#i dont know how old these statistics are though

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

Is it true that in germany, people who dont have kids have to pay a specific tax, and people who have kids are exempt from It?

If its true is the tax applied for single people or just couples who live together?

its not really my topic of expertise but from my understanding we have six tax classes, if you are not married and dont have kids you get put in the class with the highest taxes. so its not a special tax its just a higher percentage. if you have kids and are not married i think you are in a different class with lower taxes than unmarried childless persons. married people do in fact have tax advantages but dont ask me how that works exactly… overall german social politics are very conservative, they are clearly aiming at fostering traditional families where the parents are married and the mother does not work or only parttime. this is a bit off topic but related, single mothers are among the groups most at risk of poverty, and even though fathers can take paid time off after the birth of a child, on average women leave the workforce for around eight years while men do so for two or three months on average. so overall i would say its mostly married men who profit…

[cold-red-venom]

So my dad is transphobic and so obviously doesn't approve of me. I've tried to explain thing but , my mom has tried to explain things, but he just refuses to listen and learn.

He thinks he knows how it all works, he's got these ideas in his head that are the opposite of how it actually, and he watches and listens to b*n sh*p!ro and m*tt w*lsh.

I am starting on the track to start my transition, my mom is helping, and in my state, I'm old enough to make my own medical decisions so while I don't need his permission, I don't doubt he'll try to get in the way.

Because of this I would like to compile a list of facts, statistics, and just general information about trans people, the trans experience, and how the medical side of it works, all with as many, and as accurate sources as possible, because when I tell him thing he keeps going "wHaTs YoUr sOuRcE? tIk ToK? dOnT bElIeVe eVeRyThInG yOu SeE oN tHe InTeRnEt" even though that's actually what he does, and tiktok is honestly a way more accurate news source than any news channel or any other form of media, *cough*facebook*cough* at least the side of it that I'm on.

I'm asking for help with this because I've honestly never really been taught how to do proper research. I know I can just use google, but I don't know what exactly to search for, and I don't know how to tell if the sources I'm using are correct or not.

I'll of course do my own research but It'd be really helpful and anybody who sees this and knows some stuff could reblog or reply with some links, articles, and websites that I could look at. Thanks.

[elviraaxen]

Im a self taught artist who hoped to get into the industry. Im getting old so I might have blown it by now, and this is really my biggest challenge. As much as 'you dont need school' is being repeated, I feel like it is a complete lie.

I hardly ( like almost never) see any job listing for juniors/entry level jobs (while senior job listings are all over the place) and feel that's because all the entrylevel jobs are reserved for the school kids or family/friends of the people who already work there. I feel like I have been tricked into thinking I ever had a chance.

(I don't live in the US)

Am I being too negative?

Oh dude you nailed it! I don't like when people who went to art school say that, because having a diploma and getting first dibs on entry level jobs is a massive privilege over those who didn't go to art school. Not to mention that you need contacts to stay in the industry and the fact that said contacts are essentially only accessible behind a paywall isn't really considered by those who went to school.

With that being said though, many schools are like.. actual garbage and don't deliver on what is promised. I don't wanna talk down on any specific art schools bc i don't know the statistics but I just wanted to mention that school isn't always a one-way-ticket to the industry, because they can be really poorly established or too far removed from the industry, and you really shouldn't feel bad for not going. It's so expensive and if you don't live in a country where there's any big schools you may as well just teach yourself, like you've already done!

But as for more practical advice, if what you need to get in to the industry are contacts (bc let's be real who is hired from regular job applications nowadays), what can you do to achieve that?

Are there conventions near you? Do you promote yourself online? Are you in any group projects currently? Are there smaller studios where you live that you can contact directly? Are there meetups or anything like that for animators? I think this is what you should focus on as best as you can, and then hope something picks up!

Hopefully (I can't promise it will, but hopefully) you get in contact with someone who knows someone who knows someone that works for a studio and they just happen to need a new recruit. Because that's usually how it works it seems, especially in smaller studio circles.

But as to answer your last question, i really don't think you're being negative and I totally agree, it's a very realistic depiction of what the landscape looks like and basically always has looked like. But please don't give up!!

Do your best and love your art and be proud of the fact that you have taught yourself a very difficult craft. Even if it doesn't lead to a job in the near future, that doesn't mean never, and it doesn't mean you can't make art anyway 💪

If you have any more further questions don't be afraid to ask!

[youngster-monster]

i wish i could show you the erm the Category dedicated to my uh. 22 discord wips. but unfortunately i cant send images thru anon and also then you get to see what each individual channel is named and a. none of the titles make sense and b. the titles of some of them make them sound WAY WEIRDER than they actually are because no one save for me and one other person were ever supposed to see the working titles and i dont have any ideas on how to change them so ALAS

im like a zoo animal you get to read off all my facts and i get to stare straight into your soul while not a single thought passes through my brain. i need the world to know about my bad discord wip organization

writing is actually about the full year spent turning into a pile of dust,

all worldbuilding!!!! my oc who started as a kleptomaniac prettyboy is now a god with layers upon layers of lore and i dont know what i did but now hes really way worse than he started and i take great pleasure in describing his antics to friends who werent around to see it happen in actual rp. i shudder to think what would happen if i turned that world into a ttrpg he'd be a freak (TEMPTING THOUGH)

there are and i cannot stress this enough TWENTY-TWO INDIVIDUAL CHANNELS and one of them is the OLD snippets channel - yes, i have two, no i cant explain myself - and everytime i think about sifting through it for writing ideas in moments of desperation i feel as though it will grow hands with which to strangle me with and so i dont touch them. they will rot but its better them than me

i may have to pick up those niche ships again because i imagine it feels VERY rewarding and also then you and the other three (3) people who like that ship can sing kumbayah in a circle or whatever

glad the beastly noises comment was a hit! now if youll excuse me i need to sit down at my computer and listen to monkey noises 10 hours while doing bad animal impressions and brainstorming a wip i wont ever complete ,

Weird titles are one of the joys of writing. I wish I could be one of these writers that give wacky names to their wips but unfortunately in this I am terminally boring lmao if it's not descriptive I am Never finding it again

Grabbing you like Steve Irwin showing off a baby alligator to zoo goers. And here is where the Bad Organization Practice goes :) isn't it neat 😌

Give in to the siren's call of ttrpg-ization.....

With rarepairs you either create bonds of steel with the two other miserable fuckers writing with you or a rivalry that gets imprinted into your bloodline. "He would Not fucking say that" but it's the only interpretation you get that isn't your (obviously more correct) own

(statistically I am this for at least one other kaellidan fan. Probably more. I often joke that whoever dislikes my writing is gonna be really mad about how much of me there is in that tag lmao)

[ppenguinpperson]

omg im obsessed with your dasha n katya designs i love madoka magica and pafl!! i wanted to ask what were their magical girl contract events? like what were the reasons why they chose to become magical girls? also feel free to talk about it more in general because i love this concept and find it fascinating

thank you!!!<333 i appreciate it!!! im gonna talk about this au under cut as to not flood peoples dashes n such

so!! to explain dasha's, i gotta explain this au a bit before i dive into it.

even though a lot is similiar to mm in this au, the incubators dont work alone. they work with the facility!:3 the facility studies how much despair a witch can produce, how much despair a magical girl can endure, how strong a magical girl can be, what the limits are of what you can and can't wish for (even though the incubators say 'anything', the facility isnt That trusting of them. for obvious reasons, such as, incubators withhold so much information. and then use the excuse that you just didn't ask. so !! though they work together, they don't rlly, trust them 100%.), etc !! temnova is the leading head of this experiment. soo . as you might suspect from 'like a dog', and all the "how old is temnova?" "wouldnt you like to know:)" things, temnovas a mutant in canon - most likely anyways lol. so, in this au, shes a magical girl, too:) she doesnt fight witches tho, just studies them. she herself was very fascinated with kyubey and the concept of magical girls, so, she wished (like 50 years ago btw) for something along the lines of "i want to be alive as long as my soul gem is intact" . she has a higher resistance to despair, and, she ages Very slowly! kyubey approached her when she was like 15, and during these 50 years shes aged like, less than a decade. when she got into her twenties she demanded kyubey stop aging her, for if he keeps doing that, she will become Old and Fragile in no time. so. she ages slowly! and all that shit. or something.

the facility also like. it doesnt kidnap magical girls. not rlly ❤️tries to contain the witches though (with varying degrees of success)

now. about dasha. my girl dasha !!! shes been a magical since she was like, a child, seven years old or smth. temnova was always curious about what would happen if a magical girl made her wish at a young age - how long she could go until she turned into a witch, how much power her wish could hold, how her despair would look n such... dasha most likely isn't her first 'experiment' like this. dasha didn't make her own wish. temnova told her to wish "I want to be able to locate other magical girls", so she did. when dasha grows older, she starts recruiting magical girls. as in, once shes old enough, convincing enough, she starts finding MMs and telling them "Hi i have a group of magical girl friends back at home. do you wanna fight with us" . and youre lying. youre fucking lying if you say that any magical girl wouldnt go "what the hell this is a child. what the hell. why is she fighting witches. what the fuck kyubey" and follow her, to the facility. the scientists ask her questions, "what did you wish for?" "how long have you been a magical girl?" "what's your weapon?" "can you fight a witch for us?" "can you describe some of the witches you've fought?" nothing too drastic - can't have her telling the other magical girls about them - all under the guise of being dashas family, studying magical girls, keeping statistics, just curiousity. but magical girls arent stupid. some Would try to trust them. maybe temnova does these interviews, since shes a magical girl herself. or Something i dont have this that developed. im making some of this up as i go lol

dasha's weapon... is a gun!!

thats her holster:) i didnt wanna give her a close range weapon, because, dimas telekenisis n all. plus its sorta stalker-ish.

when shes around 15, temnova takes her aside one day and says "hey. i love you like a daughte.r ok. thats why i'm going to tell you this. because i trust you can handle it. its a disgrace! im amazed at the boards lack of scientific taste, they just dont understand youre too precious to witch out! shame. yeah they think youre a loser and they wanna turn you into a witch, study that form and all." bc . shes put far too much work into dasha to lose her at 15!

dasha breaks out.

also, if you're wondering, "how did she survive without turning into a witch for eight years??" wellll theres this thing called bottling up your feelings so hard you dont even know they're there. hope this helps. she distances herself from literally everything.

lmk if you'd like me to elaborate on any of this!

--

katya!! katya lives with nadya in this au. (under the theory that nikita and nadya are her parents, which is, practically canon to me - nikita still bailed) her twin sister, which she has in the canon human au that ferry sometimes talks about, doesnt exist. why? ❤️because. im silly like that.

one day she meets yulya (fem!yura :3 get GIRLED), and the two become friends! sorta. katya hears yulya being self depricating n shit and decides "ok thats gonna be my big sister figure now:)" mm. about yulya. to explain things a bit: stalkers still exist in this. theyre not as illegal, but theyre not really legal either ! no law about them. they work for the facility - non magical girls that venture into witch's labyrinth, retrieving curses, scouting the labyrinth out, taking back 'artifacts', etc etc... yulya wants to be one ! for funsies, maybe. idk. she knows about magical girls because of sergei (unsure if ill girl him or not) !! she still tutors sanya, and, bc of sergeis stalker profession, shes heard a bit about labyrinths and such. thinks it could be interesting. or whatever. who knwos ... so !! she wants to be a stalker. katya doesnt know magical girls exist, theyre like, cryptids to her still. like the tooth fairy.

one day, the duo (maybe trio .. sanyas there, maybe), one way or another, they get stuck in a witchs labyrinth. they get cornered by curses, or the witch herself. no magical girl in sight. kyubey appears, explains the deal (not rlly, though. mostly "make a wish!! and youll be ok!!") and . yulya . she cannot bring herself to do it. she knows that the magical girls turn into witches, always eventually, from sergei. and she cant bring herself to do it. she loves katya like a sister, she doesnt want her to seal the contract either - but, she cant. do it. she freezes. katya doesnt know who the witches rlly are, though. so. in a fit of panic and desperation, she wishes something along the lines of "i just want my friends and i to be happy!!" or something. n. to her, this is magic! she gets a magical girl transformation! she gets a cute outfit, she gets a way to protect yulya!! she survives!! shes happy!! but to yulya. this is fucked up messed up shit and fuck. katya has already died, to her. "it was always going to end this way, shes been dead since the beginning" n shit. so she cant fucking. bear to be happy. but she cant tell katya the truth either!! shed witch out!! so shes. stuck. katya too.

katyas weapons are balloons that she can make, like animal balloons, that explode! so. she makes a silly dog balloon and throws it at the witch! and thats how she deals damage:) maybe shes got juggling balls idk !

mm. also, about that witching out...

she doesnt rlly make it out the story in one piece lol. she learns the truth about magical girls one day. and ummm . she cant really handle it. she doesnt explode right away. tries to be positive, like, "oh i can. do htis. i can handle this" . she tries . but she fails . she cant bear to fight a witch again. and succumbs

neleppy p'yerro is her witch name. the laughable witch. pathetic. tries to keep her audience, people in her labyrinth, happy, joyful. isnt outright violent, but. shes still a witch. she doesnt mean to harm you. she only wants to make you happy, to prevent you from reaching the fate that she did. doesnt want you to be sad, succumb and witch out. but she doesnt know how.

again, lmk if youre curious about any of this !! or if i explained anything poorly!!! :D thank you for asking!!!

[duncebento]

you study abroad right? how has that been? i want to but im worried its going to be too hard to adjust to plus school

i do!! i’ll give pros n cons though they might be specific

pros:

- i’m confident that i’m getting some of the best education i could be, which even though i’m from new york where there r many college options i still feel that it would’ve been settling to stay at home. to me it’s worth being there for the school

- i do like having the opportunity to immerse myself in another language as someone interested in linguistics!

- for italy specifically, food, art, architecture, pre-capitalist city planning which i feel is more….human-centric?

- since my school is in english, i have meet ppl from allll around the world. my class was originally 16 ppl and we were from 10 different countries across 5 continents. of the friends i’ve made there, one is chinese from hungary, one is from portugal, one is from india, one is from zimbabwe, and two are other usamericans.

- the cost isn’t great since it’s a private school, but i’m still paying less than i could have been in the US, n godwilling i will not graduate w student debt

- europe has trains so i can go places so easily

- night-out bar and club culture that i wouldn’t have access to yet in the US w/out a fake, but which i feel is crucial to the college experience lol. will treasure memories dancing to live music at the cuban bar, drinking spritzes on the river, bringing bottles of prosecco to house parties

cons:

- paperwork is so annoying ESPECIALLY because italian bureaucracy is ill-managed. BUT americans have such a passport privelege, my old roommate from iran couldnt come to school for months bc of her visa

- apts are still expensive i general, especially in places like florence w a high tourist appeal bc they are also airbnb infected, which has totally jacked up rent rates. right now i’m blessedly paying what i would definitely call reduced rent because a rich friend of a friend of a friend had an old apartment that she’s renting to me for far less than market price. but without knowing people from the area already apt hunting is hell.

- it’s not entirely a con, but def a learning curve around communication, because european profs are often excitable or brusque or sometimes even cruel in my experience in a way that wouldn’t fly so much in american colleges (though part of that is the fashion element imo.) it was hard for many americans to adapt to this sort of criticism

- i am definitely more conscious of my blackness in italy, ppl are more ignorant about black people (though imo not actually more hateful.) but ppl are also so amazed by my hair which is nice sometimes lol…..american whites will like never compliment black hair cos theyre scared. but yeah white ppl in europe dont have much of a faux pas developed against certain racism yet

- i do miss my family when i’m there— though now i miss my friends when i’m not there! and the time zone diff >_<

- it is very easy to be lonely, esp. at first. at fashion school i’m not really around “my type” of people, which means i feel really isolated even around the other americans. they just don’t know how to make heads or tails of me i suppose. but then, if i really think of it, that might just be a con of being weird in general. my usual odds of finding someone i really gel with are about 1/500, so that puny statistic decreases even further when most ppl around me don’t speak english as a first language.

[innsjovide]

3, 4, 13, 14, and 18 for jymaiyri?

oc ask game

ofc! my girl lives forever in my brain so i am happy to answer questions about her :]

3. weapon of choice? any particular reason they chose their weapon?

jymaiyri is among the minority of the savant in that she does regularly engage in combat, and when she does engage in combat she most often does so using her magic. one of my earliest concepts for the young gods magic system was change mages (the type of magic jyr has) using their magic to change what weapon they're using mid-fight. so, tldr- all of them. i feel like jymaiyri often defaults to certain weapons more than others- those certain weapons being paired shortswords, spears, and throwing knives. she's very light on her feet in combat, and will adapt quickly to whatever scenario she's in.

4. how crafty/resourceful are they?

jymaiyri is very resourceful. as explained above, her fighting style consists mostly of adapting to her situation on the spot, and this mirrors her approach to everyday, noncombatitive problems. jymaiyri's change magic lends itself to resourcefulness- rather than the spontaneous creation war mages can accomplish, change mages must work with what they're given. jymaiyri also has a very strong 'i'm going to crawl from the mud i was born in into the light of day' mindset, where she truly believes she's gained everything she has through her resourcefulness and wit. girlboss

13. what languages do they speak? how fluently?

languages are weird in young gods because i not only have to contend with different regional languages, but languages from different time periods. tho, roughly, i can say that jymaiyri is fluent in a handful of languages. her native tongue is an extinct dialect of old north lunarian, and she speaks middle lunarian and modern lunarian fluently, in both northern and southern dialects. the spoken language used throughout most of young gods is modern trade jalagone (an international lingua franca of sorts) so, for the purposes of plot, she's fluent in that too. she's mildly well versed (haha) in older dialects of regional jalagone, sky plains, loucari, and solarian languages, though she probably couldn't hold a conversation in the modern variations of those languages. i also like to think she knows a bit of old west loucari (the language juno speaks, which coincidentally makes him sound like a cowboy) as he would've taught her. linguistics is fun

14. are they any good with numbers?

of all the savant, jymaiyri is 4th best at math (she only beats sadihak). it's not that she's bad at math, she's just the type of person who can't keep numbers straight in her head or do mental math. and unfortunately the three other non-sadihak savant have their own reasons to be very good at math. petrai's entire passion is collecting dates and numbers and statistics, so she's very good at quick mental math. han's an architect, so he just knows how to do math well, and juno is so good at memorizationand just simply counting, he beats jymaiyri. for someone so dedicated to science, she is kinda bad at math. but she's not terrible. (sadihak is tho)

18. their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

these are three seperate answers

lying: jymaiyri has never and will never lie about anything. she values the truth and she holds it in high regard. she makes everything about herself very clear- if she has an opinion about you, you'll know. if she finds out that you've been lying to her, you're in a lot of trouble. jymaiyri does not take betrayal lightly, and thus would never betray or backstab anyone (unless she's already made it clear she hates them). when it comes to the truth, jymaiyri is a very open textbook. she knows what she wants, and she'll make sure you know.

stealimg: tbh i do not think jymaiyri would give two fucks about theft. she's against the theft of research and is for the theft of necessities but other than that i honestly dont think she'd care too much. living for thousands of years distorts one's perceptions of physical, personal property, i think.

killing: jymaiyri is pro murder as long as she can justify it. the most common justifications for her murders are 'for science' and revenge, with the occasional tree cannibalism thrown in. if she can't justify killing someone, she's against it, but those cases tend to be rare. jymaiyri believes that the ends justify the means, and accomplishing her goals is always a worthy ends.

feel free to send me more oc asks! this was a ton of fun :]

[raine-st0rm]

Zennie edition

What does your character do when they think no one’s looking?

Zennie draws Vera and Thorn....and also Atlas when she's sure absloutley NOBODY is looking. Atlas has caught Zennie drawing them but never brought it up

What’s the one thing your character would save in a fire (beyond the necessities)?

Vera, Thorn and Atlas. But besides characters, she would bring her clothing. That shit was expensive

Who’s on speed dial?

Atlas. Though Zennie loves Thorn and Vera, Atlas is more sensible.

Your character gets turned down for their dream job. What’s their second choice?

Do you think Zennie would be even getting a job??? But anyways probably hot topic employee cause she wants discounts

What would they tell their ten-year-old self?

Zennie doesn't really have any definite ages and I'm not sure how her ages work as an alien so..

Where would they want to go on a first date?

The beach. It's basically like going to a house for her, and Zennie likes it casual. She doesn't know a beach is very much not a casual first date

What’s the best advice they’ve ever received?

Probably something from Atlas. I dont know

What’s the worst advice they’ve ever received?

Vera telling them that electrical cords were a good alternative for food bc it gave them energy...

What’s one physical detail they’d change about themselves?

Gills. Do you know how hard it is to walk around and not have children screaming at you while having gills?

When was the last time they were held? By who?

Really recently. By Vera

What’s their favorite thing about their favorite season?

Their favorite season is fall because they get to dress up and nobody judges them

Their wallet gets stolen. What do they do?

Atlas doesn't trust the crew with wallets...so Zennie does not have one. If Atlas' was stolen she'd probably report it to the fairy council and get it back.

Prioritize: Love, money, power, knowledge?

LOVEEE!!! Zennie doesn't use money (Atlas takes care of that!), she doesn't need power and she thinks it's stupid and she doesn't care for knowledge.

What’s something nobody knows about them?

They have heterochromia... you just can't see the other eye because her hair is ALWAYS covering it. Very prominent detail in her design. But for anyone wondering. He has a purple-ish blue-ish eye.

What’s in their fridge?

... raw fish

(Listen, fish eat other fish ok, and so does Zennie. and like other fish, Zennie eats them raw)

What (creature, object, substance) are they most disgusted by?

cats. zennie HATES cats she thinks they're mean little assholes

What’s their second worst habit?

saying sorry too much

What are the victory conditions for their life?

hwta does this mean

In the end, your character fails to save the day. Assuming they survive, what do they do?

probably die lol. likeendit.

Your character is charged with a crime they didn’t commit. What do they do?

Flew the state. Flew the country. Flew the world.

Your character is charged with a crime they did commit. What was the crime?

Releasing all the animals and fish from zoos and aquariums and accidentally murdering people from that.

How would you describe your character’s life in one sentence?

Fish ailen yearns after green alien and demon ailen while being bffs with moth fairy and lives a pretty good life

What important statistic would they want displayed above them?

what does this MEAN

What’s the first thing they would buy if they won the lottery?

A tank. For themself. They're tired of sleeping on a bed </3

What profession do they most respect?

DOCTORSSS

What childhood injustice did they never get over?

still don't understand this question

How would they handle having a panic attack?

Take their meds and force himself to get over it (projecting here chat)

Your character is burdened with an inconvenient superpower. What is it?

????

If they died and could come back as any person, animal, or object, what would they be?

a fish. no longer fish ailen. just fish.

What’s the best meal they’ve ever had?

probably an all you can eat seafood buffet crying face emoji

Where would they stand at a dinner party?

next to Vera and Thorn.

Who would they invite to the dinner party?

assuming her partners are already coming, ATLAS!!!

What makes a perfect day for your character?

going to the mall with Atlas and her partners then going swimming with them

If given the opportunity, would they want to know how and when they died?

yeah

What’s the one thing they’ve always wanted to do?

dive to the lowest possible depths of the ocean

Why haven’t they done it yet? cause

it's a. dangerous

b. time consuming

and c. I don't think she has the ability to do that

What do they tend to joke about? What’s off limits?

They do dad jokes. They hate most dark jokes, mainly the ones that are racist/sexist/etc

Whose wedding would they cross the world to attend?

anyone's. Zennie is very supportive

Whose funeral?

anyone's. Zennie is very supportive

What impossible choice did they make that turned out to be the right one?

Told Atlas that she loves Vera and Thorn

The wrong one?

Told Atlas that she loves Vera and Thorn

Your character has someone to hype them up. What would they say to get everyone excited about your character?

VERA, THORN AND ATLAS ARE AT HOME WITH CAKE

What recurring dream does your character have?

Some figure keeps stalking them. Through shadows, devices, windows, mirrors. It's always lurking near them, tipping them into insanity on some days. Some times, she even sees it in real life.

What is the meaning of life to your character?

There isn't one

What book does your character pretend to have read?

Hunger Games. Zennie thinks it's a cookbook that's really popular. If you asked her aboutj the book she'd say smth like "district 12 is my fav dish'

Someone takes undeserved credit for your character’s work. What do they do?

Girl would literally murder them

What controversial belief or view does your character hold?

idk?

Why?

idk?

Do they hide it?

idk?

Your character is at a theme park. Where do they go first?

A drop tower

What’s your character’s favorite name?

Their own lmao. Zennie

What’s the biggest compliment they’d give themselves?

??

How does your character feel about bugs?

They're alright.

If your character could hit a reset button on their life, would they?

No

Character Development: 50 Questions

What does your character do when they think no one’s looking?

What’s the one thing your character would save in a fire (beyond the necessities)?

Who’s on speed dial?

Your character gets turned down for their dream job. What’s their second choice?

What would they tell their ten-year-old self?

Where would they want to go on a first date?

What’s the best advice they’ve ever received?

What’s the worst advice they’ve ever received?

What’s one physical detail they’d change about themselves?

When was the last time they were held? By who?

What’s their favorite thing about their favorite season?

Their wallet gets stolen. What do they do?

Prioritize: Love, money, power, knowledge?

What’s something nobody knows about them?

What’s in their fridge?

What (creature, object, substance) are they most disgusted by?

What’s their second worst habit?

What are the victory conditions for their life?

In the end, your character fails to save the day. Assuming they survive, what do they do?

Your character is charged with a crime they didn’t commit. What do they do?

Your character is charged with a crime they did commit. What was the crime?

How would you describe your character’s life in one sentence?

What important statistic would they want displayed above them?

What’s the first thing they would buy if they won the lottery?

What profession do they most respect?

What childhood injustice did they never get over?

How would they handle having a panic attack?

Your character is burdened with an inconvenient superpower. What is it?

If they died and could come back as any person, animal, or object, what would they be?

What’s the best meal they’ve ever had?

Where would they stand at a dinner party?

Who would they invite to the dinner party?

What makes a perfect day for your character?

If given the opportunity, would they want to know how and when they died?

What’s the one thing they’ve always wanted to do? Why haven’t they done it yet?

What do they tend to joke about?

What’s off limits?

Whose wedding would they cross the world to attend? Whose funeral?

What impossible choice did they make that turned out to be the right one? The wrong one?

Your character has someone to hype them up. What would they say to get everyone excited about your character?

What recurring dream does your character have?

What is the meaning of life to your character?

What book does your character pretend to have read?

Someone takes undeserved credit for your character’s work. What do they do?

What controversial belief or view does your character hold? Why? Do they hide it?

Your character is at a theme park. Where do they go first?

What’s your character’s favorite name?

What’s the biggest compliment they’d give themselves?

How does your character feel about bugs?

If your character could hit a reset button on their life, would they?

Source

[dimancheetoile]

https://www.tumblr.com/dimancheetoile/768118702185037824/i-dont-understand-people-who-refuse-to-give-money you can't possibly believe this? Charities need to give reports of their operations. Poor people, even if you assume are not scammers, crucially lack the means to operate on bigger picture. I dare you to find out what help is provided to poor people in your whereabouts (fckn france, they must exist!), also given by charities, so you can provide information to the poor people instead of providing them one-time help. Extreme individualism wont help shit. Organise, join a charity in your area to see how they operate, instead of trying to fix the world by yourself.

wow, someone woke up angry.

first, calm the fuck down, don't talk to people like this. second, this is not an either/or situation. while i'm not the OP of this post, what i understood it as and reblog it under the assumption of is the particular subset of people who just fucking love throwing shade at homeless folks asking for money on the street and saying "they'll just take your money and buy alcohol/drugs with it" and instead insist that charities are forever and unconditionally the way to go. they are not.

yes, charities are normally required to give reports. guess fucking what, you can lie on your reports. didn't you hear about the Completionist scandal a while back? there were reports about his charity, didn't stop him from keeping all the money to himself though didn't it? also: autism speaks. also: the many kid charities that copy make a wish or the ones doing wigs for cancer. also: the WE charities. i've stumbled across countless reports by actual journalists over the years talking about shady charities doing shady shit with your money.

i also love the bucket load of assumptions you've stuffed your message with. unlike most internet users and you know what, what the hell, lemme make some assumptions of my own, statistically unlike you too, i've been involved in organisations, non-profits, i've organised events, rallies, fundraisers, been a disability activist for years, actually worked to improve accessibility, worked on a panel for representation where i had an impact on school lunches that still echoes to this day. i'm building a non-profit right now to deal with the feral cat population in my village, i just donated nearly a thousand dollars to a research fund targetting my rare genetic disease after cutting off and selling all of my hair. i'm certainly not against charities.

but my dude, you live in fantasy land if you think charities are the end all-be all of community action and financial help.

"I dare you to find out what help is provided to poor people in your whereabouts" and here's another assumption and a glaring example of your lack of education and the disinformation you're spreading. guess what bozo, there's no help provided to poor people in my area. y'know how i know that? i live $300 under the poverty line right now and for the past 26 years of my life I have never, ever lived above the poverty line for even a single month. i know what it's like to be poor. my parents do. my sister does. there's no fucking help for poor folks, disabled folks or poor disabled folks where i am. it's called living in an everything-desert. food desert, medical desert, we've got it all. there isn't a single doctor less than an hour away by car and no public transport to get you there if, like many people, you don't own a car because this isn't the fucking US and we're killing the planet a little slower here than in that hellscape. there are only two options to buy food here and prices are up to x2.5 higher than in the city that's, again, over an hour away.

who's helping us? fucking no one. there isn't a single goddamn charity that ever poked its urban nose in our mountain. you know what does help though? the meals some kind people cook for the old people of the village. the small community center where normal people give away clothing, toys, books and shoes where anyone can just drop by and take some of it. that's not a charity. that's direct, people-to-people help. if it didn't exist, if we were waiting for charities, there are dozens of families in the mountain that would get none of the stuff they get for free otherwise.

so fuck off with your righteousness and don't send angry messages to people you don't know. get off anon, coward, and come spew your ignorance again. i'll point and laugh, it'll make my fucking week

[boredandmedicated]

Blaming the DEA for the adderall shortage does nothing

I am in my 20s and have been diagnosed with ADHD since 2008. Taken stimulants since 2008 with brief periods of trying nonstimulant medication in hopes of not needing to take stimulants anymore. I’ve been on adderall since 2016 and never had an issue obtaining my prescription until the past few years. Now, I blamed the DEA at first. Couldnt fathom why they wouldnt just raise the fucking quotas. Surely it isnt a supply issue. But as time goes on I honestly understand why more and more. Not to say I agree with it or LIKE having the stress I get every month, nor am I saying the dea is blameless here- seriously, they certainly arent blameless, okay? Dont take this to mean that.

But in large part this is because of the original, extremely loose standards surrounding an adhd diagnosis in, say, 2000-2005. Kids could get a diagnosis and a prescription for doing shit that normal kids do. Not wanting to read a book. Wanting to play outside. Normal kid shit. There were a substantial-though perhaps not a majority- of parents who obtained a diagnosis for their children like so despite knowing that their child did not have it. There were multiple reasons for this, though from anecdotal accounts it seemed more common for kids aged 12-17; whereas parents with children under 12 years old seemed (again, anecdotal, not statistical) to be seeking that diagnosis as an easy answer.

Prescriptions were booming and the kids were predictably not getting better after being given adderall- in fact, many were WORSE, unable to sit still entirely, having been given an amphetamine that just boosted their energy and didnt help with focus at all.

Following the realization that this was because a lot of kids that were prescribed adderall and diagnosed with ADHD did not, in fact, actually have it, the measures for prescribing and diagnosing ADHD were significantly tightened up. One requirement I recall is that an in-person visit and evaluation was required before any diagnosis or prescription for adderall. This would continue until COVID, when they declared a state of emergency. This allowed people to bypass the usual requirements for obtaining adderall and an ADHD diagnosis- so, no in-person, lengthy evaluation and comprehensive exam with a questionnaire, puzzle-type things, and verbal questions with open ended answers.

At the same time, as COVID quarantine extended beyond the original short-term that people were expecting, people were realizing quarantine fucking sucked. It is hard for ANYONE to work at home as they normally would at the office. Flexibility is incredible at home, but people were going stir crazy. And many attributed that stir-craziness, either validly or less so, to undiagnosed ADHD. ADHD became “trendy”. Platforms like Done would advertise on tiktok and twitter with little videos about how easy they make getting a diagnosis, how quickly they can get you adderall, how its all online. How with quarantine in place, it can get you where you need to be, easily diagnosis within an hour, a prescription within the week.

As a result, as shown by this graph (somewhat), there was a significant jump in adderall prescriptions for young adults aged 22-44.

I dont know and cant say how many of these are attributed to misunderstanding normal human behavior with ADHD, as opposed to valid diagnoses. I can say this: Adderall is not a joke, and abuse of adderall, people seeking diagnoses because they just want the drug itself, thats not uncommon. Its not uncommon for any drug. The DEA will not risk another drug crisis after crack, and especially during the fentanyl crisis now- and not to mention, tranq on the rise.

For that reason, I think blaming the DEA is a fruitless endeavor. We should be focusing on things that we CAN do. One idea I’ve had is, maybe we could make nonstimulant medications the first line of treatment. Wellbutrin, for instance. Nonstimulant medications tend to work much better prior to having any stimulant medication treatment for ADHD anyways. And bringing back the in person evaluations and lengthier diagnostics. I really do understand the classism arguments made about that requirement. But I think its honestly necessary. It is much harder to “fake” or “exaggerate” ADHD symptoms during an hours long in person evaluation, than it is to do so on an unmonitored, five question quiz and a 20 minute zoom call.

Taking adderall without needing it is not only selfish, but also, harmful to others AND yourself. Heart issues, anxiety, lack of appetite, and the “focus” doesnt work the way it does in people with ADHD if you take it without needing it. Not to mention, longterm stimulant use in someone without ADHD, when that person stops taking it, withdrawal symptoms from it can look remarkably similar to actual ADHD. Then we get stuck in this perpetual cycle. And frankly, Its not fun to wake up and see posts from people who made fun of me for my ADHD in elementary and middle school, suddenly glamorizing their own sudden onset ADHD and posturing as though theyve had it all along. Especially when I know theyre the ones contributing to the stigma that not just me, but many people face today when trying to simply… get the medication we need to do work at an even remotely functional level. And even more so when I know that shit is why doctors are hesitant to even recognize an adhd diagnosis as valid anymore. They see any adult with adderall now as the epitomal pill pusher, pill seeker, addict that just got a fun little upper to stay up and be energetic.

So yeah. Dont just blame the DEA. It is people too. Its people you know, sometimes even your friends.

And, you can acknowledge the bad ones without dragging the people with valid prescriptions and true intentions through the mud. So if this post doesnt apply to you, i promise im not talking about you.

[sharklovingaquarist]

Not surprising this is a one piece fan. Hey buddy, since you think feminists need to coddle you while women in Afghanistan are being told they cant TALK to each other anymore, let me hold your hand and read you some facts about mental health as a DIAGNOSED bipolar woman.

Statistically, while men kill themselves more, women attempt suicide more than men do. This can be attributed to men having more access to firearms and other lethal methods.

PTSD affects women more than men, but when you are introduced to PTSD it's often in the context of veterans

Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed when it comes to mental phenomena like autism, bipolar disorder, and cluster b disorders

And let's not forget post partum depression and psychosis, something men don't even know exists half the time.

I seriously did not get refused bipolar disorder medication due to being female all to hear some dude, who thinks it's an atrocity for males to experience human emotion, say that men have it SOOOO MUCH WORSE because they get sad sometimes and women dont cater to them anymore. I didn't get passed off as crazy while crying at the hospital because one of the staff harassed me all to hear men, who as swaddled like infants, cry about themselves whilst saying WE are selfish.

Men dont understand how much logic and basic critical thinking they lack. When men try to argue or make a point, that becomes so incredibly clear to me. You've only been able to ponder existence and comfort within our own perspective. Meanwhile, women are being refused hysterectomies because we're considered your breeding stock... and you don't think that harms our mental health? No, because the irony of that is, you don't see us as humans. Males are walking contradictions. You scream and shit your diapers about how you can't cry (even though emotional complexity and philosophy has been worded from the eyes of men for as long as it's existed) and how inhuman it is for you, and then turn around and normalize not seeing women within the same context of humanity.

Liberal feminists were the ones that gave you this rhetoric anyways. They took feminisms own wording and twisted it for you. You didn't even do the work, in such male fashion. And then in such male fashion YOU CLAIM ITS WOMEN WHO DONT CARE ABOUT YOU... WHAT!? And that also proves how women have to feed you like fucking 2 year olds. Yall are so braindead from being babied that you can't see how bad you are at lying.

Men are so fucking lazy. You all just regurgitate everything you hear. Listen, bud, society will always cater to your being. Therefore, stats will be worded in order to cater to your emotions. What do men have to be sad about compared to women? You can't get a girlfriend? Imagine your husband of 10 years leaving you after you get cancer. Get off your ass, and do some research on actual stats. Claiming women are these evil selfish creatures is so ironic, so ironic it's hard to wrap my head around. Women are being raped and killed, but you want me to care about one statistic that is worded to victimize you?

When you wake up and see that men act no different than 5 year old children, it's laughable. Laughable yet, it makes you want to rip your hair out. Look at your post I'm replying to. You're filled with emotion. You can state the simplest shit that isn't even true and be believed. But when women are raped 1 in 4 by MEN, it's actually not all men, and we need to believe the good ones... shut the fuck up you spoiled brat. You are so bloated from being spoonfed that you can't even see your misogyny and self-absorption.

All you prove to me is how desperate you pigs are to have your emotional support women back. Have a wife as a toy that strokes your hair and cleans your dishes and cooks your food and carries your child like she's a god damn slave while you turn a blind eye. Remind me who was more likely to get a lobotomy? Remind me who hysteria targeted. Men can ignore basic facts but use one statistic out of context, and suddenly, it's a law of nature. Going into the feminist movement and saying women are selfish because they dont care about a made-up issue without even looking at it, it factual really shows the priorities within male brains to me. You've always portrayed women as more mentally simplistic and animal. You still THINK that subconsciously or not, yet you expect me to care about a fantasy you made up because you can't handle not getting attention?

Women have never been portrayed as complex people you always have, keep it cute, and keep it mute, you hypocrite

men supporters are like it's so unfair that women get to cry and cut themselves and men are only allowed to show their feelings by mass shooting

[local-crater-group]

--PRIVATE TRANSMISSION--

[Jaunty Fluttering of Two Sparks, Nine Materials, a Million Bells, Flightless Parallels of Balance, Accented Looking of One Imprisonment, Everything Alight in an Ideal World, Saccharine Sunset]

JET: Lately, Fang has been thinking.

JET: The, BVQT person has been, giving fang, some off feelings. Fang does not feel comfortable with ey.

JET: Fang feels like ey won't be able to help, anyhow. We are all in a crater, surrounded by the ocean. What could ey even do?

EAIW: In all honesty, I do agree with you.

EAIW: Eir entire proposed plan's been bothering me, just didn't say anything because, well it's the only solution right now

FPB: Yeah. Agreed.

ALOOM: I Never Liked It. Surely There Must be another Way.

JET: Agreed, and with fang hopefully doubling processing power, Fang will be able to come up with a solution quicker.

JET: Next time, EAIW, let us know please, if you get a feeling like that.

EAIW: i will. sorry

EAIW: just, almost anythings worth it if ALOOM gets to live, you see?

JET: Fang understands that, and fang is not upset, so do not worry. We all want what's best for ALOOM. We just, must be careful of others. So far interactions outside of our group hasn't been good.

EAIW: alright.

EAIW: yes.

EAIW: We don't have much of a data set to effectively judge that latter part though. I mean, we've only talked with BVQT and... didn't NMMB talk to someone at some point?

NMMB: I did! And they are quite nice! I'm hoping, others are friendly like him.

JET: Fang just worries for Fang's group.

FPB: Jet, I think we all worry. You probably the most out of all of us. I'm with you on the being careful of others part.

EAIW: ...Statistically speaking, it's really a 50/50 whether or not most others are like BVQT. Due to the limited sample size. well, we do have more examples, but...

EAIW: either way, id choose to gamble.

JET: Which way are you wanting to gamble.

JET: FPB, It's a senior's job to worry, and care for their group.

FPB: It is. As assistant senior though, it is also mine. Keep that in mind.

JET: That, doesn't make the worry any less for fang though.

EAIW: which way? the way of continuing to converse with others and allowing trust to form. even if it turns out one-sided.

FPB: I know. Just know that you're not alone, okay? You don't have to do everything.

JET: Fang, guesses.

EAIW: if anything, just to prove my current theory wrong.

EAIW: that being that everyone outside is terrible. because we do also have the example of SS' original local group. who are the aforementioned other examples. though they skew the 50/50 to a much more negative tilt.

SS: do not bring them up.

EAIW: I am not wrong.

ALOOM: Hey Cut it Out. Eaiw, You Know you aren't meant to bring Up fizzs Old Group.

EAIW: to be fair, they are also technically my old group as well

SS: ...

SS: youre the whole reason why they dont even like me! you didnt ever even have to talk to them!

EAIW: and was it ever my choice to be removed?

EAIW: thats right, no.

EAIW: im sorry that i brought them up, SS. but it was as a citation explaining backing up my theory. i do find that im perfectly justified.

ALOOM: Oh my Goodness, This Is Not the Time to Argue.

JET: EAIW, Drop it. We do not talk about that old group. That is still not a good reason to bring it up. If you do not drop it, I will temporarily mute you.

EAIW: gods, JET, i did drop it. i still find myself in the right!

SS: ...

SS: you do not have the right. to just.

EAIW: i do have the right.

EAIW: i get that you dont want to talk about them. no one is making you talk about them! im not starting anything, i was just providing proof for my theory!

[SS has disconnected]

EAIW: i did apologise.

[JFTS has temporarily muted EAIW]

JET: Fang really hates how these tend to get into arguments.

ALOOM: Yeah,

FPB: What I find works is to just ignore them sometimes. Often they work it out themselves.

FPB: Not this time, apparently.

FPB: Anyway, what was this conversation supposed to be about again?

JET: The situation with BVQT, and how we as a group, have made the decision to stop talking to em.

FPB: Oh right, yes. Thank you, Jet.

FPB: The question is though, do we tell Quiet about this decision. Even with a simple 'Not talking to you anymore, we don't trust you'.

FPB: Would be a good idea, in my opinion.

JET: We should, yes. Do you think you would be up to do it? I can ask EAIW and SS if they want to help too, if you wish.

JET: Unless you just want to.

FPB: I think it'd be for the best if I were the one to do it. Between Alight and myself (as Saccharine Sunset has never even talked to Quiet), I'm the one with more authority, and it'd make the decision seem... more official I guess?

FPB: Don't think I'd be able to stop Alight from jumping in and saying something though. If they're done sulking by then, that is!

JET: Completely understandable. Fang believes you will be able to get the message across.

JET: Thank you, Flightless Parallels of Balance.

FPB: Of course.

FPB: We'll... find a solution to this problem. Everything will be alright.

JET: Fang, hopes so too.

[skookumsupine]

I was explaining to a friend how I only spoke a 5yr-old's Vietnamese because my mother had me stop out of fear it would get me bullied. It hit me in the moment how sad it was that Ive never tried to learn it in all the years since. That there is this pathetic fear there, that if I learn to speak the language of my family I will see even more clearly how I do not belong.

I am half Vietnamese and half White and I look just odd enough that neither community will accept me implicitly. My full viet cousins lovingly call me Mongrel, but even though they say it with love, they are still acknowledging the fact that I am not inherently one of them. When they host big Asian-only parties and festivals at UCF, I dont get invited. Then I turn around and the floridian white kids I grew up with call me Guk and Zipperhead because of my monolid and recount harvard entry statistics at me when I ask them to stop.

Why should I even want to belong to either if they don't want me?

Because I am human and I crave an in-group, but as a queer, neurodivergent, not quite straight-passing, bi-racial person I am conveniently shunted into the nearest out-group. I am an easy person to other.

So anyway, I'm emigrating so that when I feel like an alien I can tell myself thats because its just the plain old truth. Not because I am the refuse of war, not because my grandmother whispers into my ear that I am The Dust of Life, but because thats how a normal person feels when living in a culture that is not their own. So I dont have to think about the fact that I was born in the cracks between cultures. So I dont have to look at my Trump loving Kinh cousins and listen to them spit hate at Syrians and Afghanis.

This was a long ramble-post that no one will see and I dont know what my point even was other than I'm so fed up of being in outgroups. Of always hanging out on the patio, hoping to meet other smokers, uncomfortable inside. So tired of feeling like that Little Matchstick Girl. Fuck Im so fucking tired in general

[4baeksoo]

👩🏾‍💻 I’m just talking about some things in the tags but this picture I saw of ksoo on twt?

Had to share

[doctor-says-im-alright]

Honeslty I dont entirely get it as a 24 year old fully able to do those things. Phones have apps that scan things into pdf and clean up the document, as an example. But also I grew up rural and honestly I think that helped me because everything rural comes late and everyone has to figure it out and teach each other.

But I will say technology has far surpassed intuitive abilities. It is now very money making oriented with 3 4 minute ads in a row if you want to do anything, pop up after pop up ad trying to read any website making it completely unusable. Yea… theres ad blockers. How do you find those? You search for them.

Heres the thing though. Google and other search engines frankly no longer work. I dont know if any of you have noticed this. I used google a lot in school and work to figure things out. Nothing about me has changed in my ability to search for things.

But my ability to get an answer has just about vanished seemingly overnight.

First 10 results of google are ads it feels like. Not even relevant. Past that is all SEO optimized shit that perhaps had some resemblance to a word I wrote but isnt helpful. Also the page descriptions are no longer decent which requires me to click on the page to figure out if its what I want and then its a war through the pop ups, glitching ads, newsletter requests, etc. google and many other search engines are literally becoming useless. Books arent so easy to get ahold of now, either, and get the specific information you want. (Seriously. When youre burnt out of trying desperately to figure something out, how do you figure out which book will tell you what you need?)

Also there isnt as much standardization anymore. Like I actually have no idea how to take a screenshot on my new laptop. I cant figure it out for the life of me despite watching my statistics teacher do it. I can print screen and save as pdf, but I cant take a screen grab and put it in a file. The keys she uses doesnt do anything on mine and actually Im pretty sure this laptop straight up doesnt have the function. Apple products have become weird about things like this, too.

Like technology is not intuitive anymore. It really sort of was to begin with. Kids could grasp it a little easier because it was meant to be easy! But it still required teaching and practice, and its only gotten more complicated, more cluttered and busy with too many buttons and no explanation and 75% of what youre looking at is actually not even relevant.

Also the keyboard thing is weird. Dont know why its not being taught, it is a skill and a hard one. Kids arent growing up with keyboards, they are growing up with touch screens that dont require that skill. Weve surpassed that.

Ill also add that the helpless feelings I imagine are getting more rampant and the kids are no longer able to believe they can figure it out and dont try. As everything gets more complicated, parents are the same way. Snappy and frustrated the kid doesnt get it, tells them their stupid or do it for them, and they never learn and learn they cant ever. This society is becoming extremely helpless and its being forced to be.

seriously, though. i work in higher education, and part of my job is students sending me transcripts. you'd think the ones who have the least idea how to actually do that would be the older ones, and while sure, they definitely struggle with it, i see it most with the younger students. the teens to early 20s crowd.

very, astonishingly often, they don't know how to work with .pdf documents. i get garbage phone screenshots, sometimes inserted into an excel or word file for who knows what reason, but most often it's just a raw .jpg or other image file.

they definitely either don't know how to use a scanner, don't have access to one, or don't even know where they might go for that (staples and other office supply stores sometimes still have these services, but public libraries always have your back, kids.) so when they have a paper transcript and need to send me a copy electronically, it's just terrible photos at bad angles full of thumbs and text-obscuring shadows.

mind bogglingly frequently, i get cell phone photos of computer screens. they don't know how to take a screenshot on a computer. they don't know the function of the Print Screen button on the keyboard. they don't know how to right click a web page, hit "print", and choose "save as PDF" to produce a full and unbroken capture of the entirety of a webpage.

sometimes they'll just copy the text of a transcript and paste it right into the message of an email. that's if they figure out the difference between the body text portion of the email and the subject line, because quite frankly they often don't.

these are people who in most cases have done at least some college work already, but they have absolutely no clue how to utilize the attachment function in an email, and for some reason they don't consider they could google very quickly for instructions or even videos.

i am not taking a shit on gen z/gen alpha here, i'm really not.

what i am is aghast that they've been so massively failed on so many levels. the education system assumed they were "native" to technology and needed to be taught nothing. their parents assumed the same, or assumed the schools would teach them, or don't know how themselves and are too intimidated to figure it out and teach their kids these skills at home.

they spend hours a day on instagram and tiktok and youtube and etc, so they surely know (this is ridiculous to assume!!!) how to draft a formal email and format the text and what part goes where and what all those damn little symbols means, right? SURELY they're already familiar with every file type under the sun and know how to make use of whatever's salient in a pinch, right???

THEY MUST CERTAINLY know, innately, as one knows how to inhale, how to type in business formatting and formal communication style, how to present themselves in a way that gets them taken seriously by formal institutions, how to appear and be competent in basic/standard digital skills. SURELY. Of course. RIGHT!!!!

it's MADDENING, it's insane, and it's frustrating from the receiving end, but even more frustrating knowing they're stumbling blind out there in the digital spaces of grown-up matters, being dismissed, being considered less intelligent, being talked down to, because every adult and system responsible for them just

ASSUMED they should "just know" or "just figure out" these important things no one ever bothered to teach them, or half the time even introduce the concepts of before asking them to do it, on the spot, with high educational or professional stakes.

kids shouldn't have to supplement their own education like this and get sneered and scoffed at if they don't.

[lilietsblog]

so whenever Russian characters crop up in American/English-speaking media theres a very noticable thing where writers v often dont understand patronymics and full names.

Now, there’s two gradations of “full name” that are in use here. There is the “FIO” full name, or SGP perhaps (surname, given name, patronymic), and there is the full given name.

As an example, let’s take Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich.

Ivanov is the surname. You can tell bc of hte -ov suffix at the end. (Not the only one possible but a pretty decent indication something is a surname when it is there)

Ivan is the given name. You can tell bc Russian has a set (an expansive one) of given names and this is one of them, one of the most historically popular at that.

Ivanovich is the patronymic, it can be translated as “son of Ivan”. You can tell bc of the “ovich” suffix. There is also “evich” and for at least one name just “ich”. Colloquially they will also get shortened into just “ych” making the variation “Ivanych”. (”Y” is the letter used for transliteration of a sound that doesn’t exist in English but is considered fairly close to “i’)

To be clear, “Ivanov Ivan Ivanych” is the exact same person as “Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich”, this is hte exact same name, the only thing that changes is how formal the speaker is being about it.

Female suffixes are “evna” and “ovna”. Anna Petrovna, Anna Fadeevna. There is also “ichna” for at least one name and an antiquated “ishna” which is the colloquial alternative in some cases. Anna Fadeevna = Anna Fadeishna. This IS antiquated tho.

Coming back to our Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich, this is the “FIO” form of his name, the way it will be put on formal documents that require one’s full name. The “Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov” form is also acceptable, its just not the order you write on documents in. The patronymic (Ivanovich) always comes after the full given name (Ivan), the surname can be stuck on either side of that.

The traditional respectful address to someone you know is the full given name + patronymic. Ivan Ivanovich! Could you come over here? It’s used with plural/formal “you”. This form is also becoming obsolete in recent years but if you’re writing mid-20th-century or characters of middle age+ Ivan Ivanovich is the name to go.

(Note the difference from the address + surname form in English: Dr. Smith or Mr Smith etc. In Russian this form does not exist except several centuries back or in very very impersonal century back “citizen Ivanov” that like a policeman would use to address you. Not anyone you actually know personally. Schoolchildren will often not know their teachers’ surnames because they are all Ivan Ivanovich to them.)

Now I keep saying “Ivan” is the FULL given name. The short given name from “Ivan” is “Vanya”. This is a set linguistic fact - the set of given names in Russian is factually two linked sets, a set of full given names and a set of short given names. Some short given names can  be short from several full given names, some full given names can have several short names (a person will usually pick one to use). A short given name doesn’t go anywhere on formal documents. It just follows from your full given name naturally, like conjugation. Some full given names (Gleb, Oleg, Diana, Vera) are short enough to be used as short given names too and so don’t realy have assigned short counterparts. In fact Vera can be both a full name on its own - Ivanova Vera Ivanovna - and short for Veronica - Ivanova Veronica Ivanovna.

Short names are formed through a variety of rules. There are basic requirements for the form they take as a result though. Full given names can have “complicated” consonant pairs together: Dmitriy, Aleksandr, Pavla, Anna. Short names are “simple” will almost always go consonant-vowel. Dmitriy -> Dima, Aleksandr -> Sasha, Alik or Shura (don’t ask how that last one happened, it’s a miracle of absurdity, but it’s one of the traditional shortenings), Pavla -> Pasha (well, Pavla is a rare name, you hear Pasha and you usually assume Pavel, the male name), Anna -> Anya. (”y” is not a consonant here, “ya” is a vowel sound English doesnt really have)

(As an exception to the consonant-vowel rule, when there’s a consonant pair the second of which is “l” it’s usually kept together in the short name - it’s just very simple to the Russian ear / tongue. Vladislav - Vlad or Slava, for example)

Often a name will be formed fully from the syllables / consonants of the full name, give or take changing the last vowel to the gender neutral “a”/”ya” (It will either be “a”/”ya” or a consonant). Vladimir -> Vlad, Ruslana -> Lana, Tatiana -> Tanya, Anna -> Anya, Katerina -> Katya, Dmitriy -> Dima or Mitya, Ivan -> Vanya. And then there’s the “sha” suffix tacked on as the second syllable: Pavel -> Pasha, Natalia -> Natasha or Tasha, Daria -> Dasha, Aleksandr -> Sasha, etc.

So long as they conform to these rules, you can kind of make them up. Though considering the whole of history, you’re not super likely to make up something that hasn’t been made up before you. Anna historically speaking turns into Anya, Nyura, Nyusha... -shudders-

So how are short names actually used?

As an implication of familiarity/subordination, that’s how. For the weebs in the audience, you know the ‘-chan’ suffix in Japanese? Kind of exactly like that. Japanese has more nuances, but generally if you wouldn’t call someone -chan, you shouldn’t call them by their short name. (Unless they specifically asked you to, but I think that’s a thing in Japanese too)

Short names are never paired with patronymics. The steps of formality in address are basically “Ivan Ivanovich” => “Ivan” => “Vanya”.

(There’s also formal you, so to be completely clear: “Ivan Ivanovich” (formal you) => “Ivan” (formal you) => “Vanya” (formal you) => “Vanya” (informal you). If someone is getting called their full given name + informal you, it’s either implying antiquity - pre 20th century - or they’re using their full given name as their short given name.)

You call your children and siblings by short names. You call your friends by short names. You MIGHT call your employees, especially if they are sufficiently young, or if you’ve known them for a long time and the “familiarity” part applies, by short names.

SHORT NAMES ARE NOT FORMAL. This is important. Nobody has “Natasha” written in their passport (unless I guess they were making new documents in America or something from scratch and didn’t use any old ones as basis of establishing idenity so could make up whatever. It’s still weird! It’s like having “Johnny-boy” written in your passport!)

SHORT NAMES ARE OFTEN GENDERED BUT YOU CANNOT TELL HOW WITHOUT KNOWING THE CORRESPONDING FULL NAME. “Pasha” and “Misha” are both male names becaus they are short from “Pavel” and “Mikhail”. Of course you could have a Pavla or a Mikhaila, but the former is very rare and the latter is probably a foreign Mykaila Russianified or something. In these cases it’s usually considered normal to assume gender, even if there’s a tiny chance you could be wrong.

PATRONYMICS ARE NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES INTERCHANGEABLE WITH SURNAMES. You have the same surname as your family members, but if you have the same patronymic, either you’re siblings or there are multiple people with the same given name in your immediate family, which is slightly odd. A patronymic is formed from your father’s name by unambiguous and definite rules. Foreign names can be turned into patronymics easily. (Though kids of foreign citizens can get whatever their parents want on their birth certificate - patronymic by the rules of one of the parents’ home country, no patronymic at all, whatever) Surnames are surnames and work the same way they work anywhere else.

PATRONYMICS AND SURNAMES ARE NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. Any surname goes with any patronymic same as it goes with any given name. Except for the obvoius “statistically likely to be from the same culture” part. (Your “Russian” character could have Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Lithuanian, Bielorussian, Kazakh, Tatar descent, descent from any number of indigenous cultures on the territory of Russia that I personally never heard about until I started translating documents in high amounts and stumbling upon them. Russia is an empire!) But even that’s just statistics - you could have a Tsukino Farha Bogdanovna and I’d just go “that’s a fascinating family history right there”.

GOOGLE RUSSIAN GIVEN NAMES, DON’T MAKE THEM UP. And pay attention if something is marked as “diminutive” - that means it’s a short name, and it will not be used on formal documents or in conjunction with a patronymic. Go for the name it’s diminutive for and just have the character ask everyone to use their short name if you want - it’s trendy these days.

There’s all kinds of fuckery going on with name use on the margins - some old people will call their close friends the “patronymic + informal you” construction. (Actually it’s a “Russian babushka” stereotype that actually exists within the culture. And if anyone ever uses the “short name + patronymic” form irl it’s this category of people, though I’d imagine only in third person) Some bosses or even teachers will invite their students to call them by their short name (I am so deeply uncomfortable with this). Age is often the difference between a Vanya and an Ivan Ivanovich in the same situation.

All patronymics and a good share of surnames conjugate by gender! “Ivanov” and “Ivanova” are the exact same surname, but a guy will have the former writen in their documents and a gal would have the latter. If you legally change your gender that letter changes too. (No, there’s no gender neutral form. Some surnames, like those ending in -enko, just don’t do this, but those that do are at all times one or the other) I guess expatriates a couple of generations down could have whatever going on, but if you have an actually-born-in-Russia “Ivanova Ivan Ivanovna” that means “Ivan” is a girl with a male name for some fucking reason. Name gendering is just tradition, patronymic gendering is grammar. (And if you have an “Ivanova Ivan Ivanovich” that’s just someone making a typo) (Maybe our hypothetical Ivanova Ivan Ivanovna transitioned and liked her birth name so much, she decided to not even go for Ivanna or something else plausible, Ivan or bust. Officials would probably just shrug and go with it lmao)

Oh, and in less formal lists and situations, surname + short given name is a classical combination. When I call my grandboss, surname + short given name is how I introduce myself, because I’m much younger and much subordinate so short name it is, but she’s under no obligation to identify me from my given name so surname it is. (To people who I expect to remember my name but who weren’t expecting me to call, just surname is good, but to people who can connect my surname with my identity but probably don’t remember my given name immediately & exactly from that, giving also the form of given name they address me by is the reasonable person thing to do)

If I were introducing myself in the “Hi! I’m Tsukino Usagi!” anime intro format, I’d go for “Short given name + surname”. Short name is usually the one people think of as their personal identity as it’s whatt their close circle will have been calling them for their entire life, and ACTUALLY it’s normal for the surname to come after the given name. In a book citation of “famous doctor X did Y” they will probably be “famous doctor fullgivenname-patronymic-surname”. For a Russian speaker, switching between Japanese name order and English name order is not a difficulty, but we WILL be distressed by not being able to tell which is which and therefore which it is on sight )=

MARVEL COMICS WALL OF SHAME

- Natasha Alianovna Romanova. First, “Romanov” is not a common surname, it’s the surname of the royal family, it’s like a random English guy being called “Tudor”. Well, it’s plausible, it IS formed by the classic “common given name + -ov” rule, but Roman isn’t even that common a name (and not exactly Russian), and... well. It’s just weird. I don’t think there’s good chances for it to have come into existence as such historically WHEN IT WAS THE RULING FAMILY SURNAME. Second! Natasha is a short name! She should be Natalia/Natalya! Third... I mean I will not say Alian is not an existing male name, and I won’t even say it’s not used in any cultures that exist within Russia, but if they were aiming for “common Russian male name” they missed 180 degrees.

- Ilyana Rasputin. First, -in is a suffix that makes this surname adjective-ish, meaning it conjugates by gender, meaning she is RASPUTINA. Her brother is Rasputin. She is Rasputina. Second, again, I have heard of exactly one (1) guy with this surname, and it’s the same guy you’re thinking of right now. It is in no way, shape or form common, or reasonable to give to a character without making it a plot point. Third, Ilyana is not a Russian name that exists. Ilya is a male name, but there’s no female form. FOURTH, I distinctly remember reading a comic where she was calling her brothers “Piotr” and “Mikhail”. That’s their full names! I mean bonus points for actually finding the full names this time, but it’s extremely weird for their LITTLE SIBLING to use them! They should be Petya and Misha as far as her own speech is concerned!

P.S. “All Night Laundry” is a fantastic webcomic, but “Grandimir” is not a real name, “Grand” is not a Russian word root and will not be used in a name this way, you’re looking for “Velimir” or somethng (though that’s, like, a thousand years antiquated). Also while both the uncle and the nephew having the “Petrovich” patronymic is not that odd, Petr is not THAT rare a name and maybe their brother/father was Petr Petrovich... considering we never learn their surname, I seriously suspect the writer just confused a patronymic with a surname. Also, naming their dog the same name crosses the line into slightly weird. Who names a dog after their father? This is actually what prompted this...