#documenting toddler learning

[jambandatl]

Universal Development: Year Three - Year Four

Weeks 1-52 Week 1-4: Physical Sciences Focus Areas: Exploring basic concepts of physics through play (e.g., rolling balls down ramps). Simple experiments with water and sand to understand volume and weight. Nature walks to observe physical phenomena like gravity and motion. Week 5-8: Social Sciences Focus Areas: Learning about family, community, and basic social roles through stories and…

[creekfiend]

I wanted to make a bonsai kitten recovery post that outlines some of the stuff that I've been doing. Because I don't think that you need to ✨see a therapist✨ to start dealing with a lot of this stuff and I get really frustrated when that is the answer that everyone is constantly giving. Firstly a disclaimer, because I know what website I am on: this is a guide for things that have worked for me! I am not everyone and if there are things on here that do not work for you or even that you think are stupid, that is fine, but please do not make it my problem. If you are reading it and you're like "that sounds like it would actually be detrimental to my specific mental health because of my specific issues" then please disregard it. Use your critical thinking skills and do what you think is right for you!

My second disclaimer is that I didn't make any of this up myself; most of these are collected from various places either in therapeutic guide books or various websites about emotional regulation etc. Some of it is stuff that I have extrapolated from those places based on experience with what works for me or does not work for me. A lot of the way that I treat myself when I need to get my body and brain into a place where I can think about stuff productively is actually directly from gentle parenting guides, because frankly cptsd recovery stuff is very often like parenting a toddler. And the toddler is you. ALL THAT SAID,

The first skill that I had to get good at, that many of the other skills depend on, is to learn how to understand when I am Reacting to something. If I am Reacting it is extremely likely that that's going to only escalate the situation and make it much worse. I HAVE to be able to tell if I am Reacting emotionally to something in a way that is coming from a place of fear and panic. This is important because it involves not being prescriptive about your emotions. You could be Reacting to something that you do not logically feel is at all justified in making you feel that way and that doesn't matter! You can't be doing math equations to try to come to the answer of how you SHOULD be feeling; you have to be observing your mind and body to see how you factually ARE feeling and then respond to THAT. This can be really hard to learn how to do especially if you were abused as a child. (If you cannot think of yourself as someone who is abused as a child perhaps it would help to think of yourself as someone who simply was not taught various emotional regulation skills for mysterious reasons that have nothing to do with your parents' inadequacies.) I need to be able to glance inward and see what the physiological reaction that I'm having is and identify whether or not I feel like this is the biggest emergency in the world that needs to be addressed right now immediately! That is a sure sign that Mr Fight and Mr Flight are in the building and it is bad to make declarative statements or important decisions when that is the case. So, I have to work on dismissing them first. That is literally the first step to any of this. One of my friends calls this "fire mittens," which is to say, if you are wearing mittens that are on fire and you try to touch stuff, the stuff will also become on fire. You have to put the fire out first before you can touch other things.

Once I have determined that I am indeed Reacting and in a physiological state of fear, I have a document in my notes app that is a "what to do when you are in fight or flight mode" guide and it has several helpful things that I will try to outline here.

Firstly, the really important thing for me for trying to get back into an emotional state where I'm capable of making decisions and being thoughtful is to feel safe and comfortable. So I actually have some stuff in my document that is straight up just like "go in the blankie nest. put on this specific music album. light this specific scented candle." etc. You might want to have a specific food or drink that is comforting to you or some other sort of stim toy that helps you regulate. If there's any calming medication or supplements for anxiety that you take as needed, now is also the time to do that. Physical sensory grounding is really important for this. This is probably especially true if, like me, you are neurodivergent, but I think it is also true for everyone because we are animals! And you can't just think about it, you have to actually do it. Which sounds obvious but is the thing that has often tripped me up in the past. Once you start getting into the habit of actually physically doing this it DOES become easier though.

One of my rules is that if I want to respond to something but I am in fight or flight mode, I don't get to respond to it for at least 24 hours. I'm only allowed to respond once I've gotten myself out of fear mode. If it is some kind of comment on Facebook that has set me off, often this means that 24 hours later I realize that I actually don't want to get into it to begin with, which is great. If it's something that is pretty serious and interpersonal with a friend, sometimes that means I have to communicate to them that I'm going to take a while to process it and then get back to them. IMPORTANT: You CANNOT do this passive aggressively or else it undermines the whole thing. You can't phrase it in a way that will make your friends think that you are guilt tripping them for "making" you feel a way. It is VERY tempting to do this when you are in the first stages of trying to form this habit and you simply need to resist the urge because it will render this step worthless. I know. It sucks.

If I am feeling fearful and insecure about friends or loved ones, I also usually try to spend some time thinking about the people that I love and care about. Because often this stuff manifest for me as insecurity that the people that I care about do not care about me, or that they think that I'm being annoying, or that they are secretly thinking mean things about me. It's obviously not good for me to constantly be imagining that the people in my life who I care about are actually avatars of my own insecurity who are here to tell me that I'm secretly fundamentally unlovable! But crucially also it's ALSO not fair to those people to imagine them as that. They are not that guy, they are their own complex human beings with their own lives and experiences and interiority. So sometimes I do thought exercises where I will imagine my friends or loved ones doing things in their everyday lives and I will think about them as people and I will think about the things that they like to do and the things that they say and the places that they go, and I will try to imagine them fondly in those circumstances. This helps to remind me that they are just people and that the scary puppet wearing their faces is not real. To this end I sometimes will have a document of screenshots of things that they have said to me that I can use to reality check myself. I personally find reality checks to be essential for a lot of this. Things can feel true when they are not true at all. Things can feel wrong when they are actually true. The point of most of these exercises is to gently remind myself that those feelings are normal for me to be having, but that I do not need to let them dictate my responses.

It is crucial throughout all of this that you are nice to yourself. You can't talk to yourself in a mean way while you're doing this, or you will not get to a point where you are feeling safe enough to react from a place of not-fear. You can't make yourself feel ashamed or defensive for your emotional reactions. This is the particular area where I find gentle parenting protocols helpful. You HAVE to be patient with yourself.

Ok that's all for now bc I ran out of steam but I will try to think of more to add on another day maybe. Godspeed everyone

[gaddaboutgriffon]

Super Phantom

Writing prompt #3

Danny reveals his ghost half to his parents and they took it well accepting him. As a result the doctors Fenton then backed out of the weapons deal they had with the GIW and are actively protecting Phantom from them.

The GIW don’t give up even after the anti ecto acts are being repealed and sabotaged the gas tank for Nasty Burger’s grill. This causes the explosion that would Kill Danny’s family and friends there for Jazz’s graduation celebration. Clockwork foresaw of a Dan event happening and froze time to take and de-age Danny, Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Vallarta. (Clockwork is a jerk and frankly blames Jack and Maddie for making the he portals that caused both Vlad and Danny’s halfa status and a lot more work for him. He is letting those two die.)

Clockwork then sends the Deaged to babies/toddler to different places in the Yong Justice cartoon DC universe. All the kids are liminal and have powers.

Jazz now a 3 year old is sent to Hippallita on Themescira. (Excuse my spelling) liminal powers make her strength on par with Amazons.

Sam, age 1 as well and sent to Giovanni Zattarra. Three year old Zatana gets a younger sister that also has the gift of magic. Especially nature/plant magic.

Tucker I had a hard time deciding but eventually chose Lucius Fox. (If you can think of someone better go ahead and make suggestions.)

Vallarie was Supposed to be sent to Ted Kord, but Lex Luthor was trying to tap into the watchtower’s zeta tubs but accidentally got clockwork’s portal instead. It cased he basket to be dropped instead of gently set down. Startled, two year old Vallarie instinctively activates her ghost tech armor. Now that is a curious unexpected asset Lex will find a way to utilize.

And finally deaged to one year old Danny is sent in a in a basket with a solar system print blanket with a envelope sitting on top. The portal opens and the basket is carefully set on the table with the note. Then clockwork places a folder thick with other papers of to the side. He retreats into the portal closing it behind him just as the apartment door is opening.

Clark Kent has just finished his third week of work at the Daily Planet, the evening patrol and even grocery shopping. Thoughts of the paper he needs to write and turn in the morning are on his mind as he enters his apartment in time to notice a Green glow wink out of existence from his kitchen door. He drops the now forgotten grocery bags when he hears the tiny heartbeat and rushes over to the basket on the table.

A sleeping baby. A baby! Wha- how had anyone. When his brain stops stalling he notices the letter. It reads:

Superman,

The boy’s name is Danny. You are the most likely to survive him learning to use his powers as they emerge. His parents died trying to protect him. It is not safe for him here.

I have already forged the legal documents naming you as his godfather and a cover story in the attached folder. Also three gold coins will be sent to you each month as child support. If anyone else looks at this letter the text will change to simply read that you are the godfather of this recently orphaned boy.

Clockwork.

Clark stood in shock rereading the letter in shock a dozen times. Before Lois snapped him out of it.

“Hey Smallville, it may not be Gotham but even in Metropolis you shouldn’t just leave your door open.” She called as she entered from the hall. Then she noticed the spilled bags of groceries on the floor. And came in. “Are you ok? You may be a klutz but you always pick u- Oh My God, That’s a Baby!”

Well that is enough for tonight. I will add on more later. Wonder how quickly this would grow if I don’t tag anyone? Eh just a few. @bloggerspam @confusedshades @hypewinter @zylev-blog @kizzer55555

[harunayuuka2060]

Silver: It's funny how the demon brothers were fighting over who gets the privilege of being MC's lap demon, and now they're all chasing after them since they've magically turned into toddlers.

Lilia: ...

Lilia: How long have you been here, Silver?

Silver: Since the early morning. Belphegor invited me over to ask about MC's preferences for pillows.

Lilia: ...By the way, have you seen Malleus?

Silver: He snatched MC.

Lilia: Then who are the brothers chasing?

Silver: An illusion.

Lucifer: *giving a stern glare at Malleus after he got MC back*

Malleus: Forgive me. Force of habit.

Satan: The hell you mean 'force of habit'?

Lucifer: *sigh* That's enough. And you, *to MC*, what were you thinking?

MC: Luci!

Lucifer: ...

Asmo: AWWWWW~! They're trying to get away from being scolded~!

Belphie: Lucifer, let me hold them.

Mammon: No! I'll hold them!

Levi: H-Hey! I won the game earlier, s-so I will hold them!

Beel: Your hands stink. You'll give them a rash.

Levi: Excuse me?!

Malleus: How long will the child of man be in that state?

Lucifer: Before the day ends.

Lucifer: They turned into a toddler after signing a cursed document.

Malleus: I see.

Barbatos: MC finished all the documents within this week.

Diavolo: *chuckles* They are so diligent!

Leona: Diligent, you say. But I see that as being careless.

Vil: I agree. Were they always like this back in your realm?

Diavolo: Why, yes! That's how they captivated all of us!

Azul: Your Highness, I hope you wouldn't mind me asking. How is it possible for the Prefect to handle serious matters?

Diavolo: Ah. I don't know the answer to that. *chuckles*

Barbatos: However, if you are curious, MC once argued with one of the House Of Lords members.

Azul: House Of Lords?

Barbatos: Yes. The nobles who guard the king's throne.

Leona: Sheesh. And why did they do that?

Diavolo: There was a time they doubted my skill. MC was furious when they went for me and the brothers. *chuckles* I could still recall how they challenged them to a fistfight when they could no longer hold their patience.

Barbatos: It was truly a fascinating sight.

Diavolo: Afterwards, they considered MC to be someone willing to protect and ensure the safety of the entire Devildom.

Leona: Goody two shoes.

Vil: I hate to agree with Leona, but yes.

Azul: I had seen MC fight so this was not a bit surprising.

*The brothers and Malleus walking with MC (who is still a toddler)*

Barbatos: Ah. Have they fallen asleep from all that running?

Lucifer: Yes. Fortunately.

Satan: *the one carrying MC this time*

Satan: There's no work left for them, right?

Barbatos: Yes.

Satan: *smiles* Great.

Vil: However, the headmage would like them to resume their classes.

Mammon: Huh? Why?

Azul: The Prefect is still a student of Night Raven College. And they are responsible for Grim, so they need to be there to supervise him.

Leona: Speaking of that furball, where is he?

Lucifer: *points at the ceiling*

Vil, Leona, and Azul: *looks up*

Grim: Mryah! *is being tied upside down* Get me down here!

Lucifer: You are learning to become a great mage. Think of ways how to release yourself from those binds.

Grim: THIS IS UNFAIR!

Azul: *couldn't help but laugh*

*In Devildom*

Solomon: Huh? Diavolo and Barbatos have gone on a vacation with MC?

Mephistopheles: Yes.

Solomon: ...But I didn't receive a message that they have returned?

Mephistopheles: MC tried to get ahold of you.

Mephistopheles: If you'll be here around weekends, MC will surely appear to check everything here.

[autumnmobile12]

Headcanon: Fuyumi learned to walk super early because Touya was annoyed she couldn't do it and kept pulling her to her feet when she was trying to crawl.

Internal toddler monologue: "Walk, dammit, this is stupid! Do better!"

Actually, what's also tragically funny is the fact that even though Shouto got the favorite child treatment in this family, his childhood is probably the least documented. For new parents, milestones like first words and first steps and birthdays are exciting and those get photographed and recorded in albums. By the time the third or fourth child is born, the novelty has long worn off and the sentiment becomes a pragmatic, "My only excitement is for the day that you can feed yourself and poop by yourself." Just saying, Natsuo and Shouto's baby albums are probably pretty sparse compared to Touya and Fuyumi's.

[gummilutt]

250 followers Custom Memory Bonanza

It's finally time! To thank all you lovely people for your support, I have been working hard to get this ready for upload and here we are. Today I am sharing my custom memory object, and my library of a whopping 201 custom memories. Based on the wonderful Tattered Diary by DiLight over on MTS, and the tutorial she shared of how to make your own custom memories.

I've always cared a lot about memories, to me they tell the story of the Sims life. Some of you from MTS may recall when I did the whole several year rebuild of my hood, replicating every last detail of the original. I'm memory crazy, okay? And when DiLight gave me the power to make my own, I may have gone a tad overboard. Or just the right amount, you get to decide :P DiLight taught me most of what I know about making custom memories, and the base BHAVs are from her, but as I've learned more I've added some bells and whistles that I hope you will enjoy. It's a new clone and separate GUID from the original tutorial object set up by DiLight, so if you have your own you can have mine too without issues :) Found in misc/misc, costs 1 simoleon.

Download on simfileshare

Features - Brand new form, created by me. Resized BV photo album with new mapping and new texture (seen above, in game pictures at the end of this post). I wanted something that was uniquely mine, and that you don't necessarily have to hide away in the attic or under the foundation. If you don't like it, you also have some additional model forms you can switch between through the pie menu. - Adaptable dynamic menu. Thanks to a really neat trick from @picknmixsims the menu reflects the memories you put in your downloads. If no file with the correct guid is found, the option for it won't show. Which means that although I am crazy enough to have 201, you can go ahead and only pick your favorite ones and the object will automatically detect and adapt the menu to that selection. - Memories all have a custom icon, that's made from game icons from TS2 or TS3. Some I am quite proud of, some are admittedly not great. Not everything is easy to convey through game icons, but I've tried my best, I hope the effort shows. 5 memories have icons that are not from the game, but I tried to match them to the aesthetic as best I could. - Memory subject menu shows only relevant age groups. For example, if the memory is about having a baby, only baby/toddler Sims will show as options. Goal being to keep menu as concise as possible. If you wish to assign memories retroactively, please see jonasn's excellent Memory Commander object, which has support to add my custom memories without age limitations. As well as a whole lot of other useful memory-related stuff. - Extensive documentation detailing everything you may need to know about the memories (text, icon, background, who can get it, who they can get it about, repeatability, where to find it on the object) to help you select the ones you want for your game, and familiarize yourself with them. - English and Swedish translations of memories, and object menu. If someone wants to add their language, that would be great but it's a lot of work so I don't expect it. You are welcome to share your translated versions directly if you wish, or you can send them to me for me to update files shared here :) If you want to learn how to translate the files directly, Episims has a great tutorial found here.

Examples of types of custom memories included - Extended family members memories (got cousin, got aunt/uncle, got sibling, got twin sibling, got great grandchild, got stepparent, got stepchild) - Birth related memories (pregnancy, becoming parent, late in life parent, had multiples birth, premature baby) - Marriage related memories (divorce, parental divorce, custody things, alimony) - Relationship related memories (fighting, breakups, additional love memories) - Woohoo related (memories for specific woohoo locations, repeatable generic woohoo/public woohoo) - University degree related (declared major memories, got a minor degree memories, got a major degree memories, for remembering having studied multiple things and being able to see what major your Sim chose without looking at their diploma) - Loan related, for remembering taking and paying off loans of different types - Moving memories (first apartment, child moves out, various memories for sims moving in with others) - Kids related (child's first day in school, got their own pet, nursery rhyme, giving up for adoption, living at orphanage)

Mods automating delivery of my CC memories (more to come) Learned nursery rhyme from - Found here, by me Wrote restaurant guide - Found here, part of jonasn "Novel Writing Improvements" mod

Credits: DiLight, @picknmixsims, @morepopcorn, @latmosims, @joplayingthesims, maxon, @keoni-chan. For detailed info on how they all impacted the creation of this, see readme :) Policy: Give credit to DiLight, beyond that, totally open. Enjoy!

[moonsaver]

Veritas Ratio is so illiterate when it comes to love languages.

And as such, he makes it a mission to understand it, through a bit of loosely held experiments and documentation for his private analysis.

1. Acts of service.

It is said a person may showcase their affection or romantic interest in a person by offering services, or by doing menial tasks that may help the object of their affections.

It is not a surprise when Dr. Ratio "helps" you lug back an entire shelf's worth of books, after he offers to pick out a few based on the current topic you've decided to study. The pile behind him grew larger as his fingers tipped and pulled every book off of the shelf effortlessly, as you stood, mouth agape, helplessly observing the pile grow immensely large to your dismay.

He clicks his tongue, and sighs when you stand there, confused and unsure of how to carry these books all at once. He picks the pile up, his arm muscles slightly pulling and tensing with the weight, as he continues walking forward, droning on about the books he's picked out for you, the authors, their contributions, etc.. as you trail behind him, bewildered.

[End of experiment #01. Success.]

[Dr. Ratio, for once, has made the effort to.. listen to you, and repaired a fountain ink pen you'd previously complained about having broken. He had to scold you on your lack of awareness of things, and then decided to take matters into his own hands. The cracked fountain pen has been repaired well, and the ink runs smoothly. He scoffs and asks if you'll do better on the upcoming test he has for you,now that he's repaired it and given it back. You return a reponse with a smile. Dr. Ratio crosses out the paragraph with one strike after the last sentence describing the upward curve of your mouth.]

2. Physical contact.

A person may, with consent from the other party, display their affections through physical contact with one another.

Dr. Ratio seems a bit stumped, his mind simmering at the ways he could initiate such contact with you. Perhaps the pressing of his shoulder into yours as he explains a problem at hand counts? Or the continuous touching of the sides of your knees with his? This is unfamiliar territory.

[End of experiment #02. Failure. Next Experiment shall begin shortly.]

[Dr. Ratio seems particularly troubled. A pat on your head is too childish. A good shoulder squeeze is too professional – goodness, he's not that uptight. Perhaps holding your hand shall suffice as he guides you through a 3d simulation? His alabastor head is on as he contemplates on the idea.]

3. Quality time

A person may offer their affections through the time they share with their romantic interest. This is a branched term, as other languages such as Parallel play fall under this category, as Dr. Ratio presumes.

For once, Dr. Ratio stays put, choosing to stay for longer, sometimes hours, helping you understand and learn a topic from start to finish. He explains a book in great detail, going paragraph to paragraph, and teaches you in any way you want to be taught. For once, his racing mind comes to an abrupt slowdown, as he's forced to sit down with you and help you with.. what he considers are problems so easy a toddler could do it with their eyes closed. But.. do ask him, if you have doubts. He's willing to offer up his free time if he must, as long as it's you he has to begrudgingly explain a concept to. And for someone like him, time is valuable.

He considers time spent with you more valuable.

[End of experiment #03. Progressive success.]

[He stays quiet, deep in his thoughts as you sigh, taking a well-needed break. You chirp up with a question, and he answers without breaking his daze. Back and forth exchanges turn into pleasant conversation, and a laugh soon spills gracefully from your chest. Dr. Ratio's face seems to be still, however, his heart beat may have sputtered for a moment to the exact rhythm of your laughter.]

4. Receiving and Giving gifts.

A person may either receive or lend trinkets, assortments, and items of various degrees of sentimentality to another individual in order to display affection.

Tricky. But nothing in Dr. Ratio's eyes.

He has you analyze curios thoroughly, study them under his supervision with all necessary safety protocols and procedures, as you awe at the glow of it. A part of him wonders if it'll make a significant academic gift..? He shakes his head, and the thought is banished immediately. He will not entertain the idea of even giving you something like that. Studying it from a distance should suffice for you.

As for the gift.. it's hard to say. At the end, he decides to ask you directly if you've been saving up for a specific item that you haven't been able to get your hands on.

[End of Experiment #04. Partial failure.]

[Dr. Ratio sighs, thinking over the exact words he would use to address the issue at hand. However.. he should be able to solve this problem quite quickly if he simply scanned your daily wardrobe. If he wasn't so distracted by the curl of your mouth, that dumb joke you kept interrupting with your own laughter, and the stupid questions you'd always distract him with.. goodness. Shall he just get you a hair-piece that matches his?]

5. Words of Affirmation.

An individual may express their intimate feelings through a plethora of words that appropriately convey their depth towards their interested person.

Perhaps this one was the hardest, or easiest for Dr. Ratio. He hadn't realised he'd done it in the first place, having to delay his documentation for the purpose of suspending such activities in order to help you push past a few particularly difficult tests. He may need to continue it's suspension, as unfortunate it is.

[Experiment #05 – in suspension. Yet to conclude.]

[Dr. Ratio scans through your answers, a culmination of your hard work and brain-wracking that seems to have polished your wits throughout the span of his rigorous course. He sighs, and sets down the paper on the desk, looking at you directly with a smile on his face. You look at him expectantly. Well done – 10 points. Your tense face relaxes and breaks into a bright smile. So does his.]

[katzkinder]

I just thought about how Tsuna would have to learn how to put his “seal” on official documents. The guy who still hasn’t figured out “not ending up in his underwear” and only remains clothed thanks to some very generous handmade clothing from Reborn and Leon.

Which at least tells me he’s got some subconscious idea of how to not turn his clothes to ashes

Using test papers doesn’t work, and using identical duplicates of actual important items doesn’t work because of Tsuna’s stupid intuition, and using real important papers is out of the question

So Reborn asks the kids to draw something for Tsuna

It’s fine if it’s burned but Tsuna really will not want to. There aren’t any “real” consequences if he fails… Except for the ones Tsuna gives to himself

“You’re so evil…” Tsuna mutters, staring hard at the crayon drawings in front of him. Out of all three, I-pin shows the most talent, though Lambo has the most. Interesting. Interpretations. Is that supposed to be a grasshopper or the couch?

“I could have made you use your birth certificate y’know.” Reborn says it so casually Tsuna almost doesn’t register it at first. “That’s what I did to Dino”

Tsuna gapes at him, “You’re really super evil?! That’s dangerous!”

Reborn shrugs. “It also failed.”

“HUH”

“So I tried it with Romario’s next. Perfect score.”

A long, drawn out sigh. Really… Reborn’s methods always produced so much misery. “I really don’t want to burn this…”

“And why not?”

“Because the kids made it for me!”

“Don’t you think they’d be happy to have your mark on it?”

Tsuna blinks, lips parting slightly in question. “My…?”

“The flame seal is something that cannot be copied, replicated, or forged.” It’s easy to tell, now that they’ve known each other for long enough, that Reborn is just the slightest bit relieved by Tsuna’s interest. “It’s more unique than even a fingerprint. A truly, one of a kind signature.”

Tsuna mulls those words over, and his eyes slide sideways. Contemplative, and just a little bit shifty. Something about it is reminiscent of Gokudera. “Can I see yours? Like. Really look at it. You showed me but I didn’t get to observe it much…”

“Observing isn’t going to do you much good.”

“Please?” Tsuna’s voice pitches with the plea, verging on whining. “Just… One more time. Let me look at how your Flame acts when you do it.”

Reborn sighs. “Sun and Sky—“

“I know! I know they behave differently. Still… I think I’ll get something out of it!”

“… Fine.” Lately, it feels like Reborn has been giving in to Tsuna more and more. It makes him happy. It also gives him the courage to reach out and stop Reborn before he can apply the seal to a random scrap of paper, instead looking carefully at the way his Flame appears when still on his finger, face pinched with concentration.

He knows what sun flames look like usually, but this is a tighter control than that. Even if they're different, he's noticed that Sky and Sun are the most similar when it comes to their "resting" states. So, logically, this should help give him an idea of how his own should look when it’s ready. Shouldn’t it?

“What happens if you try and apply it to a person…?”

Reborn stares at him. And stares. And stares. "Tsuna,” he starts, slow, incredulous. “You happen.”

Tsuna blinks back at him. “I was born?”

“The seal, you idiot. The one from when you were a toddler.”

“They’re the same thing?!”

“I dearly wish I could have started with you earlier. Much, much earlier.”

Despite the earlier acid, Reborn sounds fond when he speaks of the prospect. Tsuna thinks that’s worth something.

“Now that you’ve had your fill of looking.”

“Uuuugh.”

He manages not to turn the drawings he’s been given to cinders.

It really is all about having the right material to work with.

[cirtusmistress]

JJK Baby Daddy x Reader HC: Choso ~ The Helicopter Parent

an: i love choso and have baby fever. which sucks for a lesbian who has a visceral fear of being pregnant. so i'm gonna write about a 2D man k thanks <3

tw: mentions of SIDs

genre: fluff with a touch of angst in the teen years

AO3 Crosspost

Bless his heart man :(

Didn’t even know he could have kids but once he learned that he could it was game over.

He had eight siblings and loves them all with his whole heart. Literally Yuji being his brother reshaped his brain, how do you think having kids will have him?

I see him as a girl dad personally but he will love his children no matter the gender.

It was a lot when you told him you were pregnant. It had never really been a thought beforehand, and it just kinda.. Happened. It was a long discussion but you decided to keep it (but if you didn’t want it he would have supported you, because he loves you and in the end you have to come first).

Anxious as fuck though. He’s buying so many parenting books and reading mommy blogs and did you know you shouldn’t eat fish while pregnant? No fish for you. Such a helicopter dad and partner.

LOVES designing the nursery.

You bought him a disposable camera so he could document the pregnancy and he adored every second of it. He makes you a pregnancy scrapbook for each one.

He keeps the first ultrasound pic on him all the time. Shows it to everyone he can like, “This is my baby :)”

He cried every time you two looked at onesies. Realizing how small your baby was gonna be got him so emotional.

Likes helping you pick out maternity wear too! He thinks you’re so cute :(

If you’re a seahorse dad he’s super understanding and tries to help you through any dysphoria you may have. You’re his partner and he feels his family's pain very strongly, so he just wants you to be okay.

He involves Yuji in your pregnancy a lot too (which he loves, he can’t wait to be an uncle).

When the baby finally comes home he’s such an anxious mess. Every time they cry he’s just overwhelmed and scared something is wrong or his fault.

He doesn’t get much sleep. He made the mistake of reading about SIDs and is constantly scared that he’ll wake up one day and they’ll just be gone.

It takes a lot of reassurance from you to calm him back down. Eventually he starts sleeping again, but his sleep is very light.

Loves wearing a papoose (baby carrier). He likes having his baby with him wherever he goes.

I can see him fully committing to being a stay at home daddy. He loves his family and if he could spend every day with his children nothing would make him happier. Gives you a lot of special attention during and after the pregnancy. Massages, going out late at night for craving foods, sitting with you while you go through morning sickness. When you get home he’s super hands on so you can rest and recuperate. You’re the love of his life, nothing is too much for you.

He also makes baby scrapbooks. For all of his kids, at least 3 each. No one goes without and every child is made sure to feel special and loved.

Again, cries at every milestone. When they roll over, when they sit up, the first word. Even the less conventional ones like the first hair cut.

You had to keep him from attacking the doctor when you took them in for their first shots..

The toddler phase is fun. He’s chasing naked babies around your home day and night. Loves the phase where they want to sleep in bed with you two. Being able to have his family all in one bed makes him feel safe. Even if it means a kick to the side or back.

It’s hard when his kids start going to school. He can’t always be with them or protect them and it’s scary for him. He’s always thinking about them, and when they get home he’s always there to pick them up or walk them back to the house.

The teen phase is also a hard transition. Suddenly it’s not cool to spend time with your dad anymore. Some of his kids do, of course, but it’s always a struggle when the others pull away. You always assure him it’s normal, and they still love him. But Choso struggles when his family pulls apart even in little ways.

He’s still a helicopter parent. He means well but to teens it just feels overbearing. He doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong.

But in the end his kids always come back. Because they know he will never abandon them, and would raise hell for them.

Wants at least three. If you’re willing, five.

Readiness? 60% Lot’s of panic and crying, but no doubt all of his children will feel endlessly loved, as will you.

who else should I daddy? gojo and nanami are on my hit list

[nonsensical-pixels]

MY WEDDING TRAUMA: A SURELY-SIMS x ICE-CREAMFORBREAKFAST COLLABORATION, CONVERTED TO THE SIMS 2 [download - 👰🏽🤵🏽]

are you tired of brides in white dresses and toddlers with perfect pink flower baskets? is cereal packet gameplay just not doing it for you anymore? maybe you'd like your weddings to put the 'strange' in strangetown? search no more, the ingredients for the strangest wedding in sim nation are finally here!

so, since i caught that one virus, i've been playing around a bit more with ts2 cc creation and finally had the time to work on converting a big set again. but then... what to convert? the answer came to me in the links section of a random lookbook... in a sort of fever dream. a set that captures the recent theme on my blog, families, and yet completely destroys it at the same time: my wedding trauma.

everything here is remarkably versatile. i mean, i know for a fact that people aren't just going to use that jumpsuit for a wedding, elvis needs more freedom than that! there are 9 cas items and 6 buy items for a total of 17 items in this set!

the original ts4 collaboration is complete perfection; it has just the sort of trashy, nonsensical vibes that the ts2 wedding department is sorely lacking. my conversion of this isn't perfect, i'm still learning how to do clothing and there are some minor issues mentioned below the cut, but overall i think that it came out pretty good and i hope it invokes some chaos in your game. 💥

credits go to @ice-creamforbreakfast for most of the cas part of this collaboration, and to @surely-sims for the buy mode part!

keep reading for more info, rambles, and preview pics!

PART 1: BUY MODE (6 items by @surely-sims)

ITEMS INCLUDED ARE: 1 - Fancy Folding Chair - 1.7k polys 2 - Margarita Tower - 3.4k polys 3 - Pizza Party Banquet Table - 1.5k polys 4 - Tiki Mug - 1.7k polys 5 - Toasting Bucket - 2.3k polys 6 - Wedding Arch - 10.2k polys*

individual previews are also to be found in the download!

THINGS TO NOTE: - The wedding arch is quite high-poly compared to other objects (10k) but that is the max for the polycounts. - The collection file included in the 'Surely-Sims' folder should go in the Collections folder in Documents.

PART 2: CAS (8 items by @ice-creamforbreakfast and 1 by @surely-sims)

ITEMS INCLUDED ARE: 1 - Brandi Dress (YF-AF) - 3.9k polys 2 - Elvis Glasses (TU-EU) - 1.7k polys 3 - Elvis Jumpsuit (YM-AM) - 4.9k polys 4 - Goopy Jacket (TM-AM) - 2.3k polys 5 - Jess Hair (YF-EF) - 5.4k polys 6 - Kelly-Marie Hair (TF-EF) - 9.4k polys 7 - Malborough Dress (YF-AF) - 7.1k polys 8 - Newport Headpiece (YF-AF) 9 - Trashleen's Cigarette Bouquet (YF-EF) note: the Jess Hair is not part of the original set but is included because the Newport Headpiece is meant to pair with it.

individual previews are also to be found in the download!

THINGS TO NOTE: - The clothing may have some bone assignment issues (especially with straps) & mild gaps. - The 'Goopy Jacket' has a mild discoloration around the neckline. - All hairs are in @skittlessims Skittles Hair System - The 'Elvis Jumpsuit' is paired with 4t2 SP01 Pointed Stud. Converted by me :) - The 'Malborough Dress' is paired with Ice-CreamForBreakfast's Jessica Shoes.

PART 3: THANKS & RAMBLE

have one final pic of the quirky couple and their patchwork family (ex-wife and dog included) 💞

this set was such a rollercoaster to work on, but also so, so much fun! i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i do 🥺

for anyone who's wondering--yeah i'm back for now, requests are still closed, wips depend on whether im in the mood... but from now on releases should be less queued and have a more 'personal touch' 😏

i'll get around to posting the discord-exclusives i released while i was gone... eventually. there's a few that i'm keeping for myself x

anyway... happy simming, hope you enjoy these conversions, and have a lovely day simming! if you use these feel free to @ me, i wanna see the chaos and the cool stuff these are used in 🥰

love,

~ Ky (nonsensical-pixels)

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Special Treatment

Or: John Halo vs Space Tricare

Thanks to @bloodgulchblog for encouraging me to follow this idea. It's a critical piece based and could have been a lot longer to be honest. Here's 2.1k words of John trying to navigate the average military clinic, many liberties taken, many details experienced.

-

The stilted conversations of the waiting room quiet at the first sign of potential movement. Mothers quietly clutching their crying babies or holding hands of children with ear aches and runny noses look up with tempered hope and frazzled nerves. Toddlers fascinated by the brightly colored show on the room’s single silent screen blink at the new person in the doorway. An elderly person with a cane and a fistful of paper documents frowns and shifts in preparation to stand. John’s own eyes scan the room in periphery, noting the changing body language and access to the exits. Hope was a fickle thing in a clinic. It’d been 15 minutes since the last person had been ushered back down the hall.

His appointment was scheduled for 20 minutes ago. He’d arrived 50 minutes ago. His doctored paperwork claiming his status and identity had been submitted 45 minutes ago. 45 minutes since his approach had been met with shocked stares and scrutiny before being dismissed back to the waiting room with its plastic and metal chairs with fading teal patterns and water-stained tile ceilings.

Somewhere Kelly was laughing at him. He could have sought medical help on board the UNSC Infinity. But the way people outside his team treated him rankled his sense of what he really deserved. He only did his duty-he didn’t want special treatment. But John was learning what planet-side military healthcare was really like - the hard way.

"Smith, John."

A nurse in plain blue scrubs holding a clipboard calls from right outside the front desk. The other nurse and tired looking security officer don't look up from behind the plexiglass as she blearily scans the room.

John stands before she calls his name again. He tries for a slow measured pace, but her eyes widen as he approaches. She recovers quickly and holds out her hand, "ID?"

He hands her his military ID, freshly made and slightly warped from its time in his pocket. An awkward photo and the issue date marked as the same day did him no favors. The cheap laminate flashing the holographic symbols of the UNSC over the fine black print. It had his real birthday on it, and he’d already memorized his benefits and DoD ID number. Part of him thought that it would help, but the other part of him wondered if it made him even more suspicious.

"Uh huh." She nods and looks him over. He knows he hasn't done anything wrong, but this is new territory for him. By seeking to avoid special treatment, John has stumbled into a world of suspicious admin and medical professionals. His own last name is classified, and though he might look like a walking cadaver he was thankful the ID office agreed on John Smith rather than John Doe.

The tired nurse turns and walks away, only looking back in frustration and waving for him to follow. He maintains a polite distance, but nothing seems to help her mood. Thankfully, it's not a long walk. Down the crowded hall past the clinic's tiny lab and waiting area to another gray and white room with an examination table. She tells him to sit and that someone will be by. The paper crinkles beneath him, but he bears it. There's more than a little doubt in his mind that the metal and plastic seat in the corner would support his weight. There’s barely anything else in the room; another uncomfortable chair, a stool near the logged out computer, a biohazard bin and some out of date infographic posters warning about common illnesses and a bizarrely detailed model of the inner ear.

There aren’t any signs of information for the usual suspects that John’s seen in the Infinity’s medical wing the few times he’s allowed himself to be wrestled there. Her crew having more civilians in the mix meant that the infirmary was different than he was used to. John looks and wonders where the vaccine information was or the signs of getting someone help. All he’s left with in this clinic are the signs of mesothelioma symptoms and law offices.

He sits and he waits and he wheezes slightly. The mask he’s wearing both for his own health and comfort and for others is a flimsy barrier compared to what he’s used to, but it’ll do for now.

The nurse didn't lie. Someone does come by, eventually. There's no clock on the wall, but without looking at his datapad John estimates that at least 30 minutes have gone by.

Another person in scrubs comes in, takes his vitals, and makes awkward small talk. He's a corpsman, Jones, and he tries to hide his reaction upon seeing John. Blue overalls and Navy are familiar enough he should put John at ease, but Jones is between him and the door.

John’s been on enough campaigns where waiting took the majority of his time. He’d been at the mercy of the decisions of others his whole life. But something about this clinic, lacking even the facade of care and bogged down in the bureaucracy of out-of-date admin set his teeth on edge. These people weren’t his enemy, but he could not count them as allies. He felt more secure in the waiting room with the blinds blocking the midday sun and the coughing child holding a Spartan action figure in their tiny fist.

The others must have talked because he enters the room with a polite knock and a burning curiosity in his eyes. John's not the Master Chief right now, for which he's grateful, but he misses the armor. There's no buffer between him and humanity.

Jones asks him the same questions he was asked by the nurse at the counter, and the nurse on the phone, and the administrator at the ID office, and Kelly when she found out he was going planet-side for treatment. Why?

At this point, John regrets trying to follow his new instinct to not let things get so bad he ends up in the infirmary. It’s not like he hasn’t toughed out illnesses before. But being sick and miserable amongst his team, and his crew felt worse. Master Chief couldn’t have a cold or be lain low by a respiratory infection. He had a job to do.

But that didn’t mean it was easy. Jones mangles his arm trying to find a vein to draw blood. Even after commenting on John’s paleness helping him locate some good ones. He palpates him and tries and misses. John bears it, and wonders distantly if he’ll get comments on this too from teammates and overbearing techs.

Jones leaves with two vials and an apologetic smile that is soured by some joke John forgets five minutes later. It’s not until another 15 have passed that someone in a lab coat flutters in, introduces himself, chides John to take better care of himself, makes an assumption about the illness and gives him a prescription. He’s halfway out the door before telling John where the pharmacy is.

Another body enters his space and he sidesteps out of habit. Smaller people seem to think Spartans are less like people and more like features in a room to work around. The nurse eyes him and goes back to his job of restocking the room and ripping off the paper where John had sat for most of the last hour.

“Did you need anything else?” He says more than asks.

John shakes his head and leaves, back down the gray and white hallway, past the lab where his blood is being tested. Jones told him to check his patient portal in the next week or so. Might be longer.

He makes it to the pharmacy unscathed, save for his arm, and sits down with a clear view of the exits.

A few rows over he overhears a whispered conversation between an adolescent and their guardian. He doesn’t mean to listen in but John’s never been big on reacting before understanding. He understands his world, but this was new and all the other patients weren’t giving him much to go on. Surely this wasn’t an acceptable level of care for the family, dependents and service members of UNSC? This facility alone was overcrowded, out-of-date, understaffed, and rundown to such a degree that John’s anxiety spiked when he arrived. But the same could be said for the base housing he passed, and the ID office, and the shipyard itself. The entire base was made to function a certain way for a certain amount of time, and it was obviously past that.

The adolescent complains to their guardian, hands fisted in some over sized jacket. “But the doctor didn’t even figure it out?”

The guardian looks stricken but rallies quickly.“The steroids are to help you recover and your body fight whatever caused the reaction. The doctor didn’t think the allergic reaction was severe enough for testing. It’ll be okay.” They try to comfort the child.

John’s perfect posture deflates a millimeter. It goes unnoticed by everyone around him, and for the first time that day, he’s glad his team isn’t here. To see him worn down so quickly, or to see the state of the people they are trying to protect.

"Now serving - at window number 2." A woman's synthetic voice rings out over the muted din of the clinic's waiting room. Tile floor that once might have been white and gray squeaks under the shoes of the next person in line.

John sits and stares at his datapad and the newly downloaded app that bears his own number. The lone screen displaying the number being served ticks upward and the woman speaks again. "Now serving - at window number 4." Another body shuffles out of the sea of people sitting under the baleful fluorescents.

He finds it strange that the Dumb AI doesn't actually announce the number, and that she's only saying the phrase in English. After 45 minutes waiting and watching, John doubts she's even an Dumb AI. This place doesn't seem to have the resources to justify one. Just a synthetic recording playing over and over, cool and impersonal, over the dull roar of illness. Sniffles and coughs and John’s own tired wheezing behind his mask.

He fidgets, on purpose of course, since they trained the fidget out of him. That and Mjolnir doesn't take kindly to twitchy Spartans. John was finding that civilians were intimidated by tall men in masks and sunglasses that sat still as statues. He was a polite statue, but that didn't help with the staring.

More time passes. It feels like he arrived at the clinic yesterday and five minutes ago. Windowless walls and water-stained ceilings close in with a sense of a stagnant forever-present. Never moving forward, never being helped, just shuffled around and waiting somewhere else. Buzzing fluorescents and strained breathing complement the clacking of analog keyboards and soft rough voices of pharmacists and techs working in their own hives located behind plexiglass and locked doors.

Another hour passes and the rhythmless dance of synthetic announcements, pharmacy techs, and doctor’s notes trickling through the computer system lands on John. His number is called and he shuffles to the window.

Name, ID, Birthday-here’s the meds, take twice a day with food. Instructions on the bottle. The rustle of a brown paper bag to hide the results of half a day.

And then he’s shooed away.

The dull red exit sigh points back the way he came all that time ago, past the security checkpoint and front desk, past the coughs and wheezes and crying babes of the waiting room, and out the shuddering, squeaking automatic doors and back into the sunlight.

Cars honk in nearby traffic. A single sickly tree provides some shade in the patchy yellow grass nearby.

Mission accomplished.

John heads back, feeling heavier than he did that morning when he woke with full sinuses and a productive cough. The pills in the bag rattle. 10 days of a treatment, refills as needed. He won’t be back. John has that choice, has more access to care, and for that he is both grateful and concerned. It wasn’t often he got to see what he was protecting, what he was a symbol of. A great machine slowly turning good people into good soldiers, but also a slow wave of ineptitude unable to help the ones keeping it running. Something like that would surely die a slow death.

But John doesn’t think about that. He can’t. That would require a more critical awareness of his role in this great dying thing that consumes all in its path. Cortana would have helped. She would have hacked the computers and fixed everything, but that was a fantasy.

[dailydragon08]

hi! if it's ok I'd love to request a scenario for the star wars gang please :) I'd love to see how they all react to a genderfluid s/o (if you have any questions plz dm me :D)

thank you!

Thanks so much for the ask! Sorry this took so long, I was on a bit of a semi-hiatus, but am back now and working on the other asks in my box! Also, thank you to @kaleidoscope1967eyes for some of the suggestions in here!

I think everyone would kind of be in the realm of similar reactions here, but with a few small differences. Everyone is very accepting about you being gender fluid and doesn’t make a huge deal of it, but are very protective of you in different ways. Eventually, they all get a knack for being able to tell whether you’re leaning more masc, fem, or somewhere in between for the day just by your clothes and hairstyle and will adjust pronouns accordingly if necessary.

Growing up as royalty and a major player in both the imperial senate and the New Republic, Leia is always on top of the latest fashions (which I wish they explored more in other media, but I digress). I think she’d be so interested in helping you adapt different clothing and hairstyles to how you were feeling that particular day and loves finding an outfit that either matches or sort of rhymes what you’re wearing to any events—or even just day-to-day wear. Being royalty and a politician, she’s traveled a lot, so this isn’t a new concept to her at all, and she thanks you for telling her with a warm smile and shoulder squeeze before getting down to business for the day. She’s very adamant that you not only have all the gender-affirming things you need day to day, but also that your preferred pronouns are written correctly in all official documents.

And if someone tries to misgender you or discriminate against you in any way whatsoever, Leia will give them the biggest dressing down of their life – no matter the time, place, or audience – and make sure they know to never pull anything like that ever again. By the time she’s done, they’re standing there like a chastised, guilty toddler as they apologize to you. If she had to, Leia would glare down and lecture the entire senate until they not only got it right, but didn’t even think about forgetting or getting it wrong ever again.

Luke is very accepting and wants you to feel safe and welcome with him above all else. He would make sure to give you a soft smile and thank you for telling him before opening up a discussion to make sure he was doing everything he could to support you and learn how he could improve. He does research on his own as well and if you’re also Force-sensitive, he will get you as many custom-made Jedi robes as you want so you have options for whatever you’re feeling day to day. He checks in with you frequently, both verbally and through the Force, to make sure you’re feeling okay and check if you’re using different pronouns from the day before. If you’re comfortable, he starts doing a daily check in via telepathic connection each morning so that even if you don’t have time to talk or are several rooms away, he’s still well informed.

The way he defends you differs a bit from his sister. If someone misgenders you or makes any sort of unnecessary comment, he’ll immediately interrupt and correct them. His face and tone stay as calm and serene as ever thanks to his Jedi training, but you can feel the irritation flowing off of him if it’s anything more than an innocent mistake. If this person continues with their behavior, he’ll correct them again and ask them to be respectful and make it clear in no uncertain terms that he sees any disrespect to you as disrespect to him and that the two of you will be walking away until they can conduct themselves better. Afterwards, he’s checking in on you and apologizing for the experience so gently and doing whatever it takes to make you feel better.

Han being Han of course makes some harmless, playful remark the first time your style drastically changes in front of him. But once you explain you’re gender fluid, he takes it in stride with a “good to know; so what are we doing for lunch?” He tends to be more observant than people give him credit for – especially with those he cares about – and although he gets good at knowing what you’re feeling that day with a glance, still decides to make a “Gender of the Day” game. Traveling around on the Falcon with him puts you in constant proximity and you find yourself stealing his shirts and jackets quite often on more masc-leaning days (which never hesitates to pull a cocky compliment or pickup line from him).

Anyone who dares to make a snide comment gets Captain Solo in full force, with a low “listen here, pal” as he leans across the table and makes sure they know if it happens again, they’ll not only have an angry sharpshooter on their hands, but also a pissed off Wookiee.

To follow up, Chewie (platonic) also is immediately accepting and although you can’t understand his language, you overhear Han keeping him up to date with your pronouns every day. Eventually, you learn from C-3PO’s translation that Chewie goes out of his way to ask someone in the OT gang every morning (and sometimes directly comes to you with the protocol droid’s help) just to make sure he’s got it right. He’s more than happy to help Han defend you as well and even when it’s just the two of you, he gives an ominous growl as he stands up to his full seven feet if anyone gives you trouble.

Similar to Leia, Lando is also well-traveled and an avid lover of fashion. This isn’t a new concept to him at all and in fact, when the two of you meet, he’s already asking what your preferred pronouns are. Like the princess, he’s also always elated to help you adapt your fashion choices and has many things custom-made for you – you can hardly say you like something or wish an aspect of a piece of clothing was a little different before he’s already buying it or having his tailors work on it. He even gifts you some articles of clothing that are a two (or even three!) in one via folding a flap a certain way, zipping something, etc. so that one shirt or pair of pants can double as either more masc, fem, or in between.

He's extremely protective of you, no matter who is giving you problems, and will always insert himself between you and the perpetrator with a hey before correcting them in a tone that leaves no room for argument. Especially with his higher rank in the rebellion, he can easily have someone removed from the room if needed and if Chewie’s nearby, employs the Wookiee’s help as well.

R2-D2 (platonic) chirps and beeps while wobbling on his outer legs to let you know he understands and is more than happy to support you. Although you can’t typically understand his noises, he still will sneakily change code in official documents or computer systems to reflect correct pronouns and if someone’s giving you a hard time, he’ll use one of his little retractable arms to give them a little shock.

C-3PO (platonic) of course is aware of gender fluidity, but has never met someone like you – at least, not that he remembers before his memory was wiped. Ever since then, he’s been glued either to Leia or Luke’s side, so hasn’t had a chance to experience much outside of the chaotic workload the rebellion usually requires. But he’s so interested and excited to ask you questions if you’ll allow, but also makes sure to educate himself on his own. You have to hold back your laughter sometimes when he excitedly comes to you about some new piece of information he found as if you didn’t know it yourself – but of course, halfway through his excited ramble, he remembers who he’s talking to and goes “oh, I’m so terribly sorry” before offering to help you in any way he can, always interrupting and correcting people when needed, and if they don’t back down, telling them point blank “well, I think you’re rather rude.”

~~

Taglist: @kaleidoscope1967eyes @masterlukessaber @coffeeorsomething-irl @eveningserenityyy @victorian-nymph @lxstfathier @rogue-kenobi @lavandula-ipsum @sonofthedunes @pomplalamoose @lex-the-flex @ilovemarkhamill

[blueshistorysims]

August 1936, London, England

Before the school year started, Eleora took the children to London. Amalia and Miranda had not been to the city since they were toddlers, and she thought it silly to keep the children in Henford, secluded from the world. Amalia was delighted by all the people and things to do, while Simon-Elliot and Miranda looked at everything in silence. 

They stayed at Giselle and Francesca’s house, who had also invited Francesca’s cousin and her family for dinner that day. Eleora was more than happy to finally meet family of Francesca’s, and even more delighted to learn their daughter was Simon-Elliot’s age.

Simon-Elliot looked so bashful when he and Lydia shook hands, Eleora wished she could have taken a photograph of it. She’d never seen him act like that around other girls his age. Someone had a little crush, she suspected as the pair went off together.

As the children played, the adults drank and talked. It was not hard for the conversation to slip into politics and the state of the world still recovering from the crash seven years ago. 

“Byron’s in Spain? Why the hell is he in Spain?” Giselle asked, dumbfounded when Eleora had told them where her husband was.

“An acquaintance from Columbia wrote him when the fighting broke out, asking for help to move and translate historical documents and artifacts away from the war zones. He and I both have decided to give money to the Republicans, but he insisted on going there in person. I am not sure when he will be back.”

“Does that not worry you?” Xiufang asked. “That he is in a war zone?”

“Of course it does. But who was I to stop him? It’s the first meaningful thing he’s had since Montgomery’s death—Montgomery was Miranda’s father and my husband’s closest friend. He took his life two years ago,” she explained to Xiufang and Henry as a pang of sadness hit her. “He hasn’t been the same since. All I can do now is hope for the best.”

[shuobox]

Hiii * kicks my feet as i try and make sense of your vague backstory *

Cassie rose…. White pumpkin beloved . wowie

Her backstory is so like. I want to study her like a bug sometimes. What on gods green earth is going on with her and the old builders

While thinking about it i pieced together a very delusional viewpoint of what i THINK mightve happened that would make cassie so . intent. on getting “”home””

(Inspired off of @/zoomire ‘s prodigy!cassie + vamp!cassie hc/au)

When the Atlas (portal hallway but like, not a hallway, think more like… layered backrooms cube with weird gravity and staircases. like those illusion paintings. With portals everywhere) was at its beginnings, found and studied by the old builders, the group was carefully discovering these new and strange places.

It didn’t take long for them to gather that these places can be dangerous. But where theres danger there are endless bounties that are BEYOND valuable in price.

It’s what helped them make this odd… …town? Place? When Harper created the respawn machine from parts gathered from the other worlds, it changed so much. Harper and Otto (and a certain… man) knew to be wary, but Mevia and Hadrian wanted to harness this newfound discovery by the reigns. It would be a waste, after all.

It didn’t take long for them to realize that it is verrrry easy to die out in these places. Its dangerous and its no good trying to juggle handling these games and something with boundless potential that is the Atlas.

Hadrian and Mevia knew the other three wouldn’t agree to it under any circumstance, ever. It was beyond immoral in a lot of ways, put simply, but the two had already discussed and planned and prepared.

They snuck out and into the Atlas as they usually did, no one batting an eye, and it was a few hours before they emerged. Hadrian holding a small, sleeping toddler.

To say Harper had questions and Otto was beyond appalled that they pulled a whole person— no less a child— into their world, far from their original home, would be an understatement.

Hadrian reassured they found the child when she was being held captive in a dying town with illagers patrolling all around. It was for the benefit of the child, if nothing else.

They didn’t argue. Much. They were aware that trying to wander back in and place the child back exactly to where she was would be useless; Hadrian and Mevia knew the portals better than they did and they weren’t letting up. Otto gave up; the debate that had settled between Harper and Hadrian did grant him the slightest idea to create something to navigate the Atlas.

Cassie grew up alongside the old builders. She’d learn from Harper most of Redstone and general morals and advice; Hadrian would teach her about combat and the games (to say Cassie found him as the least favourite teacher would be an understatement), Otto taught her to read and write, and once she was older, Mevia taught her about the more brutal sides of anatomy, where to strike and how fast or slow depending on the reaction you want.

When Cassie was 15, she was handed the Atlas Compass (because i dont ljke the idea of there being a book that just wooshes a big arrow to where u need to go), benign tools, and pushed into the portal network with a simple task. An easy one at first; find an ore you wouldn’t usually find back at home through one of the realms. Document a mob and bring back a body part of it. Etc, etc

She didn’t know much about the Atlas. The old builders never told her much— only vague information and that she’ll understand when she’s older.

The tasks would get a bit harder, a bit more complex each time; juggling beating the living hell out of people in the games when her tools had expended their use and fighting back swarms of mobs fetching items and blocks and finding a portal back.

She always sought praise that came from Hadrian himself. He was the mastermind of the games after all; the one who’d fearlessly taken her out from a terrible predicament when she was younger, one she hardly remembers anyway, and had always travelled the Atlas with confidence.

He always told her that he had such high hopes and expectations for her; that what she’s doing is worth it, that she’ll understand everything, and that he’s so, so proud of the way she turned out.

Supposedly.

—

Okay i give up on writing anything further because head hurty ouuu

Cassie would like. Eventually snap with the whole having to be champion over and over again to please hadrian because him seeming disappointed in her hurt cassie (saw him as a father figure lol) and also the whole thing with her having to toil through the Atlas and if she didn’t she’d get shoved in there anyway

After Harper leaves (and certain someone) and theres nobody shedding a positive light on cassie’s life anymore; she slowly starts going numb and then haywire from a cycle that is seemingly never making the three old builders satisfied

After the two leave Hadrian and Mevia get more and more harsh and expecting of Cassie; occasionally just getting her to do the work for them

maybe when she comes back all beaten and bruised and wounded after the games or after an expedition and is sent back to the atlas the next day when she’s hardly healed up enough, saying she has to do this again and so on— it makes her crack . and she attempts to attack Mevia. effectively killing her but the respawn machine causes her to come back anyway . maybe a fire happens in the process bcz of mevia’s tnt tendencies idk

Listen. Mevia and Hadrian are like. They are not good influences on anybody and were especially not to younger Cassie. They are nnnnnot built to try and raise easily influenceable kids. They are terrible parental/guardian figures that Cassie looked up to and sought appreciation for

(I mean, Hadrian always described Cassie as *his* kid. And so did the players of the games. )

Otto tries to get through to Cassie with words but accidentally distracted her as Hadrian already knocks her out and just sort of. Drags her into a dimension far away . Otto feeling guilt knowing he probably could’ve done something or reached out but it being too late now; tossing her into a quiet and dreary dimension where the nights are twice longer and dead rise stronger. Leaving her for dead.

And Cassie wakes up. beaten and limbs weak dragging herself to wherever she can find shelter . mind recollecting moments of before her impromptu snork mimimi time . and just like her role models all she can think about is causing immense suffering to all of them

(Hadrian and Mevia for obvious reasons, Otto for not doing anything and standing by watching, Harper and yay you guessed it Soren — for leaving)

and yeaa she like sets the traps and kills plany of people with several fruitless attempts at her murder mansion before the order of the stone come along and trap her in her own trap

(White pumpkin in this ver is … WAYYY more brutal…. Girl has a lot of pent up rage and shes learnt from the most gruesome sadistic ppl out there)

BUT ☝️ that was in fact not the end for her

But i don’t want to say too much bcz j want to reveal the last oc and then make a big ol post about my ramblings of my au . so huzzah

Headcanun time

- when I say she jokes in subtle ways I mean she’ll super casually slip it into a convo. She finds this incredibly amusing

- got Winslow when she was around ~13 or so. Would talk to her cat when she was alone and still does it today

^ Winslow got caught in one of Mevia’s explosives/fire, resulting in the loss of his leg :o( she didn’t talk to Mevia for months when it happened

- enjoys painting and reading to pass the time. Does not understand the concept of public libraries and will just take a book if she wants it (she doesn’t have a preference for any particular genre)

- got her whole “white pumpkin” alter ego idea from a murder mystery book she read from Otto’s collection

- she actually has really good wording on whatever she’s feeling. Mainly struggles to be vulnerable enough to say it aloud.

- still holds some spite towards Harper, Soren and Otto but ☝️ at least its not murderous intent anymore

- prefers axes and daggers above other weapons

- has a phobia of deep, dark waters + claustrophobic. Doesn’t like rain purely because it gets her wet and she dislikes the feeling.

- cut her hair around the time she was stuck in the mansion. Yes that means she has been there for a while given when the order of the stone came by, cassie’s hair was nearer to her shoulders.

^ ties it up now so it doesn’t get in the way as much

- Winslow likes sitting/laying across her shoulders like some weird lil scarf when he doesn’t feel like walking. Cassie loves it when he does this because she can hear and feel him purring

- enjoys logic puzzles/puzzles in general. Enjoys it even more when its a particularly complex one, even if its needlessly difficult. (Gets it from Harper…)

(Oc is next !! ヽ(ヅ)ノ also i suck at wording cassies story soz)

[contemplatingoutlander]

The children who remember their past lives

I've known for some time about the qualitative research done regarding young children who seem to recall past lives. Of course such research cannot provide the empirical evidence that double-blind controlled studies can provide, but it nonetheless raises some provocative questions. This is a gift🎁link, so you can read all of the article, even if you don't subscribe to The Washington Post. Below are some excerpts from the article:

Two-year-old Aija had invented plenty of fictional characters before, but her parents — Ross, a musician, and Marie, a psychologist — noticed right away that Nina was different.... From the time Aija learned how to talk, she talked about Nina, and her descriptions were remarkably consistent. Aija told her parents that Nina played piano, and she loved dancing, and she favored the color pink (Aija emphatically did not). When Aija spoke as Nina, in the first person, Aija’s demeanor changed: Her voice was sweeter and higher-pitched, her affect more gentle and polite than what Marie and Ross typically expected from their rambunctious toddler. [...] It all seemed more curious than concerning — until one afternoon in the early spring of 2021, when Marie came to believe that there was something more to Nina. That day, Marie recalls, she and Aija were playing together in their living room, enacting little scenes with toy figurines. Then Aija suddenly turned to her mother and said, “Nina has numbers on her arm, and they make her sad.” Marie’s mind raced. “What did you say?” she asked her daughter, willing her voice to remain calm. “Nina has numbers on her arm, and they make her sad,” Aija said again, pointing to the inside of her forearm. Then she added: “Nina misses her family. Nina was taken away from her family.” [...] Marie knows how this story might sound, and she is exceedingly careful about sharing it. Marie also knows that she is not alone — that since the 1960s,more than 2,200 children from across the world have described apparent recollections from a previous life, all documented in a database maintained by the Division of Perceptual Studies within the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Sometimes a child presents enough identifying information for relatives or researchers to pinpoint a deceased person, but that level of specificity is elusive; about a third of the cases in the database do not include such a match. [...] Certain consistent patterns have emerged: The most pronounced and convincing cases, Stevenson and Tucker both found, tend to occur in children between the ages of 2 and 6. They might suddenly describe places they have never been, people they have never met, sometimes using words or phrases that seem beyond their vocabulary. Nightmares or sleep disturbances are occasionally reported. Many of these children are highly verbal, and start speaking earlier than their peers. Their descriptions of past-life recollections often fade away entirely by the time the child turns 7 or 8.

[copperbadge]

I was at the library yesterday, which is now my go-to for distractionless work; I uploaded Dinner At The Palace with a few last edits so it's ready to go in print and epub, wrote all the sales copy, and updated my website with "coming soon" announcements. Wordpress really is just the worst; I can code what I want in about a third of the time it takes to tell Wordpress what I want and even then it fucks it up. It's like working with Word if it were designed by a toddler who hates me, personally. I'm building a new site on another platform, which is not much better but does allow me to copy, paste, or delete a block of text by selecting said text, something Wordpress's feeble grasp on structure is still grappling with. As we have daily proof. *gestures at Tumblr*

Anyway, I've been thinking about overhauling the older novels, standardizing them into the style guide I've developed. So I dug out all the upload files for Nameless, my first novel, and cracked them open just to see what kind of work it would take.

The document file for Nameless is so old that Windows wasn't sure how to open it. I mean it was just a .doc file and Windows likes to give you options when it's not a .docx, but I was still amused that I had to tell it how to get into the Ancient Tome. This was also before ebooks were as big as they are now, especially in indy publishing; these days you can just upload a word document and Lulu will convert it, but back in 2009 I had to create an HTML file of my novel to get it converted to ePub. Wild.

The bad news is that my early documents for my first few novels are a brutal mess, but the good news is that because I was less sophisticated in terms of how to typeset, they're also very simple and easy to upgrade, and even back then I was saving the covers as psd files, so it's all editable. I'd rather finish Royals/Ramblers than work over all my old manuscripts, but they're a nice break when I'm tired of other work.

Now I just have to determine if I have the emotional stability to re-read Nameless. It was a very personal novel to me, but it was also published almost 15 years ago, and I'm a little concerned about being able to read my deathless 2009 prose without wincing. I tell myself we all learn and grow, and Christopher and Lucas aren't real and won't suffer if I wrote them poorly, but I'm still bracing myself for all that.