#a to z aesthetic challenge

[kaatiba]

Legends of Mourra ✧ An Encyclopedia

↳The Elyoud are a race of giant, winged beings that reside upon Jabal Qaf, that mystical mountain that serves as a gateway between the realms of the Seen and the Unseen. They are said to be very beautiful, extraordinarily long-lived, and generally benevolent to humankind, though they tend to be fey in nature nevertheless. They are ruled by a queen, and she is always succeeded by a favoured daughter. In the Diaran Empire, they are regarded as demigods and venerated as such.

Rarely do the Elyoud leave their mountain for anything but battle against the djinn. Their preferred weapons are bow and spear, but they fight with the sword as well. All their weapons blaze with an unearthly fire that is fatal to the djinn. It is said any arrow fletched with a feather from the wing of an Elyoud will never miss its mark. Their mounts are the winged steeds the haizum, which are wild and will submit to no hand but theirs.

[Inspiration: Pari, Elioud, Nephilim, the Fair Folk]

original images via: Samuel Ridge, Possessed Photography, Duncan Sanchez on Unsplash

general writing taglist (open!): @lockejhaven​​

lofm taglist (open!): @muddshadow​​, @hyba​​, @jellybeanswriting​​, @treesandwords​

[ciboriaadastra]

Having a thought about how the amount of wealth Bruce comes into and then amasses for himself changed over the decades of Batman media, and the reason he's beeen scaled up to be so impossibly wealthy is probably because cities and companies in DC lore are analogs to real life places and companies.

Wayne Enterprises probably reflects how homogenous American multinational corporations are now, where a single company can make and distribute almost all consumer goods because it has bought out/merged hundreds of smaller companies + purchased everything it needed from the ground up so it does not depend on many others besides itself.

Just something that crossed my mind when I was looking up what WE actually does and the Fandom (bleh) wiki listed so many branches. Wayne Shipping? Wayne Foods? Like...is this Amazon and Bruce is now Bezos? Wayne Entertainment? He's also Disney? Wayne Electronics? This is Apple? Wayne Aerospace? Boeing??? Bruce is trying to be in control of and monitor every single means of production and every production line fr

Feel like that should influence how people view Wayne Enterprises and Bruce himself. Steadily creeping in and taking root in every industry. People get curious about a new construction project in the city, but once it's revealed to be a Wayne Tower it's filling people with dread. Though, it was a long time coming...everything you order online comes in a box with a W on the tape delivered to your address in a black as night truck with a giant W emblazoned on the side. The meds in your cabinet were produced under Wayne Pharmaceuticals. The cable and streaming services were recently bought by Wayne Entertainment. The Wayne Foundation started offering scholarships at the major college campuses. Your phone is Wayne tech. Your car was built with Wayne Steel. Soon the hospitals will be all Wayne Medical, your insurance company bought out. The local newspapers and stations will be bought up. The libraries. The clinics. The orphanages. The schools. The grocery store. You're never going to scrub that b ig soulless W out of your head. The way the logo looks like the head of a pitchfork, ready to stab and capture the intended prey.

Thinking about how Wayne Medical seems so innocuous in what it does except for the bit on how Bruce has access to every person in Gotham's medical records, because he can access the Wayne Medical databases and use that information to track suspects. And the thing is WE does not just exist in Gotham, it's a multinational corporation with bases in major cities not just in the U.S. but around the world. This man has millions of people's medical records easily accessible to him which feels both extremely unethical and extremely illegal. Not that civilians can prove he can and does access those records though.

[onewhoturns]

It begins.

[morallyinept]

🌷 Who's up for a creative challenge? 🌷

If it's not apparent already, I love flowers and I love the Pedro Boys! So, what could be more fun than combining the Pedro Boys and flowers in a creative challenge? 🌷🪻🌻

Perhaps Marcus brings you flowers on date night, Dave's scattered sumptuous petals leading you up to bed, you and Ezra get stranded on a planet with alien-esque florals, or you're showering sweet Javi G with his favourite blooms for his birthday... 🌷🪻🌻

Running during the month of May, I challenge you to write and share a fic - or fics - featuring any of the Pedro Boys and flowers. 🪻

You can also make mood boards or art if you're not a writer - or don't want to write - but still want to participate! 🌷

🌻 See below for the full challenge details! 👇🏻

The challenge deets:

Must feature at least one Pedro Boy - can be any character Pedro has played, no matter how popular. You can feature more than one Pedro Boy too, if you like.

Must contain flowers or plants in some capacity. 🌷🪻🌻 Can be the main feature of your story, or a background aesthetic. Florals, plants, succulents - you name it, you can feature any of them!

Can be as smutty or fluffy as you want! Hot, soft, gentle, fun, quirky - you've got freedom on whether you wanna write smut or not.

No word limit - you write as many words as you see fit.

Any Reader type! You can write in X Reader, original character or just the Pedro Boys engaging with one another. Any gender/race/size or physical ability of Reader is absolutely welcome too! 🌈 This is an inclusive house! 🙌🏻

Mood boards, video edits and original artwork is also welcome - but must feature a Pedro Boy and flowers, and must be your own creation.

No limit to the number of submissions - you can write more than one fic, or submit more than one artwork, but the Pedro Boys must be different for each submission.

Tag me in your work and use the #jettsflora&faunachallenge so I can add it to a Masterlist.

This challenge will run from 1st May - 31st May 2024 and I'll add works as they're posted.

☝🏻 Don't worry too much if you miss the deadline, life happens, and you'll still be able to submit your fic/art after the deadline. Just let me know. 🌷🪻🌻

A-Z of Flowers Database Look up your flowers 🌷🪻🌻

I hope you'll participate and have fun & I can't wait to see what you'll come up with! Would really appreciate a signal boost too - thankies 🖤

[dreamofmetoday]

‘THE IDOL’ READING

what were sam levinson's intentions with the idol?

it's definitely something very personal to him. it's his own selfish fantasy. on set or during the writing process, he was likely very difficult, stubborn and particular with everything. he also wants this to be big, he wants to outdo his previous projects and to even almost sabotage his competitors within the industry, so he's made an effort go above and beyond. he had a particular focus on the women in the show, making sure they could give want he wanted to the best of their ability (he wanted them to appear young, dumb, and wild). there's also a kinky element he was particularly fascinated with. it seems it involves little play or ddlg, or it could just be that he wanted to really show off how petite lily rose depp is. there is an emphasis again that he really wanted the project to be his ideas.

what were the weeknd's intention's with the idol?

so for the weeknd it seems he had been interested in making a tv show or movie for a while, he's probably had this somewhat planned for years. for him, this is fulfilling a dream (another achievement he can add to his career). he also feels this is brave of him, he wanted to really challenge himself and make something regardless of how people may criticise it. he wanted to prove to himself he could do something unrestrained and new. you know the sort of vibe of if you want to write a vulnerable poem but you keep watering it down and editing it because you get embarrassed, you don't want people to judge your writing or what it's about - he was pushing himself to do the exact opposite of that. he wanted it to be something people look back on and see it as timeless. however, it seems as it was finally being put into production it leaned away from this vulnerability a bit and became something different. he is hoping for a lot of social media success, he hopes to see a lot of people talking about it (he wants it to be a success amongst gen z to the extent that it sparks trends).

what does sam levinson think of the idol's outcome (how the show turned out)?

he thinks it's turned out well. he thinks he basically achieved his goal at this point. he hired attractive people, he got his way most of the time and he feels it's going to be successful. he is proud of how different he thinks it is. he feels the show has "everything". however, he sees a lot of problems with it too due to his critical nature. his feelings so far are a bit mixed and will become more settled once he sees the public's reaction.

what does lily rose depp think of the idol?

she's pretty apprehensive about it, she's worried about the reaction to it and she thinks she signed up for more than she bargained for (or than she initially wanted). she doesn't know if she should regret being in this show or not. she also feels she sacrificed a lot for this show and wishes she wasn't bossed around as easily as she was. she might have been high on set often, or is now too, and it helps her feel more chilled out about it. as for the story itself, she really isn't happy with it and thinks it's too much but she likes that she's the main character for something and likes how she looks aesthetically.

what does jennie think of the idol?

she thinks it's risky, rebellious and will get a lot of people talking. she thinks the show will be trendy and popular. she thinks the show is pretty exploitative. she believes men involved in the show "won" this one. she doesn't know if she necessarily would have joined this project if it weren’t for running the risk of ruining her connections, but she is happy her connections and relationships have remained positive (it was one of those things where you said yes and even if you wanted to contemplate backing away you just couldn't, so there’s no point even dwelling on it). she also believes her image is pretty protected and the show doesn't make her look bad. she thinks overall this was a good opportunity for her.

what does lily rose depp think of sam levinson?

she thinks sam levinson had a fixation on her and expected a lot from her. he bothered her a lot, he was obsessive in a way, constantly talking to her and asking her questions but she thought he was also "sweet" (but it’s also the vibe where a guy is being nice to you because you know he wants to sleep with you). she finds him to be persistent and hardworking but overbearing and smothering. she knew it was important to him for this project to outdo himself and his competitors, so in this sense she sees him as pretty greedy but also ambitious in a clever way. she thinks he is manipulative and guilt trips people to make them more reliant on him.

what does jennie think of sam levinson?

she thinks he's a very fake person, being unable to grasp his real personality has caused her to not really have much of an opinion of him. she wants to be careful around him and they're casually polite with each other. she doesn't know him that well but thinks he has a lot of ideas. she worries he my have a temper.

what should audiences expect from the idol?

pandering to men (both from the show in general and the storyline).

women being mean to each other, pushing each other down and competing with each other (catfighting, pick-me behaviour or women demeaning each other etc.)

a very messy story where the characters experience a lot of highs and lows.

really mean and even abusive behaviour - everyone is always hurting each other and breaking each other's trust.

exploitation of young people (not just sexually but seeing them really hurt and wounded overall).

lots of sex and sexual scenes (especially from women).

the story might also go off the rails a little bit or end in a confusing way - there's this sense of even though we don't know sam levinson's personal fantasies, you somehow watch it and can tell it's his fantasy and that it took precedence over the story itself at times.

scenes with questionable ethics and laws being broken (e.g. drug use).

a trendy aesthetic.

a witty dialogue with some quotable lines (even if used as memes).

[vampirepunks]

Higgs Monaghan's MBTI + Enneagram Typology (pt. 1)

(disclaimer: this is my opinion based on deep character study, eight or so years of special interest in typology, and subjective interpretation. if you wanna argue, good luck finding my PDB. friendly debate is fine.)

MBTI: ENTP (Ne-Ti-Fe-Si)

Enneagram: 7w8

Instinctual Variant: sx/sp

Tritype: 782

MBTI Analysis

This one is easy. Higgs displays all of the classic ENTP traits. He's well-read, adaptable, strategic, authentic, contrarian/anarchistic, charismatic, energetic, emotionally guarded, impulsive, and excessively idealistic. ENTPs come in two flavors: rebel with a cause, and rebel without a cause. The former typically has a strong alignment to enneagrams 1, 7, or 8, whereas the latter is more likely to be rooted somewhere in 6, 5, or 9. This can be a pull from within the tritype or wing, but we'll get to that. Higgs is, quite obviously, the former. His rebellious nature is driven by idealism first and foremost.

ENTPs are "introverted extroverts." They thrive in the spotlight, crave attention, and love being the loudest presence in the room. However, unlike "true" extroverts (i.e. see: ESFP) they require plenty of personal space and time on their own to nurture their inner worlds, reflect on their feelings and values, and retreat into the safety of their own private minds. In a reasonably healthy ENTP, this time is often spent pursuing knowledge, fresh ideas, and deeper meaning in the world, through things like literature, arts, and creative pursuits or pet projects. In an unhealthy ENTP, that focus goes towards obsessions, fixations, and hedonism. Such as... making a conspiracy board, covering the walls in manic writings and pictures of their no. 1 enemy, and drinking... a lot. Hello, Higgs.

Function Stack Breakdown

ENTP's cognitive function stack is Ne-Ti-Fe-Si.

Ne (extroverted intuition): First and foremost, ENTPs live in a world of possibilities. Like INTJs, they live somewhere between their minds and bodies, existing in a nebulous sense of insight and personal sentiment. Where INTJ sees how the world "should" be, ENTP sees the world as it could be. This trait is amplified intensely by a core fix in enneagram 7, which many consider to be ENTP's most likely/common enneagram alignment. Ne is constantly tinkering with a thousand ideas at once, scattered in all directions. Higgs embodies this beautifully; he is an intrepid explorer, both in the material world and in the realm of ideas and philosophies, shown by his love of literature, his hands-on approach to life, his sensory fixations (must! touch! everything!), and his deep investment in history. He takes external ideas in and challenges them, redefining them to his liking. This shows in his adoption of the ancient Egyptian aesthetic/practices after reading about them, his poetry references, his adjustment of literary quotes to change the meaning ("sound and righteous fury"), and his overall fascination with the world around him.

Ti (introverted thinking): ENTPs prefer to act based on logic over emotion, processing the world through what makes sense and where their curiosity takes them. They love puzzles, problems in need of solutions, and detail-oriented issues. The Ne-Ti axis makes an educated, mature ENTP a capable, adaptable strategist who always has a plan and the ability to craft an entirely new plan B, C, D, etc, all the way to Z on a moment's notice. They're rarely shaken by change, likely to relish the challenge presented by unpredictability. This shows in Higgs' accomplishments both as a porter and terrorist, earning him a reputation as "a damn good leader" and later, a fearsome foe with the presence of "a ruthless emperor" (thank you, DS novel Sam). As highlighted by the novelization, his leadership pre-Amelie was defined by idealistic yet practical solutions. He was insightful and precise in determining that the resource shortage wasn't a shortage at all, but an issue of unequal distribution brought on by greed, corporate hierarchy, and distrust. He showed people that they didn't need to sacrifice freedom in exchange for security, they only needed to pitch in and share fairly, and he backed his promises up with results and an olive branch by cooperatively setting up a new distribution system and bringing supplies from his territory in the West. Meanwhile, in the intellectual sense, Higgs is a skeptic. Due to his mental roots in Ne, he wants to believe in things, but he can't until he's thoroughly questioned them, examined them from all angles, and tested them. When Ne says "jump," Ti says "wait." This causes a constant push-pull between reckless impulsivity and calculated caution. Thus, Higgs is inquisitive and curious, with Sam describing him (again, in the novel) as a truth-seeker, reminding him of a philosopher. In line with the classic image of the ENTP personality, Higgs thrives in a vast marketplace of ideas and values, picking and choosing the ones that suit him after playing with each and every single one of the available options, especially if he has someone to bounce his thoughts off of. ENTPs are masters of the "yes and," but due to their weaker Fe-Si axis, they're also vulnerable to being manipulated and exploited for their ingenuity and inexhaustible drive. Higgs dives head-first into Amelie's promises, but then spirals when he realizes she's not telling him the whole truth. He intuitively knows when someone is hiding things from him and he isn't content to just let it go. If answers aren't freely given, he'll form his own and act upon them. "If there's another layer to this, I can't work it out -> Dear diary, today I nuked Middle Knot City."

Fe (extroverted feeling): Herein lies ENTP's soft side. Contrary to popular belief, the feeling function of MBTI goes much deeper than simple emotions; it determines moral direction (inward vs. outward) and social dynamics. Fi (introverted feeling) pushes against the grain, concerning *my* feelings and values, whereas Fe goes with the grain, concerned with *our* feelings and values. Fi is a rugged individualist, Fe is a team player. The tertiary function is a point of conflict for all personality types, and it doesn't usually develop until middle age unless significant trauma work or self-awareness development occurs earlier in life. Higgs has both. His early journals show the expected disconnection with his feeling function, as he resists the idea of group values, and denounces the notion of community as unsafe and unrealistic. This is why many ENTPs, especially below the age of 40+, are considered insensitive and disruptive; they haven't developed the balance between nitpicky Ti and open-hearted Fe. After shaking off his instinctive and learned aversion to group attachments, Higgs quickly does a 180 into "I'm an altruist now" and dedicates his life to serving others, going so far as to "offer my soul to this world while I live." More about this when it comes to his emotional center in enneagram 2, which amplifies his Fe. Overall, Higgs displays high Fe and thus has high empathy. He makes strong use of the Ne-Fe axis to imagine others' viewpoints and feelings, making attempts to step outside of himself to try and understand others on a deeper level. Anything an ENTP can understand, they can work with. Thus, they can be highly forgiving when there's a good explanation and they're not likely to hold grudges if they can relate. Here's hoping that factors into DS2.

Si (introverted sensing): The inferior function is every MBTI type's greatest weak point, second only to the "blind" eighth function which is essentially not consciously used at all. The inferior function acts to balance the dominant function, kicking in as a rescue mechanism when the usual approach fails or stress overload causes the given personality to begin breaking down. Being forced to use this function otherwise requires conscious effort and is, in turn, highly stressful and overwhelming. The inferior is an area of insecurity and discomfort. ENTP's inferior is Si, meaning they struggle with seeing projects through to the end, handling the day-to-day minutia of life, learning from past mistakes, and neglecting physical health due to poor internal bodily awareness. And oh boy, Higgs displays this in spades. Granted, he's absolutely suffering from chiral contamination and mind control don't forget the mind control but... still. His house is a wreck, he appears to eat little more than pizza, alcohol, and soda, he struggles with the gravity of life not bending to his idealistic efforts. Further, he believes it's on him to save the world all by himself despite evidence to the contrary, and this isn't even based in a god complex, he's just that caught up in what he wants to achieve and he can't see past it to why that's an unsustainable attitude. He creates unrealistic expectations for himself, punishes himself for *checks notes* being human, and is constantly seeking new, sweeping solutions to Fix Everything™ instead of spending his time putting in the work and giving himself breathing room to let his efforts pay off. He doesn't take stock of the good he's done, the things he's accomplished, the way people looked up to him (these folks called him King Midas!!), he simply pushes forward to the next big thing, fashioning himself Atlas with the burden of the world weighing down upon his shoulders. Always planning, always moving, incapable of sitting still or tolerating boredom.

Final thoughts before moving on

Overall, Higgs is like most ENTPs (who are sadly much more common in fiction--usually as a quirky protagonist or witty, Joker-esque villain) in that they are dynamic personalities, the best of whom have brilliant minds and restless spirits that create an even mix of genius and madness, and the worst of whom become internet trolls (Higgs is not immune to this, cough cough, the pizza emails) who provoke people for fun with little regard for others' needs or feelings. ENTPs have a quiet, soft side that's quite sensitive, fears judgment, and craves attention/validation. Once appropriately matured and self-aware, these personalities become surprisingly empathetic, directing their high-energy zest for life into everything they touch. Higgs is a beautiful, beautiful representation of the mature-but-unhealthy ENTP.

(part two: enneagram deep dive)

(Sam analysis)

[lorre-verie]

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ Modern Avatar Highschool AU A-Z (Pt. 2: H-N)

6:96 ───|────── 9:69

you are now reading a post by lorre

warning: use of swear words

pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3 | pt. 4 | masterlist

⌲ H for Hobbies and Hates (What are their hobbies and what do they hate doing?)

neteyam: his hobbies include; archery, calligraphy, hiking, canoeing, skiing, camping, rock climbing, basically almost every outdoor sport that requires amazing core strength. And chess. Don’t tell me this man doesn’t like chess. He’s good at a lot of things he tries, but he especially loves outdoor activities. If you don’t like going outside then i have some bad news for you babes cause he goes out almost every weekend. morning walks/runs everyday. AND he’s a genius at chess because of course he is. Once Ao’nung challenged him to a match and lost like 3 minutes in because he got too cocky. Neteyam had the smuggest look on his face for the rest of the day. I also think he likes sketching small doodles messily with a pen when he’s bored.

He claims to not hate anything, but his siblings know he’s traumatised by yoga (i have a backstory for this), so don’t ask him to participate in anything like that cause he’ll decline immediately (but politely.)

kiri: Girl loves the outdoors like Neteyam but not so much all the physical activities. She likes swimming but only in lakes and rivers and not public pools cause she’s disgusted by the piss and the smell. She also loves thrifting her clothes and cutting them up and making them into personalised outfits for her own style. She lives for aesthetics and probably has a scrapbook and loves journaling about all the plants and unique animals she finds on her little walks. She and Tsireya also have a podcast (that Lo’ak and Rotxo religiously listen to). The only thing she really doesn’t like is being in loud places with too many hyper people like music festivals, concerts, basically just doing anything that involves being in large uncoordinated crowds.

lo'ak: he does basic rebel boy stuff like skateboarding, playing games on his phone (be real he’s too broke to have a PC), yo-yoing, and since he can run real fast he likes volleyball, tennis, badminton, anything that requires you to be quick on your feet cause he’s awesome at those things. He hates anything that requires you to use your brain (except chess he’s actually kinda good at it surprisingly, but not as good as Ao’nung or Neteyam). He had an ant farm once when he was like 6 and cherished it so much but then he dropped the frame and they all scattered in the house and it earned him the spanking of his life (everyone kept finding ants in their shit for the next 4 months).

ao'nung: as you know by now, he’s a chess douchebag. He’s amazingly freakishly good at it (like math) and if he meets new people and there's a chessboard conveniently nearby he’ll challenge them to it just because he wants to humiliate them a little. He doesn’t actually like it that much, he just likes beating people using his smarts for once. Other than that, he loves basketball, volleyball. He hates walking in forests cause he hates insects (always carries mosquito spray around).

rotxo: he likes writing stories and photography since he’s a literature lover and the yearbook editor. Sometimes he’ll go with Kiri on her walks and they have fun photoshoots of little animals, plants or her. He’s so good with a camera, he’s often the guy people give the phone to, to take pictures for their instagram. He doesn’t like loud places like Kiri and i headcanon he’s actually claustrophobic. He’s okay with most activities.

tsireya: enjoys public speaking hence the podcast, loved cracking jokes as a kid and still does now, likes to listen to a bunch of different genres of music, learns a few dances and likes making aesthetic graphics on her laptop as well as edits of her favourite tv show characters. She’s alright with physical activity. terrified of heights so anything that requires her to get above 20 floors of height is a no no.

⌲ I for Income (Do they have a part time job and what are they like when working?)

neteyam: Yes he does, he works at an animal shelter. Originally he was a volunteer but then the owner of said shelter thought he was doing a great job and decided they’d start paying for it. He refused a couple times but the owner insisted. The animal shelter has a few birds, some dogs, cats, hamsters, one snake but it escaped and they’ve never seen it since. He remembers all the feeding times and schedules and memorises any allergies, difficulties, injuries, etc and he’s just great with the animals, he adores them. He also takes the dogs on walks often.

kiri: she’d probably be a barista at starbucks, 70% of the time she’s the voice taking orders at the drive through. Dislikes dealing with karens and annoying people cause unlike classes she can’t argue with them else she’d get fired, but it’s great for practice calming herself. Enjoys mixing her own drinks, HATES the cleaning process after closing everyday. Definitely makes tiktoks about customers in the backroom when she's bored

lo'ak: the guy that sells snacks and drinks at the movie theatre. He steals some popcorn from time to time cause he’s hungry but he’s really good at convincing people to buy stuff. Super friendly and never fails to get people to buy more snacks or upgrade their popcorn box size. “Yo bro I think you and your girl need a little more popcorn than that, don’t you think? I can hook you up if you’re interested.” (said deal was always available but he knows people never read the little advertisements that flash on the tv menus)

ao'nung: lifeguard at the beach. Enjoys his time tanning and swimming around leisurely, (the girls love him and go to the beach every weekend just to see him) and it’s a pretty calm and easy job, nobody usually has any problems. Except for one time when a girl faked passing out to get him to do CPR on her but it didn’t work cause he knew what she was doing and claimed to not know how to do CPR. Instead he said he’d call her parents and she miraculously woke up the very next second.

rotxo: doesn’t have a job he sleeps a lot after school (hence the submitting assignments at 3:33am)

tsireya: she’s a babysitter and she does so incredibly well with kids, she’s so kind to them and sometimes lets them stay up a little (JUST A LITTLE) past their bedtime because she was once in their shoes and knows that sleeping at 7.15pm when they were supposed to sleep at 7pm doesn't make too big of a difference. they love her and she always gets callbacks from happy satisfied parents.

⌲ J for Jealous Of Your Lunch (or not) (What food do they eat during lunch?)

neteyam: he brings a homemade sandwich with lettuce, egg, some kinda meat and some sauce. Packs it himself, even leaves a little encouraging note for himself so he can read it later on (lo’ak calls him a dork). Doesn’t have a lunch bag, just puts it in a reusable plastic container (reduce reuse recycle guys). He usually just brings water but he’ll bring organic freshly squeezed orange juice on good days.

kiri: she steals the sandwiches/paninis from work and just microwaves them the next day to bring to school because she can't be bothered to actually make a homemade meal for herself. Sometimes she’ll pack gummy bears stolen from tuk’s “secret stash” or a small pringle can. Occasionally brings an extra stolen sandwich to give to tsireya or rotxo. brings cold water in her hydro flask or hot tea sometimes.

lo'ak: bro brings chips. Just a bag of chips. Takis if he can get them but he always eats chips during lunch and it concerns tsireya a lot because??? That's a whole lot of salt he consumes everyday. To make matters worse he keeps buying coke from the vending machine. Sometimes he gets school lunch with rotxo (i feel like they’d be chill buddies but only if ao’nung wasn’t around cause he kinda drags the attention away from rotxo unintentionally).

ao'nung: his family is rich so he just orders food online for himself. Sometimes if he’s feeling up to it he’ll treat all his friends to a meal (yes, including lo’ak, kiri and neteyam) but not that often else he’d be completely broke. You will find him and tsireya waiting at the school doors for the dude bringing their food to get there during the first 5 minutes of lunch.

rotxo: he eats school lunch. It’s not that bad in pandora high but it's still not the best. Always grabs rice and some form of protein, always gets chocolate pudding but he thinks chocolate milk sucks ass mainly cause of all the powder in it. he also has trauma of pizza from eating an expired school slice of pizza cause after that he projectile vomited all over the floor during a presentation and the only reason he’s lived it down is because nobody knows that it was him that did that (npc behaviour im so sorry rotxo)

tsireya: orders food with Ao’nung, definitely is the girl that offers to buy drinks for everyone (u gotta pay her back though…she’d be too nice to ask if you forgot but her brother WILL track you down and charge you interest every day that you don’t pay up. you do NOT want secret maths genius ao’nung keeping track of your debt everyday and staring you down in the hall menacingly).

⌲ K for Kick Off The Year (What are they like back at school after the holidays?)

neteyam: he’s actually always ticked off at school after the holidays, even on mondays just after the weekend. he enjoys his relaxation time where he doesn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances and at home where he can just sit back and chill. if it’s been more than a week since he’s been to school expect him to be upset for another week. he won’t make it obvious but his handwriting definitely becomes more aggressive and it’ll always look like he’s glaring at someone when he’s just looking at them. (im listening to she knows by ne-yo while writing this and ngl an upset neteyam….i wouldn’t mind that too much 🤭 hell someone remind me to write headcanons of neteyam when he’s upset please oml i can just see it now)

kiri: definitely annoyed about going back to school but let’s be real who wouldn’t be? She’ll get used to the schedule and everything after like a day or two of school. she enjoys hearing the teacher’s sighs as they come back on monday, seeing her sitting front row ready to point out all the mistakes they’ll make after the weekend.

lo'ak: bro acts like he hasn’t been to school in YEARS. He’ll sludge through the doors of school like goop and just be dead as hell. if you talk to him he’d sound like a dying goat. He does however light up when he sees Tsireya. that’s really the only good part of going back to school for him.

ao'nung: he never usually has a dull day at school and he’s pretty chill with it. Once he steps through those doors he’ll have people crowding him asking him about the new haircut he got during the holidays and the fact he looks more fit (may or may not be true)

rotxo: you’ll never know what this manz is feeling. His face is just 🙂constantly. He’s definitely happy to see kiri again but besides that you would never know if he’s happy or upset by going back to school.

tsireya: girl is excited as hell. super excited to tell her friends about the holiday to the maldives she took, super excited to run for president again (she’s actually not supposed to but the teachers love her so they just let her and she always ends up winning), super excited to get back to teaching the little kids ballet at the preschool building every thursday, super excited to talk to kiri and lo’ak again. you might think she’s one of those girls who peaks at highschool but you're wrong because she’s been peaking since she was BORN.

⌲ L for Locker (What’s their locker look like?)

neteyam: locker probably plain as hell, he doesn’t pay attention to it much. Maybe a calendar pasted on the inside as well as some reminder notes but that’s it. His books are neat, but i don’t think i needed to include that detail cause with neteyam everything is neat (except the bitchy attitude on mondays)

kiri: she probably has fairy lights in there and if you ask her how tf she’ll say magic, cause there’s literally nowhere to plug the goddamn thing in. she has polaroid photographs of the whole friend group pasted onto the door and has leaf stickers decorating them.

lo'ak: he has stickers of random shit in there, like a mcdonalds sticker, sticker from someone’s kpop album, sticker of a skateboard and a star wars sticker. used to have a pic of tsireya but took it down after one of her friends laughed at him in the hall. he has extra hair ties for tsireya in case she ever needs it.

ao'nung: has a mirror in there. Like the door is just a whole ass mirror when he opens it up. that's it. idk i just feel like he’d stick a mirror onto it, that just seems like what he’d do. always wipes the mirror in the morning to keep it shiny.

rotxo: also has photographs of the friend group and a childhood photo of him and ao’nung where he kisses ao’nung on the forehead (ao’nung still hasn’t noticed it to this day since rotxo put it up) and also has extra batteries for his camera in case he needs it.

tsireya: now this is the whole reason i put L for Locker. her locker is magnificent??? she has a little heart mirror that sticks to the door, a box of tissues and some emergency items in case any of her friends need something (which include but are not limited to; pads, tampons, a mini power bank, perfume, bubblegum, mints, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, glue, scissors, extra sheets of paper, a stapler, a hole puncher, etc).

the moment she got her locker key she DIY-ed it and made a cute keychain with her initials on it so nobody could mistake it for others, and people often drop little letters to her anonymously asking for something or a change in the school or a suggestion since she’s the president, or even love letters sometimes so she created a mini letter box and attached it beneath where the hole was so everything wouldn’t just fall to the floor when she opened the locker.

on the door there’s like a little slot she made for her hairbrush and some chapstick yk just in case. probably sticks glow in the dark stars on the top of the locker so she peeks into the locker before opening it just to admire them. oh and instead of post it notes to remind her about stuff, she has a mini eraser board on the door below the mirror.

⌲ M for Morning Routine (What’s their morning routine before school?)

neteyam: he gets up literally 4 hours before school starts, brushes his teeth, goes on a walk/run, showers, makes breakfast for himself and packs lunch for later, puts on a hoodie and cargo pants, and then he just lays on his bed watching youtube videos and/or studying. He doesn’t even need to wake up 4 hours before he just does it because he wants extra chill time before school. Has to wear earplugs when he reaches to 2 hour mark because of lo’aks loudass alarm.

kiri: she definitely gets up earlier then lo’ak, probably wakes up an hour and 30 minutes before school starts since their house is like 30 minutes away from their school (15 if there's no traffic). She can finish getting ready in like 25 minutes and she sits on the couch scrolling through social media while waiting for lo’ak’s dumbass to get up. Grabs a starbucks sandwich and airfries it for the amount of time that Neytiri takes to wake him up.

lo'ak: gets up an hour before school starts, alarm on max volume blaring into his ears (and been doing that for the past hour) and making the whole household deaf. rushes literally everything, forgets to bring at least 1 thing each day, and scrambles out the door after 30 minutes jumping into the backseat of Jake’s SUV.

ao'nung: he gets up 2 hours before school starts. their house is about the same distance from school as the sully’s, but idk i just feel like their house is huge and it takes up 3x maybe 4x the space a normal house would. he probably has his own horse or something, and tends to it every morning. if he could he would probably ride a horse to school idk. he does normal stuff, i dunno what you would want me to elaborate about besides the stupid little sibling fights him and reya have every morning.

rotxo: he wakes up an hour before school and spends 30 minutes getting ready and probably just eats cereal everyday for breakfast. spends the longest time taking care of his hair and brushing it out making sure it looks flawless. before he gets going he makes sure have this specific conversation with ao’nung over text: “u otw bro?” “yea bro” “k bro” “k” just because they think its funny and they’ve been doing it for years.

tsireya: gets up at the same time as ao’nung because their rooms are next to each other and his alarm is obnoxiously loud. has a whole skincare routine she religiously follows every morning, her bathroom is just stocked full with a variety of different products that she will use. she will make pancakes for herself and for ao’nung if he hasn’t eaten anything yet, and she always takes a pic to put it on her instagram highlights of all the pancakes she’s ever made. she also has her own horse but ao’nung usually tends to it for her so she doesn’t need to worry much.

⌲ N for No Cap (How up to date are they with today’s slang?)

neteyam: he’d know a lot of it because of lo’ak but would rarely use it. he speaks properly almost constantly, even over text. he does use abbreviations like wrud wya lmfao noyb stfu wsg stuff like that (if u didn’t understand any of that then ur just old i don't make the rules). If he’s dating sb that's a whole different story tho he’d probably send like 4 paragraphs professing his undying everlasting infinite love and passion for his s/o.

kiri: definitely knows all the words, all the insults, all the abbreviations. even more than lo’ak. would not use words like pop off queen or slay though because she thinks it doesn’t fit with her aesthetic. Her way of texting kinda mad tho cause she’ll text like “yo u got the math notes?” and then she’ll follow immediately with “Appreciate it, thanks.” with correct grammar and everyones so fed up with it. An even worse example is “Hi, what are you doing currently?” and then she’ll say “k cool” like wtf do you want, woman??

lo'ak: knows a lot and uses it in everyday conversation like he’s the type of person to say lol and lmao in real life. nothing special to say that you wouldn’t expect from a man of this caliber.

ao'nung and rotxo: had to combine these mfs for this one cause they’re like the same. they both like saying L and W over text but not irl cause it's kinda cringe. pretty normal when talking in real life but they do know all the slang. partially cause lo’ak will use a lot of it during lunch together.

tsireya: absolutely, she knows it all. she’s the most active on social media out of all the avatar teens, consistently uses new slang and introduces it to her friends. she’s the it girl, what more can i say?

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3 | pt. 4 | masterlist

dang i finally got to finish this 😭 so happy to finally have another part out. This series will have 2 more parts from O to T and U to Z! In case u want to see more of my works, my masterlist is in the link above.

taglist: @calums-betch (im so sorry this took so long 😭)

another thing: i would like 2 make it known that again i am accepting requests! please view the rules in my navigation (link in my desc) before requesting anything btw. and also i will mention again the hashtag specifically for modern avatar au content that any other creator can use freely (modern jc avatar au)

okay thats all, tysm for reading and have a wonderful day!

[laylajeffany]

Hi! A few questions because I’m endlessly curious.

1) If you could meet any two people from Chaos, one OC and one pre-existing character, who would they be and why?

2) Where did you get the names for the OC’s from?

3) How do you come up with Emiliana’s broken idioms? Are they taken from actual French ones, or do you just make them up? And as a follow up, do you speak French or any other language besides English?

4) Can we have a picture of the botanical legos please

5) Do you have any Wednesday stuff, like Funko pops or posters?

Thank you for putting up with my questions!

1- I would have to meet Larissa Weems in canon because even though T. Martel made a physical growth chart of how tall she is in her apartment I don’t think I could actually fully comprehend it until she was in front of me. Of my OCs, I would enjoy hating on low-performing professionals w/Dr. Z, I LOVE being a hater.

2- Sometimes I just know instinctively - sometimes I collaborate with Tracey and we’ll look at lists of names based on culture/nationality. Sometimes I want something that means something specific.


3- I work with a lot of English Language Learners and students with communication challenges, so differences in understanding spoken English are like second nature to me. I usually take a common English phrase and make it a little off - though some are based on what kids had actually said to me in the past. I had five years of formal Spanish instruction and understand and read it fairly well but it comes out of my mouth so un-eliquently that it is usually very embarrassing. I commend anyone who can speak two languages!!!

4&5- A small glimpse at my personal decor as all except Morticia are usually in this spot anyway and there is no identifying material, but please do not be weird about it 🙃 (a disclaimer I make for all).

If you don’t put your LEGO bouquet in your Trixie Motel cup that you physically can’t use because you have only had water from the same Yeti since 2017, you’re doing it wrong. (I didn't have a vase also.) The clashing of aesthetics is important, too. And the impending structural collapse of the particle board-shelf. It’s all part of the chaotically curated brand. (The powder blue wall came with the apartment and I loathe.)

I have had the Wednesday print in every home I have lived in since 2014. Years ago, Tracey got me the Morticia funko. I got the 3D printed rag doll Wednesday last year on Etsy because I love her, and there are some original Addams family prints up on my year-round halloween collage wall, not pictured. Also not pictured, Tracey also got me a taxidermy snake and deaths head hawkmoth for my birthday and Normie Christmas this year - collecting merchandise from my own fic lol XD

The foldable seven inch machete pictuted was from my father on my 30th birthday and I'm not sure I will ever understand why it was gifted to me as it is illegal to carry here on the street and I don't exactly rough it in the woods. I think he was going through a doomsday prepping phase and wanted me to join him in that.

[unlikelychildchaos]

Macau had nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram. Therefore, he had a plethora of images on his phone. Mostly of his and his lavish and aesthetically pleasing life. No one could tell but this lifestyle was fairly new to him. When his father was alive, he wasn't allowed to do any of it. He didn't have friends, he didn't have a functioning family, and he didn't even have the fake comfort and validation of social media. He wasn't simply allowed to be a teenager. Life was a misery, to say the least.

But as the wise men say, nothing lasts forever. Not even bad times. So when good times came Macau adapted quickly. He was a gen Z at his peak. His DMs were packed with thirst traps and admirers. He would occasionally reply to some but mostly text and exchange memes with his friends.

Pete had said Macau had become some sort of influencer. His technologically challenged brother merely nodded at Pete's comment.

The day this picture was taken, Pete was in the mood for eating out. So the three of them went to a local Thai food restaurant. Macau wasn't usually the one to set his phone down and appreciate his surroundings. But he was glad he felt bored enough at that moment to do exactly that. His eyes landed on the two people in front of him.

Pete was showing Vegas something on his phone with a huge dimpled smile. Must have been a meme. Because Vegas looked up from his own phone—Macau could tell he was either reading a news blog or checking his emails because that's all he did on his phone—and smiled at Pete's phone screen.

It was at that moment that Macau realized he had a family. It was not what he had envisioned when he had been younger but it was no less perfect.

His brother was his shield from all the evils. The man protected Macau to the best of his abilities. He took hits for him, he shouldered blames for him, and when teenage angst took over Macau and he messed up Vegas cleaned his mess for him. Up until Pete, Vegas had only two goals in life. To gain the approval of their unworthy father and to protect Macau from their world. And even though the first one was a lost battle, Macau would say his brother did more than a great job on the second one. Whose brother did so much for them? Wasn't he lucky in that aspect?

When Macau's eyes landed on Pete, a memory flashed in front of his eyes. It had been the talent competition in his senior year of high school. He had casually mentioned the night before that he would be acting in a play organized by his class and he would be playing the best friend of the lead. It had been a two-minute role. It wasn't been a big deal, he had added. To be honest, he hadn't expected his brother or Pete to show up. No one ever showed up. Not for sports day, not on his class graduations, not even when he had won 1st place for that science project. Vegas had always been busy and their father had never cared enough.

So he had been rightfully surprised when he heard a familiar voice yelling his name when he had stepped onto the stage to deliver his lines. He had looked among the audience and saw his brother smiling at him with a proud look on his face. And then he had seen the person to whom that voice belonged, with a huge smile on his face holding up his phone recording Macau on stage. It had been Pete.

The play had been awful for Macau. He had forgotten his lines, choked up, and messed up the small dance he had to do at the end. But when he had come to meet his family, no one scolded him. They had patted him on his back being genuinely proud of him. And then they took him out for ice cream. It had been the best day of his life.

Macau blinked rapidly to get rid of the blurriness of his vision and took a sip from his glass of water to clear his aching throat. He then took that picture on his phone and put it on his Instagram with the caption, "Family's night out."

He tagged Pete only. Because his grumpy brother didn't have any social media. So when Pete's phone pinged and he checked the notification before looking up to meet Macau's eyes, Macau simply smiled at him. This was the first time Macau had acknowledged Pete as a part of his family. He could tell Pete was happy. And honestly? Macau felt pretty darn happy too.

[my pinterest feed made me do this. again. sorry if there are any grammatical errors. i can't stop writing these because i'm a hoe of domestic vegaspete. should i make this a series or something? lol. hope you like it. i did look for a picture with ta, biu, and bible in it. but not much luck. nothing that went with what i wrote. but anyway, let me know what you think? 'cause reading your comments and hashtags really makes my day]

Read the 1st one here

Read the 2nd one here

[writergirl3]

4 Town As Songs I Shamelessly Loop

What it says! I've been feeling way more inspired after my week-long trip away. I dove back into my playlists and came up with this idea. Thanks for anyone who's still stuck around after my sorta hiatus. I'm gonna be updating more often again!

Enjoy my absolutely shambolic music taste and look out for more content soon 🧡

Robaire;

Vision of Love - Mariah Carey

'You treated me kind, sweet destiny! And I'll be eternally grateful, Holding you so close to me.'

Something about this song just screams 'Robaire' to me. The mix of slow jam sensuality and jaw-dropping vocals is so on brand for him.

This song is a classic and I could definitely imagine Robaire singing this either before fame in a talent contest or as a solo artist later down the road. Let's face it, if anyone can rival Mariah's whistle tones, it's Robaire.

Jesse;

Whatsername - Green Day

'I made a point to burn all of the photographs. She went away, and then I took a different path.'

So, I personally hc Jesse as being an ex member of the alternative rock scene. He went through many phases, but his grunge/punk time was one for the books. And like any good punk rocker, he still loves Green Day.

The chilled, mellowness of this song is reminds me of him, too. That and the lyricism, the theme of leaving a romantic interest in the past. I feel like he'd have related to this song with the mom of his kids. He'd definitely have had some long drives blasting this song, screaming out the lyrics as the melody builds.

Aaron T;

Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - Stevie Wonder

'Don't you worry 'bout a thing, mama. 'Cause I'll be standing on the side When you check it out.'

My God, this song is T to a T. The Latin American flavour, the garbled Spanish in the intro, the upbeat playfulness. It's all him.

Plus, we know T is a supportive friend and S/O. He has a positive outlook on life, and he definitely passes that on to his loved ones. Bolstering them up to take on life's challenges while waiting in the wings to support them through it all.

Aaron Z;

Lavender Haze - Taylor Swift

'Staring at the ceiling with you, Oh, you don't ever say too much. And you don't really read into my melancholia.'

I won't lie, this song gave me inspiration to do this post in the first place. Something about it reminds me of Z. Maybe it's the purple aesthetic, the sombre beats, the whole vibe of giving no f*cks. I don't know, it's all just very Z.

Plus, I feel like he's a night owl. Finding peace in that time of the night when everyone else is asleep and he can let his imagination run wild. Part of him comes alive at that magical midnight hour, and that's what this song is all about to me.

✨Bonus ✨; In the modern AU, I hc Z as having a fat secret crush on Ms Swift. T's definitely planning an embarrassing encounter between them at some point.

Tae Young;

Intro; Persona - BTS

'Persona, who the hell am I? I just wanna go, I just wanna fly. I just wanna give you all the voices till I die. I just wanna give you all the shoulders when you cry.'

I know, I know- picking a K-pop song for Tae-

Buuuuut, I genuinely feel like this song is so Tae. It's all about discovering yourself through supporting those you love most. As I hc Tae as bisexual, and we all know he's the youngest, he's still growing into himself. But he has so much love to give, and the members and 4 Townies see that.

Also, this song is super rogue but honestly such a bop. It's catchy and a lil feisty, and we know that Tae isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

---

Musing Meaninglessly Masterlist

[kaatiba]

Legends of Mourra ✧ An Encyclopedia

↳ Djinn are beings of smokeless fire whose true forms are invisible in the mortal realm, and who range in nature from mischievous to malicious. They have societies, rulers, and genders, as well as shapeshifting abilities and magic. It is they who taught humanity magic.

They are generally attracted to impurity, despair, violence, and alcohol, which allows them to access, prey on, or influence humans. They are capable of possession but can be driven away and rebuffed by purity of body and state and by verses from the Book of Revelation, either recited or worn as a protective talisman. Efficacy depends on the strength of the djinn and the spiritual strength of the invoker.

Djinn can also be commanded and controlled, either by magic or by one who has the spiritual strength to master them, but they are inherently tricksters and will always try to harm or subvert both their masters and any commands given to them.

Their domain lies beyond Jabal Qaf, but they often slip into the mortal realm and cause trouble on the earthly plane through various access points. Their sworn enemies are the Elyoud.

[Inspiration: Islam]

original images via: Kevin Escate, Vladislav Nahorny,  Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

general writing taglist (open!): @lockejhaven​

lofm taglist (open!): @muddshadow​, @hyba​, @jellybeanswriting​

[royal-confessions]

“Its unfortunate that the Japanese imperial family are so aesthetically challenged while Japan is one of the most fashionable places in the world and is known for its unique culture and aesthetics. Also someone please get aiko a gen z stylist for crying out loud!!!!” - Submitted by Anonymous

[1997thebracket]

Round 2A

Revolutionary Girl Utena: If it cannot break its shell, the chick will die without ever being born. This sentiment, originally found in Hermann Hesse’s 1919 novel Demian, features during a repeated sequence in the 1997 anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. Hesse is far from the only reference to philosophical, surrealist, or heavily symbolic text in the show, which trades in visual metaphor and multi-layered subtext. Revolutionary Girl Utena follows the story of Utena Tenjou, a young orphan who aspires to princehood-- challenging or outright circumventing the place of gender in that aspiration-- and is entangled in a series of duels centered around a girl named Anthy Himemiya. Written by Kunihiko Ikuhara, Chiho Saito, and Yōji Enokido (known collectively as Be-Papas) and soundtracked by J.A. Seazer and Shinkichi Mitsumune, the show has an instantly recognizable style, combining lush fairytale visuals and French-inspired architecture with a choir that functions as a sort of Greek chorus to the internal worlds externalized in combat. Utena is a story about many things, arguably all things, taking a surgical scalpel to adolescence and using the flat of the blade as a paintbrush, leaving a deeply human, visceral work of art in its wake. It has been massively influential on feminist, queer & sapphic, and otherwise gender-deconstructive or gender-subversive modern media. Smash the world's shell! For the revolution of the world!

Toonami: Enjoy the ride. Toonami is a television programming block and brand that originated on Cartoon Network in 1997. It's known for its distinctive focus on action-oriented animated series, primarily targeting older children, teenagers, and young adults; it introduced a generation of viewers to the decade’s most popular anime, namely Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Naruto and Gundam Wing when broadcasting during the weekday afternoons and evenings, and others like Ghost in the Shell or Full Metal Alchemist during its affiliation with Adult Swim. Hosted by a future-nostalgia fueled robot called TOM (Toonami Operations Module), the block created a unique viewing experience via its space-themed aesthetic and motivational or dry-humored interstitial segments. Toonami has since become a beloved part of animation-focused pop culture, and its impact on the promotion of anime and adult animated action series in the west is significant.

[youthquakeee]

Yearning for 2014

It’s 2014. All my family is gathered at the restaurant to debut my becoming a woman. ‘My new monthly doom’, I think bending over by first-period cramps. I know for a fact that none of my sisters have been through this pseudo-tradition but, as the youngest family member, the older relatives rejoice in the mockery of this dinner and speak to me teasingly, knowing that whatever

I'm going through, they've already been through it all. Caught in the awkwardness, angst, and general anhedonia of puberty we reach dessert and I’m praying my bleeding uterus hasn't stained the chair's lining. That was the same year Lana Del Rey released her third album Ultraviolence, a time when her music served as a rite of passage. Her dreamy melancholic voice and lyrics on older men and drug use had to be consumed with a cautious warning, as they had cathartic effects on my already moody state.

I didn’t think there was any cultural significance at the time, but trends from 2014 have resurfaced on Instagram and TikTok, prompting discussions that contribute to the internet's fixation on that year. In the fashion industry, the emergence of an indie-sleaze revival marks a departure from the polished "clean girl aesthetic" that had dominated online platforms for years. This shift towards combat boots, distressed leather, and a deliberately messy look resonates with the unfiltered style of the early 2010s. Similarly, the film industry's wave of reboots and revivals including iconic shows like "Gossip Girl," "Sex and the City," and "Friends," taps into the comfort of familiar characters which says something about the generalized state of nostalgia. Moreover, the popularity of ‘POV: it's 2014’ videos on social media showcasing various ephemera and pop culture references that defined that year such as ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ and ‘Eos lip balm’ confirms there is cultural yearning for 2014.

But why are people obsessing over 2014?

Every generation makes the point that old times were better. Generation Z, me included, we're now at an age where we can start feeling nostalgic for the first time, as we've reached the threshold of adulthood. Our seemingly world-ending problems from when we were younger—like high school crushes and acne—now seem trivial in comparison to the complexities of adult life.

During my early teens, I was eager to grow up, idealizing all kinds of freedoms. But as I've grown older, I realize that many of the key milestones of life are out of my generation's reach. The dream of finding a fulfilling job, owning a home, and living life on my terms feels like a scam.

Adulthood is a fraud.

Social media also amplifies our crushed expectations, because while in our reality we are constantly facing struggles to make a living, in social media everyone seems to fucking have it together. The internet has become increasingly commodified and exploited for its business possibilities. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are no longer ‘social’ but a form of consumption. I can't even remember the days before doom-scrolling addiction wasn't a thing.

I yearn for when the internet was once a refuge for connection and exploration. In 2014 Instagram was still in its infancy, Facebook was still popular, but the ultimate platform was Tumblr. It's difficult to explain the significance of Tumblr. Is it a social media platform? Yes. Where you can share images and longer fragments of text? Yes. But it was also more, you had to be there to understand it. Tumblr was a world of its own, Tumblr funded URL counterculture materialized through music and fashion.

Unlike social media now, Tumblr was not based on followers or likes, users were highly anonymous creating a safe haven for teenage girls to blog and post images freely. The aesthetics movement, which became a substitute for subcultures, also originated on Tumblr. Within this ecosystem, individuals self-prescribe to an aesthetic such as grunge, pastel grunge, or hipster. "That's so Tumblr" was also an aesthetic of its own. Posting “aesthetically” pleasing featuring grainy black and white edits of Lana del Rey, knee-high socks, Doctor Martens, chokers, galaxy prints, vinyl records from The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys was a way to combat the ugliness in real life. Having this beautifully curated blog was a form of reinvention. However, not everything about Tumblr was pretty, images of anorexia, depression and self-harm circulated on the platform romanticizing mental health issues.

Life was simpler in 2014 because we were younger but also life just seems to have gotten complicated after 2015. Ebola, Brexit, Trump winning elections, the War in Ukraine and Gaza, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Lots of us feel that COVID robbed us of our youth and by the time we got out of isolation we were on the cusp of adulthood.

The longing for 2014 reflects more than just a desire for a bygone era; it symbolizes a yearning for a time when life seemed less daunting, and the future felt more hopeful. We cling to the memories of our youth as a form of escapism from the present. But this is not a way of living, as Andy Bernard character from the office said, "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days...".

[gamblingrimsley]

// Ight fine my turn. Some Ghostman boundaries I feel the need to emphasize just in case.

• Mind the plethora of content warnings on this blog. Grimsley can easily be triggering for those not mentally prepared, he's full of anxiety, paranoia, depression, and trauma underneath the exterior that constantly puts up a smooth mask. His habits are terrible, and he is not a good nor a bad person. He may likely do morally reprehensible things. Realistically written anxiety/panic attacks as well as mental spirals and depersonalization/derealization/dissociation will be present on this blog. I will try my best to tag these, but if I miss anything and you want a specific tag, patiently ask me (in a non-rude manner) and I will add it.

• Communication. Communication. Communication. You literally cannot annoy me. Text me at even the ungodliest of hours and I'll be like :] Omg hiiiiii. If you want to be a major part of my character's lore or story or be a major connection to my character, you gotta talk to me about it. Infodump all you want, every single idea of the dynamics and concepts you can think of I will eat it up. You have a funny meme or aesthetic board that reminds you of our characters? Send it to me and I will immediately put that in my mouth.

• My blog is not primarily focused on shipping and I do not interact with others with that as a priority in mind. If shipping is a possibility then it will be an afterthought until the potential develops in-character. Shipping is only like, a fun lil side-bonus. A treat, if you will. I take and write every type of ship there is, be it queerplatonic, unlabeled, toxic, romantic, unconventional, sexual, you name it. That being said, I only ship with admins who are 20+ and only with characters who are 25 and over. I am only fine with age gap if the character is in their mid to late 20s, if the character is older than Grimsley then there is practically no limit to how much older your character can be. We like the elderly/immortal in this house idk what to tell ya. Also, I do not ship with protagonist or rival characters for my own comfort, even the ones that have been canonically aged up. Apologies for any disappointment there.

• Grimsley is not an easy character to get along with. Do not be angry if your character(s) and mine simply don't click. It happens, he can't get along with everyone no matter how suave he tries to be. I do not feel any kind of offense towards any conflict your character has with mine. They are characters, after all.

• Grimsley is kind of... Cracked when it comes to Pokémon battling. They gave this guy high leveling due to the challenge mode in the gen 5 games and canon Z moves/multiple mega-evolvable Pokémon who have very good competitive viability. It's almost embarrassing to me how crazy strong this guy is in that department. Which means a lot of Pokémon battles with this guy are likely going to be unbalanced if he doesn't actively hold himself back. But not to worry, you can best him in different ways. Manipulate him, physically fight him, trick him. Most of the time I'm going to say yes when you ask to kick my character's ass. All fights and battles need to have a mutually agreed upon winner or outcome before they start.

That's all I can think of rn. Thank you for reading if you got this far!

[onewhoturns]

A-Z Challenge GAME 2

It was close, but looks like Afterparty won the vote for the A game, so I'll be returning to hell for the first time since 2020. 😈 That may take a few sessions this week, but while I'm working on that: let's figure out B time! I'll actually have a week long poll this time instead of rushing it into 24 hours.

This round features a few games I haven't tried yet, one I'm about halfway through that will take several hours to go, and one I beat on gog but haven't gone achievement hunting on steam. Descriptions of the options (ft trailers and tags) below the cut. (you may notice I love aesthetically interesting games lmao) (I also love detective games, and it's amazing I only put one that's kinda-like-that in this poll; there's three so far in the C picks)

1. BAD END THEATER (2021)

"welcome to BAD END THEATER! select your protagonist and explore a variety of terrible fates! the decisions you make in one story will affect the others. you can toggle these behaviors to open up new paths! unfortunately, every path leads to a bad ending… can you find a way to save this unlucky cast?" Steam tags: multiple endings, visual novel, story rich, LGBTQ+, choices matter, choose your own adventure, cute

2. Beckett (2018) (tw insects in trailer)

"A dark and unsettling narrative adventure that will shake you to your core. Take control of a reluctant investigator, trapped in a depraved and despondent world. BAFTA-winning and selected by the V&A for its pioneering narrative design, this disturbingly powerful story is unlike anything you've played." Steam tags: indie, adventure, nudity, gore, point & click, atmospheric, story rich, surreal, visual novel

3. Before Your Eyes (2021)

"Embark on an emotional first-person narrative adventure where you control the story—and affect its outcomes—with your real-life blinks. With this innovative technique you will fully immerse yourself in a world of memories, both joyous and heartbreaking, as your whole life flashes before your eyes." Steam tags: emotional, narrative, story rich, indie, first-person, walking simulator, interactive fiction, adventure

4. Bear and Breakfast (2022) (I have 24/43 achievements after 16hrs of play, hltb estimates an average 35hrs completionist)

"Bear and Breakfast is a laid-back management adventure game where you play as a well-meaning bear trying to run a B+B in the woods. Hank and his friends find an abandoned shack and, equipped with their teenage ingenuity, turn it into a money-making bed and breakfast scheme for unsuspecting tourists." Steam tags: economy, life sim, relaxing, rpg, casual, story rich, cute, simulation

5. Broken Age (2014) (I completed it on gog but only have 3/45 achievements from 45min of play on steam, hltb estimates an average 14hrs completionist)

"A family friendly, hand-animated, puzzle-filled adventure game with an all-star cast, Broken Age is a timeless coming-of-age story. Vella Tartine and Shay Volta are two teenagers in strangely similar situations, but radically different worlds. The player can freely switch between their stories, helping them take control of their own lives, and dealing with the unexpected adventures that follow." Steam tags: point & click, adventure, story rich, comedy, indie, funny, casual