#and we're trying our best and clarifying things and asking questions

[trlvsn]

i hate this fucking university istg. ugh anyway look at the silly panel i'm drawing

[syscultureis]

Welcome to our System culture blog!

Every other plural culture blog we've seen has always been pro endo, tulpa, and other non-traumagenic systems.

We are not, while our views from alter to alter vary, we consider ourselves as a whole anti-nontraumagenic

We use plural because we've used it to describe ourselves since before we even knew what a system was. It is not us "reclaiming" or "stealing" the term, it's us using a term we have always, and will always, use. Stop sending asks about it (please)

About us and our blog!

Submit asks about how being plural affects you! We'll post it either with a response to it, or just on its own.

Non-traumagenic and their supporters are not welcome here. Mixed orgins systems included with that. (Being neutral on endos is fine, just be aware that we are anti endo here)

Don't be worried to submit the more negative stuff, we'll try to add trigger warning best we can

We're bodily 20 and a system of about 40 known alters.

This blog is for any kind of traumagenic system. OSDD, DID, P-DID, Polyfragmented, etc. If you want to start your ask with your specific type of system go for it!

We don't want to be a syscourse blog, but we can't promise there won't be any. We will tag it as syscourse though

Singlets (non-systems) are welcome to follow and interact (politely) and if you have questions you can ask! We may not have all the answers but we'll answer what we can

This blog is to share experiences with our community, the good and the bad

Swearing is okay, but please try to keep slurs out of asks. You can censor them if they need to be used.

We are bodily disabled, so don't be mean about physical disabilities

Go ahead and send in things about comoridity as well! Example: "Plural autistic culture is..."

This system uses neo pronouns!! And supports xenogenders!!

This blog supports people with all disorders, and we will do our best to avoid posting asks that use terms like "narcissistic abuse" as we believe it adds stigma to disorders such as NPD

Please don't use the term "Core" in our asks when referring to the first host. It's an outdated term that basically means "first and original alter" which isn't really a thing, and we don't like promoting misinformation like that, especially when it very often promotes the idea that one alter is more real and important than the others

Feel free to spam the ask box as much as you want

We are not an informational blog, lots of this stuff is light hearted and humorous. We joke about things the same way people do with any other disorder. Do not take everything at face value, if you're going to clarify or correct information just be nice or we're going to block you regardless of if we agree or not

Please also note that depending on who's fronting our views may vary, one alter does not speak for our entire system. Not even if they claim to, there is almost nothing we all agree on wholeheartedly. If an issue arises we will do our best to control and adress it.

Brief summary for those that can't read long things:

- xeno genders welcome

- cluster b disorders supported

- non-traumagenic and supporters not welcomed

- not every post has to be positive

- singlets welcome

- try to avoid syscourse

- self diagnosis is valid

- We are not an informational blog, most of this these

posts are joking or having fun

Link to our discord servers (let us know if it doesn't work):

[gofancyninjaworld]

No one is born knowing how to communicate

A: And that's okay...

Dr Kuseno made it look so easy. He just swanned into Saitama's apartment, proferred him a gift of beef and the hero's hostility melted away.

Fubuki felt positively foolish, and yet encouraged.

Since then, however, she's found that the only thing meat bribes pull in are dogs. Literal dogs:

And even dogs need more than meat to be loyal.

What gives? Well, it's obvious that Fubuki mistook Dr Kuseno's gift for a bribe: more on that later. Probably. And yeah, it's funny, but it's more interesting than that.

Learning how to communicate is complex. There are a ludicrous number of unspoken conventions and rules in every human society, so much so that we don't fully learn how to smile socially until we're in our forties. Dr Kuseno carefully judged his gift: he had a legitimate reason to offer Saitama a gift in the first place, out of gratitude for Saitama going out of his way to mentor Genos. Then he chose a gift Saitama would be sure to appreciate and presented it at a time when Saitama would be thinking about dinner. The worst that could have happened is that Saitama took the gift but insisted on the doctor going home (and taking Genos with him) -- it would still have left the desired positive impression. And things went really well. Kuseno made it look effortless.

Fubuki is only in her early twenties and her experience to date has been far from typical. She's learned that either she can intimidate people or she can flatter them into doing what she wants. With Saitama (and later Bang, Bomb, and Kuseno), she has to learn how to talk to more powerful people whom she cannot overpower, over whom she has no leverage, and who are unimpressed by her looks, simpering, or flattery.

Fortunately, Fubuki is nothing if not astute. She's worked out that she needs to develop complementary skills if she's to make herself useful to the S-Class heroes she wants to hang with. How to talk to them to get the help and cooperation she desires? Ah, that's a work in progress.

B: ...Unless it's not

Let's move onto another miscommunication.

Something that I hadn't before was that, unlike the webcomic version where Saitama only thinks to himself that Genos seems depressed, in the manga, Saitama out and out asks him if this is the case. He wants to know.

It mirrors King asking Saitama that very same question and getting Saitama to open up and be vulnerable for the first time (ever, in any version of the story). So it is very appropriate to see Saitama trying to do the same for Genos, particularly as he is openly fond of the guy.

However, it goes wrong. Saitama feels himself under pressure to say something wise to make it better. So he puts on his best 'confident' face and inadvertently makes everything much worse. Oh dear. What makes this particularly painful in the manga is that Saitama is much more invested in trying to reach Genos, and it's made Genos think that Saitama saying that he doesn't see what he's doing must mean that earlier times when he's praised him must have been just Saitama being nice. For sure, Genos could have pushed back and made Saitama clarify what he meant, but he's even worse at communicating: and Saitama's glib remark about being bright struck him square in the insecurities.

I'm going to come to something that I only realised once I started typing this up. Even though I've pointed out their abilities to communicate, neither King nor Kuseno have the perfect words to say. Kuseno started out by first committing a faux pas in bringing his great big outside boots into Saitama's flat, then nearly boring Saitama to death with a long-winded explanation. King started out by trying to guess what was bothering Saitama. Both, however, did the most important thing about effective communication: they picked up on their going wrong and changed tack.

It's not about saying the right thing: it's about responding to the person you're talking to.

The thing that King did that Saitama was trying to do for Genos was to ask Saitama open questions, and shut up in the interim, letting Saitama talk to fill in the silence. He'd only speak to ask more open questions when Saitama ran out of things to say, and through that, gently started to challenge Saitama's thinking.

But doing so means being comfortable with several seconds of silence. And that is excruciating. It is almost irresistible to jump in and say something, anything. And it would have been a longish wait, for Genos to slowly sit down and decide to start speaking, which might well have started being about something only tangentially related to his worry. King did that for Saitama: Saitama started out talking about what was bothering him on the surface -- being too strong -- before eventually coming to what was really bothering him, feeling lonely and profoundly isolated from everyone around him. Saitama does not yet know how to wait a person out.

It's a problem in this case because it's introduced a big barrier between those two, not an insurmountable one for sure, but one that could easily compound later.

Ah well, no one is born a communicator. We just have to wait and see if they work out a way to open up and be honest with each other. So it goes! There's more ways to introduce conflicts than to have a monster trample Tokyo, after all!

And so help me, the struggle to learn how to communicate is 1000% worthwhile.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not telling my ex-best friend that she's not invited to my wedding? (🚫👰‍♂️ for reference)

Light context, I (20s X) used to be very close with this girl we'll call F (20s F) for close to 15 years. We had a few falling outs in high-school but maintained a casual friendship afterwards as we went into college and beyond. From a really young age, we both made the promise to each other that we'd be each other's maid of honor at our respective weddings, and that promise would be occasionally referenced during our friendship (yknow, typical bff things).

To make a very long story short, the last chunk of our friendship I started acknowledging that she really wasn't the best influence on me and really worked to make everyone around us believe her narrative about our friendship (things like lying for years about how we became friends and refusing to acknowledge the correct story, or inserting herself into my family, including during a really traumatic time and she got upset when people weren't asking her about how much she was upset, things like that ect.). I had given up even trying to argue against it so I'd agree with her on a lot of it.

She was engaged a few years ago and ended up asking me to be her MOH, which I accepted at the time. What ended up happening was that the wedding was canceled, and I never got my dress I had pulled money from my savings to pay for, nor the money back.

I made the conscious decision at that point to start to distance myself from her, both in person and on the phone, but would still losely message her if I knew she was the best person to talk to about something. When I first started dating my fiancé, F was one of the main people I talked to about our budding relationship.

It's been several years now, and I have basically stopped interacting with F on all accounts. I found out from an old high-school friend that apparently she still tells people we're really close and hang out all the time, which I was quick to clarify wasn't true.

Here's where I feel like I could be TA: in all these years of me slowly backing away, I've avoided ever actually telling F that I wasn't comfortable with us interacting anymore, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to have her at the wedding. This is because she's been known to do some pretty drastic things in the past and cause scenes, and I really didn't want to deal with possible fallout, and now it's gotten so late that it feels harder and harder to do.

We had our first conversation in like 8 months recently with a few snaps where she showed off her new engagement ring and then asked about how wedding planning was going and when she was going to get asked and invited to it. I kinda let the question flop and never really responded, but now I know it's still on her mind.

The whole wedding party has already been chosen, as has our guest list, and F and her fiancé aren't on it. I feel like I should try to tell F at this point that I don't feel comfortable inviting her, but I really just want the whole situation to die out and would rather somehow miraculously get married without F even hearing about it until it's already done (which is basically impossible since F is still social media friends with my mom). At this point, I still have no plans to tell F that she's not part of the wedding, nor is she invited. I am genuinely worried she'd crash it if she found out where it was happening, but I'd rather take that risk and not mention it at all, despite it being a childhood promise when we were actually friends.

So, AITA for not telling her that I've been uncomfortable with our friendship and don't want her at all in or at my wedding?

What are these acronyms?

[itsawhumpsideblog]

A Safehouse Christmas Story, pt. 5

On the fifth day of Christmas, My true love gave to me Five golden rings...

The snow that had begun the previous day continued into the next and eventually Ma'am and Sir gave up on shoveling the driveway. The sun was setting and Ma'am was singing as they came through the door, pink-cheeked and cheerful.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow," she sang. "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful-"

"Or it will be when we make it," Sir joked. "This would be a nice night to have one, though. We haven't used our fireplace yet, but I asked and they said it's fine to do it."

Francis had only a vague idea who "they" were, but listening to Ma'am and Sir, it had become clear that "they" were with the Box Boy Liberation Network and "they" were responsible, in some way, for making sure the household ran smoothly.

"We've got plenty of wood out back and it's not like we're going anywhere until it stops," Ma'am added.

"I'm just glad we went to the grocery already this week. We won't have to worry about finding a way to go later."

Francis heard them stop at what must be the closet- a door creaked open and there was a rustling noise that suggested they were putting their coats away.

"Well," Ma'am said to the three of them when she and Sir had come into the room, "what do you guys think of a fire in the fireplace?"

"That sounds incredibly cozy," Nathan said. Mikey nodded shyly, as he sometimes did when Nathan spoke up so confidently.

"I agree. Francis, what do you think?"

Francis still got uncomfortable when they asked him for opinions. "It will probably be very warm," he offered and then clarified, "And it is cold outside."

"Agreed." Ma'am crossed through the kitchen to the garage and returned with an armload of wood, which she stacked on the hearth. Before long, there was a fire burning merrily, giving off so much warmth that Francis could feel it even where he sat, across the room.

"Francis, I think it's your turn to pick a movie," Sir said. This was something new they had started doing and it made Francis squirm every time. He and Nathan and Mikey took turns choosing what they were going to do, or watch, or eat and once the question had been asked, Francis felt as if all eyes were upon him until he answered.

Sir and Ma'am had explained why and Francis supposed he understood- it was to help them learn to make decisions in an environment where the outcome didn't matter and nobody was going to be angry at them. They had reminded Francis and Mikey (and Nathan, although Francis suspected he didn't need it as much) that the choice was theirs and there would be no repercussions for choosing something that someone else didn't enjoy. It was still hard to do.

"Would you like us to read you a list of options?" Sir asked.

"Yes, Sir. Francis does not know what there is to choose from that we have not already seen."

"Sure. Let's see... would you like a comedy? A drama? A television show? A documentary?"

Francis could feel his cheeks growing red as he sat there, repeating the list to himself and trying to find a way to make up his mind. What was the difference? He had no preferences yet. But...

"A documentary?" he suggested, blushing furiously. "Or a comedy." He blushed again, but Francis had found that he liked both of these best. Comedies were not serious and therefore not frightening or stressful. And documentaries were like a window into the world, a way to sit back and quietly absorb a million things that had been denied to him before.

Sir thought for a moment. "What about something that's... kind of both?" he suggested.

"Yes, Sir," Francis agreed. Then he risked a question. "Are there funny documentaries?"

"Sure! There's one you might like- but if you don't I won't be mad, you know that, right? Anyway, it's called Round Planet. It's a nature documentary, but the narrator is really funny." Sir was apparently taking pity on him, making a suggestion like that, and Francis was grateful.

He took a breath and said it just as they had practiced: "Francis would like to watch Round Planet, please."

"Great choice," Ma'am said enthusiastically. She was sitting on the hearth, warming her back.

Sir handed the remote to Francis and explained where to find the show. Because of the weather, and because it was the first episode, Francis chose the one about the Arctic.

They had watched more than half the episode when, all of a sudden, everything went dark. Francis froze and he could hear Mikey gasp and Nathan swear.

"Everything's okay." Sir's gentle voice came out of the dark and after a moment, Ma'am moved from where she had been sitting in front of the fire and the room brightened a little bit. "The power's just gone out. That happens."

"Francis remembers it happening, once," Francis volunteered. He had been unable to cook supper that night and his Master had been... unhappy about it.

"We've got the fire to see by," Sir went on, "and we can light some candles. Angie, they're in the drawer, right?"

"Yup. And we've got the lighter right here."

"Great, thanks." Sir left the room, moving slowly and cautiously in the dark.

It was only a moment before he returned and then he and Ma'am moved around the room, placing candles on various flat surfaces, so that each of them had one candle to see by in addition to the fire in the fireplace. Ma'am went around and lit them and then sat back down on the hearth.

"Sorry about your documentary, Francis," she said. "But we'll finish it when the power comes back on. It probably won't take too long."

"Is everyone warm enough?" Sir asked. "Mikey, why don't I get you another blanket?" Francis could see Mikey nod. He knew that Mikey took cold days the hardest, not surprising for an Outdoor Pet. Sir went off for the blanket and returned to tuck it snugly over Mikey, so that he was covered completely. Then he pulled out a knit hat with a pompom and pulled it over Mikey's head. Even in the dim light, Francis could see that it made Mikey smile, and that made Francis smile.

"How about I read?" Ma'am suggested. They always seemed to have a book going and Ma'am claimed that she was always happy to read aloud.

With the candles lit, Francis could see their faces, each of them bathed in a ring of golden light. Nathan, serene but sad. Mikey, nervous about the cold but looking deep into the fire, searching for warmth. Ma'am, animated as she began to read, and Sir, calm and friendly and constant. Francis realized that he was glad to be here this winter, with kind people and fellow Pets- friends, really.

Note: Round Planet is real and, I think, very funny.

Tag list: @pigeonwhumps, @cepheusgalaxy, @i-eat-worlds

@honeycollectswhump @taterswhump, @starfields08000

@whumpsday, @fruitypinapple00, @currentlyinthesprial

@maracujatangerine

[hurtmemoreplease]

any advice for people who want to dm you and say hi, but are really shy?

Hi! This is a great question, and I'm gonna be indulgent and take my time answering it. I do this sometimes - you'll simply have to put up with me rambling. My answer is gonna be in two parts; general guidelines for how to message an internet stranger or interact with people in this context, and then I'll do my best to narrow the focus down to me.

You've probably heard this part before, and that's because it is the most critical of everything. I'm just another person. Don't put an internet blogger up on a pedestal. We're all here on the clown website.

Okay, now for the actual advice. When messaging an internet stranger, the general assumption is that you know them better than they know you. You've seen them post about their hobbies, their favorite media, maybe even their partners or their general life situation. You might not KNOW these things anymore, but it generates a sense of familiarity that is NOT reciprocated. If you do know that stuff, then there's this information gap, right? You might think "oh we both love Ryunosuke Fujinami from Urusei Yatsura," or "we both struggle with feeling alienated from our families," but that's one sided! They don't know that about you. Try to imagine if a complete stranger messaged you - it would be REALLY hard to hold a conversation, especially if they just say "hi!" or hit you with some generic pleasantries. The fix to this is have some prepared conversation topics - with actual insightful things to say! You might not end up using them, but it's better than realizing you have nothing to say and stalling out.

Another part of the general advice is to try to know why you're messaging someone, and to make sure your... attitude? Demeanor? Is right for that. I'll try to clarify what I mean! If you think they're cool, and want to be friends, then come in with an understanding that you're both just people, who might have common interests, and express that! If you want advice on something, then you should probably ask if its okay first, but don't beat around the bush about it. If you want them to have sex with you, probably don't message them! Or I mean. At least have some tact about it - make sure its not your ONLY reason. All I'm really trying to get across here is that its worth making sure you know your goals going into ANY situation.

I think.... there's more I could say, honestly. But it comes down to a lot of individual circumstances and who you are as a person. I think those points cover the bulk of it; know who you are and what you want, and be ready and able to communicate it.

Now onto the hard part (for me.) Advice on... how to talk... to me. Jeez. Um... I don't think there's a lot to say about me that is unique. I like engaging on my hobbies and media. I get very insecure a lot, and worry that I'm being difficult to talk to, or being a burden. It's hard for me to believe compliments or admiration are deserved or sincere. I love my girlfriend more than anything. I'm probably gonna struggle to engage with you if you come out of the gate swinging and being flirtatious, but I'm pretty weak to getting flirted with once I'm a little more comfortable with someone. I can promise you I will give you a fair shake and do my best to engage with you! Sorry if that's not helpful!!

[crystalsandbubbletea]

BYF/BEFORE YOU FOLLOW

[Plain text: Byf/Before you follow]

Apologies if this sucks, we have no experience with this-

BYF under the cut because it's pretty long:

-We prefer to stay out of syscourse as it stresses Rian/🧋💎 out

-Tonetags are a serious requirement for us, as we lack perception when it comes to jokes, when someone isn’t trying to be mean, when someone is being serious, when someone is being silly, or when something is a genuine question

-Do not send NSFW things on our main blog please, Rose/🌌🌹 , Iapetus/🌗🏔️, Luna/🌕🌌, and Anya/🩺⚕️ are Apothisexual and we don't want to risk them feeling disgusted and/or triggered

-DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, MENTION SYSTEMSCRINGE TO US. Systemscringe is a MAJOR trigger for Rian

[Plain text: Do not, under any circumstance, mention systemscringe to us. Systemscringe is a major trigger for Rian]

-If Kamaria/🌙🌠 responds to something you made with “*Eats*”, it means they really like it (And it's also positive)

-Please use respective tags when it comes to things that triggers Rian, Berat/❄️🌊🌔, and/or Rose (“#rian begone”, “#berat go away”, and “#rose leave”)

-We're bad at expressing when we really like something, so most of the time we end up leaving a like instead (We’re trying our best to work on this)

-Please do not ask Rian about their trauma, this should be common sense, but we’ve been getting asks about their trauma lately

[Plain text: Please do not ask Rian about their trauma, this should be common sense, but we've been getting asks about their trauma lately]

-Dione/🧊🏔️ gets pissed off at certain things pretty easily (Ex: r/systemscringe being mentioned)

-If it takes awhile for us to respond to things sometimes, it's either because the trenchcoat is at school, there's no Internet, the ask vanished (The ask box likes eating asks sometimes, we have no idea why it does this), or we didn't get a notification

-Smore/🍫🐱 tends to visit other systems, if you see a Persian cat that looks like this:

Then congratulations! Smore has officially visited you! (Note: We have no idea how Smore is able to do this) (Note #2: Smore also wears a lilac ribbon collar with a golden stitch that says "Smore)

-Anti-endos might be on our DNI, we should probably clarify that as you’re a anti-endo that doesn't actively send death threats to or harasses endogenic supporters, then we're chill 👍

-We’re currently working on a tag for when we aren't sure who’s fronting, until we finally introduce a tag, we’ve been using Rian's tag (With Rian's permission of course-)

-Berat has trust issues, so they’ll come off as rude sometimes (Apologies if they do). The reason why Berat has trust issues is because Rian introjected their trust issues onto Berat

-Anya, Macula/🌘🕯️, Venus/🌶️🔥, Iapetus, Dione, and Enceladus/❄️🌫️ will snap if it's necessary (Things that can cause them to snap: Dismissing trauma, sending threats, harassment, purposefully triggering someone)

-Rian, Kamaria, Comet/☄️🌕, Europa/🧊🌒, and Callisto/🌑☁️ are insecure

-Nova/🦇🔥 tends to say “motherfuckers” a lot, this isn't Nova being mean! Nova is just excited and can't contain it

-Rian’s very insecure about their art, so please be careful when you're expressing your opinions about their art

-We try to tag our vents/rants appropriately, if we missed a warning/personal tag for triggers, then PLEASE let us know

-DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE SOLARBALLS BROKEN AU. That AU is a HUGE trigger for Iapetus and Rhea. If you make a post about it, please tag it as "#iapetus and rhea go away"

[Plain text: Do not talk about the Solarballs Broken AU. That AU is a huge trigger for Iapetus and Rhea. If you make a post about it, please tag it as "#iapetus and rhea go away"]

NOTE: This BYF will be updated in the future should the need arise

[faeriekit]

Hi! I love your DCDP posts.

I'm going to volunteer at my local library(which I love with all my heart) soon as a teen. Is there anything you think that i should be aware of or should do? Thanks!

Hey there, hi there, howdy!

Honestly? Do what they tell you! Every library has different jobs they need help with, with different standards and steps; the thing that unites them all, however, is that they really need you to stick to the steps as instructed, or else it all falls flat. A lot of our teenage volunteers think they can approximate things and still get the job done, when...no, we really did need it to be done that certain way, there were explicit reasons for that-- either hygiene reasons, functional reasons, or organizational reasons. It can't be half-assed.

That being said, unless your librarian is somehow super crabby and evil, we love it when volunteers ask clarifying questions as to their tasks. It means you care enough to worry about getting it wrong and want to do it right. If you're uncertain, or need a repeat, ask questions! Otherwise, try to do your best to complete whatever your volunteer task is as intended. Needing help or getting the job done slowly is better than us having to redo the volunteer task all over again, because now we're behind 😅

That being said, it'll give you some more volunteer hours, give you some working skills, and let you spend more time in the library! I hope you have some fun, and get a chance to check out a few more interesting books while you're at it!

[nomoreusername]

Who Are You? (Pt 3)

Paring: Aris x female reader

Summary: You finally escaped the Glade. Everything seems to be going your way. However, that is quickly disrupted when a random boy takes Teresa's place.

It had been days without food, and we were all absolutely drained. We spent a lot of time lying on the floor, a bed, the couch, or anywhere else we could. We had been surviving off of the tapwater Aris despised. That quickly became everyone's best friend.

"I don't even want to play my harmonica,"I mumbled, turning it over. Obviously, nobody knows where it came from. To be honest I don't even know. It just so happened to be in my pocket. The letters AJ were engraved into it. I have no clue why or what it meant. I just know this seemingly useless piece of metal means a lot to me.

Have you thought of anything?

I winced at how loud his voice was. In fact, it almost seemed like he was yelling in my ear.

"Aris, we're already suffering. Please don't give anyone a headache on top of it,"I begged, gaining enough energy to glare at him. To my surprise he seemed absolutely horrified.

"Nobody's yelling,"Minho mumbled.

"Oh. I guess I'm hallucinating then,"I shrugged, confused but too tired to question it.

Y/N?

"What do you want Greenie?"I sighed, now rubbing my head. "Y/N, I think you're about to snap. Do girl's just lose their minds quicker or something?"Frypan asked. "No. Maybe you guys are just going deaf,"I said, putting a pillow over my face. If I tried hard enough I might be able to make myself pass out because I'm sick of this.

"I thought of something. Can you two come help me?"Thomas asked, clear pain and exhaustion in his voice. "Nobody wants to do anything,"I pointed out, my voice muffled through the pillow.

Just come with us.

"Fine,"I groaned, following him and Aris out of the room. To my surprise they walked completely past everyone in the living room until we were all in a tiny corner.

"I don't think this is a good time to jump me,"I joked. Really, I didn't care what actually happened. I just wanted to go to sleep.

"We're going to do something, and you can't panic,"Thomas whispered. "That's reassuring."

"Just trust us,"Aris urged. I slid down the wall and waited for whatever they were about to do.

Can you hear us?

"Of course I can hear you,"I said, looking at the ground. "Look at our faces."

"This is getting weir-"

"Just do it,"Aris pushed. I begrudgingly looked at them.

Do you know which one of us is speaking right now?

"Thomas. How are you doing that?"I asked. He was clearly talking, but his mouth wasn't moving. In fact, his entire face remained the same.

Can you hear my voice too?

"Aris? What is happening?"I questioned, my mind looking for any rational reason for what was going on. So far I was coming up blank.

"This is going to sound a little bit insane,"Thomas warned. I gave him a look that said 'everything going on is insane'.

"No. I mean insane. So you remember how Teresa came up in a coma?"

"Yeah. I pulled her out of the box,"I reminded him. "Okay. Well, she spoke to me while in her coma. Telepathically. The thing is it disappeared when she did. Now he's the one I can talk to telepathically,"He explained.

"So you two are speaking, or thinking, or I don't know what to call it. Just, you two are having conversations with each other inside your heads?"I clarified, trying to wrap my mind around this. So far I wasn't doing a good job. In my defense you wouldn't either.

"Yeah, and for some reason you can hear us,"Aris shrugged. "How great. I was dying to know what interesting conversations you guys would have when you're alone,"I deadpanned. "Do you think you could be able to talk to us?"Thomas asked.

I looked at him like he was an idiot. "Why would I care about that? I'm focused on getting out alive and rescuing Teresa on the way. I don't have time for this stupid sidequest,"I snapped. Partly because I was irritable from going so long without food and partly because it was actually a stupid question.

"If you can hear us it has to be for a reason,"He pushed. "Yeah, and it's one I don't care about. You two can just be all cuddled up now because I don't want any part in whatever this is. For all we know it could be something meant to hurt us. With that being said don't get me caught up in something I don't need to be in. Especially, something that hurts my head."

I finished my rant and went to leave.

Subject A9, Y/N, The Partners Accomplice

"Can you stop that?"I asked, glaring at Aris. "Your name has to mean something. The fact that we randomly matched and now you being involved in the telepathy can't be a coincidence,"He pointed out.

I hate the fact that he had a good point. At the same time I don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know what's real and what isn't. If I'm being honest the thing that scared me most wasn't the tags, or the not having food, or even being stuck here. It was the thought that this place wasn't a physical place. The thought that I may be going insane was worse than anything else.

"Fine. Give me an idea of what's happening,"I responded, accepting defeat. Nobody said anything for a minute. Then, Aris seemed to gain a brilliant idea. At least, it was probably brilliant to him.

"We should see if it works for all of us. Like a three way,"Aris suggested. "Please don't ever say that again,"I encouraged, cringing at the sound. He seemed to realize how weird that sentence was as well because he looked extremely embarrassed to even be alive.

"But fine. We may as well see how much I can truly do with all this.

---

Can you still hear us?

"Yes, and I'm already telling you I don't know how to respond,"I groaned, seconds away from slamming my head against the wall. I just pulled out my harmonica and started tossing it up in the air before catching it.

"Where'd you get that?"Aris asked. "My pocket,"I said defensively. "No. Where did you get it in the first place?"

"None of your business."

"Why?"

"Because it's none of your business."

"I know, but"

It's none of your business!

We all froze. I had actually just done that. It wasn't even on purpose.

"I guess I'm caught up in this mess,"I sighed. So much for not getting involved.

[12thperigeeball]

Hi! I'm so sorry to bring this up but I have some questions/concerns about this year's voting process. I know that this is the first time we have tried this out in two brackets and the first time tumblr has had polls but I have 3 things to bring up.

1. We (currently) have 3 very clear leaders and no one even close to their votes in each category, why not let that stand if it remains like that until voting closes?

2. I'm worried not enough people will remember/see the second poll since they voted already and many aren't used to having two poles. I personally almost didn't even see that there were going to be two rounds until a while after I voted and won't be around much the rest of the weekend since the ball is over. I never would have know. (Also many don't know characters by name only so will there be accompanying pictures?)

3. If we are lengthening the voting can we maybe lengthen the Yule Ball itself to the whole weekend? That way it gives people more time to join in, especially weekend workers. Nominations can still end Sat at midnight, but maybe we could even have voting occur on the theoretical Sunday as an actualy event in the ball that people can react to.

Hi anon! No worries, we're happy to help clarify things.

So first and foremost, I do want to clarify that the voting process this year is a cumulation of different decisions that all three of us have discussed and agreed upon, based off of last year's voting concerns of the community and our experience with the ball theme voting process this year.

One major issue that I know concerned people last year was cheating - and our Google forms runs on an honor system. Doing a no sign in required voting form with no results showing has been the way the ball has worked for ten+ years now, but we can tell when the times have changed and the community asks for more accountability.

Secondly, one concern we heard from the ball them voting from earlier was the amount of options and the votes being more spread out. If you have 200+ votes but the 'winning' option only has 50, then that's an issue, isn't it? And when you toss in the option to see results without having to vote for a nominee, well, that skews things as well. A trade off for accountability, but one we can work with. We did feel like the second round of voting went much smoother than expected and still got an incredible amount of engagement from our user base! We were pretty worried it wouldn't, but it proved otherwise.

So, to answer your questions directly: 1) It has been two hours since voting began (from the time of receiving this ask + writing it. It is now 12 hours since receiving the ask as of posting). In previous years we've seen nominees come out strong out the gate and then fall behind as the process went ahead (in the past 10~ hours we can see that starting to happen now). Making a call about letting votes stand at this time would be putting the horse before the carriage, without factoring in our desire to reduce cheating as mentioned before. Our attempts to reduce vote fixing is our main priority. Also, as of 12PM 12/17/2023, our current queen and couturier winners are 'see votes', lol. Not logging names/emails and showing results have to have a trade off somewhere, and the trade off will require a round 2 of votes.

2) This was also a concern of ours, but our previous ball theme voting rounds and the amount of participants on tumblr itself has assuaged our fears of it being missed. I know having two polls isn't the norm, but we feel confident that we will still get a great turnout as we did before. We try our best to spread the poll around by reblogging it multiple times so people can see it during different times of the day. As for the not knowing characters by name - that was one of my biggest concerns with tumblr polls too! I believe we should be able to attach pictures to poll posts above or below the poll to help as a visual guide, howeverrrr it will stretch the post out significantly. It's something we're still considering the best possible way to show this without clogging dashes from constant reblogging.

3) This is a pretty good idea and one I have already been considering recently! The two day format has been a holdover from the Taima days and while none of us have ever stopped people from continuing to post or rp past the ball dates and never require people to role play out the nominations, the dances, or any other aspect, it still does limit how much time people have. The logistics of it may mean some more thought of course, because we try very hard to be considerate of the holiday by having the ball happen the weekend before Christmas, so we may have to adjust the ball happening earlier in the month to give users a larger cushion to enjoy themselves. You know, convention logic for four days instead of two! We'll keep you guys updated on this for next year, so feel free to let us know how you guys feel about this idea.

[luimagines]

*walks on in casually, this time much more put together and wearing a soaked raincoat, offers you tea, sips coffee, leaves this without elaborating and walks off into a storm*

{Granite Imagine/Origin Short}

----------------------------

"(Lustrous)?"

"Mhm?", Hummed the being, turning to Sky, sitting down behind Wild, the being with glittering, (Gemstone Type) hair so bright that it could scare away a Redead pointedly giving the wild man a look and sitting him back down when he tried to get up, drawing a soft snort from the other members of the Chain, they were determined to put a brush through his hair and properly neaten it up before the next shift or get shattered trying it seems, though the look on the Hero of Sky's face brought them pause, a shine of recognition passing through their mismatched eyes, "Ah, this is about what I said to Hyrule, isn't it? About Legend not being wrong but not being right either?"

"You did promise you'd clarify once we were fully still you know?" Pointed Legend out, arms crossed and giving them a narrow eyed look, "As generous as what you did was, I'd rather not suddenly know that we basically sold human hair, or that the Smithy basically used your hair and flesh to finally make something Wild doesn't break in one hit."

A small look of discomfort passed Wild's face, pointedly masking a wince and twitch as golden and pale hands passed through his hair, removing tangles and twigs slowly, "... Granted it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've seen or did and it's still one of the best gifts I've ever got, but it wouldn't make us any better than those people you said hunt your kin right?"

"You're all being dramatic." Sighs their companion, giving Wild an unimpressed look and locking a leg around his back when he shifted away, silently daring him to try and move the gold encrusted stone limb or break it to escape and help Twilight with the food, "It's not like it was a leg or that you all held me at sword point and threathened to shatter me or anything. I did it out of my own free will because I wanted to help and will not hear otherwise- Wild stay still for the love of Adamant or I'll have Wolfie sit on you!" They ground out, a sound vaguely like something cracking ringing out, before they move on, unimpressed, "Honestly! Even Aquamarine was more agreeable on a good day. On top of that it doesn't work like that, losing a bit of gold is nothing to me, and it's not like the hair holds inclusions so no memories lost either."

"Still!"

"Settle down now." Time cut in, "We're getting out of track, clearly they're not going to budge on this."

"Thank you Time, in any case, this is what I know, Kunzite was the one who really researched this stuff with the Admirabillis, but, well..." They trail off, a bit distant, "She's not around anymore, and I haven't been to the sea of slugs in a while..." They shake their head, moving on, "According to their legends, six great calamities once struck the earth one after another, apparently the humans, those who came before that is, had a mean of foreseeing or preventing them but it failed, and so the world ended. You can see the many cities and homes on the ocean floor as evidence to that, to survive, the remains of humanity split and evolved into three, the Admirabillis, the flesh of humanity, went to the sea, they're similar to your Zora's albeit not quite, they're mortal and grown and reproduce, us-", they point to themselves, "The Lustrous, gems, are said to come from the Bone, we've made a contract and rose from the sea, shedding our mortality. To wander eternal in the single isle left, we do not age, but if we break we lose our memories if we don't have all our pieces. It's... A questionable trade off, if you ask me." They laugh slightly, smiling a bit, "It's probably silly, but I think I envy the fact you all don't have to deal with that, gems aren't nearly as kind or adaptable as you all are due to our circumstances. And for the last one..." They trail off, looking up at the moon, for a moment, they saw the same look Time would get on his face looking up at it, conflicted, angry, grieving, "... The Lunarians are the restless rage, remains who couldn't accept the end. The malice of humanity left behind, eternal as us gems but discontent, they hunt the bone and the flesh indiscriminately to bring about a so called revival." They purse their lips, if you look closely, you can spot a crack above their face, "... The things that happen on the moon to the Admirabillis is a fate worse than death, and they use the broken and ground pieces of my kin as decorations, smiling and dancing over our corpses, so if you ask me that's wildly innacurate..." They shake their head, moving on, "Personally, I think there's something they want. They looked within the Admirabillis and didn't find it, so they went for us gems instead. Their king came down personally for both Aquamarine, Kunzite, Labradorite and Citrine now, I wouldn't call that a coincidence. And he certainly was furious when I got in his way, the rest is story." They shrug nonchantly, "Again, Legend isn't wrong, it's not human hair, or flesh, just mineral, but if you want to get technical, it once was. Don't worry about it, again it's not as if it's an eye or anything. I can always find a way to replace the hair, maybe I'll mold the gold into it, wouldn't be the first time." They make a face, clearly exasperated, "Bortz could get... Too rough, it drove Aquamarine up the wall when they'd get too near me or Kunzite, I guess he would at least comfort himself with the fact I'm not as easy to break anymore were he here, so I'm used to it really."

----------------------

Not pictured:

Lustrous Reader, meeting the blind child, gently picks them up and weaves gold in their hair from their arms: I've only had this little pebble for a day and a half, but if anything happened to them I'd murder everyone in the room and then shatter myself.

Also not pictured: Lustrous Reader being casual about the technical body horror on one end, while Citrine is anything but casual about it back home and following in their siblings footsteps (saving that for another ask).

-Signed, Just an Anon on A Stroll.

WELL GOOD MORNING ONE AND ALL

WE HAVE LORE AND STORY

HOLY COW

I totally forgot I had this. It got burried DX

But here it is! A start!

My goodness, I love it. This is phenominal. Fantastic work.

[dreamscape-popstar]

No offense but you were kinda rude to that anon I hate it when blogs are not appreciative of asks they get that’s my pet peeve.. using that person as an example is kinda mean who knows what they are going through and maybe your head cannons made their day. you should appreciate what your followers give you some of us would love to have asks.. 

Huh? Rude??

I'm sorry if I did come across as rude, it's truly never my intention but my tone in text is a bit more terse and blunt, compared to Karina's. With that being said though, I'm not asking for too much for requesting people not sent repetitive asks because it is genuinely like a troubling thing for us, repetition actively harms us and sends us into a stressful spiral which is why we're as open as we can be about it

I understand you (yes, I'm pretty sure you were the previous anon, you both type "head cannons" the same way, you can be open about if it was you or not, we value honesty here in the Dreamscape) love our headcanons, and Karina and I are super grateful for that, but there should come a point where we can't provide any more due to being out of ideas, which is why I asked for specific questions. If you want more headcanons from us, I'd much appreciate you asking ultra specific questions instead to get us thinking rather than asking us "thoughts?" and putting us in the spotlight trying to gather any semblance of "unique and original" ideas that not only haven't been shared before by anyone else in the community or were just ours reiterated.

I'm sorry if you were having a bad day/week/month/whatever have you, anon. We're also not going through the easiest time. But despite that, we move on and make the best of a shitty situation.

But I do think you should feel a little less entitled when it comes to this stuff, we're people too, we have lives and things to do, and we're not always in the best of moods. We have mental illnesses that impacts us, a whole entire disorder we have only developed to make life more easy for us and even then it can do the opposite. I'm not trying to write a sobstory here but we struggle too just like you, and instead of pitting that against us, find solidarity and understanding.

And like, y'know, we wouldn't mind if you wanted to reach out directly through DMs or something and just talked with us or weren't hiding behind anon a lot. Form a bond with us, be a friend, we're not against forming friendships. We're not on Tumblr to form an audience so much as to just like. Make friends with people who like the same stuff we do and like when we create our own stuff.

A whole bunch of words to say; I'm sorry if I was rude, but don't feel entitled to some person that you don't know as well's time and energy, especially when they've clarified that things aren't always perfect and just ask for patience whenever possible. I'm not mad, and I have no intentions of being rude here, but I should be allowed to state boundaries when possible. Otherwise we'd run ourselves ragged trying to make people we don't know happy while ignoring our own needs, and if you wouldn't do that, then why would we, y'know?

[windowlessatmosphere]

And We're Live

Summary: Kim's manager is insistent that he needs to do another Live to promote his new album, since the last one went off the rails. All he has to do is play a few songs, answer some questions, and promote the album. Without mentioning Chay. That should be easy enough, right?

“Despite your never-ending campaign to destroy me and watch my career go down in flames—”

“Mae!” Kim interrupted. “I said I was sorry. It was an accident, it won’t happen again.”

“I’m counting that as a verbal contract,” she informed him. “So, despite your crusade to—”

“Mae!”

“Fine, fine,” she sighed. “Despite your…past actions, we still need to look to the future. The last Live was supposed to be about the new album—”

“How many times do you want me to apologize?” he asked, frustrated.

“Many, many more,” she replied, without skipping a beat. “We need to do another Live focused on the new album, since the last one got…off-topic.”

“Okay,” Kim agreed. “That makes sense.”

“This’ll be the first Live you’ve done since you announced Chay,” she started.

“I didn’t announce—” Kim began heatedly.

“Inadvertently or otherwise,” she spoke over him, pretending she couldn’t hear him. He slumped back against her couch, grouchy at the deserved reprimand. “It’s likely that people will want to hear about him,” she explained.

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk about him?”

“You’re not,” Mae emphasized. “Do not mention him. In any capacity.”

Kim nodded in response. “No problem.”

“I certainly hope not,” Mae replied, eyeing him in a way that suggested she might do him bodily harm otherwise. “It’ll just feed into things even more. So. Light chit-chat is fine, mentioning a few personal things is fine. Play a couple songs, answer some questions. No boyfriend talk.”

“Okay,” Kim affirmed, nodding.

“You will mention the album at the beginning. You will mention the album in the middle. You will mention the album at the end.” Mae was glaring at him as though she could control his actions by sheer force of will. Which, honestly, was pretty much half her job. “When you take questions, take them at the end. You get too distracted when you’re in between songs.” Kim nodded again, and she continued, “And be sure to choose questions that are mostly about the album. Do not. Choose questions. About Chay,” she stressed, leaning in.

“I get it,” Kim fired back, scowling. “I got it the first time.”

“Hmm,” she sat back, considering. “I can’t imagine why I feel the need to hammer it home.”

“Okay,” he sighed, giving up.

“Kim,” she spoke again, in a much more genuine tone. “This Live is important. We need to lay the groundwork now so the album can be as successful as possible. Please do your best,” she finished, still serious. Kim was taken aback for a second, generally used to Mae just sniping at him while he responded in kind.

“I will,” he told her, after a beat. She fixed him with an evaluating look, staring him down for a few seconds before sighing despairingly. 

“No one can say I didn’t try my best.”

“P’Kim!” Chay barreled into his arms the second after he stepped into his apartment. He buried a grin in Chay’s hair and tried to memorize the feeling of holding him. “How was your meeting?” Chay asked.

“Weird,” Kim snorted, shaking his head. Chay took a step back to give him an inquisitive look, and he fought the urge to pull him right back in.

“Weird how?” Chay prompted, heading over to the couch and assuming Kim would follow. He did.

“Most of it was normal,” Kim clarified. “But at the end, she said she wants me to do another Live. Since the last one didn’t really go as planned.”

“That makes sense,” Chay agreed. A small smile was playing on the corner of his lips, but he was fighting it back, which Kim appreciated.

“She just told me not to talk about you,” Kim complained, “like, a million times. Clearly, she doesn’t have faith in me,” he snorted.

“I can’t imagine why,” Chay deadpanned.

“Babe!”

“What?” Chay asked innocently, eyes wide. Kim pouted at him aggressively until he gave in. “Okay, okay,” he laughed, pushing lightly at Kim’s shoulder. “I believe in you,” he said, laughing a little.

“It doesn't count if you’re laughing,” Kim pointed out.

“Okay,” Chay repeated, schooling his face into a more neutral expression. “You can do it, babe, I believe in you,” he intoned the entire sentence without pausing, expression unchanging.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” he delivered flatly. Chay started laughing again, and Kim gave it up as a lost cause. “It’s tomorrow. Are you gonna be around?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Chay tilted his head, thinking. “Why?”

“I can do it at the studio if you are. I don’t wanna bother you.”

“It’s fine,” Chay waved him off. “I’ll just hang out in a different room. And then we can get takeout after. Deal?”

“Deal.”

[eldritadh]

Absolutely fascinating to watch americans (including me. I'm americans) grapple with an IRL version of the trolley problem with the enormity dialed up so high we actually have a hard time grasping it. To clarify, I'm genuinely not judging anyone -- I've been going back and forth on whether or not to vote in the upcoming election a lot.

And what settled it for me was that I realized that this is a very real, literally incomprehensibly devastating version of the trolley problem. And I've always answered that ridiculous little thought experiment in the same way.

I always pull the lever. I always opt to kill one person rather than let five people be killed by my inaction. Because I firmly believe that if you have an opportunity, however insignificant, to reduce harm -- even by a fraction, even if it means getting your hands dirty -- you should take it. And I also firmly believe that inaction is action and that 'doing nothing', in cases where you could have reduced harm (or tried) but doing so would've required a moral compromise on your part, is as much an act and a choice and an expression of agency as pulling a lever.

So I'll vote for Harris. I'll pull that stupid fucking lever and hate it (though not as much as if I'd done nothing at all). And then I'll march and protest and donate as much money as I can spare for Palestine, and I'll do all that regardless of who wins (because in both cases, again, the outcome is the same for Palestine). And if Harris wins, I'll do all of that with the reassurance that next time, we can try again. In four years, we can try again. And we can keep trying and trying and trying, every four years for the rest of our lives, over and over and over again as things get incrementally better and then worse and better again.

And if trump wins, I'll march and protest and donate as much money as I can spare - for Palestine, and for the US. And I'll hope with everything I have that when 2028 rolls around, the old fascist is dead and his VP is enough of a politician to step down and cede power without attempting another coup -- and that the harm to the environment and civil rights and equity and justice is not irreversible.

And this post would've been so much better if it wasn't 4 in the morning because there's something in here about a trolley speeding out of control and that post from a couple years back about how voting is like public transport but you get the idea. I know I've decided to pull the lever, but how could I fault those who refuse? These are difficult questions with no good answer. I know what answer I think is best but it was by no means obvious to me! we need to stop vilifying each other for the realities we're living in and the ethical dilemmas we're grappling with and the bone-deep horror of the decisions we're being asked to make. we're american; none of us is morally pure. all we can do is our best. All we can do is try to make the right decision under the circumstances. and none of us knows what the hell that is because morality is relative!!

It's now 4:30 in the morning and maybe I'll edit this tomorrow and maybe not but like. we need to show each other some grace, is my point. the trolley problem is posited as a dilemma for a reason. There's no good answer. there are only ever justifications. all we can do is act within the bounds of our own morality -- make the choice we can best justify to ourselves -- and hope that we've done the right thing. and if it later turns out that we haven't, learn from that and do better next time. And hope that there is a 'next time.'

[aintnobutterflygirl]

August 13 2024, 5:12pm

I've been texting with my ex for the past two days- yesterday it was great, it felt like I finally had some closure. I still have questions that are unanswered, but I thought whatever, I don't mind. I'm satisfied with where we're at. Reading what he said this morning though just left me feeling miserable. I've been swinging between depressed and completely empty since then.

Yesterday we talked about how I am still very much in love with him and want him to be a part of my life, and I'm not expecting anything from it except for friendship. He said he still has feelings for me and doesn't think that being friends is possible, that in order for us to feel comfortable we need to lose our love for each other. I completely disagree, and I think this is unfair. He's asking me to wait months, years, just so he doesn't feel "uncomfortable"? And how so? What does that mean? I didn't ask what he meant by that and I didn't push it, because I didn't want to frustrate him with a ton of questions, or by seeming annoying. I also hate talking over text, but the past three times I've tried talking over the phone with him it hasn't worked, so I've given up on that idea. I'm fairly certain he doesn't want to hear my voice. I told him I don't want to lose my love for him- also, it's not something I can control. It's not like it's a switch in my body.

Today he mentioned that he had gone on a date with someone, and I misunderstood and thought it was a sexy date. He clarified that it wasn't. I remember so many times in the early days of us "dating" he would talk about one of his fantasies was to fuck as many girls as he could, a different girl every night or multiple times a day if he could, to get a ton of experience. This was before I admitted I had feelings for him so I would just say "Haha yeah cool" and feel miserable on the inside. Given his feelings about that, I assumed he would feel that way now that he's single. He said that he doesn't have much of a sex drive now- but when it comes back, he would like to do that. And at first I was like yeah, that's to be expected. But the more I thought about what he said, the more I realized that he's basically saying that he would rather fuck literally anyone else- multiple anyone elses at that- than even attempt to see me again, if even for a second. I miss him so fucking much, I have an empty pit full of heartache in my body where he used to be and I bear that every day, he was my best friend, and instead of just wanting to salvage the almost four years of friendship we had he'd rather ignore it and pretend I don't exist because it makes him "uncomfortable". He is going out of his way to pretend I don't exist, and it's excruciating. After I told him all of my deep lovey dovey feelings he told me "I love you... just not romantically" that's the equivalent of telling someone you think of them as your sister. I just feel so fucking broken.

My family used to tell me how unlovable I was, they literally beat it into me until it was the only thing I knew or believed. Every time I'm in a relationship I think I'm happy, this is finally it, the curse is broken. I'm not unlovable, everyone was wrong, I'll show them. And I try to give my all, I try to give all the love that I was never shown. I try to love how I want to be loved. But in the end it's always "I thought I loved you... it was just infatuation." Or "I love you, but I'm not IN love with you." Every day I feel smaller and smaller and want to crawl inside of myself. I want to curl up like I did as a kid when I would hide in the closet and cry myself to sleep and pray over and over again that when I woke up, it was all just a dream. I want to forget.

[richardsphere]

Leverage Log: S4E1: The Long Way Down Job

Allright, villain has a company that does the old "our victims cant afford to sue us, so we can break any law we want" school of law. Evidence on mountaineers phone.

Wait did Parker and Hardison end up together off-screen? I thought the pretzel thing was just a callback. (he's certainly acting like they bumped uglies...) but if it was meant to imply the naughties were gonna happen between the Train and Grand Theft Election... That was not clear to me.

Elliot's little "no avalanches on buildings" is both verry funny, and feels like he's genuinely trying to explain to Parker why they even asked. Like he noticed she seems a bit insulted at the question and just wanted to clarify.

Sophie's little joke about Grifter Christmas was nice.

Nate and Sophie have their little slept-together acknowledgement moment. Nate sees a female former associate, this is gonna be a jealousy thing isnt it? (i hate jealousy episodes. they rarely work well)

But yeah, it seems the writers realised they forgot to give Parker a big On Screen Moment in the last season finale, and have decided to rectify this by means of making the team steal a mountain...

again.

---

OH its not a former associate, its the Client of the week... God am I really that bad at faces, and thank Heaven its not a jealousy episode. (i mean it might be with the way we saw Hardison look at Elliot and Parker leaving together, but its not a full jealousy episode. Only 1 of the 2 B-plots will be a Jealousy thing)

Love the way the Client imediately proves herself usefull to Sophie with the Personality-assessments. And the way the client goes from friendly to help Sophie to "OMG she's scary" the within about 5 seconds.

---

I really like how the writers decided that Elliots not-a-backstory-backstory means he can natural 20 any check to identify an armed goon. See a bootprint? Spetznas, see their haircut? RAF. Guy can't hack a macbook or lift a pocketbook but he can identify a Navy SEAL by the "distinctive" way they wipe their buttocks or a Mossad agent from the way they chew their gum.

---

Wait, Miyasha is normally at the Alps this time of year and he's got a hired goon climbing the mountain that doesnt work for our Villain Of The Week...

Im betting Miyasha also wants the pocketbook because, as a competitor, its in his best interest for his rival company to suffer the full weigth of the law.

---

And im wrong, He's not here to climb, he's here because he's buying the company. But Sophie is gonna revalue the stock price before he even has a chance to sell. Spetzy does work for our VOTW.

---

Ah he's not on the mountain... he's IN the mountain. And Nate passed out.

Nate and Client talk grief, title drop.

Parker and Elliot find the victim. Elliot takes the notebook, the only thing they really need to make the job. Parker decides they "we're getting him out too", Growth.

---

Sophie is leveraging the Germans against the Japanese. Starting a small financial war all as a distraction

---

Oh yeah... the victim has a name (Alan). Thanks for shaming me Parker don't I feel like a right asshole.

---

Wait so Sophie got the Germans to buy, which got the Japanese to sell, which got the Germans to sell which is tailspinning his company? Sophie is literally crashing wallstreet as a distraction.

---

Parker wants to do the right thing... She wants to be like the others. They compromise on listening to his private, dying message to his wife. Respecting his wishes.

---

"Notebook is all we have". No it isnt, you have the phone. She's grifting the Spetznas, She's putting it on him right this sec.

---

Congrats on Alan for being the most competent victim this show has had so far, getting the evidence. Keeping multiple copies (notebook, digital copy on phone for emailing, some spares at the home that his wife said got raided).

God this episode is an emotional roller-coaster. Like hell? This is the first episode of the season? This is not how most shows start a new season, most of the time its a simple "remember, this is the premise of the show because we might have new watchers whose friends told them to watch us 2 seasons ago but their schedule was full. But everybody knows schedules change with time and now we're making more and their schedules' been cleared so they have the time and they're giving us a shot". Not "swap out the lighthearted Robin-hooding for an episode that is legitimately making me tear up". Y'all didn't steal a mountain, you stole my tears. I did not give permission for a season-opener to Heist my Fucking Tears.

good job, never do it again

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Ok, so yeah they definitly got together officially in-between scenes. Like the line about "whatever works for you is normal". Very cool line that has aged fantastically, (not a sarcasm. I think the line has aged very well with the increased acceptance of gender-binary-non-conformance/non-traditional relationships) Feels a bit weird that Parker's been really emotional with Elliot this episode, he leaves and the emotions resume with Hardison though. Like it feels like Elliot is getting shafted by the episode. He is as much an emotional support as Hardison is, give the man some credit.

Elliot gets to cook again though, which is nice. Sweet to see someone who isn't Parker ask about another crew-mate's MO for a change as well. ("never seen that opening before" is definitely "how did you do that" in Elliot-ese)

Place is bugged. ("operates like Hardison", im gonna say its Chaos Times 3? but as Nate says, "could be any of 50-odd billionaires we've ticked off") Episode Titledrop.