#But they're still trying to be a better person than they were. And oftentimes they end up doing a terrible job!!

[sskk-manifesto]

What a good episode. Maaaaaan

[weirdsht]

HAHAHAHA imagine Cale with someone weaker than him + a troublemaker and oftentimes think crazier than him, but they're useful so that's what tied them together with the gang💀 bro might feel the stress his hyungs felt whenever he throws himself into danger lol and would start reflecting. Have u done this b4? :D

Is This My Karma? - Cale/Reader

notes: anon... did you take a look inside my mind? or maybe my docs? because the series i'm going to publish later has a similar prompt. i was gonna make it a surprise but since the cat is out of the bag imma announce it here lol. i'll be making a cale/reader slowburn series or at least try but while waiting for that you guys enjoy this small drabble from anon's ask first

tags: fluff, sickfic, reader is an idiot, cale is also an idiot, idiots in love basically, choi han is in charge of their single braincell, established relationship

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are open and welcome

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“For the last time, you will not pass your cold to the White Star. How are you even going to achieve that? Also what merit would it bring if that punk catches your sickness?”

Cale glanced over at the sick person in his bed speaking nonsense. Well, it’s not completely nonsense as it was possible.

…If that said person wasn’t on the verge of dying because of a fever.

“We both cough know it’s cough possible. Plus you’re not looking at the bigger picture of cough White Star getting a fever.”

“No you’re just thinking irrationally-”

“Ah ah, I’m still cough speaking. Let the cough sick cough speak.”

“...I think the sick should shut the hell up and sleep.”

The person who is Cale’s significant other only glared at the commander before drinking the water Choi Han handed to them. When arguments like this first happened the swordmaster would interject to create peace.

But that was before he learned just how unhinge this person was.

_____, Cale’s headache and significant other, was a naturally weak person. Even weaker than Cale without ancient powers. However, despite their physical prowess being on the weaker side they have a very useful ancient power.

They have a wood attribute power that can conjure flowers, grass, and trees with either poison or healing powers. Its downside is that the abilities do not work on _____. However, they can make flowers that can spread whatever sickness they have at the moment.

“We all know you just need to fling me at cough a good distance near Mr. Steal-My-Cale’s-Looks and I can pass him my cold with the flowers. Easy peasy Ron’s lemon squeezy.”

Cale remembers _____’s explanation being that the flowers' pollen would contain the same bacteria and virus as their body. Or something along those lines.

“...”

“Hear me cough out, okay? Imagine this, White Star with his plate on the verge of breaking, coughing out so much blood, armless in every sense of the cough as well. Imagine a cough nasty fever and cough combo on top of that.”

“...”

_____ looked at the silent Cale expectantly.

“Sometimes I really wonder why I got together with a punk like you”

“But you love me!”

Sigh

Cale couldn’t refute so he just sighed.

At first, he let _____ join their group because they were useful. Not only is their ability useful but they are also intelligent. They have the see the faults in Cale’s plan and think of a counter-measure. They can also conjure up great plans.

Well, most of the time at least.

Other times look like this…

“No, we are not doing your absurd plan. Just go to sleep and get better, I’ll take care of things.”

Cale kissed the top of _____’s head.

“And don’t even try to think of sneaking out like you did last time. Alberu and Tasha almost had a heart attack.”

The previously smiling _____ because of Cale’s kiss was now pouting because of the reminder. 

Meanwhile, Cale let them be as he went out of their bedroom.

He let out another sigh as he did. Behind him was Choi Han struggling to suppress a smile, wait no a laugh.

“What’s up with you?”

“No, it’s just that Cale-nim you and _____-nim are really similar.”

Choi Han added after seeing Cale glare at him.

“Sometimes that’s how your plans look to us.”

“Haaa”

Cale couldn’t help but notice how his acting like his sworn brother right now.

‘Is this how the crown prince feels about me?’

Not just the crown prince but everyone else as well.

‘Was this why team leader-nim and Choi Jung Soo insisted that I should farm with them even after retirement?’

There was no way, right?

‘There’s no way me and _____ are similar. I’m not self-sacrificial like that. I always make sure that I will live.’

Right?

Looks like he finally got all my warnings.

Cale ignored Super Rock’s voice.

But still, he can’t deny that he caused his group some headaches.

“...I will reflect on myself.”

Choi Han only nodded and smiled at the dazed young master.

Meanwhile, Cale’s mind is a bit chaotic right now.

‘Did my karma come in the form of my significant other?’

There’s no way that’s the case… right?

Right???

[mrsbsmooth]

I get that everyone is very excited about unbelievably-hot-sexy-tattooed-necklace-floppy-hair-boy, but can I make a humble request?

I'm trying really hard to say this nicely but I've had a hellish week so it's probably going to come out a little harsher than intended.

Once you start playing, and you inevitably realise you're not having a good time, and you decide you don't want to play any more, please don't ruin it for those of us who keep going.

Last season, I wasn't the only one who felt like people were getting really rude and/or judgey over those of us who were still playing. Yeah, it's not perfect. Oftentimes it's downright bad. But we're still playing it, and we're trying to have a good time.

I don't want to be reminded that my LI says the same things as the others. I know. I don't need to be reminded that their proportions are off or that their face is weird or whatever. We know. But we're trying to enjoy the game as best we can. There's just no need for me to post something raving about my LI and have the comments, the asks, whatever saying 'you know his route is exactly the same as [other person] though right?'. It just makes me not want to bother posting to tumblr at all. It's funny if you're laughing and commiserating with your friends if we're all playing together, but when you're not playing, and I am, it actually comes across as really patronising. It makes me feel like you're looking down on me for enjoying a game that you deemed not up to your standards.

I'm not saying I've never complained about the game, that would be insane. I've got a whole blog where I talk about it all the bloody time. But I'm also playing and I'm making jokes and memes with other people who are also playing. We're commiserating together.

Argh, I'm not wording this right.

Here.

If you and your friends are all watching a movie, and you aren't enjoying it, go ahead and sit on your phone that's totally fine.

You're welcome to look up every now and again and ask what's going on, or look up and smile at a kiss scene and go 'awww that's cute' and go right back to your phone.

But don't yell out insults at the movie while your friends are having a good time watching it. And especially don't make fun of your friends who are laughing at the happy bits, or crying at the sad parts.

Don't tell them they're being silly because the movie is dumb and you've seen better.

I just want to watch a movie with my friends, I guess.

[cheddar-baby]

my view of modelling was so thoroughly changed in university when one day my teacher brought in a model from one of the big local agencies for a in studio tutorial class. She got there and was talking with the class about herself and she said she was like 16 and still in high school and it was instantly like oh this is really weird and uncomfortable. The shoot we were doing was a fashiony thing not crazy risque but the realization the model was a child made it immediately feel way too much to be getting a child to do.

But thats not an uncommon thing you run into a lot of underage models working with agencies because the profession of modelling is entirely trying to sell youth and beauty to people. But it wasnt something i had experienced in person until then and being the people behind the camera having to tell a literal child to pose in ways you're not comfortable with is distinctly and palpably different than just seeing those photos out on billboards. Everyone in my class immediately felt like parental figures trying to make sure this kid was safe and comfortable and okay.

It just changed how i view models because it is a very vulnerable profession. These people kind of put themselves at the whim of complete strangers and hope that they're going to be treated well when oftentimes they are not. I've seen people who should know better mistreating models and it must be humiliating work when that happens. I dont envy models in any way shape or form it is physically grueling work and almost every image taken of you is going to be altered so heavily you don't even recognize yourself in it anymore. I think they get miscategorized as some sort of higher class bougie profession but it really is just a physical labor job, its selling your emotions and your physicality for strangers to scrutinize every inch of your body. Its a job that doesn't pay well in most cases because you start out working with small artists who spent their entire paycheck on the props and equipment for the shoot. Then you move to big companies who wont pay you well because they're cheap and everyone they hire is being paid the bare legal minimum.

Its not an enviable job.

[kyouka-supremacy]

More thoughts about Kyouka and Akutagawa since I have. A Lot. Most of this was initially rambles that were to go in the tags but got too long to fit

In the end Akutagawa likes Kyouka so much and is fond of her because he subconsciously admires how she found the courage to get out of the environment that was severely hurting her and actually call out her abusive mentor for the pain he inflicted her, whereas Akutagawa is aware that he never was and never will be able to do the same. It's only subconscious, because Akutagawa couldn't ever stand admitting it to himself- because to him that would mean admitting being in pain is his fault too, as well as second guessing every single choice he's ever made. But the admiration is still there. Akutagawa is always complimenting Kyouka, and it's kind of heartwarming‚ kind of heartbreaking when you take in that that's just what he always wanted his own mentor to do to him. Akutagawa's character is so tragic...

Also, in my opinion Kyouka never really feared Akutagawa the way Akutagawa fears Dazai. She feared being hurt as long as she stayed in an hostile enviroment, in great disadvantage and with no chance to get out on her own, but as soon as her chains were broken she really... Doesn't falter in front of Akutagawa. She threatens him with a gun the day after having left the pm- and she doesn't falter, doesn't hesitate; she almost blows him up seconds later; she's not afraid of him as they fight during the cannibalism arc; in Dead Apple, she isn't troubled by the idea of being left alone with him, because she's confident in her abilities and knows she can perfectly stand up for herself. None of this could be said for Akutagawa and Dazai. Partially because Akutagawa was much more vulnerable than Kyouka when Dazai picked him up (despite them being the same age; but Kyouka was raised lovingly and had a perception of what being treated with dignity was like, while Akutagawa lacked that), partially because Dazai is way better at manipulating people than Akutagawa could ever be, who really sucks at it. Akutagawa is terrified of Dazai and still very much subject to him: God, he didn't hesitate one second to throw himself from a balcony just to catch a repetitor for a slight chance to talk to him. He begged him to allow him to prove his power although he was beaten and exhausted and every muscle in his body hurt like hell. He didn't object to being teamed up with the person he hates the most in the whole world just because it was Dazai who asked. After four years after having been abandoned, Dazai called, and Akutagawa immediately ran to him- with that desperate look in his eyes. But the list is so long, I could go on forever; every single thing Akutagawa does (or, almost every single... ), he does for Dazai. Kyouka would never do ANY of this for Akutagawa (thank goodness). Akutagawa fears Dazai, Kyouka doesn't fear Akutagawa.

It's also sorta fun how Kyouka didn't particularly try to hide her dislike for Akutagawa even while she was still in the pm. Seriously, Kyouka is so fearless and brave. I wholly believe her being so blunt about her animosity towards him contributes to Akutagawa having a liking for her, be it self-loathing, be it having the courage to do what he himself could never. (And it's also fun to remember how Akutagawa has it in him to hate Dazai. There's a whole alternative universe where he deeply loathes him from the first to the last page).

Really, Kyouka and Akutagawa are some of my favorite foils and I'll never get tired of them. Both of them are kind of ruthless. Both have a deep bond with their siblings, who bring out the best of them. For both joining their respective organizations is seen as salvation. The way they're both very pragmatic and oftentimes even cynical. The way they were perfectly on the same page in Dead Apple, to the point Kyouka deemed it the best choice in that moment to go with Akutagawa rather than stay with Atushi. The real difference lays in how Kyouka found it in herself to rebel where Akutagawa couldn't. But that's not really a difference by itself as much as it was consequence of the environment they grew up in: Kyouka was raised in early childhood with love and support, and was able to tell that what was being done to her in the pm was wrong. Akutagawa, on the other hand, never knew what love is, so he couldn't perceive the lack of thereof.

[bearimba]

Kris (Pokemon GSC/HGSS) Character Headcanons

And last but certainly not least, it's time for the third of the New Bark Town kids, Kris!

Here's my list of headcanons for her:

Her name is actually Crystal, she just goes by Kris because she likes it better (she spells it with a K because when they were kids, Ethan said it was "cooler" and she thought it was amusing so it stuck)

Her pokemon are Furret, Dunsparce, Slowpoke, and Tauros.

She's four years older than Lyra and Ethan more or less, making her about 20 by the time HGSS rolls around. She's friends with both of them, but because of the age gap and some other stuff I'll cover more in a later post, she becomes more of a tired older sibling figure. This does become a slight point of contention, but once her friends leave on their journeys and mature a bit, they're able to reunite on equal ground and much better terms.

She's super chill most of the time but can be incredibly dry and sarcastic. Despite this she's genuinely and openly supportive of her loved ones a lot and would probably kill for them. (unfortunately for them, she's also not afraid to turn her fury on them too if necessary. Sometimes tough love is valid if your friends are risking their lives by being idiots :D )

She's just a little tiny bit of a know-it-all (like the "erm actually ☝️🤓" kind of know-it-all). She's not afraid to speak up and debate with someone about the subjects she's educated in, and while she always tries to stay civil about it, she can't help the occasional snide comment that slips out. Of course, even though she cares more about being correct than "winning", she can't help but feel a bit smug whenever she's right and sulky when she happens to be wrong.

She's also pretty snarky and even a bit judgemental sometimes, but she was raised to be very polite, so she tries her best to keep it on the down-low. Still, lying to anyone about something shallow always leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, so when she's trying her best not to be rude (usually around strangers---she lets loose more around her friends), she'll get really vague or just refuse to say anything if it's really bad.

She's already been on her own journey when she was around 13-14, during which she managed to get most of the badges and dominated the Battle Tower (which has expanded into the Battle Frontier by the time HGSS rolls around. She likes to visit from time to time when she needs to blow off steam). She probably could've gotten all of the badges if she hadn't gotten tired of it. She's a very family-oriented person, so being away from home for so long wore on her nerves.

She doesn't battle often anymore, mostly just to exercise her pokemon, but she can still hold her own even against ace trainers. This is mostly because she uses a lot more strategy compared to most people, as she's able to come up with plans on how to defeat an opponent even if she's never seen their team before thanks to her extensive knowledge of pokemon. However! if her plans happen to get knocked off track, it's much easier to overpower her team.

She takes over the lab from Elm, though it doesn't happen until he's basically forced to retire (the man loves his work, ok?). He still hangs around though especially since his home is literally on the second floor.

She also specializes in evolution, but instead of focusing on breeding like he did, she's more interested in requirement-based evolution (like why some pokemon will remain in their first stage of evolution despite being old enough/having the experience to evolve. or why some pokemon need certain items to evolve. or why some pokemon evolve with trading. stuff like that. it's definitely a wide field but she enjoys the variety a lot).

She has this habit of flicking people's heads if she's annoyed with them. Light flick? she's being lighthearted. Painful flick? she's actually upset. Oftentimes she'll flick herself if she's particularly stumped on something, usually to do with her research.

She owns a bicycle her parents bought from Goldenrod and takes it absolutely everywhere---girl could probably ride across the entire region if she wanted to.

Her pokegear is horrendously outdated, and the screen is so cracked it's a miracle it still works. Regardless, she refuses to get a new one because "it turns on just fine."

She has the worst handwriting known to mankind, but she still insists on scribbling everything down herself. It's like a rite of passage for every new researcher to try and decipher her notes well enough to transpose them into the lab's computer system.

Her love language is sending pictures to her friends. except. most of the time it'll either be motion-blurred pics of random pokemon with captions like "good find today👍" or the world's most incomprehensible memes.

Despite teasing her friends about talking too much, she can be just as bad when talking about any vein of pokemon science, especially with fellow colleages/researchers. She's much more of a nerd than she likes to let on.

[oumaheroes]

helloooo, i was wondering if you have any fruk birthday headcanons teehee. like do they get each other gifts, do they plan a party of sorts? btw i really super duper love your fics and ficlets!! thank you for writing and posting them <3

Thank you! 🥹❤

In nationverse, I think they'd give each other gifts but probably not for birthdays and probably not every year.

Mainly this is because I don't think they have fixed birthdays in the sense that humans do, or that the ones they use now are really modern in comparison to how old they are. Gift-wise, I think they're far more likely to be consistent with welcoming/ host presents, and festivities such as Christmas, rather than birthday celebrations.

It was a big deal once upon a time to travel -what we consider to be only short trips today used to take hours or days on horseback- and cross-country travel over the English Channel would have been an ordeal that resulted in staying somewhere for a while, several months at least. No quick trips across the channel for a weekend- oh no! You were there for a season or half a year at times (It's why in period dramas and books there's always someone staying in someone else's house for a few months. It took so long to visit friends that you expected, and would be expected, to live with them for a while)

Visiting with Royalty, visiting as ambassadors or nobility, or visiting as themselves with little better to do than see how the idiot across the water is getting on, Arthur and Francis would bring each other gifts as the formality of the occasion dictated. If someone important was watching, the gift was usually expensive, rare, and probably a chance to show off something new and desirable from one culture that the other didn't have. If they're alone together though, or in quieter, calmer times, the gift would be more sentimental or personal. Spices or fruits from somewhere new that they genuinely want the other to try. A new type of textile weave, dyed in blues and purples for them to wear. Something hand carved of an in-joke, or a beautiful piece of furniture that they know will suit the other’s taste.

This is going very far off tangent from your original ask lol

For birthday parties, in previous centuries no, they didn’t throw one for each other. Not enough money to waste, or they’d just committed war crimes against each other, or the politicking was too thick- it wasn’t a done thing and they wouldn’t wanted to in the slightest anyway. 15th century onwards it's still 'no', in terms of throwing a party on the other person’s behalf but Francis cannot help himself; Francis will throw himself a party. For little reason other than because he can.

Every other year or so (very consistently in the 1700's and much less so as the decades have gone on) Francis will open his house to the world and it will be the largest, flashiest, and most extravagant fucking thing you've ever seen. It would have been the talk of the European nobility for the year and Arthur would oftentimes have been found sulking in the gardens or on a balcony if he'd forced himself, or had been forced, to go. He's not a big party person (especially not of the sort Francis so enjoys), more so not one for throwing a party simply to celebrate himself and he would never even think to throw Francis one.

Nor Francis for him. It's not really their scene to be so public for each other and if they ever were to do it, it would be viewed with great suspicious and unease.

Human AUs though, yes 😌 They would give each other the best gifts and Arthur would make sure to throw Francis surprise birthday parties (which would be his favourite and what he would appreciate the most), and Francis would take Arthur out somewhere on a quiet date.

[blot-squisher]

It's nice to see Evan getting some love ❤️ Thank you @ninthsheep and @theamazingfire1 ❤️

SFW Alphabet Ask Meme for Surviving the Game the Trapper

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?) It's very hard for Evan to show affection in a non-aggressive way. Generally any kind of soft displays are kept private or are quickly followed by more of the same gruff attitude. Generally, he'll give the person he cares about a nickname that only he's allowed to use. Anyone else tries that and something's getting broken.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?) Evan is an... interesting person to be friends with. There's only one person in the Realm he really considers a friend, and it's not Danny. He'll still snap and snarl, but he's usually not as harsh as he is towards people he doesn't like. Which is generally everyone...

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?) In constant pain from the shrapnel embedded in his bones, it makes cuddling difficult. Not to mention he was raised to believe such displays were a sign of weakness... That being said, if he can find a way to cuddle his partner comfortably, he will. But only in private.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?) Evan has never been the settling down type. He was raised to run a business with an iron hand. That took up all his time, and finding a wife was... out of the question. He can cook pretty well but usually doesn't. He tends to eat on the go and if that means gnawing on a raw deer leg, so be it. Despite his outer appearance, Evan is a clean freak. Obviously mining and hunting is dirty work, but that shit stays outside.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?) Bluntly. The man is not subtle at all.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?) Evan has avoided marriage like the plague. A wife was a burden he knew would out him, and a husband was something he knew he couldn't have (at the time). Now days, he's content to know he does have someone he loves, that loves him back. That's good enough.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?) Gentle was beaten out of him before he could walk. Learning how to be gentle now is a long and oftentimes difficult thing, but he's trying. He's not always good at it, especially with words, but he's doing his best.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?) Evan is not a hugger. Much like cuddling, it's hard for him to touch people due to the constant pain in his body. It doesn't help that physical affection was simply not allowed growing up. On the rare occasions he does hug someone, it's like being grabbed by a grizzly bear. Is he going to rip your head off, or just hold you? Guess you'll find out!

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?) It'll take a while. Affection, physically or verbally, wasn't something he was used to giving or receiving for most of his life. Once he's sure you have is genuine, he'll say it. He won't say it often, but when he does you'll know he means it.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?) Evan isn't generally a jealous person. It's a weak man's emotion, and he was taught to be better than that. If he wants something, he works hard for it. Better to earn what he has then envy another.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss their partner? Where do they like to be kissed?) He prefers to bite. Hard. If he can draw blood, he will. When he does kiss, it's aggressive and demanding. Now that he has you, he plans to keep you.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?) If they're old enough to walk, they're old enough to work. Children are good for getting into small spaces, but that's about it. He's not fond of them, really.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?) Up early. There's work to be done and if you aren't up before the sun, you're a lazy bastard and a boot in the ass is going to be your wake up call.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?) Once the work is done, it's time to get cleaned up and get dinner. Lately things have been a bit more lax, with no mine to run or Trials to keep up with and he's started allowing himself to take some time to unwind and relax.

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?) If it becomes relevant, he'll talk about it. Otherwise, he's not one to share about himself. He values his privacy, but he'll still talk about things if you're respectful and don't pester him about it. (looking at you, Danny...)

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?) The man has a hair trigger. You breathe wrong and he's going to snap.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about their partner? Do they remember every little detail they mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?) If he finds something interesting, he'll remember it. If he likes you enough to so much as consider you a friend, he'll remember.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in their relationship?) Realizing there was someone who could actually love him. Who could see past the person he was and help him become a better person.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect their partner? How would they like to be protected?) Like many Slashers, he'd fight god for his partner. He knows he's capable of great violence and acts of brutality have never bothered him, rather, he enjoys it in most cases. Evan doesn't feel the need to be protected, and would probably find it rather amusing if you tried. As long as you didn't get hurt, he'd probably be kind of proud of you for trying in the end.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?) It would take him a while to realize those dates are actually important. He never actually celebrated his birthday and almost forgot when it was... For his partner, he'd probably ask them point blank what they'd like or if they wanted him to do anything, because he genuinely has no idea how to go about that kind of thing.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?) He can be very demanding, expecting people to do as they're told without really considering how his tone or wording comes across.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?) Although he often quietly laments the loss of his hair, he's accepted himself and his looks for what they are. He worked in a mine. Vanity had no place there.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without their partner?) Although he never thought the answer would be yes and it would be incredibly difficult to get him to admit it... Yes. Yes he would.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.) Evan actually has terrible eyesight, which is part of why the Entity heightened his senses of smell and hearing.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?) Disobedience, laziness, uncleanliness, and disrespecting someone in their home/being disrespected in his own home.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?) Evan barely sleeps, especially when he's alone. It's hard to do when he's constantly in pain and can only sleep on his back or one side. He's destroyed too many mattresses to count by sleeping on the wrong side...

[aelaer]

I love writing; I want to write I'm not able to. Whenever I open a document, ready to write, it's like my fingers get stuck, hovering over the keyboard. It is frustrating and upsetting and doesn't help my non-existing confidence and self-worth.

I know people say it helps when you talk with friends about your writing but I only have one friend and I've annoyed them enough with my writing problems (since we longer share the same fandoms). And I'm scared of people and self-isolate myself from them because my past fandom experiences weren't the best.

Aww love *big hugs* 🫂 Thank you for your trust in sharing this personal information with me. I presume that you shared it with me on the hope that I would give some thoughts and ideas on these troubles. I will do my best to give you an answer that will hopefully be of some use to you. If you just needed to let it off your chest and do not wish for thoughts and non-professional advice, please don't read beyond this paragraph. And if that's the case I just wish the best for you and hope things get better!

But if you're still reading this second paragraph, here's some of my own musings on what you've divulged. (Note - I'm not a professional health person, this stuff is from memory of things I've read and my memory may be spotty.)

The funny thing about hobbies is that they're meant to enrich your life, but oftentimes you can only easily partake in them if you're already in a good place. If you're stressed about work, school, family or friends, it gets hard to focus on things you enjoy. If your health is in the toilet, it's sometimes hard to do hobbies as well. This includes mental health.

It's a bit of a terrible cycle. You want to create, but you are too down to create, which makes you feel even more down than you were before. This is terribly common and it's such a difficult cycle to break.

How exactly do you solve it? I don't think there's an easy solution, or a solution that fits everyone. But I have the following on "things" to try split into different parts, if you want to give any of these a shot. They touch on each of the items you mentioned in your post:

Getting In The Mood To Write

Set up a sprint. Don't know what sprinting is? Here's an article about sprints. Don't have a Discord writing server where sprints are set up? Here's a free sprint site.

Is the story you *want* to write not easily coming to mind? Why not start on some writing prompts. This link has prompts that would be about 1-3 paragraphs to complete per prompt. Need more flexibility? These prompts could be answered in a couple sentences, a paragraph, or a page. None of these may be the story you've been trying to write, but they're a good way to get your muscle memory in your fingers and word-forming in your head to get started again. You can do as little or as many as you like. They can be fiction or non-fiction. You can even answer the prompts as your favorite fictional character if you'd like to for the personal writing ones.

How calm are your surroundings and your mind? This article goes into some tips about setting the mood and getting your mind prepared for the space. It also goes into the importance of the mind being in the right space for it, which goes into my next section.

Caring For Yourself

I really like the article I linked in point three because it emphasizes, in very large text, "Be kind to yourself and let it flow". This is one of the most difficult things to learn because if you've spent a long time beating yourself up for not doing the thing, not being good enough, and other self-negative terminology, that'll be deep within your psyche. Unlearning all of these negative feelings about yourself is not done in a day, or a week, or possibly not even a month or year.

One method of combating these negative feelings is by saying (out loud or on paper) positive things about yourself: that you *are* enough, that you are talented/worth it/hardworking, whatever it is to combat whatever you've been telling yourself that has lowered your self-esteem. This has to become a habit, by the way--something you schedule in your day and that you stick to like clockwork. This self-affirming self-care language is supposed to eventually sink in, because if it is so often in the upper conscious, it eventually sinks to the subconscious. Or at least, that's what the science of it says.

Depending on how long this feeling continues and how many aspects of your life it affects, you may want to consider speaking with a professional about it. If that is not a viable solution, doing some research on what you can do to help yourself could help. Just stick with reputable sites--the .edu's and the like.

One blog I really like following is @insanitysilver because of their constant positivity around writing both original and fan fiction. There's a lot of reaffirming content about being kind to yourself on bad writing days, to your WIPs, and just being a writer (and reader!) in general. This may help give you a pick-me-up in your browsing of tumblr.

Getting Into The Fandom Community

I 100% get not wanting to get into fandom again because you've had bad experiences in the past. Oh my *goodness*, I can't count all the terrible experiences I've had in online fandom spaces and online RP spaces in the 20 years I've been active online and all the hurt that came with it. Heck, I'm friends with a mutual who is also interacting with the person who told me they were disgusted that I had given kudos on their fic and said some absolutely *nasty* things to me, and we're both still active in the same fandom.

Unfortunately it comes with human interaction. If you hide from it forever, you may miss out on some absolutely amazing experiences and beautiful friendships.

Toxic people are everywhere, unfortunately, but you learn to recognize them and, in the online space, block them. And those toxic people (like the one I mentioned above) have to live with their nastiness and you start to feel sorry for them, because how sad must that person be to go out of their way to put others down in such a horrid manner?

If it's a matter of miscommunications and misunderstanding, that gets easier to deal with with experience and time. Experience is a big part of it. Have I committed some big social mistakes and major faux pas in my past? Yes, absolutely, including in the fandom I'm still active in. I have major foot-in-mouth disease, and I feel pretty bad about those! When I can, I try to repair relationships. When I can't, I've learned to apologize where I can when I'm at fault and move on. You don't need to be friends with everyone in the fandom to have a good time.

To start getting involved: joining a fandom Discord would be my recommendation. You can usually find one via Google. Some are super large, so you may want to try and find smaller shipping ones, or character-based ones as opposed to a huge community. The cool thing about this is that you can lurk for a time to see how the community interacts before stepping in, which is a nice part about Discord.

Another way to connect with folks is via tumblr. Look up the fandom tags here and start following folks who post a lot about your favorite things! First you can start with reblogs, then reblogs with tags, and then comments and asks. Baby steps at your own pace.

I definitely recommend connecting with several people if at all possible because you'll have several people to talk about fandom stuff with, and writing with, and if you have a falling out with one of them, it won't feel like you're completely out of the loop. I'd also recommend that you connect with folks who aren't all mutuals -- spread it out. In one of my largest fandom schisms several years ago, a whole RP group kicked me out because the leader was an ableist asshole. But I had several other RP partners to fall back on and to help me through the tough time. It's similar in the fandom space--you want to be friendly with several folks. That's one reason Discord is so great-- you can be in several Discord groups with a variety of people and be acquaintances, friends, and good friends with several folks. If for some reason one of the Discord groups is actually a poisonous hellhole and they're awful to you, you can back out and fall back to the other group without feeling like you've completely disconnected from everyone in fandom. There's a space for everyone.

If your fandom is my corner of the MCU, I'd recommend both the Stephen Strange Discord and IronStrange Discord. They're wholesome groups and you can comfortably lurk there until you're ready to talk about the fun stuff. If you don't have those links, just send me a follow-up ask for which one you'd like and I'll post a 7-day link.

This was pretty darn long, but I hope I could be of some assistance, if assistance was what you were looking for. Best wishes, anon--things do get better.

[gorgugplushie]

(paceplace) / honestly ttcc writing is very messy i agree. i love the game to bits and dissecting it but the flaws in it are as enriching to pick apart as it is frustrating to discover. it really, truly does break my heart that toons aren't as appreciated as the cogs and i wish there were toon characters you could focus on in the same way the mgrs are. the NPCs you meet along the taskline are charming and i adore every single one of them but as much as i personally like them i don't think its enough to capture people's attention in the broad sense.

irt my qualms w/ how ttcc handles its game i think one of the many main issues boils down to the fact that they're disorganized. their issue w/ how lore has been distributed has been addressed twice by the team itself iirc (once in th same tweet where they confirmed fire\\setter as canon and once in their writers backstage post from around a yr ago). their writers backstage post helped give a little more perspective on why the lore was scattered around Like That.

as all over the place as the lore is, i do feel it's important to mention that they said in their backstage writers post they plan on eventually migrating all of their social media comics to the website so things like the rain\\diver comic is very likely to still be canon they just haven't added it in yet. idk why they don't add it around the same time its posted on social media my guess is maybe they're still trying to organize all the lore or redo some of it since its so all over the place (a couple of the comics we have rn on their website that are considered canon has info that was technically retconned) but yeah. i have hope that the way they handle their lore and (hopefully!) their taskline when they get around to rewriting it will improve in the later updates. i try very hard to stay on top w/ clash's lore esp since i have ppl come to me w/ questions regarding clash's story, characters, etc. but sometimes it is Very headache-inducing so i sympathize w/ how confusing/frustrating it is to a casual player. or just any lore-enjoyer tbf. i swear on my life i almost went crazy trying to make a timeline with btl

anyways you don't have to answer this if you don't want (i gen. apologize for the wall of text i really tried to get straight to the point w/ what i'm saying. and even then there's still a lot i wanted to say) but i'm really glad to see discussions on it. oftentimes criticism gets mistaken for hate and it shuts the entire convo which Peeves me. even if w/e's being criticized turns out to fall flat its better to address or talk about it than it is to not, imo.

Yes, exactly! I agree with all the points you've made here.

It's so strange to me that ttcc doesn't really lean into more how the cogs affect the toons, or toon society for all that matter, its a wonder people are so baised with cogs because we really dont get anything about toons. Their less part of the game and more set peices for this war, which sucks!

Theres obviously alot more room to write about toon lore and it would be easier to implement it in game, yet it gets brushed aside to further characterize the cogs and thats sad bc alot of the toons are cute and unique! Ttcc has great toon designs!

I also have to agree with the way the lore is handled, id even go as far to say big updates themsleves are handled in a frankly. Unprofessional manner. I mean, compare the update live streams done in jokey powerpoint slides to ttrs panles where they talk about progress on the updates. We really get little to no inside information until it's already ready to drop. Sure the game updates more regularly but all these updates are starting to feel like filler and padding. I at least can hope that hammerspace and mix and match at least come with some toon lore?

Its a shame that alot of what drew me into this game ends up weighing it down : (

Also yeah lol i didnt main tag this for a reason i do want to keep the discussion open! But all great points!

[ooc-miqojak]

The State of AAA Games in the Modern Era

"Before the internet became a core facet of gaming, if a studio dropped an unfinished game, that game stayed unfinished." "If a game launched in a poor state, that became the game's legacy."

And a quote from the video linked in #2 in my sources below: "This corporate mindset has encouraged studios to ship now, fix later, and exploit the wallets of players for years down the road. And oftentimes we do see some of the lead developers from these studios even brag about how to pull off this scheme at GDC conferences: [Quote from developer] 'Overdelivery is actually dangerous. With every release that you put out there, you're setting a pattern for your community and for your players. Because it's hard to tell a team, a team that has extra cycles and they have energy and they wanna do something amazing and know how to do it and it totally would be amazing and awesome for the game! Sometimes we have to tell them, like, we shouldn't ship this because it's an overdelivery. Beware of overdelivery, overdelivery is actually dangerous.' "

These are objective facts that people were ready to tear my throat out about during what I thought was a fact-based, adult debate earlier today. Instead, I just had people repeatedly say the same thing to me over and over: "But games still had bugs on console!" Which was something I never countered. I even agreed! My point, however, was that bugs in games were much rarer, and far less impactful to the overall experience of the game - and modern games are often released in a half-finished state, with bugs that massively impact gameplay - just look at Cyberpunk 2077. It's notorious for that very thing! And yet, more than one person was willing to twist my words, and take things out of context (repeatedly trying to nitpick things like Pokemon Gen 1 bugs - things that were not relevant to the discussion, as they were not bugs even remotely comparable to those in modern AAA games upon release) to desperately cling to some idea that console games were released in as bad of a state as modern games are? I don't know why, when console games would have literally killed consoles and gaming as a hobby, if they had been regularly released in as bad of a state as current digital/online only games currently are. It's a fact, and not an opinion that more games in the modern era release in a half-finished, buggy state that makes games unplayable upon release. That is not an opinion. Here's another article about it! (There's lots of videos/articles about this very thing, with just a cursory Google search.)

Yes, console games had bugs - and the ones notorious for those bugs that made story or gameplay basically impossible... bombed! A modern game, like Cyberpunk, that releases with massive bugs? Simply promises to keep patching the unfinished product, which you could not do on a physical product. This is a fact, and not an opinion. Someone claimed that console games would just make a better version, and re-release the game... which doesn't amount to much, because the game already has a bad rep, and no one will pay twice for the same thing (were your parents going to buy you the same $40-60 game a second time back then? Doubtful. No one in their right mind would.), nor would you trust that publisher a second time. That's not the same thing as releasing Cyberpunk in a half-made state, unplayable and bug-ridden and missing core/promised features, and just... finishing it over the next couple years after taking people's money for the half-baked product that wasn't what you promised. They're not asking you to pay for the game twice, they're just making you buy an unfinished product that won't be complete for another year or so (if it ever is). As the video states, there were two years of class action lawsuits - which I don't recall hearing about with console games, because you simply couldn't release only a partial part of a game you claimed was complete, and hope people stuck around for patches, because you couldn't just try and clean up your mess once a disc or cartridge was purchased. If there were incomplete textures, and you couldn't progress the story/engage in gameplay due to game-breaking bugs, that was it. You were screwed.

The modern era and advent of online-only products has led to AAA publishers releasing more and more unfinished products with game-breaking bugs because "we can fix it later"/it's cheaper to fix after launch/because executives simply don't care how it impacts the players, because they have pre-order money in their pockets already/they continue to mistreat the devs of the games, and force them to release unfinished products, and move on to the next cash-grab. These are facts. Not opinions.

Anyways, here's more fact-based sources. One

Two

Three...this video is even from five years ago! (And quotes someone from 8 years prior to that stating that: "The answer for us as publishers is to actually sell unfinished games..."

Four

Five

Next time you find yourself heated by facts that aren't opinions, don't attack the person dealing out the facts, and claim they said something they didn't say - especially if it's the exact opposite of something they said multiple times. Once you start taunting and being childish in a debate, it becomes clear you're not an adult, and shouldn't be partaking in serious, adult conversations - no matter the topic. Objective facts may make you mad, but hey - I'm mad that modern games release in a shitty state thanks to being fully online these days, and not releasing in a physical state that encourages Publishers to release a full, and mostly bug-free game (free of bugs that impact gameplay or story in a serious way, at least. The occasional NPC glitched into a wall or the sky isn't a huge deal, and a wacky texture here and there is mostly hilarious.) Anyways, Donald Trump simply attacks people who use facts in a debate! Don't be like Donald Trump. Don't choose to attack the other person, instead of using objective-based-facts to debate/discuss things. Debates shouldn't make you mad - they should be interesting, and enlightening, and you (or the other person, or all parties) should learn from them. And inevitably, in fact based discussions...someone is wrong! I'm often wrong. I like learning new things. But letting your emotions guide you in a fact based discussion that is very literal and not rooted in emotional appeals... just makes a mess.

[gatalentan]

So this is largely me thinking out loud and i don't expect anyone but me to care about this but. Ok, my thoughts in order

1. I have... maybe 18 years of Wiki editing experience and I am a good archivist. I admined one of the most popular fan wikis (3mil views per month) for ~6 years where I have 30,000+ edits. Yes that's a lot. No I don't know what grass feels like. But what I'm saying is I'm good at documenting.

2. The Abbott Elementary wiki has excellent episode pages, but very poor character pages. This is absolutely not a neg against the wiki or the contributors, far from it. The episode and transcript pages are very well done and comprehensive, and as someone who has done transcripts myself and knows how long it takes, they have so much of my respect. As a heavy-user wiki editor you tend to find your particular editing niche you enjoy and that's your thing you do, and you do it well. It's like any other type of fan creation, like finding a type of fanfic you like to write, or a particular art style you enjoy drawing in. That's what they're doing over there and they're great at it and I use those pages a lot.

3. Character pages are the ones that take a ton of time and archival, much more than I think most readers understand. For a good, solid page, probably 6-10 hours of writing minimum is required to write a chara page from scratch, not including the time spent rewatching the material. To update post episode for all charas from all charas different perspectives, at least 2-5 hours per episode (for an uncomplicated series, for high fantasy series with tons of lore... yikes). For this reason, poorly maintained chara pages is true of most wikis that aren't EXTREMELY active (the majority of wikis, believe it or not, have maybe 2-5 contributors at best, oftentimes just one guy with autism (me, i'm the guy)). People think they can do it, cause why wouldn't it be easy? so they try, then realise just how long it's gonna take and then bail and they're never seen again. It's why most wikis (except for Big series) are an unupdated ghost town. It's unpaid volunteer work for no praise or reward, so it's understandable. It's also very demoralising work. There's no kudos or comments or likes, nobody tells you good job. So it's a huge timesink just for the knowledge you contributed to the fandom, and hoping someone finds it useful, but never hearing if it was. "Anyone can edit a wiki" is true, but I can tell you point-blank that the reality is that most Good wiki pages you've ever seen were 95% written by just one person, and it's Work. The burnout is real and I've felt it, it's why I've been on effectively a wiki hiatus for nearly 2 years.

4. Because the Abbott cast is significantly smaller than the one I used to work on (52 main charas over 4 games vs a core cast of 6+1), writing good chara pages is something I could theoretically realistically do, because it's not as large as I am used to in my last experience, but it would, as I said, still be a huge time commitment.

5. I wish the pages were better, because there's so many times I've wanted to look up a fact and have been unable to do so - and making this a reality is within my means and totally within my experience. But:

6. Because the wiki hasn't had effectively useable chara pages for 2 seasons I'm not sure whether long-time active fans would think to consider the chara pages a resource after seeing them previously and knowing they're empty (I am guilty of this, I don't bother looking at them). So I'm not sure if the time commitment would be worth it. I also don't know if I would be able to commit to iterative updating once S3 rolls around, but at least there would be a stronger foundation for other people to contribute to?

7. I'm also not sure how the admins over there would feel about me blustering in out of nowhere, lol. Having been on the other side of that table I would understand the hesitation of someone coming in swinging.

I don't know. I'm considering it.

[sweet-beezus]

Iliana's the one that gets to travel the most out of the three, but that doesn't stop me from spinning fun stories about their potential adventures in my head!

I had a hard time picking what world(s) I wanted to talk about for this prompt of @khoc-week simply because the possibilities are endless and I have way too many I want to send them to...

So I just narrowed it down to a few and wanted to talk a bit on my ideas plus the lessons it teaches each of my chosen sacrifices- erm. Blorbos, yes blorbos!

Lets go~

Day 2 - New World

Sonic Frontiers

Following the events of Sonic Frontiers, our heroes find themselves stranded in an unfamiliar place, the Starfall Isles, filled with glitches and weird robots! And weird creatures. And talking animals. Just a regular Wednesday afternoon-

They meet Sonic, a highspeed hedgehog, who's looking for and rescuing his friends scattered across the isles, and they team up to figure out how to get out of here by any means necessary - even if it means losing yourself to [Sora voice] bugs.

I picked this one for Iris!

While she may not match the same energy as Sonic, she faces the same dilemma where she takes on a lot more than she can handle at times. She's always going with no break, and oftentimes finds nothing more than hurt in her efforts, more towards herself than anyone else.

Here, she gets to learn that even in times of strife sometimes it's alright to admit that everything is a little too much, but that you also have others you can trust to help you stay standing! And, maybe even a bit on how to loosen up and trust that things may end up okay.

♡♡♡

Encanto

Finding themselves in a humble village in Columbia, our heroes stumble into attending a lavish fiesta held at the encanto of the Madrigal Family, where they meet an interesting cast with much more power than expected!

Things go awry when their beloved encanto begins to fall apart, losing its magic in the process...

They team up with Mirabel to investigate some uncovered family secrets, while also snuffing the darkness that is plaguing the family in hopes to repair damage done by one person's grief, as well as return their guiding light back to full flame.

This one is for Irene!

She and Mirabel, to some degree, share a similar position of being unremarkable. They're the last people to be considered for important tasks except in certain situations, yet they both know they're still important regardless! They just have to stand off to the side is all! ... Right? No!

In assisting Mirabel, she is learning better how to accept her lack of magical talent, as well as picking up new techniques on how to creatively handle situations magic can't touch. She's not as quick witted as her young charges, but it does serve her well when combined with her kindness, and in turn helps Mirabel learn some techniques to better connect with her relatives and accept herself for what she can't control.

In contrast, Irene learns more about how it feels to be singled out, to think you're ruining everything despite it all not being your fault, something she never experienced herself but saw in one of her companions. This will help her with some important bonding later.

♡♡♡

Brave

By accident, our heroes managed to walk into a very interesting situation at just the right time! ... Disguised as men? It's the Land of Dragons all over again-

They meet Merida, who enlists Iliana's help in rigging a competition for her hand in marriage. The whole plan is to allow Iliana to win, though with some characteristically accurate interference from her, so she can be free to live her life, putting her family under the assumption that she gave up and finally picked a man, even when trying to cheat to win. Despite the fact they still cheated, but anyway-

Iliana, being well versed in passing as a dude by now, agrees to this wacky plan, since it may lead them to whatever it is this world brought them for. The rough part was that they were total nobodies, so this would take a lot of improv to pull off. Skill? Not an issue for now... hopefully-

However, things get a bit... hairy, and needlessly complicated no less-

I picked this one for Iliana because... Hmm-

On one hand I could give a joke answer and say it's because she learned something valuable in the ways of conning people out of an actual win, but...

On the other hand she learned plenty about controlling your destiny on your own terms, helping others achieve who they want to be despite other's expectations (though the bears were a bit much in her opinion), as well as received another nice lesson in body positivity because sporting a beard has never been a bigger nightmare...

♡♡♡

Honorable mentions include:

▪︎Persona 5: Insight into learning how rigged the system can be against you, and that even the most unassuming person could be harboring something much darker. This is a given, but they also get to see first hand that when confronting that darkness there can be redemption, even for the blackest of hearts. This will later lead to sheer disappointment.

▪︎Moana: Perhaps breaking the boundaries, no matter how terrifying, may lead you to where you need to go. On a different end, winning everyone's admiration may lead to disaster for yourself and others.

▪︎Undertale: Not everything is a monster you need to slay, except for the version of you that you refuse to face. And perhaps kindness and mercy for the innocent can go a long way.

▪︎Tinkerbell: There's always magic in discovering where you fit, though reaching beyond conforming may be daunting, perhaps that's where you need to be.

♡♡♡

Honorable joke mentions include:

▪︎MCU: Don't bother moving here unless you want awful insurance and weekly evacuations

▪︎The Caribbean (PotC 5 edition): Barbossa's a dad??? And who did Cap'n Jack piss off now- GHOSTS???

▪︎Pokémon: This is just how you bring home free pets, there's no escaping that-

▪︎Barbie: Make them have an existential crisis and slay in pink while doing it

♡♡♡

My main goal for all of them in the end is for them to learn to accept themselves, as well as enjoy the time they have to be young and free. Y'know, despite the interference of a bald old man and his 13 copies, as well as the ghost of fried chicken past-

I think it's fun seeing what all sorts of places can do to change how you view yourself, especially when residents and friends open your eyes to things you never truly saw!

The fun part? INFINITE amounts of these places to see and learn from! Imagine the possibilities...

I digress though! Hope y'all had fun, see y'all on Day 3!

[acaciapines]

how abt……. number 42?? 👀

<33333

Doppelgänger – The Antlers

the she who is wings-across-night, who is a hunter of the night and best-of-them-all, awakes as she has for many times now to her feathers pressed against the cold, wet surface of a cave, and she grumbles why-you here no-want better there look up up up up yes? up-YES, and she would shriek annoyed listen-here but time has proven that for as much as they are trapped together trapped-with-her is very bad at listening.

about the caves, at least. she is…

staring at the slumbering form of the companion she is unable to fly away from, wings-across-night considers what you.

trapped-with-her has always been…herself, in the sense that a hatchling who bites always at their nest-parents for food is herself, loud and wanting and squawking despite the loud shrieking stop-that from nest-mates and parents alike. they were hatched at similar times, wings-across-night believes, and here now have fledged together, though oftentimes wings-across-night is not sure she has.

to fledge is to fly freely, to greet hello-you to the moon and the stars, to make a nest of your own, to roost always in the tops of trees. here wings-across-night sleeps on cave ground and chases the birds, the ones that trapped-with-her snarls mine you listen-here stop mine give-it, and that break apart in her beak to the sharp tang of magic, and are not actually birds at all.

here she is not even on her own, for there is trapped-with-her always, biting and tossing her head me strong want-yes, and ignoring wings-across-night’s growled no-want.

but here is, she will admit, better than when they were with the-MOTHER still, and it was trapped-with-her who took the metal bars of trap and twisted them open, and said, with a softness she does not often carry, us-together out-there yes? you want?

wings-across-night stretches her talons before her, and considers this.

perhaps today she will catch them both fish.

trapped-with-her is, after all, an awful hunter.

Commentary

ah yes that part of my playlist where even tho its supposed to be sorted alphabetically by song title it sorts every single the antlers song by band name for some reason.

anyways, names! wings-across-night is firefly/the owl beast, and trapped-with-her is what firefly calls eda. it is not a translation of eda's name though firefly does know that the sounds that make up 'eda' are the same person. she's just being very bitter dfkgdfg later on she will go to translate eda as 'chooses-me' because like. c'mon. 'eda the owl lady' is ASKING FOR IT.

this takes place sometime after eda and firefly run away from home! so, late teens-early twenties here. the eda-firefly relationship is actually really fun for me to write in this early stage...they're very much dependent on each other to stay alive, and DO occasionally have moments of bonding....but mostly to eda firefly is just the stupid curse who killed her palisman, and to firefly eda is the reason she's trapped here, so they growl at each other and only stick together bc, yknow, they die if they dont.

its fun!! its also very funny to me that in this point in time firefly is far more perceptive about their relationship than even eda...it takes eda WAY longer to realize that firefly is often trying to talk to her and even longer before she like, actually puts in the effort to talk back.

firefly is Trying Her Best <3.

[maideninorange]

Do the decades/time-periods the nonhuman Len'ens were born + raised in still have an effect on their personality, or have they kind of assimilated themselves with the times?

There is a short answer and a long answer to this question. The short answer is: yes. God yes.

The long answer is, of course, "it's complicated, and depends entirely on the individual." Youkai, like humans, typically reflect the time period one grows up in. A youkai born in the Yayoi Period is going to have a different first century than one born in the Edo Period, as a simple example.

Unlike humans, most youkai (or at the least the ones that survive their first century of life) live for hundreds, some even thousands, of years. This means that oftentimes, the world, as well as what it values, changes over and over again with little consistency between periods. For a lot of youkai, the centuries all just kind of blend together after a while. The oldest of youkai can even remember when humans lived in caves, so to them the Human Era as it is now would've been completely unthinkable.

But ultimately, it really boils down to how the youkai in question adapts. Many, as you put it, assimilate with the times. Sukune and Lumen are two great examples, both having (at least in my headcanon) been around since a little after Mugenri was founded. They've seen the rise and fall of many kingdoms and empires in that time period, and yet both merrily continue on with their lives, only stopping occasionally during those funny moments of clarity. If at all.

Others...Others, do not take the rapid pace of time very well and cling to their past like a life line. The Adagumo siblings are both easy examples of this. They've had a hellish first century of life in a very bloody period period of human-youkai skirmishes. And unlike plenty of other youkai their age, neither really made much of an effort to adapt to the current time period. Yaorochi and Saragimaru both carry a lot of perplexing at best and downright outdated habits and views at worst, and both will happily make them known to you if you let them. That's not to say the past is better in their eyes, just...what they're used to.

And of course, this isn't very clear cut, even if the youkai in question has a clear stance. Sukune commonly uses and recommends pottery styles and techniques from their first century. Yaorochi is perfectly capable of trying new things that may not have existed when they were much younger (even if they scorn modern technology from the Outside World). In the end, I suppose it is a mixture of the two. How much of both sides truly depends on the youkai in question.

[sweetofsin]

it's so frustrating to constantly see the "lesser than two evils," and people freaking out over project 2025 and believing that if tr*mp wins, we are headed to fascism. is fascism not happening currently? is it not? do people desire to listen to people that are vulnerable and under-protected regardless of which party wins? this country has always been fascist for select groups of people. select groups of people have been screaming, yelling, creating entire books and passages, protesting and organizing in various shapes and forms to try to educate the public. and people didn't desire to listen. tr*mp won, and they panicked a bit. but still, minimal action was done. then, the "lesser of two evils" won, and guess what? still minimal action is done. in fact, it can easily lead to people being more complacent because they feel like it's "not as bad."

it would be nice for more americans to see outside of themselves. outside of their own personal lives. because why are we comparing what is less evil, often times depending upon how we are treated within our own country? when will there be just enough of an evil for people to organize and get their shit together? for people to actually listen to bipoc activists on how to dismantle the system?

it seems as if it's a lot of peoples desire to wait for this fantasy day where someone's going to come swoop in and save them. they're still waiting and waiting for a government that will somehow magically get better by them voting for it. they scream, "we don't know what else to do!" when there are books, organizations online and on the ground, specifically telling you things to help out to do.

but you know what that requires? for people to hop offline. for people to actually engage with people outside of their bubbles. for people to actually engage with bipoc people. for people to actually absorb what they are being taught, not assume and speak over others. for people to learn more through listening. reading. engaging.

it requires a genuine acknowledgment that this country has been blood-thirsty since it's been founded, and that blood-thirst hasn't decreased since. it's just gotten more covert over time.

it requires an acknowledgment that we have to save ourselves. no president or system is going to do so for us.

if we genuinely desire and want a better world, it has to be more than hyper-focusing on all the things we don't want. it was to be more than hyper-focusing on all the evils, the harms, and arguing and debating with people about which harm is more evil than the other. it has to be more discussions about eradicating the harm outside of voting. it has to be more organizing about actively creating the world that we choose to embody, that we choose to believe is better, without expecting the multi-marginalized to do all of the work.

because we will. oftentimes, our survival quite literally requires us to. a lot of us have no choice but to find ways to keep moving forward and living outside of the system, because the system kills us. it wants to eradicate us. so no, a lot of us can't sit around waiting for a vote to resolve things or make things a little better. but you know what could help? if more people were interested in helping out and fostering spaces for people to grow instead of waiting for someone else to do so