#hashtag stressed and depressed

[boop-le-snoot]

haircut day haircut day haircut day haircut day

[karmaajr]

STAWPPPP THIS IS LITERALLY ME RN???

[lqnar]

feeling that marxist quote about being less and having more capital and stuff. like are you ever so depressed and stressed out abt life that you don’t want to do, buy or experience anything. just spending money on food and rent

[counselingforyou]

Revolutionize Your Relationships: The Power of Family Counseling Minus the Stress

In the chaotic hustle of everyday life, maintaining healthy family relationships can often feel like an uphill battle.

Whether it's navigating conflicts, overcoming communication barriers, or simply finding time to connect amidst busy schedules, the challenges can seem daunting.

But what if there was a way to revolutionize your relationships without adding more stress to the mix?

Enter the transformative power of family counseling, minus the stress.

Traditional notions of family counseling often conjure images of therapy sessions with all members present, hashing out issues in a formal setting.

While these methods can be effective, they can also introduce additional stressors, from scheduling conflicts to concerns about privacy or reluctance from certain family members to participate.

However, the concept of family counseling without the patient offers a refreshing alternative.

This approach recognizes that sometimes, one individual may be the catalyst for change within the family dynamic, and their participation alone can initiate positive shifts in relationships.

By focusing on the dynamics between family members rather than the individual in therapy, this form of counseling aims to address underlying issues, improve communication, and foster understanding among all members involved.

Without the pressure of having every family member present, sessions can be more flexible and tailored to the specific needs and dynamics of the family unit.

Moreover, this approach encourages individuals to take ownership of their role in the family dynamic and empowers them to implement positive changes in their interactions and relationships.

It fosters a sense of accountability while also promoting autonomy and agency within the family structure.

Perhaps most importantly, family counseling without the patient can alleviate some of the stress associated with traditional therapy models, making it more accessible and appealing to families who may have reservations or logistical challenges.

In essence, by embracing this innovative approach to family counseling, families can revolutionize their relationships, fostering deeper connections, resolving conflicts, and ultimately, creating a more harmonious and fulfilling family life, all without adding unnecessary stress to the equation.

[wylansworkshop]

.

[goldenkid]

pleased to report that it had 0 negative consequences and I will be doing it again

I just drank an actual pint of coffee

[interneteclipse]

"pink is nice"

pairing: Valeria Garza x fem reader

synopsis: some domestic fluff backstory on Valeria's pink nails.

word count: 1.3k

tags: domestic bliss, fluff, silly wlw brainrot

A/N: Have you ever noticed Valeria has pink nails?? I have so many headcanons about her because she's just my little silly goose. Yes, she's 100% an artist and yes she has awful seasonal depression. I also think the y/n I've made for her is a beautician who does her hair and nails. Hashtag Valeria apologist lifestyle.

"Sorry that I don't have any more colors! I thought shades of pink, yellow, green, and blue would be cute for spring." You said while Valeria looked at your relatively empty nail polish organizer. "You could go with your usual picks too."

Her brows furrowed, eyes squinted, and she stood with arms crossed, deep in thought. Never have you seen someone so decisive with nail polish– it's cute, though! The people around Valeria could never see her in such a normal state– thank god you were able to witness this. You spaced out and stared at the organizer until she snapped you out of your trance.

"Pink is nice. I think I'll go with that." She kissed your cheek and handed you the nail polish, base coat, and top coat bottles. You fixed the throw pillows on your shared bed for extra cushion, one for you and one for her. She sat beside you in her spot, putting the polish next to you and handing you a nail file.

"You think you can shape them down? I think they're a little overgrown for work." She laughed while pushing her stray hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"In your terms, they are. I hate filing them down, though... you have such pretty nail beds."

"I wouldn't be able to do my job properly with anything longer, but thank you for the compliment, amor. Sweet as always."

You jokingly groan at her response, continuing to file down her right hand. You both sat in a comfortable quietness, the occasional dog barking or car driving by being the only interruptions. Valeria darted her eyes around the room before circling her sight back to you, the floor, then to her hands. By now, you were working on her base coat. Her focus returned to you when you broke the silence.

"When we first met, I saw you as a purple gal. It's a very royal color historically– it fits you." You said, observing the bottle of hot pink nail polish beside you.

"Really?"

"Mhm. You usually don't pick bright colors, so it surprised me when you chose this. What's the switch up today?" Valeria bit the inside of her lip and looked to the side, trying to come up with an answer. If she had to be honest, it was just a pretty color– one of her favorites, too. She does understand where you're coming from, though. Her nails usually match her everyday closet, which are neutrals and some hints of blue from her jeans, so she opts for either black or shades of nude. They're colors that don't stand out too much but still make her feel pretty wearing them.

"I felt a little special. Spring is here, so it feels less dead, unlike winter. Plus, our anniversary is coming up! I'm in a good mood," She used her free hand to pet your head, not wanting to mess you up by shifting to kiss you. "I think a bright color fits how I feel right now."

 You smiled at her genuine happiness. It was rare for Valeria to come home without stress, walking in carrying her anger from a mistake her employees made or a mistake she made herself. Whenever that happens to be the case (which again, is frequent), she isolates herself immediately. Despite her line of work taking a fair amount of collaboration, she works by herself most of the time. That left a lot of speculation about what 'El Sin Nombre' was truly like, and not who Valeria Garza was under her work mindset. It amazes you that you were able to get to know her with how distant she was with the people around her. You're surprised she even wanted to date you– let alone marry you.

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy, love. Speaking of our anniversary, what do you wanna do?"

"Well... I think we could both benefit from going outside. How does dinner sound? We can still cook breakfast and lunch ourselves. I know you like spending our mornings together." She giggles.

"You know me so well." You laughed, finishing the base coat, and started with the main event; the hot pink nail polish chosen by your wife.

"It really is a nice color. It makes me forget the seasonal depression we both got out of." She said, examining the sheer first layer. She was right about the seasonal depression. You both get tired during December, then exhausted trying to start the new year correctly in January and February. It starts getting better in early March when you're finally caught up with life, and the pace quickens to prepare for spring.

"Now you have me wanting to use pink too. I might go with a lighter shade so we can still match."

After about three coats, you were finishing off Valeria's nails with a glossy top coat. She looked at her other hand which was drying to admire your work.

"Good job as always, amor! When can I not trust you with my nails? Thank you."

"It's nothing! Plus, it's been a while since you've taken some time for yourself." Valeria clicked her tongue and sighed, knowing what you were referring to.

"I know, I know. I missed being home, too." The only con to being married to her; she's rarely able to be home, especially nowadays with her bigger plans. As much as you appreciate the precious texts and phone calls while she's hours away from home, dealing with something work-related, it's hard to cope with life going on without her home. Your co-workers always see you mope around whenever Valeria is long-distance, and she's more serious than usual while operating away from home. You completed each other so perfectly– it was like tearing the sun and moon apart when you weren't together.

Every conversation you and Valeria had brought you closer; it was the reason you both took interest in each other from the start. One of the more hidden interests she had was art. She isn't into doing her own art– at least not often, but she could talk about how it impacts her for hours. You remember you were on a walk with her while admiring the street art of Las Almas after coming home.

"What made you start liking street art so much? You talk about it so passionately."

"Las Almas wouldn't be itself without the street art. I think it shows the community and the will of the people. I like it for that."

"Do you have a favorite piece?"

"Hmm... I don't think I could pick one if I tried. You're always my favorite work of art, though."

It makes you glad that she sometimes treats her trips as art tours, sending you murals in a new town she arrived in. Sometimes you think in another reality, Valeria pursued art and wouldn't be as stressed and overworked as she is now. But as long as she's happy with her life, all is fine. 

"Alright, they're dry- ah!" You got pulled into a hug while Valeria laid back on the bed, bringing you down with her. She peppered your face with kisses before deeply kissing your lips and burying her face in your neck.

"Thank you again. I love you." She said, sighing into you. You were on your sides facing each other while her arms were on your waist.

"I love you too. You're welcome, by the way." You giggled, wrapping your arms around her, enjoying her loving embrace. You stayed just like that for a minute, savoring the warmth before Valeria spoke again.

"Do you want to get snacks and watch a movie together? I call it an early anniversary celebration." She said while getting up on her elbows and giving you a wink. "I may have been able to work a little extra last month to be around you more."

"Of course, I want to." She got off your shared bed, helping you up to go pick movie snacks with her.

"Alright, let's go. This week will be just for us, I promise."

[codeandcanvas]

I have had a weird day, no, not a weird day: I have felt a stressful noise in my head earlier, like chatter I could not understand, and which only when focussing on it became words, emotions, memories maybe.

This worried me, because I realised that I have no idea what the cause for this noise is. Talking about it with a dear person close to me, I came to understand that while the both of us had a clear memory of when this head noise happened (which later turned out to be what our brains literally default to when unfocussed and unoccupied with external stimuli, called “default mode network”), I had no idea what the physiological causes for the sensation itself were, or in general are.

So I just went to ask Copilot, and you can see for yourself where that lead me to below

You can find the original upload on my arena account here https://www.are.na/block/31536061 with my comments on how two of these books (the more academic ones) are labelled wrong, but I will provide these comments here as well, but first I’ll link you to the commented pdf in my social archive:

Below are now the comments I made about this exchange with Copilot

First comment

Caveat lector: None of the Zoltan Torey books are called that, and “The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory” is not by Rugg et Tulving. Take this as what it is, not what you want it to be.

Second comment

URLs from this interaction, to peruse at your own discretion:

Third comment

Further quizzing Copilot about the missing books lead to this:

“The Neuroscience of Mind: A Unified Theory of the Human Brain” by Zoltan Torey has the ISBN of 9780262530859 which is actually “Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of Mind/Brain: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain (Computational Models of Cognition and Perception)”

“The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory” by Michael D. Rugg and Endel Tulving has the ISBN of 9781848727724 which is actually “Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory (Special Issues of Cognitive Neuroscience)”

Close enough in case of the second book, but confused. See here https://x.com/MarioBreskic/status/1847402158439678279 or here https://social.mariobreskic.de/twitter/2024/10/19/380/ for my rubberducking/notepadding in public

End of comments

Interesting, right?

The noise in our heads, and what this noise defaults to, is literally the default mode of our brains. We, as far as I can understand it, rarely, if ever, idle. I don’t know if this default can be changed, but I’ll just be cheerful for no damn reason.

Copilot’s quality control for quoted and referenced books is meh, but I don’t think that will stop you from researching for yourself, now will it? Tagging this up with a few sensible hashtag guesses, keeping it away from the archive by not using the tag “code and canvas”, should hook it into tumblr’s internal knowledge database quite nicely.

[vzyt]

Blog Post Due 10/3

How does online racism affect the mental health of the individuals?

Online racism can severely impact mental health, leading to emotional distress, anxiety, and depression. It alienates individuals from others, sets low self-esteem, and traumatizes them with chronic stress. Repeated experiences of racism can even trigger posttraumatic fears and hypervigilance. People who undergo such experiences may struggle to connect with other people. Others may still become even more unwilling to seek any kind of help out of fear of not being believed or further discriminated against, which can lead to increased alienation and a state of hopelessness.

What are the most promising strategies of individuals and organizations in counteracting online racism?

Effective strategies involve the promotion of inclusive content, stringent moderation policies, community engagement against racism, and resources to educate or raise awareness about the issue. Other efforts include collaboration with marginalized communities through which better amplification of their voices and experiences could be achieved. Such questions and answers can open up deeper discussions regarding the impact of online racism and explore effective ways to handle the issue.

How effectively does digital campaigns manage awareness of online racism and action mobilization?

Digital campaigns can be most effective in raising awareness and garnering support. They can reach very big groups of people quickly. In most instances, however, they are effective depending on the continuity created with regard to engagement, and how momentum online is translated into offline action and tangible change.

To what extent do social media algorithms influence the visibility of diverse racial voices?

Social media algorithms often privilege content that spurs engagement, and that might unwittingly favor majoritarian stories over ones that are plural or from the margins. This makes the absence of racially diverse voices all the more unnoticed, and a lot harder to gain the wider audienceship and larger conversations on race.

How does the digital activism effectively address racial injustice?

Digital Activism can be used to raise awareness, build support, or deliver resources to various causes of racial justice. Hashtags and viral campaigns, together with online petitions, have the potential to reach hundreds of millions globally in record time. In most cases, however, success is based on whether such consistent energy translates from the digital threshold into offline momentum and policy.

[warningsine]

If the language used on the internet is a reliable indicator, we’re more psychologically enlightened than ever. We discuss attachment styles like the weather. We joke about our coping mechanisms. We project, or are projected on to. We shun “toxic” people. We catastrophise and ruminate. We diagnose, or are diagnosed: OCD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, narcissism. We make, break or struggle to “hold” boundaries. We practise self-care. We know how to spot gaslighting. We’re tuned into our emotional labour. We’re triggered. We’re processing our trauma. We’re doing the work.

The language of the therapy room has long permeated popular culture. Common terms like “repression”, “denial”, “slip of the tongue”, “hysteria” and “inner child” all lead back to Freud. But over the last decade or so, with the vast expansion of social media networks, a new, seemingly sophisticated language sits on modern society’s tongue. Some call it therapy-speak. Or psychobabble. But despite its prevalence, the language is divisive.

Last month, online discourse throbbed with disdain when Sarah Brady, the ex-partner of Jonah Hill, shared text messages he’d sent her about his “boundaries” (no “surfing with men”, no friendships with “women who are in unstable places” and no swimsuit selfies). Many argued that his self-satisfied language was a weaponising of therapy-speak; using “expert” terms to try to control her behaviour.

If we’re often online and are plugged into wellness, self-help or relationship worlds on social media, therapy-speak is our first language. Here, algorithms feed us from a bottomless well of content by coaches and other self-proclaimed experts who teach us how to cope with being triggered; how to identify a narcissist; how to “show up” in relationships; how to hold a boundary and so much more. With every scroll, a new tutorial in human psychology. But what are we actually learning?

“By virtue of being human beings, we’re masters at distancing ourselves from difficult aspects of emotional life,” says Dr Jonathan Shedler, a psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco. “One way we distance ourselves is through words. What we’ve got now is this kind of pop-psychology language of clichés, abstract concepts and turns of phrase that are so different from speaking from the heart.”

For Shedler, modern therapy-speak is “not actually a product of reflection and examination”. In psychotherapy, he says, “we always move from the general to the specific. People will say something general or abstract and a good therapist is always asking for examples. If a person says that they felt stressed, we might say, ‘OK, tell me more about that. How did you experience the stress?’ If a patient is using therapy-speak, the goal of the work has to be to move away from this to something more immediate and emotionally alive.”

Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok pull in colossal viewing numbers on these abstract concepts. Search “gaslighting” on YouTube and the top result (“10 Examples of What Gaslighting Sounds Like”) has 3.3m views. On TikTok, the #narcissism hashtag has 3.8bn views. Search “triggered” on Instagram and a tidal wave of multimedia content appears. You can scroll for 10 minutes and still be fed lists, memes and vlogs. Even if only a small portion of viewers take the language they’re absorbing online into their offline conversations, we can still imagine how easily it seeps into public consciousness. Particularly among young people, the main demographic for platforms like TikTok.

We might argue that an increased awareness of psychological dynamics, and a growing ease for identifying and discussing mental health issues, are particularly good things for teenagers and young adults. The historical backdrop is that mental health was shrouded in stigma and taboo for so long. If young people can have a freer, more matter-of-fact understanding of mental health, it may lead to less suffering in silo. Maybe even a positive effect on generations to come. But the expansion of certain language worries some professionals who work with young people.

Kate teaches biology in a secondary school in Manchester, where she has worked for 15 years. She has been a form tutor for 10. In her experience, conversations she hears among teenagers – and the way issues brought to her are described – have changed dramatically in the last five years. “I hear words like ‘triggered’, ‘gaslighting’ and ‘narcissist’ so often now,” she says. “Young people are using these words to describe their fellow pupils and other teachers, when they feel hurt or singled out. I had to look up what gaslighting meant.”

She reflects empathically on how difficulties in friendships when you’re at school can “feel like the end of the world”. “You want to validate how they feel,” she says. “Because being a teenager is really hard. But sometimes it seems as if they’re wedded to words they’ve picked up on social media. They’re dismissing each other and, sometimes, struggling to take responsibility for their own behaviour because they have compelling words like ‘triggered’ that make their own feelings the most important thing, above all else.”

Kate wanted to be quoted under a pseudonym. She was worried that her reflections might be seen to be taking a coping strategy away from young people when “the world is stacked against them.” It makes sense.

Climate change weighs heavy on their minds. Media influence and gender norms continue to create a disparity between their lived reality and future aspirations. (Men are still portrayed as independent, emotionally stoic and in roles that signify strength; women as childcarers, home-keepers and care-workers. A young person’s real-life sense of themselves may not fit with the images they absorb, and may cause mental distress or limit a young person’s sense of potential.) The pandemic, social inequality, austerity and online harm have driven a huge rise in NHS mental health referrals – and the system is buckling. Thresholds for getting specialist help are so high that many young people are refused care, sometimes with fatal consequences. It is a curious phenomenon that, while statistics suggest young people’s mental health is declining, social media has provided a compelling language with which to navigate their lives.

But some therapists (including myself, and many I know) believe that the expressive nature of therapy-speak is, actually, not all that expressive. The language barely aligns with what therapy is; a singular relationship between the therapist and their client, with its own intimate context and idiosyncrasies.

Shedler focuses on the word “triggered”. “For some people, it’s very difficult to say, ‘I was angry’ or, ‘I was terrified’. So there’s already a layer of obfuscation about what their internal experience is. Something we try very hard not to do in therapy is locate the upsetting thing externally. If you leave the ‘I was triggered’ there, your internal experience is almost secondary. In meaningful therapy we try to reverse that. All our experiences take on personal meaning. The work of therapy is to explore those layers.”

The psychotherapists I have trained with, and been supervised by, use very little of the therapy-speak I see on social media. Theory and literature inform the work, but conversations are in much more plain English than you might think. This is what we try to invite in our clients: the freedom to speak plainly.

In my experience, some younger clients have brought in words like “triggering”, “gaslighting”, “narcissism” and some confident diagnoses of others’ “personality disorders”. Sometimes, it has seemed hard for them to name emotions like fear or anger. The influence over their language doesn’t just come from social media, but from reality shows like Love Island, Love is Blind and Married at First Sight. (I was struck at how often the term “gaslighting” was used in the last season of MAFS, a show that consumed me more than I’d care to admit.)

It can take a long time to get beneath the use of these terms – which may be described as a defence mechanism – and explore someone’s deeper, more vulnerable emotional experiences. This relies on building a safe, trusting relationship. But often we don’t have time.

For so many people, long-term therapy is unaffordable. In the UK, if you can’t afford private therapy, mental health support on the NHS is often dictated by a postcode lottery and limited to six-to-eight sessions of CBT. Short-term work can be effective and meaningful for some people. But in-depth therapy is often a luxury. This might explain why the confessional nature of therapy-speak annoys some of us. It might seem imperious; a white, middle-class gate-keeping of suffering from people who, in relative terms, suffer the least.

I’m reminded of a Twitter thread from 2019 on which someone offered a template for responding to a friend in distress when you don’t feel able to help. It said: “Hey! I’m so glad you reached out. I’m actually at capacity/helping someone else who’s in crisis/dealing with some personal stuff right now, and I don’t think I can hold appropriate space for you. Could we connect [later date or time] instead/Do you have someone else you could reach out to?” The vocabulary was widely made fun of, with many people identifying how hard the person was working to avoid a friend in distress.

For Shedler, the kind of therapy-speak we’re saturated with online is particularly destructive: “It alienates us from our internal experience while pretending to do the opposite,” he says. We might say it’s helping people to become so much more psychologically minded. But he feels “the reality is it’s actually doing the reverse.” It’s probably true that there’s little room for self-awareness, or taking responsibility, if we’re quick to tell people they’re gaslighting us by expressing something we don’t agree with. (Incidentally, the term comes from a film in the 1940s, not psychology literature.) Or if we confuse conflict with “abuse”.

I have shifted positions on the casual use of therapy-speak many times. I still don’t know exactly what I think, other than that I think about it a lot. I have worked in a charity providing therapy to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. Many of my clients have struggled with the effects of austerity and navigating the benefits system, while living with chronic health issues that compound their emotional distress. As a result, I have bristled at the term “trauma” being bandied around. I have balked at pithy Instagram memes about drinking, after witnessing the devastation of addiction. I’ve also observed that people are still more likely to minimise their distress than embellish it.

I have struggled seeing “triggers” (a concept derived from the treatment of PTSD) so widely appropriated, and the increased cultural understanding that we should avoid being triggered at all costs. This is in conflict with the most robustly evidenced approach for trauma therapy: to slowly and carefully help someone tolerate their discomfort by increasing their exposure to their feelings, both in the room with a therapist, and in the outside world.

However, writing all this down also makes me think, what right do I have to assume passport control for certain words? The language of healing, or surviving, will look different for everyone. It’s complex.

Social media undoubtedly plays a role in flattening human emotions into neat, shareable terms. We’re encouraged to pathologise friends, family or lovers with vocabulary that strips away nuance and context. This probably does get in the way of the “speaking from the heart” that Shedler speaks of. It might help us feel more powerful when we’re hurt or afraid. But what happens to the pain and fear once we’ve labelled someone? Where does it go?

I’m not sure where I sit with some of the other language. If someone says they were traumatised by the pandemic – by isolation, caring for dying people, loss of loved ones, financial ruin, long Covid – is that not valid? If a young person is struggling because their parents can barely afford to feed them, or with their identity in a world that doesn’t seem hospitable to who they might want to be, might appropriating therapy-speak help them feel like they have more agency?

A good experience of therapy can help someone flourish. It’s also an experience many of us might struggle to have. But notions of the therapy world continue to be positioned as the “right” way of being; in ourselves, and with each other. Therapy-speak might be annoying, tiring and get in the way of authentic emotional expression. Perhaps even with damaging consequences. But something so pervasive requires a little more than suspicion.

Could the expansion of this language speak to a collective hunger for a framework that helps us talk about our existence in modern society? That is, trying to feel peaceful, purposeful and connected while many structural forces collide and make that existence feel harder and harder. There’s no clear solution, other than: make the world easier to live in. But a therapist might tell you that’s magical thinking.

[buckieduckie2]

thanks for being worried tbh 🤨🤨🤨

i did indeed just go 💫poof�� and you never know when i might go 💫poof💫 again but tbh i dont want to go 💫poof💫 again

y’all me and @l0v3c0r3e are fighting today behind a dumpster,

SO BE THERE AND CHEER ME ON (if u believe st s3 is the best)

or u can be lame and cheer them on (if u believe st s3 ISNT the best)

and me and @scarletcannotdomaths are fighting tmrw. so u should also be there to cheer me on cuz we all know I’m going to win 🤪

if u want to fight me just say so, I’m down

[osarina]

beloved mrs dazai,

good evening dearest <3. i wanted to write you a simple appreciation letter, due to the occasion of you posting fics literally whenever i need a soothing, angsty break.

your writing captivates my exhausted heart and mind.

it enchants my imagination beyond words can express, as well as soothes all those pesky, stress-induced wrinkles in my brain.

your literary comprehension delineates a strong urge to write on my own, even though i don’t think i could ever come close to the profound understanding you have of not just your fics characters, but your organization and planning of a flawless storyline as well :>.

not to mention your stellar online personality, never failing to leave me with a smile on my face after reading—and sometimes even relating to—some of the most hilarious questions, comments, and concerns ive ever had the chance to encounter.

to wrap it all up, i will never forget the heartfelt damage you have inflicted on me. i will never be able to erase the vehement scars i have suffered from your absolutely immaculate writing and personality.

neither do i want to.

yours always,

secret admirer :) <333

(too scared to not put anon, but also love your hashtags on responding anons with the name secret admirer;

3 last things: don’t forget you are awesome always no matter what any anon like me or close individual has to say about it, promise to never stop being you, and i hope you have the loveliest of nights for the rest of your life.)

wow. you know i read this ask when i got it and i literally started crying bc it was so sweet and then i felt so bad because i literally had NO time to give u a heartfelt response in return BUT I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW MY SWEET LIL LOVE BUG that whenever i started getting depressed about exams and stressed about everything, i came to reread this and it always made my heart feel so warm and always boosted my mood

bUT ANYWAY this is genuinely the sweetest & most poetic thing anyone has ever said to me AND IM READING IT AGAIN NOW AND IM STARTING TO TEAR UP AGAIN literally words cannot convey how many emotions (positive) ur ask has made me feel

bUT NONNIE i have to WHOLEHEARTEDLY DISAGREE BECAUSE I LITERALLY KNOW JUST FROM THIS ASK THAT YOUR WRITING IS BEAUTIFUL AND I WOULD LITERALLY PAY ACTUAL MONEY TO READ A FIC FROM YOU i literally feel so lame replying to this so casually no lie because UR PROSE ???? out of this world i fear, it's so lovely nonnie u must promise me that you'll come back and give me the link to your fic if you ever decide to write and post pretty please with cherries on top

[ralphlanyon]

i was going through my notes and found an old write-up from 2020 of modern au headcanons for "the charioteer" characters during covid-19 quarantine (back when "how would fandom X characters handle quarantine?" was a tumblr trend). apparently this was how i was coping with the stress of peak corona times, lol. anyway finally publishing this, three years later!

laurie: his introverted homebody ass is THRIVING in social isolation and wfh. no more awkwardly dodging party invites from people he hates, being dragged to nightclubs, or having to see his stepfather. he gets to stay home all day with ralph and their dog and finish all the books he meant to read, and he is LOVING it. receives a lot of requests to show off his dog during his work zoom meetings.

ralph: is Doing His Duty by staying home on furlough but also going completely stir-crazy. tries to stay sane by feverishly working on dozens of home improvement projects and cleaning the house several times. basically the epitome of that ben wyatt “do you think a depressed person could do THIS???” meme. has gotten into numerous arguments with people at the supermarket who refuse to wear masks or are hoarding enormous supplies of toilet paper (one of these ends up going viral).

andrew: is very sad about being separated from the rest of his religious community now that the churches are closed, but tries to keep a positive outlook on things. shares a lot of resources online about how to help out and staying in touch with one’s faith during “unprecedented times.”

alec: overworked and sleep-deprived nhs junior doctor directly taking care of covid-19 patients. hasn’t physically seen most of his friends or family in months. writes lengthy screeds on social media decrying the dearth of ppe for health care workers and ranting about politics. frequently gets into online fights with strangers who think coronavirus isn’t a big deal. sends ralph unsolicited articles about self-care and mental health tips during a pandemic that ralph pointedly ignores.

sandy: also overworked and sleep-deprived, but much better at concealing it online than alec. has a popular medical instagram where he posts selfies of him and alec with lots of hashtags. obsessively binge-watches cooking videos on youtube in his spare time.

bunny: an essential retail worker who brings this fact up constantly in conversation. secretly flouting social distancing guidelines on his off days to go to parties and hook-up with men on grindr. has the most aesthetically pleasing cloth masks but can’t bother to wear them properly.

[skybristle]

more sparks please. girl what happened to you and do i have to kill anyone

rbs > likes

These two. dw shes already fucking them up. hashtag feminism! [they are also both women]

these two n what they do to her [i wont go fully into it but just elaborae since i already summarized it here in my post abt maw but]. yeah. When she was constructed she was a very ambitious iterator and very. jittery and eager to help her kind and very very radiant. probably the perfect iterator!

of course.... as ive probably heavily alluded to ash is a POS ! as her senior, and the only one in their group at the time, she looks to him for guidance and feels so terrible finding out how fucked up he is with his own colony and how he is struggling to bear it [he IS depressed and chronically ill however also just. has zero accoutnability or responsibility whatsoever and refuses to recongize his mistakes ever or consider his actions beyond what he receives from them] so of course as they fall for eachther and she helps him shoulder his burden he simply takes it for granted and does little to return the favor. its soo unbalanced and unhealthy but sparks is just trying and trying because god !! she wants to be good !! she wants to help people !!! so fucking bad!!!

but shes left bleeding alone, in an overextended structure as they operate on her while shes awake, overclocking her systems and sendinf electricity like lightning down her puppet, he basically messages maw Once to try and get her to knock it off before falling back into his patter nof laziness like welp! did what i can do ! and has the audacity to whine to sparks about feeling inadequate. and she really has no choice but to get back up and dust herself off and live with this reality, which persists quite literally forever, even if its less stressful when her colony eventually leaves. and she stays stuck in this delusion that ash couldnt have done any more and that it was just unfortunate and.. he still needs her help she cant leave him in the dust [what did he do to her again?].

especially as their local group slowly grows and he kind of refuses to accept the responsibility so sparks is also shouldering mentorship and taking care of them and etc. the only exception really is whispers who isnt allowed to speak to sparks because their colony is an asshole so they grow close to their designated senior and ash actually does take the kid kinda under his wing as much as he sucks, mainly at sparks concerns initially.

shes also. super badly traumatized by maw and a lot of that fear and paranoia echo especially later on when maw *actually hurts another iterator*. shes well aware how much maw resents her and maw is the only thing to really scare her. over time sparks loses her whimsy and just becomes very calcualted and dilligent. takes little pleasure in it anymore but if shes not working shes nothing, even as she makes her issues and overextension worse she hasnt rested in ages.

once mass ascension happens and ash bascialyl goes 'welp im done. see ya'll' now that nobody is literally there to make him do his job and goes into sleepmode completely disregarding all the work sparks has done for their group and for *him* not just to appease his colony on his behalf thats when she finally breaks this delusion she has and fucking snaps. she still is kidn of in the position where now shes FORCED To hold authority because hes gone but doesnt bother to try with those who dont answer to her. shes just so angry and frustrated and just workaholics it all away but its really. its not helpful long term and this anger is just building as things in their group get worse and worse as he sleeps in the distance none the wiser.

and, finally, when whisper's emergency broadcast rings true and all hell breaks loose- and he wakes up and the first thing he does is crawl back to sparks to make her do his shit again without even acknowledging his abandonment for many many kilocycles she just completely fucking loses it on him. dedicates herself to- rather than try to put ehr group back together and aid whispers, she just charges headfirst into hurting everyone whos ever hurt her. im still trying to figure out what goes on with maw but as for ash. she creates the brainiac to steal his seniority but also just hijack his structure in an incredibly painful manner. just so she can feel her pain. oh, and just like her, she wont have anyone to crawl to for sympathy [being needlessly cruel and ignoring others suffering? sounds a lot like maw. disregarding the needs of your group to chase a selfish goal as someone lay dying? sounds a lot like ash. lol. lmao even].

after she gets the seniority crown she starts having a guilt crisis. then whispers. uhm. Well. Escapes starlight's can and jumps in the void sea [ive been alluding to it this whole time but nobodies said anything so. ill just lay that here and let u guys react] she finally realizes how badly she fucked up [thats what makes her better than maw and ash] and what shes done and how much shes kind of fucked over her bridges with the people who actually cared about her [chimes and ochre especially] and. yeah. i need to piece out what happens after this still but i mean starlight and maw r still kicking around and sparks now has the responsibiltiy to do SOMETHING which would probably resul in violent retallion from at least maw and kick this bs and sparks hurt and anger up all over again. lol. lmao even.

[1baddie11]

Inside out Legacy challenge

Today I present a 9 generation legacy challenge that is base on the inside out movies. Remember tag me or place the hashtag #Insideoutlegacychallenge so I can see your progression.

Gen 1: Joy Name : Joy

Traits: Cheerful, Good, Loyal

Aspiration: Leader of the pack

Career: Entertainer career (Branch Comedian)

I've always been a happy person since I was a child. I in Joy make people happy.

Rules:

-Master Entertainer career (Branch Comedian)

-Complete Leader of the pack aspiration

-Reach level 10 in the Comedian skill

-Reach level 5 in cooking skill

- Have at least two children

_Get married at adult

Gen 2: Sadness Name: Sade

Traits: Socially Awkward, Gloomy, Clumsy

Aspiration: Nerd brain

Career: Painter

I've been a sad person but I'm close my mom.

Rules:

-Master Painter career

-Complete Nerd Brain

-Reach level 10 paint

-Reach level 5 in parenting

-Do not get married

-Have only one child

Gen 3: Anger Name: Wuthering

Traits: Hot- headed, mean, self assured

Aspiration: Super Parent

Career: Detective

His mom was so depressed and he got so frustrated about his name since that day he was angry at his name.

Rules:

-Master Detective career

-Complete Super Parent

-Reach level 10 charisma

-Reach level 5 writing

-Get married as an elder

-At least three children

Gen 4: Fear Name: Hindee

Traits: Squeamish, Geek, Neat or Perfectionist

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Career: Writer

His dad was so angry that the got scared of everything.

Rules:

-Master Writer career

-Complete Successful Lineage

-Reach level 10 writing

-Get married to a sim that has hot-headed Trait

-Have at least five children

Gen 5: Disgust Name: Liza

Traits: Materialistic, Jealous, Non-committal

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Career: Stylist Influencer

Her dad was scared that to just wanted to throw up.

Rules:

-Master Stylist Influencer Career

-Complete Fabulously Wealthy aspiration

-At least 3 children

-Have at least two boyfriends

-Get married best friend

Gen 6: Anxiety Name: Maya

Traits: Ambitious, Erratic, Active

Aspiration: Bodybuilder

Career: Secret Agent

At school she have a lot of activities for school and homework she became stressed.

Rules:

-Master Secret Agent career

-Complete Bodybuilder aspiration

-Have five enemy

-Do not get married

-Have only one child

Gen 7: Envy Name: Eris

Traits: Good, Materialistic, Loyal

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Freelancer

She envies a lot of famous people.

Rules:

-Master Freelancer career

-Complete Big Happy Family aspiration

-At least 4 children

-Get married at a young adult

-Go to the festival at least once

Gen 8: Ennui Name: Ennui

Traits: Lazy, Snob, Loner

Aspiration: Computer Whiz

Career: Tech Guru

She got so bored with his mother's life style.

-Master Tech Guru career

-Complete Computer Whiz aspiration

-Have only one child

-Have a big house

-Do not get married

Gen 9: Embarrassment. Name: Adamar

Traits: Socially Awkward, Foodie, Nice

Aspiration: Master Chef

Career: Culinary

He is Embarrassed about his body.

-Master Culinary career (Branch Cooking)

-Complete Master Chef

-Get married

-Have No children

[kosomolski-dolls]

Room is still a mess, mood is tanking badly, and on top I'm second guessing some of the purchases I did this year.

Lowkey want to sell some of my dolls, but most of them are dyed or have other flaws that will make customising hard for whoever would buy them, and I'm not even gonna mention the slow market at the moment, sales on Instagram are basically dead and I'm not sure if it's entirely because of the removal of recent hashtags, or if the tanking economy plus inflation goes in as well (probably, let's be real)...

Not even talking about the fact that I kinda don't want to sell, but at the same time I just feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment T__T

Not gonna do any decision-making right now because I fear that winter depression is creeping up on me early this year. Wouldn't surprise me with all the changes and stress at work, which also doesn't help improving my mood. Thinking of having to go back to work tomorrow already makes me feel like shit... god, what an awful year.