#and I think it positively reinforces breaking the bad habit

[theambitiouswoman]

I love money and money loves me.

How to change your relationship with money:

Reframe the story you tell yourself: Work on establishing an abundance mindset. Look at your current beliefs and attitude about money. Do you have a scarcity mindset? Are you constantly chasing money and not believing you can reach your financial goals? Do you think money is bad?

Establish a positive mindset: Focus on gratitude for what you already have and embrace the belief that there are endless opportunities to become financially successful. Practice affirmations or visualization exercises to reinforce positive thoughts and attract abundance.

Educate yourself: Expand your financial literacy by reading books, watching videos, going to seminars or taking online courses on personal finance and money management. Understanding concepts like budgeting, investing, and saving will help you make informed decisions and take control of your finances.

Create a clear plan: Define specific and realistic financial goals for yourself. Whether it's paying off debt, saving for a home, or starting a business, having clear objectives will give you direction and motivation. Break these goals down into smaller milestones to make them more achievable and real in your mind.

Create a budget: Create a budget to track your income, expenses, and savings. Budgeting helps you gain a clear understanding of where your money is going and allows you to prioritize your spending. Ensure that your budget aligns with your financial goals and helps you save for the future.

Monitor your spending: Monitor your expenses closely to identify any unnecessary or impulsive spending habits. Use mobile apps or spreadsheets to record your expenses and categorize them.

Save and invest wisely: Make saving a priority by automating regular contributions to a savings account. Start building an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses. Investing your money wisely to grow your wealth over time. Make your money work for you. Having money just sitting in the bank will not make it grow.

Needs Vs wants: Before making a purchase, ask yourself if it aligns with your values and financial goals. Avoid impulsive buying and give yourself time to consider whether it's a necessity or a fleeting desire.

Surround yourself with people who feel comfortable talking about money: Engage with people who have a healthy relationship with money. People who can casually have a conversation about making $10k, $20, $50k etc a month without blinking an eye. This will open your eyes about what you can have and help you feel comfortable with setting goals for yourself.

[dee-morris]

An Overdue Rant and a Christmas Fic

I wrote this Hallmark AU last December. It was supposed to be a jokey little one-shot, but man it ate my brain. My average daily word count is 500-1k words a day, and I think I was doing 2k to 5k a day until it was done. I couldn't fuckin stop, and it was glorious.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43616245/chapters/109670092

This is very important to me, because I came to fanfic like a dying traveler comes to an oasis. After the pandemic I became deeply depressed and I developed chronic writer's block. Marketing was an uphill slog, and not being able to go out and socialize at events made it unbearable. When I did go out, the anxiety I felt about COVID made it not fun. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to write again.

Writing fanfiction was a welcome reprieve from all that: no deadlines! No SEO! No depressingly tiny royalty statements! Positive reinforcement with no dollar signs attached! So it was nice, it was fun, but I didn't really get my groove back until I wrote HallMark. That wasn't just fun. That was drive. That was passion. And it was glorious.

After it was done and posted, I couldn't forget about it. I had to know what it was about that story that grabbed me by the brain cells like that. So I went back and read it again, and I read the comments (thank you all kind people you're the best), and I realized that it was about Aziraphale and Crowley, but it was really about my feelings towards how children are raised.

*I'm not going to completely spoil the fic here, but feel free to go read it before we get further bc I'm about to discuss some thematic elements.*

Crowley is raising the Antichrist to be the destroyer of worlds on the surface, but underneath it he cares about the world, and he cares about Adam too. And that is the side of him that Adam responds to, and why he turns out the way he does. And that's what parents don't understand about children. They are only kind of listening to your words. What they respond to, and what nurtures them, is your behavior towards them and towards the world you're raising them in. If you tell your kid that Jesus loves everyone and we should help the poor, but you vote for people who will cut welfare bc you think you'll get a tax break and a new boat, your kid sees you. If you tell your kid that it's a sin to judge others but you glare at a tall woman going into the ladies room bc you think she might be trans, your kid sees you. They might grow up to be an asshole or they might grow up to think that you're one, but either way you lose.

And if you tell your kid that his destiny is to destroy the world and that living things are fit only to be ground under his heels, but you make him sandwiches and worry about him when he's out of your sight and buy him stupid Christmas crap because it makes him happy, your kid might not turn out as evil as you thought.

(don't actually tell your kid he's the Antichrist, btw, this fic is hyperbole for symbolic thematic purposes and not a parenting guide)

Anyway, my point is if you love your kid and treat him right, if you treat other people right, and give him a stable home and maybe a dog if you can afford it, he'll probably turn out pretty much okay. The rest is just flavor.

Parents stress too much about things that don't matter, but it's not our fault. You have to run the gauntlet a couple of times before you can filter out stuff that matters from stuff that doesn't, because the books and guides and parenting classes will just try to scare you about everything. Let me assure you that your baby does not give two shits if you feed with breast or bottle. But your child will remember whether you were happy, and whether you took pleasure in their presence in your life.

So what sucked me in about this fic was the reversal of what I've seen in the real world. My brain conjured a fantasy of someone who's a good parent despite themselves, instead of a bad parent with a church habit and a fat bank account. Of course I had to bring that fantasy into the world. It's how things become real.

[lususnatura]

How does your muse sit? Do they take up space, or keep to themselves?

AHH, before i say anything else, first let me say: thank you for sending me this ask! it always makes me so happy whenever i see people send me stuff :) and honestly, i feel like this is an interesting question because the way i see it, the manner in which a character carries themselves alone could say a LOT about them, i'm not gonna lie. so i am glad you asked!! and now, allow me to give you the best answer i can in relation to this: blamore does absolutely take up space whenever it sits somewhere, and i think that a big part of why this is partially due to perhaps confidence that is a little performative on it's part, BUT that is also genuine as well.

and i know that that might not make complete sense without context because i myself think that my method of explaining things sometimes can be confusing LOL. though, i promise that i'll explain what i mean in a second. this is something that i've only briefly touched upon in both blamore's carrd and in an earlier post on here thus far + as such, i'm going to talk about it more in depth here, but even before it's transformation — blamore was someone with a 'big' personality and this sort-of showed through him seeming to be full of confidence as well as being quote spontaneous, especially for someone who seemed to have such a laid-back father. it's also important to know that blamore's father was also very supportive of it, however, though he felt like he couldn't express who he really was while he was still in annecy with thérèse. for, as you may be familiar with, thérèse was... well, there's really no other way to put it besides that she was abusive and as a result, blamore felt like he always had to be walking on eggshells around her.

this is done in order to try to prevent or minimize any future occurrences of upsetting the abuser. but unfortunately, this rarely works and when it does, it's only temporary. and so for a while, blamore had lost his sense of self because he basically conditioned himself to only focus on what was happening outside of himself. and as a result, he had stopped listening to his inner voice for a while as a child, which is not a good thing but blamore viewed it as the only way he could possibly survive around her without completely breaking down so one can understand why he did it. it is also a common occurrence with those who have been abused, and although sacha (blamore's father) had tried to help his child heal from all of the psychological / emotional trauma that it endured at the hands of it's mother (which was made unknown to him by thérèse until he found her physically lashing out at him) with therapy as well as much positive reinforcement from him as possible that he could be the person he wants to be without having to fear that he'd be punished or ridiculed for it... there is still a part of it that is affected by the psychological abuse that was inflicted on it as a kid.

because it has made him chronically angry and self-tortured deep down inside, so although his true personality HAS been allowed to flourish in the years that proceeded sacha and its move to gotham, sometimes blamore falls into what he considers to be a 'bad habit' and be at least somewhat insecure about his identity / personality. so, yeah, although blamore usually always appears to be a very 'loud and proud' person on the outside that let's everyone know that he exists by completely sprawling out or just sitting in positions that call attention to him in general whenever he sits somewhere + gives them this idea that he's not going to let ANYONE make him feel like he can't take up space? sometimes, he feels like he's a kid all over again and one who doesn't know who he is.

and i can't lie, it is really sad. not to mention that it took blamore a while just to become even halfway comfortable in his skin the way it is now because, as far as medical doctors like nico morselli are concerned, it's downright PUZZLING that he's still alive with the way he is now and to suddenly be thrust into being dehumanized by so many people was... very disorienting for blamore, to say the least. but he's tried his best to turn this dehumanization on its head by trying to embrace that he's something else other than just human now. but yeah, i know this was a bittt long, but thank you very much for the ask again! and i hope you're having a GREAT morning thus far :)

[ofstronghold]

chris evans. 40. cis man. he/him. ┊┊ CARTER DENECOUR, better known as agent STRONGHOLD has been with cerberus corp as an eo since 2011 and is LEVEL I. BEING TRAPPED UNDERNEATH RUBBLE FOR 24 HOURS has gifted them SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH, though AT THE COST OF CONSTANT MIGRAINES has also been noted. when they aren’t protecting the tri-state area, they are fond of WORKING OUT AT THE FACILITY GYM and are never seen without A PICTURE OF HIS YOUNGER BROTHER. civilians think they are VALIANT & BRAVE, but some of the other agents see them as RIGOROUS & RELENTLESS. cerberus corp should consider the fact that their last mission status was A TRAINING MISSION WITH A TEAM OF LEVEL II AGENTS when giving out the next one.

( tw – smoking , loss of family member )

001.  GENERAL

name  carter denecour nicknames  agent stronghold / car ( heavily advises against this ! ) age  forty date of birth  august 6th, 1983 zodiac  leo place of birth  austin , texas current residence  new york , new york gender  cis male pronouns  he/him sexuality  bisexual occupation  level i agent for cerberus corp

faceclaim  chris evans height  six feet , one inches tattoos  none piercings  none distinguishing features  scruffy beard ( unless cerberus corp's pr team makes him shave it off ) positive traits  valiant , brave , optimistic , charming , courageous , considerate negative traits  rigorous , relentless , stoic , repressed , wrathful labels / tropes  the backbone , the caretaker , the leader , the fighter , the prodigy likes  the scent of strawberries , books , the ocean , wine , doing mission reports , cats , saving people dislikes  hurting people physically , fighting , chocolate , social media , cooking , pranks , generally any mean thing fears  tight spaces ( due to his nde ) , losing more family members , hurting people with his superhuman strength , rats hobbies  working out at the facility gym , volunteering at food pantries , meditating , participating in yoga habits  cracking ( his ) knuckles , scratching face apprehensively , crossing arms , smoking cigarettes ( even though he's the leading face for every anti - smoking campaign ) , hums in reply rather than using words

002.  EXTRA ORDINARY

near death experience… in 2010 , carter's watching his younger brother ( dylan ) and dylan wants to go hiking ! carter wholeheartedly agrees because the kid wants to go explore the world – who is he to stop him ? so they go hiking a little outside the city limits where the rocks are piled high and it's starting to get a little windy , the sky starts to dim into a dark blue-ish color . a storm is coming and carter didn't check the weather before the hike , so when the storm starts and rocks starts to become wet and slippery due to the rain , dylan slips – dylan falls down the rocky path and carter's unable to save him because his foot gets caught in between rocks in this heavily rocky path and carter's now stuck alone with no cell phone reception or his brother . then , the storm gets so bad that rocks start to shift , slide around until he's caught in the path of heavy boulders tumbling down his path . bruised and stuck , carter finds himself stuck underneath rubble for ( what he finds out later by the news reports ) 24 hours before he's considered dead upon arrival .  but , a miracle happens and carter finds himself waking up in a hospital bed hours later having brought back to life after being resuscitated but unfortunately the good news came with bad , his brother is still not found .

power…  carter has the ability of superhuman strength ! carter is able to strike foes with superhuman force , lift massive objects and throw them with ease , create makeshift weapons and tools out of basic objects by physically manipulating them , break through reinforced barriers with relative ease , use his strength to leap great distances , and take minimal damage through his strong exterior .

drawbacks / vulnerabilities…  due to his constant use of superhuman strength , originating as early as 2010 , using his power puts a continuous strain on his mental – developing reoccurring migraines that could last for weeks after strenuous use of his super strength . due to his migraines , carter then becomes agitated easily , sensitive to sunlight , and has can exude random angry outbursts .

cerberus corp…  carter is a level i agent for cerberus corp – he started as level iii and worked his way up the ranks quickly ; he was actively recruited by ji-young han , one of the founders for cerberus corp , during a group therapy session for losing family members , an event that carter had attended to weekly . ji-young had sought him after it had been reported on national news that carter had saved a child from a household fire using his superhuman strength , the kind of power ( and pr ) cerberus was shooting for when creating their structure back then . carter had always craved to be a hero – to be there when people needed it the most – and with little convincing , and mutual shared experiences with similar powers , carter had joined cerberus in 2011 with a hard vouch from ji-young . carter is an excellent field agent , serving as one of the training coordinators for cerberus for level ii and level iii agents , and enjoys working with team members despite the many who seem to dislike working with the cookie cutter agent . he is a stickler for the rules on missions and follows them through and through !

codename…  stronghold was given to him by the fans / public ! before he was recruited into cerberus , he had saved a child from a housefire where he had lifted heavy debris so the child could escape – national news lapped up that story to where the public had started calling this mysterious person the nation's stronghold . cerberus , especially the pr team , loved the idea for carter to keep that nickname and so , continues forward as agent stronghold . he doesn't particularly mind if people use stronghold as a nickname , he neither likes it nor dislikes it .

003.  HEADCANONS

a lot of the paintings in the facility are actually there to hide the fact that carter has punched some of those walls so hard due to his anger issues , it's basically unfixable .

he reads every fan letter he receives because it makes him think of his missing younger brother .

carter cannot cook to save his life . he once burnt spaghetti in his house once , tried to extinguish the flames by covering the pot with the lid , smashed the lid through the stovetop , and had to get cerberus to pay for a replacement .

volunteers at foot pantries once a week – not for pr purposes , just because he enjoys them .

004.  CONNECTIONS

someone he's trying to ' fix ' ?? carter is a Good Guy™ and there are people here who's ... not ?? so he makes it a mission to fix them , whether they like it or not !

reliable partner , as in someone he works with a lot . whether they're good or bad , they seem to be paired up with each other the most and they kick ass together !

people who are under his guidance ( level ii and / or level iii agents ) since carter enjoys doing training missions , he will often to seen training other agents .

the ' power couple ' that the public ships hard – pr encourages this fake dating troupe rather than extinguish it . carter is a big pr guy so he lets this fake dating troupe go on .

best friend , self explanatory . they are each other's ride or die .

ex-relationship(s) , whether it was broken up to due carter's anger issues or dedication to the job , or something else entirely ?

training partners – carter will use himself as a training dummy for people to practice their powers on because he's big , Strong man .

can add more or plot something else entirely !

[ecargmura]

Dog Signal Episode 11 Review - Positive Reinforcement

Dog Signal returns from a one week break due to the holidays in Japan. While the issue with Hana and Mrs. Asanuma concludes on a good note, another problem arises. I take back what I said about Mrs. Asanuma being the most infuriating dog owner in this show because Miyu’s ex-girlfriend Yuko usurps that title by a long shot. Man, she’s so selfish.

Niwa tells Mrs. Asanuma that because Hana gets so stressed from eating, she believes that if she eats, she gets scolded. That’s the reason why Hana refuses to eat. In order for her to get used to eating, Hana needs positive reinforcement and no discipline. Niwa shows how its done with Ourson. Ourson always seemed like the perfectly trained dog, but, like people, dogs have their own set of issues as well. In Ourson’s case, what he is bad at is toilet training. Ourson used to be bad at peeing on the pad as he got older because of his size and belief that if his paws are on the pad, then his whole body is on the bad. That’s why he had the tendency to pee on the side of the pad and not on it. I actually learned a lot from this segment because my dogs tend to pee on the side of the pad to and not on the full area.

Niwa didn’t scold him out loud for the peeing issues, but Ourson could sense Niwa’s frustrations which was why he became stressed and developed urinary cysts. Because of this, Niwa changed his methods. He tolerated Ourson’s toilet behaviors and would praise him whenever he did it right. Ourson can pee normally now, but because of the past issues, it took a toll on his psyche, which was why he never smiles whenever Niwa praises him for peeing. I think this opened my eyes a bit. Now, I feel bad for scolding my dogs for making peeing mistakes on their pads at home. I’ve been trying to be tolerant these days, but I’m glad that Niwa proves that this does work.

I’m glad that the story helped Mrs. Asanuma understand that she has to be tolerant and patient. I’m also glad that she still loves her dog that she’s willing to change her disciplining methods. From what Miyu said at the pizza party, Mrs. Asanuma calls frequently to tell them about Hana’s eating habits, which have changed positively. I’m amazed that stubborn dog owners like her are able to change like that.

I do like that Miyu and Niwa help each other in ways that they lack. Niwa isn’t the friendliest or liveliest person, so he has a hard time being too excited to praise Ourson. Fortunately, Miyu is there to help out with that as he was the one who danced around and praised Ourson for peeing, which worked! Seeing Niwa hug his dog and thanking Miyu for his efforts really showed that not only is Miyu growing as a dog trainer, but as a friend to Niwa.

Will Yuko be able to change like Mrs. Asanuma? That’s a very hard question to answer. All I can say is that Yuko is super annoying and selfish. She’s easily the worst dog owner so far. She has all the red flags that dog owners should not be doing. She wears strong perfume, which dogs don’t like. She wears heels, which could be dangerous around small dogs. She puts Tiara in a bag and carries her around like she’s some posh rich girl. She also goes to Proud Dog, thinking they’ll accept her, but Niwa hated her the moment she walked in. She’s totally going to abandon Tiara when she gets older and will be buying another small dog to be her new accessory.

Her worst crime is buying a dog. She bought Singe, but then abandoned and gave him to Miyu because she was told that having a large dog like him would be embarrassing; she treats Singe like an after thought—heck, she didn’t even ask Miyu if Singe was doing okay and even called him “that one”. After abandoning Singe, she buys her teacup poodle named Tiara for one million yen (Basically around $7000) and carries her around in a bag and dresses her up in clothes. Whether dogs should wear clothes is a debate I’ve seen a bit, but it really depends on the weather. I make my dogs wear clothes only when its cold because poodles don’t have an undercoat, meaning they’re more prone to feeling cold; they’re getting old too, so I want them to be warm. Back on topic, she doesn’t even have a leash or a collar for Tiara. While Tiara doesn’t look like she’s uncomfortable, it’s because Tiara is still a puppy and a very young one at that. When she gets older, she’ll start expressing herself more with her likes and dislikes.

I feel so bad for Miyu, honestly. He went through so much trying to raise Singe, but it did bring him two good things in his life: raising Singe helped him meet Niwa and realize his dream of being a dog trainer. Not only he meets all sorts of people, he also learns a lot about himself. And all of that started with Yuko dumping him and then abandoning Singe in his place. I just hope this is an opportunity to show Yuko that he has become a better person after she left him. Can he become a competent dog trainer to show up Yuko? Will Yuko be able to change?

I really like how Miyu defends Niwa from Yuko as she accused him of being a rude person. Niwa isn’t rude; he’s blunt and I’m glad that Miyu understands that compared to Yuko who only judges people from how they behave towards her. I do wonder if the reason for their breakup will be explained next episode. Other than that, I hope Miyu puts Yuko in her place. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[blackcandlesinwinter]

If I may add, this is also true about other sorts of excessive negativity. Like, if all of your conversations with your friends are centered on complaining about everything and everyone that sucks... that will seriously wreck both your friendships and your mental health.

That doesn't mean you can never vent to your friends about shitty things. Venting is good! But it's not healthy if that's your primary mode of engaging with others. You can get stuck in a loop where you look for and focus on all of the bad shit in your life all of the time because that's where you get your social energy from and that's what you are in the habit of talking about. You train yourself with social rewards to ruminate constantly on negative things and ignore positive things and this is actually super bad for you. And it's super bad for your friendships too because many people will find this exhausting and off-putting, and the folks who tend to stick around will be other folks who like to wallow in negativity 24/7 as well, which just reinforces the spiral.

And no, this isn't some toxic positivity "just think on the bright side!" hack, or privileged insistence that your life can't be THAT bad or whatever. This is just... be kind to your brain and your friendships. Give them a break from deprecating yourself and/or others around you and/or your life and circumstances in general. If you need help getting started, consider:

If you can't think of good things to say about yourself or your life, talk about something unrelated to yourself like a book or a movie or a game or a scented candle or whatever (something you LIKE, not something you enjoy griping about!)

Ask about and talk about what's going on in your friends' lives if you're not sure how to talk about yourself in a less negative way. If your friends also only ever talk about things that suck, try to connect also to other friends or acquaintances with a more varied subject matter. As you talk, practice reflecting their mood back to them. If they are feeling negatively about things, you can share that with them, but if they are being positive about something, practice being positive back to them about it.

Maybe most important: talk about things you can be neutral about and intentionally phrase them in a neutral way. It doesn't have to be all happy and smiley all the time, just neutral. Avoid injecting comments about your misery or contempt into subjects that can be stated objectively, even if you are feeling negatively about them. "It's raining" and "I have to go to the store", not "this weather sucks" and "I have to go shopping but I'd rather die." "I procrastinated on this" not "well, I was stupid and lazy as usual lol."

This will probably feel really stilted and maybe even dishonest to you at first. It might feel like you're hiding things from others by not revealing your true feelings. But it's not actually dishonest to not share your emotional state all the time. Actually, it's healthy to maintain a bit of privacy in your mental state to give you more time to process and decide what parts of you are safe for you to reveal to others and what parts can just stay in your head.

YOU CAN STILL VENT about shitty things, but start looking for ways to balance that with some of the positive or neutral things above!

Be patient with yourself. It took time for you to train your brain to obsess over the negative aspects of yourself and your world, so it will take time to retrain it.

Best of luck!

learning that self deprecation isnt cool and just makes the people around you uncomfortable unironically improved my mental health a lot. like if you just stop saying negative shit about yourself you will genuinely like yourself more and other people wont be repulsed by your attitude and you will have more friends. it's true.

[norahmusic]

How does Music show us who we are?

Music provides us a source of inspiration and an open space for creativity and thought-sharing in society. Since climate conditions and geographical position in this Planet Earth vary, it is logical to think that cultural background, food, and personality traits will do so. So does music. Every culture has unique taste for music related to its heritage. A common characteristic of music to every culture is, that we use it to regulate emotions no matter how extravert, agreeable or stable we are(1).

Customs and the way people develop and their lives change throughout time and across the planet. People choose sounds that match their personality. For instance, an extrovert person may choose pop or rock while a more introvert person may choose indie, new age or classical music. Punk music was born as a way to show discontent with societal norms. Hip-hop music treats directly inequality, racism and city issues. Not everyone vibrates with the same chords, since every individual has a different character. This is why each style has a group of humans that identifies with different melodies. Since every individual evolves, any group this individual belongs also improves, and so does their music. Every change that we live as a society it´s reflected on our music almost automatically, since music it´s a way of expression that can propagate faster and deeper than other arts. In our social history, the concept of freedom of expression has been in constant evolution, and music it’s a direct reflex of this.

Music events and concerts have the power to connect human beings while sharing an emotional journey or a moment of celebration, strengthening human bonds through their melodies. Singing and sharing moments improves everyone´s chemistry and bridges brotherhood among us, making us feel rewarded and more aware of the others. That´s the superpower of music and that is how music can gives its (or at least one) definition of group. Music helps us out on reinforcing our identity and how we want to be perceived(2). Music concerts, for instance brings us the opportunity to interact with each other, setting aside any differences and enjoying one same thing, feeling the uplifting melodies and anthemic choruses that makes us feel freedom of expression and movement. Music connect our emotions. It is all worth it. Your opinion and the type of music you hear is as valid as another person´s with a different opinion. Creativity (and Music) does not understand life on a better-worse scale, as long as it makes you feel good, it´s ok. This won´t break the sense of belonging to our group at all. Respecting differences unites us.

Trespassing frontiers, that is what music does. Even if you are stuck in a conflict, it still trespass boundaries and reminds you who you are in a joyful and sweet way, no matter what your social class, health state or economic stage is. It still reminds us that we are Human Beings, and that, well, it is not so bad to share a moment, laugh together or even embrace if our interests are not so much tuned up.  Music is like a warm blanket wrapping us when far from home, and we are feeling homesick. It has the power to help us recall emotions, thoughts and shared moments with others that can enhance our emotional state in a “valley moment” of our lives. Thus, music is there to reminds us once again, “I can overcome this”, “this is who I am”, “I can help you feel relief(3)”, or “hey, I´m here to help you go after your dreams”. Just pick up your song for each moment!

The connection between music and social intelligence is tight. Healthy and regular social relationships(4) are crucial for a nicer and better life, especially if music is involved. These actions will bear further on, acting like a cascade of good social habits and a better lifestyle for all of us. There are thousands of opportunities to share a moment, if you missed it today, remember, the sun will go up again tomorrow and will bring many opportunities within.

Thanks for smiling.  Enjoy the sunrise!

References:

(1) “Just the way you are”: Music Listening and Personality. https://research.atspotify.com/2020/12/just-the-way-you-are-music-listening-and-personality/

(2) The Psychology of Taste: The Intertwining of Music and Identity. Does your music preference reveal insights regarding your character? https://thesciencesurvey.com/arts-entertainment/2021/06/14/the-psychology-of-taste-the-intertwining-of-music-and-identity/

(3)  How Music Heals and Inspires Us in Challenging Times. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stonewall-strong/202107/how-music-heals-and-inspires-us-in-challenging-times

(4) Daniel Goleman “Social Intelligence” https://www.danielgoleman.info/books/

[hannahlacey]

Idea Generation + Initial Feedback: LO2 + LO4

In order to start tackling the issues of this brief, we got together to start brainstorming. Generating ideas on both the issues identified through research and the target audience, we were able to create a number of ideas.

We found that applying the research about building and breaking habits, and reward systems were the most useful. This allowed us to think more about the target demographic (Gen Z), thinking about what would give the most long-lasting effect.

We then worked to identify the strongest ideas we had, in order to discuss these with Dot. This refined our ideas to 3 different approaches/ concepts:

A) gamification: a tamagotchi inspired device that links to your phone to tackle mindless scrolling. The more you scroll, the more the character on device dies. Through adding gamification elements such as daily challenges, this would compel the user to complete them and reduce screen time.

B) negative reinforcement: making the phone difficult to use. Aka, the more you scroll, the harder it becomes to use your phone. This could be done through having a phone case that becomes hotter or colder, dimming of screen, constant alarms etc- to make it difficult to use your phone.

C) positive reinforcement: replacing the bad habit with something positive- aka, walking. Setting geo-location routes for people to walk to to then claim some sort of reward. This would get people up and off their screens, and also get them walking- tackling myopia more.

We then presented these ideas to Dot, receiving this feedback:

Feedback:

What do we use the phone for eat and watch videos causes you to over eat off the phone to the laptop the tamagachi is suffering because your on your phone being self con-conscious about the little character Having mascot or alter ego that represent what your trying to do Making the phone experience frustrating be more satirical about it The idea is embedded in the idea of a digital experience Part of the issue is the reliance on the tech try and inspire a way of thinking or a new habit I need to use my phone for some things, but not for others forced mindfulness what is the core of the problem. Doomscrolling, eating and watching, being mindless the issue is not as simple as phone = bad how to inspire a shift in mindset final submission 30th of Jan

This feedback enabled us to see our next steps: identifying the issue, and identifying the TA. By specifying these things, we then had to start expanding on these ideas we collated, looking at just how impactful they would realistically be.

[callipraxia]

Lots of interesting stuff here; the one point, aside from how I love the phrase “ship of Theseus-ing himself,” I can comment on…somewhat succinctly is the “learning that maybe it’s just better if he shuts himself off from the world so nobody has a chance to hurt him.” I think it partially was as a self-defense measure…but also partially due to his shift toward “mission-oriented” behavior.

We know Stan is a social creature. He craves connection. Not all that long before he went to Gravity Falls, we saw him trying to befriend his cellmates in a Colombian prison. It’s also well-established that he likes women and has had (tumultuous) relationships with them in the past, but by the time the Lazy Susan B-Plot happens in s1, he’s clearly been out of the game for a while. We see no evidence, in fact, that he ever had any relationships in GF in thirty years of living there…because how could he? He couldn’t tell a love interest who he was or what he was doing with his free time, because if that relationship didn’t work out, that person would have epic blackmail material. And if he had a love interest and let her continue to believe he was Stanford Pines, well, that was going to get awkward when he definitely rescued the real one any day now, wasn’t it? So, between needing to lie about who he was and the simple fact that dating would take up time which could otherwise be spent on his mission, having even a girlfriend, never mind a wife, would have been tantamount to giving up, which is…not an option in his world usually, because the “stubborn” bit stuck no matter what else about him changed. Having friends would also introduce the same problems, to a probably lesser extent. So, therefore, there was nothing to do but shut himself off from the world, which became a self-reinforcing habit that progressively made him more and more cynical and bitter about his position in life as everyone learned he was emotionally isolated from other people and therefore not someone they liked or trusted….

Aaah, this reminds me of a fic I never wrote. We know a little about Carla McCorkle and Marilyn, but the rhyme at the end of “Roadside Attraction” also mentions a “Beatrice” who “slapped him for being a cad.” We never hear anything else about Beatrice, which made her fair game, so a plot idea I had involved Stan - since this was early into his career, before he had fully shifted the public idea of Stanford Pines away from “the science guy in the woods” - more or less accidentally getting recruited to help judge the science fair, despite how he knew relatively little science at that time and also really, really hates science fairs in particular. Cue light romantic comedy with a Beatrice also associated with this event during the lead-up to it/his efforts to sabotage it so it doesn’t ever happen…which then, of course, naturally all has a bad ending when he realizes that oh, yeah, right…his life is fake and he has a top-secret, all-important mission in his basement, time to deliberately behave badly until Beatrice breaks up with him and the ending is discordantly sad and angsty. Never wrote it because I could never figure out how to write and pace the romantic comedy bits, though.

Something I think about so much is just how different the Stanley Pines we see in ATOTS is from the Grunkle Stan we know in the rest of the show.

Like, have you ever noticed just how much more expressive Stan is in 1983? The guy wears his heart on his sleeve so much more than he does later on. At almost every moment you can tell exactly what he's thinking and feeling just from his face, something that will become a lot rarer for him. Even setting aside the portal incident scene itself, have y'all ever watched the Dusk 2 Dawn scene and just watched Stan's face? He looks so… openly sad.

It's not just his expressions. Here's a detail that only just occurred to me: you guys ever think it's weird that Stan doesn't just try to steal the bread from Dusk 2 Dawn? Like, you'd think his stealing habit would've originated from his years on the street stealing to survive, but no— he tries to pay for the bread, and then when he doesn't have any money, he figures out how to get some. It's surprisingly honest.

And just like… I don't know, his whole vibe is so different. He's come from this life of hardship completely willing to talk things through. He's emotional, he's open, and not exactly what you'd expect to see when you imagine what a younger Grunkle Stan might have been like. In fact, his vibe is so different that, in Journal 3, Ford writes that when he first saw Stan, he assumed he was just in another alternate dimension rather than the one he came from.

Anyway, it just makes me think about the transition of how, exactly, he went from one to the other. How we go from the "stubborn, frostbitten vagabond" to the "carnival barker" he is by the show's present. I think about that in-between Stan a lot. Realizing that the hole in his heart, the one he thought was caused by his circumstance for so long, hadn't disappeared even now that he had money and a steady place to live. Growing more bitter and grumpy by the day, learning that maybe it's just better if he shuts himself off from the world so nobody has a chance to hurt him. Seeing himself aging and finding himself no closer to saving Ford. Ship of Theseus-ing himself into the carefully curated asshole that maybe even he thinks he is.

[marylandlifecoaching]

Grind

You know all those things you said you were going to do January 1st? You should do them. Too many people are unforgiving of themselves when they don't produce. But here's the thing. You're not going to hit it out of the park most days. Just get to the plate, and then take a swing. 

I'm in the gym 365 days a year. I'm working out while most people are sleeping. I do this for me. I know that once I leave the house {most days before 7:00 am} it's no longer my time. So by starting my day at 4:00 in the morning, I have sent myself message that I am my most important investment. If you know me in real life, you know just how much I give of myself. So I focus on my dedication. To me, my wife and my spiritual practice. 

I often say that there are 2 things that I strongly dislike. Meditation and working out. Ironically, I do both everyday...and have for as long as I can remember. When I was extremely ill many years ago, I promised myself that if I got better, I would never take it for granted. So I grind. Day in and day out. I am pushing 60. And I am determined to finish this life strong.

Don't make a plan. Don't talk about it. Don't over think your goals. Jump! Why wait for the new year? Why wait to get sick, to try and get well? Why didn't you tell that special someone, that you love them? Procrastination is the equivalent to masturbation.  You're just fucking yourself. It's funny, but it's true. 

All that negative programming that we received from unsupportive people, it can be undone. All that negative thinking that we do, can be overridden. But you have to grind. The days that you're feeling it the most, are the days when you need to grind the most. That's how we reverse our programming. We disrupt it with positivity. On the days when you would normally quit, just do something. A small step will reinforce your dedication.

Did you know that it only take 66 days {on average} to form a new habit? I know most of us believe that it takes 3 weeks, but the studies show us otherwise. Even so, 66 days is not a big ask. Why aren't we asking that of ourselves? Let's break it down another way. Safe and healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week. Doesn't sound like much. But let's go with 1 pound. That's 52 pounds a year. 2 pounds. Over 100 pounds a year. Little actions added up, cause big results.

So you missed the new year. You failed that last test. Unsuccessful in your last relationship. Don't let a bad experience become a bad habit. Take a step. You can even settle for a small step. Just step. You know...the journey of a thousand miles kind of thing. A single step can refocus our minds. And we should do it the minute we realize that we are in the middle of a set back, or feeling defeated. Action is where we gain traction. 

So, you know all those things you said you were going to do January 1st? Time to grind. 

[monin1ca]

Hello!:) May I request for an angst with Chamber x Reader (might end up happy haha) but was thinking in a way of a reader having a crush on the agent but seeing him flirt/or getting flirted with another agent - seeing them and closing off to Chamber! (Hopefully it is not super complicated! and of course if you don't want to that is okay <3)

Thank you!! Your stories are a really nice read:> and sorry if it is a bit confusing english is not my first language and it is my first time sending a request haha >.>

Word count: 1.3k

Warnings: Cursing, Slight Red Flag Chamber ( But that's ok, hes a red flag and were the flag poles... *wink wonk*), sad and tired reader (female), I didn't really follow some parts of the request forgive me≡(▔﹏▔)≡

Synopsis:"A-are you sure? I thought you had eyes on Viper-" "I don't know why I do these things; perhaps it's my bad habit." The male lies; he knows why.

"Viper, you must let me take you out sometime. Dinner, dancing, I know the perfect place~" 

"Chamber, I would rather drink my own poison."

You were in the distance, watching this interaction go down; The French man’s thick and caramel-like voice rang through the earpiece.  Your heart aches; you want to be in Viper’s place. Receiving all the flirting and playful banter, you’ve thought of millions of responses to all his classic pick-up lines. It sounded like you were a lovesick puppy following its master because it was true.

You clutched the ghost in your hand; the thing would break in half if you weren’t aware of your strength. Neon immediately noticed your mood gone sour, she looks over at the place you're staring at and rolls her eyes. "Hay nako (Oh my gosh), don't mind him. As much as you fawn over him, you need to focus at the mission on hand." The duelist remarks, "Get to your position," she points her lips to the backsite. "We're about to start." You trudged slowly to the area, setting up your gadgets.

Unbeknowest to you, Chamber was watching your reaction. He left his earpiece open for you to hear. He chuckles at his actions, he shouldn't be showing signs that he didn't want you. It was the opposite. He wanted you badly, so badly. Chamber himself was confused why he was doing this. Perhaps it was the habit of this fake persona he's made.

"Many sightings of enemies going to my site, please send reinforcements." Your voice pierced through the earpiece, catching everyone's attention. "Roger that, your 'lil gadgets should hold 'em back right Y/N?" Phoenix jokes, "Shut up and get over here." "Woah... Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed."

The mission took forever the finish, you were sleepy and tired. Your backpack was extra heavy, because your gadgets were destroyed by the enemy team; plus the samples Killjoy begged you to put in your bag. You were practically stumbling on your way back to the helicopter. " You alright, Y/N?" Phoenix inquires, "No," You whine. "I'm so sleepy and tired and-" You slump down on the floor, "My bags extra heavy! I can't move anymore..." Neon sighs, "Akin na bag mo (Give me your bag)." You drag the heavy bag to Neon. She lifts it up without much effort, "The fuck? What's in here? Rocks?!" "I'll carry you then, after all you held down an entire site on your own! You deserve it!" Phoenix hums, as he lends you a hand. You mumble a small thank you and grab the mans hand. He carries you piggyback style, and the team continues to walk to the designated rendezvous point.

"Brimstone said the 'copter wasn't clear for take-off," Viper sighs, "Why, tho?" Phoenix chimes. "Let me finish my sentence." The controller states coldly, "The reason why is because there was 'air traffic.' Bullshit." "Ah, Viper! My offer still stands," Chamber hums, "I know this place very well. Let me treat you guys to dinner!" The Frenchman pulls out his phone and promptly orders a cab for all of you.

You all arrive at a great place with gold and diamond chandeliers intricately decorated on the ceiling. Rhythmic music plays in the background, setting the mood. Loud chatter and laughter overlap with the music. "Uh- I feel underdressed." You say as you gawk at the place; many beautifully dressed females with pearl necklaces and expensive purses eyed your party with judgemental eyes. With only Chamber dressed for the occasion. "Don't worry, I do too." Neon groans, "I think we all do." Phoenix sighs. The waitress comes and helps you with your table; you sit beside Chamber because "coincidently," there was no other chair available.

One look at the menu and you wanted to faint. "20 DOLLARS FOR ONE TINY LOBSTER??!" You screeched in shock. Chamber snickers as he wraps an arm around you. "Don't worry my friend, It's my treat after all ~" "This is a scam, fam..." Phoenix breathes out shakily, who was also flabbergasted at the prices. You all hesitantly order your food, and some small talk begins at the table.

"So that's how your tattoos work?!" You say, intrigued at Chamber's abilities. "But- Does your trademark also work the same way?" You stop; Chamber was staring at you. With a soft smile on his face, you immediately cover your mouth. "I'm Sorry- I must be annoying you-" "Ah, don't worry, Cheri. After all, I love talking about myself." He giggles as he places his hands on his palms. Chamber feels a slight tap on his shoulder, "Uhm- Hey there, sexy," A well-dressed woman drawls. You internally cringed at her approach, "my friends and I thought you looked absolutely ravishing... We were just wondering if we could get your number?" You thought Chamber would allow his ego to get stroked and entertain them, but no. He turns them down politely and looks back to continue explaining his abilities. The lady looked like she was bitchslapped across her face, clearly not accepting Chamber's rejection. "I will have you reprimanded, young man! Do you know who I am?" "You're an entitled bitch that can't handle rejection." You scoffed, and Chamber was surprised. He hasn't seen this side of you before; perhaps you didn't like how she flirted with him. "Now, excuse me, you're blocking the way of my food." You dismiss her, waving your hand away to shoo her off. The embarrassed woman runs back to her seat, holding off tears. The whole table laughs, and you begin eating.

The night ends well, and the helicopter arrives soon. You all leave the restaurant and go back to the pick-up point. You were at the back of the group with Chamber. Relishing the feeling of being with him, your fatigue catches up with you, and your legs begin wobbling again. Chamber offers to carry you, and you accept graciously. 'Chamber smells so good.' You thought you felt his muscles flexing under his suit and tie. You were gushing so much over his figure you didn't even notice he stopped walking. You only came to your senses when he said, "Cheri, I like you." Panicking at the sudden confrontation, you buried your head in the crook of his head. The air was cold, yet you felt so hot. You shakily breathed out, "A-are you sure? I thought you had eyes on Viper-" "I don't know why I do these things; perhaps it's my bad habit." The male lies; he knows why. "But I'm willing to do anything to make it up to you." That's the truth; he would burn down this godforsaken world for your happiness. He puts you down and faces you, slowly caressing your cheekbones.

"You think they're alright?" Phoenix whispers to Neon as he stares at the two sentinels at the back. "Yeah, I'm sure they are." She chuckles as she witnesses the party kiss. "Jeez, she took long to say it; I don't know how long I could bare their tension." Viper gags, and the firebird shouts. "Ay! Could yall hurry it up?! I know you're having a moment, but Brim says the 'choppers there now!"

Author's Note: HEY AGAIN, JUST GONNA FINISH MY REQUESTS FROM LAST YEAR!! I SWEAR I'M GETTING IT DONE... (I'm lying im trying to farm for Yelan ok（；´д｀）ゞ) ANYWAYS SEE YOU AGAIN TILL THE NEXT ONE<333

[dendrite-blues]

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki. 

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself. 

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back. 

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others. 

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him. 

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief. 

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves? 

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again. 

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities? 

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief. 

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!) 

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention. 

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

[oh-no-its-bird]

HELPPP IM CRYING ACTUALLY IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE THEM???? HONORED TBH????? I love these silly little guys SO much I'm losing my mind over here that u like them enough to write smthn so long ab it, omg don't look at me rn I'm crying

I never thought too much ab Haruka's voice before but tbh now what u described it that way that's just the Official Haruka Voice Take (tm) actually, that is how she sounds now

"I've got nothing better to do, I think she's funny and I want to reinforce her bad habits <3" is so fucking funny and so fucking accurate, this is exactly what is happening in the twins minds actually.

In my notes for their personalities in my notesapp, I just wrote "They're genuinley just the fucking WORST to deal with. Their "I'm going to cause problems on purpose" dials got cranked up to 10 and got stuck that way at birth" which I think sums it up nicely.

I've been writing silly small stuff for them lately to hoard jealously in my notesapp and I think Haru has a genuine mean streak while Hiro is a lot more bark than bite— but also Haru looks and talks a bit gentler while Hiro acts and sounds rougher, so they often give off the opposite impressions. Don't worry Hiro, your brother will do what you aren't strong enough to (crime)

There's all sorts of fun layers to it too, like, considering they're from a clan who tries to shelter it's children— but they're also from the infamously bloody warring states period, who had to bring up their children much quicker and rougher than modern. I think Hiro would have made a wonderful modern day shinobi while Haru is a good example of the inherent violence of the warring states, just buried under good cheer and playfulness. Mmmm phycology,,,

I love their little trio with Shiruka, they are besties and she's also their first real friend their age, while she's kind of but not quite an outcast in her own clan due to her parents poor standing. She's older sibling coded and so tired of their shit but also quietly, perpetually amused by it, which is probably part of why she sticks around. That, plus their clear undying loyalty towards anything and anyone considered "theirs"— a list she's made it on and does her best to reply in kind

They are holding hands and will continue to hold hands together till they inevitably die at ~19 for the good of the village, yippie !!!

At least they'll get to live on in the memory of Hiname,,

Just kidding she dies like 3 years later, whoops!

BUT YEAH THEM !!! I love them so much, I had way too much fun thinking ab just the ecosystem for young shinobi in early konoha.

I have so many more thoughts ab it all tbh, theres no doubt tons of things happening as so many different people and clans settle in to a new normal but I ofc have my focus

I think I accidentally created some sort of little mystery/conflict with my silly meme of Shiruka going "he wants to order break into my clan heirs house" while also stating that she and her family aren't currently in good standing with the Nara main family.

I wasn't thinking ab it too hard when I drew it but now I'm sat over here like "girl why are you helping Haru break into your clan heirs home when you're already most likley on their (or at least their parents) shit list?? Who is the clan heir and why does Haru want to break into their house?? What drama is this??"

I'll probably think harder about it later, I feel like there's potential there

I need to stop thinking so hard ab potential early konoha narrative things bc I refuse to be consumed by it and know I very much will give in to The Voices if I continue

I say that but I'm absoloutley going to continue to think ab them. Actually.

Ough,,, Wolves of the Woods my beloved,,, one day I'll write u,,, one day,,

That said I'm also enamored with Tetsuo as clan heir (someone get him out of there!!!) He's great at it but also really, really does not want the position.

I think when he was younger and Tobirama was visiting the clan, he point blank begged him to take the position— But Tobirama said no, he's a Senju through and through and he's proud to be second to his Anija. A week later, and Tetsuo officially got the title (and maybe cried about it but only just a little and only on the inside)

(Tetsuo is still nursing a tiny grudge over this, though it's lessened slightly since Sakumo's birth)

POV he's in an especially bitchy mood and Tobirama asks him something and he just kind of grumbles, "oh, I'm sorry, are you my clan heir?"

Queue ??????? from like half of those present

He's so cute tho I think he has my favorite design of all of them. He dresses the fanciest for sure— Haruka totally owns similar things (I think the half and half haori is super cute and I want it to be a clan staple) but only wears it on occasions where she needs to, while he's more traditional/conscious of himself and his position, so he dresses like that all the time. He's probably the guy they send to the capital whenever it's necessary and the clan heads presence isn't needed

Random early konoha oc fun fact no one asked for: I have a vague messy fic idea from months ago now that basically amounts to "the Hatake's die before Madara defects to the village, and Kabuto, in practicing Orochimaru's edo tensei in preparation for the final battle, revives them— then manages to lose them in transport before they wake up. Not knowing any better, they flock to Madara to help in his fight"

I love time travel I love drama I love horrible misunderstandings and family/clan drama !!!!!

Uhh take some notes from that:

ANYWAYS THANKS SO MUCH IM SO GLAD U LIKE THEM SORRY FOR MY WORD VOMIT I JUST GET SO EXCITED AB THEM I COULD EXPLODE WITH IT ACTUALLY

Silly, early Konoha lore and oc things drawn while thinking about this post

!!! early konoha my beloved !!! I have so many thoughts ab it, I want to write a fic that's just silly early Konoha things viewed from the perspective of the less important clan members and their everyday lives. I'm aware the audience for that is incredibly small but I have too much fun just thinking ab it to really care!

Ichigo remains the only naruto oc Ive ever actually written for (in one step three steps), tho Haruka has been mentioned in multiple fics of mine now just bc she fills the role of Tobirama + Hashirama's blood aunt that I needed to be filled in my "Kakashi interacts with Tobirama w the knowledge that they are directly related" fics, of which there are now multiple

but yeah, take some silly art and lore comics !! I had fun while making these and will now probably put all these ocs on a shelf where I will not touch them for some more months

[douxie-casperan]

Rise of the Titans and the assassination Hisirdoux Casperan’s character development

I’ve been ranting so much since Wednesday morning that I finally condensed by thoughts of WHY this one subject keeps setting me off namely the utterly diabolical way they handled Douxie and Archie’s relationship in Rise of the Titans and how it wasn’t just enough to hit him with the nerf bat.

Please note I’m at the point where I literally cannot tell the difference between Aaron headcanons, Teny headcanons and my own they are all mixed together in the blender that does funky things. I also apologise for typo/weird wording it’s half 1 in the morning and I’d rather sleep than edit.

~

If asked to sum up Hisirdoux Casperan there are certainly several things that come to mind:

Sees the value in people as a whole and will find do anything if there is a chance of help someone out

Prefers tactics that disable/banish rather than kill an enemy yet willing and able to pull the trigger if circumstances become forced

While not academically inclined he is very capable of thinking on his feet and outside the box calling back to his time on the streets where a split-second decision making is the difference between being caught and not

Terrible at planning he’ll be in there figuring it out as he goes along which is what makes the previous point so vital to literally how he goes through life

A natural charmer that would let him talk his way out of trouble 9/10 providing a perfect cover for his distrustful nature and reluctance to be touched by random people

Very down to earth, humble and never one to brag unless outright sassing someone

Will bang out some hot tunes at the drop of a hat, his love of music has never wavered once since he caught the bug despite instrument hopping ironically becoming a jack of all trades much like his magic style

The earliest memories he can recall are him as a young boy lost in the woods where he was for an unknown amount of time before his soon to be familiar finds him amongst the roots covered in dirt and drying tears, there is nothing before that. Unbeknownst to him is the colour of his magic matches the blue of a lost mother’s eyes and the song that haunts his nightmares as much as fire could well be hers though there is no way to be sure. From that moment on Archibald, shortened to Archie, would become his entire world and their friendship only becoming closer during the years they prowled Camelot together trying to keep themselves in one piece until the fateful day Douxie tricks the wrong person leading him straight into the path of the famous wizard Merlin Ambrosius.

It's no real secret that Merlin is a very closed off person who keeps his emotions as well guarded as his secrets, prefers the style of negative reinforcement over positive encouragement and is a very strict perfectionist in his. At this point in his life he can be very easily described as a disaster that is genuinely doing his best with every little mistake held of his head and his future self when brought back to that time period is belittled by Lancelot (Errand boy) and Arthur (Boy) too meaning it’s hardly a wonder his confidence was very fragile revelling in the times where he could do things without being told off for it. With Morgana largely ignoring him too (Though personally I like to think as he got older she’d occasionally take an interest until the blistering arguments with their master started to talk over daily life) a certain disguised dragon would have remained a lifeline and give that physical affection he craved much like being told he’d done well never seemed able to earn.

With Killahead he’d lose that home and family he made leaving just the two of them behind struggling to figure out their place in the world that had abandoned them.

There wouldn’t have been the words for it back then but the way he had been treated prior was outright abusive instilling very bad habits into Douxie yet by irony he was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and help those in trouble without thinking earning a reputation as the Shepard of Fire. He refused to become like him seeking to be better, perhaps not as a wizard (Even though he was learning new charms and spells along the way) but certainly as a person. Despite everything he suffers through or witnesses in the intervening years, the loss of friends and kindling of far newer ones he never loses his good heart 

That said is it any wonder that after rightfully sassing Merlin for resurfacing, ignoring his existence despite being in the same town and only visiting him to run a finding errand that all the confidence he’d managed to build completely from scratch after Camelot wavered causing him to fall back solely into trying impressing his old Master who was acting like his humble apprentice must have coasted the past few centuries who himself fell back into old habits of belittling? It’s only when Merlin started to truly listen and acknowledge that this was not the same Moppet he once knew after Excalibur was fixed that their relationship finally started to become more like equals. After the defeat of Janus the changeling that broke into the castle he touched Douxie’s shoulder with a genuine smile and for a second he simply didn’t know what to do because the old man never did this before his brain kicked into gear and realised he’d finally earned that one thing he’d been so desperate for his entire life: That in Merlin’s eyes he could be more than a failure who only caused problems for the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had, never solved them.

A staff will be earned, history would be set back on trap by banishing Morgana tag teaming with Archie because they know one another inside and out, as promised he’d get the kids back to the present but soon after things would go badly wrong. They’d lose Jim and because of his very nature he’d make a gamble to try and get him back because that life is worth trying for just for in a moment of surprising selflessness Merlin would be sacrificed to save him. The only constant in his life apart from Archie would apologise, openly express pride and how the greatest thing he’d ever done was saving this orphan, call him son for the first and final time before turning into ash in his arms. There would be no time to grieve for things will barrel into the crescendo of Douxie sacrificing his own life to buy everyone time to escape because if they did that everything he’d ever done would be worth it with one last whispered goodbye.

(Zoe sees him fall, so does Archie – His heart would break if he was conscious just like theirs does when his body crumples into the ground)

On the very fringes of the Light Realm he is gifted one more conversation with Merlin in a truly heart-breaking sequence (THANKS TENY) where they can just talk without any fear of consequence or politics and just be completely honest. Douxie is allowed to stand equal to Merlin, to have the hug he’d needed since he was a child and be allowed to simply let go of every pretense and cry his heart out because this can never happen again. He’s allowed to say goodbye to both his master and Morgana who had both shaped so very much of his life but like the painting he’d always remained firmly in the long shadows of until that moment.

When Hisirdoux Casperan finally leaves Wizards if we just accidently deliberately put the shawarma back in along with checking in with Zoe before departure, it is with having learned to live during his wandering years but this is the point of true freedom because he can finally escape into his own light with Archie by his side to keep Nari out of the hands of those that would see the world harmed. It won’t be easy but it feels possible somehow even with the knowledge everything is simply running on borrowed time.

Then Rise of the Titans happens.

At first everything is genuinely fine! No more running, they engineer a solution shut the Order’s magic down to make them a lot less dangerous and potentially at least incapacitate them until they can come up with a longer-term solution but all the best laid plans and all that. Douxie’s quick thinking stops the train from crushing any of the people below and it’s a very him style move to switch places with Nari to stall for time because for some reason the plot disabled Claire from portaling her or any of the threatened people/heroes to safety. He openly sasses the Order despite knowing the consequences will be bad for him because once again he’s managed to trick them, buy time that at the other end isn’t even slightly utilised until he’s forced back into his own body in excruciating pain. Archie immediately mobs him with comfort just as he has done every single time the wizard is distressed or collapsed with exhaustion without thinking because that is what their bond is like, incredibly close and far more than the Soul Bond mark that connects them together. They’re very alike in that regard, you have to earn the right to touch while equally knowing exactly what form the other needs the most in that precise moment in a way very few others could.

Bar the moment of figuring out that an illusion is in place to hide where the Order is opening the Genesis Seals and the brief insistence on reconnecting with Nari somehow Douxie manages to forget everything that makes him who he is after this point choosing to stand in the background being very no thoughts head empty or can only use the most basic spells of his youthful days not the seasoned master wizard he should be. Nomura is treated like an innocent slip rather than an outright death he did absolutely nothing to prevent (Not to mention the stupid daytime thing) nor seems to care particularly about afterwards yet with Nari’s he’s allowed to openly grieve in a gorgeously animated visual showing how he’d failed to keep her safe despite everything. He did nothing to help here either mind despite allowing himself to be tortured in the same piece of media to keep her safe, just watched another loss happen right in front of his eyes in his conga long line of them.

Then there’s Archie, oh god then there was Archie.

The dragon who even here he’d been shown to have an incredibly close bond with him decides you know what sod that tell him goodbye I’m going to make a joke about having a kingdom now dad and me are trapped in here forever. Douxie on his part looked sad for all of three seconds saying that he hoped he’s happy like it's a pet that wandered out into the world one day and never came back instead of a lifelong companion that has been there for as long as he can remember. He was now completely alone in the world since Zoe was also written out entirely and because every bit of his background had been forgotten about it somehow meant nothing. This wasn’t “I know you miss him, I know you need to grieve but you are running out of time” moment like things had been with Charlie, this was “cool shapeshifting dragon cat is now stuck in a plot hole that’s a shame” with zero pay off or any of the genuine reaction that should have been there or hell even trying to Ohana him back that very second because it never should have happened in the first place. Then even this wasn’t enough somehow, they managed to de-power Douxie even further into uselessness bar the (Admittedly nifty!) sticky feet stunt, the one who fought Skrael and Bellroc to a stalemate was shunted aside with barely a thought and his head would somehow get even emptier.

The one person who knew the danger of time magic the most stood by and said nothing.

The one person who would suffer the most by a reset because the lynchpin to his issues would be asleep if you got it wrong and should have drilled it into Jim’s head the best time to aim for stood by and said nothing.

The one person who had just suffered the loss of his familiar, best friend and only family along with the almost sister like Nari stood by and said nothing.

Then to add further insult to injury the caption when Douxie and Archie is shown says Some go their entire lives living an existence of quiet desperation because every drop of his character growth, his ability to finally start addressing his trauma instilled back in the 12th century, the staff he longed for was instead openly mocked by going “Aww he got his cat friend back how nice!” Everything he’d rightfully earned and had now would be unable to progress until certain criteria are met because it hinges entirely on the Trollhunter going to Merlin’s tomb and there’s only so much your support network of two (One if she’s written out) can do, the root of the majority of his issues all stem from one man.

And this folks is why I’ve been going on multiple rants about Douxie in particular, everyone was hit with the out of character bat to some degree in this film but when they came for him they didn’t just stop after they took his legs out because they wanted him to suffer from something he’s never had any control over to begin with all over again. Abuse survivors deserve better, these characters deserve better and we as viewers deserve far far better writing than we were forced to endure.

[gemtail]

I think I finally know the real thing that will ruin Sam’s relationship with Charles. Now, Charles displays some toxic behavior but Sam has either called it out or he’s caught himself... but there’s one thing Sam doesn’t get called out for nor does she make a conscious effort to really do better about: set very clear boundaries. She is such a people pleaser that she is willing to sabotage her own comfort for others. Think about it: she still hasn’t told her dad that she really wants to be a game developer. She’s still letting him assume that she is willing to take over the company when he retires, and in recent chapters that I will not spoil, she has done two things that sabotaged her comfort just to make others feel better or not realize there’s something wrong. This itself *is* also a toxic behavior but it’s a lot more harmful to her. But, it can be harmful to others, too. If they found out the truth, they would feel terrible for making her feel bad and they also wouldn’t be able to trust if she’s telling the truth about her feelings and comfort. But this also isn’t a toxic trait you should get angry at or punish, because a pleaser will just wind up shutting themselves up even tighter and push themselves even more to sacrifice their own comfort. The only way Sam can get over being a pleaser is by gentle encouragement and positive reinforcement. Sure, Charles has been teaching her to be more confident... but outward confidence means nothing when you’re running yourself ragged for everyone else. His lessons in confidence hasn’t covered discussing boundaries and knowing when they should be set. In fact, his confidence lessons have been more about pushing boundaries, which is necessary in some instances, but it’s also important to know where to set them, too. Now, this probably won’t be the only thing that might sabotage her relationship with Charles. Charles is showing some red flags as well but for the moment, they are under control... however, it takes two to make a relationship fail. If Sam lets him get away with too much now, it’ll only get harder to break those habits later. It’s important to establish boundaries at the beginning and not just for everyone’s comfort but also for the sake of trusting each other.

[fishybehavior]

hi

coming back to the bizarro ninjas being adopted by garmadon

cause i like thinking about those bastards:

just them not realizing their being adopted, and they just think that Garm is preparing them for some weird mission.

They also react to affection and positivity like a cat to water

also, they are low key terrible to each other, and reinforce each other's bad habits and behaviors

Garm learns that he may need to separate a few of them for a time for them to heal *cough cough* Jay and kai *cough cough*

Ninjas dont trust them and they dont trust the ninja's, a fight or two breaks out

Garm uses positive reinforcement like stickers and complements

They have to recover and learn to treat each other in a heathy manner, they are still bastards but they are good bastards now