#because Context can often tell you EVERYTHING about why something happens a certain way

[3liza]

"why do you talk about something awful so much" it has surprised me quite a bit as I've gotten older but the 2000s-2010s SA culture has only become more relevant to current events and media as time goes on, i assume from the natural watershed effects from people aging into their 30s and making media properties that go on to become incredibly influential. I was never a big poster there, I was a lurker 99% of the time and had zero influence on the site, so it's really not personal for me except for stuff like Dropsy, since I was there for the original thread. the SA millennials started popping up in noticeable ways as early as 30 Rock (recall the "lemon party" recurring joke for example) and as the younger members age into their prime output years we're just going to keep seeing more of it.

[lesservillain]

My Beloved Monster and Me.

eddie munson x cryptid!reader

cw: smut, blood, wounds, death, inhuman!reader

a/n: just a little something i’ve been wanting to write for a while. figured why not make it my come back post.

Eddie felt the life draining from his body. Sure, it hurt. But it was merely an afterthought with the way you were making him feel as you rode him with reckless abandon.

He knew better than to venture out in the woods alone with all the mysterious deaths that happened in Hawkins over the last few years. Wayne always told him there was otherworldly things lurking around this town.

Eddie wasn’t afraid, though. Nothing anybody could say to him would keep him out. He knew nothing would come after him in the woods. And if they did, they wouldn’t last long enough to know what hit them.

“Uuuugh, fuck,” Eddie moans, voice horse from the way your teeth grip his throat. He could feel himself slowly slipping away, his climax reaching its impending peak at the same pace.

The thrill of dying in such a way is what kept Eddie coming back here. Back to where he knew you would be, in this clearing.

He didn’t know exactly what you were, mostly because you didn’t speak to him. The most he got out of you was a few chirps and expressive gestures. But if he had to guess, he’d say you were some kind of vampire.

He knew you’d killed others before him. Stumbling upon a fresh kill of yours by pure accident being the reason you’d even cross paths. And even after this whole…situation, became a reoccurring event.

But, one thing Eddie was certain of, was that he was the only one you were giving this “special treatment” to. It even seemed that you’d been excited to see him here recently.

The moan that vibrated against the skin of Eddie’s neck sent chills down his body. He could tell you were getting close to cumming, knowing the signs tour body gives him now after all of your times together.

Eddie musters his strength and does his best attempt in slowing your movements. Thankfully you give in without much fight, and Eddie is able to adjust himself just enough to where he can thrust up into you.

The crunch of forest floor under his shoe is barely audible over the sound of your wails of ecstasy. Removing yourself from Eddie’s neck, you let him bounce you on his cock, the hot blood dripping down his neck from the wound.

Everything becomes a sensation overload to him, Eddie speeding up briefly before all movements come to a halt. His grip would be bruising on a normal human, but it’s wouldn’t leave a mark on you.

His hot cum fills up your now warm cunt, the blood from his body flowing through your veins and bringing you back to an almost alive state of bodily function. Eddie didn’t understand it, probably never would. But, something about his blood pumping in your veins made him feel special.

Your body slumps, arms wrapping around his neck as you lay onto top of him. He can feel your tongue gliding across the wounds you gave him, the punctures closing at an unnatural rate that he’s learned to accept. No scars either, thankfully. That would be hard to explain if they did, considering how often he comes to see you now.

Eddie wraps his arms around you tight, to which he is met with more happy chirps from you. You look up at him, mouth bloody, but still as beautiful as ever. He leans in and lets his lips meet yours, the irony taste of his own blood stinging his tongue.

“Missed you, sweetheart,” Eddie says with a dimpled smile. You nuzzle into him and Eddie beams, hopeful that it meant you were staring to understand him. He’d been trying his best to teach you to communicate, but teaching the english language was even harder than learning it yourself.

“Eddie.” His name coming from your otherworldly voice would send chills of fear down his spine in any other context. Instead he feels his heart flutter in his chest, practically beaming with joy.

thanks for reading 🖤

[alpaca-clouds]

"Why didn't I learn this in history class?"

Lemme talk about something a bit more serious today. Because ever since I started to ramble once more about historical context for Castlevania Nocturne I have gotten asked this one so often:

"Why did I not learn this in school?" Or: "Why did I not learn this in history class?"

And I shall tell you why: Because school sucks.

I do not mean this in some exaggerated way or hyperbolic way or anything. School sucks. And you do not go to school to learn anything useful, you go to school for two reasons: a) So that you are out of the hairs of your parents and they can be exploited at their work place. b) So that you learn to listen to authority from a young age on and get some basic skills that you will ideally be able to leverage for your own exploitation.

I am sorry for sounding so darn Marxist right now, but that it is it.

And here is the thing: Because the entire school system is build towards exploitation, nobody actually wants you to learn about actual history. It could give you ideas, and that would be very tragic, wouldn't it?

Depending on the country you live in, history class mainly is concerned with two things. Teach you a bit about the bad stuff, and then also get some nice patriotic propaganda into your head. The latter stuff is especially strong in the US. I mean, pretty much every kid learns some variation of the entire darn "thanksgiving" bullshit. I just will leave you with the Adam's Family Values scene about this.

I mean, this is especially noticable right now of course, where everyone is crying about kids maybe learning just a little bit of real history in school - and so many people trying to forbid it.

In Germany, our history class basically goes like this: We note everything that has happened until 1900 in about three hours, only doing a very, very rough overview, and then we will talk about the Weimar Republic, First World War, Third Reich and Second World War at nauseum. Which could be good, if we actually talked about how the Nazis came into power. But if you ever talk with any random German who has not studied history, you will notice that most of them are of the opinion that the Nazi party was not elected in the popular vote, and that at least 40% of all people in the Third Reich were in fact against Hitler. Both of those things are not true. Nazis were elected - and they used some trickery to stay in power - and more than 90% of Germans were in full support of Hitler.

And the French Revolution? Obviously you will not learn about that. It might give you ideas. You know. Ideas what to do with unelected people who rule your country. And if you learn about the French Revolution, you might see how there are certain parallels to modern times.

You see, those who do not learn from history, are fated to repeat it.

Which kinda brings me to the even more radical part of this. You know what you can do to really fucking annoy those in power? You can learn about history. And you can teach others about history.

They will often tell you, that history is not as important as STEM. And in some way, sure: History will not cure cancer, and it will only do so much to help with climate change. But... It will teach you about how to recognize tyranny. And how to fight it. And frankly, under tyranny you will most likely not get cured of the cancer, let alone climate change. So yeah, tyranny - and getting rid of it - is important.

And, how did a wise man once say?

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Welcome New Followers Post xiv

gonna make this bullet points of Things to Know because deadlines, but hi! welcome!

-this is not a jewish identity or a jumblr blog. i am a jewish person and a holocaust historian, so my content often overlaps with those realms of tumblr

-this is first and foremost a public history blog. public history and public historians do history for the public. we're passionate about transmitting complex historical topics from the academe to the people, and we're in constant (one-sided lmao) conversation with entities such as: film writers and producers, textbook writers, government bodies, journalists, etc regarding the construction of public memory, and the responsibilities that entails

-you don't have to ask if something is ok to reblog. I appreciate the thought, but unless I turn off reblogs or specifically ask people not to engage in certain ways, you're fine, that said:

-I do see and read all tags, replies, and rbs. I consider them public, and I often respond to them as new posts. If you want to engage with me and don't want others to see, then send me an ask which includes the words "please respond privately"

-You can should disagree with me and tell me when you think I'm wrong! Now, I won't lie, years of existing as a young-appearing hyper feminine (i like skirts and bows and sparkly shoes it is what it is) female, Jewish historian have made me defensive and bitey af, and I often misread neutral tones as "coming for me" tones and respond in kind. I apologize for when/if that happens to you, and I assure that, once I realize you're not coming at me in bad faith, I will feel horribly guilty.

-There is a learning curve here. I don't have any desire to gatekeep my blog (it's the opposite tbh), but I do use high level terms which can have multiple meanings in different contexts. I actively try to avoid using impenetrable academic jargon in this space, but sometimes that jargon is the only appropriate phrasing available. In those cases, I urge you to do some research and poke around and then, if you still don't understand what I mean, DM me.

-I am a white, American woman. I am actively anti-racist, and anti-bigotry in general, but there will be times when I do or say something clueless or privileged. If you see that and you have the energy, please tell me! I want this blog to be a welcome place for all,* and I appreciate call-outs as an opportunity for (un)learning.

-Building on that, this is an anti-bigotry space which I'd like people of all demographics and identities to feel comfortable engaging with.* That said, I don't play nice when some random corner of tumblr rolls up in here and barfs their shit all over my posts.

-I am a cringe millennial. I started this blog in 2011, when I was 21, had just finished college, before I'd heard back from any graduate schools, and before I had much resembling a career. I am currently 34. It's fine. But a lot of you are in your teens and 20s and are just starting on your careers, so like, please don't negatively compare yourselves to me or get self-deprecating when/if you want to contact me. We all learn and achieve at different paces and that's ok.

-My book, The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto, will be released in Fall 2025. Trust me I will be screaming from the rooftops and you will not miss the announcements lmao.

-If I don't reply to an ask or a DM, it's not because I hate you. There are 800 reasons why I may not reply, and none of them are personal.

and finally

-I am not your Good Leftist Anti-Zionist Jew. I am not here as a rhetorical cudgel for left-wing anti-Semites who seek out Jews with politics similar to mine to then use as a weapon against other Jewish folks. Don't fucking do it.

*That does not mean that everything I post here will make you feel comfortable. History isn't supposed to make you feel comfortable. Sometimes, it can and should make you feel actively uncomfortable, because that discomfort/cognitive dissonance means you're learning (keep your cognitive dissonance temper tantrums tf away from me, tho). It does mean that I, as an individual, want you all to feel that this is a space where you are welcome to learn and ask questions.

i tried to use bullet points to keep this short, and i failed miserably. on brand.

[astrolotte]

I mentioned wanting to make a post about this a couple days ago, but didn't get around to it. But I will now :)

So here, a brief analysis on a few of the upcoming lines in the affection update (spoilers for that btw), and why I think Cream Unicorn is lying in them:

"What gave me life?… CookieLaaand's pretty rainbow? Or maybe… dreams!"

Tumblr dot com won't let me upload the audio despite downloading it so we're going with written words. If you want to hear it, it's here, as cookie0157_favor_15_en

I've transcribed it as accurately as I can. It truly is said like this: uncertain, trailing off. Notably, they also seem hesitant to even answer the question at the beginning, when they repeat the question asked of them.

When they answer, it's not concrete. They give answers that they clearly don't believe, making them up on the spot, and it's said in the same tone you might use when talking to a child who's asking a question they shouldn't know the answer to yet. A lie, but a silly one. Something to hopefully sate them enough to not question further.

This is very curious to me. For most Cookies, this would be an easy answer: either the Witches or your parents. It's also interesting to note that this is their final voice line, presumably at the highest affection level. This is the player, now a trusted friend, asking them where they came from, and yet they dodge around telling the truth, despite the fact that they seem to be more honest with the player than with other Cookies (also smth i could ramble about lmao)

So... they're lying. But, like, why? Maybe they're just being silly. Maybe the answer is so much bigger than they think we're prepared for. Maybe they're scared of what happens if we find out. Or maybe they don't even know the answer themselves.

I don't think we really have the knowledge to say which one it is but. guh Cream Unicorn you continue to be oh so fascinating to me what even are youuuu

The second line is probably less important, but also more believable as a lie in the context that 15 is likely to be one, so I'm including it second. This is favor_10:

"My oldest memory… perhaps… when CookieLand first opened its gates."

I think the "perhaps" is very notable here. They aren't sure if that is their first memory.

Which is curious, because arguably memories are their biggest thing. They talk about them constantly, they own CookieLand in order to give happy memories to other people, they even seem to keep other people's memories, based on one of their Curios.

If I had to pinpoint only one theme out of everything Cream Unicorn talks about, it would be memories. Yet when asked what their oldest memory is (something they'd probably get asked often, since they like to talk about memories with people), they say "perhaps".

It just seems odd that someone so obsessed with memories, who likely didn't even have a childhood to muddy their beginnings, wouldn't be certain of their own beginnings.

It is still possible, I'll give them that. Again - I did say this one is probably less important. But with context that they likely are willing to lie here, I can't help but question this one too.

This could also be a half-truth: maybe that's their first memory as a Cookie, separate from whatever they were before.

Either way, I will say that the ever-ominous "perhaps" implies that there was a time they existed before CookieLand. Otherwise, they would be certain of it, because there was nothing before.

If they are lying... again, I wonder why? Is there something in their memories they'd like to hide? Could be something instinctual, too: you're getting too close to uncovering something, so they dodge answers on habit. Who knows.

I like this Cookie. or whatever they are

[guardingthegalaxy]

Okay, so I'm on what's probably my nineteenth read through of one of the MCU Infinity War books and there's this part that gets me every time and reminds me why Vol. 2 was so significant in both Nebula's and Gamora's stories when it came down to being sisters.

So, for the context of this scene, it hasn't been long since Thanos took both of the girls, and they are training with each other but Nebula is struggling with a certain move and Gamora decides to help.

"Why would you help me? Nebula asked. "Thanos—"

"Father," Gamora corrected.

"— Father wants us to try and beat each other. We should be opponents, not friends."

"Opponent, friend." Gamora said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We are sisters first. I will look out for you."

Nebula responded with a small, shy smile. "Always?" she asked.

"Always. Now let me show you that roll."

Gamora broke her promise and Nebula's trust as they grew older. And that's the main reason why Nebula grew to resent her. Gamora made a promise all those years ago and broke it. She turned her back on her. We already knew Nebula wanted to have a sister because of the "You just wanted to win, and I just wanted a sister!" line in the movie, but we didn't quite have the full picture, we weren't told how in the early days they supported each other and genuinely cared.

And when you think about it, as much as Gamora too was a victim of Thanos, we also know that Gamora did often look down on Nebula and did not see her as an equal (which was probably part of the reason she was Thanos' favourite), otherwise there would be less reasoning for Nebula to hate her so much. I think it was only as she grew older that she became more aware of what she was doing and started to care again. The guilt began to eat away at her once she opened her eyes and saw that everything was all wrong.

In Vol. 1, we see her care for Nebula the strongest. Once Gamora thinks she has a way out, she wants Nebula to go with her too so she's safe.

In Vol. 2, I think Gamora's guilt soon turns into denial because she now "doesn't care" what happens to Nebula and swears blind she hates her until Nebula tries to kill her but fails and tells Gamora exactly how she feels. And then it's like "Oh shit." And now that's out in the open, they can finally show that they care and be the sisters that Nebula had always wanted them to be.

You don't even understand how happy I am that this book exists. I love Nebula anyway, but after reading something that's canon and has the first two Guardians movies written in Nebula's point of view, I just want to hold her tight and protect her even more. I'm so happy she got a happy ending, it just saddens me that she wasn't able to get one with her sister.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

You have to be one of the very few people on this website that has opinions about the Chaotix that I actually agree with. I'm not very fond of flattening their dynamic into purely having only "familial" roles and I'm glad to see someone else able to articulate those thoughts better than I ever could. Holy shit. Thank you. o_o

Apologies for taking so long to answer this ask (or any for that matter)

Life is kind of kicking me in the ass rn, not to mention the mental health

But I'm glad you liked my take! While in general I feel a lot of fans toss familial dynamics/relationships onto characters just cause (usually related to shipping), there are times where I do agree that certain characters are being written in such a way for the reader to be able to draw parallels to family dynamics (one example in this case being how Team Chaotix is written in IDW).

But often, even when I agree that you can read into parallels to family dynamics or when I agree with other fans that certain characters may be interesting in a familial context (another personal example for me is the idea of Agent Stone being a parent figure to Movie!Shadow), I often find myself at odds with most fans because of exactly what you described

I'm not very fond of flattening their dynamic into purely having only 'familial' roles

I get that it's easier for people to shove character dynamics into more palatable boxes. It's kind of why fandomization of characters happens so swiftly. A lot of people want to brainrot over the characters and their relationships, and it's easier to mass produce stuff for it (memes, art, fic, rambling posts, etc) if you can use common templates or tropes to do that.

But I like complex relationships and character dynamics.

Sure, I do personally read into IDW Sonic and the Official Sonic Cookbook as having an angle you can read into where Vector and Espio are the typical married couple and Charmy is their adoptive kid, but that's not all that's there. Vector is Charmy and Espio's boss. Vector has a textual crush on Vanilla. Charmy's response to Vector telling him what to do is "you're not the boss of me", before Vector reminds him that he very much is his work boss (from Idw Sonic #77). It's got this entire vibe where, well. The three live together and have been working together for a while. Their current relationship is just something that came about from being around each other and being together for so long. And their relationship and all its angles is colored by that closeness, the fact that they live together, the ages of the characters, and even the fact that their group relationship isn't solidly anything aside from coworkers.

By flattening their relationship into a cookie cutter mold for the ideal or average American family (whether you ship Vespio or see Vector as group dad), you've thrown out everything else that isn't that. And...there's no interest in that kind of relationship for me.

As a final note too, I also hate it from an analysis or "this is the characters' canon relationship basically" standpoint. Because, as mentioned, familial dynamics isn't all you can read into Team Chaotix. Their relationship is made up by a multitude of angles one can tackle in order to understand their group dynamic better. When people look at the characters and say "well Vector is basically their dad and that's that" (exploring only the familial angle), they end up ignoring any facets of the group dynamic that don't fit. If Vector is such a good dad of all time, then why is Charmy allowed on dangerous missions if he's supposed to be just his young kid? If Vector and Espio's relationship is about a single dad raising his teenage son and wingmanning his relationships, why do the two bicker about who was supposed to pay the power bill or the things they keep telling each other to stop doing?

I guess my gripes with this are...even if their group relationship was completely and canonically familial and had no other facets to it (the coworkers thing, for instance), what possesses people to continue to make them fit a palatable family dynamic mold and insist that that is what is canon? Why is "they're family" a way to shut down any analysis into the complicated nature of relationships?

[doomsdaydicecascader]

In that case, then, the "death as a good ending because you're no longer in HS" is essentially a big lampshade hung on the nature of fiction itself? I can't help but feel like that has to tie into something less thematically self-referential, but I admit sometimes the comic gets really into its own narrative sandbox and that goes a little over my head. Thank you for the response though, and have a good weekend!

yeah! like, i think a lot of the purpose of homestuck is just to be self-referential. and i think hussie agrees! take this formspring answer for example:

So what is the idea? I don't feel like elaborating on it THAT much now, because I would probably type forever. Basically, it's about building an extremely dense interior vocabulary to tell a story with, and continue to build and expand that vocabulary by revisiting its components often, combining them, extending them and so on. A vocabulary can be (and usually is) simple, consisting of single words, but in this case it extends to entire sentences and paragraph structures and visual forms and even entire scenes like the one linked above. Sometimes the purpose for reiteration is clear, and sometimes there really is no purpose other than to hit a familiar note, and for me that's all that needs to happen for it to be worthwhile. Triggering recognition is a powerful tool for a storyteller to use. Recognition is a powerful experience for a reader. It promotes alertness, at the very least. And in a lot of cases here, I think it promotes levity (humor! this is mostly a work of comedy, remember.) Controlling a reader's recognition faculty is one way to manipulate the reader's reactions as desired to advance the creative agenda. In this case I'm not exactly sure what that agenda is all the time, and in truth there probably isn't any serious agenda there. This story, though at times seeming diabolically put together, is still pretty light reading after all. if anything I'm just striving for a certain pitch in density with the all the multithreaded symbolism and endless internal reference. Think of it as a symphony and everything I've referred to as belonging to a vocabulary are really just notes, working together in a really complicated harmonic structure.

this is a thing stories already do, building a vocabulary out of plot beats and callbacks, characters facts and themes, i've described storytelling before as "like building a pyramid and then slowly, piece by piece, taking it apart" - it's sometimes used derogatorily, like when a callback is a little bit too obvious, to be an obvious callback in the third act (see: crazy ball in psycho goreman, the thing that sparked this line of thought originally)

but homestuck takes this idea really, really far, in that it will actively redefine what these beats mean solely for the joy of doing so, and so you can only really trust what a story beat means in the context of what it means in homestuck. i think its really cool. the only thing ive ever seen that does something similar is petscop, it's a very cool thing to do that i dont think a lot of people really catch on to, and it can create something that lasts even if people dont understand why it works the way it does

[obsidianpen]

speaking of ai and the way that it's sort of, distinguishable from the human work... anon that works in digital advertising (if i remember correctly) pointed out that ai has a specific writing pattern and splits the “posh/overly peculiar” adjectives and words that sound unnatural. this isn't related to greyana (?) in any way, (and i'm sorry if this sounds a little out of context but i'm the anon on whose ask you responded with voldemort's character chart <33 MADE MY NEXT FEW WEEKS LITERALLY) but i just wanted to ask— since i've been reading fanfictions ever since i've gotten a phone, basically, and i've seen numerous amount of them in past couple of years that i've been reading them, but your specific style of writing is so.. i loathe that i don't know how to describe it, but it's so refreshing, somehow. because you have flawless words for everything, your sentences never seemed nonsensical or just thrown-in, and from reading your work alone i can tell that you're literate ASL. like— quality's immaculate, but at the same time i understand everything because the themes and the emotions are so brilliantly depicted, and don't even get me started on the characterisation, like i said.

and i'm so sorry if this all sounds so so confusing but 😭 what i wanted to ask is do you maybe have any advices on how you started out, how you manage to do it so well, is it all just pure practice?

since part of the reason why i mentioned AI writing at the start is because i feel like what i write can be considered as something an AI would write, because my first language isn't english so whenever i write, it often happens that i search “[word] synonym” and then i use a synonym of a word because i don't want my sentences to sound too— idk simple? like i feel like without doing that, the fanfic would sound like it's written by a 13 year old since my vocabulary's not really all that yet, but simultaneously sometimes the synonyms i use instead aren't really appropriate to be used in the context of the word that goes afterwards, sentence as a whole, etc.

all this confusing mess aside–

i really hope ur doing okay and taking care of yourself bc you're taking care of us lots these days in a way <3 (since i've seen lots of people who basically live off of reading the asks you respond to so frequently despite having loads of responsibilities in real life as well WHILE writing for us at the same time + under sm sm pressure. like. you're awesome literally idk how you do itt 😭i've never, not once seen you respond to anybody rudely no matter the question and no matter how insistent people are that you update to the point where it's overwhelming. ur literally my comfort author <//3 )

🥹 I love everything about this submission, thank you anon (though I am certain I have been rude to some people, mostly in jest, but these things happen when prodded) 🖤 and thank you for the comments about my writing, I do try really hard 😭

but in your case, since English isn’t your first language, I would say you should find a beta reader who is a native English speaker to be your proof reader, sounding board, etc! A real person to talk things through with. Much more helpful than anything AI can do, because they can help brainstorm about the plot too!!

[razorblade180]

Clearing the Air

[Context- Post Lantern Rite final act]

Navia and Clorinde: *walking*

Furina:….

Clorinde:Is something the matter?

Furina:Huh? Oh, no. Just enjoying the mountain air on the way back.

Clorinde:Really? You’ve seemed a little lost in thought.

Navia:I know why~ Perhaps someone was hoping for a personal escort home by my partner ?

Furina:*red* That would be ridiculous! I didn’t even plan on seeing him today!

Clorinde:That doesn’t mean you can’t have wishful thinking. If you wanted him to escort you rather than us you could’ve just said so.

Furina:Don’t word it like that. I’m actually really happy to be traveling with the both of you. It’s not something that happens often. Honestly…it’s a little surreal.

Clorinde:…I hope you know I consider you a friend.

Furina:….What?

Clorinde:I can tell you’ve kept your distance from me and by extension, everyone else that was heavily involved with your old life. I can’t say I know for certain what goes through your mind, but I hope you know you are closer to us than you think.

Navia:She’s right. Starting over doesn’t mean you have to leave everything behind. I know things between us might feel a little awkward for their own reasons, but I don’t hate you at all. If you ever need help or simply want to hang out, I’m more than happy to. And if there’s anything we need to clear the air for, it’s best to do it openly. Clorinde and I learned that the hard w-

Furina:I was hurt.

The two young women turned around to see Furina standing still, her face red and tears stinging her eyes as she tried not to cry.

Furina:This feels so petty to bring up; especially considering how happy I am to free, but… *trembling*

Clorinde: The trial?

Navia:…Oh.

Perhaps Navia didn’t want to think of it, or maybe it was because too much happened that day to properly ponder it? Whatever the case, it was the forefront of her mind now that she witnessed Furina furiously wiping her tears away. Navia remembered Furina crying back then too. Everyone did what they believed to be best for the situation; that was little consolation for how feelings fanned the day. Navia knew all too well that emotions don’t settle even in the presence of valid reasoning.

Clorinde took the first step, walking up to Furina and pulling her into a hug. In truth, she could think of many reasons why the girl kept her distance. For years she stood as a sword for Furina, but near the end…

Clorinde:I must’ve really hurt you when I drew my sword against you, didn’t it? Regardless of the reason or the outcome, I’m sorry.

Furina:I never thought it’d be you. I understand why it happened; I really do! I don’t even hate you! Gods, I could never hate you, so why does it hurt to think about all the time!? Why can’t I just let it go!?

Navia:Because no one could. In the face of a crisis, everyone you thought you could depend on, the people who were said to support for your efforts, they all didn’t just turn against you. They- We left you no way out; alone on that stage with no help.

Rancid memories of Navia crying out for the sake of her father’s defense came rushing back. She begged only for the law, her people, and her very own friend to ignore her pleas. She had held that resentment for ages. Even towards her own father. Of course Furina was still upset deep inside. Saddened by this realization, Navia began tearing up herself and ran over to hug Furina tightly.

Navia:I am so sorry. We should’ve talked about this sooner. I always kept looking from the perspective of the flooding incident and how you feared what I might think, instead of…I’m sorry!

Furina was speechless. All three of them ran out of them ran out of words and just stood on the trail, hugging as if they’ve been reunited after a long journey.

xxxxxx

It took a little longer than expected, but the trio finally made it back to Fontaine. The trip definitely took a turn for the quieter, but it was comfortable silence; one could even say healing. As they entered the city, they were surprised to see Aether approaching them. The boy was about to wave happily until he noticed redness under all of their eyes.

Aether:Ummm

Clorinde:We’re okay. It was a longer trek than expected. Although for you it appears to be rather simple. Back and leaving as we just arrived.

Paimon:We’re pros at that. But…maybe we should’ve journeyed together? Did something scare you all in liyue!? Oh, or did you eat something deceptively hot?

Navia:Hehe, never change Paimon.

Paimon:Okay?

Furina:As nice as this moment is, I’m way too exhausted to keep it up.

Navia…Partner, could we trouble you to walk Furina home? I have one more errand to run.

Furina:Wha-

Clorinde:And though I’m off duty, I have to report in that I’m back in the city.

Aether:That’s fine. I’ll happily escort you. Paimon-

Paimon:Yeah, yeah. Paimon knows. Just don’t be long! Let’s go Navia. Many hands make light work.

Navia:Thank you Paimon.

Aether held his hand out as the group waved before going off. Furina, too tired to question things, took Aether’s hand and began walking away with him; going as far as to lean on him.

Furina:Please excuse my manners.

Aether:I don’t mind. You feel lighter than before. Finally dropped some more emotional baggage?

Furina:Maybe a case or two. *gets closer* I know it’s late, but can you please make me dinner? I have plenty of macaroni in the cabinet.

Aether:How about I use my ingredients and make you a full blown satisfying meal?

Furina:Yes~

xxxxxx

Navia:Way to read the room.

Paimon:This song and dance happens every other week with someone. At this rate, we’ll probably stay the night in Fontaine. Is our room still available? Although it’s probably just going to be Paimon’s room tonight.

Navia:Absolutely. I’ll even make the two of us dinner.

Paimon:Yes~

[galateaencore]

Writers Asks 8/26/2024

thank you @vossn for the procrastination opportunity

When did you start writing?

technically age 8 when I wrote a mystery/detective story that I didn't know how to finish. but I started making these "visual novels" about a group of animal friends who go traveling the countryside when I was 6ish, and honestly, counts.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading more than what you write?

if I enjoy reading something, I immediately want to copy it but better, so no. that said, I'm not as good at humor as I want to be.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

ughhhhh. certain circles would def clown me for thinking I could even try, but writing-style and philosophy-wise, Babel, Zhadan, McCarthy. within my fanfic genre I do genuinely like Sapkowski; I don't want to emulate him in everything, but the way he makes his worlds both esoteric and down-home familiar is paralelled only in Pratchett and the Strugatsky brothers.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

my house lol. I mostly write (and do most other things) in bed. it's a california king with an unreasonably expensive but totally worth it italian silk and down blanket. the furniture is a mix of MCM, chippendale, ikea, and baroque (all 100% authentic because fuck you). it faces a north-side inner courtyard so is usually dark, and it has excellent sound isolation. the walls have my collection of watercolors, ink prints, embroideries, and Found Things. there is a nude woman with the head of a fish, a smoking chimney pipe, and two japanese schoolgirls walking away from the viewer, and a high-concept print of a bison herd from a lithuanian artist that is called the great migration. i don't listen to music. sometimes i light incense.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

sit your ass down and start writing

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

talking about one's own themes is a bit masturbatory, but that's what this tumblr is for. I always come back to small people surviving in big systems, the pull of one's own history, and coping with being a stranger. also, is fucking a theme? or is that a plot, or a narrative device?

What is your reason for writing?

graphomania

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

honestly any comment leaves me shrieking. that said, my favorite thing about writing for rarepairs and small fandoms (and both) is that you're much likelier to attract other obsessed weirdos who get you on a cellular level. a comment from a person like that is my favorite type of comment.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I mean, as being brilliant and their favorite, but that isn't saying much.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I want every scene to feel like it's really happening, like you personally know the people talking, and like the narration isn't even there except when it's being beautiful and incisive. there's a point in talent and skill when the writing becomes both effortless and unforgettable, and clearly I'm not there because I can't even describe it without falling into meaninglessly broad adjectives and conceptual kitsch.

How do you feel about your own writing?

It's pretty good but not transcendental.

When you write, are you influenced by what others enjoy or might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

This is a stupid question: the reader doesn't know what they'll enjoy reading until they read it, and your one job as a craftsperson is to figure out what that is and give it to them. That it also happens to be something that excites you is why you do this job and they don't. In a fanfic context, I exclusively write weird formless shit that a mother couldn't love (The Blob of writing), but I *know* there is at least one weirdo out there who will enjoy what I post, and everything that I post is for them.

paging @dclcq and @holylustration

[ragebear]

ok we do NOT need a little word for every action in a comic panel. You do NOT have to write poke when someone pokes another person. In fact, you shouldn’t. This is a huuuuuge pet peeve of mine and I’m going to explain why.

This is a bad adaptation from manga and manhwa; Japanese and Korean have mimetic words. They also have true onomatopoeias - for example, doki doki (どきどき) is the Japanese mimetic for “doing something with a beating heart” and is the onomatopoeia for the sound of two heartbeats. Another example is jiro jiro (じろじろ), which is the Japanese mimetic for staring intently at someone or something. Japanese and Korean (as well as others) are chock-full of them, and you see them in manga and manhwa all the time as these little “sound effects” associated with certain actions, feelings, or environments. As English speakers who read manga and/or manhwa, we’ve been increasingly exposed to them thanks to their rise in popularity - especially as webcomics/webtoons. In their native languages, mimetic sounds have linguistic significance, and add value and information, usually conveying a feeling more than an actual sound.

The issue is that while we do have onomatopoeias in English that add value (think bang, whoosh, splat, click; the difference between slap or smack and thok or pow, etc etc), we do not have many mimetic sounds in the same fashion. The English equivalent of doki doki is surely tha-thump or ba-bump, but think: what is the English “sound effect” for staring at someone intently? If you said stare, that’s not an onomatopoeia or a mimetic sound, and that’s the exact problem I’m talking about. There isn’t one.

Unfortunately, translators - who are often amateurs and/or non-native speakers of the original language, especially in the case of webcomics/webtoons (though we thank them for their service) - come across these and try to patch them into English, perhaps for fear of leaving something out if they’re omitted, but they have no appropriate equivalent. So, one finds oneself looking at a translated comic with a drawing of a person poking someone else and having a little “sound effect” that just says poke. People have become so used to seeing them in manga and manhwa that it’s gotten into many an English-language author’s head that they’re “supposed” to be there in most, if not all, circumstances - that everything needs a sound effect, even when there isn’t anything that makes sense to use.

The reason this bothers me so goddamn much is because it’s so completely and totally unnecessary in so many ways. If one is publishing a comic - a visual medium - one’s readers should be able to tell what’s happening by the images alone, or at least get the gist of it. Yes, there are exceptions, like when one has to provide some kind of insight into a character’s mind, or provide context for a situation, or dialogue, etc. But these things should be as brief as possible because one shouldn’t overwhelm the image with text (looking at you, Warren Ellis) - there needs to be balance. Adding unnecessary “sound effects” clutters a panel and adds no valuable information in English, which is a huge issue in comics because the economy of space matters so much when you have so little room. Moreover, these “sound effects” (when used in English) are indicators of 1) an inability on the artist’s part to visually convey something; 2) a lack of confidence in their ability to do so; or 3) a lack in confidence in the intelligence of the readers. All are bad signs, and more than one can be occurring simultaneously, but the third is the absolute worst. I can’t be only person who sees something like poke as a “sound effect”, rolls my eyes, and goes, “Well, yeah. No shit.” This is not a feeling one wants to instill in one’s readers.

The TL;DR of it is that if you’re publishing a comic in English (originally or translated), do not look to non-English comics for guidance when it comes to this “sound effect” stuff, because much of it simply does not translate. Even if you’re publishing more in the style of manga or manhwa. Look instead to comics originally published in English, by native speakers of English - you’ll very quickly learn what is and is not necessary in order to convey information and value.

[radellama]

1, 8, 14, and 24!

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

Definitely a huge preference towards multi chaptered fics, as I tend to get long winded and my works become expansive. My one shots end up pretty long anyway, but I'll just write what feels applicable to the fic...

And since I'm mostly thinking about really big stories, chapters just work best for me. Plus, when I'm putting more effort into the chapters, I love to organise all the little details and developments I want for everything, micro and macro 😏

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Middle. It's where the meat of it is, where most the scenes I'm imagining as concepts will go... I enjoy beginnings and ends too, but to me a beginning or end being so memorable is due to remembering it with the context of the middle parts. If the middle isn't worth reading, why would I put effort into opening and closing it either, yknow?

14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

Man. This is tricky to answer... I keep writing and rewriting my answer to this, but I don't think there's a way to keep it brief.

I'm autistic, so the way I approach and understand emotions is inherently different. I can understand what causes emotions, and I can understand actions informed by emotions, but there's something about emotional behaviour as a whole that I struggle with- for myself and when observing others. Writing emotional scenes in fiction is like a sandbox at times, I can do whatever I want; change the stakes, change the characters response, put limits on their behaviour in context... Anything. And this can make it easier, and harder. What I value the most when writing characters is that they feel authentic and driven. I want THEIR lived context up until that scene to inform the way they'd behave, and often I'll have character outlines for myself when writing bigger and more complex stuff to help with this. I don't really approach writing an emotional scene with the emotions at the forefront, I think I focus on the objective of that scene first, and then break it down into what characters will present internally and externally. Any emotions present will make themselves known, the same way the vibe of a house becomes a home as you start to live in it.

A lot of people are emotionally immature, too, so I don't find it very authentic (or interesting) to write scene upon scene of characters doing corporate therapy talk as they work through things. I don't mind the challenge of trying to construct something emotionally charged, I think I did a pretty good job in the first chapter of my star trek au to demonstrate the emotions of each character and how that conflicted and contrasted with everyone (and hope that it does it's intended job of outlining the characters and providing a base for how far they'll develop later in the story...) I usually know what I want and will spend time figuring out how it's going to happen, and fill in the emotional responses as I'm 'reading the room' of the scene. There have been times where I've written something emotional, and while understanding that it is emotional and putting effort into conveying it, I'm still very surprised when people tell me that it made them emotional. Idk, it's hard to really articulate this clearly, but in the same way I spend ages writing and rewriting dialogue for my characters so that it feels authentic and flows in the way I want, I do that with the emotions of the scene and how I want to demonstrate the characters reacting and processing the emotion. It's iteration upon iteration, built up over a lot of agonising over certain word choices.

I don't think I ever feel what my characters feel as I write them, I have a bit more of a detached feeling because I'm the author. I can feel sympathetic towards the characters, and understand or feel similarly, but I'm not them, so I won't feel it to the full extent... All stories are inherently voyeuristic, to varying degrees, and that sense of peering into a curated version of events and certain characters mindsets can be quite intimate. I'm just relaying that intimacy with the characters and story, and I feel my own way about it, which is different to the characters I'm writing, and probably very different to people who read what I wrote.

And as for personal experiences... I draw on them in a sense of 'write what you know.' And this isn't a literal 'only write what you yourself have experienced,' cause let's be real, even in biographical media, it's dramatised and you haven't literally experienced the exact same. Instead, talking more broadly, I know how I live my life as a person, and have been keenly watching, observing and joining others in their lives too. When you're writing creatively, you have to use that creative muscle to figure out how characters will react. Unlike my OC Harland, I haven't gone through a heartbreak and betrayal so great that it is a deciding factor in a war I want no part in- but, I have had to cut ties with people I used to call friends because they're acting in ways I can't understand or condone, I've felt stressed over when friend groups split and there's a background assumption that you need to pick sides, and I've felt the weight of knowing certain decisions I make will be responsible for more than just myself. I'm not Harland, dealing with the emotional climax of his story, but I am me, and I can use my lived/observed experiences to inform how he would act as a base, and construct him in all his complexity by comparing his reactions to mine. It's easy to go 'I wouldn't have done that;' so you gotta take the time to think on why you wouldn't have, and why that person did.

Anyway, you see why this is tricky for me to answer lol. I think there's some weird internal logic I have that makes me approach this kinda stuff from a more detached and critical view, so I have to put effort into understanding all aspects of what's going on. And that's just in my day to day, so at least when writing I can put those skills to use for something entertaining!

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

This is hard, cause I try to ignore advice that I don't think is applicable, and promptly forget once I've moved on.

I guess I'll say something that I heard discussed a lot when I was studying film, and what I heard people parroting when I mentioned them, which was to 'not get tropey.'

I HATE that trope means the same thing as cliche to everyone, cause they're not the same. A trope is simply how you describe the particulars of a situation in fiction, and you can use them to help figure out what sort of genre your work belongs to and what your target audience will be. Trying to avoid tropes is like trying to build a brick house without bricks. Cliches, on the other hand, are when a certain trope has become so overdone that you know exactly how something will play out, and it's become stale due to seeing it too much. And in my observation, tropes become cliche when the writers are just copying what works without thinking about WHY it works, or how it applies to the narrative. You absolutely should get tropey with it, cause how else will you have a story? The important part is that you're not just going through the motions of what's commonly used in the type of story you're writing, and instead working on purposefully including what you put to page.

Idk if that's clear enough to those who haven't studied film/narrative in some capacity, so I'll say what my response was when students would ask for help avoiding tropes in their screenplays in our mentoring sessions: don't worry about the hypothetical audience reaction before you've finished writing the story. Don't think about tropes and cliches and whatever else we use when deconstructing a narrative to analyse it, you haven't got a finished story to analyse. Just write the story you want to tell, and be deliberate about it. Everything's been done before, but this story hasn't been done your way yet, so just focus on your writing first.

Send some asks from here

[lizzybeth1986]

A Breakdown of the Kiara Scene in TRR2 Ch 1

This is just me looking up all Kiki's dialogues during her infamous scene in Fydelia, the one that most people cite when they claim she is a fake and a "fairweather friend". She is often accused of rudeness and "believing the scandal" as if no one else did.

So...let's check her reactions to everything in that scene, shall we?

When the MC enters, Kiara and Penelope's reactions are the first to be shown:

(Screenshots from the Ashley Barrus-Gardner YouTube channel)

Kiara doesn't look too great saying this, but it's also a largely ambiguous statement that could just as well refer to her surprise that the MC could reappear after something that humiliating and reputation-destroying. Notably, Madeleine also gets to disbelieve the MC if she states that she was set up - yet the fandom hardly ever faults her for this.

The interaction with the MC begins with Penelope giving the MC an impulsive hug, and Kiara warning her of the consequences:

The MC's response to this is either a complaint about her believing they were all friends, or a snarky comment on Madeleine.

(point to note - nowhere in TRR1 do the MC and Kiara ever promise each other friendship)

In both cases, Kiara follows up by default with the explanation that the two are now ladies-in-waiting, and the first thing expected of them is loyalty to Madeleine, the future queen and the woman who chose them for this role:

There are three ways the MC can respond to this. Either with calm acceptance, or with a remark that makes it sound like she expects them to talk to her later on, or a flippant, snarky remark that clearly mocks them.

The first option is clearly the most acceptable one, because Kiara has already explained why she can no longer continue the alliance, and disregarding the explanation will cause nothing but further discord because they're not supposed to be even talking to the MC at this point:

Acceptance -

Expectation -

Mocking -

Kiara references what happened to the MC once - in the comment about the scandal...but clearly in a context that maintains they're expected to stay away from her. Clearly, once Madeleine stops making that a requirement, the two women don't hesitate to talk to her. Kiara doesn't exactly comment on the scandal otherwise, except in contexts where she is shocked that the MC is able to return to court.

She's very rude to the MC in the third option...where the MC herself is rude to her. You will notice that in the other two options, her words signify that she is more nervous about getting caught by Madeleine, which is also why she angrily cautions Penelope to rein in her enthusiasm to hug the MC.

One last thing to note is that Kiara didn't even have to do this. She was not obliged to approach the MC or give any explanations. She took a risk even in approaching the MC to inform her of the change. I don't see fairweather friendship or backstabbing in such a scene. I see a certain sense of integrity, an understanding that when she is breaking an alliance with someone, they deserve to know. And that she will do the right thing, and tell them - while also making sure she protects Penelope from possible consequences as well.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

-god I hate western individualism so bad-

This is not the fault of "Western Individualism". This is much bigger than anything like that.

And then I'd also like to go a step further and say that-

People spread that Stranger Danger scare /so hard/ that it's infected /everything/.

This honestly isn't fully why either.

We live in a VERY hyper sexualized world now. And let it be known and understood, I'm not some prude typing this out. I'm an observer. An observer who was abused as a child. (Kinda important for explaining certain things)

So for starters, let's go back to the "Stranger Danger" times. It is true that during that era, the 90's being when it was the worst, the world was beginning to feel a lot smaller. Population sizes were increasing, more immigration was happening as well. But the news has to do what it does best. Scare people. Kids were getting online and meeting strangers on random websites. Parents didn't have much clue what was going on and when the advent of cam sites came about most of them were not for nude cam girls. They were just random people getting on jank webcams with terrible bit rates and bad resolution.

However, this was a bit of new territory for a LOT of people. It was connecting a world full of people, often times unbeknownst to a lot of parents at the time. Hell even online games like Gaia Online, IMVU, and Second Life (all of which came a bit later) were platforms that had a LOT of younger people. But there was a bigger issue at play. Prior to this point, anyone that would have been an active predator didn't just have free reign to find kids. Now they did. Not just that, but lonely and sad people who just wanted a friend often found themselves in the mix. And before anyone tries to say I'm minimizing this, let me get something VERY clear. There are a few different types of people that go after kids/young teens. Pedophiles, who have an attraction to children for a variety of reasons. Opportunists, who just take whatever they can get. And finally the Liability. This person falls under the umbrella of the Opportunist, but unlike them doesn't per se TARGET younger people because they are easier to manipulate. They kind of just go with whatever happens.

Or to put it a more clear way.

Pedophiles: (Target kids because they like kids)

Opportunists: (Target whoever they can get their hands on. If they are younger so be it)

Liabilities: (Doesn't care what age, doesn't target, goes with the flow)

Sadly, a lot of people fell into one or more of these categories. Hell one of my friends actually "fell in love with" one such liability. And the reason I know he was not one of the other two is because he never once asked her age. Nor inquired about it. But she asked him out and he said yes. Wasn't until I started digging that I found out that he was 28. And she was 14 for context. But this is WHY the Stranger Danger movement was SO LOUD for so long. Because parents were not teaching their kids how to be around adults. They also were not teaching them how to be observant, and or how to keep themselves safe.

Now skip to the late 200's early 10's. We was a bulk move away from Christianity (kind of important for this next set of points) and a HUGE boom in marketing of the idea that "Sex Sells". Because honestly, it does. No matter what people tell you it doesn't. I promise it does. Does it always? No. Depends on how you do it. Now we move to the age when porn is less looked down on, Tinder is the hot new thing. Every cool guy in a movie is literally SUAVE and covered in stupidly attractive women. That's our media for years. Now we skip to the last 15 years, and we see a massive explosion in attention grabbing culture where minors and adults alike are making videos and photos of themselves as skimpy as possible on platforms like instagram in order to get clicks and likes. With only ever needing to show more skin and be MORE promiscuous in appearance to get clicks. Mostly due to OnlyFans and Fansly taking the market by storm.

Sex is LITERALLY in our faces almost 24/7 to the point that KIDS are now speaking in Kink terms.

We have literally shot our own selves in the foot on this one.

I grew up around adults. To me, kids being around adults is just normal because it was my childhood. The difference was that my mother was an actual fucking parent and she taught me how to be aware and protect myself. I was also a bit more guarded than most my age due to what happened to me when I was quite young. But rather than saying shit like, "Stranger Danger" to me, my mother and my father and the rest of my family were like, "Look, adults aren't out to hurt you. Yes. Some will be. And some will probably try to take advantage of you. But always make sure to keep your wits about you and if you ever don't feel safe be sure you make that known. If you feel like you can't, find another adult or find law enforcement or scream at the top of your lungs. You find a way that will keep you safe. But realistically you will probably be ok most of the time. Just don't wander to places that are really secluded, and do not follow any strangers home."

Kids NEED to be around adults in order to learn how to be adults. And rather than just being a helicopter parent, teach them HOW to be safe.

However we are more in a bind than ever before, because we have sadly taught a VAST generation of youths that if adults talk to them at all, they just assume ulterior motive. And why shouldn't they? Unfettered access to the internet? An oversexualized society? Sex ads in their faces ALL THE TIME! Kink and BDSM language seeping into culture where it DOES NOT belong. And then not teaching kids what actual pedophiles are. Which is a HUGE issue in and of itself. See pedophiles target kids because they ARE kids. Often the younger they are the better because it's easy to manipulate them. Not only are they innocent but often times they LOOK like they are innocent. Pedophiles often are such because of abuse they went through. Thankfully not everyone continues the cycle, and some people are just attracted to young children that have never dealt with abuse.

Having said all of that, we have somehow convinced kids that they should never grow up. And we no long teach them how to be adults. Hell we only ever bitch about what it's like to be an adult. At which point WHY the fuck would they ever want to grow up. So we have people demanding that we consider 24 y/o's to be kids that can't consent.

Hell, I saw an 18 year old girl who was actually a secretary of business that her father used to own. She managed her money well and actually managed to get a small house, 1 bed one bath. She met a man that started working for the shop that she worked at. He was 26. She made the first move on him. I grew up with her. She was exceedingly mature. I was 19 at the time, and when I met this guy, I didn't much like him. But he was always kind to her. With modern standards, even these two TALKING to one another he would be considered "Pedo". At the time, he was still given weird glances.

All this before he even decided to be ok with them dating. But he wanted to wait until she was 20 or 21 before it was official because he was scared of what the public might think. Sure THIS CASE is one of an older guy dating a younger girl. But they are STILL together to this day. And she was mature and of legal age when she pursued him.

Even stepping away from dating, we've lot purpose as a culture. To a point where we are mostly a people of Hedonism. We seek fame. We seek pleasure. We seek self gratification. And every generation sees it in themselves. And they are so disgusted by it subconsciously, that they have not created whiplash in their own heads in order to imagine that the ONLY thing people can want in today's world is ONLY sex. Is ONLY pleasure. Add to that the media we put out of every single time there is an adult on TV with kids, 8/10 times they are a predator. There's so much that has caused this issue. And we have all collectively helped to make it worse in our own ways. Sure there are ways we can fix it, but it's going to take a number of years to do it. And the first BIG step we need to take is teaching teens how to act like and become adults.

The second step we need to take is to stop treating 18+ year olds like they are toddlers. They can literally sign up to go DIE for this country. They can vote. Used to, they could smoke. And once upon a time, they could drink. Treating legal adults like children is how we ended up with the generation that says shit like "Unalived" and "Uppies". As mid late 20 somethings. I think in which if you are around long enough, catches on. And it's annoying. Start treating adults like adults, and TEACH teens how to BE adults.

And lastly, for the love of god, help PURGE kink language from normal vernacular. I DO NOT wish to walk in a bookstore and here what looks like a 12 year old talking to his whatever calling her "A good kitten". *twitch* Shit's gross.

saw a tiktok that was making good points except it was like "if you're over 23 you shouldn't even know anyone under 20 unless they're family and it's weird if you do" and I just. have you guys ever had coworkers. students. family friends. clubs. is no one going back to school for their BA/MA/PhD. what kind of isolated world are you living in where as a 23+ year old you never interact w anyone under the age of 20. this idea that even Talking to anyone younger than you is somehow predatory is absolutely insane god I hate western individualism so bad. no your best friend ever probably shouldn't be a teenager when you're a grown ass adult but we do in fact need to be in community w people younger than us

[noperopesaredope]

A Guide to “How Are You?”

So, I’m autistic, and of course, I can get slightly confused by certain social situations. But I’ve discovered that many others across the spectrum are confused by a very specific common greeting (at least, here in the US, where I live): “How are you?”

Other variations of this include “how ya doing” and “how have you been?”

This has confused many, and from what I’ve heard, it’s something that’s mostly in the States, so there’s also a cultural disconnect at times. Many have said that this question is dumb, since, if you answer honestly, it turns out that “other didn’t actually want to know” and “they only asked to make themselves feel good.”

However, as a neurodivergent person who has been studying many neurotypical social norms and cues for many years now, I believe that that is slightly untrue. Most neurotypicals who ask this question do care about having a relatively honest answer and are often curious about how others are doing, however, “how are you” is still a question that has some very simple “rules” to it. In this post, I will be explaining the purpose of this question, and how to properly answer it in a way that others will find acceptable. It can be confusing at first, but once you understand the underlying intent behind it and know how to properly respond, it is very simple.

Intent Behind the Question:

A common reason people say this as a greeting is because they have essentially conditioned to say it. Everyone who uses this phrase has grown up hearing it all the time as a common greeting, similar to “hello,” thus creating a subconscious link between the phrase and saying “hello.” This has caused many to develop a knee jerk reaction to saying this where they greet someone. They are often saying by pure instinct rather than to be polite.

However, there is also a second reason many people say “how are you” as a greeting: they do legitimately want to know how you’re doing. “Now wait just a minute,” you may be saying, “it seems like everyone expects me to just say ‘fine’ as a response rather than how I’m actually feeling!” This is partially true, however, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

From what I can tell and based on my interactions with many neurotypical folks who ask this question as a greeting, they are perfectly okay with hearing how you actually feel, and don’t often mind it when it’s bad news. You don’t need to say that you’re fine, it’s just the easiest response.

What many don’t want to hear is all the details. The question is more meant to be a basic read on your current mood and how you’ve been in general lately, not everything that is currently happening in your life. They just want a short, simple answer with not to much context.

How to Answer:

The second part of this is a better explanation of exactly how one is supposed to answer the question in a way that is honest without overdoing it.

As I previously mentioned, the purpose of the question is to gauge how a person is feeling with a short, concise response. This means it’s good to answer honestly, but keep it brief. A good way to keep it brief is to explain how you’re doing in a single sentence.

Examples of this:

“I’m doing fine.”

“I feel great!”

“I’m kinda sad...”

Another thing that is typically an expectation and a way to keep it short is to not get all into exactly why you are feeling the way you’re feeling. The only reason it might be okay to get into it is if you haven’t see the person in a long time and are having a conversation with them or if they are someone close to you.

People may mostly care about how you are feeling, especially since that can affect how they should interact with you, but a lot of strangers don’t care quite enough to hear about your personal life and whatnot. It can admittedly feel like oversharing if you get a little far into it.

So, here are some samples for types of responses you can use to answer the question honestly:

(Feeling neutral or don’t want to talk about it) “I’m fine.”

(Happy about something) “I’m doing great!”

(In a bad mood) “I could be doing better/Things aren’t great right now.”

These are the most common types of answers and fit with a variety of things. They are short, brief, concise, and honest, but they also don’t explain to much about why someone is experiencing said emotions.

These are the most simple ways to answer the question. The main reason that “fine” is such a commonplace answer is because it’s very neutral. It’s not always that people don’t want to hear your honest answer, they’re just not expecting it. Most people don’t feel like sharing that much about how they’re feeling, so it can catch people off guard a bit.

But there are ways to answer honestly whilst simultaniously not putting people off, and that is by keeping it brief and straightforward without too much explanation.

Hopefully this was helpful to anyone who might need this.

~~~~ Anyways, that’s how to navigate the question “how are you?” I was gonna make this a one off thing, but I’m starting to consider making this a small series or something. Basically me as an autistic person explaining certain social ques and stuff based on what I’ve observed overtime. All the posts would take a very analytical viewpoint, as I didn’t learn some of these things in the same way neurotypical people did: I just overanalyzed stuff. So I have the advantage of both being able to communicate with my fellow neurodivergent folks in a way we all understand, and I also have a complex understanding of some of the social stuff.

So what do ya’ll think? Should I make this a little series? And if so, what should I cover?