#i had one recently and it was a pain

[megasceptile001]

hjelp

[mossy-paws]

Round and round I go on my Carousel of dreams… (LIMBUS COMPANY)

I never wanna draw again after this hell piece holy SHIT this took like 3 weeks

(More under cut)

WOW OKAY SO! This took, an INSANE amount of time, 48 hours to be exact, I am. So tired

Well, anyways, I’m actually really happy with how this came out, it’s actually most likely going to be a print I’ll be selling at Megacon 2026! (I’ll be doing a vendor partnership with some close friends of mine). Obviously I’m also gonna have a lot of other project moon related stuff too of course wink wink >;3

here’s the alternative version w/ Bari and Dad Quixote, I just couldn’t really get them to work well with the piece so that’s why they aren’t on it LOL, I hope y’all like this beast of a project! I got some comms I gotta get done before I can work on any new projects but after that expect some Lobotomy Corp things/some more posters and fun stuff- I’m really trying to work on my style so I’m trying to mess around a lot :3

[eddis-not-eeddis]

How To Stop Killing Conversations

Talking is hard. People are confusing. Making friends is difficult, and interacting with coworkers is tortuous.

You want to make friends, you want to reach out, but it's hard and every time you start a conversation it dies, or limps along until both you and the person you're talking to are looking for excuses to kill it and put it out of it's misery so you can both escape the increasingly awkward situation.

As an introvert who has suffered a lot of social anxiety in my time, let me share a few tricks I've learned over the years going through hundreds and thousands of excruciatingly painful conversations until I found something that works. I've kind of distilled the process.

ALWAYS ASK A QUESTION!!!

The first thing is to always leave your partner an opening. You need to let each other talk for a conversation to get off the ground, but it's more than that, really. You need to actively encourage each other to talk. The best way to do that is to ask questions.

Here are two examples of an introduction: Example A

You: Hello.

Them: Hello.

You: Nice to meet you.

Them: Nice to meet you too.

Example B

Y: Hello, nice to meet you, how are you? T: I’m doing well, yourself?

Y: I've been really well. How are you liking the weather?

T: I'm so happy the weather's finally getting cooler, I'm looking forward to pumpkin spice season. Do you like lattes?

Do you see how in Example A the conversation wasn’t going anywhere? It just kinda died, because there weren’t any openings for new topics, whereas in Example B, there were openings to keep the conversation going.

But what do you do if your conversation partner is as socially inept as you were two minutes ago and doesn't play along? All is not lost.

Example C

Y: Hello, so nice to meet you, how have you been doing?

T: I'm doing well.

Y: That's great, are you enjoying the nice weather, then?

T: Yeah. I'm glad it's finally fall, I'm looking forward to pumpkin spice lattes.

Y: I love pumpkin spice lattes! Pumpkin spice anything, really. I recently got the best pumpkin spice candle at the shop down the road, have you been there?

Even if they don't leave you an opening, you can usually make one. It may be difficult, especially when they don't give you much to work with. This is where having a go-to script is a life-saver--me, I always default to talking about the weather, so when in doubt, you can do that.* The important thing right now is to keep fostering the conversation, so once you bring up the weather, segue into a question. When they answer the question, make a brief comment or observation from your own experience and build off of that comment or observation to ask another question.

"But I don't want to make it about me. Doing that's bad, right?"

This is why that questions are important. If you haven't been asked a question, you kinda have to make it about you, you don't have a choice. But to keep from being an attention hog, follow up your shared experience or anecdote with another question.

Example D

T: I love pumpkin spice lattes

Y: Me too. I had the best pumpkin spice latte the other day at the cafe down the road, have you ever been there?

Now you've circled the conversation back around to them again, and you aren't taking the limelight. Sharing an experience is so important, you're trying to show that you understand, that you sympathize, that you relate.**

This really is the most important element of being a good conversationalist. You have to keep asking questions.

The one other thing I will touch on is introductions. DO NOT get into turn based combat.

Example E

Y: Hello

T: Hello

Y: Nice to meet you

T: Nice to meet you too.

Y: How are you doing?

T: I'm fine. You?

Y: Me too.

This will kill any possibility of continuing a conversation. Instead, get it all out of the way all at once, if at all possible.

Example F

Y: Hi, it's nice to meet you, how are you doing?

This is good, but this is better

Example G

Y: Hi, nice to meet you, how are you liking the weather?

Don't ask how they are doing, or if you do, before they can answer, follow it up with your placeholder (weather etc.) so they have to say some thing like

Example H

T: I'm fine, and I'm really liking the weather.

or

T: Not so great, the weather sucks.

Either of those options are much easier to work with than your basic "I'm fine."

Usually, if you can get past the introduction, you can get a conversation going. And then, even if you don't end up hitting it off with the person you're talking with, you at least don't leave the conversation feeling like you've died a thousand tiny deaths.

In fact, if you get past that introduction, you may have just made yourself a friend.

Remember folks, basically everyone around you is more afraid of you than you are of them, and in this benighted age no one has been taught conversation skills, so we are all pretty much in the same boat. (Unless you were born an extrovert, in which case we are all deeply envious and would probably kill you if we didn't need you in our sad and lonely lives so much.)

Have grace for one another, and for yourselves because talking with people is difficult.

Go forth, and stop killing conversations.

*If you are one of those awful people who likes to brag about how you hate small talk and only want to talk about important and meaningful things, I have one question: Do you ever have a conversation that lasts long enough to become meaningful? I thought not. Small talk is an important skill. Develop it.

**This is how you deal with sad or difficult situations too. When you want to show you sympathize with someone going through a hard time.

Example:

Y: How are you doing?

T: Not very well. My dog died last week.

Y: Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. My own dog died last year and I still miss her a lot. How are you handling it?

Now you've circled the conversation back around to them again. You aren't making it about you.

If y'all want, next time I can share how to extricate yourself from a conversation.

[laniemae]

Chances Ojima dies this chapter? /Genuine

Hate to admit it but the chances of Ojima dying this chapter are incredibly likely, I’d say around 80%.

I know I’m usually the one to scream about how Ojima is “certainly gonna die” like every chapter but this feels different as usually it starts off with me feeling safe about him and close to the bda he shows up a bit more and suddenly I freak out about death flags. But the motive hasn’t even dropped yet and he’s already got a ton of screen time, big scenes and info about his character. With the bleeding plot coming into play, his relationship with monomoko and being her favourite student, painting the balcony shutter, and us learning more about his trauma. Like legitimately we’ve gotten so much content of him so early on in the chapter I cannot believe how he won’t die this chapter because he’s been so important. I don’t think a tetro character has raised this many death flags up until now and I’m usually the type to say that we shouldn’t scream death flags at every scene, or we should wait until the motive, but like this is just so much Ojima content. Like I should be happy getting a lot more screen time with my favourite boy but I’m just in complete anxiety knowing that this most likely is his last development before he dies.

Like and even going to story themes, we’ve been getting a ton of development with monomoko and her empathising with the students and questioning the killing game. And since Ojima is her favourite student it makes so much sense for him to die this chapter which could lead monomoko into even more of a spiral as she values his life which could lead to her potentially standing up in the finale of chapter 5. And I could especially see this being the case if Ojima is a killer where she has to send him off to be executed himself, and with how much Ojima is saying how he believes he’s gonna die in the school but also saying that he knows he won’t kill anyone would be ironic.

Also with the mural he’s painting on the balcony, I can’t stop thinking of how perfectly devastating for him to die there would be if he’s a victim. Being killed in front of the painting of the outside world you’ve been yearning for, having your last chance of freedom stripped away like that. Just imagine the unique 5th bda with Ojima’s blacked out sprite in front of the colourful mural unique to that one location. It’s such a perfect setup for him to die there that I can’t possibly imagine that it could go any other way. I heard someone say that if this is the case the student reconvening at the body would be called [Sunset] and just ouch…

God just writing this is making me tear up. Even hearing any discussion or even mention of the likelyhood of Ojima dying this chapter just makes me feel sick despite how much I also say it myself. It just feels different this time as the signs are here right from the beginning of the chapter that I am so so confident he’s gonna die and can’t let myself rest as every day feels like I’m getting closer to my comfort character dying and never being able to see him in an episode again. Like I wanna give my reasons for maybe how he could not die this chapter but at this point it’s so certain I don’t wanna get my hopes up at all so I’m just gonna be sitting here until he dies this chapter and I’ll have to deal with the fallout. If anything I hope an Ojima interview is our one way of giving him some extra screen time before he’s gone forever.

[howellslides]

babes my experience is not universal and blah blah blah but when i bring up how much pain i’m in by using positivity and humour, that is not the time to respond with sympathy and sads. like if i’m joking about it i’m either not ready to be upset about it or i’ve already done being upset about it, you being upset about it for me is just pushing me into that space unnecessarily and kinda makes me feel like i’m not allowed to like? talk? about my day? unless i’m catering to your emotions in the first place.

also, like, just match my energy, the conversation is gonna be way funnier if we’re both joking about it cuz let’s be real bodies are already engineered terribly and there’s something hilarious about mine not even meeting that subpar standard

[honeydots]

🎉1000 INIGORBS!!!🎉 WE DID IT GAMERS

( version w/o text under the cut!)

[w1tchybusiness]

i could write a 100 page essay about what a fucking masterpiece warframe is. i will write many words in the tags. please readem if you want my 'tism.

[fluffypichu876]

bruuuuuuuh a creeper just blew up my netherite sword

[berryblu-soda]

Anyways update i just didnt bother to post earlier:

fr God is good and the whole car crash my parents got into last week was so incredibly mild in terms of injuries!!!! worst was a bruised knee im pretty sure

ALSO-

*taps mic* HUG YOUR FREAKING LOVED ONES OR SO HELP ME!!!!!!!

[nexus-nebulae]

"why are you so worried abt random accidents, stuff like that rarely ever happens" well you see I'm too disabled to ever evacuate a situation on my own, so I'd rather be a safety advocate now than become a statistic later

[oh2e]

I’m no doctor but I really think that moving your shoulder should not illicit the feeling of switching between gears in a car. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Click.

[yardsards]

being a dungeon master is rough because if you want to see your blorbos (the players' characters) then you actually have to write and schedule shit.

[racke7]

My internet has been investigated by a professional.

There might be something weird with the big cables (to quote the guy: the "inner-pair" and "outer-pair" of the eight-cables are of different lengths, but by all accounts still work just fine), but my own equipment has at least passed (no extra-fine for crying wolf for me).

The weird stability-thing continues to be weird. And current test is for them to switch my internet-provider (internet-provider has a use-contract with the cable-operators, who are the ones investigating) over the weekend. See if the problem is on that end.

It's possible that this is the case (at which point I guess I'll try to switch permanently), or that it's that weird cable-length resulting in the problem (which is... a whole different can of worms).

[cuntwrap--supreme]

Contacting universities and animal cancer research institutions to see if they want my dog's tongue once she's dead was not on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are

[maple13]

trying to shop for a swimsuit is a different kind of hell

[lesbiansanemi]

I'm so tired