#and also treat it like a separate universe thing

[writingwithfolklore]

5 Tips for Creating Intimidating Antagonists

Antagonists, whether people, the world, an object, or something else are integral to giving your story stakes and enough conflict to challenge your character enough to change them. Today I’m just going to focus on people antagonists because they are the easiest to do this with!

1. Your antagonist is still a character

While sure, antagonists exist in the story to combat your MC and make their lives and quest difficult, they are still characters in the story—they are still people in the world.

Antagonists lacking in this humanity may land flat or uninteresting, and it’s more likely they’ll fall into trope territory.

You should treat your antagonists like any other character. They should have goals, objectives, flaws, backstories, etc. (check out my character creation stuff here). They may even go through their own character arc, even if that doesn’t necessarily lead them to the ‘good’ side.

Really effective antagonists are human enough for us to see ourselves in them—in another universe, we could even be them.

2. They’re… antagonistic

There’s two types of antagonist. Type A and Type B. Type A antagonist’s have a goal that is opposite the MC’s. Type B’s goal is the same as the MC’s, but their objectives contradict each other.

For example, in Type A, your MC wants to win the contest, your antagonist wants them to lose.

In Type B, your MC wants to win the contest, and your antagonist wants to win the same contest. They can’t both win, so the way they get to their goal goes against each other.

A is where you get your Draco Malfoy’s, other school bullies, or President Snow’s (they don’t necessarily want what the MC does, they just don’t want them to have it.)

B is where you get the other Hunger Games contestants, or any adventure movie where the villain wants the secret treasure that the MCs are also hunting down. They want the same thing.

3. They have well-formed motivations

While we as the writers know that your antagonist was conceptualized to get in the way of the MC, they don’t know that. To them, they exist separate from the MC, and have their own reasons for doing what they do.

In Type A antagonists, whatever the MC wants would be bad for them in some way—so they can’t let them have it. For example, your MC wants to destroy Amazon, Jeff Bezos wants them not to do that. Why not? He wants to continue making money. To him, the MC getting what they want would take away something he has.

Other motivations could be: MC’s success would take away an opportunity they want, lose them power or fame or money or love, it could reveal something harmful about them—harming their reputation. It could even, in some cases, cause them physical harm.

This doesn’t necessarily have to be true, but the antagonist has to believe it’s true. Such as, if MC wins the competition, my wife will leave me for them. Maybe she absolutely wouldn’t, but your antagonist isn’t going to take that chance anyway.

In Type B antagonists, they want the same thing as the MC. In this case, their motivations could be literally anything. They want to win the competition to have enough money to save their family farm, or to prove to their family that they can succeed at something, or to bring them fame so that they won’t die a ‘nobody’.

They have a motivation separate from the MC, but that pesky protagonist keeps getting in their way.

4. They have power over the MC

Antagonists that aren’t able to combat the MC very well aren’t very interesting. Their job is to set the MC back, so they should be able to impact their journey and lives. They need some sort of advantage, privilege, or power over the MC.

President Snow has armies and the force of his system to squash Katniss. She’s able to survive through political tension and her own army of rebels, but he looms an incredibly formidable foe.

Your antagonist may be more wealthy, powerful, influential, intelligent, or skilled. They may have more people on their side. They are superior in some way to the protagonist.

5. And sometimes they win

Leading from the last point, your antagonists need wins. They need to get their way sometimes, which means your protagonist has to lose. You can do a bit of a trade off that allows your protagonist to lose enough to make a formidable foe out of their antagonist, but still allows them some progress using Fortunately, Unfortunately.

It goes like… Fortunately, MC gets accepted into the competition. Unfortunately, the antagonist convinces the rest of the competitors to hate them. Fortunately, they make one friend. Unfortunately, their first entry into the competition gets sabotaged. Fortunately, they make it through the first round anyway, etc. etc.

An antagonist that doesn’t do any antagonizing isn’t very interesting, and is completely pointless in their purpose to heighten stakes and create conflict for your protagonist to overcome. We’ll probably be talking about antagonists more soon!

Anything I missed?

#writing #creative writing #writers #screenwriting #writing inspiration #writing community #filmmaking #books #film #writing advice #antagonists #villains #writing antagonists #5 tips for creating intimidating antagonists

[runawaycarouselhorse]

What made both her sacrifice for her team mates’ happiness in Pocket Monsters (2019)/Pokemon Journeys episode 95 and the fact that she thought this would be her end more poignant for me is that being completely alone is what Musashi hates the most. She lost her (single) mother as a child and was never adopted, going from foster home to foster home... ;_;

After many failures (like being unable to graduate from a school meant to train literal Pokemon Nurses, because she couldn’t do what Chansey do, despite studying hard and being adept at skills like bandaging…) and having her heart broken and being disappointed (she let a boy she loved go alone so she can pursue idol dreams with some friends, who all made it… without her, so she lost a possible love for an impossible dream)…

She couldn’t bond with her partners and left them to be injured, just to save herself, during her training days at Team Rocket. She’d become selfish and self-preserving… in the Japanese version, the others called her “shinigami Musashi” according to Yamato (Cassidy), likening her to a reaper of souls… but James refused to run away, sick of living a life where he ran away from all his problems. He’d sacrifice himself for her and Meowth’s safety, getting badly injured and nearly missing their final exam, hospitalized. The first time they uttered the beginning of their motto was when she believed she was all alone again, much like in this scene… the Rockets in the Japanese version repeat the last thing someone else says as if to answer a question (the “nanda kanda to kikare tara” = “if you ask us about this or that” is mostly filler that could be substituted with anything else.)

Musashi (Jessie): (dejectedly, as she walks away alone as the final exam begins, even being questioned by Nyasu/Meowth where she’s going): Is this all that there is…?

Kojiro (James): (answering while leaning posed against a tree, covered in bandages, but they were only wrapped over his clothes so he could whip them off dramatically) If you ask us 'if this is all that there is,' our answer will be the universe’s compassion!

She’s so moved, she turns away to wipe her tears. “A team mate who won’t run away…”

I think that’s the first time they ever see her cry.

Jessie desperately wants family, belonging, that’s why she falls in love so quickly, she wants a family more than anything—James had everything material growing up, but not love… Musashi had near to nothing material growing up, BUT she had her mother’s love… until she lost her very, very early. They contrast each other! They’re soul mates, eternal partners, whether you ship them or not. Meowth, too, was orphaned as a kitten, never even named, and an outcast his whole life. He's also always falling in love easily, seeking a home... the trio should never be separated, they are each other’s sought-for home.

I think the falling snow in this scene, where she runs off in tears, after wearing a brave smile and telling James it’s okay to stay with Cassidy, is a very deliberate choice, as Jessie loves snow. One of her few happy memories of her depressing childhood is being made treats made of snow to eat. She unknowingly lost her mother in the snowy Andes mountains, seeking Mew, put into foster care, while Miyamoto tried to make money to give her a better life... glittering snow and sparkling tears…

For Meowth too, she lets him go. She just wants everyone to have their chance at love.

So, her believing she’ll end up dying alone, as she’s always feared, Musashi here laments her luck, but also has a beautiful little dream of her friends saving her.

Once again, similarly to the break-up episode of DP, she was the one who calmly and gently encouraged James to pursue a possible love. She also broke Dustox’s pokeball, in tears, not wanting her to make the same mistake she did, giving up on an attainable love for an unattainable goal (and, indeed, Jessie did not win the Grand Festival, despite her skill at Pokemon Contests… she made the right decision for Dustox’s happiness.)

Jessie loves her friends. Sure, she’s caustic, rude, temperamental, bitter, and self-absorbed, but she prioritizes love and their happiness. She doesn’t want them to be alone and abandoned the way she felt as a kid. She loves them so much so, she’s satisfied to die alone and suffer her worst fear if it meant they get to be happy. That’s self-sacrifice.

She doesn’t resent them one bit, saying it’s a nice dream when she thinks she’s imagined them saving her life… she thought it was her mind comforting her before her death, accepting her fate, rather than realizing it’s effectively a premonition of what will be reality… and when she realizes?! She initially reproaches them, looking mad, because she thought they abandoned their happiness for her! But no, things didn’t work out… this is where they’re meant to be: by each other’s side.

James also knows how much marriage means to her, even though he’s so traumatized by it, the word “fiance” triggers literal flashbacks for him and he climbed up a tree to get away from a teenaged girl who called him that. Yet, in XY episode 63, where she fell for Dr. White...

Kojiro: (with head down, eyes shadowed) If Musashi (Jessie) wants to pursue her happiness as a woman, shouldn't we give her our blessing?

Nyasu also had his misfortunes in love... they sympathize and empathize.

"Let's show her we're men and leave without saying anything..."

As Kojiro runs away, he sheds tears, wishing her happiness and bidding her farewell, silently. The scenes in these two episodes are clear parallels.

But in the end (including the final episodes, as rushed as that plotline was although I still loved Wobbuffet acting exactly like a troubled child of parents going through a messy divorce), they’ll always realize their happiness is by each other’s side as a trio.

"Sometimes you get good pulls, sometimes you get bad ones. Sometimes they're good, even if you think they're bad. Sometimes they're bad, even if you think they're good."

#Team Rocket Jessie #PokeAni #Team Rocket James #Pokemon Journeys #Rocketshipping #Mezase Pokemon Master #Side Stories #hoso specials #Pokemon Chronicles #analysis #before Shootie I was a Rocket and especially Musashi fan #KojiMusa #is what I watched for #image heavy #long post #gif #popular #Team Rocket #Kojiro #James #Musashi #Jessie #Pokemon #character analysis #mine

[katrafiy]

I think about this image a lot. This is an image from the Aurat March (Women's March) in Karachi, Pakistan, on International Women's Day 2018. The women in the picture are Pakistani trans women, aka khwaja siras or hijras; one is a friend of a close friend of mine.

In the eyes of the Pakistani government and anthropologists, they're a "third gender." They're denied access to many resources that are available to cis women. Trans women in Pakistan didn't decide to be third-gendered; cis people force it on them whether they like it or not.

Western anthropologists are keen on seeing non-Western trans women as culturally constructed third genders, "neither male nor female," and often contrast them (a "legitimate" third gender accepted in its culture) with Western trans women (horrific parodies of female stereotypes).

There's a lot of smoke and mirrors and jargon used to obscure the fact that while each culture's trans women are treated as a single culturally constructed identity separate from all other trans women, cis women are treated as a universal category that can just be called "women."

Even though Pakistani aurat and German Frauen and Guatemalan mujer will generally lead extraordinarily different lives due to the differences in culture, they are universally recognized as women.

The transmisogynist will say, "Yes, but we can't ignore the way gender is culturally constructed, and hijras aren't trans women, they're a third gender. Now let's worry less about trans people and more about the rights of women in Burkina Faso."

In other words, to the transmisogynist, all cis women are women, and all trans women are something else.

"But Kat, you're not Indian or Pakistani. You're not a hijra or khwaja sira, why is this so important to you?"

Have you ever heard of the Neapolitan third gender "femminiello"? It's the term my moniker "The Femme in Yellow" is derived from, and yes, I'm Neapolitan. Shut up.

I'm going to tell you a little bit about the femminielli, and I want you to see if any of this sounds familiar. Femminielli are a third gender in Neapolitan culture of people assigned male at birth who have a feminine gender expression.

They are lauded and respected in the local culture, considered to be good omens and bringers of good luck. At festivals you'd bring a femminiello with you to go gambling, and often they would be brought in to give blessings to newborns. Noticing anything familiar yet?

Oh and also they were largely relegated to begging and sex work and were not allowed to be educated and many were homeless and lived in the back alleys of Naples, but you know we don't really like to mention that part because it sounds a lot less romantic and mystical.

And if you're sitting there, asking yourself why a an accurate description of femminiello sounds almost note for note like the same way hijras get described and talked about, then you can start to understand why that picture at the start of this post has so much meaning for me.

And you can also start to understand why I get so frustrated when I see other queer people buy into this fool notion that for some reason the transes from different cultures must never mix.

That friend I mentioned earlier is a white American trans woman. She spent years living in India, and as I recal the story the family she was staying with saw her as a white, foreign hijra and she was asked to use her magic hijra powers to bless the house she was staying in.

So when it comes to various cultural trans identities there are two ways we can look at this. We can look at things from a standpoint of expressed identity, in which case we have to preferentially choose to translate one word for the local word, or to leave it untranslated.

If we translate it, people will say we're artificially imposing an outside category (so long as it's not cis people, that's fine). If we don't, what we're implying, is that this concept doesn't exist in the target language, which suggests that it's fundamentally a different thing

A concrete example is that Serena Nanda in her 1990 and 2000 books, bent over backwards to say that Hijras are categorically NOT trans women. Lots of them are!

And Don Kulick bent over backwards in his 1998 book to say that travesti are categorically NOT trans women, even though some of the ones he cited were then and are now trans women.

The other option, is to look at practice, and talk about a community of practice of people who are AMAB, who wear women's clothing, take women's names, fulfill women's social roles, use women's language and mannerisms, etc WITHIN THEIR OWN CULTURAL CONTEXT.

This community of practice, whatever we want to call it - trans woman, hijra, transfeminine, femminiello, fairy, queen, to name just a few - can then be seen to CLEARLY be trans-national and trans-cultural in a way that is not clearly evident in the other way of looking at things.

And this is important, in my mind, because it is this axis of similarity that is serving as the basis for a growing transnational transgender rights movement, particularly in South Asia. It's why you see pictures like this one taken at the 2018 Aurat March in Karachi, Pakistan.

And it also groups rather than splits, pointing out not only points of continuity in the practices of western trans women and fa'afafines, but also between trans women in South Asia outside the hijra community, and members of the hijra community both trans women and not.

To be blunt, I'm not all that interested in the word trans woman, or the word hijra. I'm not interested in the word femminiello or the word fa'afafine.

I'm interested in the fact that when I visit India, and I meet hijras (or trans women, self-expressed) and I say I'm a trans woman, we suddenly sit together, talk about life, they ask to see American hormones and compare them to Indian hormones.

There is a shared community of practice that creates a bond between us that cis people don't have. That's not to say that we all have the exact same internal sense of self, but for the most part, we belong to the same community of practice based on life histories and behavior.

I think that's something cis people have absolutely missed - largely in an effort to artificially isolate trans women. This practice of arguing about whether a particular "third gender" label = trans women or not, also tends to artificially homogenize trans women as a group.

You see this in Kulick and Nanda, where if you read them, you could be forgiven for thinking all American trans women are white, middle class, middle-aged, and college-educated, who all follow rigid codes of behavior and surgical schedules prescribed by male physicians.

There are trans women who think of themselves as separate from cis women, as literally another kind of thing, there are trans women who think of themselves as coterminous with cis women, there are trans women who think of themselves as anything under the sun you want to imagine.

The problem is that historically, cis people have gone to tremendous lengths to destroy points of continuity in the transgender community (see everything I've cited and more), and particularly this has been an exercise in transmisogyny of grotesque levels.

The question is do you want to talk about culturally different ways of being trans, or do you want to try to create as many neatly-boxed third genders as you can to prop up transphobic theoretical frameworks? To date, people have done the latter. I'm interested in the former.

I guess what I'm really trying to say with all of this is that we're all family y'all.

#transgender #third gender #hijras #femminielli #trans women are women #trans solidarity #trans rights #transmisogyny #transunity #transunitism #this is what trans unity looks like

[memryse]

if mcyt isn’t fiction then

people who create dnd characters that are similar to them in personality are just playing themselves and should not be treated as having made a character

people who make any other dnd character should also be treated as just playing themselves since people refuse to even consider roleplay smps as fiction

any ocs someone puts a bit of themselves into? nope not fiction!

actors who play a character with the same first name as them aren’t really acting

and so on

maybe YOU can’t separate characters and real people and think that everything you see from a youtuber even when they’re explicitly acting is how they are in real life but we as a fandom just don’t have that issue lol. we’ve had disclaimers and indicators for when we’re talking about characters and not content creators for years because a certain smp contained a character having suicidal thoughts as a result of abuse at the hands of another character and we needed to make it absolutely crystal clear that we were referring to a fictional storyline and not real guy #1 being an abuser and real guy #2 being suicidal. these customs have either extended into other corners of mcyt fandom, or some developed their own independently like hispanic mcyt fans have used the word cubito to distinguish mc guy from real life guy from years, a term that other language speakers liked so much we’ve also started picking it up lol

we know exactly what we’re doing. i get that the line maybe does seem more blurred to an outsider looking in (i wouldn’t know given that both my first fandom at age 12 and current fandom at age 20 were mcrp lol) but it’s universally understood amongst us. i don’t have a problem separating hermitcraft!gem and empires s1!gem the wizard with a twin brother and empires s2!gem the princess and cc!gem the real life canadian woman.

idk it rubs me the wrong way that after years of trying to explain this we’re either met with people calling us racists because of three guys that the rest of us (all of us, really, because dream team fans do not claim to be minecraft fans. those are the type to actually write rpf and ship the real life racist guys) hate probably a lot more than any of you do, or they watch a few minutes of a less roleplay-heavy series/part and decide that the entire medium is invalid as a form of storytelling

it’s so annoying. i don’t think we need to be understood to have validity as a fandom we’ve been doing this for years already without that but it is so infuriating and sad how whenever there’s some kind of fandom poll thing one of three things happens

mcyt fans are banned outright and placed on the same level as something like hp

an mcyt fan runs their own and gets harassed for it

a non-mcyt fan allows us in until they get harassed so badly by whatever fandoms we go up against that they end up deleting our bracket

in what world is that normal behaviour. and that harassment always involves calling them all racist cishet white men such as misgendering both eret (real life bisexual genderqueer person) and their character (also queer), attempting to harass jimmy solidarity fans because jimmy makes mc videos so he must be a dream associate (the only time they interacted was in a tournament during which dream and georgenotfound shittalked jimmy’s best friends to his face), all the shit quackity has gotten for being a former friend of the dream team as if he wasn’t the #1 victim of their racism and xenophobia, the fact that any time c!technoblade is involved in a poll we have to beg other fandoms not to talk shit about him because the real life man died of cancer before dream’s grooming allegations came out, similarly when tfc was in one. and so on and so forth. all because people can’t separate roleplay and real life and think that the entire minecraft sphere revolves around dream just because their idea of mcyt does (not even his own smp named after him did that).

#tw suicide mention #tw abuse mention #tw cancer mention #memos #discourse

[iamthat-iam]

Real vs Unreal 🤯

Jade has been in the LOA community for over a year now. It opened her up to many different possibilities, such as shifting to the MCU (Marvel Universe) where she is a superhero with super strength, super speed, and the ability to fly.

Everyday when she wakes up, and before she goes to bed, she does an intense visualization of this reality. Each time she does it, her "current reality" seems to disappear, until she opens her eyes. She knows that she's so close yet so far from shifting there! She decides to go on Tumblr and ask for advice.

She comes across some intriguing ND posts that say "You must collapse the duality between physical vs imagination and real vs unreal" and "All experiences are the same, no matter the label. Seeing a car in a 'daydream' is no different than seeing one 'in real life.'"

This seems to be different than what she learned from LOA, with the existence of a 3D/4D and 'fulfilling your imagination until it shows up in the physical.' She sends a blogger a question out of curiosity.

"Hi! I know that this is not a shifting blog, but I wanted clarification on a few things. For over a year now, I've been trying to shift to the Marvel Universe, where I'm a superhero with powers. Everyday I do a visualization where I am experiencing these things. I just saw your post that says all experiences are the same, and how seeing something in imagination is the same as real life. Does this mean the whole time I was visualizing myself in that reality, I was already experiencing that? It was real? I also want to know how imagination and physical are the same. Thank you." She inquired.

The blogger responds with, "Yes you already experienced it. The reason why there's no physical vs imagination is because your awareness, your true nature, is present during all appearances that come and go. We've just labelled certain appearances real or not real based on certain ideas we picked up through life. For example, many people think that experiences are only real when you are awake and you seem to be living through the 5 senses. They were also taught that things like fairies, dragons, supernatural abilities aren't real, so when they hear stories about people experiencing those things, it's a huge shock for them. But in reality, nothing is objectively real or unreal, all experiences are possible for awareness. You (as awareness, THAT, or " ") are the ONLY thing that is truly real. As the ultimate authority, only you can decide what is "true" for you or not."

Jade decides to take some time to really think about what this blogger said. Everything they said is a complete 180 from what Jade thought she knew about life and how reality works. So that means this entire time, she was already in the MCU? And the MCU is apparently just as real as what Jade calls "real life?" That is truly an interesting concept to ponder! The one thing that has Jade stumped, however, is the fact that she opens her eyes and continues to see her old life. She goes back to the blogger to ask about this.

"That's really interesting how I already experienced being in the MCU! So this technically means I can tell someone I "shifted" there, and they couldn't accuse me of lying? Also, I'm a bit confused on why whenever I open my eyes after visualizing, I still see my old life," She questioned the blogger.

"To answer your first question, no, they can't accuse you of 'lying' because that was a valid experience for you. The idea that you have to experience "shifting symptoms" or enter the void state to "experience another world" is limiting, and creates a barrier between you and whatever you want to experience. This is no disrespect to that community, if they want to "shift" or "enter the void state" to experience things, that is totally up to them. But ND is about not labelling experiences, and not treating them as if they are separate from you. All experiences are yours. It's natural for you, as an omnipotent being, to experience whatever you want instantly. As for why your "old life" continues to appear, there is no old life. There's no experience A turning into experience B, it's all nothingness. You said you visualized being in the MCU, have you noticed that the "old life" seems to disappear and you're totally focused on the visualization? That's because the "old life" never was in the first place!" The blogger explained.

That response made everything click for Jade. She finally feels free enough to experience the MCU universe or any other universe whenever she wants! "Thank you so much! This was very helpful and empowering!" She thanked the blogger.

And so Jade became the superhero she always wanted to be.

#non dualism #nondualism #consciousness #awareness #self realization #self

[niconebula]

I’m currently writing a college essay on the representation of Witches (and all Magical Girls) in Madoka Magica; I don’t know if I will be able to include this within the limits of the project so I wanted to share to Tumblr instead. It does not seem to be widely understood how much yonic imagery there is in the series and how important that is to the intended message.

For starters Kyubey is a walking uterus. The name of his species is literally Incubator (an enclosed apparatus providing a controlled environment for the care and protection of premature or unusually small babies; an apparatus used to hatch eggs or grow microorganisms under controlled conditions). He creates egg-shaped Soul Gems, and deposits the Grief Seeds back into his little receptacle. Why does he have such a weird design with two sets of ears? The lower ‘ears’ with the separated ends are actually modelled off of what Fallopian Tubes look like.

(Funny diagram but. It’s true! I’ll come back to this point at the end).

So then take this scene (thank god someone reuploaded it to YouTube):

“And you think a shit-for-brains hoe is going to be making that much in ten years? That body ain’t gonna last forever, you know.” “And then you dump ‘em, and they get all whiny!”

These two men are talking about the short term relationships they have with women, using them for their bodies and treating them like shit, and then dumping them immediately after - not understanding or caring as to how this upsets them.

It consistently baffles me how many people will completely throw out feminist readings of Madoka Magica. ‘Readings’ shouldn’t even be used - this is the main text of the goddamn show! You are free to argue that it failed at its message, or that the application was problematic, but for this scene in particular to fly over your head makes me discount opinions immediately.

Anyway, where have we heard this rhetoric before? “That body ain’t gonna last forever” - a young Magical Girl is always destined to turn into the Wicked Witch. “When you dump em’, they get all whiny!” - it is a Magical Girl at the peak of her despair who turns into a Witch, and Kyubey cannot and does not care for their human emotion.

The men cycle through their ‘hoes’ like Kyubey cycles through Magical Girls to get whatever his species supposedly needs to continue the universe.

I’m going to cut a break here for TW discussions of metaphorical rape and pregnancy involving minors, but this portion of the post is important.

Kyubey completely violates the concept of informed consent when he creates his magical girls - though he always argues that he did ask, and it’s in fact their fault (as fourteen year old girls) to not ask further questions.

Taking his form as a uterus alongside the yonic imagery of the show, it is implied that Kyubey has in some way ‘raped’ the girls. This is most evident in Sayaka’s arc; her insistence that becoming a Magical Girl has made her spoiled and that Kyousuke wouldn’t want to even kiss a girl like her.

Their transformations into witches further the idea that they have been ‘spoiled’, but also symbolize their transformation into adult women. Women who are ‘too adult’, and whose bodies are no longer attractive or useful to create babies anymore.

Goddess Madoka is even depicted as pregnant in the full Magia ending.

I feel like you could reason within all this symbolism that there’s a metaphor for specifically the coerced pregnancy and mothership of women. Something often considered the ‘ideal state’ for women and as you will see many conservatives argue, the necessary thing to continue society. In their minds, the subjugation of anyone they assign as women to these roles is necessary for society as they know it to continue for the imaginary people of the future who do not even exist yet.

Kyubey refers to the Magical Girls as cattle. He is there to help incubate and hatch the witch, and then throw the magical girl to the dust afterwards as she dies no longer useful. These girls are sacrifices to a far-off future that Kyubey promises them, he tells them that if no Magical Girls existed to hatch into Witches, humanity would not last long enough to see itself to the stars.

The incubator and his design, the soul gems and grief seeds, the pregnant madoka, the discussions about men liking their eggs a particular way by their homeroom teacher, it’s all very consistent. I’m not sure if my prospective readers have ever considered this within Madoka Magica - but try seeing it from this angle.

I didn’t find a way to work this into the post, but in addition: take the ancient myth of the wandering womb. This was the belief that so called over-emotional women were suffering from a condition where their uterus was moving in ways all across their bodies. It morphed into the more modern usage of female hysteria; hysteria coming from hystera- the Greek word for uterus. Kyubey thinks of the girls as constantly overreacting and overemotional. Hysterical.

#pmmm #madoka magica #posts made without proofreading #I trust in peoples reading comprehension ability to not take this as a trans exclusionary post #and if you think I’m reading too much into it idk what to tell ya just move on

[emoangel44]

i think the thing that makes people mischaracterize and completely miss the point of chara is that theyre written to be two very different things concurrently that dont really mesh together.

from what we know concretely about chara as a character, they were a very mentally ill child and complicated person who simultaneously hurt and helped people around them, who held both a lot of love and hate in their heart. they are fairly vague but also have specific character traits such as liking chocolate and filling up water glasses to the brim to maximize efficiency. they take speaking patterns from toriel and an interest in gardening from asgore. if you believe in the narrachara theory, they even have a character arc that changes depending on the route you take. they are inarguably a character who haunts the narrative due to their decisions in life having lead to tragedy that shapes the very plot of the game inextricably; and arguably a character that haunts the narrative and shapes the story much more literally in being a conscious force and companion that accompanies our journey.

at the same time, chara isnt treated as a character at all and is instead a meta-narrative device meant to act as an in-universe player stand-in. in this way chara isnt actually a person with character traits, but a vehicle for toby to provide commentary about the people who play video games. they are a concept that represents the state of thoughtless exp grinding. in the no mercy route their main purpose is to be a reflection of you and your mindset, even more directly than flowey. the reason theyre named after you is because, for a number of aspects in the game, they are supposed to be you; with no notable separation like there is with frisk.

this problem also heavily applies to frisk, for who there is an effort to separate their identity from yours at the end of the pacifist route but who still ends up with no real character traits of their own. people compensate for this by using black-and-white thinking; which results both in assigning frisk and chara a sort of "good-and-evil" dichotomy leading to their early fan interpretations, and in thinking that frisk and chara can only be either fully fleshed out characters or mindless player inserts leading to people favouring option one and basically ignoring the player as a concept except to occasionally use it as a generic big bad.

i think toby prioritized meta-textual implications over actual textual characterization for the human characters in undertale. this left chara as a character feeling unclear, unfocused, and incongruent due to them trying to be several things at once with no real through-line; and frisk as a character feeling practically non-existent outside of being a vessel. there are effectively two different charas in undertale, the character and the plot device, which makes it hard to talk about them as one consistent whole. i think this is why in tobys second game hes been putting such a focus on kris as a character and their separation from the player, as to improve on what he didnt properly touch on in undertale.

#undertale #chara dreemurr #frisk #btw i love chara to death they are super important to me but i think its necessary to acknowledge that their character writing is flawed #and i think undertale is a beautifully written masterpiece but that doesnt mean everything was handled perfectly #especially since it was written by basically just one man working on his first major project #analysis

[yuurei20]

Strange question but!! Yk how the villains are treated as heroes? How on earth did the heroes stories work if they, uh, yk, dont have the villains? Like i briefly remember TWST!Jafar hijacking Aladdin’s plan to fake being a prince, so theres not rlly any more “aladdin” story, but im curious how other stories went if u know! Are the OG heroes still treated as heroes, etc etc, that fun stuff

Hello hello! Thank you so much for this question!!

The different interpretations of history that seem exist in Twst are fascinating, and one of my favorite things is the part in Book 6 where Lilia seems to insinuate that the Disney stories that we know might not actually be what really happened, because history is written by the victors:

These "classic" stories--were they, too, twisted to suit an agenda? Is the truth closer to what is taught as history in Twst, or is it somewhere in the middle? It is so interesting to think about!

For the most part it seems that the heroes from the stories we know are not turned into villains in Twst, and the deeds that are attributed to them were actually done by multiple characters from different folklore:

For example, Harveston has stories about miners and customs based on "a young lady who made a wish at a well," a "traveler" who cleaned a stranger's home and then a tale about "some princess who wished to fall in love right away," as if the young lady, princess and traveler are three separate people.

While basing their traditions on the miners, the lady and traveler, they also deify the Fairest Queen, as if they are all independent individuals with no overlap.

One of the more interesting parts of the Fairest Queen's history, in particular, is that there is actually a "dastardly villain" in Harveston folklore that stalks a woman who is then saved by forest creatures.

The huntsman is--just like the queen--not a villain in the Twst universe. Who was who, and what really happened? 👀

For the Scalding Sands, it seems that the unnamed princess and the sultan from local stories are just as revered as the Sorcerer of the Sands himself, with the sultan known to be the person who named the Sorcerer as his vizier and retaining their connection from the story we know.

Much like in Harveston, the history of the Scalding Sands seems to attribute what we believe to be the history of just one character to multiple individuals: Kalim talks about the Sorcerer saving his country from a street rat, who was a swindler/charlatan/usurper who tried to trick the sultan and princess, in a rare case of a "hero" being vilified.

But they also have folklore about "a poor but kind-hearted young man" who shared his food with children, and whose marriage to the beautiful princess they celebrate every year with a festival.

Whereas the Disney movies make the charlatan and the kind man into one person, in Twst's history it seems they were two different people.

Diasomnia is very big on the Thorn Fairy, and they also talk about the human king who feared her, the princess whose birthday she was not invited to (Silver: "Was their king raised in a barn?") and the three presents that the princess received.

Lilia talks about a trio of fairies that were not able to break the Thorn Fairy's curses and also put an entire kingdom to sleep, while Silver comments on how Lilia is consciously, intentionally emulating the three fairies from that tale with his cooking.

Silver and Malleus discuss "some faeries" raising a child for 16 years without magic, but they do not seem to know why they did so, and it is unclear if they believe that those faeries and the three faeries that put the kingdom to sleep are the same or different people.

Heartslabyul seems to separate Alice into two different characters as well, referring to a 1-km-tall giant that the Queen of Hearts tried in court and a child that got lost in the castle as if they were two people.

The only reference we get of the "heroes" of the Lion King tale are Jack referring to the King of Beast's "rascal of a nephew" and Leona mentioning that he deposed his brother "to build a better, wiser kingdom."

While the characters seem similar to the stories we know it's possible that the timelines are slightly different, with the rebirth of the pridelands being attributed to the King of Beasts himself rather than his nephew.

The history of the Sea Witch in Twst might be the most fascinating: the characters reference the Sea Witch taking someone's voice for a contract and making a shapeshifting potion to facilitate love between a mermaid and a human, but also turning herself into a human and being proposed to by a prince the next day, with no acknowledgement that the human from the first tale and the prince from the second might have been the same person.

They also talk about the eels flipping over a boat and a mermaid princess who had trouble walking on land, but there is no mention of the princess being in the boat in the eel story.

Octavinelle even acknowledges that the Sea Witch once made herself huge and sunk a ship with a whirlpool and "some even labeled her a monster," saying that she was later lauded as a compassionate figure after turning over a new leaf. (While the less-than-pleasant deeds done by the Sorcerer, the Fairest Queen and the King of Beasts in the stories that we know are never mentioned.)

Silver's tale from Halloween seems to be an exception to this rule. Everything done by the "hero" in the tale we know is still attributed to the hero in the story that Silver knows, and the enemy army is still the enemy army.

To the initial question: it seems that the heroes from the histories that we know are still being regarded as heroes in Twst (though they tend to get separated into multiple people), while the characters that we know as villains are also highly regarded. This sometimes includes their pasts (in the case of the Sea Witch and the Queen of Hearts), being separated from their pasts (in the case of the Hunter) or with no mention of their pasts (the King of Beasts, the Sorcerer of the Sands, the Fairest Queen, the Thorn Fairy).

(Not a lot of information about the King of the Underworld when compared to the others! Idia mostly just talks about how charismatic he was. Ortho suggests something about "the truth" about him being closer to Idia's own situation than they have been taught, but Idia is not convinced.)

Also: there is a reference to a hero rescuing his ladylove from the Underworld in Book 6, so it seems the hero in that tale remains a hero in Twst as well!

#twstask

[aziraphales-library]

Heya ! I'm looking for some fics that are set post season 2. Not fixits exactly, not that I would mind fixits. But I'm looking for long canon compliant fics. Also, is there a tag for such fics ?

We have #good omens s2 and #canon compliant tags. On ao3 you'll want to use the tags "Post-Season/Series 02" and "Canon Compliant", which is what I did to find you these...

scherzo in f-sharp minor, for orchestra by astrhae (M)

It was a truth universally acknowledged that an angel in possession of no memory must be in want of a wife. No, that was the wrong book. The wrong line. Aziraphale frowned. “What,” the gentleman before him asked, “and I mean what, are you doing here?” ----------------- Or, two years after things fall apart, Aziraphale shows up at Crowley's doorstep without his memories. The easy part is getting it back, the hard part is getting them back together.

Until the Bitter End by sentientsky (T)

After learning the truth about Heaven's plans and fruitlessly trying to fix a corrupt system (and maybe also having his memory messed with a little bit in the process), Aziraphale slips back to Earth in search of Crowley.

i will make it better, if only for us by davethefish (T)

With Aziraphale in Heaven, everything that Crowley loved has left the earth. He doesn't know what to do, so he starts small. Maybe someday he'll love the earth as much as he loved Aziraphale. It's time for him to remember why he chose to stay in the first place.

Black Holes and Revelations by ArtisticRising (E)

Crowley takes a leap of faith… into the heart of a black hole. It’s the last card Crowley has to play. He can’t do this without Aziraphale… and he’s betting that Aziraphale can’t do this without him. Act I (Black Holes) ends around Chapter 6 (10 if you want the smut babes). You could leave the story off there. Up til chapter 6 you have a whole story that’s pretty much G rated. From there my thirst comes out like a sexy little demon in tight jeans and a vaguely downwards saunter. Act II (Revelations) is an attempt at season 3. Treat it as a separate work that builds off Act I. Lots of plot twists ahead/theories/speculations that I won’t spoil for you :)

The Ineffability of Gray by kitfornow (NR)

Fifteen years have passed since Aziraphale returned to Heaven, and still sometimes Crowley feels shell shocked and embarrassed and grief-stricken. And mostly, he still feels numb. Fifteen years isn’t really so long, in the grand scheme of things, and yet these have somehow been the longest years of his existence. He can almost feel time crawling by, laughing at him. But slowly, so slowly, Crowley began to try again. To try harder. To find a piece of himself that Aziraphale had not touched. To find a piece of himself that does not need changing. On his good days, he can open up. His friends come over to the flat, once in a while, and Maggie brings new records and Muriel brings burnt cookies that no-one complains about because they're so proud of them. They'll exchange stories and simply enjoy each other's company for a few hours. And sometimes, he feels almost alright. Until Crowley turns around and Aziraphale is there, standing in front of him, trying to stop the world from ending all over again.

hurry back, please bring it back home to me by Percyjacksonfan3 (T)

“Why should I?” The demon interrupts cuttingly. “You’ve made it perfectly clear where your priorities lie and anything I say won’t make a bit of difference.” “That’s not true at all.” Aziraphale replies after a long hurt moment. “And you know it. Besides, you’re being stubborn. You’ll help me eventually.” Rage flashes over Crowley’s face. “You think so, do you?” Aziraphale juts his chin up stubbornly, ignoring the unpleasant feelings Crowley’s expression stirs in him. “Yes.” Aziraphale needs Crowley's help in saving humanity from the Second Coming and despite what happened between them he's determined to get it. After all, it's not only that he needs Crowley, but his plan also includes their car. As for the other matters between the two of them... well there's no reason those can't be sorted out along the way as well, is there? Or, a possible take on Series 3 that includes the Bentley, a resurrected Jesus Christ set on bringing about the End of Days, and an angel and a demon who are stupidly in love with each other but are both suffering from a lack of experience on how to actually deal with said emotions. Emphasis on the stupidly.

- Mod D

#good omens #good omens s2 #ineffable husbands #canon compliant #long fic #mod d

[olddustorange]

I don’t have that much to say about it and ik its a touchstone in how-dick-is-different-from-Bruce discourse and Ego is a very good Batman text with genuinely pretty much no flaws at all but basically most other bruce stories about the psychological separation bw BRUCE and BATMAN as identities and how they’re not integrated or whatever come off really heavyhanded tryhard like ap psych sincere but lecturey &untrue. Its interesting but its shoehorned i think Yes there are the three visible identities, the fanon term for the first being brucie, the second something we can call for now real Bruce, and the third Batman. Bruce def does not have That much much cognitive dissonance about his dumb playboy act. he acts smoothly/painlessly by and it doesn’t really affect him or drain him to pretend that way and it probably is sometimes amusing even if its sometimes annoying. Switching that on and off is obviously deliberate but it’s very easy and not a big deal or burdensome or whatever. It would be for a normal person in our world and that kind of effortless lying would be really scary in our world!! But it’s just a regular degular chill thing in-universe for this character. Not a really draining arduous task that makes Bruce miserable

But there IS a theme well-established and reiterated constantly in 90s and 2010s canon that there’s the whole Bruce Wayne Isn’t Real There Is No Bruce Wayne It’s All Batman. And that is of course wrong because there IS a real Bruce Wayne, but its also actually correct because the man we’re talking about, Bruce Wayne, is still actually all Batman. and that is because because all of Bruce Wayne and all of Batman are the same. So the only point of saying the real Bruce is to distinguish from brucie. i actually feel like bruce is day-to-day pretty well-integrated. so its true that it IS all Batman but its just that Batman is a sincere clever quiet and humane murmury man the way “real Bruce” (who we can just call Bruce now) is. And Bruce is just sometimes pushed to his physical brink fighting crocodiles in the streets wearing ears. They have different voice pitches obviously but i don’t think Bruce like undergoes some mental transformation every time he pulls the cowl over his head. So it’s a false distinction that writers try to draw. But Bruce in the text recognizes that distinction himself!! And so that leaves us with the question of how to explain why BRUCE says that there is no Bruce Wayne? Well its just depressiontalk yelled while spiraling. but its a construct he recognizes, but recognizes where it does not actually exist, because he EXPECTS to have an identity crisis because that is culturally What You Expect If You Wear A Mask. and its also a little because people treat him so differently in vs out of the cowl. And also having the kids resolves this false distinction because no matter what, he is to them The Same Figure, cowl or no cowl. It’s not actually really different identities but just different settings of behaviors suited for different environments

#bruce wayne #im tagging this bc i think i do have. a lot to say abt this actually & will retyrn

[gh0stsp1d3r]

Hiiii I saw your request was open so I just had an idea

The whole Spidey squat headcanons (Miles, Gwen, Hobie and Pavitr separately if you want, I don’t wanna come off pushy) with a giant s/o reader? Like giant size. Inspiration from like that scene in Steven universe between blue diamond and Steven talking in the bath or the “what a day…you look lonely..I can fix that” blade runner? The reader is just a gentle giant with a smoothing voice and calm vibes or very motherly-ish giving. Like their world is just a bigger version of other dimensions that’s why the other spider people are so small compared to them.

Hello!! I love it (:

Spidey squad w/ giant s/o

Hobie brown

I don’t think he would mind your size, in fact, he thinks it’s super cool

He quickly becomes your friend, since some people in HQ are… intimidated by your size, and Hobie also comes off as intimidating to some HQ members

Anyways he treats you great, and if one person had a problem with your size, they had a problem with him

He likes to climb up onto your shoulder or legs when your sitting down

And even if you guys can’t kiss, he’s always kissing your cheek or anything else he can

It’s tough at first, and you guys can’t do most normal couple stuff, but he doesn’t mind, and neither do you

Because every day and night he assures you that he loves you, in his own way and words

And you both make a great team while fighting too

Pavitr Prabhakar

He’s shocked by your size at first, his mouth agape and just staring

But he quickly fell in love with you when you made your way into the gang

He didn’t care about your size after that, and when you both got together

This man is loving, very loving

He’s also very protective and he always makes sure your okay

Not like a jealous protective but like a are you hurt? Protective

Anyways he’s pretty much trying to do anything he can with you

And he doesn’t care that you guys are not an normal couple, because you’re too perfect in his eyes

Miles Morales

He’s very intimidated by you at first..

And he’s very hesitant about letting you into the gang

But it just happens, and you were a lot different than he expected

You both got along well, and eventually got together

He was nervous, and it took him a while to get used to

You both couldn’t do normal couple things, but you suggested alternative things and he was cool with them

Basically he’s just a lil nervous lol

Gwen Stacy

She’d probably be like “oh… how interesting.” When you joined

She’s quickly learning though, about your world and you

And she takes an interest in you, and you both after a while, get together

She’s still learning a lot, and gets confused by a lot of things, just give her time and she’ll learn 😭

#hobie brown x reader #hobie brown #pavitr prabhakar x reader #miles morales x reader #gwen stacy #gwen stacy x reader

[gl1tter-claire]

𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞!!✦

Pre-crash

You were so fucking in love with Natalie, she and you have known each other for a while, ever since Lottie introduced you to Natalie, ever since that day you like to think that you have a special connection with her despite how different the two of you are, Even though Of course, you liked her a lot.

The soccer team was very well known, so they were always invited to parties. The cheer team was also famous for their impeccable victories in cheer competitions against other schools so they always invited you to parties since you were on the cheer team but you didn't go to get drunk or things like that you only went for one person and that person was Natalie. You were very close to Natalie. You were always by her side doing anything but lately you have distanced yourself from her because you were trying to understand why you are so in love. of her if she only sees you and treats you like another friend

(that's what you think but the reality was that she really liked you a lot and people could tell it very easily thanks to how she always looks at you with that loving look and all the compliments and hints she told you that you couldn't understand)

Natalie was confused and a little hurt when she realized you walked away from her without giving her any explanation.

She didn't understand why you walked away from her overnigh

You had been ignoring her every time she greeted you or said something to you and every time she got close to where you were you left super fast, until one day you went to a party at Lottie's house, you didn't want to go because you knew that Natalie was going to be there but your friends from the cheer team along with Lottie convinced you to go, as soon as you arrived you were praying not to see Natalie, until you saw her and stood there looking at her, she looked so pretty in that black leather jacket that she always wore and that dark makeup that you loved how it looked on her, you were wearing a white dress full of drawn strawberries that reached to your knees, with red converse and red heart-shaped glasses that she coincidentally wore. I loved seeing you with them, Natalie as soon as she saw you she thought she saw an angel, according to her you were the most fucking beautiful woman in the fucking universe, she thought you looked like a goddess and wanted to go greet you but you barely noticed that she was approaching you You left super fast, she was fed up with you ignoring her and the fact that she followed you only to corner you and ask you for an explanation as to why you were blocking her, you finally thought you had lost sight of her until you felt someone grab you. from behind and puts you against the wall, it was her, it was Natala who had cornered you, you turned super red because you still had feelings for her,

“why are you ignoring me?” She asked angrily, “Did I do something bad to hurt you or something? Because I don't think it's fair that you behave like a bitch to me overnight without me having done something."

You stayed silent because you knew what she was saying was true.

“Come on, tell me,” she said, more angry at your silence,

“because I like to” you said raising your voice,

"What" Natalie said confused,

"what you heard stupid-"

Suddenly Natalie kissed you, when you separated due to lack of air you said "why?"

"why the what?" Natalie responded

"why did you kiss me?" You said

"because I like you too," you smiled and kissed Natalie back. and you noticed how she

He smiled in the middle of the kiss,

"So that means we're a couple now," Natalie said.

“Of course,” you said and kissed her again.

That night at the party you spent it with Natalie kissing and telling each other how they fell in love with each other.

n/a: English is not my first language, if there are any mistakes, I'm sorry :)

#nat scatorccio x reader #nat scatorccio #yellowjackets #natalie scatorccio #yellowjackets x reader #natalie scatorccio x reader #yellow jackets #natalie scatorccio headcanon #nat scatorccio headcanons

[ohnococo]

Satoru Gojo SFW Alphabet

(under the cut for length)

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Gojo is extremely affectionate. He craves affection, in fact. He’ll outright pout if he hasn’t been hugged when you see him. He’s absolutely that Kirby meme that’s like “I didn’t get no mfin forehead kiss 😡”

He just wants to hold your hand constantly, be draped off of you. He’s like this even as friends, so everyone around you will think nothing of it until they see him giving you a kiss - something he doesn’t mind doing in front of others.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Gojo is that friend that shows his love by hanging all over you and also by purposefully bugging you. He just loves a little playful banter and even if he didn’t he has zero boundaries when it comes to friendship.

He’s that friend who will come to your house and treat it like his own. He’s the friend that will be talking to you on the phone and then 10 mins into the conversation he’s like “hold on lemme flush” like excuse me???

It’s just that if you’ve gotten to the point of being his very best friend he’s got zero self-consciousness around you. You two are basically a living breathing unit now.

As for how that friendship starts… you can’t know how close you’ll become to Gojo. People certainly know when he doesn’t like them, but outside of that he’s so casual with everyone. So he’s also casual with you. Then you get to know each other, and he’s even more casual. Next thing you know he’s talking to someone and refers to you as his best friend. A good tell is if he lets you see him being serious, upset even. When he feels safe enough with you to let you see his less-than-pleasant emotions you know you two are close.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

He’s a big cuddler. King of physical touch. If he lets himself get close enough he’ll actually complain about not being able to fall asleep when you two have to be apart. His cuddling is essentially acting like some kind of shawl draped across you, leaning into you, lying across your lap, acting like you’re some kind of living pillow. God help you in the summer, he’ll complain about being sweaty while he’s choosing to be stuck to you.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

In canon? He doesn’t. His legacy is his students, his relationships are platonic, where there’s at least a small layer of separation. As for actually getting married or starting a family, he doesn’t want to actively bring someone into his world like that, and he doesn’t want to risk losing them. Even if they’re strong, he knows the expectations placed on him alone, and having someone he cares for like that is a risk that doesn’t line up with who he knows he has to be.

In a no curse AU though, absolutely. He loves intimacy, and closeness, and feeling like he has a unit. Settling down is a goal for him.

As for cooking and cleaning, in every universe this man is hopeless. A simple recipe works for him, but two burners on at once? Or a recipe where he needs to be occasionally stirring something between prepping other things? Nah stuff is getting forgotten, or burned, and the kitchen is going to be a mess afterwards. He just keeps using spoons then throwing them in the sink before he’s done. Stop it Gojo, stop using so many goddamn spoons now you have to wash one and the onions are burning.

Cleaning, he is perfectly capable of doing, but he hasn’t had to - going straight from having others to do it for him because it’s not something this chosen one was meant to worry about, to being able to pay people to handle it for him. I don’t blame him, no one wants to scrub a toilet, but he’s not what I’d call “domestic” and can tend to act like someone who’s never had to clean up after himself.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

I’m so sorry y’all… this man would break up with you over a text… it’s not a short text, at least. It’s a long one he’s typed and typed and retyped 100 times, and might have had to take a break and go for a walk in between. But it’s a text nonetheless. It’s just that if he’s decided to break things off, he’s not in a place to be able to put his big boy panties on and deal with the messy emotions that might come up in a face to face breakup.

Besides, he doesn’t want to make it worse, and the first words that come to mind to whatever you say might not come across how he wants them to, he wants to be able to think and say the right things.

It feels cold, but that’s how he is on the outside when he’s ending things because he thinks he has to force himself to be.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

I’ll go non curse au with this answer, for reasons stated above, but Gojo does know he wants commitment long term. He’s a weird one though, in that when he falls he’s absolutely head over heels in love. He wants to spend all of his time with you, drag you along on all of his whims, and he will even jokingly call you his husband/wife at a certain point and talk about being together long term while cuddling, but…

This man is gonna take fucking AGES to propose. He’ll take ages to even ask to move in together. It’s not that he doesn’t want to, it’s just that you guys are at each other’s houses so often that it’s like half of your stuff is split between the two places. And he loves you and thinks of you in terms of that long term commitment already, so the ring or the key just don’t come up in his mind.

He’s the type you have to drop hints to, maybe even outright say “my lease is up in spring, let’s move in together.”

It’s an enthusiastic yes from him. And when the proposal happens he’s the one grabbing your hand to show your ring to strangers and calling you his fiancée with a sparkly lilt in his voice, but damn Gojo just focus.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He can be gentle physically, tracing his fingers over your skin, rubbing his thumb against your hand while you’re holding hands. Sometimes when he’s cuddled up with his head resting in the crook of your neck he’ll blink against your skin, tickling you with his long lashes in a little butterfly kiss. But as gentle as he can be, he can also be one to roughhouse with you a bit (though always in a restrained way that doesn’t intend to hurt).

Hugging you tight and swinging you from side to side, tugging you along by your hand when he’s excited to show you something, tickling you til you’re squealing, he might even play wrestle a bit when he’s kissing you. The man contains multitudes.

Emotionally… he can be a bit clumsy. Sometimes he just doesn’t consider how his words or tone will come across before he’s speaking.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Gojo loves hugging. It’s like it clears his head, so he gives you long firm hugs often. He wraps his arms around you, putting his weight on your shoulders as you wrap your arms around his waist, and presses his face to the top of your head. He’ll rock you both side to side in the hug, and you have no choice but to go along with his movements because he’s got you so tightly pressed together. Always finishes the hugs with a big happy sigh.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

In canon, it’s hard to get out of him outright. It’s scary to give himself away just that much, knowing he can’t always protect everyone. Knowing you could very well go and get yourself hurt. You’ll know in other ways though.

In a no curse au, Gojo loves with no restraint. He’s saying it fast, too fast in some relationships. Almost casually. He feels so, so much, and doesn’t think twice before he speaks sometimes.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Gojo doesn’t get jealous. He’s too self-assured for that. And he doesn’t have any insecurities about you or your commitment, otherwise he wouldn’t be with you.

The closest to jealousy he gets is when he feels like he hasn’t had enough time with you. It’s not that he thinks anything is going on with you and whichever friends you’ve been spending time with, it’s just that he doesn’t understand why he can’t come along too.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Gojo’s kisses are slow and sweet - teasing even. His soft lips are gentle against yours, so light sometimes it tickles, and show any sign of enjoyment or even desperation, and he’s smiling into your kiss. He’s not using tongue at first, and if you try to initiate too soon he’ll pull back, brushing your noses together. When he finally does kiss you properly it’s gently, restrained, a crooked finger tilting your chin up for him, a thumb on your chin keeping your mouth softly open so he can beckon you to make a little noise for him. Once you’re making out the intensity ramps up considerably, then Gojo’s kisses are deep and wet and needy.

As for kisses elsewhere, Gojo loves a forehead kiss. Sometimes he’ll just bend his head down and point to his forehead, then once he gets that kiss he looks SO pleased with himself about it. As if you’d deny him… as if his pouty self would let you deny him! He loves giving those forehead kisses in return, or when you’re holding hands he’ll often bring your hand to his mouth to kiss.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Gojo is great with children. He’s rambunctious, matches their energy, and is great at saying silly things with a straight face that make them laugh. He’s one of those people that babies always smile and wave to, and comes across as a safe adult to children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Getting out of bed is the first struggle for mornings with Gojo. A chronic “5 more minutes” type. Even if you get out of bed easily in the mornings, you won’t with him. He’s wrapping an arm and a leg around you and groggily pouting if you try to end your sleepy cuddle session. He just loves the closeness while everything is so quiet and still in the mornings.

His stomach beckons him out of bed eventually, though, and he’ll have the audacity to insist you get ready and go to a cafe for pastries even though you’re both starving after a solid hour and a half of cuddling in bed.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Gojo is one of those people that gets a second wind at night. He can tend to stay up late because of it. If you don’t mind, he’ll love to watch movies or play games with you until late into the night, head resting on your lap the whole time. Once you’re in bed is when the “would you love me if I was a worm” questions start though.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Gojo is one of those people that reveal things without revealing things. He’ll tell you something so earnest, embarrassing even, that would be a sign of closeness or vulnerability from other people - but for him it’s just his usual oversharing. The real things that matter to him he keeps close to his chest and reveal slowly and after a good while.

When he eventually says them he does so with that same casual tone he’s used to tell you about the time he laughed so hard he peed himself at the tender age of 23, but by then you’ll understand it means a lot that he’s being open about things he usually wouldn’t.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Gojo can almost be impossibly hard to anger, so if you’re the type to want an argument over something you’re going to be hard pressed to get it. He’s more the type to awkwardly laugh at the wrong time, which would just make someone already mad at him even more angry.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He doesn’t really let on how much he remembers, but he does. He’ll get you your exact order from a coffee shop, or buy you something you’d mentioned craving to someone else when he happened to be in the room, then if you ask how he knew he’ll just smile and say “lucky guess.”

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

Gojo’s favourite moment is the first time you’d comforted him. He’ll never ask for that from anyone, and most of the time people assume he doesn’t need that assurance and comfort because he always seems so happy and unbothered by things that would worry most. But you notice, even if he’s acting perfectly normal, and offer to lend him an ear - even asking if he just wanted a hug. He does, and even if it was one of a hundred random kind gestures for you, it meant the world to him.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He’s the type to protect from afar. He lets you handle things first, because he’s the type to have faith in you, but the minute you need help he’s there. Basically he’s always back up, but will never have you looking helpless.

He doesn’t want protection, to the point where it can feel like out of nowhere when he stops you from intervening or defending him. He just prefers to handle his own matters himself.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

This man makes AN EFFORT for special days. If grand gestures aren’t your thing, it might be a problem, but he’s the type to book the nicest restaurant in town, buy you loads of roses, commemorate anniversaries with pretty jewellery (matching, in a lot of cases).

Day to day though, he’s more lowkey. His love is shown in his physical affection, but the way he splashes out on birthdays, anniversaries, and Valentine’s Day more than accommodates that.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He’s got a few bad habits for sure, and they’ll take a lot of reminding (like years of it) to get him out of it. Leaving the toilet seat up, squeezing toothpaste from the middle, stealing bites of food off your plate, barging in when you’re on the toilet. Things that don’t bother some people, but can be annoying to others.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

His appearance means a lot to him, and he’s not ashamed of that fact. He’s always well groomed, and when out of school attire he wears expensive clothes that are carefully curated to his tastes. He takes care of himself: good skincare regimen, chooses outfits carefully, he even uses purple shampoo and hair treatments to keep his naturally white hair looking bright and soft.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Absolutely. If he’s not with you he’s thinking about you and wishing he was with you. If he has plans he wants you there, because everything will always be better if you’re there too.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

If you’re up to it, Gojo loves to be one of those couples with matching sets of things. Matching rings, him wearing a bracelet that’s from a set with your necklace, and if you’re down to be one of those especially obnoxious couples full on matching outfits when you go on dates. Not necessarily the same outfit, but coordinating colours or patterns. He has no qualms about being that couple that makes everyone cringe.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He has a few things he doesn’t love, and it’s honestly hard to pinpoint what set of things make someone a fit for him because it’s not obvious to even him.

He definitely isn’t a fan of his partner smoking cigarettes, refusing him affection or giving him the silent treatment as a “punishment” for arguments, or poor communication. The last one isn’t a deal breaker for him, but if you expect him to read your mind when you’re upset about something, you’re in for a lot of disappointment. He needs to be told things outright.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

The whole bed is his side of the bed. You’re also his side of the bed. He can start off contained, happily falling asleep as your big spoon (or little spoon depending on his mood), but soon enough he’s hogging the whole thing. A leg over your waist, his head on your pillow, his other leg half hanging off his side of the bed. Get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and you’ll come back to him sleeping with his limbs out like a starfish. Nudge him a bit and he’ll go back to barnacle mode without even waking up, pulling you in to be his little spoon again.

#reminder minors and ageless blogs get blocked #my writing #jjk headcanons #sfw alphabet #satoru gojo #gojo #reader insert #gojo x reader #satoru gojo x reader

[takusan-no-ai]

At First Sight

PAIRING: Vyn/Artem/Marius/Luke x Female Reader (Romantic) (Separate)

SUMMARY: They experience love at first sight.

Vyn isn’t one to believe in things as mystical as love at first sight. He’d rather believe in something like attraction at first sight, preferring to take things from a more logical perspective.

Of course, the same applied to when he met you. A friend of Rosa, you left a very good first impression on him. And while Vyn will admit to himself that his pulse quickened slightly, he refused to believe it was anything more than a mere reaction to your cute appearance; you’re a very beautiful lady after all.

After spending more time with you, Vyn eventually did fall in love with you. He will continue to believe that his increased interest came from his interactions with you. However, he is willing to admit that he was drawn to you a little bit.

It’s less so that Artem doesn’t believe in love at first sight, and more so that he simply doesn’t have much of an opinion to begin with. Though, he does like to believe everything that he does is within his control and therefore his choice.

The same can be said for when you, the new lawyer who graduated at the top of her class and transferred to Themis Law Firm, became his shadow. The time you two spent together didn’t strike much of a cord with Artem, but that’s because of his obliviousness to you.

Artem was noticeably different with you to others that know him well. He pampers you, gives you special treatment, and blushes when talking to you from time to time. But he never realized himself until you confessed first. It was at that moment that he considered the possibility of love at first sight, since it was apparent to everyone else that he treated you so nicely from the beginning.

Marius likes to believe in love at first sight. Because despite the childish nature of it, similarly to true love, he likes to believe it because it brings him happiness at the possibility of it’s existence.

Lo and behold, Marius bumps into you, an adorable young lady going to the same university as him. Your reaction to Marius trying to slyly make it seem like you bumped into him ignited a small fire in him. Your fierce spirit enticed Marius, and it’s clutch on his heart only lured him in more.

From there on out it was like two puzzles fitting together. You’d both always run into each other, like it was fate. Discussing things that developed later on into more deep and personal matters. It was at that point that he just knew it was love at first sight all those days back.

For Luke, love at first sight is something he’d like to believe in, but also something that he doesn’t see as realistic. He believes that he’d probably fall in love from experiences with a lady much more than just at first sight.

At least, that’s what Luke told himself. When he first sees you, a lady reading at a bookstore, your soft features immediately caught his eyes. The fact that you were reading a Sherlock Holmes novel intrigued him too, and led to a nice discussion about each others interest.

Luke hadn’t realized it, but the more he thought about how much his body reacted when he’s around you, and the more he contemplated the existence of love at first sight, the more he fell in love. What would’ve been a friendship with slight attraction became a full blown crush thanks to his racing thoughts and ever curious mind.

- Fin

#female reader #headcanon #tears of themis x reader #artem wing x reader #artem wing #luke pearce #luke pearce x reader #vyn richter x reader #vyn richter #marius von hagen #marius von hagen x reader

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Welcome to Spider Society -

A mega-post of my headcanons and (very) loose analysis of Spider Society and How It Works - like day to day. Or rather, how it works for recruits.

I'll be looking at things like dorms, contracts, mentors and more. [All of these are my headcanons really, so take what you like and leave what you don't.]

Recruitment - Your First Days At HQ

Learning about the multiverse can without a doubt be a jarring experience for some - And a new recruit's first days at HQ are usually no different.

Day One - First Contact

Based on the scenario, recruitment can happen one of two ways - each with different procedures based on the situation. Merit Recruit - Merit recruits are Spider-people approached on the grounds of merit, experience, or distinction. Spider-people from especially unique worlds, or those with extensive experience are approached by the Spider Society and extended an official invitation to join. Each potential recruit is profiled based on a number of things, including mental stability, talent, personality, or need. A potential recruit is then matched with an active member - an a first contact is organized. Potential Recruits are algorithmically matched with a Spider-person most likely to successfully recruit them - based on personality, emotional connection potential, and a host of other things. Pavitr Prabhakar, Peter B. Parker, and Hobie Brown are all Merit Recruits. Merit Recruits are more likely to bargain contracts, in order to enter the society at a high rank, or receive more perks. Hobie has bargained his contract for limited days - and he is only called for high profile missions. Other recruits cannot negotiate contacts, but Hobie hopes to unionize and change that.

Supervisory Recruit - A Supervisory Recruit is a Spider-person who is profiled and approached based on their 'need' or a growing concern for the situation of their universe. This mostly includes those from dystopian universes, experiencing their 'Public Enemy' Canon Event, or going through financial hardship. Although this also includes a small class of 'Critical Destabilization' Recruits - Spider-people from universes experience anomalies, or multiversal decay. Although approached as a Merit Recruit - Pavitr's file is now labeled as a Critical Destabilization member. Those with a 'CD' designation typically live in dorms as their worlds are closely monitored. CD Spider-people are deeply 'encouraged' to complete as many Canon Events as possible, in order to avoid possible anomalies.

Educational Recruit - Although rare, there are a small number of Educational Recruits - members approached based on their own educational research of the multiverse. If it is determined that a Spider-person has learned about the multi-verse on through their own research, the Society will make direct contact with them as soon as possible. Only a few high-ranking members are chosen to approach Educational Recruits - ready to answer any scientific questions they may have. Educational Recruits take seniority over Merit Recruits, and are also able to negotiate contracts - including access to Society technology. There is also a small academics program in which incoming Educational Recruits can study under other Genius Spider-people. They're trained in The Society Laboratory to develop new technologies and studying the multiverse. Most Educational Recruits are do not work in the field. Margo Kess is an Educational Recruit and is an early graduate of the academics program. Her job at the Go-Home Machine was negoitated in her contract.

Emergency Recruit - Emergency recruits are those who join the society through an Active Call. Contact is made with the recruit in order to prevent or capture anomalies, and treat multiversal decay. Emergency Recruit's experience an extended introduction period, in which they are emotionally monitored and treated before meeting Miguel and continuing on to their Evaluations. Emergency Recruits live on campus in separate private dorms in order to help with the shock. Gwen is an Emergency Recruit.

Next comes your Evaluations.

Evaluations

One of the most intense parts of joining Spider Society is often the evaluations. Because there are a LOT of them. Still recruits, incoming members take a number of evaluations and tests before becoming trainees. There's no way to fail these tests, but they're lengthy, and the data is used for a number of things, known and unknown

Week 1 - Your First Tests

After a contract is negotiated and a recruit accepts their invitation, the recruit is sent home with some materials in order to process what they've just learned. They're given a date and a time for them to return to meet their mentor and take their evaluations. These evaluations usually take a couple of days and so some may say in the dorms for the duration of this. Their original recruitment member will return to meet the recruit and take them back to HQ - and this is usually a time to bond and ask questions. Your recruitment officer is not the same as your mentor, instead they are someone you are mathematically chosen to get along with most. But how do they determine that? -

Your first evaluation at HQ starts before you even notice. Conversation With Lyla - Personality Analysis Prior to meeting Miguel for the second time, the recruit is asked to sit in the lab Gwen and Miles are shown walking through, and wait for Miguel. During this time, Lyla will appear on the console, and make light conversation with the new recruit. In doing so she begins her first analysis on the recruits humor, confidence, comfortability, extrovertedness, assertiveness, and a number of other things. With this, she begins to construct a profile. This conversation may last somewhere between 4-8 minutes - in which Miguel is given a report on you. Lyla is programmed to make the conversation as light as possible, as the participant should not be aware at the time of the test. Only a few have been able to recognize this tactic for what it is. Hobie being one of them. After questioning Lyla as to what she was, when she explained she was an AI - he stopped talking and refused to speak to her any further at that time. This raised his bargaining price with Miguel immensely. Event Screening - Moral Alignment Analysis Assigned by Lyla, A recruit's moral alignment is a profile taken by Lyla at the beginning of their contract, and annually every year after. Arguably the most time-consuming and tedious of the evaluations. Scenario Screening: A Recruit is seated in a lab with Lyla once more. Lyla shows the recruit a number of semi-realistic scenarios in an immersive simulation - similar to the ones Miguel shows Miles. Recruits are asked to respond to each scenario out loud and explain their reasoning, with Lyla making it as conversational as possible. However, this information is not taken at face value. During this conversation Lyla crossmatches. Career Screening: As you go through the Scenario Screening, Lyla will ALSO crossmatch your answers to past events in your career, pulled from sources like news television, and Daily Bugle reports in order to determine if what you are saying is true to your behavior. Both of these reports are combinded to determine truthfulness, self-awareness, selflessness, spontaneity and a number of other factors. This too is added to your file. A Session with Spider-Psyche - Mental Health Analysis Most people hate this part. The last evaluation is a three-session stint with a Spider-Psyche across three different days. During this time, your mental health will be evaluated, as the therapist begins to ask questions related to your canon events. In doing this, your events will be added to your file. This evaluation determines a recruit's mental stability, past traumas, and - hopefully - help determine their canon events in the future. The mental health analysis is due every six months - for every Spider person on campus. It's mandatory. The mental health center is robust, and appointments are easy to get. There is also a Post-Canon Crisis Center and multiple talk groups open for attendance.

Mentorship

Week 2, Day 1 - Meeting your mentor

Now that Lyla has a full profile of the recruit, they official become a member of the Society, earning their entry level badge - a card that gives access to the food court, showers, and other facilities.

As Lyla combines your evaluations into your file - she uses your Moral Alignment, Personality, and Mental Stability to assign you to an senior advisor to report to.

Mentors are responsible for Mission statuses, training updates, and a number of other things - depending on the recruit type and their needs.

There are many mentors on campus, including Ben Reilly, Lego-Spider-Man (for the non-human Spidey-people), Peter B. Parker, SunSpider, and some others.

Typically, a recruitment agent is a mentor in training. Had Hobie stayed in The Society, he would have achieved Mentor status.

First meeting: Largely determined by the mentor's preferred teach method, the first meeting with your mentor is fully determined by them. And some do not give a heads-up. It's encouraged that mentors visit their trainee's home dimension and/or join them on patrol. Mostly because next week, when you begin training, your mentor's report on you will determine your starting level and skillset. The Following Days: Second & Third Meeting Mentors are also encouraged to take and train their trainees in their own home world - for the trainee to get accustomed to blending in and working out there in the multiverse field. During the third meeting, Trainees are often given a tour of the facilities. Most mentors use this as a time to talk - mainly at the food court - in order to gauge their new trainee's skills, likes, goals, and needs. Report of Status and/or Need: Submitted by the end of Week 2 By the end of Week 2 your mentor will submit a report on you and their thoughts, as well as details on your experience, strengths, and skills. They will also determine things like your category - a descriptor of your fighting and battle techniques. There a nearly a dozen classes of category ranging from 'Speedsters' (Disco-Spider and Brown-Spider), to Wielders (those who wield extra weapons in addition - i.e Spider-Punk). You can fall into two or more categories at once - and your category is a large factor in your selection in particular missions. This entire status report - along with their full file and evaluations - is submitted directly to Miguel, not Lyla. And he reads each and every file. Miguel also requests a Report of Need if neccesary - detailing any struggles - financial, safety, or otherwise, that a trainee may need. For non-emergency recruits, this is also the time to sign up for dorms. In accordance with this report, Mentors must report HOW they're helping their trainee and their progress in need. For example, if a Spider-person is facing eviction or behind on rent, The Society will offer housing aid to assure they can keep their home, and they will continually check in to assures it stays this way. Once again, every one of these reports is screen by Miguel personally. (i.e Jessica is required by this rule to report how many days Gwen has slept on campus each month - as apart of her 'Need Relief Report'. Gwen got in trouble multiple times for spending under the required amount, during her time sleeping at Hobie's.)

Mentor Reports:

Mentors are required to give routine Training and Development Reports routinely - the frequency based on their time with The Society, starting at weekly and decreasing from there.

Personal Report:

You and your mentor may fill out a personal report, either together or by yourself.

This is to detail your feelings as needs as a new member, what you'd like changed, what you need, etc. This can range from anything from needing to set up Spider-psyche appointments, an increase in meal plan, or special accommodations.

Merit and Educational Recruits also fill out a Report of Perks & Benefits, in which they request things like entry into the Education program, private rooms, suit upgrades, and more.

Contract Negotiation: MERIT and EDUCATIONAL only

During this time, Trainees can now negotiate their contracts fully - outside of the Perks & Benefits, though taking more than usual is hard to get out of Miguel. But possible.

This negotiation is a personal sit down with Miguel, your mentor, you and Lyla. Your recruitment advisor can also be present for this as your second rep (besides your menton). After this, their contract is solidified.

Hobie, for example has negotiated a limited amount of mission calls per monthly cycle, earning his file the label of Class S, only reserved for high-level missions cleared by Lyla. Your class is another designation besides your category, however this is determined after Week 3 - your Training Week. Get ready to meet the training rooms and coaches!

___________________________________________ So yeah, that's how I imagine the first week of The Society is like. Based on.... :) haha mmm

But this is all just complete headcanon of how I imagine it - based on things like how I imagine Lyla works or mission teams are form and other stuff.

In my head Hobie, Gwen, Diane, and all Spider-sonas had to go through this lol

Um this was fun if you read this far I really appreciate it!!!! So take this photo of Hobie and uhhh....uhmm uh

Bye.

(also I mention Brown Spider who belongs to @brown-spider

And Disco-Spider Diane who belongs to me!)

#no proofread lollll #Hobie tryna make Diane laugh and shes like just smile an AH smile and AH DONT LAUGH #atsv #across the spiderverse #Miguel ohara #Miguel o'hara #Peter Parker #spiderman #spider man #hobie brown #spiderpunk #spiderman 2099 #across the spider verse #marvel #gwen stacy #pavitr prabhakar #miles morales #atsv lyla #jessica drew #atsv analysis #spidergwen #spider gwen

[directdogman]

hi dogman! i just picked up dialtown recently and haven’t finished the game or started the dlc, (so this stuff might be answered later in the game and i just don’t know yet, sorry) but i do have a bunch of questions about the science of dialtown that have been plaguing me since i started the game:

are all the people of the dialtown universe (sans gingi ofc) still classified as human, or are they another species? object heads are implied (as far as i can tell) to be man made creations at some point, but no one but norm has an actual human head. have they mutated to only have object heads? are they born with object heads? if they are born with the ability to get an object head, are they born with no head, or does the doctor cut it off and install an object head, are object heads technological or biological (or magical)? are they biologically capable of changing their object head from birth? the objects are clearly still made of plastic/metal/glass etc, and they’re fully integrated with the “human” body systems- the ability to blush means blood cells circulate through the non-organic (non-meat?) parts of the head, and they can feel pain inflicted to the mechanical parts just as easily (shoutout to randy for being so unfortunate). so are the mechanical parts of the objects, like wires, integrated into the human parts of the body as well? are the object heads a completely scientifically separate thing to the actual body, like prosthetic? if so, how does blood and nerve pain transfer? where are their brains? is the canonical consciousness and memory of a person in their body, since their heads can be swapped (especially when most of the objects are not capable of storing memory at all?) furthermore, since the object heads can function like the objects they represent, do printers and typewriters require ink, or have they developed ink cartridges/sacs like cephalopods? similarly, are object heads with LCD displays (like cellphones, the teleprompter, TVs etc, if those even exist in this universe) bioluminescent and/or chromatophores, since they can light up (i think) and change color? if the object heads are mostly technologically developed, and Dialtown takes place in the present, why are most object heads deeply outdated technology (typewriters and analog phones, with the most modern tech being randy’s Nokia and Karen’s printer, both of which are still incredibly outdated?) are object heads considered a completely different technological process from the technology they resemble, or is this of a cultural anachronism, (like cpu mice being called mice because their cord resembled a tail, even though they no longer have the tail at all)? is it a cultural thing?

tl;dr: how does biology work in dialtown? people can change their heads if they want, but the objects are still treated like part of the person. are object heads at all a genetic feature of the people of dialtown, or purely a technological thing, or both or neither?

apologies if i’m looking into everything too deeply- but i am fascinated by the scientific and biological implications of object heads. also, the game is great. karen is the only printer i have ever loved.

are all the people of the dialtown universe (sans gingi ofc) still classified as human

Yes, to the point where flesh heads are considered an inhuman trait now. To the point where some beloved historic figures (like Washington) are often depicted with phone heads, despite never having one.

are they born with object heads?

They're born with an adapter, and the heads are added immediately after birth.

are object heads technological or biological (or magical)?

I'd argue they're technological and biological. It's a bit like asking if a hermit crab is biological or mineral.

[] parts of the head, and they can feel pain inflicted to the mechanical parts just as easily (shoutout to randy for being so unfortunate).

Our brains have no pain receptors, but the areas around them do, so brain swelling is indeed unbelievably uncomfortable. I see object-head pain as a similar phenomenon. It's the biological pieces that cry out when the mechanical parts fail.

if the object heads are mostly technologically developed, and Dialtown takes place in the present, why are most object heads deeply outdated technology

I've answered this question before, but the long and short of it is that most modern devices aren't easy to swap individual pieces out of, while older devices (with vacuum tubes and basic transistors) can be swapped out. Imagine having to replace your entire head every time something screwed up, or having to get your repairs from a single company who makes the device. You think dealing with Apple support is bad, imagine if you HAD to go to them for healthcare!

Also, there's a cultural inertia. Crown's memory being bricked meant that his plan essentially halted and it's not like anyone had the will/ability to continue it.

are object heads considered a completely different technological process from the technology they resemble, or is this of a cultural anachronism [] is it a cultural thing?

That's complicated and to answer this question completely, I'd have to delve deeper into the rationale of the Dialup affecting non humans. The answer is it's a bit of both.

but the objects are still treated like part of the person?

They're considered part of the person, though with the acknowledgement that they can be swapped out and aren't a part of the person anymore if lost. Like teeth for us.

are object heads at all a genetic feature of the people of dialtown, or purely a technological thing, or both or neither?

Head choices are cultural, and the only genetic link to headtypes is based on how genetics influence cultural norms. EG: the tendency to give people phones or typewriters depending on the gender given at birth.