#building friendships

[musewrangler]

When was the last time she’d been able to just stand still and appreciate the beauty of nature?

“Ma’am?”

She turned her head to see the young Lieutenant from earlier standing at a respectful distance—-the light of a pale blue nebula reflecting off his lean features.

“Do you need anything?” the boy asked her.

She smiled.

“No, thank you. Just…enjoying the view.”

He turned to look at it himself, hands clasped behind his back.

“It is not something I ever tire of,” he agreed. “I just wondered, ma’am, if you needed rest. Most of the others are sleeping.” He gestured back toward the lift which led to the passenger berths several decks down.

“Mm.” Shmi pressed her fingers to the viewport, appreciating the coolness on her skin. “I did rest, thank you. What of you Lieutenant…?”

“Piett,” he answered, holding out a hand. She shook it, appreciating the firm grip. “I’ll get some kip soon, thank you.”

[embracethis3000]

A Big Thank You!

The blog author reflects on their journey over the past two years, emphasizing the importance of sharing experiences to help themselves and others. They are pursuing a psychology degree while working as an in-home care provider, report being seizure-free.

[sohannabarberaesque]

During a "girls' night out" at some hot springs outside Bedrock

[Mise en scene: Essentially during the time frame of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, finding the titular characters as high schoolers and having a clique as includes the likes of Penny Pillar and Wiggy Moonstone. As the scene opens, we find Pebbles, Penny and Wiggy in what essentially amounts to "bonding" exercises prehistoric as involve having vaginal rubs in the shelters designed for overnight accomodation....] WIGGY MOONSTONE, lying atop Pebbles Flintstone in their common nakedness and rubbing each other vaginally: Ohhhhh my stars ... I can't help but find these exercises feeling so fantastic and oh so delightful! PEBBLES FLINTSTONE, chuckling at the sheer feel of Wiggy's vagina pressing against hers and rubbing as well: You can certainly say as much! [No wonder such an exercise in the prehistoric manner felt as wonderful as it did to build trust among fellow cavewomen, even when the pair rolled around and shifted positioning occasionally for the sake of comfort]

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[thoughtportal]

making bad jokes and trying to understand each other

[aberamasgolds]

want to know another thing that pains me about charles and sazz's friendship? he felt bad for years about himself for how she was like the better more likable version of him that everyone else wanted when the whole time he was her hero

[inkedinserendipity]

one of the reasons i think that the murderbot diaries’ emotional moments hit so hard is because of a scarcity effect that the author has set up really, really well.

because, like—murderbot, as a character, is an answer to the question how do you “show and not tell” emotional moments from the lens of a character who point-blank will not acknowledge any affection directed their way. or, instead of overtly stating that characters are friends (“tell”), how do you demonstrate it with text (“show”)? well, most authors go ham on characters smiling at each other, laughing, joking, expressing reciprocal loyalty.

murderbot does none of those things. murderbot probably never smiled before preservation, and definitely didn’t laugh. (this is only partially an exaggeration.) telling jokes? hell yeah, MB’s funny as fuck. to other people? hell no. that would require conversations and it’d rather die, thanks.

add that to the fact that murderbot treats any expressions of affection toward it—internal and external—like being bit by a snake.

so you have this character + writing style that bars most conventional ways of establishing relationships between characters. you also have this character who is basically incapable of feeling any sort of reciprocated, positive emotion toward itself. so what do you do?

you work around your character. murderbot will never pick up on affectionate body language. it hates hugs. every sentence it hears passes through about fifteen different filters of self-loathing. so you make your relationships clear, and when you hit, you hit hard.

you summarize snapshots of characters panicking about the main character getting hurt. you drop your character’s performance reliability (and their walls) and have them banter. you have your character walk in on the tail end of conversations that expose concern for it.

and then you do things so overt that even your shit-self-esteem character can’t talk its way out of. you have its friend tell it directly that it can’t lose it too. you have its friends accommodate it and understand it without it directly expressing a single need. you have its friends stand up for it in conversation when it is too tired to do so. and then, when you really want to hit, you have your character pretend to be physically compromised rather than have to feel one (1) positive emotion toward itself.

positive emotions toward itself can’t really pass through murderbot’s walls. so you have to establish relationships by beating your main character over the head with them. and it can’t be all the time—because that’s not how relationships and emotional recovery, yknow, works—but it can be sometimes, and it can be very powerful, and that is why i think murderbot diaries in particular is very, very effective.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Get Their Ass.

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[theodimasbabygirl]

Brb crying my eyes over the fact that the reason Charles was written so highly in the movie script is because Sazz wrote it.

[alienssstufff]

Need me a new Life Series team where it’s clear everyone on there hates eachothers guts <3

[saturdaysky]

a little morning pick-me-up

-

A morning on the way to Baldur's Gate. The party booked themselves into an inn and enjoyed real beds, hot baths, and privacy for the first time since the Nautiloid.

Gale and Mayhew shared a room, of course. They were filled with the relief of surviving the shadows and the glow of finally getting together, so their private room was probably a blessing for the whole party, honestly.

-

This was some ascended anatomy practice! Referenced some great stock from @null-entity.

[desultory-suggestions]

If you see someone behaving in a way that’s reminiscent of a person who has harmed you before you have every right to be cautious. You can give them some room to show they’re different or you can trust your gut and go separate ways. Just don’t be afraid to draw a line when it comes to how you will allow yourself to be treated.

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

IJustThinkHesNeat.png

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Eugene Levy + Steve Martin Working Together Father Of the Bride (1991) Father Of The Bride Part II (1995) Bringing Down The House (2003) Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (2005) Only Murders In The Building (2024)

[s-darling-art]

Jayrose, Fake Marriage (for the Work Benefits) Rival Coworkers to Best Frenemies, Slow Burn, Future State- Canon Divergence

Comic reference under the cut