#<- I ALSO THINK THIS IS FROM REDDIT.... BUT I AM UNSURE

[getting-spooky-on-a-friday-night]

Radford: Oops! You've just killed someone! What is the most creative way to hide the body? Dexter: Ever since I was a kid, I always thought that if I had to hide a body, it would be smart to keep it somewhere temporary, then leave an anonymous tip to the police about it being buried in a certain place. They will then dig that place up, realize it's not there and move on, then I'd bury the body in that place. The freshly-dug soil won't be suspicious and the police wouldn't look there because they already have. Kevin: It scares me that this dude started his dead-body-hiding scheme with "Ever since I was a kid..."

[emma-o-yt]

Rick Riordan's problematic age gaps

Apparently reddit hates criticism because this got removed from there after a few minutes, maybe I can get it back up...anyways.

The age of consent in Texas is 17, Texas is where Rick lived (according to wikipedia) up until 2013. And yet...here we are.

Where do I even begin with this bullf*ckery? How about the most egregious of all?

Luke and Annabeth

We have two lines confirming their mutual feelings, one from The Demigod Diaries:

"Overtime, Annabeth developed a crush on Luke. As Annabeth got older, Luke developed feelings for her, too."

Mark of Athena (from her conversation with Venus):

"First there was Luke Castellan, her first crush, who had seen her only as a little sister; then he’d turned evil and decided he liked her—right before he died."

Now let me remind you, Annabeth and Luke have a seven year age difference, they knew each other at 7 and 14. By the time he died, Annabeth was just 16, while he was 23. And it's implied he begun returning her feelings a little before he asked her to run away, perhaps when she was 14. He's paralleled with Percy as Annabeth is his string in the river styx. He asks Annabeth explicitly if she loved him romantically (and she denies because Percy is there).

It's disgustingly inappropriate but at the very least they don't end up together...as for when they do...

Sadie Kane and Anubis

When it comes to immortal romance, I usually go for coded age. Anubis is thousands of years old but is mentally and physically 16, which is fine and dandy except for the fact that Sadie is 12. What do you want me to say except Rick is disgusting for promoting this.

Speaking of extreme age gaps:

Calypso and Leo

When you have a philosophy that every character must end up in a relationship, you run out of sensical options to pair up. Now, I'm a Caleo hater mainly because of how it retconned PJO and also because they are very toxic.

Now hold on, doesn't Caleo fall into coded age? Calypso is 15/16 and Leo is 15, so it's A okay! I suppose, if it wasn't for Calypso's past loves.

Odysseus, he had a wife and a son who was 20 years old in his final year on Ogygia, he is well into adult age. She also mentions the privateer Francis Drake and his wife Elizabeth, he was 45 when he married her.

If your defence is that she's actually thousands of years old, then that must also apply to Caleo. You cannot have it both ways.

Hazel and Frank

It's not that bad but it's necessary to mention for the point I will be making.

The timeline is messed up but I think they're 13 and 16 and meet at 12-15. I mean, come on.

Misogyny and Racism

What do these have in common? Well in 3/4 or 4/4, the younger one is female. In 2/4 or 3/4, the younger one is a person of colour.

Remember Nico? His crush on Percy as revealed in HoH? Well in MoA, there's a cheeky little red herring that happens a bit before Annabeth's talk with Venus (where it is revealed that Luke liked Annnabeth back). She wonders if Nico had a crush on her, but denounces him as too young. Now, Nico's age is inconsistent, I am unsure of his gap with Annabeth but I do know his gap with Percy. It's 3 years 5 months in PJO and 2 years 5 months in HoO (the series we are currently in).

So in RR's messed up mind, a white boy having a relationship with someone 2 to less than 4 years his senior is inappropriate. But a black tween girl dating someone 3 years her senior is just fine, a 12 year old biracial black girl dating a 16 year old is daijoubu, a 15 year old mestizo Latino boy dating an elderly woman is relationship goals, or the reverse a 15 year old girl dating middle aged men is a tragic romance and a 12 year old girl having mutual feelings with a 19 year old man is a "love story for the ages"!

The tv adaptation is so infuriating for this, they made Annabeth black, a lot of the changes they made came off as micro aggressions but especially her relationship with Luke. It's reduced to Luke simping for Annabeth behind her back and it's even worse because you can visibly see how large their age gap is. Heck, Charlie Bushnell and Leah Jeffries have a smaller age gap than book Luke and Annabeth.

Adultification is a huge real life issue. Children of colour and especially female children of colour are seen as less innocent than their white counterparts. Rick, who is dedicated to inclusivity should've known better than to include these illegal relationships. Stans will try and make excuses but it's there, deal with it.

As a black teenage girl who has been a fan of Rick's work for 12 years, I am disappointed.

[aj-jesterdude]

deltritus worldbuilding theorypost...^2!!!

so!! homestuck beyond canon has ended it's first act and according to the reddit q&a that happened right after, it seems Act 2 will finally, *finally* show us those beautiful beautiful deltritans. i made a post a while back attempting to theorize about what the worldbuilding of Deltritus could look like. but after some recent conversations i have realized i could've gone much more in depth...tackled not just the societal implications but also the biology...so...ahaha...here we go

So let's start off with the species. We know that Dirk has created the Satyrs. Satyrs are, according to Greek myth, essentially horse/goat/human hybrids of sorts. And this makes sense for Dirk, he's a horse fan. I theorize that the Satyrs will be only slightly horse-like. Maybe horse legs, but still bipedal...horse tails, ears. I've heard various suggestions of them having puppet-like features but that is...while not impossible, I think it would complicate them significantly. How does death work for them if they are puppets? How does that interact with SBURB's systems? It's a little too messy for my liking, though odds are there is some other complication to them as if they're just half-horse-half-man, that is just a little too simple. I do suspect that they're going to be male-exclusive, and Rose's species will be similarly female-exclusive. For one, Satyrs in Greek myth *were* entirely male, and secondly, Ult!Dirk's whole...masculinity thing he's got going on. This does raise the question of reproduction, and I would humbly suggest mpreg, but if they were puppet-y I could see them just quite literally making new ones. What I do stand by though is that puppets are at least a huge part of their culture. Let's entertain that within the Satyr lands there's a giant golden Lil' Cal statue, yes? I also presume that, like Dirk, they will be makers of machines and whatnot. Creative types. But something I realized I failed to explore with my last theorypost was the influence of two other forces on the Satyrs: Terezi...and *Jake*. Terezi's running the command terminal to shape the societies, and has automated it much to Dirk's displeasure. And what's more, she's been fiddling with it even though she claimed to be done with it. Obviously she is trying to meddle with the deltritans to do something to sabatoge this new session...but what? This I am still unsure about. Perhaps she's stripped out any Time or Space aspects, to try and doom the session? Now as for what that means for the societies, odds are Terezi's made them not as hostile to each other as Dirk was hoping for. I believe the original plan was to have both species compete, and one would lose and be barred from playing the game. However, I think Terezi's managed to work it so both species are still thriving to play at the same time. Perhaps that will cause messy friction between the two different species that will hinder the session's progress? And let's tackle that little juicy implication I put back up there a little while ago. I think while yes, a lot of Dirk's personal traits and flaws have sunken into the Satyrs...I think a little bit of Jake probably got into them too. Maybe this enhances the manly machismo angle of it all? Will they enjoy making movies? Will firearms be their weapons of choice? It’s something to think about, at least. Now let’s shut up about Dirk and talk about the far more mysterious half of the deltritan population, Rose’s species. We have no name for them, but in the circles I’m in, we’ve taken to assuming Nymphs. Yet again another Greek mythological creature, Nymphs were taken as nature spirits of sorts. And this is interesting, Satyrs would often try to chase after Nymphs. So that feels about right. But what would they be like? I highly suspect we’ve already…sort of seen a Nymph already. Odds are that gavageCunctation is one of them. You see, they mention having “buccal mass”, which is an aquatic feature…and we know at the very least that Rose’s species is aquatic, that’s why they moved to the cliffside there. And Nymphs could be water-dwelling and based too. Now, if Dirk’s basing his off of his particular animal of choice, the Horse, then surely Rose’s aquatic species must be based around squiddles/horrorterrors.

But looking at GC’s hands in the only panel we have them in right now…they don’t look or feel too horrorterror-y, do they? They’re gray, and seemingly have some sort of talon or claw on their fingers. You see, I suspect that Rose has gone two-fold. Sure, work in some of that eldritch horror aquatic beast stuff, but Rose Lalonde has always been, in my mind first and foremost…a cat person. I think the Nymphs are some sort of aquatic cat-like race. In my speculative design for GC, I assumed we’d have tentacle hair and cat-like mouths, go check the drawing to see me go a little more in depth there since I’m really rambling too much already on this post. But what about the society? Well, last post I speculated they’d be a more magically-inclined race to further match Rose’s interests, and act as a further opposite of Dirk’s more mechanical/tangible Satyrs. 

But once again I have to ask how another person worked their way into their design…and if Dirk’s was Jake…then surely Rose’s must be Kanaya. Are they more into fashion than the Satyrs? Are they more inclined to meddle? Will one of the Nymphs act quite similarly to her? It’s just so interesting to entertain. Now before I let you go, I wanna put out just a few more quick thoughts. I do hope that we’ll see Vriska guide the Omega kids, and Terezi guide the Deltritans, as that would create an interesting parallel to their little game they had between John and Dave, right? And wouldn’t it be similarly interesting if Dirk himself decided to get in touch with one his Satyrs, and end up recreating a dynamic similar to Bro and Dave’s? Augh. Anyways.

Thank you so much for reading all of this insane rambling. If you have any thoughts or opinions on this as well, please comment them!!! I wanna talk about this so much more!!! See what other people think. Anyways um. idk how to end this so go read homestuck beyond canon if you haven’t yet okay? <3

[nyxtickled]

I’m so shocked to hear all that’s been going on with this dude, but I’m so proud of you! This must be so hard for you, but clearly you are better off and have so many great people in your corner! Sending love <3

Are you able to share any of the “warnings” you got from people previously (aside from the few people you mentioned)? Like was he really just acting like this to everyone? It’s so crazy to me that this happened to others too - sociopath vibes. It’s scary that this was hidden for so long!! Can’t trust anyone :( also, I’m loving the screenshot evidence and I think it really helps to paint a clear picture of how a predator can hide like that.

Again, sending so much love! Also p.s. he fucked up big time with you, he lost a good one!!!

thank you for the love, it means so much! the good news is, i was fucked up over it for a short bit, but i feel nothing but relief and closure now.

absolutely - here are some of the warnings i received, which i was later talked out of after approaching him:

i included some of my responses to the reddit user who tried to warn me as well, just to sort of verify how i was immediately taken aback and i could immediately disprove the claims being made about me. the reddit convo was actually what led to the biggest conflict i shared about in my og community warning post. those messages were what led me to say “hey so i am being told some things that make me really uncomfortable, but my dog is literally dying so i don’t have the capacity to discuss it rn, i just need space.” the response that followed was the 24 hours of lashing out and shaming me for “taking her side” etc.

overall i would just say that if anyone you play with seems to have a habit of telling you that their other play partners are jealous of you, or if you hear warnings about them and they just get angry with you for not immediately choosing to blindly believe that the warnings are fabricated, or if the explanation for the warnings always involves some level of “that person is just bitter bc they wanted more with me and i didn’t” etc, you should interpret it as a red flag.

for example: if i had a play partner approach me saying someone warned me about them, and they felt unsure about me now, i would begin by apologizing right off the bat that they were pulled into a situation that led to them feeling like they weren’t safe or valued by me. then i would ask if they were willing to speak to me about what came up or what they were told, in case i may be able to offer some insight. if they didn’t have the space for it, id respect that. of course i would be very anxious and worried and confused, wondering what someone could have said to them about me to make them feel like they couldn’t trust me - but processing those feelings would be MY responsibility, not theirs. the only appropriate thing for me to do would be to give them whatever space they request, and tell them that i would love nothing more than to talk about it and explore what was going on whenever they were capable. and again, i’d just apologize for any hurt they were experiencing.

would i be lowkey losing my mind a little? absolutely! i’d probably be spiraling and tweaking tryna figure out what on earth could have been said or what they thought i did and whether it was true. i’m not saying it would be easy!!!! but all of those panicky feelings are not theirs to appease. so i would instead reach out to my own close friends for support.

now, granted this hasn’t ever happened to me in kink, because idk i just try really hard to be as honest and open and forthcoming as possible with everyone i ever meet. but it has happened with interpersonal relationships where my partner or friend has a problem with something i did that inadvertently hurt them, and they aren’t ready to talk about it yet. so, it was my responsibility to give them the time they needed to process, and to process my own panic somewhere else.

no one should ever make you feel like your boundaries and needs are harmful to them. if someone has a problem with your boundaries, it usually means they were benefiting from you not having any.

[ohnoproblems]

ok i know youre probably done with these kinds of asks, but i have a question that probably wont make sense

i am apart of the precure community, and one of our jokes is calling toei animation, the creators of precure, john toei. the term came from the kamen rider community from what i know, but i wanna know the first instance of the term "john videogame/company"

i searched 4chan since i thought that would be to most likely place for the term "john toei" would come up, which, it did in 2016

another lead i got was john backflip, but due to the undocumented nature of it, i am unsure it came from that since as far as i know, the joke as we know it originated in 2013

i also got clues from people asking the same question as me on reddit, which lead me to you. i cannot contact op since they deactivated and i dont know if youll even respond but always shoot yo shot ig

my question is

before you made the john darksouls reblog post, have you, by any chance, seen that term be used even before the john darksouls post? has there been an earlier instant of something similar to john darksouls?

oh fuck it's no trouble at all and this question delights me. the thing is we HAVE done a cursory historical analysis of the term "john darksoul" before. but i do mean cursory - the mesh of influences grows diffuse almost immediately, but nonetheless i and others have attempted to weave them. the one i was thinking about was here, though some of the links to @3liza's blog in the post itself might have exploded:

(for those of you saying "huh? john darksoul?" well, here. he's had a hard life.)

one thing i always remember is that one time i had a phone interview for a writing position at gearbox with some Names there while they were still working on battleborn. and over the course of the interview i said the words "john darksoul" with my mouth to them. they didn't know what i meant in the slightest. i realized this gulf of understanding and my own mistake immediately. i didn't get that job

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

Some Stuff I Should Probably Address.

Alright, For most of you lot who knows what fandoms I write for, this shouldn't come off as surprising to you:

But yes, this is about the Demand to Recasting Certain Voice Actors, Natlan's Characters Being Whitewashed, and my personal thoughts about these matters. They will be under the "Keep Reading" cut if you wish.

TL;DR If You Want to Avoid This, But Want Updates About My Blog: I am closing requests for Genshin and HSR for the time being. I will still be open to discuss HSR and Genshin, but not controversy. I'm sorry.

People Waiting For "Barren Lands, Final Wishes" Letters:

They're on their way, I promise! Unfortunately I haven't been able to make time for them as much as I wanted to, but they Will be out soon!

Now back to more Serious Matters.

⌨︎ Warnings: The Follow Will Contain Mentions of Sexual Abuse, Abuse, and Whitewashing. If I Missed a Warning, or Wrote the Wrong Warning, Please Notify Me Immediately!

Alright, first off: The Voice Actors of Sunday and Moze.

I frankly am not the kind of person who indulges in drama, nor do I like reading/watching them in my free time, but it can't be overlooked at this point. Griffin Puatu and Chris Niosi are quite the controversy recently.

For those who don't know, here's a (probably oversimplified—apologies, on that part) basic idea of what's happening:

Chris Niosi has been accused with sexual and emotional abuse by his ex-partners, as well as friends.

Now, the real big problem, however, is that Hoyoverse, the company who owns the HSR character by the name of "Moze" has decided to hire Niosi to become his EN Voice Actor, which is sparking a lot of disapproval, for Hoyoverse is being blamed for not checking his background/history well enough.

(For More Information About Him: Click This For an Article About the Matter.)

Now, I don't have much to say about Griffin Puatu, who is the current EN Voice Actor of Sunday, but judging from screenshots and tumblr posts I have seen by the Reddit post he wrote, many people are not liking him as well because Puatu is standing up for Niosi.

Now, my Personal Thoughts on the matter, and, as much as I hate getting into drama (apologies, these personal thoughts will be a rant):

Just why? I'm unsure who was at TRUE fault of hiring Niosi, and I don't have full context of WHY Puatu is backing up Niosi when people say he hasn't changed, but seriously, why?

As much as I really hate to say this, but honestly, with this amount of controversy around a game people download to have fun and enjoy, all of it is pretty much ruined for me at the moment. I'm fed up with this—Again, I'm not sure whose fault it was, but they seriously need to be CAREFUL.

I also don't believe that Niosi should have gotten the role of Moze (HSR), but at the same time, who the hell decided it was a good idea to get/give him the role? As I live under a rock, I didn't know who Niosi was. At the time of Moze's drip-marketing, I really thought it'd be cool—for the first time in a while, I actually felt excited for a character rather than the plot of a game. After hearing all this, and taking time thinking about it, I really just don't want to touch HSR content anymore at the moment. It's annoying, because HSR has really good content—it has the potential to be great.

I seriously just can't wrap my head around who hired this guy. I'm not going into Puatu specifically because I don't know much about what he wrote, and (again) I don't like getting into drama. My apologies on that part, but honestly? I'm just done.

Alright, Second off: Natlan Characters—Skin.

I'm pretty sure most people are aware of THIS controversy, but to simplify: Natlan Characters are too pale and it's inaccurate.

Geographically, it makes no sense. They're in warmer temperatures, they should be more tanned. On top of that, their skin tone DOES NOT MATCH their cultures, or where they're taken inspiration from. Hoyoverse are being boycotted (from what I heard) for whitewashing and neglecting to represent the people of said-cultures/said-traditions.

My Personal Thoughts?

COME ON, HOYOVERSE. Do better! It was one thing to drop Natlan Teasers about the characters, but seriously? Please, try a little harder! Genshin Impact has GOOD POTENTIAL—EVERYONE SEES THAT! But you can't make them tanned? Why?

This was the first thing that has been bugging me BEFORE the entire Moze EN VA bullcrap. Come on, Hoyoverse, do better. You are losing respect out here. I am so disappointed, and even that is an understatement! You are losing your respect and recognition as a worthy company brand! What is going on in their building???? Hello???

Someone better fix this skin tone problem soon. I am so fed up with this. As much as I love the characters they just drip-marketed, it's also quite unfair: Take Liyue, for example. Their culture and their people are represented accurately, as far as anime can go.

Natlan? Yikes, suddenly they aren't able to create that same amount of accuracy potential. Why though? What's stopping them? Why are they not doing what is ethically right?

Everyone's waiting for a proper answer, myself included.

Alright, With that all being said—the final Part: What's Happening to the Ghost Rebel's Blog?

Well, for starters: I need a break. I am not only disappointed, but mentally drained. I am so done with all of this, and I need an utter breather. I usually go on Tumblr to cool down or read some nice, wholesome writing posts I find on some fandoms I like. Now, however, I am in dire need of staying away from Tumblr.

I'll be on a little bit of hiatus from writing so much—but not for now, as I currently have an event going on.

However: I am no longer taking any HSR and/or Genshin requests until these issues are either resolved or fixed. That is my stance, and I hope you can respect it.

Yes, this will mean my blog will decrease in activity. However, I am still open to Genshin/HSR discussions—so long as they are not about drama/controversy. I think I'm drained from all of this.

To everyone who read to the very end of this post: Thank you for reading to the end, and I apologize if you were also trying to avoid witnessing these kinds of controversies. However, some things can't be overlooked.

Hope y'all are doing safe/good. Have a good day/night.

[mangionebabymama]

hiii its the uni anon here (🦄) thank you so much for the detailed response! it was really enlightening because — though i know pictures are only face level snapshots in time — looking at the timeline pics of him from his uni years, he really did seem to flourish and thrive in that zeitgeist (despite him mentioning on reddit how he considered dropping out at points due to his health which ☹️) just something about how his smile reaches his eyes in a lot of those pics, and how you can see the physical maturity from boy to man — not to mention the part where you said his stanford gig was most likely out of his own accord, speaks to how he must've felt a sense of belonging and eagerness for more ��� choosing to spend his summer helping others and adding to his skillset, rather than spending it relaxing. another question if you don't mind sorry; was there anything out there about any minors he took? i saw someone say maths, which checks out, but he also mentioned studying bio alongside cs, so was unsure about if that implied it being a minor!

also, was not expecting that lovely side note from you encouraging me about my own uni experience, that was incredibly kind of you and i definitely got a bit misty eyed reading it! i think it's been a heavy presence in the back of my mind that i didn't let myself think about, and so i didn't even realise i needed that kind motivation. i'm going to seriously consider dipping my feet back into the academic environment again — albeit terrifying me — so thank you so much!

Hi Uni!! If you don’t mind, I’m gonna call you 🦄 anon, if that’s okay?

I'm so sorry for just now getting back to this, but yes, I agree with everything that you said about the photos of him from 2019. Just by how he looked in them, it seemed to be one of the most defining years of his life. He was thriving in his life and education. And about his minor, I don't think there is much information; all I do know is that he mentioned on his LinkedIn that he earned a minor in math, along with earning his Bachelor's and Master's.

Also, I didn't mean to make you teary-eyed, but I am so glad to hear that you're considering potentially going back to school!!! 🥺 whatever you decide for yourself, I know you’ll do great and know I’m so proud of you!

[straydogkins]

How do I know if I am kin?

GIF credit | Divider credit

Regardless of if it's fictionkin or otherkin, this is a question I see a lot of people asking. The brutal truth is that no one can tell you that you kin or don't- It has to be you that comes to that conclusion.

However, I have put together a small guide on how I would personally approach a potential kin situation. It's all under the cut!

Note: If any information here is completely wrong then please lmk, although I've been in the kin community for a while, I am NOT an expert. Also, this post is written from a fictionkin POV, but I have tried to be as inclusive as possible.

Reminders

I know everyone is probably sick of hearing this but being kin is different for everyone, there is no definitive method of confirming your kins. However, it's important to remember this as some of the kinfirming methods and labels I describe may not apply to you at all- And that's okay.

I also want to say that it's completely okay to be wrong! I see a lot of people who are scared to be wrong about being kin with anything, but I promise that if you're wrong about being any kintype it's completely okay. Just explore and find what labels fit you.

Types of kin

Something that's helped me is remembering that there are multiple types of kin.

Fictionkin/Otherkin/Objectkin/Placekin/ect- These are all different types of kin. Fictionkin= From fiction, Otherkin= Animal, Placekin= Place, Plantkin= Plants, ect. You can kin pretty much anything.

Therian (also known as a therianthrope)- Is someone who identifies as nonhuman to some degree (ie identifying as a cat, or a dog, or a dragon, ect).

Spiritual (also known as Past Life and Multiverse) kin- As the name suggests it's a form of kin where you believe you were [kin] in a past life. However spiritual kin does not need to be 'past life' and could be involved with theories such as: The multiverse, alternative universes, ect.

Psychological kin- Is a form of kin when you don't believe you're the character in a past life, but you share a connection psychologically with them.

Fictionhearted/Otherhearted/Synpath- All of two words mean the same thing: they are referring to a kin that you identify with but not as. You can have a strong connection with a character to consider them a part of your identity but not think of them as you. (Definition taken from here). Note that otherhearted = animal and fiction hearted = fictional character.

Copinglink (also called c'link) and otherlink- Means that you are identifying as a fictional character or species for coping purposes. Those purposes are usually due to trauma, illness, disability, etc. (Definition taken from here) Note that again otherlink = animal and fictionlink = fictional character.

Kin for fun (also known as KFF)- I was hesitant to add this as a lot of kin folk (myself included) do not like this term. However, I decided to add it so people know. KFF is what the name suggests, they only kin for fun. However, the main issues arise as those involved with KFF tend to ignore actual kin folk, the community's history, and can be incredibly ableist (ie 'at least I'm not like those delusional kin' is a common sentiment I've seen) so please keep this in mind. Here is a redit thread explaining kin folks thoughts on the issue. (NOTE: Otherlinks and copinglinks are not KFF)

'Other'- As I said at the start of this post there are types of kins who don't fit any of these! For example there are kin folk with memories that don't class themselves as spiritual kin or believe in past lives and/or the multiverse- Kinning is entirely personal so even if you dont fit any of these categories you can still kin.

For more terms and better explanations, I would advise checking out this post on the therian guide and this post by fictkinhelp on tumblr. For other resources I will link the fictionkin and otherkin reddits, however I am unsure what the communities are like there.

I know that because there are so many definitions and types it can get overwhelming, however I personally find them helpful so I can classify my own experiences easier.

For example: If I look at a character with [trauma], I often link them to my own experiences and think that I kin them with no memories attached or the nagging feeling that it's more- Thus I know then they are a copinglink. However, if I'm looking at a character and I start getting the gut instinct that I kin them, then it's more likely to be a past life kin. Obviously, a kin can fit more than one of these categories (ie a character who has been through [trauma] and I get the Gut Feeling of, then it's possible they are a copinglink and a spiritual kin)

How do I know if I kin?

There is no concrete method that I know of, and these are just ones I use and/or have seen others use.

Dreams

Dreams are interesting, what I've found is that sometimes I'll dream that I am [character], but the dream at large won't make sense. Because of that I will look up the meanings of the symbolism in dreams and come to my own conclusions there. Another thing is that the dream may make complete sense and be very literal.

Divination

Divination is a great tool imo, especially for spiritual matters. For kinning I often use: a pendulum (if you can't afford a fancy crystal one then a paper clip or anything heavy on the end of a string will work) and tarot cards (here is a kinsidering spread by faetarot). However, you can literally use anything! I've also used music, rain, dice, idol gacha cards, I even have a friend who uses cards against humanity for divination.

However, I will note that I would personally take everything with a grain of salt, especially if you are doing the reading on yourself- Your own emotions can influence a reading, and all methods have limitations in what they can tell you.

Gut feeling

One of the main things that really guides me is gut feeling. I don't know how to describe it, it's like a large pang of emotion that often times feels like nostalgia, but it can also be much more negative and resemble shame or anger depending on what I'm looking at or trying to remember.

Of course, getting used to this takes time and practice, and I don't have many tips, it's just a skill you develop over time.

Memories

This only really works for spiritual kin stuff (at least that I'm aware of), however I want to mention that memories often follow an event. Ie, doing a divination reading on what your friend group was like may trigger emotions and/or memories of that.

Memories are also a thing that develops over time, when I was younger and first getting involved with the kin community, I couldn't get memories as easy as I do today.

I do want to mention that you can be kin without memories, and that memories come in many forms (emotional, tactile, ect) so not having visual memories (or any memories at all) does not mean you are faking or make you any less valid than someone who gets memories.

Other signs I didn't know how to categorize

There are other things, one is what I call 'kin similarities', for example you may have a pattern of being kin with characters who fit the 'angry ginger' stereotype, you may kin characters who just so happen to always be the 'evil mastermind' or even ones who are just 'dog coded'- All of these can help you work out if you kin someone similar, however this tends to only be a thing that people with multiple kins can do and isn't always reliable.

Phantom limbs are another sign, I know a lot of otherkin and therian folk who have phantom limbs such was wings or teeth or other body parts (ie extra limbs, tails, ect). I will note however that if your phantom limbs are causing you serious and constant distress I would personally go to a doctor.

The feeling of 'this is me'

Honestly this is (imo) the most important indication you can have that you kin. Most non kin folk don't think to themselves 'Yeah I am [character], [animal], ect' or if they do it's a fleeting thought. If this thought is repeating every time you see [kin] and/or won't go away even when you aren't looking at them, then I would say there's a high chance that you may kin them.

A piece of advice I found on reddit is to try and think 'Do I relate to [kin], or am I [kin]?' I know it's hard to work this out, so I would say that 'trying on' the kin for a bit may help.

For example, if I was kin with a dog I may try and picture myself as one, call myself a dog, even use the pronoun closet to change my name to my kins name, all of this to see how it feels for me personally.

Final notes

Remember that it's okay if it turns out that you do not kin a character, it's okay if you flip flop while trying to decide. Being kin is entirely personal.

If you have any corrections or tips you want to add, feel free to do so!

[pessimysticrw]

The Watcher DLC - Personal Dissection

[SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED BASE GAME/DLC] Oh goodness me, Videocult has decided to drop a nuke on my already rotted brain due to this game and now I shall dissect this yummy meal bit by bit like the picky eater I am (in a good way this time though). And yall are coming with me because I said so. Really, this is just a great place for me to get my thoughts in order... cough. A lot of this is speculation! If I can find anything confirmed, I will try and write about it when I can.

Steam DLC Description

Let's start with the obvious- this basically confirms new creatures, regions, etc. This place seems to be in a completely different area than both the base game and Downpour slugcats, with new creatures to boot. I will go over the revealed regions/screenshots in more detail further down.

The descriptions states "the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles", and while this could be linked to the Void Sea, the thumbnail art and font for the DLC's steam page and trailer depicts the Rot, and I am doubtful such an obvious detail would be thrown in there without it being present. Rot is only present where iterators are, and the only iterator we know of (in detail) to have the Rot is Five Pebbles, who got it by trying to rewrite himself. SRS gave him the pearl, but whoever wrote it is unknown, and I am highly doubtful it is 5P or SRS where this slugcat takes place in. It could be a pre-existing iterator like NSH/SOS (doubtful, but i suppose NSH would explain how Hunter got the rot if that is canon), a new one that also read the information that 5P and SRS did, or maybe even the one that originally wrote it that failed the experiment themself. This is a lot of speculation though and we will only really know for sure when more information is revealed. Take all of this with a grain of salt! I am just rambling possibilities.

New Regions

New regions are seen via screenshots on the DLC's Steam page. I will be attaching the screenshots here as well as what I speculate on what they may be/entail.

Starting with these two regions here, as it seems to match the most with the thumbnail art. At first I thought it was the foggy region below, but upon closer inspection this wall-like region incorporates more blue colors, fog/clouds are present, and would make the most sense for the rot to be present if this is indeed an iterator's wall.

Credits to shrinkshooter on Reddit for the enhanced image to the right.

This region looks reminiscent of 5P Memory Crypts, only in daylight. Whether this region serves a similar purpose to ancients is unknown. I considered the possibility of it being in a similar placement like 5P, but I am unsure if that would make sense due to the fact that 5P's shaded citadel is underneath his superstructure- hence why it is so dark in that region- when it clearly isn't here. (It could be completely separate from and not relating anything to Shaded Citadel entirely though!)

Mysterious looking underground region filled with green water. It's water guys. It better be water. Please no more acid, I'm begging.

This area immediately made me think of Spearmaster's start of their campaign, or it could be something reminiscent to Moon's Submerged Superstructure. Drainage System/Undergrowth also comes to mind.

Two desert-like regions are depicted here! While some speculation on the region on the right is it being a snow biome- I personally believe that this may be in face a dust/sand storm. Dust storms were planned during Metropolis' development in Downpour, but were scrapped in favor for the day/night cycle instead. Additionally, the snow particles present in Saint's campaign look drastically different compared to what is shown here. Additionally, there is Developer Commentary that talks about these dust storms for Metropolis. The dust storm effect looks different compared to what is shown, but it could have been possibly reworked to suit the region's look. Who knows though! Could just indeed be snow- but the entire area for this campaign looks to be generally warmer.

This region looks reminiscent to Sky Islands from 5P. Something to note is the lack of nearby iterator cities. This could mean two things: this campaign takes place far into the future, with surrounding iterators having already collapsed. Or...

It could be located on an desert island, right next to an ocean. Where all the water could have gone from this area will honestly be up to speculation until more information presents itself- however the seemingly coral-like structure to this region seems to point to this. It would also explain the lack of visible iterator cities in the background of the previous mentioned Sky Islands reminiscent region.

Additionally in one of the thumbnails for the DLC, water is present below the slugcat. (Then again, rain/water is present for all of em besides Saint eh?)

Additional Notes

An echo-like effect is seen around the slugcat in the previously mentioned thumbnail, as well as in the ripples in the water around it

[lovebvni]

Hiiii ! Moonie here 💙

First of all : THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE READING 🙏 , means a lot to me !!! And I truly hope that you’ve been doing well and your life becomes more positive and the up and downs stop

About , whether the answers still apply : I think they do to a certain degree , actually ! ✨ since my ask , my view of manifesting really did change! Back then , I trusted loa and understood it but the trust wasn’t deep rooted . Found myself daily searching up on TikTok , Tumblr , Reddit , “if robotic affirmations really work” , and even tho I totally have the freedom to manifest (& shift) as I’d like , I still kinda was unsure and maybe also in a way afraid ???

I wouldn’t say tho , I am 100% there yet where I want , maybe I am around 83%? Been speeding up my pace right now , as in : stopping with excuses and taking my time to saturate my mind with new and good statements about myself !

( 🔵 about the answer from question one “ should moonie only manifest reality shifting , because she is trying to focus on perma shifting ?” —> “need to be used to the 3D and 4D working together to reflect your desires.”, “do you think this right with your own intuition?” & “haven’t you asked something similar before?” )

I really needed to read through the paragraph twice , to understand really what they’re getting at .

: if I remember correctly, I have asked something similar before shortly before or after I sent the ask to my guides . Right now , I couldn’t tell you anymore what the answer [ to my question , regarding me focusing entirely on shifting ] was .. however , in the meantime I had some time where I did focus more on my mindset !! And I think they meant back then , that I should become aware of what I want and maybe understand the whole 3D/4D thing better ! [back then I always refused to really let it sink it and didn’t really get the reflecting thing] — but now that I have become more to terms with loa and understood how I personally want to use it ( saturating my mind with my new story / statements and desires , till my subconscious gets flooded by them , LOLOL ) . I also decided, to purely focus now on shifting, especially after reading now your answer !💙

Oh and thank you a lot for the drawings 😭🙏 they really helped me !!

Unfortunately, you’re right . I would pick a goal or chose a plan just for me never sticking to it and always changing my mind , chasing another way before ending it / manifesting it . Lacked a lot of discipline ( trying to change that as of now )

( 🔵 ques two : “is moonie on the right track?” )

Yeeeah, the drawing did really represent me until recently! Feeling very called out by it , to be honest 💔😃 (playfully!) (that’s by the way a huge compliment! You did amazing and I think , the drawings did really help)

I think a lot about what you typed down there , really meant what I mentioned earlier : with changing my minds every other day and kinda running away from change in a way , making it harder for me for no particular reason .

( 🔵 last que : “should moon work on their prospective memory ?” )

I actually kinda worked a bit on it ! I also affirmed for a better one and I think I feel it has worked ?

Tiny question: is there a reason why you added the last song think of me once in a while,take care ? For some reason , I got kinda emotional when I heard it jdjddjjfjf

I’d like to ask if that’s okay with you , one last question: (if you don’t want to , then that’s more than completely fine💯)

A bit more than a week ago , I actually shifted by just wanting to sleep and heard my dr . Afterwards, I asked for confirmation from my guides and they said I really did shift.

Since then , I kinda chilled and worked a bit on my mindset.. and after reading your reply and what they thought a month ago , I can’t help but wonder if …

🔹their minds and answers have changed, regarding me being ready and..

🔹 II. if I should now completely focus on shifting …

🔸if I stop since then myself from shifting by just falling asleep (again)?

But I think, I am ready now ? Or pretty close to be really ready

Thank you so so much again for your help 💙✨

to answer ur tiny question, i add songs if spirit plays them/pushes me to add them. the title to that felt very important so i decided to add it because of the way i felt about it.

again, i’m getting to this late but i saw a rock — spirit is solid in what they said before. they want you to learn to have discipline and keep going until you reach wits end. “use your tools wisely.” don’t use them for a small amount of time then jump to something else.

i kinda get the feeling you’re looking for an escape from obligations. stop doing that and keep doing what you have been set out to do.

stop seeking excuses, and just keep working.

i asked spirit for a song you can interpret yourself.

here it is (it’s very on theme with the blue)

i hope this helps you, but seriously don’t look for an excuse for everything. it hurts you in the long run

[haleigh-sloth]

What makes you think Toga will live? I want to agree but the more I see these sick and demented people cheering for her suicide, the more I start to think maybe I’m the one who has it wrong, and I’m so depressed over the reactions it’s distracting me from other things…

Coherent writing, character arcs and how they generally work in fiction, themes being consistently delivered in a consistently written story with a consistent writer, the author’s own commentary on the story and the character arcs in question (even tho author commentary should always be taken with a grain of salt, his much later comments have adhered to his story very clearly)

Also like I’m sorry but other peoples’ reactions don’t determine my own, nor should they determine yours.

If it makes you feel better feel free to go check out the general take on Reddit from during the PLF war about Deku and Tomura or Touya. Go ahead, because you’ll be seeing what the general consensus was back then and you will wonder how the fuck these people understood a single thing in this story.

So many people swore up and down that the last 3 tgck chapters would never even happen. At all. “Everyone else’s” opinions mean dick to me.

I am unsure how long you’ve been in the fandom but people like myself, @redphlox, @transhawks, @hamliet, @helga-grinduil, and several more I just can’t think off the top of my head been having this debate/argument/back and forth about the villains being just SAVED or seen as victims by the heroes since 2020. And here we are, 3 years later with Touya, Tomura, and Toga all with people in the narrative hellbent on saving them. That argument alone has already been won, that the concept is even present in the story.

People who pay attention to the details and the character arcs and the story’s themes at play have all more or less hit the nail on everything to expect in the big picture.

Everyone you’re mentioning and referring to are the people who call it a Mickey Mouse Manga or call the author a fraud or scream retcon at everything because everything they predict is wrong. Every. Single. Time.

There is only one party here that is angry at the manga, and it isn’t any of the people who have been screaming about a happy ending for the villains for the last 3+ years (much more for some of the people I listed above).

So yeah “everyone is cheering for Toga’s suicide” is not a convincing argument for why she will die. Everyone was cheering for Dabi to die and for Deku to see Tomura as a unsaveable monster and now all those people are throwing online tantrums.

Funny enough, none of the rest of us are.

[eggsandtrifles]

Starting with Polymer Clay

Hello everyone! I'm Mo, and I am planning to document a new journey into sculpting clay projects. (Cool pictures ahead!)

I've started making miniatures when I was probably eleven years old! That's a decade ago! As a matter of fact, today I was very fortunate to find my very first polymer clay miniature, a little bubblegum triceratops. One of my upcoming projects is to recondition him, so look forward to a before and after of this little guy.

(Sorry about the quality of these pictures... I'm working with bad lighting atm.)

I've made much more items, some of which I sadly forgot to take photos of, and some of which I've lost along the timeline of this universe. HOWEVER>>>>

Now that I'm settling into my new career studies, I wanted to make time for my hobbies, and hopefully expand into something new. This wouldn't be done in a short time, which is why I am going to set some goals.

I also think that sharing this publicly can motivate me to get things going, or perhaps get some suggestions and inspirations. So hit that follow button and keep in touch! (thank you so much please though I'm not fishing for followers you have a choice I'm shy and very awkward sorry)

Before I actually start projects, I do need to make a list of materials that I need to successfully kick-off my little endeavor.

I do not have an oven to bake the goods. I have been using a small heater during the winter time, because that's what I've had, without spending any money. It does harden the clay but it is not curing it, as per my schooling on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/polymerclay/comments/1gsp229/glass_and_baking_possible_mistake/

Before anyone downvotes me and says that I can afford to buy clay, yet I did not invest in a toaster oven, etc... I haven't bought clay in maybe five years. When I started making clay things again during my sophomore year of college, it was because I found a box of my old things in storage. That being said I need a fresh batch of clay!

I want to incorporate epoxy resin for diorama projects. Insert all the other fun liquid stuff that comes with making clay items.

Luckily I was gifted tools, so I do not need to invest in that for now. Spring break is over, so I think I would have enough money by the summer to get everything. I will make a list.

In the meantime I will try to share my old work with everyone! My main blog will be here, but I will also post on my Pinterest (I also have collaborative boards!):

https://www.pinterest.com/eggsandtrifles/

I am unsure if I should start an Instagram that is separate from my personal IG because I struggle so much with getting views on there. This is where I would like to ask for your opinion!

If you have suggestions about getting views and building a community as a new artist, please do share! The help is appreciated.

I do have to start some assignments now, so I will leave off here. Thank you for reading, and I am excited to start this journey with you! Don't hesitate to reach out, I love making new friends! And I'd love to see others' work and support each other!

[erraticprocrastinator]

A Guide to AO3, Part 1: Relationships

In tandem with sharing my usual random writing tips, I thought it might be nice to finally put my five years of experience on AO3 to good use. I'm compiling a list of things that I commonly see misunderstood by people who are new to the site, or fandom culture in general, and will do my best make a post explaining each, so that others might have an easier time getting to know the lay of the land than I did.

What better place to start than the Relationships section?

Warning: This post contains brief discussions of non-consent and underage relationships in fanworks (in relation to the use of Archive Warnings).

On AO3, it's a common (and expected) practice for authors to provide basic information about the relationships within a work. This is done through four main means, all of which I will touch on here:

Archive Warnings

Relationship Categories

Relationship Tags (Otherwise known as "Ships")

Additional Tags

Archive Warnings

Whilst archive warnings are required for all works uploaded to AO3, there are two in particular that are explicitly relevant to the relationships within a story; "Rape/Non-Con", and "Underage".

Unless selecting "Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings", any story containing non-consensual or underage sexual behaviour should be equipped with the respective Archive Warnings. I am aware that there are many discussions around this topic, particularly in relation to dub-con and other subtypes of non-consent, and differing definitions of "underage" in certain fandoms, but I encourage that this be used as a general rule. If you are unsure of whether these warnings are relevant to your story, I recommend seeking the opinion of other AO3 users (my preferred platform for this is r/AO3 on Reddit), and, if a clear consensus can't be reached, using "Choose Not To Warn" to be on the safe side.

Relationship Categories

In a nutshell, this section boils down to the presence (or absence) of sexual or romantic relationships in your story, and the type of relationships that these may be. I think that the attached guide available on AO3 itself explains it well, so I won't dwell on this for too long, but one thing (that I discuss more in the next section) that I think should be noted is that, in this context, "/" refers to the existence of a romantic or sexual relationship between the genders in question, and not a platonic bond. For example, if your story focuses on a purely friendly relationship between two women, you do not need to select "F/F", and should instead choose "Gen".

Relationship ("Ship") Tags

These are the tags used to identify the specific main relationships within your story, both sexual/romantic and platonic. They use the characters' names, with either "/" or "&" between them to identify the nature of the relationship.

Now, that note I wanted to expand on:

I've recently seen a lot of confusion surrounding the correct way to tag romantic and platonic relationships, including a few people commenting on mine and others' works thinking that misleading tags have been used, so I'd like to take this opportunity to set things straight.

"/" is the symbol that should be used when tagging a relationship that is romantic or sexual in nature (this is actually where the term "slash" in smut originated from!). "X" can also be used for this purpose in general fandom spaces, but isn't used on AO3.

"&", on the other hand, should only be used for non-sexual, non-romantic relationships within a story. If your story contains a major platonic relationship, this is the symbol to use.

Example: The tags below indicate two different types of relationship and are not interchangeable.

It's completely fine to use both of these if the romantic relationship in your story also has a heavy emphasis on friendship, or if you're following a friends-to-lovers arc, but "&' alone should not be used to indicate a romantic relationship, and "/" should not be used for one that is purely platonic. This is something that's good to keep in mind for both authors and readers!

Additional Tags

Additional Tags, as well as being the place to tag anything not encompassed in previous sections, is also a great place to tag any other information you think is relevant about the relationships in your story. This can include anything from the story arc that takes place ("enemies to lovers" etc) to the nature and specific dynamics involved. Many people who post explicit works use this section to tag the acts and positions performed, as well as other details such as kinks. You can use this section to explain as much about the relationships as you like. I plan on doing a more in-depth guide to tagging in general in the future, which will expand on this, as well as explain more general expectations and courtesies that new authors should be aware of.

[georgiapeach30513]

A lovely morning to you! -🤡

First, I’m sorry that people seem to be bothering you and your friends. People should remember that our social media interactions are curated by ourselves so we have the power to engage with what we want and ignore the rest. If you don’t like a blog, simply don’t interact.

For the reason I’m here though, I saw someone responded to me and I wanted to offer a response back. Firstly my joke: “You’re finding positive comments on REDDIT?!” Haha, but no seriously thank you for the extra links to check out, it seems I was too early when looking through the comments because the positives seemed to surged after a while! I see people excited and putting lots of trust in Celine’s vision so I hope they leave happy seeing the movie. When I first checked out the comments it was within the first hour of the trailer being posted so it seems like it was just people ready to bash.

Funnily enough, your experience has been the opposite of mine lol. I saw positive comments on Twitter and negative on Reddit, even from that Lewis account. Looks like I gotta curate my Reddit account some more. C’est la vie 🤷‍♂️ Once again, thank you for the links, I appreciate it and yes I believe that Chris is a capable actor to also even be noticed by awards if he can really get his teeth into his role (hopefully Sacrifice will be that role for him)

Personally my favorite moment in the Materialists trailer was when Chris said “Is that my charger!” And that Boston accent came out. Because like yes baby boy it is, I’m sorry. Are you gonna punish me then? 😆

And that’s all my thoughts on the matter 💭 See ya around!

🤡anon you came back so soon!

People should remember to curate their own space, and that I am allowed to do the same. I can block who I want, and I can post who I want. Same goes with my friends. I can't control them, they can't control me. We curate our space, as should everyone else. If you have a problem with it, block and move on. It's tumblr, and not that serious. I think there's some projecting and dare I say jealousy that we don't post what they want us to? Geeze, anyways.

I do think that the early response on Materialists did seem to be more the haters, or the people a bit wary. They are unsure as to what to think. And let's face it, there are some people that really just want to hate on Chris, and to each their own. I just don't understand why people invest so much time and space to people they don't enjoy. But what I can say is this is proving that Celine is not a one trick pony.

I never go on Reddit. I have an account, and I love watching people read AITA Reddit, and I do love the Dusty Thunder reddit 👀 (Candy Thunder is a lucky lucky woman! I love them so much).

What I love about most of us on here is that we want to see Chris not only succeed, but reach his fullest potential. I do think there have been roles that maybe he didn't give his all. Or maybe the script was just wrong for him. But We know that he can do so much more, and we're rooting for him. As much as Brandon annoys me sometimes, I do think he wants to see Chris succeed.

🤡 you know we love when that Boston accent pops out!! I literally got a little smile. I think he's coming back to the confident, capable, amazing actor that we know he is.

[cadybear420]

Holy shit it's already been 4 years since I first discovered Choices. Excuse me while I try to keep my brain from exploding

On February 2, 2021, I found the app while idly searching random shit on the Google Play store. I downloaded it expecting it to be as trashy as the ads portrayed those kinds of games as. So I planned to spend my time mocking the game and its ridiculousness that I expected from it, and then delete it once I had my fill.

One hour later, in my bed at 5:30 AM, I was playing TRR Book 1 and already at the end of chapter 1, I was swooning over Prince Liam because he was just the sweetest, and thinking to myself that this game probably has some substance.

Then after I completed TRR 1 chapter 1 I noticed TNA Book 1. That cover looked exactly like the normative kind of stuff I'd love to mock. I started playing it and it had a lot of normative mock-worthy things but it was also kind of fun in a way. It's exactly what it was on the cover and it was interesting, and it did have some genuine positives.

A couple of weeks later, later in February, TNA 1 would be the first Choices book I ever completed. Again, mock-worthy but fun and interesting. I think I either tried out Foreign Affairs or Open Heart next, though I didn't really binge through those because they felt more low-key compared to the insanity wild ride that was TNA.

I don't remember when exactly I started HSS. My earliest screenshot is from Book 1 Ch 6 and goes back to March 11, 2021 but I know I started it earlier than that. And believe you me, I was fully expecting it to be a very corny Disney Channel high school style story. Instead I got the motherfucking demon child that would rework my entire brain chemistry for the next four years and almost certainly counting.

HSS was definitely playing on some tropes and very larger than life yet at the same time, it still felt real and it played up the tropes well. I was definitely invested after the first 2-3 chapters, and I think by chapter 5 after that premium scene where you can listen to Aiden playing piano I was full-on hooked. That's when I knew for sure I was never getting rid of this app. No matter how much bullshit AI crap or whatever PB is doing nowadays, they can't take HSS away from me.

It also helped that I was feeling like utter shit early in February, partly due to my older fandom RWBY being a shitshow (do not ask). Choices and HSS was one of quite a handful of good, refreshing things that came along and gave me a sort of a fresh start.

I'm not going to go over my nostalgia for all the books because as fond as those memories are, if I did that we'd be here forever so maybe another time. But I will say that I spent the first year and a half on Choices Reddit and a couple of Discords and had some fun times there. Then sometime in June 2022 I made my blog. I was unsure about the Tumblr fandom so I joined to mainly just reblog Aiden-related stuff and mind my own business not really talking to people much.

Eventually I decided to start posting some of the edits I'd been working on in my spare time but not really sharing them much. My first ever edit I posted was the first version of Aiden's swimsuit redesign. I was really nervous about sharing it at first.

Later on I started posting a few more edits, HSS incorrect quotes and also getting involved in some of the critical discourse because it was making my brain run at 5000000 mph.

For the following year and a half I would be more active but still mostly reblogging stuff with the occasional discourse post of my own or edit. I was still very nervous about some things like more suggestive HSS headcanons and I've witnessed a couple of the arguably worse sides of the Choices fandom. Social anxiety is a bitch.

It wasn't until around October 2023 ish... or maybe July 2023 ish actually, that I started getting more immersed into more of the community. Around that point I did kind of want to start actually sharing my creations with people and not just dumping them onto my blog. I was still a bit anxious but I also hated being lonely.

And then by December 2023, I participated in my first ever Secret Pal Exchange and I greatly enjoyed it. From there, I began gradually meeting new people, new amazing friends and creators, and I began feeling more comfortable sharing ideas and things I liked.

Heh, who knew that me idly searching random shit on Google play out of boredom and feeling forlorn would lead to all this. So in honor of me having been invested in this game for four years, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who I have met in the fandom for being a wonderful friend, for supporting my art and my edits and my fics and my headcanons and my MCs and all the rest, for creating such amazing works and MCs and headcanons of your own, and for creating such a welcoming community. I am certainly looking forward to continuing these amazing memories.

Long live the Choices fandom, HSS, and Aiden Zhou with all his class, sass, and ass.

[pbandjesse]

We successfully had our baby shower! And everyone who came made it home safely. I had a really lovely day and I am just really thankful for all of the support we received.

I slept alright last night. By the time I finished my post TikTok was blocked (but now it's back?? Short lived propaganda I guess.) So I spent some time following different reddits and was able to sleep way easier. So even if TikTok is back I'm going to try to limit my time in it because I slept way better without the scrolling.

I did wake up a few times. I wasn't in a lot of pain or anything but I was just s little uncomfortable. I also kept hearing things. Knocking in the walls, beeping from a truck outside, things falling down. I was just slightly unsettled and had stress dreams about our car getting towed.

But we were not towed. And when I woke up James got back in bed with me for a cuddle. We talked and chilled and eventually got up to get ready.

We had been watching the weather a ton. The snow turned into rain in Baltimore but New Jersey and Philly were more questionable. We weren't going to be upset with anyone if they didn't feel safe. So we would end up having a few people not come. But the turn out was still really good!

We were all very aware of the impending weather though. So once I was dressed and had a little breakfast we would leave for Jess's.

But there was basically no issue getting there. About an hour and 15 minutes. And I was really excited to see Jess.

When we got there I was attacked by the balloons she had outside blowing around in the wind. But her house was warm and so sweetly decorated. She took my ice cream theme and made it so wonderful. Ice cream balloons and flower decor and actual fancy ice cream sandwiches. It was great! And I could eat basically everything and that was awesome.

Soon people were coming in. Jess's mom, aunt, and cousin were already there helping set up. And a lot of others would arrive early too. And that worked out great.

My mom was there. Evan and Noelle. My aunt Nadine and Uncle Dave!! I was very excited that they made it because it was very unsure. The Fulwilers, Charlotte and Callie. And eventually Paul and Sam would come as well. And it was so nice. Like people were eating and talking and I got to talk about the birth class and the plans going forward. And it was fun having a captive audience to explain how a caesarian section goes now. Compared to my family's experiences. It was great. I was having a great time.

Jess had some games. A baby mad lib. A baby animal matching game. But I think the best was baby present bingo. People wrote in their own ideas of what the gifts could be and then as we opened them you could mark it off.

I requested that everyone gets a gift that someone else brought to open, rather then me just sitting and everyone watching. I thought this would be more engaging. I had seen someone online do it and I thought it was so smart. And it worked out so well! People were so engaged! We didn't have a ton of gifts to open though so to fill out the rest of the bingo I went through the Amazon thank you page and read out what we had gotten on there. Which lead to Jess's cousin winning the bingo which was so sweet. Mom learned that she's 13 too which was hilarious.

We would have people doing crafts. My coloring pages for the alphabet was very popular. We also had wooden blocks to decorate. People were eating and talking and taking pictures in the photo booth Jess set up for the guestbook. We used more of the pages from our engagement party/wedding guest book. It's so fun to see it continue to grow!!!

The older people would leave a little earlier. The Fulwilers and Charlotte and Callie left too. I was glad they came and was glad they were leaving when they felt comfortable. It was a little bit of winter weather coming down.

But mom and Evan and Noelle and Paul and Sam stayed. Jess and her mom as well obviously. But it was so good. We all sat in the craft room drawing on the blocks and doing the coloring sheets. And we apparently could not remember how to spell because we thought xylophone started with a Z so we were all laughing and it was so silly. I was really enjoying talking to Evan and Sam and it was just really wonderful.

But the weather was getting worse. So after taking lots more pictures with the Instax and talking through why I'm giving birth early, everyone started helping bring things to the car. I was so grateful to them for all their help and support.

I was sad to go. But it was after 4 and I was getting tired and the hail was turning into snow. Mom had left before our friends, and I was thankful for our friends driving the hour to this and just wanted to then to get home safe.

And us as well. Me and Jess had a big hug and I told her how thankful I was for her. And then we were off.

The snow would pick up. I was surprised! The visibility was pretty bad at times. So I tried hard to not distract James. James said they were doing good though once we were over the bridge. We did see one accident of someone who spun out, but the car wasn't to damaged so we hope that the people in it were alright.

It would take an extra half hour to get home, mostly because we were going slow. Only a little actual traffic. I was just really looking forward to being out of the weather, even though it was very pretty.

We arrived home a little after 530. Which was great. It wasn't raining or snowing much so while I was putting away leftovers and candy, James was bringing in gifts. We will have to put everything away but tonight was not the night.

Instead James got their gear on to watch the football game in the kitchen. I put together some outfits for the week. James made us salads for dinner. And I came downstairs to scroll on my phone while we ate dinner. Sweetp came and cuddled with me. And I am thankfully not hurting but I am so very tired.

It has been a long couple days.

Tomorrow we have an appointment in the morning. And then I hope to work on Crabcake's enclosure. And put away our gifts. And rest and enjoy being with my husband.

I am feeling really happy this evening. Tired, but happy. I'm going to go wash my face and start winding down for bed. I hope you all have a good night. I hope you are somewhere warm. It's going to be real cold tomorrow!!

Goodnight everyone! I love you all!!