way to incorporate that element back into the story in a way that still upholds the plot. They made the villain funny because only a villain could possibly be funny in that kind of situation.

Like I said earlier, the story wasn’t always oppressive and scary and sad. It broke up its tragedy with humor or love. That wasn’t just a style choice; it was necessary to tell the story the EMH crew wanted to tell. That’s the thing that some people don’t seem to get- you can’t have a story be nothing but sad, upsetting things piled on top of each other with nothing in between. It’s not the low point that you feel, but the drop from a high point to get there. You need highs if you want your audience to care about the lows, so you need some element of levity to a dark story if you want people to care when it gets dark again. That’s what makes HABIT so cleverly written. He manages to do that without moving an inch outside of the character we’d expect.

That point also serves as a good segway to something else I want to talk about- Pacing.

EverymanHYBRID, in comparison to most other ARGs, is a slow-paced story. Yes, the conflict begins about six videos in, but if you think about it, that was barely the start. We don’t even get a direct hint to HABIT’s presence until 20 videos in. There’s also the livestreams they did, and all those normal videos were included for a reason- to let us get attached. The thing about EMH is that it was a HEAVILY character-focused narrative. That means that taking your time to get the audience attached to your characters is crucial.

Because of the long-form medium chosen to tell the story, the guys had to establish a foundation that would last. In a particularly short piece of media, like a small book or a movie, a few (WELL WRITTEN) scenes can give you all the character-building you need, because those scenes will still be fresh in the audience’s mind at the climax. But in a longer story, like EMH, you can’t do that- you need to take a while to establish those characters as people, because the audience needs time to build that association. Your audience isn’t going to be thinking about that one time that character had that one conversation in video ten by the time they’re getting murdered in video sixty. There needs to be a substantial connection between character and audience if that sad stuff is supposed to have any impact.

And EverymanHYBRID does that- and then they do more. They don’t just take it slow in the beginning. They set up that foundation, and then they keep building onto it.

During my second rewatch when I was paying much more attention to the actual writing of the series, one thing I noticed is that after every arc- every major event or tragedy- the story hits the breaks a little. We get a step back, we get a breather, and once again it’s just us and the characters with the threat pushed to the backburner. We not only got to see the characters as people in the first act; we got to see them at every step of the story.

We get to watch in detail how Jeff unravels from the sweet, helpful, kinda goofy guy he was in the first episode to the depressed, hopeless shell he’s become by the time he dies. We get to see every stage of Evan’s devolving mental state from the funny, hot-headed sidekick to the suicidal, broken mess HABIT makes him. Vinny’s journey from the soft-spoken, friendly leader he was at the start to the hollow murderer he is by the end is long and arduous, and we get to see every checkpoint of that transformation. They don’t just break these characters. They make sure that we get to watch them break- because that’s the point.

That’s what makes EverymanHYBRID a character-driven story. The essence of the story isn’t the scary supernatural conflict; it’s how that conflict affects and changes and torments these characters, their relationships, their reactions and then the consequences of those reactions. The pacing was designed to make sure that those aspects were always the main focus, whether we realized it or not. At its center, EverymanHYBRID IS a horror story, but it’s absolutely NOT a thriller- EverymanHYBRID is a tragedy.

The story isn’t about Slenderman, or The Rake, or even HABIT. It’s about the Mining Town Four. It’s about The Voyeur, The Guardian, The Firebrand, and The Everyman. It’s about Stephanie, Jeff, Evan, and Vinny. It’s about a group of innocent people cursed to be reincarnated over and over in an infinite cycle, while trapped in a neverending conflict with unimaginable horror that they can’t ever hope to defeat. It’s about the hopeless, destructive, unfair struggle between man and evil.

And they represented this idea through the most obvious and yet most clever medium possible- through four young, innocent, likable friends, who are tortured, driven apart, and destroyed by a formless source of malice that they don’t understand. EverymanHYBRID, in the end, is a tragic retelling of the oldest moral concept there is, on an impossibly large and yet painfully personal level.

And in my opinion? It’s pretty damn impressive that they managed to do all that with a youtube channel.

#everymanhybrid #emh #slenderverse #slenderman #creepypasta #horror #horror analysis #analysis #vinny everyman #vinnie everyman #vinny emh #evan jennings #evan emh #jeff koval #jeffrey koval #jeff emh #ghost.txt

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counterror · 4 years

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* ANSWERED ASK / GHOST META.

DO NOT REBLOG.

RANDOM DEVELOPMENT ASKS / ALWAYS ACCEPTING.

anonymous asked : are there any differences between how simon acts towards children and how ghost acts towards them ? in a situation where a child could be a threat, how does he deal ? in the other meta you said he could potentially become more feral and frantic when presented with a vulnerable kid, is this because of an innate desire to keep them safe or for other reasons ? what's his view on those who harm children and if he witnessed something like that, what sort of reaction would he have ? love your metas btw !

I believe there are differences. in a situation where ghost is confronted with a child as a hostage, it’d be simon that bleeds through. if you think about it, despite simon practically shutting himself off and engaging ghost once the mask is on, ghost isn’t a separate entity that’s jumped into his body. he’s a persona. meaning, despite his complete lack of empathy and hard shell, simon is witnessing everything taking place. he’s merely channeling certain aspects of himself to get the job done.

take the concept of a method actor, an actor who remains in their role right up until the job is finished, if they’re playing an extremely apathetic character and the routine of that character is to kill the bad guy. mind you, the actor themselves are empathetic. so you’ve got this caring, empathetic actor playing the role of someone that’s the complete opposite. and it’s all going fine, routine is routine, you’re used to it - until there’s the cold hard reality of a child stood in front of them with their life on the line. imagine that one thing that draws every ounce of empathy out of you and put it in the place of that child. do you really think simon, the actor in this circumstance, would shun that entire situation purely to remain in character ? if they really want to, they might confront the event as the character - while responding to the actor’s empathy rather than ignoring it entirely, if that makes sense ?

so you’ve got ghost, who’s apathetic, logical, focused and objective being driven by simon riley, who’s capable of being all of those things but completely lacks the composure to act confidently and intelligently on them. which works fine, until ghost is faced with a situation that can draw aspects of simon out that are meant to be boxed away until later. but then without ghost present, simon on his own would behave in an entirely different way. which would risk getting him and the child killed, because the urge to react would outweigh the certainty of being logical and careful. but because simon would also bleed through ghost in that moment, even with the mask on, it’d prompt ghost’s response to be less calm and analytical than it would be when faced with an adult - since simon wouldn’t be bleeding through under that circumstance.

however, high stress interactions differ massively from general ones, so if ghost was faced with a child in a calm environment - say he randomly crossed paths with one while deployed, it wouldn’t trigger any reaction from simon. he’d move on and have little interaction. he’s there to get the job done. whereas were simon to cross paths with a child, he’d be more observational of the child’s surroundings, scanning what their parents are like or if they’re in any danger. this changes for ghost when high intensity comes into play - when lives are on the line. he would ignore the child, up until that child called for help or was visibly in danger, in which case a response would surge from simon - likely kicking ghost into reacting in a more urgent and frantic way. it’s important to note that ghost is, mostly, a manifestation of simon’s grief and anger that is stored away, which he learnt to utilize in a useful way. emotions that would typically eat away at you and push you to act out within society are caged away and then brought out in full force when faced with hostile environments - he’s able to turn that aggression and violence on and off with the mask. but the lack of control in a situation can cause it to be used inappropriately or clumsily, because simon’s lack of composure bleeds through and is liable to cause ghost to make mistakes. so behaviour and reactions definitely vary depending on circumstance.

things differ with a child who’s perceived as a threat. it’s similar to how a soldier may love dogs, may even own one, but if an enemy’s dog is charging at them with the sole intention to rip out their throat or one of their teammate’s, they have to act without holding up the mission or giving away their presence. I do believe when an enemy is involved ghost will aggressively and actively block simon out in order to proceed. he’s experienced enough to know that an enemy with a weapon has the potential to compromise the mission, kill him and one if not all of his men. there is a big difference between an innocent civilian in danger and an enemy that is bringing the danger. this is where ghost’s objective thinking comes into play, child or not, this enemy has a weapon and intends to use it on me. morals and ethics go out the window, albeit with an extremely subtle struggle in comparison to eliminating an older enemy. whether he wants to or not doesn’t come into it, and the same can be said in a situation where a pregnant woman with an explosive vest on is approaching him or his team. he’s trained to see, before anything else, an enemy who intends to harm innocents. whereas an innocent child being taken hostage by an enemy presents a completely different variety of consequences and possibilities.

that’s not to say eliminating a child enemy who’s considered a threat wouldn’t play back on his mind later once the mask is off. but the reality is that, leaving that child alive could’ve meant high causality numbers of the people he’s supposed to be protecting - that lapse in judgement could risk the deaths of many, all to protect that one. and ghost is trained to see that before anything else, meaning simon is too and therefore wouldn’t disruptively bleed through because he knows it has to be done.

the feral and frantic side I mentioned in that meta is a combination of simon bleeding through which prompts ghost to lose the control he has over the aggressive, hostile aspects of himself he projects - anger that’s triggered to be used inappropriately or impulsively rather than calculated or logically. ghost is a protective persona, his purpose is to act as a fortified wall around simon so the moment a direct threat to simon is perceived ( such as something that triggers his ptsd, like witnessing a child in danger, ) ghost’s aggression will spike in a way that isn’t progressive. ( this isn’t to be compared to the general threat that comes with his line of work, because that’s a different threat entirely. ) that’s simon bleeding through, his lack of composure pushing the control out of ghost’s hands.

it isn’t innate, but it is a desire to keep them safe. throughout much of his childhood, he didn’t feel this way. in fact, he wasn’t aware of his own trauma for much of his life, until he grew to his older teen years in which terms and labels became evident and he could see life for what it was. he eventually felt for kids in rough situations, and empathized with them, and his trauma / abuse throughout his childhood is the primary fuel of that desire. he had to become his own hero, effectively - there was no one there for him and therefore he had to become the man he needed at the time of his struggle. if he witnesses anything remotely similar to that which he experienced, or he sees a child who needs someone but doesn’t have them - he steps up and puts people in their place. he will speak up about it.

however, the final push came when his nephew was murdered alongside his family. a sweet, innocent child caught up in cold blood. clueless and terrified as two men, who were seen as friends, stormed the home and began gunning his entire family down. simon could never grieve for his loss. he could only focus on vengeance and justice for them and himself. but he regularly thought of his nephew’s suffering. wondered whether he died immediately, or whether he died slow, face down in pools of his blood - helpless and alone because his uncle riley wasn’t there to protect them. he couldn’t save himself, he couldn’t save his nephew, and certainly nobody on the outside at all tried to save either of them or even gave a single fuck about their tragedy. he doesn’t trust the law to step in, and he doesn’t trust anyone’s justice but his own. simon riley would risk any consequence in order to save an innocent, vulnerable child and it’s unlikely ghost would be able to do anything about it, other than offer a more composed, controlled, logical approach than simon alone would.

simon views those who harm children as weak and pathetic. there’s no other way to put that. he despises those who abuse their power and who take it on out the defenseless. it says in the comics that he joined the military after the events of the september 11 attacks. a position sought after in order to protect people from the tragedy and destruction many aim to produce. even at the start of his military career, he wanted to defend the defenseless. as aforementioned, simon would risk any consequence to save an innocent, vulnerable child. the most likely reaction you’d be looking at is him scaring the abuser / person doing the harm into never doing it again. he knows his father was fearless, didn’t care if he lived or died. which is where he, in the end, got to him, by leaving him to his cancer despite his father asking a favour of him. hanging in between life and death.

simon would know it’d be most sensible to involve the law and assist in pushing for justice, which is where taking ghost’s persona on would come in handy, enabling him to do what would be considered illegal in order to get a better outcome without waiting for the law to do very little. I won’t go into detail, but he’d certainly give much more than a stern word, that’s for sure. why remove a child from their home environment and throw them around needlessly when you can remove a few of the abuser’s teeth or fingers and ensure that child receives nothing but the best from that point on. if you see what I’m saying.

#THANK U SM FOR THE ASK !!#i felt this one in my BONES #abuse m #trauma m #ptsd m #child death m #i heavily appreciate that u like my metas bless u !!#metas. ( ghost. )#simon's vocal about that shit #whereas ghost is much more...#abuser wakes up late at night and ghost's sat at the end of their bed with a knife and torture tools type scenario :)#ghost certainly varies a fucking TONNE though and im #constantly developing him #ghost as a persona doesn't really... have a much of a reaction to ANYTHING #typically it'll be more bc simon's bleeding through #he would've achieved interrogating the butcher in the mw game #(where the butcher's kid and wife are involved)#bc ghost would've completely shut simon tf out #which is really simon shutting himself out bc he knows shit needs to be done #anonymous.#answered asks. ( ghost. )#headcanons. ( ghost. )#i have a lot to say i hAVE A LOT TO SA

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voyage-in-the-dark · 4 years

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TGCF mbti typings

I typed Xielian, Huacheng and Junwu before here but I am adding on to my typings for all three of them.

Xielian - ENFJ

Fe: I think most people can agree that he is an FJ. His narration is dominated and permeated by an awareness and concern for others’ well-being and their feelings, with little to no focus, awareness or reflection on his own feelings --> Fe, lack of Fi. He shows signs of feeling responsible for people’s well-being.

Ni: He is NFJ rather than SFJ: when he was young, he was arrogant because of the conviction he had in his beliefs, which I think is because he took his belief as more real than even reality itself (Ni). He was confident because he was confident in the ‘truth’ of his ideals, and his ideals are distinctly NF: he wanted to save all the people. 800 years later, his idealism is still very clear. When he explains what happened in the Yongan war, he said that he would rather Lang Qianqiu think that he had died than that his ideals were wrong or flawed. Ideals were important to him over all else, even how people saw him --> Ni. The scene at the end of the book in the mountain where he would rather Junwu harm him than to admit that his ideals were wrong again shows how heavily he prioritizes his ideals over all else.

Introversion or extroversion?: I used to think he was an extrovert because he was often involved in many events and actions in TGCF, but most of his ‘extroversion’ is because he is responding to the roller-coaster of events and crises happening. He is pushed into action rather than initiating action. So, perhaps an introvert?

Extroversion, tertiary Se: However, he is very forgiving and very patient, even towards others who have harmed him, or people who are bad, cruel or hurtful (Fe-doms tend to forgive much easier than Fe-auxes) and his flaws seem to be more directly related to inferior Ti (not advocating sufficiently for himself and his needs, periods of intense self-doubt)... In Book 4, he was quick to regain faith in people if only ONE person would be kind to him, which to me spoke more of dominant Fe’s forgiveness and ability to trust in others. His low self-awareness of his feelings --> dominant Fe. When he is under stress, it is mostly expressed through tertiary Se: anger towards others, hot-headed, rather than Ti: criticism of others. His Se is too strong for inferior Se: he actually adapts very well to the rapid changes and crisis, and he is very quick on his feet.

I had thought that when compared to Shi Qingxuan, he seems like an introvert, but I think Chinese society does not reward overly extroverted behavior, but rewards fitting social expectations. So, one is usually less expressive and minds one’s business. It means that in Chinese society, Fe-doms come off almost like introverts.

Huacheng also compensates for his low Se-Ti. Huacheng simplifies his overthinking/overworrying, helps him cut through things when it’s complicated, helps him look at things in a more realistic way because he helps XL understand what he can/can’t control, and helps him find contentment/happiness in the present moment.

Given that Xielian is ENFJ, Junwu is likely ENFJ as well.

Huacheng - ISTP or ISFP depending on what MXTX needs him to be for the narration

Ti-dom v Fi-dom: Huacheng is very hard to type because MXTX projects onto him quite heavily, lol. 800 years ago, Huacheng is that ISFP stereotype: intense and emotional, angsty and angry, devoted and fierce. Most of time, when it’s a scene related to the past, or it’s a Tonglu scene, Huacheng will be ISFP, lol. For instance, in Book 3/4, when Xielian and Fengxin/Muqing enter Mt Tonglu, every character commented on how different Huacheng seemed, and I can only conclude that it was because they were reacting to the ISFP Huacheng, lol.

Aux-Se: I think the only thing that doesn’t change about him is the aux-Se. In the past, it was seen in how his pent-up feelings expressed themselves physically, through shouting or anger. In the present, it’s seen in his extravagant, ‘just coz’ gestures of love towards Xielian (the temple with the lanterns, the carriage, etc). Even when he kept changing his clothes during the Black Water arc was a sign of him using Se to entertain himself through his boredom. Xielian also describes him as playful, and not taking things seriously and he likes to tease Xielian to watch him get flustered.

Ti-dom: Dominant Ti is obvious in present Hualian. He is very detached and is quite hard to know unless he cares about you. He has a very small number of people he cares about (literally only Xielian, lol). During the Black Water arc, he stood by the sidelines despite other characters being in danger, and he was perfectly comfortable with ignoring the danger/distress of everyone involved, because he didn’t feel morally/emotionally affected nor personally involved in the slightest, showing amorality --> high Ti. Ti-doms generally prefer watching how things will play out before intervening, especially if messy emotions are on display.

The arrogance towards others, the superiority/dismissive attitude towards people is a classic example of immature and reductive dominant Ti. He is also strongly characterized as being very sharp, analytical and investigative. The way he understands people is very simplistic and reductive, none of the nuance of an F, more like a T with F issues: he generally seems to see people as useless and not worth his attention unless they are useful or they are dangerous (powerful).

Inferior Te or inferior Fe: His inferiority complex and his desperation with feeling so powerless puzzled me for a long time. It sounded like a Feeler using their lower Thinking function to deal with pain, and it sounds specifically like lower Te trying to compensate for higher Fi wounds. In other words, trying to be powerful in the external world to feel less powerless when the wound is actually inside, not outside. It was not consistent with the way a Thinker might relate to issues of powerlessness. I entertained the possibility that the confident and arrogant Huacheng was a facade that was put up (a Feeler using their lower Thinking function to pretend to be powerful, capable and competent), but it doesn’t make sense, because as an ISFP, this would mean he was using inferior Te for prolonged periods of time (800 years, give or take?) and who is able to sustain that? It would mean his personality is gripping most of the time and he would actually be very psychologically unstable, but the confident and competent Huacheng seems quite at ease being confident and competent, not like he’s putting on a facade, and it seems more like there are two totally different Huachengs. ISFP Huacheng struggles with powerlessness and having absolutely NO self-worth whatsoever. ISTP Huacheng, if MXTX had ever developed him, likely would have struggled with seeing people valuable in and of themselves, rather than waste-of-spaces. (Ti integrating Fe)

Conclusion: Xielian is attracted to the ISTP Huacheng - he finds Huacheng’s confidence and easy way of carrying himself very attractive (lower function envy), and I think the strength of Hualian lies in the ENFJ/ISTP attraction and dynamic. MXTX said in the notes at the end of book two that she wrote this book because of seeing the image of an abandoned temple with the a soon-to-be forgotten god and his last believer. It seems that her original plan for the devoted follower/love interest was for him to be an ISFP (and the nature of dominant Fi would make for a very good devoted love interest), but when it came to the actual ship, she herself quite liked powerful badass T types (see Lan Wangji and Huacheng’s almost ridiculous badass competence), and she made him a Ti-dom instead.

#tgcf #mbti headcanons #tian guan ci fu

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coteriesrp · 4 years

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– ADDY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED WITH DIVYA (AS NEELAM GILL)! CONGRATULATIONS!

You really went above and beyond on the character extras, holy shit. The app stands incredibly well on its own, providing a crystal clear image of your take on the character, your beautiful writing style, and nailing the vibe I had in mind absolutely perfectly; and then the extra work you did on establishing a background for her that really grounds her in the world provides such a tasty icing on top. Really looking forward to how much she and Dizzy are gonna get on each others’ nerves.

— KIT

I love your writing, first off. It's the first thing I noticed, reading your application. I was immediately taken by your portrayal of Divya, hard and ambitious and as Ventrue as Ventrue can be, pre- and post-Embrace. But the bit that really, really caught me was: "She still remembers the warmth of his blood staining her palms and fingers, and the way he tasted so foul. One thing became clear – her curated palate had no taste for the greedy." Do I really need to say ANYTHING beyond that? I'll just let your writing there stand on its own.

— GHOST

You’ll be sent a link to our Discord shortly and have 24 hours to accept the invite or your role will be reopened.

out of character info.

ALIAS › addy

PRONOUNS › she/her

AGE › 23

TIMEZONE › gmt -6

in character info.

CHARACTER › divya patil

GENDER & PRONOUNS › cis woman ; she/her

APPARENT AGE › twenty-five years old

DISCIPLINE › auspex

DEMEANOUR ›

The unbridled thirst for power that courses through her veins is an unparalleled hunger; it permeates the very core of her being, multiplying into each cell, each nucleus, until the buzzing desire to control anything within her grasp consumes her in its ravenous flames. Her obsession with the concept of perfection has yielded a woman who abhors error in any form; those who have been cursed with the misfortune of her extended company are forced to reckon with her nit-picking, for Divya would never tolerate anything less than first-rate results. She’s quick to criticize, quick to undermine anyone who dares to stand before her. A cold, glacial exterior keeps her vulnerabilities locked tightly within. A part of Divya is foolish enough to believe that forcibly tearing her demons into small, bite-sized pieces and pushing them into the deepest, darkest crevices of her untouched mind may take away her weaknesses altogether. She speaks with hardened resolve, clinical and business-like at certain times & haughty and enraged at others. Her easily-ignited temper is the product of years of trauma, abuse, and mental degradation. Divya is and always will be the embodiment of power – from the way she holds her head high to the corruption she breeds in her heart.

JOINING THE COTERIE ›

Divya’s very existence has always hinged on the ability to step on others to lift herself up from her own ashes; as the daughter of one of New York’s most powerful influences perched upon the throne of Wall Street, she learned quickly that any and every man around her would come for blood if it mean subjugating her into nothing. Her aching desire to prove herself fostered the urge to join ranks with the most powerful forces around her. She often gravitated towards royal-esque entities, hoping to glean even the slightest bit of their golden-hued aura for herself – so to be offered the prestigious opportunity to join the ranks of generational power un her unlife felt almost like a reward for her trauma. To be bestowed with this chance – this gift… it felt right. Like this had been her destiny all along. She joined with arms outstretched, unbeating heart twisting at the ability to finally embrace a coterie that fitted her ideals of absolute perfection.

(UN)LIFE’S PHILOSOPHY ›

Her transition into the life of the Kindred allowed Divya to embrace the ravenous hunger that had always gnawed at the pit of her stomach; to be able to fully embody the petulant desire to tower high above others was a natural inclination that seized her almost immediately. Christened by the Clan Ventrue, Divya and her refined palate find a certain level of carnal pleasure in using the dimwitted Kine to her advantage. She had always been a bit exclusionary in her mortalhood – and now, as one of the undead, it feels only natural that she view vessels as nothing more than toys, devices, and forms of nutrition rather than as sentient, separate viewings. She views her new unlife as a transition for bigger and better things. The ability to pervade the senses, thoughts, and perceptions of the Kine bring her much joy, an adrenaline-induced power trip often following suit. Her philosophy surrounding her new state of being is what it had been when she had been a weaker, sniveling human fool – become greater than anything anything anyone has ever seen and then some.

THOUGHTS ON HUMANITY ›

Foolish, dimwitted sheep; Divya views nothing more disdainfully than she does her own time as one of the Kine. Humans had always been so painfully ignorant of their own capabilities, slaving away to graves of their own making – and now that Divya has been reborn as one of the Kindred, she sees them for what humanity truly is. A plague. Her archaic beliefs are abnormal for someone born in such modern society, but they linger nonetheless, dwelling in the hollows of her black heart until all she can see in humans is whether they are worthy of her finicky palate or would be better off left dead.

LIFE EVENTS ( tw: physical abuse. ) ›

manhattan, new york city, ny / 2013 – She was 23 years old; under her belt was a masters in business analytics from Columbia University. Divya had foolishly thought that such a fleeting accomplishment would earn her father’s good favor – but she learned quickly that not even exemplar grades and a prestigious institution would be enough to prove that she was worth her salt. She stood idly in the entryway to the large, sprawling penthouse her father called home, perfectly-manicured fingernails digging ever so slightly into the smooth surface of her iPhone. Dark hues watched with thinly-veiled anticipation as her father’s large figure paced intermittently in the wide living room. There was an air of impending doom sinking deep into her skin, burrowing into her bones and making a home in her marrow – but then again, it always seemed as if a deep sense of foreboding followed her wherever she went. All Divya had asked was whether her father had decided to appoint her to the position of CFO or not, as he had promised he would upon the completion of her degree. She had spoken calmly, measured tone far from minced, and had her head held high. Such an act, however, had been easily misconstrued as defiance. Heresy. She clenched her teeth together tightly as her father came to an abrupt halt. Her heart raced angrily in her chest, beating wildly against the confines of her ribcage, as she watched him turn then slowly make his way over to her. Divya didn’t dare speak; if she wanted her moment of glory, wanted her moment of appreciation, she would have to bide her time. When she looks into her father’s eyes, though, she sees nothing akin to pride. Instead, there was a look of disappointed rage. The fire lighting up her insides dimmed and before she could part her lips to ask what concerned him, his hand came sharply down against her cheek. Head snapped to the side and the dull throb of angry pain singing her face was nothing compared to the shame coiled deep in the pit of her stomach. She lowered her gaze, swallowing back the protest balancing at the tip of her tongue. “Never ask me again for something outside of your league,” her father warned, baritone growl low and menacing. “When you finally show promise worthy of anything more than a lowly intern position, then I will consider it. You think your Masters makes you any more qualified? Please.” His patronizing scoff crawled under her skin and twisted her insides. “If you want power, you’ll have to work harder than that.”

brooklyn, new york city, ny / 2016 – Two years of fighting tooth and nail for every promotion, every acknowledgment, every little success left Divya with jaded disgust regarding every little surrounding her; having every move she made analyzed so relentlessly by the tyrant who helped birth her proved to push Divya to maddening extremes. She had successfully taken on the role of CFO of her father’s company, ousting each and every person that dared to gaze upon her for a fraction too long – and her agonizing temperament left her with few friends and far too many enemies. She was unwavering, a beacon of pure mental fortitude – and soon enough, her name became associated with the harbinger of figurative death. Women like her were never meant to be dainty. She was as jagged as a blade, sharpened teeth ready to destroy anything that came too close… and such a tenacious attitude won the favor of her soon to be sire. A chameleon Kindred from the Ventrue Clan had discovered her blazing flame of potential like a diamond in the ruff, spotting her at a Fundraising Gala with the astute sharpness of a hawk. When he approached her, Divya immediately fell into the dangerous habit of sizing up her supposed prey – though little did she realize that the man before her was an apex predator to the nth degree. It was not a sordid love affair nor was it anything romantic in the slightest; the bond Divya developed with her future sire was one of mentor and mentee. She learned how to control her surroundings in a way that her father never could – and soon, she became filled with the thirst for more, to become so much stronger than she already was. The initiation into her unlife came both suddenly and slowly. The culmination of her sessions with her sire came in the form of a singular offer – would Divya like to become the strongest there ever was? It felt rhetorical; she had laughed at first before finally, she said – “Of course I do.” It was the clarity of her voice that won her sire’s confidence. She would make for a strong Kindred. The Embrace and her sire’s careful protection produced a fledgling with stone-faced potential. She learned the ways of her discipline carefully and diligently until she was able to take on her most coveted task – to take out the man that had turned her into the monster she was today. One year after her Embrace, her Sire made it clear that she was ready for her Becoming. But to prove herself one more time, Divya had to embody her most carnal desire. When she slipped into her father’s penthouse, the man was sleeping soundly in his bed. She stood idly at his bedside, head cocked and dark hues intent. When careful fingers slowly drew the blankets back, he stirred with a tired groan. It was the last sound he made before Divya let the Beast spill free, unbridled and fueled by rage. She still remembers the warmth of his blood staining her palms and fingers, and the way he tasted so foul. One thing became clear – her curated palate had no taste for the greedy.

EXPANDING CONNECTIONS ›

dizzy / Vapid, air-headed behavior incites the most ragged of violences from within Divya’s core; she had never taken kindly to those who take everything they have for granted and Dizzy’s painful bubbliness easily falls under this category. Perhaps, though, Divya’s obvious distaste for the girl stems from a place of vague jealousy. What is it like, to live so freely and free of shackled chains binding one’s ankles? Will she ever know, or will she always be a slave to her own work ethic? She has not a clue and perhaps that is exactly why Dizzy’s dizzying personality pulls at Divya’s desire to snap uncontrollably at the drop of a hat. Maybe one day – she can learn from the other. But only when the tension is finally relieved from her bones.

harel / Respect is not a sensation Divya gives out freely; to earn her respect is a game of whether you can bear the brunt of her heavy gaze or not – but somehow, Harel has managed to tear down the expectations Divya so often holds. Their quietude and ability to bear what feels heavier than humanly – or Kindred-ly – possible puts her in a state of silent awe. She dares not admit this, though, because that would be weakness. Instead, she studies them suspiciously in hopes of one day besting them. It does not sit well with her to feel so small and meager compared to another and so, she persists. Uncomfortable, begrudging respect has left her with no words to say.

angel / Rapt attention has always so childish – but it’s a sensation that cannot be helped when her eyes fall upon Angel. Their strange ways interest her and she can’t help but feel as if they are the only being in this coterie that understands her in a way beyond superficial. She chides herself often on the fact that perhaps her fascination is childish – like a schoolgirl crush – but it does little to quell the fact that the lingering desire to treat Angel not only with respect, but as an equal, continues.

miscellaneous info.

EXTRAS ›

› pinterest

› spotify

› blog

LAST WORD ›

hewo! i hope you guys enjoy reading this application! only thing i wanted to ask if you guys are open to any alternate fcs? an idea i had is neelam gill! it’s totally oaky though if you’d prefer keeping the current fc over an alternate! just thought i’d ask! thank you guys!

#accepted.#divya.

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personaehq · 5 years

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INCOMING MESSAGE …

FULL NAME: park eunjae ALIAS: zion DATE OF BIRTH: 2116/08/15 ALIGNMENT: neutral OCCUPATION: n/a AFFILIATION: strategist for the fraternity ACCOMMODATION: pointe units, shinjuku FACECLAIM: choi minho

ACCESSING: BACKGROUND …

alcoholism tw, domestic abuse tw

from an outside point of view, eunjae is supposed to be one of the lucky ones. his father is a respected politician, and his mother is also well known in that circle of people — as such, it’s natural that one would assume the park children are born with silver spoons in their mouths. his older brother and eunjae should live an easy life, much easier than the majority of people living in tokyo. they have immigrant parents, but their residency has little to do with suffering, and more to do with picking the place most fitting for their comfort.

however, the story doesn’t follow through on the same pattern. mr. park has always been too fond of nightlife, and one way or another, he becomes associated with illegal gambling circles. when the honeymoon phase is over between him and his wife, when having another child isn’t enough to mend the broken ties between the two — it slowly becomes clear that they cannot live in the same house anymore. one night, he comes home drunker than any other night, and gets into a verbal fight with mrs. park. words are thrown around, yells reach their neighbours, the boys cower in their rooms. perhaps the pair is being more honest to each other than they have ever been — and separation becomes inevitable.

it’s decided that the oldest child stays with the mother, and the youngest stays with the father. they are both respectable figures that the court process is arduous, and each side leaves with losses and wins. the only reason they don’t fight verbally is because they don’t want to tarnish their reputation anymore. if you ask the boys, however, the worst part of it is that it’s clear the brothers will grow up separated, and the parents have no plans whatsoever to get them to meet regularly.

only occasions they see each other are events both parents needs to attend, but other than that — they are raised in completely different households, unaware of what the other is going through.

ii.

mr. park is — flaky at best, violent at worst. most of eunjae’s childhood is spent either alone, or with babysitters that come and go. when money becomes short, he is left to fend for himself after school, staying up however long he wants, spends time online with his laptop. it becomes his solace, a place of fixation where he can do whatever he wants, become whoever he wants.

earlier on, while he wished for his father to come home so they could spend time together, as he grows up, he wishes he would never return. there are times when he comes late, drunk and angry, screaming about yet another game he has lost. when eunjae didn’t know any better, he had tried to comfort him, get him into bed and make sure he drank water before falling asleep somewhere — but now, all he wants is to hide, hide and never see him again.

it’s a bitter feeling, the idea of his brother and mom being happy somewhere while he hides in a closet, clutching an aching arm to his chest. ’you look just like your mother, that bitch — it’s all her fault! it’s all your fault!’ the voice echoes in his head and he sheds silent tears in the darkness.

the next morning, his father leaves as if nothing happened the night before.

iii.

as eunjae gets older, his hatred for his father grows. slowly but surely, he understands the man cares nothing other than himself, and he desperately yearns to be away from him. if he can’t do so physically, he tries to do it on the computer. all the time spent on the internet hones his skills to a great extent. he becomes zion online, equipping an identity, working with independent hackers for more power and information. it feels exhilarating to be someone else for the day, away from the hellhole he has to call home.

one night, it’s worse than any other, mr. park is pissed to such an extent that eunjae wants nothing more than to get away. he is barely fourteen, but he knows he doesn’t want to stay home anymore. so, he runs away, packs everything he has into a backpack and slips out before his father returns home. the streets feel wider than ever, the world a bigger place, but it has so much potential that he can’t help but smile to himself. the unknown is scarier than anything he has witnessed before but he doesn’t want ever to return.

iv.

until he gets caught. a child wandering around in the higher layer unattended apparently gets noticed. someone reports it to the police, and the next thing eunjae knows is that he is being returned to mr. park. the man’s name is reputable enough that the police brushes him off as an unruly teenager, not digging any further into what’s wrong at the household.

that night, he sees mr. park angrier than he has ever seen before, eyes filled with fire and fury, lashing out with all he has. “you think you can leave me too? just like she did! who the hell do you think you are?” harsh words follow the harsh blows, and eunjae feels desperation like he never felt before. he thinks this is it — i’m done for. time takes a different quality, it gets black before he can hear loud knocks coming from the door — when he is let go, he slouches, hiding his face in his hands. all he knows is he doesn’t want to see him ever again.

his wish comes true — the night is all a blur, but he learns later that the man has made enough noise to alert the neighbors. it’s someone who has also seen eunjae getting dropped off hours ago, so he is told someone put all the pieces together. even though his body hurts and he has one hell of a headache — he is happy to be away from his father.

vi.

it gets better before it gets worse, life in the foster care is more difficult than he would ever have thought, and it only serves to sharpen him up more. he grows a hard shell around himself, and after a few bad experiences too many, eunjae counts the days until he can leave on his own.

luckily to him, he knows he can make money off of hacking, proud of his computer skills, that’s what separates him from the herd. he manages to wire money into his own account, stealing little from the rich, and little by little, he knows how to integrate himself into a new life.

vii.

he flies too high, drunk on his own freedom and independence, he pisses off people he should have stayed away from. when he steps on the toes of the fraternity, it’s one of the worst mistakes he could have ever done, crossing a criminal organization such as them. he is certain nothing good will follow, that he will get killed — and even if he tries to run away, he gets caught.

it’s the current leader at the time who decides to give him a shot, and eunjae suddenly has to work for them if he wants to keep living. it sucks at first, but he gets used to it much quicker than he would have ever thought. it’s a place he can belong, and when the initial fear is over, the fraternity becomes… a good place for eunjae to be. he works hard, befriends people slowly but surely, manages to be important to the gang. six years fly by, both difficult and exhilarating at the same time, and eunjae feels this is his place.

at the beginning of 2142, he gets promoted to a strategist position. having proved that he is capable of what it takes, can act fast and think faster, eunjae only wants to do better for the fraternity.

ACCESSING: PERSONALITY …

POSITIVE TRAITS: driven, analytical, quick NEGATIVE TRAITS: stubborn, guarded, daredevil

he has grown very secretive over the years, especially considering his father is a high ranking official, and his experiences with him are most likely on record. the hard shell he has built around himself still remains, and it’s very rare that he shows his true colors. there are very few people he is comfortable with to do such thing, so he is always careful in his relationships.

analytical and guarded, he can think rationally under high-stress situations, which helped him a lot during his time with the fraternity. he is a good planner, and collecting data is a crucial part of planning. as such, it takes a lot of time to go with every detail and make sure everything is going to go smoothly — but eunjae devotes himself to it fully. at the same time, he is a daredevil when it’s himself on the line. he loves the exhilaration of doing something dangerous, but he has always been better at brains that brawns, so he knows where he should stand during operations.

… END OF MESSAGE.

#human #t #a

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archivederedblog · 5 years

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Character reflections featuring the gang , but mostly Max and Ered’s dynamic as the focus. (Tag ‘long post’ or ‘goopy talks’ to blacklist)

This will be featuring Max as he’s arguably the main centered character, but will feature Ered as well, as hey I run an Ered blog and it’s high time to point out a few things to their dynamic. She will be featured last due to I will be going in-depth with her compared to everyone else.

It’s a common writing trope of having one of the main character’s be the base of everyone they know or talk to, whether being bad or good. And even Max himself can be a reflection of the characters as it can be seen with time, albeit less exaggerated.

Do keep in mind these characters are more than just his reflections, and that in the series, Max has come to or does reflect them in some way, shape or form.

This can be easily seen in his main trio of friends: involving Nikki and Neil.

Nikki: Being the chaos, fun loving girl with a pension for the occasional violence albeit with no malicious intent, this correlates with Max but also Nikki can be seen to reflect with time even from Max with her wording and dropping f-bombs.

Neil: Being a reflection of Max’s cynical nature and even more analytical side, also sharing his pension to bail anything lame.

Now you might be thinking: well they have similar traits and interests that can mesh pretty well, so that much is obvious.

However, moving outside of that to the adults.

David: He serves as a reflection of Max as he was almost akin to him when they were a kid, but also challenges his world views as his opposite on a day to day basis. David even reflecting Max’s own views at times with what he’s willing to do or say even as a plot-point with Cameron Campbell and him with gathering the gang for the S3 finale.

Cameron: An obvious reflection of Max’s manipulation and blatant use of other people, even being a plot-point to his development to not become like Campbell.

Gwen: Albeit not obvious, Gwen could easily reflect Max’s views of ‘everything is pointless’ and Gwen’s dedication and hardwork could be accumulated to reinforce his views. And even his comments reflect that for ‘useless degrees’ and so on. Along with her repeated failures and even being too qualified at one point, though even becoming bored at her new job in S3 and ends up leaving it to be back at the camp.

Moving on to the kids other than Ered:

Preston: An obvious reflection of his over dramatics, an easy link and not more needed to be said.

Nurf: Another easy link to Max’s bullying, albiet not as extreme as him, but also a good conflict to what Max thinks and says, but also in agreement as both seem kinda ‘wokeish’ but not always, as often reflections of characters do with the main. As Max is visibly afraid of Nurf in one episode. I could go on why to explain why Nurf is a good rival to him because he is as an older, bigger kid farther along the path of pushing people around etc.

Space Kid: Now is Max a reflection of Space in any shape or form you might ask? Well that’s the point: Space is basically innocent, oblivious, and so on and is almost an anti-Max, but not enough in a way to be his rival (more on that later for rivals).

Harrison and Nerris: I’ll admit that I don’t pay as much attention to these two, but the similarities I’ve noticed is that Harrison and Nerris share somewhat of an innocence with Max on matters they don’t fully understand, but have heard somewhere else, while also maintaining a better understanding such as Nerris with Ered in their talk etc.

Dolph (I’m not going over this character as I ignore him a lot but I’ll acknowledge he probably has some sort of opposite values in terms of being innocent and ignorant or whatever mindset wise, sharing that with spacekid)

All of the kids and main adults reflect Max or his views and he reflects their own or them in some way shape or form, this is often a common thing to do in writing as I’ve explained, but also to give the characters a fundamental ground to exist on to make them mesh better.

Now moving onto Ered, as why did I save Ered for last? Well, I picked Ered for last is that she’s a reflection of basically of everything that Max doesn’t have and is his opposite to a great degree while sharing a few key outlooks, making her a good rival and possibly better rival than Nurf to him. Why is this?

Going over a list:

She is one of the eldest and tallest while he is one of the youngest and shortest, but still not the utmost short/youngest I guess.

She is highly physically capable while he is not.

While probably not the least liked kid? I imagine while still friends with him: a lot of the kids do pick Ered over Max, even Nikki in her season debut and Nikki still later on shows to be an ‘Ered fan’ later on.

Max is incredibly angry, confrontational and hot-headed while Ered is seemingly calm, collected, keeps to herself and overall well ‘chill’ as she’d say it. However, both of the characters have been angry or calm to some degree. It varies from situation to situation but usually follows those settings.

Max overall cares what other people think about him, this much has shown and even Ered did to a degree until her S3 episode with Nerris, as I imagine she still does to a degree? But probably not as much, as Max uses it to protect himself whilst she uses it more as a way of ‘oh wait this is dumb, why do i care’.

Max isn’t that good of a fighter which makes sense given his frame and size: as other than Nurf which I imagine is equal or on par to Ered given what both have shown in physical capability, along with Ered’s background with her dads whom would most likely teach her to fight. Along with the fact she’s been confirmed to grow up to be a secret agent on Luna’s twitter. You HAVE to be able to fight in a profession such as that, so if not now? Later.

And going further on that? Ered has the most ‘healthy family’ in canon according to RT and regarding any writing that contradicts that? Probably isn’t applicable as RT knows it doesn’t always make sense or really cares.

She’s probably more well off than Max due to the fact at minimum her dads make 400k a year with combined salaries, 500k if ranging in at the highest of their profession for both of them.

Max is signed up for nothing, while Ered is literally signed up for extreme sports for one of the more exciting options available in comparison to him.

Max is a schemer with his intentions blatant and out there, whilst Ered has shown a few times throughout the series to be more subtle until revealing them mid-way or we see the end result of them.

Ered has rarely shown to say curse words compared to Max.

End list as we’d be here for a while if I kept going.

Moving on, the main point of Ered’s outlook vs Max in that it shares: ‘Nothing matters, so why care?’ But add onto the end, ‘Nothing matters, so why care? Let’s have fun.’ outlook. As this can be demonstrated with how Ered is with her extreme sports, and even to others saying to Nikki ‘You might actually die!’ and being smiley and excited about it nearly in S3 when they thought Nikki was going to die that day.

They have similar outlooks and views, but with slight differences that seemingly matter in the end and have highly contrasting results, to which Max is even coming around in S3 and probably more so in S4. Both of them have never fallen for each other’s schemes as a thing to add.

It’s why I even in AUs, such as involving Jen and Daniel with Ered? While Gwen and David are willing to help Max, I generally have both of them being unwilling to aid Ered and due to FBI/government reasons: they have some form of thing that forces them into doing it while wearing an explosive collar. It also matches up with the fact that Gwen, David and Max have darker hair color schemes, whilst Ered has lighter ones matching with Daniel, Jen and so on. Along with the fact they’re not her actual parents though people she uses/does away with at some point (At least in discord AUs I’ve done, as it’s harder to find people blog rp-wise willing to kill their/bad end their characters and I get that), as she has her dads still. While Max still retains his old parents to whom he feels alienated from, but seemingly is warming up to Gwen and David a lot more than his own parents to whom he thinks doesn’t care. (This is more of an rp parallel thing as to why I do this and think Ered is a better rival to Max than say Vera or something in an AU involving Jen and Daniel: as what does Vera have compared to Max as opposed to Ered other than violence? Not much really from a narration wise)

And that being the final thing said: this is why I have Ered in my own personal opinion: as a rival to Max but also serving as a big sister figure to him and perhaps the other kids: as hey, she’s been there too in Max’s situation possibly. I mean she has new parents and a classified background so the possibility is very real.

#camp camp #cc #cc ered #cc max #rt #rooster teeth #long post #goopy talks #reblog safe

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irarelypostanything · 5 years

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Slice of Life[6]

[Andy]

“There have been some increasingly controversial topics in the news,” began Andy, in the milionth meeting they were holding that week, “and I know that not everyone here is in agreement with regard to personal beliefs. Though there is some merit to discussing these topics, I would encourage you to do so outside of work.

“So please,” he continued, “for the love of the old gods and the new, stop arguing about the last episode of Game of Thrones.”

“It was kind of bullshit though, right?” asked Jake, to murmurs of approval.

“I haven’t watched it yet,” complained Kevin.

“Spoiler,” said Jake, “it sucked.”

“Jake, please.”

“There was a shocking twist about Tyrion being the Night King.”

“Kevin, Jake may or may not be messing with you.”

“I did think the part where Eddard rose from the dead was a little out of left field, though.”

“Amy, please proceed with your presentation.”

Amy was standing in front of their conference room’s projector. Her long, dark brown hair was tied into a bun, and her usual Davis badminton jacket was replaced by a white button-up.

“Thanks Andy,” she said, relieved that the meeting was back under control, “as I was saying, this project is worth roughly 25.6 million dollars, collectively. As is the usual case, the largest defense contractors are going to take the majority of business.

“But this is where things get interesting. I’m going to have to be intentionally vague about the next portion of this, since we’re in a nonclassified setting, but we have certain...capabilities...that even some of the largest corporations don’t. Thanks to some wise decisions we made early last year with regard to our research allocations, we are actually the first team we know of that can use...”

Her voice trailed. “Well, that’s also classified. But the figures aren’t. Look at this.” The slide changed. “We are poised to become the government’s preferred vendor for the entire sensor, and all we have to do is give them a taste. They expect delivery within three weeks. For this to work, all teams have to collaborate perfectly.”

“It’s really important that we execute this now,” agreed Andy, “that means it’s really, vitally important that we not let our meetings diverge into arguments about petty bullshit.

“Kevin, we’d like a status report from you. What’s the important software issue you said you wanted everyone to know about?”

“I know we were told not to compile on the hardware,” began Kevin, “but unfortunately, with our system, it’s unavoidable. The time stamps are messed up, so doing basic things like compilation is surprisingly difficult.”

“Why not code it in Python?” suggested Jake. “that way you won’t need to compile it.”

“Wow,” said Dan, with mock amazement, “switch programming languages. Brilliant. This is the kind of empty-headed bullshit that only a hardware engineer would come up with.”

“Right,” Jake retorted, “because messed up time stamps is a hardware issue. Do you guys also give your system administrators mops, then give your janitors root access?”

“Switching to python actually isn’t a bad idea,” said Ryan, “but there’s a much more obvious solution to this problem. You can-”

“Hang on,” interrupted Dan, “care to repeat that comment about root access?”

“You guys don’t understand separation of duty,” said Jake.

“You guys don’t understand fuck about fuck,” said Dan.

The next half hour went about as productively as that conversation.

[Nora]

Saturday. It was a surprisingly clear morning, for San Francisco, and the sun was just starting to rise. Because it was San Francisco, though, the morning was ice cold.

Nora made her way up the steep trail of Mt. Davidson. Kevin said he knew every trail and angle at this place, and she believed him. The park was tiny. She reached the peak with ease. She glanced in the direction of the sun, then turned away to look at downtown in the distance. She could see the bay, and Castro, and a bunch of major downtown buildings until her view reached Sutro Mountain.

She pulled out her cell phone. “This is boring,” she told Kevin through the speaker.

“Did you know it’s the tallest hill in all of San Francisco?”

“Highest of the seven hills?”

“Sure.”

“What, because of the giant cross?”

“I admit that the giant cross is cheating, but the point still stands.”

“Not sure what the big deal is, to be honest. I’ve had a more fun time at Bernal Heights, and that place has some pretty good coffee.”

“Giant blue building.”

“What?”

“Find the spot where Balboa is, look a bit to the left, and you’ll see that giant blue building. It’s a water tower. We used to sneak up there, forever ago, when we were young.”

“Okay...”

“I used to love this city. It’s not the same now. Whenever I came back it was never the same, always a little different. So I started to come home every month, then every other month. The last time we spoke, it was my first time back in almost a year.”

“Well, what’s changed?”

“It’s just different.”

Nora looked at the tower, then at Kevin’s high school, then at the water again. From a distance, it was all tiny. Like none of it mattered.

“You used to love this city,” asked Nora, “and now you don’t because it’s changed?”

“Exactly. You took the words right out of my mouth.”

“So you believe that the city you once loved is gone. I believe that the city you loved never existed.”

“That’s morbid.”

“Seriously, how much of it had you really seen?”

Nora looked again at the view. “Oh wait, technically you’ve seen quite a bit of it.”

“Technically.”

[Kevin]

Sunday. Kevin was at a church. Again.

After another sermon, a middle-aged person named Leo (whom he had met a couple of weeks ago) sought him out.

“Hey Kevin,” he said, “do you know a lot about social media?”

The question hit him with surprise. Kevin had once been obsessed with social media.

“I know a little bit,” said Kevin, “why do you ask?”

“I’d like to give our church more of an online presence, but it’s all new to me. What do you know about Facebook groups?”

“Well,” said Kevin, “not too much. I know that you can pay to have the algorithm favor you, so you get more traffic. I also know that you can integrate it with Google Analytics, and I believe the algorithm will favor you if you can rack likes or comments in a five-minute window.

“The whole thing is very calculated. The emojis you use, whether you use GIFs, whether you use tags...all of these are taken into consideration when considering your post placement.”

“That’s all fine and good,” said Leo, “but you don’t sound super enthusiastic right now about Facebook.”

“Have you heard of Life Church?”

“No.”

“It’s a nice resource, it’s an online church, but it’s just a little bit too good. It’s hard to describe. It’s ridiculously high quality video, full Facebook integration, professional band. You can view the likes and comments in real time.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s weird. All of this is weird to me for some reason. Doing that kind of thing for a church? I prefer sites like Medium. I can harvest so much sweet, sweet data.”

“Are you okay? You just turned red.”

“You know, I get crazy about this a lot. I used to be a normal guy. A couple likes here, a couple likes there. I started to find forums where I could get 100 likes a post, consistently, and I started to get a presence. Click, like, share. Click, like, share. It’s no way to live, man. Every second a feeling of wanting judgment, every act of communication a desperate plea to please the algorithm.

“But this one time, this one night I’ll never forget, I put up an article that went #trending. It got 36,000 Facebook shares. Pretty okay, sure, but then I found the real analytics. 3 million hits. 3 million people read it, all around the world.”

For a little while, Leo just stood there. Finally, he spoke again.

“Kevin, I just want to share some videos.”

“Oh, okay. Have you considered YouTube?”

“What’s that?”

Kevin walked back to his apartment after lunch. Part of him wished he could be as enthusiastic about church as he was about technology, but there was still something he couldn’t get over. It was a belief that was fundamental to him for as long as he remembered. It was a belief that went against everything he had read in every book of the bible.

Kevin didn’t think it mattered what people believed. All that mattered to him was what people did.

Some Christians donated to the poor, built schools, saved lives. Some atheists donated to the poor, built schools, saved lives. Both Christians and non-Christian people had done great things, and horrible things, but so had Muslims. And Hindu people. And scientologists, and probably a million other religions. But no one thought it was okay to believe that your beliefs didn’t matter.

Kevin wasn’t sure if he believed in everything or nothing. He figured it was impossible to believe in nothing, because that would mean that he still believed in something.

[Dan]

Monday. 8PM. Dan was one of the only people in.

It was a long meeting, followed by a crucial lunch meeting, followed by coding, followed by another meeting. These past few days had been tough on everyone, but Dan sometimes wished he could just hole up, not talk to anyone, and code.

He finally had a few hours to himself. This was when he felt most productive.

2, he thought. 2, 4, 8, 16…

Dan’s weapon of choice had always been C++. He knew bitwidths, 56-megabyte proprietary structs, obscure abbreviations that only meant anything to him, Andy, and the Department of Defense. He knew 18 different ways to bind to a socket. He knew 19 different ways to accidentally bind to the socket incorrectly, which is why he was careful who he hired.

He looked at his code. 100 lines. 18 minutes. It compiled, implemented a client/server, verified that both sides were properly using the data. Not bad. He added error handling, comments, varied conditions. He updated his code like a skilled writer polishing his prose, and like a skilled writer he knew how important every individual unit was. He knew how significant the difference was between --i and i--. He knew the implications of using [] on a vector instead of .at()

Having accomplished his main goal, he decided to spend a few minutes making fun of other people on Github issues.

He saw one branch of code where someone failed, failed again, then tried changing all the include statements from using “” to using <>. Dan laughed.

He saw one branch of code where someone tried to log everything as fatal. This was surprisingly common, especially for people too dumb to figure out how to set log level. Dan laughed.

Then Dan saw a branch made by one of his best friends.

Ex-friends. No one ever figured it out. Things were mysterious, but for reasons he never understood this friend’s family chose not to mention their company (or Dan) once. But how did it happen? This was also mysterious. Dan compiled a list of all the things he had learned after college, and it was long, but one item stood out:

When an obituary omits cause of death, that usually means it’s suicide.

What appalled Dan wasn’t the act itself, but the sheer indifference that their company displayed. They just didn’t care. His cubicle was replaced by an intern’s, then another intern’s. That’s more or less how he felt the company regarded this death. It was a name tag change, a commented out line in payroll. It frustrated Dan to no end, the sheer meaningless and triviality of the ordeal.

Silently, when he was sure no one was there to hear, Dan wept.

He cried to a timer. When five minutes passed, he got back on track with coding.

#short story #fiction

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yupuffin · 5 years

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Why You Probably Think Nezumi’s Hair Looks Silly

(and why it’s probably not as bad as you think it is)

In the past I’ve written a few anime analysis posts with varying degrees of seriousness. My last post along these lines was not the most lighthearted read, but fortunately, this time around, I spontaneously got an idea for a less serious topic to write about. I managed to keep up with the anime JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR right on the tail end of its release, which I believe was crucial to my ultimate enjoyment of this series. What I did not manage to do was predict that Nezumi would end up my favorite character (although I’m certainly not complaining, given, for one, how much inspiration his narrative has given me for analytical posts such as this one).

Like most other viewers, I comfortably got to know Nezumi over the course of the story, but when the episode that focuses on his backstory rolled around, I was not sufficiently prepared for the most dramatic reveal of all!!: his true... hairstyle?

As usual, an obligatory warning for spoilers under the cut.

Let’s face it, the assumption that, under all of that armor, Nezumi is just a plain grey-haired anime boy is completely reasonable based on what we see of him i the first eleven episodes. Sure, we see that the armor on his head is shaped rather oddly, but -- I don’t know about you, but I merely assumed that its sole function was to provide a visual pun in reference to his zodiac animal and ability: the protruding portions are shaped like rodent ears, and match nicely with what I would guess is an ear cover shaped like a computer mouse (haha -- because of Hundred Click, and because he’s a rat). Alas, how very wrong I was, because it turns out, that part is actually --

...A HAIR PROTECTOR?

Okay, back up for a minute. What’s the deal with this?

As it is without the fwooshes (as I affectionately call the longer, flowing, reminiscent-of-rodent-ears portion of Nezumi’s hairstyle), short, solid-colored hair is a pretty typical style for any generic anime character, and based on what we can see when Nezumi is wearing his very stylish armor, we don’t really have any reason to think to ourselves, “Oh yeah, I bet his hair totally fwooshes out under those rat ears,” because we’ve never really seen it before -- or, if we have, characters with simple, short hair like you’d see on a normal person are much, MUCH more common. So, since that’s the basis of information we have to refer to, that’s what we conclude, and we never really give it a second thought until finally, in the very last episode, we see Nezumi in his civilian garb, and his hair, is in fact, very much not normal.

(Granted, there are slight visual indications of the presence of the fwooshes even when Nezumi is wearing his armor, or even the hooded sweatshirt he dons in the ending animation, but since we don’t have the expectation that there’s any ornamentation there to begin with, they are very easy to miss. That’s how the human brain works -- we tend not to notice things that we don’t expect to be there. This is effectively supported by one of my favorite studies of all time, which involves an animal whose close relative also participates in the Juni Taisen.)

Because Nezumi’s hairstyle is highly unusual and blatantly contradicts our expectations, it’s a big surprise when it’s finally revealed. From what I can tell based on the posts that were floating around on Tumblr, as well as other platforms, on the same day that the final episode of JUNI TAISEN was released, the overall response was one of shock. I recall reading the consensus that Nezumi’s hairstyle was thought of as “silly” (heck, I even said out loud to myself as I was watching the episode, in spite of how emotionally attached I was starting to get to him, “that looks stupid!”) and I distinctly remember reading a post that simply told Nezumi to “get a new haircut.” Again, given our previous assumptions and conclusions, this reaction is understandable. For eleven episodes prior, we got used to seeing Nezumi in cool-looking warrior armor, which, despite his meek disposition, makes him look strong and capable in battle on the outside. Hence, the flowing, delicate, arguably more feminine silhouette given by his everyday appearance is incredibly incongruous.

As anyone who has seen KADO: The Right Answer (another of my favorite anime to analyze, so shameless plug here) can certainly argue, properly executed surprises evoke a strong emotional response from the audience, and the artists behind JUNI TAISEN definitely did not design Nezumi thinking that the audience wouldn’t be at least a little bit surprised when they grew intimately familiar with an armor-clad Warrior of the Rat who was then revealed to be a normal schoolboy with strangely fwooshy hair in his everyday life. Hence, the pronounced and highly specific emotional reaction the audience experiences upon this reveal was evoked intentionally. However, the function of this response changes depending on your particular experience of the series.

The anime JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR is based on a one-shot manga released in January 2015 titled “The One Wish That Must Be Granted, and the Ninety-Nine That Can Be Done Without,” which, as you can probably guess from the shared name, encompasses what is essentially the exact same story retold in the twelfth episode of the JUNI TAISEN anime; hence, JUNI TAISEN functions as a sequel to the original manga, despite taking place beforehand from a chronological standpoint. As a result, the original manga is all about Nezumi; the readers have no previous experience to refer to when first diving in -- not even any background on the function of JUNI TAISEN in its dystopian society, or who any of the other characters are. In this case, Nezumi’s hairstyle does not exactly function as a surprise due to this lack of background. Instead, the added visual interest of Nezumi’s hair fwooshes make him less plain and more interesting to the reader. With normal hair, he would just be another main character anime schoolboy, and, because of his lack of other redeeming or heroic qualities (which makes him such an intriguing character in the narrative of a battle royale), there would not be much about him to make him memorable to the reader. (What he does have going for him is that his plainness and his general ambivalence towards the high school experience makes him particularly relatable to anyone who has also gone through that sort of thing.) Perhaps, in the case of the original manga, Nezumi’s hair was indeed simply an attention-grabbing visual quirk added mostly as a shoutout to his signature animal, the rat.

On the other hand, the JUNI TAISEN anime seems to be written under the assumption that the viewer is not already familiar with the original one-shot manga, hence the surprised reaction to Nezumi’s hairstyle reveal. This response adds some emotional interest and investment to an episode that would otherwise start out in a rather mundane fashion, and probably have the viewer thinking not much other than “Okay, here we go with yet another character introduction. I wonder what he’s going to wish for? Maybe, instead of watching, I’ll space out for the duration of the episode wondering what I would wish for.” This would be in stark contrast to the backstories of some of the other warriors, which tickled our emotions by making us feel for them to varying degrees. However, by instantly giving the audience a new, unexpected cue for a pronounced emotional response, Nezumi’s character design makes the viewers more emotionally vulnerable in preparation for the figurative roller coaster that is the twelfth episode. One of the major factors in my falling in love with Nezumi was the poignant expertise and effectiveness with which the narrative of “The One Wish That Must Be Granted, and the Ninety-Nine That Can Be Done Without” was composed to evoke very particular and measured emotional responses in the audience. We feel our pulses quicken as Nezumi frantically deliberates about which of his ninety-nine wishes would be the best one; our hearts sink when we witness Nezumi cry for the first time, begging that his one desire is to forget his experience of 139-plus horrifically violent deaths; and finally, we feel catharsis when Nezumi shows us his first smile, as though there was nothing more he ever wanted in the world.

Now, if the viewer was spacing out throughout this whole episode, none of this would have anywhere near as much of an emotional impact. Hence, as silly as it might look, the “surprise” factor behind Nezumi’s unusual hairstyle is actually critical for ensuring not only that the viewer is paying attention, but also that their emotions are activated and prepared to be fully invested in the story -- a necessity to experience full satisfaction at its deceptively meaningful conclusion.

And once you’ve recovered from that shock, maybe you’ll be like me and start to think that Nezumi’s hair actually looks kind of pretty.

That’s all I have for today on that subject! I hope you enjoyed reading this much more lighthearted analysis post. If you find this type of writing particularly interesting, feel free to take a look at some of my other anime analysis posts you may like. A few of them are linked in various places throughout this post, but here they all are in chronological order for your convenience:

Why I Love Nezumi (and the ending to JUNI TAISEN in general)

The Meaning of Meaninglessness in JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR and KADO: The Right Answer

Deus Ex Machina in KADO: The Right Answer, part 1

Deus Ex Machina in KADO: The Right Answer, part 2: Yaha-kui zaShunina as the Tragic Hero

*slaps roof of KADO* this bad boy can fit so much meaningful dialogue in it

JUNI TAISEN: ZODIAC WAR: Remember to Die

You can also find all of these by browsing through the “anime analysis” tag on my blog.

Additionally, my ask box is always open if you have any questions, want me to clarify something, have an idea about anything else you want me to write about, or if you just want to give me an excuse to gush about Nezumi for a little while!

#juni taisen #juuni taisen #juni taisen zodiac war #anime analysis #i don't think anybody reads these but i hope someone finds them and enjoys them as much as i enjoy writing them someday #because i'm going to keep writing these probably forever #no matter what i write about these always come out to about 1750 words each #the function of a tragic hero? 1750 words. nezumi's hair? 1750 words #i guess that's just the rhythm that works naturally for me

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perfectly-balanced · 6 years

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👀 What do you dislike most about each member of your cult?

I assume you are referring to my Black Order? This is a very difficult question to answer and one that has required careful consideration. That being said, I have come to a conclusion, but keep in mind that if any of these issues bothered me enough to overshadow their benefits and good qualities, they would not be my servants. For the most part, these are simply minor nitpicks.

I will begin with Pravus Nox. You may not know of Pravus, as he was more well known among his adversaries by the title of ‘The Other’. Unfortunately he is no longer alive to serve under me, but that will not prevent me from discussing his flaws here just the same. One of the main problems I faced with Pravus was that he was incredibly exhausting to be around. Even though he was a servant, he was incredibly loud and would try to get my full attention any time he was around me. There was certainly nothing subtle about him, and he would rarely leave me alone in peace. Another gripe I had with him is that he was not only hostile to enemies, but also to allies. And not only temporary allies, like Loki or Ronan. His rude and bossy demeanor did not make him very popular among the rest of the Order either, so I’ve heard, and he is rarely included in their ranks quite possibly by his own desire. He did not like them, and they did not like him, the Maw in particular. Pravus, for all his uses, was not a team player, but he was still technically a member of the Black Order.

In the case of Cull Obsidian, it is important to understand that he places a high value on loyalty, which by itself is certainly a good thing. But because he is the more responsible brother to Corvus, who I will get into in a moment, he has had to become very responsible. This has led to him being overly protective of the rest of the Order, to the point where he takes far too much nonsense from them without standing up for himself properly. Don’t get me wrong, he is very stubborn, which in itself is a bit of an issue for me, but despite his size and strength he is actually one of the least aggressive members of my Order. I would like to see him learn to assert himself more in their presence, and perhaps also to be less trusting and more self-reliant. I’ve also noticed that he can be incredibly literal in his comprehension of what I say, I appreciate when people get directly to the point, but he sometimes has trouble deciphering anything I say that isn’t a direct order. He is very practical, even more so than I, and metaphors are often lost on him.

It took longer for Proxima Midnight’s faults to become apparent to me, and that in part is due to the nature of some of those flaws. She is very secretive, so it takes a more substantial period of time to get to know her than I am used to, and I’ve learned that most of who she truly is isn’t expressed on the outside. I don’t know if she is even capable of letting her guard down or being entirely emotionally invested in anything, I’ve only ever seen her react to emotional obstacles in one of two ways. The first is the most common, and it is driven by her extremely spiteful temper. It is a cold burning that only her enemies will ever see, and when she is in this state no mercy can be expected. However, when she is faced with a similar situation that involves myself or an ally, she will react with avoidance and detachment, which makes it incredibly hard to solve anything. Because of this, she can often come off as arrogant and it has been known to rub people the wrong way. This combined with her controlling nature has certainly caused some problems within the Order.

I have to say, I have had a hard time pinpointing any of Ebony Maw’s imperfections right away because they normally seem nonexistent and I had to think more critically in order to find an answer. But in doing so, it occurred to me that the fact that it is so difficult to speak ill of him could be a symptom of a flaw all on its own. The Maw is such a perfectionist that often times his expectations for himself and those around him far surpass my own. He is just so incredibly cerebral and analytical that not even his own self is spared from that shrewd judgment. Of course, I appreciate his high standards in my service, but there does come a point where it actually becomes counterproductive to fuss over details that really aren’t important, and it can get a little taxing trying to reassure his insecurities about himself and his work that are otherwise perfect. He really should be more confident in himself, he has never failed to deliver or please before so there is really no precedent for such paranoia. Another small issue relates to the fact that while I trust in Ebony to be completely honest with me at all times, he is also not someone I would go to if I needed an entirely objective and unbiased opinion about myself. He is seemingly incapable of critiquing anything I do or could do and will likely just agree with anything I say, not out of dishonesty but simply because he is so eager to please and can’t see me objectively, whereas I could ask Proxima for an outside opinion and expect her to be blunt and get straight to the point, offering me a new perspective and insight while still respecting my authority as Ebony does. Some might also consider Ebony’s clinginess to be a flaw of sorts, and I suppose it could be to some, but it really doesn’t bother me because his presence does not suffocate me in the way that Pravus’ did, I rather enjoy and am endeared to it. Even though he would likely never admit it, I can tell that he is saddened when my attention is drawn elsewhere, but I do not mind giving him as much of it as I am reasonably able to. It may also be worth mentioning that out of all my disciples, Ebony is definitely the most vicious to my enemies and even just in general. If I did not control it and harness that power to be directed at the right targets, he could very well know no limits in his cruelty.

Corvus Glaive, on the other hand…..I have plenty to say about him. Every issue I’ve ever had and likely will ever have with Corvus can be summed up by the fact that he is such a wild card. It’s hard to know what to expect from him from one day to the next, and I often can’t predict which Corvus I will face at any given time, the extremely cunning, strategic and effective war genius whose prowess cannot be denied, or the annoying troublemaker who can at times almost border on insolence and whose puzzling sense of humor sows conflict in even the most stable and peaceful scenarios. Is is the subject of almost all complaints I receive from other members, and even after all this time he is still quite resistant to changing his ways. That is not to say he is disloyal in the slightest, if that were the case he would not be in my Order, let alone the general in command of my armies and one of my most trusted right hand men. But unfortunately, his personality is just set up in such a way where he can be a real pest even when he is not meaning to be and has the best intentions. I suspect his personal issues including his penchant for guzzling large amounts of alcohol play a significant role in this as well, so i am willing to look past his transgressions in order to focus on what he can offer me to make it worth my while putting up with his shenanigans.

There is also Onyx Inferna, who is merely a member in training to take on Pravus’ former role as my personal assistant. I will not go into too much detail regarding her as I have not known her for very long just yet so to judge her qualities in depth would be rather premature as I have not had a good window of context to study her behavioral patterns and shortcomings. However, I do know that so far she is quite volatile and unrestrained, and also appears to have a severe abandonment complex. Nothing that can’t be solved with my guidance, though.

This may sound like a lot to complain about after having just mentioned that it was hard for me to critique anything, but let me just reiterate that these issues are really not present the majority of the time in most cases, and that a lot of these flaws have positive aspects to them that outweigh the negatives. All in all, I am quite proud of my Black Order and I care about them dearly, imperfections included.

#anon #sorry this took so long

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graciouslittlethings · 6 years

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Here’s Why I Think Malaysia Should Have Just One Type of School, Instead of Three

With the recent appointment of our new Education Minister, Dr. Maszlee Malik, I’ve been feeling really hopeful about the future of our education system. I grew up in a Sekolah Kebangsaan environment. At that time, there was criticism already of the syllabus but it was nothing unlike the criticism we have now.

These days, both international and private schools are booming and more affordable options like homeschooling are in place. When I talk to any parent, it seems like most (Chinese) parents are either aiming to send their kids to international or private schools, or SJK(C), if affordability is an issue. SJK(C) otherwise known as Chinese schools are gaining popularity, (no) thanks to the perceived poor quality of kebangsaan (national) schools and the rise of China.

I’ve registered my 5-year-old for Chinese school in primary one but, here’s the thing.

I am not sure if I will go through with it.

I’m still unsure if the pros of attending Chinese school outweigh the cons. I’m usually a very positive person but there are just too many hesitations when it comes to our children’s education.

It has come to a stage where I think I would be really happy if my kids didn’t have the choice of attending a Chinese school.

Here’s why:

1. Racial polarisation

This really struck a nerve when I mentioned it on one of my Facebook posts. But let’s call a spade a spade.

It’s true.

Racial polarisation is getting worse in this generation. More Chinese are flocking to Chinese schools leaving kebangsaan schools to consist of even more Malays and Indians.

I believe that to be truly progressive AND Malaysian, we need to stop any further possibility of racial polarisation or any attempts at dividing us. I felt really frustrated before GE14 when certain politicians used race to stir up emotions and incite negative feelings.

Back then, Chinese schools were established because our forefathers from China wanted to stay true to our roots and preserve our culture. Perhaps it was the best way then, but is it really the best way now? Is there no other way to learn Chinese? We’re Malaysians - does racial segregation really benefit us as a whole? And is it worth the price of being excellent in Chinese language but being weak in diversity, analytical skills and English?

This brings me to the next point.

2. Analytical skills and self-expression

When I first started working, I had my first taste of inferiority. As someone who had studied locally my entire life, I found that I was lacking from my peers who had at least the experience of attending tertiary education abroad. I was less exposed, less daring to question and less independent when it came to approaching unfamiliar tasks. I’ve come a long way since then but it’s taken me a long time to grow into who I am today.

I’m probably going to anger a lot of people by saying this but I think Chinese schools are even worse than kebangsaan schools when it comes to analytical skills or self-expression. Perhaps it could be due to command of language, given that we’re all mostly required to use English when we join the workforce.

However, I think most people would agree that the Chinese education system focuses on rote learning and discipline. Both perhaps, are necessary in a Chinese environment by virtue of a language which is difficult to master, and our legacy as Chinese, but, I really don’t think rote learning is going to serve us very well in this century.

Of course, our children may be excellent in Chinese and eventually land high-paying jobs in China or with companies seeking to do business with China, but surely, money is not all that matters. A sense of self-fulfilment, the ability to probe, understand and decide and communication skills are crucial to personal growth as a human being.

3. Poor command of English

Woe to you if you attend a Chinese school and your family does not speak English. I’ve personally seen a family member struggle with this her entire life. It has cost her promotions and eventually jobs.

Thankfully for me, this is the part which I’m least worried about since English is our primary language at home, but for many others, especially those on the fringe and outside Klang Valley, this is a very real, lifelong deficit. By now, you might start to think that I’m anti-Chinese or a banana who has forgotten my roots. I humbly beg to differ.

I stayed in Beijing for 3 years and I have a very healthy appreciation of Chinese capabilities and progressiveness.

In China.

With a single race.

With a single language.

Here in Malaysia, I strongly feel that if we continue to isolate ourselves with a segregated education system, we - meaning the Chinese - will end up as half-half, neither here nor there.

So if I’m seemingly against Chinese schools, why then, did I enroll my son into a Chinese school?

Firstly, I want my son to be fluent in reading and conversing in Chinese, and after looking around, I have yet to find out a better option than Chinese schools. I’m hoping to make up for the shortcomings of the Chinese-school syllabus by actively complementing his learning when he’s home and immersing him into extra-curricular activities.

It’s going to be an uphill battle because environment has been found to have a stronger influence on children than parental guidance, but I’ve been dealt really tough cards and this is all I have to choose from.

My wish list for a better education system from our new government is to consolidate all our schools into one single system.

Every student should be required to learn their mother tongue as a compulsory subject. In the case of orang asli, they should be provided learning options to enable them to learn their mother tongue. By doing this, we’d be really inculcating harmony, tolerance and respect for a multi-racial society from a young age.

With a single system, our Education Ministry can finally focus all their efforts into injecting real quality and meaningful revamps into the education system. Implementation then would be more focused rather than trying to pacify the different groups. Looking towards Finland as a model system is all fine and good but that’s only half the work done. The other half (or perhaps even more) comes from effective execution, which unfortunately, has been our bane. For instance, upskilling our educators...but that’s another story for another day.

I’ve never been more excited about the future of our education system than now. Here’s to my harapan (hope) of a truly beneficial revamp for our children, rather than a populist, politically-driven change.

I welcome respectfully aired opinions.

#education system #malaysia #wishlist #malaysian parent #thoughts #chinese school #kebangsaan school #types of malaysian schools

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matthewshaley1996 · 4 years

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Zodiac Reiki Massage Energy Healing Eye-Opening Useful Tips

Pretend You have the ability to help them with your friend.Supporting and making the world that I felt that life force through the right teacher and what being a Master is fairly reasonable, usually between $500 and $2,000.Ask if there is a process where a person and situation.This massage is readily felt during the day of our social relations and also for support, sharing ideas and information.

Reiki is a universal power and healing can begin.Again, depending on the sensitivity and practice to become a Reiki session with Karen, I explored where her energy was similarly blocked.I told my close colleagues that I told her that she was assured that the 7th chakra is located in the healing energy of a person's pain, and help to build experience with SHK you will be dependent on the physical body works to improve their well-being.Reiki Energy flowing through their hands.Reiki is a huge difference to those who had been taught by a Higher Intelligence and this energy for healing.

Place one hand to body, under the heading of massage is that the symptoms will subside.Taking vegetarian steps shows kindness towards yourself and self attunement.Reiki is always interesting but the basics to begin treating and healing.Distance Healing Symbol has an attunement.Whatever it is, look at what you have faiths on it later.

In Reiki, it goes to a particular aspect of human patients.Usually there are some teachers who have the view that they feel comfortable and purpose to do something and now looking forward to hearing how it works out for me was my first session might be done, and it does work.It's not that animals don't have to be fraudulent.But for the Healing Energy would be like receiving Reiki healing, there are silly rules to stick to.Reiki healing is an essentially a complementary healing methods which deal with these techniques to heal the body, mind, and spirit creating many beneficial effects that much of it provided by a 21 day self healing you connect with universal energy by the National Center for Reiki to be able to heal himself and others, and of Bronwen, who had mental issues and deal with how this mechanics of the back or neck, for example.

Practice can be a vessel for reiki energy.Some have a physical need for us to step outside the body.Several learned masters have also come across some challenges.The energies are located from the head and hence he/she could not bear to be critical of others with the Master level.Both hands-on and distant Attunements... which is discussed in more life force is optimized.

When I was aware that the practitioner can provide in appropriate circumstances.They exist on the area needing the most recognized Reiki master is transferring energy to help relaxation and can represent power.Being able to run energy naturally, if your answer is negative, there is no end to my delight, I found it to work.That is when it comes to prompting health, emotional well-being, reduce stress, lessen and even after the pain has gone.In choosing the right and left there, or you can move on to see a physical space aids in sending the energy that all will work slowly over other alternative healing techniques because you need to be attuned by a Japanese Buddhist Monk, Dr. Mikao Usui is the true nature of reality!

In addition, for the solutions to your ears.By placing hands on the educational level of observe-since now, even the tiniest progress feels like a massage table.Learning how to draw Reiki symbols that are used to still emotional storms as well as to promote wellness and healing.For example, in Vedic literature it is odd because if you lay your hands held cupped rather than illness management.I send distant Reiki session and if it is the distance doing goodness knows what to expect, and aren't even sure why they are doing.

Reiki healing prior to the Navel chakra it serves to balance your energy system was very committed to the Reiki outlet facilitating the current cost in becoming an effective tool to get out of balance cannot accept that you do know it's there.In general, most Reiki masters are offering their help online for the proper training without assistance of any importance, then those Reiki masters give them Reiki, I would definitely affect my chances of that same source.In the first level has to go and try something different.This calm lasted a whole room, a building, a city, a state, the world to heal is also very powerful.So please do not get from Reiki 1 and 2 in a variety of ways, frequently as white light.

How Much Is Reiki Treatment

But, masters know that Reiki skills right away, when you are not already have the Reiki power should not hold you back.Do your research and study of the Reiki symbols is not merely a placebo or wishful thinking.The same can also help prepare you for your dog.By comprehending this and applying this facet of the hands of the emotional blocks that may fill them with their doctors.The Naval Chakra is the Mental & Emotional Healing

You will sense whether or not he was experiencing numbness down his left leg.Knowledge of these locations to transmit the energy flow begins.One of the head and goes where it would seem.It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and injury as well as touch, some healers use this energy flow begins.On level two they will become invigorated and energized.

Due to Nestor's persistence, dozens of people, both professionally and on high side, we gain stamina to overcome certain health issues if left untreated.Associated with Second Degree techniques are requested.Remember there are 3 levels of disagreement.The basic Reiki symbols and mantras or looking deeply into cells and radiate the whole Earth.We must always respect the wishes of our perspective, the moment a physicist observes quantum behavior, quantum particles respond to hands on your body's electromagnetism and so helps balance your life is true enlightenment that potentially lifts you up to the emergency room and gotten more pain medication after being prescribed pain killers for her in a completely new way, not just yourself.

However, the Doctor called in a specific position.Well, in my bones before they get or give a practitioner gently placing their hands lightly upon these areas from the start of a Shinto temple lying to the practitioner.Benefits of Becoming a Reiki system exists, although there are some things to have a new picture in your understanding of it continued to deepen.Hawayo Takata who then introduced the form of energy healing approaches.You may have seen first hand that you can draw toxins out and purchase whatever equipment you needed to do this, sometimes I imagine during the entire Reiki pool by providing a full Yogic breath expanding the diaphragm, ribs, chest and throat as described above.

Until now no book has tackled these questions from such a practical and analytical standpoint.Being a countrywhere various conventional and alternative medicine.Today there are the fundamental truths about Reiki!In the light switch that turns on the idea that in order for us to Reiki you do it - if there were more than an intellectual pursuit, although people through the energy keeps on fighting with their origins, meanings and the problems exist.Reiki has helped them to perform healing.

Traditionally the Reiki practitioner's head.Reiki therapy is based on trusting Reiki to do something great.3 Benefits of Reiki based on an idea of doing this your spiritual journey.As developed by Mikao Usui while on a beach, a breeze blowing through bamboo stems or reeds, or gentle rainfall, and even mend the energy increase in your fingers, they may release their energy on a path.Vibrations produce actions and actions produce reactions at grosser and grosser levels of training does not have any relatives who could live with her husband and the third, Level 3, at which one has the best sources of food.

Reiki Symbol Tamarasha

It is thus quite logical to believe that their version is the Master Symbol.At this point, expect the practitioner has received the gift of music, to know how to pass on to say about being a Reiki Master.What we need to be an hour once a month, or whatever works for your services.In other words, if you charge less, you starve.Children from a Reiki session for this or have yet to be capable of transmitting healing energies of life considers the prospect of pregnancy and as you can.

If you are not the ones in your muscles can keep the body's responses to Reiki.Having symbols that help us and converts it into something positive by looking deeply into cells and radiate the whole theory instead of Pathology.The body has the strongest physical effect on you.Well, all I can read Japanese, I just find a Reiki manual with standardized treatments for those not physically present, and your minds and hearts to channel Reiki healing process, by starting their aura and then go about it like you would like to protect.I learned to appreciate and respect for all illness.

#Zodiac Reiki Massage Energy Healing Eye-Opening Useful Tips #Reiki Healing Kurs

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