not to be an unhinged Capricorn of a writer, but I really love getting rejections. I'm taking up space as a writer! I'm getting feedback! often I get to know if I got to a second round or not, and if they actually want to see more of my work. sometimes they even suggest other markets to send the piece to that it might fit better!

I've never gotten a mean rejection—even when they're form responses, they are usually quite nice, and stress how many submissions the market or agency receives. and I understand that, but a lot of folks don't. just because you were rejected doesn't mean the reader didn't like the piece—because of how many submissions virtually every market and agency gets, there are dozens of reasons why they have to say no to things, even things they love.

and every personalized rejection I've gotten has actually made my day, because it is genuinely lovely to know that someone read my work and gave it enough thought and consideration to say something specific about it. because I get excited when anyone reads and thinks about something I've written! even if it's just one person!

like do I want the things to get accepted, yeah! cuz I like the pieces and I want other people to read them! but the disappointment of not having the thing published isn't personal, it's professional, and meanwhile I'm gaining a lot of insight into my writing just on statistics for getting a lot of rejections. I don't think that any given rejection is a reflection of me personally.

Sometimes people tell me I'm a good person. I'm not a good person by nature, or by default. I'm a good person because I've decided that it's important to me to act like one, on a daily basis, forever.

My actual nature is that I want power. I want power and I want my life to be easy and I want other people to be forced to be nice to me even if they hate me. I want other people to have to suck up to me, I want to watch people who I know hate me suffer through the indignity of having to suck up to me. I want to hurt people who hurt me. I want all of these things in the same exact deeply recognizable way that a gorilla or a chimpanzee does. I watch those documentaries and I recognize myself, intimately. The fact that I can behave like a good person in spite of that has taken me a long time and a lot of effort to achieve.

What you feel isn't as important for your "goodness" as what you do. And you get good at what you practice. So practice your skills at being polite, pleasant, kind. Practice gently interrupting negative behaviors--whether that's someone's negative behaviors directed towards themselves, or directed towards someone else. The idea that we have to be inherently without sin is such Christian garbage. It's psychological gibberish. We want things! We want everything! That is normal and human and the key is not acting on every bad feeling you have.

I have taken my insatiable desire for power and to manipulate people and I have used it for good. I have learned how to manipulate people into coming to the doctor and taking their blood pressure medication and being honest about their recreational substance use. I have taken my psychology education and I have used it to craft a persona that makes people feel at ease. I go home at the end of the day exhausted, because maintaining a persona for ten hours straight is exhausting, but I do it happy, because I manipulated the people I work with into feeling better and having brighter days. I manipulated my patients into feeling good about their achievements and recognizing where we need to do things differently.

The hard part is that when the mask slips, people find it not just off-putting but deeply upsetting. When I explain things like "I have thought very carefully about how I would conduct a career in domestic terrorism because I would genuinely like to bomb the headquarters of most American insurance companies, but I don't see a way to do it without getting caught and either killed or spending the rest of my life in prison, and at the moment I consider that an unacceptable outcome," people go from "ha ha! my wacky colleague" to "Jesus Christ, I didn't realize there was something actually wrong with you."

Anyway, don't make your kids read the extended works on Machiavelli at twelve, my dad thought he was helping me but all he accomplished was making me sad I'll never be a king.

Would you consider writing for a reader with face blindness and the other ways they have to identify the boys with?

Like whenever they just freshly walk into a room the reader has to stare at them for a moment until they say something or until they spot the part of them they use to identify them, then they get all happy to see them.

I just think it’d be really cute and face blindness is never a disability I see anything for, it lacks a lot of representation but affects a lot of people. Living with face blindness is a serious struggle, because even if someone is family, they’ll always wear the face of a stranger

{I don't mind at all! I did have to do a little research, as I personally was pretty curious at how somebody with this disability sees faces. If I got anything wrong please let me know! ♥️ As always I hope you're having a lovely day anon♥️}

Price

It took John some getting used to. Not that he doesn't try to accommodate, he just often forgets you don't see the way he does. He's so caught up in loving on you, he doesn't really mind whether you see him. So when he's meeting up with you on dates, coming over to sit at the table where you're already waiting for him.

Seeing that pretty face of yours contort into confusion and even a bit of nervousness makes his brows raise.

"I um.. I'm waiting for someone-"

You mumble out to what you assume may be a stranger.

"Are you now Darlin'?"

John chuckles, reaching to hold your hand from across the table. Lifting it to kiss your knuckles, blue eyes softening at you.

"I'm right here."

Gaz

Kyle would get used to it pretty quickly, trying to find ways for you to recognize him easily. Fuck he'll wear a goddamn cat collar if you ask him to. He won't want you to feel bad for it either.

"You don't need to see me lovie.. you know me. You feel me. And you've done a hell of a job loving me."

He mumbles, if you still feel bad- he'll take your hands and place them on his face. Telling you to just close your eyes and feel.

Anytime he sees the confusion starting in your eyes he tilts his head and cheekily tells you.

"The best boyfriend-"

"Kyle!"

He grins when he gets to watch your reaction to him. It's kind of ethereal.. He gets to see in real time the love bloom across your features. It hits him to, just falls for you everytime he sees it.

Soap

Luckily, Johnny can never really sneak up on you, purely cause he can't keep his mouth shut around you. He didn't even know for the longest time before you outright told him of your disability. He always calls out first, with that Scottish accent and slang, he's pretty recognizable. Between his call outs of-

"Bonnie!"

"Aye there's my lass.."

"Where you ofta' hen?"

Followed by being swiftly scooped up or pulled into his arms. You will have to explain the condition, he's gonna ask questions. Not that he has any doubts, he's just incredibly curious at how you see the world. He'll listen to every word as you describe it, holding your hand to his cheek. Your thumb brushes over the scar on his chin.

Ghost

Personally I believe Simon would be the most effortlessly accommodating. As soon as he finds out you have this disability, he finds a pretty good solution in his eyes. His balaclava. Not many wear a skull balaclava in fucking daylight. So often he wears it until you at least see him, just so you don't panic and can somewhat recognize him better. Then he'll slip it off.

There's maybe a couple times he doesn't wear it. Most likely he just forgot, arriving home. His stealth can sometimes be a curse when you can't recognize him. Poor doll. Nearly jumped out of your skin seeing some big guy in the corner of the room.

"Fuck- it's me love- jus' me."

He does feel bad about it. But the way your eyes light at his voice never fails to make him smile. Tugging you into his arms. Mumbling an apology for scaring you as he kisses across your skin.

Happy holidays, Shana! Some WWX/JYL ran away if you don't mind? I'm hooked!!

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

"Even if you didn't know that we thought you were dead," Jin Zixuan says, "you knew that everyone else did. What was your plan for announcing your return from the dead?"

Wei Wuxian frowns and scratches his nose with his flute. "I don't have one, really. I imagine quite a lot of people still want me dead. But not anyone important, right? Sect Leader Yao wanting me dead isn't remarkable. That's like a Tuesday."

For fuck's sake. That kind of forethought is how they ended up in this mess in the first place.

"I'm pretty sure my father wants you dead," he says.

Wei Wuxian makes a face. "I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that I care even less about your father's opinion than I do Sect Leader Yao's."

Yeah, he'd made a point of that when he'd stolen every Wen from him and set up camp in the land between the Jin and the Jiang.

Yanli rolls her eyes. "We were thinking some sort of secret mission to explain A-Xian's absence and special training for A-Ling's." Then, apologetically, "I had been hoping your father would be dead by now."

"I can just kill him," Wei Wuxian offers.

Jiang Cheng pinches the bridge of his nose. "Do not reenter society by killing a sect leader."

"We can also hide out as new disciples," Wei Wuxian says. He really must be worried about his brother if he's dropping it that easily. "Which might not be a bad idea until we can find out what was happening to all our letters."

There's a pause. Finally, it's Lan Wangji who says, "You and Jiang Yanli are rather recognizable to most cultivators."

Jin Zixuan is surprised that they managed to go thirteen years without being recognized, even with staying out of cultivator territory. They certainly won't manage the same now that they're back into it.

"Plus the several dozen junior disciples who already know who we are," Yanli says gently. "A-Xian, we came back so we could stop hiding. So our children could stop hiding."

Wei Wuxian softens. "Okay, okay. But then, realistically, I am going to have to kill a sect leader. Or two. Definitely no more than three."

It really says something that Jiang Cheng is his less irritating brother in law.

Okay so last night I was having an "art style panic"? I guess you could call it that? But I was feeling really bad, so i started drawing other peoples art styles and picking points and peaces out of it!

I did this last night when I was really tired and i used a pen so the drawings may not be how i usually do my drawings haha

Ok so first up we have @emjoyzhos-ej !! I recently just found your account but you have a very cool style!!

•Your skull shape is very unique, very rectangle

•your lines are very sketchy (most people I follow have this trait in their art..)

•when you color it looks like you mayy have rook inspiration from itsxroxannex? Idk i wrote that down, maybe it's not true but I guess i thought that last night

But I love your style! Your art is so cool and I had fun trying to replicate it!

Next we have @milkybnnuy ! Omg so I really like you!! Your art is sooo good

•You draw a lot of fell, so i made the drawing of killer like how you made that one fell killer drawing

•when you color you have a very paintly-style and that's cool!!

•your skull shape reminds me of an egg (i guess thats why i said "egg head" last night)

Up in the top I wrote "I did not replicate your art properly enough," and that's true! Your art is so unique and different from what i usually drew so i had a hard time replicating it! But nonetheless, i had a fun time trying and hope you ain't disappointed lol

Btw- I really like the way you draw your fuzz on hoods!! So satisfying to look at!

And now we go onto @voidzphere !

I've followed you for a while, and you're cool to be around and I like when you post! Though i had a hard time finding the art hidden around, I still was able to replicate it (luckily i chose to draw killer for this haha)

•so I see that you usually draw/post doodles, unless i just didn't scroll down far enough haha (plz tell me if you have drawn something big i wanna see)

•I noticed you have more pointy and thicker lines

•you have a certain way you draw your Skulls, I can't really put a shape or object here to describe it

Even though I couldn't find more drawings, I still tried! I hope you like it, friend, cause u cool

Here is @cherrio-krispz ! I just started following you last night, like seriously I had to search you up just now to figure out who you were cuz I forgot, but when i saw your art I immediately recognized you

•you have a very recognizable style!

•again, i did not replicate well.

•very painty-like when color

•sketchy lines, seems like you don't do line art?

•I like ur skulls, they look like skulls

OMG I'VE BEEN WAITING TO TALK ABOUT YOU. YOU. YOUUU. @somegrumpynerd OMG YOUUUUUU. I REALLY LIKE YOUR ARTTT.

•I LIKE IT

•very cartoonish

• noticable art style

•thick lineart

I LOVE seeing posts when they come out!!! They're really really cool and make me feel so happy when I see them! Keep going because you're so cool!

@spookeri haiiii

You're here tooo

i like ur art :)))))) a LOT . Same as the last guy, I get very excited when you post. Your DTIYS were fun, and yeye... Yeah

•Very flat colors

•flat lines

•cool looking skulls

•you have an "air-brush" shading style (i guess you could call it), which isn't a bad thing! Do what you want to do! But maybe try out cell-shading? Idk you don't have to, but idk i feel like cell-shading fits your art style

Also if you look in the bottom you can see a scratched out drawing, that was my first attempt haha

You can see it in the drawing below

@wyllaztopia !! I like your art :)) you have a very noticeable style and when you post I get excited as well!

•clean lines

•you make skulls longer than how other people make their skulls in this last

•I liked replicating it

Idk what else to say ... Its just all really cool!!

And last but not the worst

My art style!

My art style is

•cool

•easy to draw

•and funny lookin'

What did i learn from this whole thing i did? That everyone has a unique style, that even if they try to change it it still stays theirs and it's still unique

I also found out that everyone, small artists and big artists, has flaws! It's comforting to know that everyone has flaws so I know I'm just learning and getting better everyday

Another thing I got from this is that everyone's styles are always changing and warping. But thats fine! Because everyone's moving and changing, and the worlds always moving and changing!

So, don't be so hard on yourself if you're struggling to draw or find an art style, how you draw is unique to you and you'll like it one day

Just keep drawing everyday and you'll get there.

I suggest doing this challenge, on paper or digital, wether you color it or not, or post ot or not!

It's great to try out.

Clownmates

Danny and Jason both hated clowns, that really wasn't a secret to any of their friends or family; but for that to be what connected them with their respective soulmate was just ridiculous.

You see, the way you can recognize your soulmate is by the distinctive mark that appears anywhere on your body, since the moment of your birth you receive what will be something significant to both people engraved on you, in Danny & Jason case the mark was in their arm.

That's why after came back to life, Jason wasn't amused that his soulmate had anything to do with clowns, the obviously recognizable smile gave him chills, and for a while he couldn't sleep at the simple thought that the damn Joker was his soulmate.

Something similar happened to Danny, when he was little he loved circuses, thinking that his destined person would be there, but after all the trouble with Freakshow he didn't even dare look at his arm, how could the person destined for him be associated with those vile creatures?

That was the trick that nobody bothered to clarify, significant did not mean positive; honestly they both should be thankful they didn't have some 4, or other reference to death marked on their body.

Because of that reason they both hated Valentine's Day, they didn't dare to look for their supposed soulmate out of horror of discovering them in a circus, it was simply cruel. Danny couldn't stand the reminder of love because he associated clowns with bad things, and he didn't want to think that his soulmate was bad.

So when both Danny and Jason found themselves in Gotham, about to sneak into the clowns dressing room and probably ruin their makeup and decorations out of pettiness, they found themselves looking at each other in concern, and stared before backing off.

Before either of them had a chance to say anything, a clown found them and frowned at Jason claiming his Valentine decorations, Jason grunted and handed them over as Danny watched the scene annoyed "I really hate clowns" he muttered as he watched the scene, when Jason delivered the decorations his shirt sleeve went up a little and Danny noticed a peculiar...smile.

Getting a horrible hunch, the halfa rolled up his own shirtsleeve, revealing the same smile that he had been seen on Jason's arm.

"This must be a joke"

All Of The Girls You’ve Loved Before

Gretchen Wieners x Reader

Word Count: 1k

Trigger Warning: just a bunch of fluff

Request:

Hello, there! I don't know if this request will reach you or not, but I would like to request some Gretchen Wieners x reader fluff please, thank you! Inspired by All Of The Girls You've Loved Before by Taylor Swift

Mean Girls requests are open.

"Who wrote that?" Gretchen wondered, flipping through (Y/n)'s yearbook. The pink ink glistened on the page with red hearts floating around the name, (Y/n)'s name. The yearbook in Gretchen's hand was dated back to their freshman year, but the pink, flowing cursive made her feel ill with the recognizable feeling of jealousy.

(Y/n) rolled over from her back, and looked over at the book curiously. A hum escaped her lips as she recognized the handwriting. "This was back in freshman year when I was dating Emily." (Y/n) said casually. It was one of those fourteen-year-old relationships where you think you will be together forever. Of course, in the long run, it wasn't healthy, and it ended in text and approximately two days in bed before they both had developed crushes on someone new.

Gretchen didn't experience this kind of relationship. She had situationships like Jason's. She couldn't think back to when she didn't have feelings for (Y/n). Even though she's liked (Y/n) since middle school, it was their sophomore year that those feelings started to blossom fully. Then during the summer between their sophomore and junior years, (Y/n) and Gretchen became official. Gretchen almost forgot about all of the relationships (Y/n) had before them.

(Y/n) noticed the thoughtful pout on Gretchen's lips and gently took the book from her hands and closed it. "Gretchen," she called for the girl's attention, smiling a bit when Gretchen's coffee-colored eyes met hers. "You know, if we had gotten together earlier, this relationship wouldn't be as healthy as it is. I had to mature before I got to where I am now. I grew from those relationships in order to be the person I am today with you." (Y/n) said softly, cupping the girl's cup before placing a soft kiss on Gretchen's pout. Thankfully, this seemed to satisfy Gretchen as she kissed back.

Gretchen had realized that (Y/n) was right. They had been friends during all of the relationships (Y/n) dabbled in before they became official. She has witnessed this growth and maturity. Gretchen also grew during that time. Thankful for her words of reassurance, Gretchen pulled away, pressing a soft kiss to (Y/n)'s nose. "I grew during that time, too. I was in a toxic situationship with Jason, and he treated me horribly. You are the first and only person who has ever treated me like a person who deserved a good and healthy love." Gretchen confessed with a soft smile.

"I'm glad I can provide that for you, baby. You genuinely deserve the world, and I want to give that to you." (Y/n) moved to sit up, stretching slightly, her muscles tight from the position she was in on the bed. "Do you want to watch a movie and cuddle?"

Gretchen grinned wider at this. (Y/n) knew her well. Gretchen practically launched herself into (Y/n)'s arms causing the two to laugh as (Y/n) held her close. "Can we watch Clueless again?" She questioned, hoping (Y/n) would agree to this. After all, they watched it once every week. Unfortunately for (Y/n), it was a movie that Gretchen never grew tired of. (Y/n) nodded softly, kissing her girlfriend's temple before flipping on the movie for her. The room's previous tensions were now completely settled as the two enjoyed the movie.

(Y/n) could always appreciate how she and Gretchen communicated their feelings. She knew that Gretchen struggled with the idea of her and her past relationships. And, that was something (Y/n) understood. She heard an earful from Regina about how Gretchen had been crushing on her for years and she needed to 'woman up' and ask her out. (Y/n) was nervous to go out with Gretchen. She had only been in unhealthy relationships before her, but this has been the most amazing relationship she has ever been in. She was determined to spend forever with the honey-blonde girl in her arms.

Gretchen looked up at (Y/n) as she noticed the girl lost in thought. Her focus was obviously not on the movie. "What's on your mind?" Gretchen questioned softly, her hand gently moving to take (Y/n)'s. She always liked to know what was on (Y/n)'s mind. She lived for her girlfriend's thoughts and ideas.

(Y/n) bit her lips with a smile as her cheeks heated up. "Would it be too cheesy if I said you? I was thinking about how lucky I am to be with you. I'm just thankful for you, and in a way, Regina for pushing me to finally ask you out." She confessed before leaning her head back to rest on the pillows behind her. She didn't mean to get caught so zoned out, but Gretchen was someone who was incredibly observant.

Gretchen smiled at (Y/n)'s answer, squeezing her hand. "It is a bit cheesy, yes, but… It's also very cute, and it's nice to hear that you feel that way about me and for me." Gretchen responded, meeting eyes with (Y/n). The action would always take her breath away. "I feel the same way towards you. Also, I'm thankful for Regina, too. I love you." She said happily, leaning up to pepper (Y/n)'s face with kisses, causing the girl to laugh happily at the action.

"I love you, too, Gretchen," she said as her heart felt warm, the fluttering feeling in her stomach returning. It always came when she and Gretchen were acting like this. Both had forgotten about the movie playing in the background once Gretchen's lips landed onto (Y/n)'s. Both of their heartbeats accelerated but they were still in sync. The feeling of love and happiness filled the room as the two kept each other close, as they always did. At that moment, they felt lucky and a sheer amount of love that could end a war. It was evident to the both of them how much they wanted and needed each other, and how important it was to grow from all of the relationships they've had in the past.

The Astrology of Fame: Jupiter and Pluto's Link to Superstardom

Jupiter expands and Pluto intensifies. When these two connect in the natal chart, something magical happens.

Note: Not everyone with a Jupiter/Pluto link is going to explode in popularity and become household names echoed around the world for decades to come. Not every star has the Jupiter/Pluto link, either. However, this is a theme I've (and others) have noticed more often than not in the charts of people who have had their breakthrough.

In the many charts I've seen, almost every single celebrity had an aspect to their Jupiter/Pluto midpoint OR Jupiter and Pluto connected through a different midpoint instead (i.e Jupiter conjunct Moon/Pluto midpoint). It seems to be a far more accurate and reoccurring marker than just a natal aspect between the two planets (though that shouldn't be ignored, either).

I believe long-time astrologer, Basil Fearrington, was the first to notice the link between wealth and the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. Even though midpoints only tend to count when activated through a hard aspect (conjunction, square, and opposition), Basil surmised that the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint is so potent that even soft aspects should be considered.

The late and wonderful Marga, creator of Dutch astrology website "Astromarkt", took it a step further and said that the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint didn't even need to be activated. The two planets conjoining at all in any midpoint combination (or through natal aspects) was enough to generate immense potential for power and fame.

Soft aspects are not generally considered in midpoint astrology. The reasoning for that is because sextiles and trines require little to no effort. The owner of them may or may not ever put those talents to use, and thus the potential of certain aspects and midpoints may never get recognized. But I think that's underselling it a bit. We do use them, we're just not privy to honing them in the way we would a hard aspect.

Humans have a penchant for believing that suffering equals greater reward, therefore we're far more likely to try and understand then tame a Mars sq. Pluto and let the Venus trine Jupiter do its own thing in the background virtually untouched. Sometimes semi-squares and sesquiquadrates are taken into consideration in midpoint astrology, but their influence is weak. If they can get their day in the limelight, I'm also giving some to the sextile and trine. They obviously have a purpose or else the aspect wouldn't even exist.

Now if you'd like to check for this theme yourself, use Astro.com. The drop-down menu for "Chart drawing style" has two different midpoint options. Ebertin chart allows for a wider orb of up to 2°, but only shows major hard aspects. Keller has a much smaller orb, but also shows soft aspects and parallels/contra-parallels. I use both.

With the clerical info out of the way, let's gain more insight into the Jupiter/Pluto energy itself. Astrologer John Sandbach describes it as such:

A tremendous desire to learn and to grow, and to acquire power, be it of the more intangible, mental sort, or worldly in nature. Driving, unstoppable enthusiasm. A relentless urge toward excess. The ability to transform how things are organized. To have big ideas and far-reaching aims. Going to great extremes. The persistent urge to do whatever is needed to overcome problems. Grandiosity. Religious fanaticism.

Jupiter/Pluto promises a larger than life persona with strong intellect and passions to stitch it all together. Think not of just musicians, models, and actors, but of cult leaders, gourmands, CEO's, luxury jewelry salespeople, and even fine art collectors who amass the rarest of paintings. There is a salient and recognizable power and privilege. Clearly fame isn't the only highlight here.

But if you are fixated on fame, what kind are we even talking about? 15-second TikTok fame? One-hit wonders and Meghan Trainor's of the world who have a shelf life of 2 years then respawn 10 years later because of a viral tweet? Absolutely not. These are the stars you never forget who cannot be compared to others. Rather, others are compared to them. They set the standard and are known everywhere, even outside of their home country. They amass wealth, power, respect, and create a legacy.

May the examples below speak for themselves.

Very well-known celebrities with aspects to their Jupiter/Pluto midpoint:

Ariana Grande (Saturn trine)

Zayn Malik (ASC trine)

Jeon Jungkook (Sun trine)

Selena Gomez (Mercury sextile; Saturn trine; Neptune square)

Conan O'Brien (Saturn trine)

Tom Cruise (Saturn trine; Node sextile)

Marilyn Monroe (MC conjunct)

George Clooney (Mercury opposite; Uranus square)

Brad Pitt (MC square)

Leonardo DiCaprio (ASC contra-parallel)

Beyoncé (Saturn & Mercury contra-parallel)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Uranus conjunct)

Naomi Campbell (Moon sextile)

Taylor Swift (Neptune trine)

Barack Obama (ASC square)

Very well-known celebrities with an active midpoint that contains Jupiter and Pluto together:

Rihanna (Jupiter square Moon/Pluto)

Meryl Streep (Pluto trine Moon/Jupiter)

Kurt Cobain (Pluto sextile Moon/Jupiter)

Al Pacino (Pluto square Sun/Jupiter; Pluto square Jupiter/Saturn)

Zendaya (Pluto parallel Moon/Jupiter)

Angelina Jolie (Jupiter opposite Uranus/Pluto; Pluto contra-parallel Jupiter/ASC; Pluto parallel Jupiter/S.Node)

Stephen Colbert (Jupiter square Venus/Pluto; Jupiter square Pluto/Node; Pluto parallel Venus/Jupiter)

Timothée Chalamet (Jupiter conjunct Mercury/Pluto)

Joaquin Phoenix (Jupiter trine Neptune/Pluto)

Nicole Kidman (Jupiter parallel Mercury/Pluto)

Robert De Niro (Jupiter conjunct Pluto/Node)

Kim Kardashian (Jupiter parallel Moon/Pluto)

Priyanka Chopra (Pluto conjunct Jupiter/Saturn; Pluto parallel Mercury/Jupiter)

Margot Robbie (Jupiter sextile Pluto/ASC; Pluto trine Sun/Jupiter; Pluto trine Mercury/Jupiter)

Drake (Jupiter trine Venus/Pluto; Pluto sextile Sun/Jupiter)

From all of the midpoint combinations, Moon/Jupiter/Pluto was the most prevalent. For this post I personally combed through the midpoints of about 45 celebrities total with 30 making the cut here. The other ~15 did not have an active Jupiter/Pluto midpoint nor an active midpoint combination with them. What they did have was a natal aspect between the two planets in their chart, or Jupiter and Pluto both made an aspect to either their Sun, Moon, ASC, or MC within 7°.

If I had to speculate on short-term fame aka "fast rise, even faster fall", I'd wager those kinds of viral sensations have a transit hitting their Jupiter/Pluto midpoint instead, and the lack of natal support can only push it so far. This is something I have to do more research on.

All done! Thank you for reading. This is my first real astrology post. I'm not sure if I'll ever write more as I prefer to lurk, but who knows. Ciao🌷

Sources: (1), (2), (3), (4) + astrotheme.com for providing the birth details

Had a critical event today. I was in a public facility, waiting in a line, and I realized the person first in the line looked a lot like my mother. I ignored this and got distracted. However, when she turned around and started walking to the exit, I saw her face, and it was indeed.. my mother. I turned the other way, stared at my phone, feeling waves of panic washing over me. I expected every second to be approached, or tapped, or to have her standing in front of me, calling me by name. I had no plan, no idea how to get out of that. She wasn't supposed to find me. I lived for 7 years without running into her once.

However.... she didn't recognize me. She walked right past me, and went out. And didn't come back. I waited for a bit and then turned around, and the room was empty of her. There was nobody recognizable anymore. She didn't spot me, or recognize me, even though I was so close, a step away, was looking at her face, right before turning my back on her.

I am immensely blessed by my family members forgetting how I look like or how to recognize me in public. I've been beside myself all day. What is safety if not abusers walking past you not realizing who you are? I would recognize her anywhere but I guess she didn't really look at me much during our life together.

I had a flashback later about the time when as a kid, I asked her to buy me a piece of fruit, not because I wanted the fruit, but because I wanted some confirmation, some proof that she cared for me. And I asked nicely at first, but then started begging and pleading with desperation, just wanting some proof that I am cared for, something I could cling to when I feel unloved. So that I could, at the darkest times, remind myself 'one time she got me a piece of fruit, so she must care for me'.

She didn't get me the piece of fruit, and got mad at me instead.

I didn't run away because there was no fruit. I ran away because I knew if I didn't, I would get killed or pushed into suicide. And she wanted that for me, she wanted me to die in that house. But I got away and despite all her effort of manipulating people to try and find me and pressure me to go back, to walk back into my death, now she walks past me without realizing that her target was standing so close. Can't kill me anymore, can you. I'm wearing a hat now.

LABYRINTH (L.CH)

SUMMARY . . . it's really easy to just say "i'm fine" and go on with it, anton doesn't take it, though.

PAIRING . . . anton lee x male!reader

GENRE . . . fluff, light light angst

WARNINGS . . . mentions of sleep deprivation

WORD COUNT . . . 0.7k

NOTES . . . *taps mic* hi anton lovers, hi again riize fandom, i love anton hes just so 😢 anyway i didn't willingly make this the demons stole my computer and typed it out for me 🙏 *crowd cheers and applauses and fire alarms go off and the place explodes*

. . . my beloved mother (aka the best and only elif i know) @jinkiseason asked to be tagged so here you go (you better read this 😡) (i made it in your wc range/j)

"y/n".

said boy startles, almost hitting his head on the counter. he groans, covering his face for a moment. once his eyesight registers, he looks up to see his roommate, whose eyes are focused on the textbooks set on the kitchen counter. "shit sorry, what time is it?" he asks, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"it's two am" y/n swears he almost gasps out loud when he hears. two? as in two in the morning? that can't be.. "i— i'm sorry did i disturb you? i didn't mean to fall asleep i just—"

"no no" anton cuts into his sentence. "your not disturbing me.. i— why are you sleeping on the kitchen counter?"

how long did i doze off for?

"i was.." y/n pauses as he catches anton's gaze, he recognizes that gaze. he's seen it from his parents, his older siblings, his ex lovers, his friends, and just.. strangers. anton already knows how he's going to respond. "studying".

anton closes his eyes, sighing, and y/n feels that recognizable shame curl in his gut. "y/n.. what time did you start studying?"

y/n goes silent once again, disappointedly looking down at the kitchen counter as he begins to drag his finger up and down it, trying to distract himself. he feels another curl of shame in his gut when he hears anton sigh, again.

"y/n—"

"i know i know, i'm sorry" he immediately says, feeling like he did something wrong, anton's tone of voice was really stressing him out, he hated that tone of voice, he hated the way it was so recognizable and how anxious it made him feel. "i didn't mean to upset you".

anton simply blinks, then shakes his head. "it's not your fault" he whispers, walking up to y/n and rubbing a hand up and down his back. "y/n i worry about you".

y/n musters up a smile, but he's so tired he can't even keep it up, frowning immediately. "i have so many exams this week.. this is my best bet—"

"no, you need to sleep".

y/n chuckles sleepily, his eyes barely able to stay open. "it's okay, i can rest after my exams are ove—"

"do you really think i'm gonna let you do that?"

y/n pauses, biting the inside of his cheek. he almost laughs once again, but he stays silent. anton looks at him for a moment; then closes his textbook. "come on".

"come on where?"

"your going to sleep" anton states, he doesn't ask or even wait for an answer, he just says it like he knows what he's doing. y/n looks at him like he just said something crazy, but anton doesn't budge.

"what?"

anton looks at him for a split second, sighing. "i don't want you to disagree with me, your going to sleep whether you like it or not".

y/n scoffs; "i'm not even tire—"

"its two in the morning, you studied all day, you are going to sleep".

anton grabs his arm, helping him stand up and dragging him away from the kitchen counter. y/n lightly yelps, but it's quiet. "anton, seriously, i don't need sleep, i'm fine i don't—"

"you need to stop trying to argue with me" anton mutters, turning on the sink and handing y/n his toothbrush. "i care about you, and your going to sleep, whether you like it or not".

y/n finally sighs, he stops trying to argue with anton, which makes the other smile. he grabs his toothbrush, hoping he's not that tired and can successfully do it.

"when was the last time you even got a full eight hours?"

y/n gives anton a look, not being able to respond because he's brushing his teeth, he lightly shoves his shoulder and anton laughs. that's pretty ironic considering anton barely gets sleep himself.

"your talking about eight hours?" y/n says, rinsing his mouth before looking back up. "you barely get sleep yourself".

"yeah but this is about you is it not?"

"i hate you".

anton deadpans for a moment, snickering. "no you don't" he easily responds, smiling. "now chop chop, you need to sleep".

"don't rush me".

"i will if i want to! come on, sleep!"

y/n sighs, yawning, but follows.

Possible Mia Ikumi Doujin Penname

First off, thanks to @berrychanx who found the initial doujin listing and @kuro93 who I know also looked into this and bought some of her works! Second off, warning for some suggestive doujin covers and other art, although there's nothing truly explicit.

First things first, I want to say that I sat on this information for a little bit considering if it was appropriate to speculate since Ikumi never chose to make this connection publicly. Ultimately I've decided to go through with it since imo the artstyle is instantly recognizable, so it'd come out eventually. I also found some still-up online accounts associated with this penname, and I know that's a thing the fandom has wanted to see for a long time. I'd ask that you please be respectful with this info and keep in mind it is NOT confirmed and that Mia Ikumi has passed away.

I'd also like to make clear that I'm totally uninterested in trying to figure out her birth name or track down any other personal info on her life that she didn't choose to share in doujin, her website, manga notes, interviews, etc. That feels very out of line. Finding other pennames can help us fans catalogue more of her work, but finding her real identity does nothing but violate her privacy.

So that's kind of where I'm at right now. If you feel differently about whether it's right to speculate on Ikumi's doujin works, or if you don't want to see anything even a little suggestive, please turn back now.

We know for sure that Mia Ikumi was a penname, since that was confirmed in ads for Re-Turn when she changed one of the characters.

征海美亜 ＊征海未亜よりペンネーム変更されました Ikumi Mia *Ikumi Mia yori penneemu henkou saremashita Mia Ikumi (征海美亜) *[Her] penname was changed/altered/revised from Mia Ikumi (征海未亜)

Prior to her return to Nakayoshi with some TMM anniversary art and then the 2020 Re-Turn short, the last work she published under that name was Koi Cupid, way back in 2005-08.

There's always been speculation as to whether she continued drawing manga under a different penname, but there was never any official word from her once her website went down, since she was not active under that name under any social media or on Pixiv. We also had no idea how her art might have evolved in the years since her last official release, so there was no guarantee we'd recognize any work of hers if we saw it. The first anyone saw of her art post-website was back in 2015 when she drew some art of Ichigo and then Ichigo, Mint, and Lettuce for the 60th anniversary of Nakayoshi.

https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/132481043559/more-nakayoshi-60th-anniversary-mew-mew-art-from https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/118704238761/ichigo-momomiya-in-her-cafe-mew-mew-uniform-drawn https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/130755109662/new-picture-of-ichigo-minto-retasu-drawn-by

As you can see, this art featured a pretty different art style than she'd had 2 decades back.

(Sidenote: it seems she also did some art for the 55th anniversary, back in 2010, but this is much closer to the dates when she was working under the Mia Ikumi name and has roughly the same art style as OG TMM: https://hikayagami.tumblr.com/post/151430694480/doodles-of-ichigo-and-berry-drawn-by-mia-ikumi )

Obviously, starting in 2019, she then went on to release the two-shot manga TMM 2020 Re-Turn, some miscellaneous promo art (Blu-ray bonus comic, Alice in Wonderland merch, Smewthie fanart, etc.), and finally new covers and bonus comics for most of the rereleased manga volumes before her passing. Between the works she published in the 90s-early 2000s and all of this new art, we have a pretty good sample size of her artstyle over time. So it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled on something familiar looking…

Berrychanx found a listing (https://jp.mercari.com/item/m11046282201 ) for an Idolmaster doujin called Room Fight! created as a collab between 2 doujin circles/artists: Nameless Color (ねーむれすからー) and Komomo+ (こももぷらす), published by Poco Poco in 2014. The seller specifically noted that the style looks very similar to Mia Ikumi's, and it's very hard to argue! The hands especially look the way that Ikumi has always drawn them, and the eyes, facial expressions, and hair shading is pretty much one to one for Re-Turn.

Nameless Color has some other works, but they aren't in this same artstyle at all. Therefore, the one whose style matches Mia Ikumi's is Komomo+.

https://doujinrepublic.com/product/tag_page.html?tags=85361&ref=product_page&type=rel_tag_circle

As far as I can tell, the doujin circle is named Poco Poco, and the artist's penname is Komomo Kozakura (小桜小桃) or later Komomo (小桃) or Komomo+ (written as こももぷらす). There's a lot of variation in which spelling is used across doujin sites, and sometimes Komomo is listed as the circle name rather than Poco Poco, but I'm unsure as to whether this is a change in how presumed-Ikumi branded herself or just a lack of organization in the websites. Also, the Room Fight! doujin is categorized under komomo+ (https://www.suruga-ya.jp/product/detail/ZHORE153927) and under Komomo Kozakura (https://ecs.toranoana.jp/tora/ec/item/040030276511/ ), so I’m sure they’re the same person and not just 2 people in the same circle.

Here are the titles I could find under all of these names across various websites in approximate publishing order:

https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=&search_word=&ck=true&inStock=On&person_id=1051050 https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=&search_word=&ck=true&inStock=On&person_id=2874482 https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=&search_word=&person_id=2864627 https://ecs.toranoana.jp/tora/ec/cot/circle/LUPA2D6P8476d16Qd687/all/

The main fandoms are Idolmaster, Kantai Collection, and Strike Witches. It's immediately obvious how much they look like Ikumi's style, from small details like the faces to larger things like how she tends to pose characters on her covers. They range from 2008-2016, and you can see that earlier works look a little more like her TMM-era art while later stuff is way more Re-Turn.

So is that all the new info? Do we need to track down and buy these doujin to get any more new info on Mia Ikumi? Well, that’s definitely a thing you can do! But there’s one other avenue.

You see, the title page of Girls Fight! does lead to a now defunct webpage: pocopoco.sblo.jp

https://web.archive.org/web/20081201000000*/pocopoco.sblo.jp

The Wayback Machine has 5 captures for this website: 12/31/08, 2/25/11, 6/3/13, 4/25/16, and 3/14/23. The latest one just shows the same error page not found message as if you try and go to the site now, but the others all have blog entries ranging from 2008 to the end of 2015 (i.e., starting RIGHT after the end of Koi Cupid/Mia Ikumi's professionally published/official manga career).

https://web.archive.org/web/20090103031628/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/article/20797588.html https://web.archive.org/web/20160425011557/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/article/170290508.html

Mostly these posts are either drawings or advertisements for a new book she's selling at a con or online by mail order, so there’s a whole bunch of new art. (Warning: there's nothing outright nsfw, but some of these images are probably the most suggestive ones I link in this post, moreso than even most of the doujin covers. Use your own judgment!) The rest of the posts are personal diary entries.

(Sidenote: I am NOT going to translate this whole blog because there’s a whole bunch of text! I looked through the available pages, and the auto-translated version is fine for getting a basic understanding. If you have questions about a specific post, feel free to ask, though! Right off the bat, the text on the big image at the top of the earlier captures, the one with the green-haired catgirl in a red outfit, is just a paraphrasing of the post where she explains her categories/tags to help you navigate the site https://web.archive.org/web/20090103030651/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/article/21376253.html )

This website, crucially, also links to Komomo's pixiv account (Username: 小桃/Komomo), which is still up!

https://www.pixiv.net/users/3966440

(I was logged in when I accessed the page, so it's possible you may need an account to view it. Please do keep in mind this is not an account publicly associated with Ikumi/TMM and that the owner is likely deceased. We don't need to leave random comments and messages.)

The oldest picture is from 2012, when she created it (she posts about this), and the most recent picture is from 2018, so you can really see the artstyle shift here as well. There is no reference to TMM or Mia Ikumi anywhere.

The blog also links to her NicoNico page (Username: 小桃/Komomo), where she posted a few Vocaloid covers from 5/16/10 to 6/4/11.

https://www.nicovideo.jp/user/16890918/

She talks about uploading these covers on her blog under her utattemita/”I tried singing” tag: https://web.archive.org/web/20160425011607/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/907578-1.html

So, the art definitely matches with what we know of Mia Ikumi’s art, both from published works and stuff posted online to her official website, ikumimia.chu.jp (Hika posted some of the website art here and here if you aren’t familiar)

(As a tangent, that website seems to have been created at or before 5/7/07 and gone offline sometime between 7/1/10 and 7/27/11, so there was definitely a period where she was working under both identities at once…)

But is there any other info linking Komomo and Mia Ikumi?

The site doesn't give much personal detail about Komomo irl, but it does say she was born in spring, and Mia Ikumi's birthday was March 27th.

プロフィール 名前小桜小桃です。 一言:春生まれです。 Profile My name is Komomo Kozakura. In a word, I was born in spring.

There's also a diary entry about her getting a Scottish fold kitten for her mom in 2008 after the family cat passed away 2 years back. We know from the bonus comics in the TMM manga that Mia Ikumi had a Scottish fold.

スコティッシュフォールドという種類のキャリコなお嬢さん。 A calico lady called a Scottish fold.

https://web.archive.org/web/20081231223544/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/627816-1.html

Komomo also says she’s interested in gothic lolita clothing and that she dresses up at events. We know Mia Ikumi also dressed up for events, since that’s in her bio, and she drew her outfits in manga bonus page.

＊ゴスロリの部屋＊ 小桜小桃の趣味のページです。主に持っている服やアイテム、欲しいモノの紹介、ゴスロリに関する事とかも書いていこうと思います。 *Gothic Lolita Room* A page about Komomo Kozakura’s hobby. Mainly I’ll write about clothing items I own, stuff I want, and things related to gothic lolita fashion.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160425154652/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/627812-1.html

今回のコミケはカゼのため、コスとかせずに防寒重視でいったのですが Because I had a cold at this Comiket, I went without any kind of costume to focus on keeping warm

https://web.archive.org/web/20160425154658/http://pocopoco.sblo.jp/category/627816-1.html

Between the art, the timeline of when things were posed vs Ikumi's public career, and the small bits of overlapping info on the artists' lives, I'm very confident that Mia Ikumi and Komomo Kozakura are two pennames for the same artist.

As for why, we can only speculate. I will say it's pretty common for artists to use a different penname for doujin work vs professional work, although some keep it more secret than others. It's especially common if the doujin work is more risque than the professional, which is the case here. I'll also say that almost all of Ikumi's post-TMM works were fairly short. Only One Wish may have been imagined as a one-volume anthology from the start, but it seems like TMM a La Mode and Repure may have been canceled early based on rushed endings with a lack of follow-up on plot points. Comi Digi +, the magazine in which Koi Cupid was published, got discontinued in 2008, presumably ending that series early as well. Ikumi also seems pretty annoyed with her editor in the a La Mode bonus comics, so possibly she was frustrated with baggage of the Mia Ikumi identity and wanted a fresh start.

Possibly she stopped putting out work around 2018 or possibly she started working under another penname. Maybe that was when Nakayoshi got in contact with her to begin planning for ReTurn, Ole/Au Lait, New, the TMM Blu-ray, the manga re-release, etc.

In conclusion, it seems like there are many more works by the artist known as Mia Ikumi than we'd thought previously, plus slightly more of a web presence, although this seems to have ended years before the TMM 20th anniversary renaissance. It's possible there are more accounts under the Komomo/小桃 name or under another penname that might be found in the future.

Astro Observations #6

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad

🫧 If there ever were a placement to indicate a Momma's Boy...It's definitely a Cancer Moon man. A 4th House stellium can also manifest this way.

🫧 Cancer Rising cuties are really sweet and nurturing people, but they can be very critical and judgmental of others with Virgo ruling their 3rd House of Communication. Often this is just a projection of their own emotional insecurities deriving from the 1st House of Self.

🫧 Also, Cancer placements...especially Sun, Moon & Mars...stop automatically assuming someone moved your sh¡t or touched your stuff LOL. It's just misplaced and will show up. I'm not saying someone didn't do it, but that someone could be you 😉 (I'm a Cancer Sun/Mercury so don't shoot the messenger!)

🫧 People with Taurus in the 12th end up dedicating a lot of work into their spirituality. Because the 12th House indicates isolation and seclusion, and Taurus is ruled by Venus, these individuals often decorate their homes with lots of spiritual things that bring them comfort.

🫧 On the same note...the 12th House Taurus is a Gemini Rising with a Virgo 4th House and may actually enjoy and prefer being alone so the home is a place they value very much. These folk's homes are usually a combination of some sort of organized mess (Virgo/Pisces axis). Like, they usually know where everything is, because everything has a place (Virgo 4H), but there is a bit of chaos that goes with that, such as organized piles of clothes (clean vs dirty), stacks of books in a corner instead of on a bookshelf, etc.

🫧 Pluto in the 12th house people can come across very intense or intimidating even. They often don't see themselves this way because energy gets buried in the 12th House, but it is very recognizable by others.

🫧 Leo North Node natives are here to create something that brings them well deserved attention. This can be anything from a career in acting, a famous child, or some sort of art or historical development.

🫧 I attributed dimples to Libra placements in a previous post, but recently have observed that this also includes a dimpled chin, known as a cleft-chin...or butt chin.

🫧 A shadow trait of Aquarius Moons is their need to be noticed (Leo/Aquarius axis). Part of what gives them emotional fulfillment is being recognized for their uniqueness. And while they are usually very logical with their approach to emotional expression, when an Aqua Moon's feelings get the best of them, they may become very emotional.

🫧 People with Scorpio in the 6th House should be very mindful of the people they sleep with. Scorpio in the house of health makes them more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases.

🫧 Fire Mars (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) people will try anything once! Especially in their younger years and even more so if you pair it with a Fire Sun or Moon. These folks love to have fun and won't really enjoy doing anything that doesn't spark their passion(s).

🫧 I can always pick up on Water Mercuries (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) by how they express opinion based questions/statements.

Cancer Mercury = "I feel like..." = Emotion/Insecurity based

Scorpio Mercury = "Something tells me..." = Intuition/Suspicion based

Pisces Mercury = "Have you ever wondered...?" = Abstract/Ideal based

These are my observations and opinions. Take what resonates and leave what doesn't. Thanks for reading!

-So.Kosmic 👽 💜 💫

Hihihi!! I absolutely LOVE your writing and i was wondering if i could request a modern setting senku x reader where they're academic rivals? Tho it would be cool if reader (can be either gn or fem!) was good at writing/literature and stuff instead of science like senku. I feel like it would be a silly little dynamic:3 Uhhm i hope it's okay!! Tysm in advance and pls take your time!! <3

hi hi! thank you for your request! i hope this is okay!

Though it often didn't seem like it since he is always so eager to indulge people in their scientific queries, Senku Ishigami is competitive.

This is something that his friend Taiju knows from all their gaming sessions, and later, this is something that is eventually discovered upon further watching him tackle tricky experiments. Never will Senku Ishigami turn his back on someone in need of help, on someone who wants to hear and learn more about science; but when a challenge presents itself, he’s determined to prove himself against it. Not for pride, but a sense of achievement. Excitement.

And for the longest time, you have been the biggest and most exciting challenge Senku has had. 

The same went for you. Senku Ishigami had caught you quite off guard when you first met him. An eccentric, brilliant kid who wowed you with his scientific knowledge and capabilities. And when he discovered you in a similar fashion, a sort of unspoken rivalry was established--

--If rivalry even was the appropriate term to use, because there was never any real malice toward one another, especially from Senku’s end. Yet there was this lingering competitive air between the two of you on who could come out on top in certain projects. This was for all classes and assignments. 

Jabs at one another was just part of your relationship (and sort of ritual, when in competition) with Senku, and certainly from an outsider’s perspective did it come off harsh and from a place of hatred. Any thoughts of malicious intent toward one another were instantly dissolved, however, when said outsider took notice of the way you two looked at each other, with not only matching challenging expressions, but genuine reverence and appreciation for what you bring out in one another.

Science, of course, was where Senku was primarily eager to take up a challenge. Though it was mostly him who showed you up in this area, it was you that showed him up when it came to literature. Reading, writing, communications; now that was your area to shine. It was not only this passion but your extensive general knowledge of the world (and what lies outside of it, which had pleasantly surprised Senku) and ambition for learning, forming relationships, and growing, along with your indulgence of Senku’s own enthusiasm, that made you so exciting to the scientist. 

If previously discussed outsider who assumed that the two of you harbored malicious feelings for one another couldn’t catch on to those lingering gazes and continued to hold their previously stated assumption, there were many other instances that could’ve changed their view. 

The two of you could often be found in a spare classroom sitting at the same table doing work together, asking each other questions and making conversation both pertaining to the work at hand and about whatever else was on your minds. Through the door that was often left half opened, passerbys could catch on to your enthusiastic chatter and get a glimpse through the long thin window an exchange of notes on the table the two of you occupied. 

The members of the science club can always anticipate your visits, your name and face becoming recognizable as a regular visitor despite not being a formal member. Nevertheless you were always welcomed in with updates on projects, and you spent your time looking over (primarily Senku’s) shoulders and having your eccentric friend eagerly walk you through his own recent work.

The school newspaper and book club recognize his face just as much as the science club members recognize yours. The paper has covered Senku’s eccentric projects a few times after taking up your suggestion that the work he does would make for an interesting article. He’s read them and sprouted glowing praise on the way you captured the thrilling essence of science so stunningly (all in an awed tone as he scanned over the paper, while you attempted to exude nonchalance with a shrug, though you could feel the warming in your cheeks give yourself away). The book club has discussed quite a bit of science fiction from Senku’s own suggestions. He’s sat through a couple of meetings despite not being all that interested in genres that weren’t related to non-fiction, sci-fi or fantasy. Still, his in-a-nutshell summaries of chapters and events make you laugh, and so he at least gets something out of them. 

And so when the misconception is eventually cleared up, the outsider can now see how endearing your dynamic really is; the fact that the two of you can get so into your competition but so very easily fall into a groove of working together. You encourage and build each other up to be better with your own work and questions inspiring him, and his inspiring yours. 

And ultimately this is what made you so attractive to one another; the fact that you were both incredibly dedicated, hard working and intelligent people. Now, it’s no wonder the two of you got along so well together 

(If there was something that wasn’t so endearing, and again brought up the point that perhaps you held some sort of malicious intent with your quips, it was when you’d combine your knowledge to gang up on others. The ill-natured vibe it gave off was unintentional on your parts.)

...

He swore that his granddaughter had taken off in this direction. Not noticing the heroes that were being stalled by Amazo Guy, unfortunately for him they had noticed him or rather one. Their leader was getting more agitated by Amazo Guy by the second. One of them nervously got his attention and pointed in the direction Maddrix had taken off. Obviously not fooled by the makeshift cape. If they were going to be honest, that was what tipped them off. He was still wearing the Christmas sweater Tim had gotten him. That would've made them brush him off as just an old man running away if he hadn't taken that cape of his.  It was recognizable especially to Atomic Steele. Just as they were about to go after him, a very annoyed and now angry looking Amazo Guy had put himself between them. That wasn't going to be easy to explain, especially with Atomic Steele. He understood very much where he came from. He did. He knew it would be difficult to convince him to let Maddrix the Malicious go. The dark and straight up murderous look in his eyes told Alex there wasn't a chance he could be reasoned with. Especially when what he was after was right there. Alex didn't want to fight them but he could stall them further. Matthew had finally seen where Becky had gone, seeing her flying in the distance. He kept running as fast as he could. Even with his abilities, he was still definitely not in his youth anymore. He felt himself become  tired out but he couldn't have his granddaughter unintentionally get herself hurt in this state. Of course. She would be a hero. It was ironic that she would become attached to the hero killer. And now that hero killer was putting himself at risk for her safety.  He hadn't noticed that his appearance had escalated the situation between the heroes. Alex was distracted and visibly unhappy that Matthew managed to make his job all the more difficult. He wasn't expecting to get hit with full force. Sending him flying back into a building near Matthew's location. It wasn't personal to be honest. Atomic wanted him out of the way while the supervillain was still in their sight. The others followed after, looking at Alex with apologetic expressions before leaving. The others were caught off guard, Joe went running to help Amazo Guy back up. Alan and Tristan were stunned. Tristan wasn't happy and decided it was time to intervene. This time he was the one getting in the way. With a very angry expression on his face. 

Matthew was momentarily frozen in place as he heard the loud crashing of concrete and gravel from behind him. The force of the crash caused him to let go of the cape over his head, eliminating any cover he had. The remaining civilians who hadn't fled the area screamed in panic and fear over seeing Maddrix. They definitely bolted then. Those who were frozen in fear had to be dragged away by their equally panicked but still mobile friends. Matthew then turned his head back to the four heroes who were coming straight towards him. Matthew didn't recognize them, but their leader had an aura of familiarity about them that he couldn't shake despite never seeing him before. Three of the heroes were looking nervous but otherwise still determined to face off against Maddrix the Malicious. Their leader looked ready to make sure there was nothing left of the old man after he was through with the villain. Matthew groaned in frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew what was coming but now wasn't the time to deal with someone's vendetta against him. "Hey I know you have a personal vengeance against me and want me dead for my actions years ago, but can you hold off on that for a little bit? I really need to take care of something really important here that for once doesn't involve crime or bloodshed." Matthew's plea caused the four heroes to temporarily stop in their pursuit. It was almost comedic to Matthew seeing their confused and bewildered expressions. Just as they were about to recover from their confusion, a very irate Wordman swooped in front of the four heroes. Matthew didn't have to see the expression on Tristan's face. Judging by his crossed arms and how fast he stood between them and himself, it was clearly evident Tristan was very pissed at them for punching Alex into that building. Matthew glanced back over to where Alex had landed. He saw one of his son's friends, Joe along with Alan, rush over to check on him. Slight relief that Alex was in good hands, Matthew proceeded to get out of this situation and focus on getting Becky back home where it is safe. "Hold it right there Maddrix." Wordman commanded. "Or maybe I'm going to get delayed even more." Matthew mumbled angrily. He saw Tristan giving him a side angry glare, clearly upset that the villain was out in the open especially after what was show on the television. "It was foolish and stupid to be out here like this, not go back to where you were right now before more people catch you out in the open." Matthew was about to explain himself before the leader of those other heroes shouted. "ARE YOU CRAZY! YOU ARE LETTING MADDRIX THE MALICIOUS GO! HE'S THE HERO KILLER! HE DESERVES TO PAY FOR ALL OF HIS CRIMES!" The young man shouted venomously as he continued to glare at said man. Matthew took a breath, trying to calm himself before he could speak. He was getting really irritated at being interrupted but it would do him no good to start yelling back at these people who clearly want his head. "Hey!" Matthew exclaimed loudly catching the arguing heroes attention. "Look like I said before, I know you want revenge for what I did. I deserve it. Right now I am in the middle of something very important. The reason I'm out here is because Wordgirl flew off trying to help a civilian or something and the poor girl is not in the right state to be helping anyone after the trauma she went through. So let me or one of you just go get her and bring her back home before she gets herself hurt. Okay." Matthew noted Tristan's panicked expression at hearing his daughter was out and about by herself. The others heroes who weren't in the know were shocked at hearing Maddrix care about another hero's safety but also looked worried at hearing there was something wrong with the young heroine. Their leader though still glared at Matthew. A sneer formed on his lips as he spoke. "Right like you care. You are just trying to fool us so you can kidnap Wordgirl and bring her back to your own monster husband so he can continue to experiment on her." @dualnaturedscientist

could you review some of the neopets as animals outfits, like the fennec kacheek, red panda vandagyre, and cockatiel pteri? (those are examples, choose whichever you like!) thank you <3

(Note: I included a random selection of outfits in this post, but feel free to send in asks if anyone wants to see a specific outfit I didn't cover.)

I'll be honest, I'm personally not super big on the "outfit that resembles a real-world animal" trend. First, I play Neopets for the cool fantasy creatures; even the most true-to-life Neopets species have some pretty fantastical colors. I feel like making pets just look exactly like actual animals kind of defeats the purpose of them being Neopets. I get why people would like it and I'm not saying it's bad; it's just not my thing.

Also, the other reason I'm not always big on these outfits is that a lot of Neopets have colours that already resemble real animal patterns. Not only do the outfits blur the colour/customization line quite a bit, but usually I like the colour ones much more, as they keep the actual design of the Neopets in place and just change the patterns and colors, rather than covering up the fun fantasy elements. This also helps them avoid the uncanny valley effect, which I talk about more below.

Also I might be over thinking this but who is making these outfits. None of these animals seem to exist in-universe as far as we're aware. what are the shopkeepers basing these off of. the colours at least have a magic as an excuse

Examples that I think are okay:

Feathery Pteri Outfit: This one's nice! I like the layered patterning on the wings and the high-contrast colors. Most, though, I like that this sticks fairly close to the actual pet, mostly just changing up the tail shape. This almost could've been a paintbrush colour, but then again what colour is up in the air.

(Side note: the eye clipping over the beak is a rendering issue? I think?)

Bouncing Zafara: This one definitely strays farther from the actual pet than the Pteri, but it's a fitting animal choice and it doesn't fall into the uncanny valley, which is all I care about. The body is still somewhat recognizable as a Zafara in terms of shape, and the Miamouse as the joey is super cute.

Freshwater Lenny: Kind of the same case as the Zafara; not super one-to-one with the actual pet, but it's still recognizable as a Lenny and isn't too uncanny. The legs are a particularly nice touch, actually changing the pose to look more heron-like (though they are also the part that strays dangerously into being too detailed).

Please don't:

Adorable Kacheek: Sorry to the fans of this one, but this outfit just resides deep within the uncanny valley to me—like it's a mascot suit instead of just a normal pet. The artstyle is way off from Neopets, looking much more Subeta-ish (except Subeta's art usually isn't so off putting). It's not a bad artstyle, mind you, it's just not very Neopets-ish. I also feel like a fennec fox was also a bad pick for this one, as it's basically unrecognizable as a Kacheek at all.

Feathered Eyrie: Speaking of the uncanny valley, this is another pet that lands squarely there due to having entirely too much detail in the shading and weirdly realistic fur textures. It also just doesn't look very good aesthetically—the beak doesn't fit the face, and the wings are an absolute trainwreck (not only is the perspective wrong, but the left wing is coming from the middle of its back!). On the plus side, you'd be hard pressed to not recognize this as an Eyrie, and it's a fantasy creature instead of a regular animal, so I guess that's something?

Furry Meerca: Hmm... no. This one also suffers from an overly-detailed artstyle and way too much realism, which is especially jarring when placed on top of the Meerca's heavily stylized body shape, resulting in a perfectly round animal with hyper-realistic animal eyes. It's also particularly bothersome because we already had a chipmunk Meerca design in the form of the striped Meerca colour, which is just this but less soul-haunting:

Which is what I meant at the beginning when I was talking about colours vs outfits. The colour is a Meerca that looks like a chipmunk; the outfit is a chipmunk that looks like a Meerca. Big difference.

Lurker now follower here, hi hi, I love your blog and all your insights and thoughts on Teen Wolf and Sterek!! I just finished a rewatch and then immediately started over from the beginning because I am Unwell 😂😂😂

I’m on episode one and I gotta say it’s pretty hilarious how Stiles immediately recognizes Derek. Like, I can only imagine how obsessed he was with the fire and the Hale family, and now Derek is back!!

I don’t really have more coherent thoughts on this, just my brain going BRRRRR so yea lol 😂😂

hi! welcome!

i know we all joke about how stiles immediately knows it's derek hale that he and scott run into because it is funny. like stiles baby. honey. the signs were there.

i've always gotten the impression the fire is something stiles remembers very, very well.

the hale fire changed beacon hills. the hales had been there since the town's foundation. they were a well off, prominent family. there was reason to suspect arson. multiple children died and the only known survivors were two barely adult children and a severely burned, comatose man.

laura and derek were high schoolers. cora was eleven years old and presumed dead.

we're told the only thing left recognizable of talia hale were her claws.

it's the definition of a tragedy.

not to think of the supernatural repercussions to the vacuum left behind.

stiles would've been about 10 when the fire occurred which is young but old enough to understand the severity of such an event. especially as the child of the sheriff.

he probably saw how it weighed on his father and had a healthy dose of morbid curiosity. he may have even have knew cora hale in that passive way you know other kids in your school even if you don't know them personally. one day there and the next dead. for someone like stiles who gets hyper-focused on things and has a lot of anxiety stemming from the death of his mother i can easily imagine how his mind didn't let it go.

meeting derek in person created a hyperfixation so intense and so unhinged it led to him recognizing teen derek hale at 50 paces or less in a mexican desert several years later.

as he got to know derek he unlocked the layered tragic backstory stiles really became derek's secret keeper.

and it is only stiles that gets these pieces of the puzzle that is derek hale. he's the one who goes through the hale fire files, he's the one who pieced together that kate argent preyed on a young derek and he knows about paige.

i find it interesting choice to have only stiles know these things about derek. scott never learns of these things that could possibly make him more empathetic towards derek. the writers don't use it that way.

especially because stiles learning these things never goes anywhere overt. it's all in the subtext of the relationship between derek and stiles.

like, stiles learns about paige and he does nothing with this information but we do see him with tears in his eyes over it. he doesn't ever learn that paige's death gave power to the nemeton either. jennifer only tells derek that.

he knows all of this about derek and never tells anyone. he only ever alludes to knowing about kate one time and it's in the overlooked when he gets in derek's face. i'm unsure derek's even aware stiles knows about paige. stiles carries all these secrets about derek and he never uses it against him. instead he continues to keep coming back again and again and again for derek.

more importantly he understands derek and what is love but the mortifying ordeal of being known.

that all said stiles is absolutely unhinged about derek and derek does nothing to curb this by the way. if it bothered him he'd stop it but they are freak4freak so derek probably finds it charming even if he puts up a few token protests just to bait stiles.