#i haven't been to an aquarium since i was about 10 i think

[feefivefoe]

Please can we hear your thoughts on what Bruce does/thinks when being confronted with his neglect by Jason (and maybe the other boys too)??

Thank you, and have a nice day!

Bruce is the one I have the hardest time characterizing tbh.

I think his first reaction would be denial? He hasn't been the best father, but even he wouldn't go as far as to forget his own chi...

Oh my god he doesn't know how old you are. You were...you were older than Tim but younger than Dick, he thinks.

Wait.

When was your birthday?

Did he ever give you a birthday party?

What wing of the manor did you sleep in?

Where were you right now?

Unlike Tim who starts the unofficial search, Bruce heads right to the batcave to find your official records. Social security number. If you worked anywhere or has anyplace legal to stay, you'd have to input that. He's ashamed he has to go through a government database to find it, rather than simply knowing it.

And just like Tim, he finds nothing. Which scares him beyond belief. Had he lost you already? Did he actually forget about one of his children and then unknowingly replace them? Was he actually guilty of what Jason had accused him of years ago, albeit to a different child?

In reality, you're living solely through cash. Plenty of individuals are eager to avoid paying all their taxes, and are thrilled to accept cash only payments on your rent, or paycheck. Legally, you haven't done anything since graduating high school.

Not necessarily hiding from them, per say, as you don't think they'd go looking, but just because you don't want to be known as a Wayne.

And god, there is so much guilt, fear, and anguish rolling around inside that man. He needs to find out where you are, and if you're okay, and if anybody had done anything to you.

He swears if they have, he'll rip the motherfucker to pieces-

No. That isn't going to help. So instead he checks every reported death within not only Gotham, but any city within a 50 mile radius. For the last 10 years.

As well hidden as you are, nobody can hide from Batman while he's concentrating every effort to find you.

He's hesitant to bring you home at first. How can he call himself your father after forgetting you for your whole time living with him? But his regard for your safety eventually wins out. Until then, you just get a concerning amount of money just...stashed in your apartment??? What the fuck??????

Dick also feels a lot of guilt, but he somewhat subconsciously channels that into abundant overeagerness. Instead of focusing on how many important moments he missed...that he can never get back with his first baby sibling...

...ah, he should focus on all the memories you can make going forward! He has to take you to all his favorite spots, and you take him to yours!

What interests do you have? Are you a go to the aquarium person? Family movie night? Spa night? Just having fun with everyone at dinner? He has to do these things with you! And then you'll be his family again, and he'll love you, and you'll love him-

In spirit, he shows up outside your door like Damian. But he is self aware enough to know that'd freak you out, so instead he 'coincidentally' shows up at your work...in the bad side of town...and his attitude definitely gives away it was planned.

He messes up your "I'm a nobody like all of you" persona you'd spent years cultivating, and by the time he leaves, all your coworkers and customers know that you're Dick Grayson's sibling...which means Bruce Wayne's child, but he likes saying you're related to him more.

Tim doesn't give a fuck at first, like I established. It really is a game to see if he can find you before anybody else does. When he loses that to Bruce (damn it-), he decides he'll just know you BETTER than the others to win.

So he starts literally stalking you and making a psyche profile, like you're a case rather than his sibling. Any interest you've ever listed in your social media is cross checked with any belongings of yours. Merch or posters? Songs you listen to? Any of that content, he consumes as well. He's going to need conversation topics with you.

I'm not entirely sure if he actually loves you as family, or if you're just a hyperfixation that's consistently buzzing at his brain. It's like he wants to dissect, then digest you. Pick you apart piece by piece so he sees every last skin cell, then make that information a part of him

Though, he'd claim it's the former. To him, there's no discernable difference.

He's the one who meets you at your hobbies. Claims an online friend brought it up, but hey, it's crazy to see you again!

Even though it's your first conversation...maybe ever?

He's chatting to you like you haven't been estranged your whole life.

And the look in the eye is...a little unnerving.

[chipped-chimera]

Time, yet again, to wade into a pit of contradictory information as I try to determine what I should do about my nuked tetra population while I'm still doing ich treatment.

(if you have some ideas/opinions about what I should do context below)

This is my first tank, so please be nice 🥺

I have a heavily planted, 20gallon (76L) freshwater aquarium which I had probably researched for about 3 months, then ran empty/with plants for about a month or so? before fish introduction. So absolutely cycled, bombproof setup that I have not seen a whiff of ammonia or nitrates in since I started testing (probably a month after it being cycling empty when my kit arrived).

I introduced 10 green neon tetra, which grew confident very quick within the new tank, like within the next day stopped schooling behaviour, bopping around and doing their own thing. But then I saw white spots appearing. In my delay of trying to determine if it was actually ich and conflicting info about it being 'stress ich' that could minimize in time with the stress reduction - probably me delaying it too because the meds were expensive - I probably doomed them.

I'm angry and sad at the same time, in part towards myself but mostly because I'm mad at the contradictory info leading to delay on a situation that was more time critical given the size of these little fish. Which I think led to their deaths.

I know quarantine is important but given my tank is heavily planted, I was struggling with bioload - as in not enough - so on the day I started ich treatment I put in 6 corycats which have been absolutely fine. So fine in fact I've noticed their barbels getting much longer! They're having a great time in there, and while I've seen some showing sign of being itchy, I've never seen a spot appear. Same with the Starlight Bristlenose, who was actually the first resident - she's weathered the ich outbreak pre-treatment fine (yeah I know it's hard to tell given she's a starlight but I've had a good look at her when I could, she's clear) and while she hides a lot during the day, I think she's happy - there are a stupid amount of tunnels and hidey holes in my setup, the centerpiece is a huge slab of driftwood so she has plenty to rasp on too. All the food is also the best quality I could get, and they get blanched veggies twice a week.

Unfortunately though, the delay was too late for the Tetra. First I lost one. Then more. I went from 10 to 3 today, if I am lucky it will stay at 3. Two of them look very good. One of them has minor body spotting. Worst comes to worst, it'll be 2. I think it'll stay that way, nothing new has been appearing.

What I am worried about now is I know the minimum for tetra is 8. While these guys I think know fairly well the tank is safe, and the presence of the corycats might help in terms of them having another grouping fish around to help them feel more confident, I don't want to be causing them unnecessary stress that might make the situation worse. Two of them left are grouping together, the one I am uncertain about is often hanging out on it's own which is making me worried I'll lose it too.

I am early on in the treatment at full dosage (I spent more time cranking up the dosage slowly since this is a planted tank with inverts, so that probably didn't help the ich situation) 25%~30% water changes daily.

Naturally online opinion on 'should I add fish during ich treatment' is about as confusing as it was when I was just trying to find info on ich. Some say hard no. Some say it's always in tanks anyway, it's the stress, may as well chuck them in during treatment. I'm going to have to grab another bottle of the stuff (so bleeding expensive) and I don't want to use more of it on a quarantine tank - right now anyway.

The treatment I am doing specifically targets parasites (Seachem Paraguard) but I also have Melafix and Pimafix, though I haven't really been dosing either since the smell of it I think irritates the tetra, and Paraguard supposedly has antibacterial elements that also target finrot. If I were to add new fish, I'd probably start adding both during the day, Paraguard goes in at night after a waterchange because it's lights-off after that (degrades under light).

If I added new fish, I'd be doing that for 14 days + maybe one more week just in case. But yeah, I have no fucking clue what to do and I very much want to not fuck this up anymore.

I'm also honestly kind of put off by tetra at this point - compared to the corycats they are very, very nervous and twitchy I think which didn't help their stress levels, even with me trying to make it as stress-free as possible. But also know I'm probably stuck with them if I want them to feel better.

Any thoughts/opinions would be good. I don't really have other treatment options available either btw, either because products are literally not available or the risk of killing plants/hurting other fish is too high (heat is NOT an option, corycats upper-limit is 26C so that's what the tank is set to)

My gut says it's probably okay to add fish, if I keep up treatment. But idk anymore :C

[donuts4evry1]

these are jellies from the S.E.A aquarium in singapore!! i think they had more jellies actually but i didn't take pictures... the aquarium overall was pretty cool though, they had lots of huge tanks with large fish and sharks.

the last picture is just a screenshot of a video, but they had the moon jellies housed in a tank where they continually rotated through different lighting colors. it was super pretty but i was wondering if the jellies would be bothered by the constantly changing lights??

AHHH THESE ARE LOVELY!! and your camera skills are so much better than mine, haha. I love how crisp and clear they all turned out ^-^!! (Maybe it's also because the lighting in the aquarium is better? Well, regardless, these are gorgeous photos.)

Rating (14/20):

Diversity - 6/10 - The included species seem to be pretty generic all things considered, but at least there's some variety

Presentation - 8/10 - Everything looks neat and clean, and the Rhizostomid jellyfish have some pigmentation on them. Also, I'm a sucker for Jellyfish Raves.

Learning - N/A - Haven't been there in person, can't say for sure how good the information is.

(I'll ramble a bit about jellyfish eyes under the cut!)

You actually bring up a great point! However, you need not worry about these poor jellyfishes' eyes- they should be completely fine.

Moon Jellyfish are part of Class Scyphozoa- which are about in the middle when it comes to "seeing organ" complexity in Sub-class Medusozoa (or the Jellyfish Subclass).

Their primary seeing organs (Ocelli) are contained within "Rhopalia"- which also control orientation (the uh, position kind not the pride kind) through statocysts and also bell pulsation.

Unlike Box Jellyfish, which have true eyes that can perceive different wavelengths of light, ocelli can only perceive brightness.

Moon jellies exhibit vertical migration (basically raise to the surface during the day and to the bottom at night), so perhaps if the brightness of the lights are played with too much, it might confuse their natural sense of migration? But jellyfish do not have a brain, so I think they will be fine regardless :)

However, since we are on the topic of rhopalia, did you know that moon jellyfish polyps were sent to space in mission STS-40? There's a video on youtube about that with the ugliest looking jellyfish I've ever seen (affectionate). Apparently, they developed just fine in space, though their statocysts seemed to develop improperly. Poor little guys.

[victoriouscabaret]

Imma ask several lol. Answer as many or as few as you'd like!

7, 16, 18, & 27! 💖

Hahahaha - I appreciate you <3

7. What animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium?

I haven't been to an aquarium since I was like... 10 I think, and back then it would have been dolphins or sharks or something. I think if I went to one now I'd be happy to just vibe with the tropical fish. I feel bad for super intelligent animals being kept in captivity, so I'd probably avoid the octopi, dolphins, etc.

16. Thoughts on mint chocolate chip?

Hahahaha - okay so when I was a little kid I was really low on the growth curve, so my doctor told my dad that he needed to feed me high fat foods to help me gain weight. So part of that meant sitting down to a bowl of ice cream every night before bed, which sounds like every kid's dream - and it is - until six years have past and you're still eating ice cream every night before bed and have been through ever flavor in existence a time or two. I did have a mint chocolate chip phase, but I haven't had it in years and probably never will again lol

18. Your boba/tea order?

I can't do boba - the texture is just not for me. I want to like it but I just can't get past it. Back in high school when I'd force myself to drink bubble tea to fit in I was all about coconut though.

27. What's your favourite or go-to outfit?

If I had my entire wardrobe clean, folded, and accessible right now, I would pick black skinny jeans, a sleeveless shirt, and either my Vans that I wore for my wedding, or my TOMS. That's my default state when I'm not at work or expected to dress up. I recently discovered the magic of wide legged pants after I got a thigh tattoo in April though, and they've been a game changer. SO COZY.

[mod2amaryllis]

hey so i've been trying to establish an aquarium for a betta lately, but i haven't been able to introduce him to the tank because for some reason i can't get the tank parameters right for the life of me. what kinda stuff do you use when you have to deal with stuff like ammonia, nitrite nitrate PH ect?

and i'm not sure if you have any issues with this but you do reccomend any ways to get more oxygen into the water? i have another aquarium with guppies that i think might have suffered from a lack of oxygen despite there being a running filter. i've transfered the fish out while i troubleshoot but all this stuff at once has been quite a nuisance 😔

GASP tank question *throws everything else off my desk*

I'm not sure what you've done so far trying to get the right parameters, but 9 times out of 10, the right thing to do is this:

STOP MESSING WITH IT.

stop adding any chemical fixes, stop doing water changes, just step back. if set up for success, it'll almost always figure itself out.

you said you have another tank so going into this, I'll assume you already know basics like the nitrogen cycle and to dechlorinate water. I'm also only gonna discuss planted tanks because frankly i can't imagine having a successful tank without plants. i know it can be done, but it's hard work and i got no tips. plants are for lazy fish keepers like me.

to answer your questions point by point: ammonia and nitrites spike during initial cycling, then are kept at zero by beneficial bacteria as long as the tank is healthy. for nitrates, lots of plants help keep them down, and high nitrates can be lowered with water changes. i don't use any "stuff" for these things, like chemical additives. (EXCEPT for in emergencies like random ammonia/nitrate spikes, in which case you can follow bottle instructions to overdose seachem prime (my dechlorinator of choice) to bind ammonia while doing water changes to bring levels back to normal)

now for pH. stop worrying about pH. the actual number isn't that important (for BETTAS. some fish and shrimp are more delicate). i have way higher pH tap water than what all the species guides will recommend (7.6-7.8) and my fish are fine. what's important is STABILITY. making sure the number doesn't swing suddenly. using chemicals to try and get it to a certain point is oftentimes doing more harm than good because you risk swings. just acclimate before adding the betta to the tank and you'll be fine. i also make sure every tank has driftwood and a catappa leaf; the tannins will gradually and safely get your pH to a comfortable level.

now oxygen. o2 is added to the water via surface agitation, and some is released by plants. just use a sponge filter. the bubbles create plenty of surface agitation and the flow is nice and gentle, perfect for bettas. between sponge filters and heavy planting I've literally never had o2 issues. if you prefer different filtration (like a hang-on-back or canister) then use an air stone, or arrange filter output so it's skimming out along the waters surface.

alright now you've got me on a roll so I'm just gonna keep talking about establishing tanks lol

you're gonna hear a whole lot of different opinions on how to establish new tanks. I've had mostly great starts and some bad ones and I've settled on a method that works for me.

plant as many plants as possible early on. you can source plants from anywhere, but the best imo is to take from other established tanks, whether from fellow hobbyists or from stores that grow/store their plants in a running tank. you want a little stink on these plants basically. then to kick start it i add: remediation bacteria (this is not strictly necessary, i think it's more superstition at this point since I've added it to every tank and it's worked), fertilizers, a sinking fish food, and most importantly some PEST SNAILS. then i just let that thing stew. i also have the benefit of being able to pull used filter media from other tanks which greatly speeds the process. if you can take used media from your guppy tank, throw that in too.

i use the api master test kit but i don't really bother testing until end of week 1, then I'll test as much as i need til i get a good reading. once you see 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and some nitrates, like 5-10ppm, you're ok for fish.

the problem with starting tanks is usually patience. you're excited to get a new fish so you hover and test constantly, which is freaky while your tank is still cycling cuz you'll see ammonia and nitrite come up and think you have to do something about it, but you don't. give it a few weeks, treat it like a garden. the worst setup i ever had was right before a long trip. the driftwood was infected with bba spores and everything kept getting covered in this stinky sludge. even after removing the driftwood it didn't seem to be improving. then the trip happened and i had to leave it (no fish, but one mystery snail) for a few weeks. came back and it was THRIVING. crystal clear, happy plants, perfect parameters, happy active snail. that experience really hit me in the head with the patience lesson; ever since then it's been easier for me to take things one week at a time.

if this is all old news to you, my b. the special interest demon possessed me.

[soullikethesea]

Bunch of random rambles

I made it to the quieter weeks! (Sort of time off, but not really). Yesterday I went exercising and accidentally continued for 2.5 hours. Woah, there. 😮

Today I was supposed to have the fun day at the aquarium, but it will have to be postponed for some time because of ~ circumstances. 🙁

I'm going to see T today. I felt strangely normal/okay/happy the last few weeks, which makes me think I'm perhaps seeing her too often normally. It just stirs up a lot and my body really craves rest/good experiences. I think that helps with parts work a lot actually. (Helps to see that life is actually OK now).

I also got curious based on some of your posts and filled out some schema questionaires. I remember that I filled out some of those around 10 or so years ago, so it was really strange to see the differences. I also kind of doubt some of my answers, because what feels "true" for me may not be universal me-truth. Anyway, apparently my most prominent schemas are now Healthy Adult and Happy Child. The things I still could work on were having strict norms for myself and sacrificing myself. Oh, and emotional surpression... obviously, lol. Anyway, the results make sense, but it also made me feel like I'm perhaps taking up therapy resources that I maybe don't need? Like, I have a hunch that based on these answers regular therapy place would turn me away saying that I'm fine and wishing me good luck. (And at the same time I'm obviously super glad that I'm doing so well with schema stuff!)

I think it links into what I've been feeling, that pockets of Really Awful Shit are still compartmentalized into some parts, but that overall I've been doing pretty well. I think at the moment my biggest issues are around attachment stuff (daring to show myself/trust others), physical pain/conversion, and trauma bits that haven't been processed. And quite some struggles with low energy levels/difficulty with daily life tasks.

One of the next steps I will need to do to work on the endo is pelvic floor PT. I've been dreading it ever since they recommended it. Is there anyone on here who has experience doing that? (If so, how was your experience of it?)

I'm really glad that the Sun is shining!!! We've been having quite some months with very few hours of sun, so it's really welcome. Where I live it's pretty normal to have two weeks of rain or more in a row. :') I also can't help but think of some posts I read where people wrote about the preferred temperature to sleep in. Perhaps it's shocking, but my preferred temperature for sleeping is 14 degrees Celsius. :) Otherwise my blanket set-up gets too hot, haha. (I have a comforter plus thick fleece/wooly blanket on top). In Summer I slowly switch to comforter + light wooly blanket, to comforter only, to sheet only. And if it gets super hot, it will be cold wet sheet + cold wet t-shirt (sadly I do not have aircon and my bedroom gets up to 39 degrees Celsius). In Winter the coldest we let it get is around 8 degrees Celsius, but that's honestly really really cold for sleeping.

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 16

October - November 2024

Alright that's the end of November! We're actually really close to the end of the year and that's wild to me. It feels like it came both incredibly quickly and also insanely slowly. I'm not sure how much gaming I'm gonna get done in December though. I plan on buying Fantasian and that's all I have planned for the whole month lol.

BUT Fantasian isn't even here yet, so let's focus on what I've already played! I'm also gonna slip some stuff in from October I forgot I wanted to talk about! Might as well, right?

And as always, these aren't reviews! Just me throwing up my thoughts onto the internet! Please play anything I talk about if it interests you!

Webfishing (October 11, 2024) - PC

To get us started, it's Webfishing! This game just started popping up on my feed one day. And I thought it was so cute I just had to grab it so I could play with my sibling and friends (I need to play with my friends more actually)

There's a lot to love in Webfishing. I love the graphics, the music is so relaxing (I love the title screen theme), the vibe is incredibly peaceful while still having room to be funny and vibrant with a surprising amount of cute NPCs. I love that it's a social focused game so you can play with friends and even total strangers and just kind of parallel play with them and chat it up. It's super cute! And I love just HOW MUCH there is to do. A super cute character creator, tons of unlocks, tons of fish to get, hidden treasures to find, all the random drinks, the random props to add to the atmosphere, barking and what now, drawing, playing music. So much of this is completely unneeded in a fishing game but it's just SO cute and adds to the overall experience of just having a fun time with people online. Fishing really is beautiful.

I do have some complaints though. For one, I think the game could use a skybox. I think it's really missing a day/night cycle, even if the time of day didn't impact the fish, it's something I think sticks out like a sore thumb. Similarly more weather than just rain could really add to it. I also wouldn't mind additional maps, you're always in the same area no matter what room you enter and it's a GREAT and super cute map, but I think you could make even more super cute maps! And lastly, I actually think the mashing isn't hard enough, and this might be just a me problem cause I'm a crazy masher. But I feel like now one click clears 10 points when reeling in, and for someone like me that just means there's no challenge to fishing anymore.

But regardless it is a SUPER cute game I'd love to play more of ASAP. I got the spectral rod, I have a big gator in my aquarium, and I love my dog girl. But I haven't really played with my friends as much as I'd like so I'd love to fix that soon! There's still tons to do and this game is endlessly charming!

Pokemon TCG Pocket (October 30, 2024) - Mobile

Here's one (kind of) hot off the presses! A brand new phone game I've been playing way more than I'd like to admit! Recently I've been in a HUGE card game craze, but haven't really had the funds to play them much. The only deck I currently have is 1/2 of a Final Fantasy Deck (it's a fire deck I got for free from a convention and I'm so happy to have it I have plans to upgrade it with some stuff when I get more money). So when they announced a free to play smaller version of the Pokemon TCG, of course I was interested!

And this game is pretty dang good! There's a ton here I really like! I like getting to open up booster packs for free, that's always fun even if you don't play games. And I feel like 2 a day is actually shockingly generous for a phone game, especially since you build up the timer things to open bonus packs at a pretty good rate! And of course the art is lovely and it's great to be able to collect and see these cards in a way that doesn't take up space, and I love you can look at them in 3D and some of them even have neat effects. The Wonder Pick is a cute feature, I love that you can make displays and binders of your cards. I think the password system for playing with friends is really nice and simple, it's all set up good. But I think the shining point is actually playing the card game itself! I like that matches are so quick, I think cutting it down to 20 cards works PERFECTLY for quick bite-sized battles. And I love that I can customize and play around with my own decks and strategies, I'll have to upload some of my collection and and my decks later! It's a ton of fun to experiment with different cards in a space where I can try a smaller version of the game for free!

However, while the actual gameplay is probably my favorite part. It's probably also my least favorite part??? Combat in this game can really suck sometimes. I think if you're playing this game currently you probably also have a few random complaints you've built up while playing. Mine boil down to: Too much of this game comes down to coin flips. I am not convinced coin flips in this game are truly 50/50 odds. I've had TONS of opponents pull that Misty card on me, I've seen it work maybe twice. But secondly, and way more annoyingly: EX Cards ruin this game. I think EX cards you have to evolve to are annoying, but manageable and you at least have to earn it. But Stage 1 EX cards? I HATE these things. They are so unfair and if you draw a bad hand, how will you EVER defeat someone running 2 Circle Circuit Pikachu and 2 Zapdos EX? You just can't. And that Mewtwo + Gardevoir combo is INSANE! I know Mewtwo discards 2 energy when it does the attack, but that's clearly not enough. Me? I personally have taken a hard stance already against EX cards and have removed ALL of them from my decks. They are not fun to fight, they are not fun to win with. So I won't be using them. More power to you if you do, but I'm good. My last complaint is that Fire Types suck and I can't use Charizard because of this. What a horrible oversight, fix it.

There's other nitpicky stuff like no trading and I think the icon selection is miserable (let me use any card art??) But I know a lot of this is probably growing pains from an app that JUST came out. I'll give it some grace while it finds its footing, cause the game for sure is still a ton of fun!

Work Time Fun (December 22, 2005) - PSP

This is a little game that was introduced to me by a friend of mine while we were hanging out and now it's kind of become a new obsession of mine. If you've never heard of Work Time Fun, the simplest way I can describe it is "shitty Warioware". You play horribly unfun minigames for horribly long amounts of time to get horrible pay so you can buy horrible prizes. It sounds awful but... I absolutely love it. I wouldn't say it's fun in a traditional sense but it can be oddly fun to just waste time with mundane tasks (like I genuinely enjoy the 5 fingers game) and the whole crazy and chaotic energy of the game makes it incredibly enjoyable. It's an anti-game but it's actually so charming and fun anyway.

The game is so short and simple that I don't really have much to say on it in specific. I like the visuals and how everything is drawn in different styles, sometimes even using real photos (like the most hilarious: the save file screen which uses a photo of a trash filled car for no reason.) The minigames are stupid and short but they're all just fun enough to keep me coming back. And again the whole premise and atmosphere is what makes it great. Getting emails from total strangers talking to you like friends, the game acting like you're working real jobs, collecting useless garbage out of vending machines. From more minigames, to silly tools like the amazing Ramen Timer (really works!), and even completely garbage knickknacks. It's just, funny! And I can't even get the full experience because I can't do the multiplayer stuff like "outsourcing work to friends??" whatever that means.

The only REAL complaints I have, because it's a little silly to complain about a game meant to be bad. Is that it's annoying you have to wait for the minigame of your choice to show up in a selection of 4. The more you unlock, the lower chances you have of pulling something you actually want to play. But it's whatever. Not a big deal.

Before I wrap this section up I just want to say that this game NEEDS a new entry. I don't think Sony would be able to make something with the same energy nowadays sadly. And I wouldn't want an indie version of it to be like, horror and / or meta filled. But I know SOMEONE can do it. Maybe it's me? Maybe it's you? I think WTF would work SO well as a phone game, I've been playing this PSP one on my phone and it's a blast. But having a new one that can actually be updated to add more awful games and more weird prizes as the game goes on, as well as being able to take advantage of all the stuff phones can do nowadays (like tracking steps, maybe even location stuff??? idk) I think there's LIMITLESS potential for a Work Time Fun Reboot.

Donkey Kong Land 1-3 (June 26, 1995 - October 27, 1997) - Gameboy

So I actually tried to play DKL1 a while back. But it was not hitting, so I decided I wouldn't bother unless it got on NSO with rewind. Well, it happened. So now I have to put my money where my mouth is. I'll give a little rundown on my thoughts on each game in the trilogy:

DKL1 is easily the weakest of the bunch. The visuals are really muddy and hard to see. It's impressive they were able to translate the prerendered SNES sprites to GB. But at what cost? Similarly the game just feels kind of bad to play. It feels slow, WAY slower than actual Country. Rolling covers NO distance and moves soooo slowly for example. I think where this game shines is actually with its original stuff for the most part. Things taken from Country1 are lackluster, I'd rather just play Country1. But stuff like the plot in the manual, the sky world, the city world, that's new and unique! And it stands out the most. Except for the boss fights and the music which are both original (iirc) and very weak. The less said about that the better.

DKL2 is easily the best of the bunch. Sadly it stops doing anything original and is just a straight up port of Country2. While that's less interesting, I do think it helps make the game more solid over all. Visuals are massively improved, while still looking muddy you can tell they made an effort to redraw more of the sprites and it helps make things clearer and makes the game look way better! Similarly the GB versions of the Country2 songs are delightful to listen to! It's just a shame Mining Melancholy, my personal favorite, appears to be the only one left out. It was also cool seeing actual levels I recognize from Country2 translated into a smaller game like this. I was particularly impressed with the fact they had bee hive levels, roller coaster levels, Arctic Abyss, and stuff like that. Gameplay is improved, bosses are improved, level design is improved. And while it may be because it's taken from Country2 directly, you can't deny it does make it a better game. The only REAL issue I have is that the animal buddies use Select for their special abilities, which is odd for my hands to do.

DKL3 is, at the time of writing this, still weirdly NOT on NSO and idk when it will be. So I emulated it. I think Country3 is a really underrated game, but I will admit I remember the levels a lot less than 1+2. So it's a little tougher to speak on how it compares to the SNES counterpart. But a lot of what applies to Land2 applies to this one. Good gameplay, good music (GB Rockface Rumble was a treat lol), better bosses, and an overall more interesting experience than Land1. However, I can't help but feel underwhelmed by the stage selection and their lack of interest in doing some of the Country3's weirder level gimmicks. No levels with the sniper in the foreground, no levels with thunder and water, no levels where they reverse the controls. I know it may have been too hard on GB. But still, it's a shame. Even the Bleak fight is massively downgraded and is no longer a random snowball fight minigame. Is it easier? Sure. Is it as fun? Not really.

But regardless, 2 and 3 are both good. And if you're curious about playing just one. Maybe play the one that corresponds to the Country game you're most familiar with. If you're familiar with all of them then Land2 is absolutely the best one of the bunch. And if you're not familiar with ANY Country games. Skip the Land trilogy and just play the Country games.

Battle Fantasia (April 26, 2007) - PC

Next up is an INCREDIBLY charming fighting game I actually bought all the way at the start of the year. But haven't had the time or energy to really sink my teeth into it until now. Battle Fantasia is an Arc System Works fighter made (I believe) during the time they lost the rights to GG. And is one of the first attempts to reboot the 2D Fighting Game Genre for modern ages. Even before Street Fighter 3! It's based on RPG tropes and is in my opinion, SO charming and cute.

There's almost too many positives to count. I think its aesthetics are immediately what jump out to me. The world is so cute and vibrant and really does feel like a fighting game for a JRPG that doesn't exist. My favorite example I've been showing people is the cave stage. Which has a treasure chest, but also what appears to be a Save Point in the upper left corner.

There is NO reason for that to be there. It's a completely unneeded detail. But it's SO cute and really helps to drive the JRPG theme home and that detail is what made me realize I was gonna love this game. The next best part are the characters themselves. They're ALL cute. My favorites are the Princess Olivia, Odile and Dokurod, and Deathbringer. But all the other characters are all cute or at least have great designs! From Watson the mage bunny to Urs the protagonist with a chainsaw motorcycle sword. The only character whose design I dont really gel with is the Priest/Cleric dude. And I think it's just the short shorts. But the music is great, the graphics are great and also make it feel like a PS2 RPG. The plot is interesting and cool. And the gameplay is simple and easy to grasp while still having enough depth that I actually missed entire mechanics during my playthroughs!

BUT... It's not perfect. I think where this game kinda stumbles for me is the Story Mode. I was really expecting a cool JRPG scale story, or at least an overarching plot where you get to play as everyone as the tale unravels... But ultimately it's kind of just a shorter Arcade ladder for each character with cutscenes in between them. And while some of them contribute to the plot (like Deathbringer) I can't really see how they could possibly exist in the same universe (see, again, Deathbringer). So while the story is cool, it's not really as satisfying as like, Xrd's story. Which is presented in a better way with this kind of ladder story being a prequel to the true story mode. But I understand why they didn't do that. Also, I find it weirdly difficult to remember my moves in this game. I can remember most of them, but for some reason I just cannot recall how to input them and had to keep checking the movelist. It's not too bad cause most movesets are easy to grasp, but it's an odd thing I haven't experienced this badly before. And I think it's cause none of the move names are just saying specifically what the moves are lmao.

BUT YES this game rules and deserves more love! It's on steam and I think if you like small fighting games you really should give it a shot! I hear the netcode is garbage and hopefully it can get rollback eventually. But for now, it's fun!

Dadish 3D (April 22, 2024) - PC

OH YEAH BABY IT'S TIME FOR A NEW DADISH!!! MY GOAT IS BACK!! I actually ALMOST missed this one, with everything happening this year it just slipped my mind. But I was able to get it at an INCREDIBLE price during the Steam Fall Sale. So please, if you like Dadish, pick it up yourself!

Dadish is the 5th installment of the Dadish series I believe. So I certainly think it was time for a change of pace, and I think swapping to 3D was the PERFECT call for the series! The simple gameplay where Dadish's only real abilities are a double jump actually work perfect in 3D and still makes for compelling levels. The graphics are GREAT and super cute, the environments in particular just look really lovely in this one. They were able to bring the style from the 2D games over flawlessly in my opinion.

The music, similarly, is still great! The Toksa Park theme in particular was a banger! And the level aesthetics themselves were also nice, I can't believe there hasn't been a snowy mountain yet as far as I recall? And the plot is so very Dadish, I actually liked the return of Durnak, which is usually something that bugs me. And the bosses were cute too, I liked the gimmick of Dadish guessing their names all horribly wrong. And being 3D really helped making hunting for the stars more interesting than it's been in earlier entries. Similarly, translating the Madish and Burgurgular levels into something similar to Mach Speed sections from Sonic is GENIUS.

However, I'll admit. This game is not perfect. I have one specific issue with it. It's too easy. Like, WAY too easy. Dadish 3 was the hardest game yet, by far. But this one is like the total opposite. I think the biggest reason why is that the enemies are all taken directly from the 2D Dadish games. Down to how they function. Which means most enemies just walk in a straight line. Deadly for 2D, but for 3D? Basically no enemy presents a challenge to you unless it's a whole line of pizzas. But the burgers just aimlessly avoid you, the hotdogs (usually the bane of my existence in this series) can all be easily jumped around. And even the bosses go down SO quickly. Subwoofer should've had the spike appear in a random place, rather than the same place. Stabby should've probably had some sort of projectile cause he can basically never reach you. I think maybe even just second phases for the bosses could help up the ante a bit. Similarly I can't help but feel like I wanted MORE from these 3D Worlds. I think the next game has TONS of potential based on the groundwork here. But it may be time to give Dadish and his foes some new abilities maybe? Or even giving me more to collect through the levels could be huge.

Regardless, it's Dadish. It's peak. This series can do no wrong. Play the Dadish series.

Killer Instinct (November 1995) - Gameboy

And last, but certainly not least. While I was playing through the Donkey Kong Land trilogy, is suddenly dawned on me that Killer Instinct ALSO got a Gameboy port. And if you know me, you know I ADORE KI. So I had to give it a go. It's the only KI I haven't played previously!

Right out the gate, it's remarkably similar to the Land trilogy. The graphics are insanely muddy, maybe even more than the Land games? To the point where if you don't know KI already, I believe you may not understand what's happening in most battles.

Similarly the game just plays so crazy. It's 2 buttons now, and most commands work pretty similarly. But let me give you a secret tip: ALL FALL BEFORE THE MIGHT OF SABREWULF! Since he mostly uses Charge inputs anyway, just mashing left / right and A / B will have Sabrewulf just tear into foes with little they can do about it. I died in the normal arcade ladder TWICE. Once against Sabrewulf, and once against the final boss. It's EASY pickings. Also no Riptor or Cinder. Actually a crime. I'm shocked my favorites all made it in, but in KI1 I play Sabrewulf and Glacius so those are probably some of the safest picks outside of like, Fulgore lmao.

BUT... DAMN IT... IT'S KINDA COOL!! The GB versions of the music honestly kick ASS. Particularly the main theme sounds GREAT on GB. And like, there is a training mode which, from my understanding, is not something to take for granted especially with older weirder fighting games. And unlike Land1, this game is FAST. Like maybe not as fast as actual KI but it keeps its own pace and it's not insanely slow and clunky. Plus every character has their own ending and there's a unique final boss with Eyedol. And there's still combos, and combo breakers, and finishers. Like... It's all here with very little compromise.

Like, it's obviously worse than just playing any other KI game. And just like the Land games, I wish they had maybe drawn new sprites from the ground up rather than trying to scale down the prerendered stuff. And also maybe do some original stuff (COULD YOU IMAGINE IF THIS HAD ITS OWN EXCLUSIVE CHARACTER THAT CAME BACK FOR 2013??) But like... It's so charming. And truth be told, I'm realizing I don't have much bad to say for it considering it's a small 2 button GB fighter. It makes me wish KI got ported to more stuff! Imagine them trying to do the 3D Backdrops from the arcade versions of KI1/KIG on Gameboy Advance or DS? Imagine a Killer Instinct 2013 port to 3DS in a similar fashion to the Street Fighter 4 3DS port? I would have been OBSESSED with that. Much to think about... I may have to revisit KI Gameboy. What a weird world.

Seriously though put this on NSO and I will run tournaments (probably not but I'd love to fight someone in it)

[bubblyaquarium]

we're going to do all of these and yes it took like two hours but I had fun. just a warning this is super long lmao

1. What is your System name and / or the name you collectively go by?

Our system name is The Aquarium. We won't share the name we collectively go by / the body's name for privacy reasons, but it's nothing fun lmao it's a basic white boy name.

2. Which word do you prefer to use for your System? (example: System, Collective, Constellation, ...)

We prefer either system or plurality, Circus likes to jokingly call us a 'school' since our theme is based on fish. We also use Aquarium as a collective term for ourselves.

3. What are your Systems origins, if you choose to label them?

We use the term quoigenic as we partially don't know fully how we formed and partially because we don't want to talk about it, at least not publicly on our blog.

4. Do you have any Subsystems?

Nope.

5. Do you have any Sidesystems?

Nope.

6. What is your opinion on you& / your& language and similar types?

For us personally we don't use it, but I think it's a cool way to refer to yourself/others for those that do! It is a tad confusing for us though

7. What methods do you use to keep track of your System and it's Members?

Simply Plural is our main way of documenting everyone, we have pronoun.cc and pluralkit but those tend to be outdated.

8. What is your Systems ways of communication?

We don't really do anything to communicate to each other, we remember (almost) everything between switches so we haven't really had a need to. We can talk to each other or at least sense each other's feelings when co-fronting together.

9. Is communication hard or easy for you (and why is it the way it is)?

I guess it's fairly easy?

10. Do you view yourselves as parts of one person or as multiple people in one body?

It depends on the headmate, most of us see ourselves as parts of the core (albeit differently sized pieces of the core), though a feel of us (like Mirror, Ren, and Breeze for example) feel like separate people.

11. Who are you out to as plural?

Just our one close friend, who is also a system.

12. What languages do you collectively / one of you speak?

Only English unfortunately, we want to learn more but we are so inconstant we haven't been able to get past a few weeks before dropping it.

13. What is something you can't seem to collectively agree on?

Our hair lmao, it changes all the time.

14. If you have a collective Identity (such as Gender or Orientation), what is it?

Transgender guy and gay acespec.

15. Do you collectively identify as queer / LGBTQIA+?

Yep! Almost all of us are queer in some way.

16. Do you collectively identify as Otherkin, Alterhuman or Nonhuman?

Collectively we're demihuman (part human part not), though some of us have specific kintypes. Angel is dollkin, Circus is a cat therian, Ty is nonhuman, plus we have physically nonhuman headmates as well.

17. Do you have a collective rentry / carrd / something along those lines? (feel free to share!)

Nope, we tried rentry but didn't like it much.

18. What does switching feel like for you?

For the most part it's real subtle and we don't notice it until later, but for a few of us it's more intense. Switching to Corci feels almost like having part of ourselves 'turned off', like we lose energy and our emotions become dull. Switching to Ro is like having someone else force their way into your brain, it makes us confused and dizzy. Sometimes switching out makes us feel jittery or causes us to dissociate, it depends.

19. Are you Monoconscious, Polyconscious or something else?

I believe hydraconcious, it's hard to wrap my head around having different consciousness or what that feels like so it's really hard to tell.

20. What does fronting feel like for you?

For me (Corci) it's feels like I'm in a dream, kind of like I'm just autopiloting through things but I'm only half-there. However I am often very dissociated and I know it's not that way for everyone.

21. How many System members do you have?

As of right now 33.

22. Which word / words do you prefer to use for members of your System?

I personally prefer headmates or members, though some of us use the term alter. A few of us refer to everyone as 'the others'.

23. Which age group seems to be the most common in your System?

Early to mid twenties, which is the bodies age.

24. Which gender seems to be the most common in your System?

Definitely male or masc-aligned.

25. Are there any talents / hobbies you picked up because of a Member?

No, but I'm not the right person to ask as I don't really enjoy any hobbies, and don't do the ones we share.

26. Do you have any in-system relationships?

Nope, I'm one of the headmates that's more like a piece of the core, and we don't have relationships, that's just the ones that are more separate.

27. Do you label roles within your System (and if yes, which ones?)

There's too many to list, but we tend to use more specific roles (like I'm technically a protector, but I use the term buffer, which is a more specific variation of protector).

28. Are most of your Members introjected, brainmade or something else?

I'd say it's 50/50, though brainmade headmates tend to be more complex and fully formed people than the introjects are.

29. Do you use names, emojis or something similar to sign off messages (and if yes, which ones and why?)

We use our names, we do have emojis but they're mostly just for fun and ngl we tend to forget ours.

30. Do any of your System members use Xenogenders?

Yes! Circus uses a lot (audiogender, stickhoardic, catgender, clutterboy, sanriogender, clowngender, etc etc, ze is a gender hoarder), and Buttercream is girlthing.

31. How do Members pick face claims?

We all tend to form with a pretty vivid idea of what we look like, so it isn't to hard for us to make ourselves in picrew.

32. Do you have any Introjects of popular sources?

Dio and Ro are both from jjba, and we have a bunch of introjects from nct.

33. Do you have any Introjects of unpopular sources?

Sian from tfn and both Oz and Pigtails are from IDV, which idk if that's considered unpopular or not but we don't see introjects from it often.

34. Do you have nonhuman Members?

Yes, quite a few. Pigtails and Oz are both dolls, Percy is a forest spirit, Buttercream is a deity, Zee is a virtual zombie, and Breeze is a dryad.

35. Do any of you use Typing Quirks?

Idk if it's a quirk or if it just can't spell, but Zee spells a lot of things weird.

36. Do all of you front, or only a selected amount?

Most of us do, there's a handful that can't. Dio, Sunny, Marky, Jay, Wyatt, Lenny, and Johnny have never fronted. Mirror can front but does so rarely, she usually is just co-con.

37. Are there any Members who can't or prefer to not speak?

Jett is semiverbal and struggles to speak, Amy doesn't speak often we assume because she's shy, and Percy is fully mute.

38. Are most of you short or tall in height?

Kind of in between, most of us are around 5'7 (the body's height) though some of us are shorter (Zee, Deliliah, Ren, Percy) and some are very tall (Buttercream and Oz).

39. Is there a Member that is collectively loved by all in the System?

We all like each other for the most part but we all adore the littles, and as our peacemaker Chloe gets along well with everyone.

40. Do any of you struggle with being front-stuck a lot of the time?

I do, yes. During stressful periods in our life I tend to get either frontstuck or switch out near constantly. No one else has that issue though.

41. Do you have a Headspace (if not, is there a reason)?

Not really? Mostly because we struggle to visualize, though we'd really like one.

42. What does your Headspace look like?

As I said we don't really have one, but there's a few places we have: a big dark room with a huge fishtank in the middle (for destressing or a place to hide when we're super overwhelmed or overstimulated), an alleyway where Chaos lives, and a fancy room with a library where Dio lives.

43. How do Members look like in Headspace? (example: Cartoony, Foggy, Realistic, ...)

Pretty realistic, we have a good sense of our what we look like.

44. Is there a reason why the Headspace looks the way it looks?

Skipping because we don't really have a headspace

45. Is it easy for you to enter Headspace?

It's very challenging for us

46. Do you remember what happened in Headspace when you switch into front?

Yes but then again nothing really happens there

47. Does time in Headspace pass (and if yes, is it at the same speed as in real life)?

No idea

48. What is your favourite place in Headspace?

I mean there's not much there lmao but for sure the fishtank room, it's so calming

49. Are there "NPCs" within your Headspace?

No, unless we're counting the fish

50. Are there any interesting fun facts about your Headspace?

Nope

51. Are there any "System Stereotypes" you fit into?

We have the stereotypical 'edgy persecutor' and a lot of introjects from our hyperfixations.

52. Who of you would be considered the "evil alter"? (in a lighthearted, joking manner)

Chaos 100%

53. What is your favourite inside-joke with a Member?

I can't think of any rn

54. What is your favourite Plural meme?

55. Is there any character that you headcanon as plural?

It's like semi-canon but Foo Fighters from jjba

56. Is there any show or movie that you believe is a good plural representation, despite that not being its intention?

I haven't seen many tbh

57. Is there any song that you believe describes your plural experience?

Not that I can think of

58. What about an artwork that describes your plural experience?

None

59. Which Member of your System do you believe to be the prettiest of them all?

Sian lmao he's our pretty boy, I think Buttercream is pretty too though

60. Do you collectively have a lucky number?

83 is our collective lucky number, I personally favor the number 9

61. When did you first discover your System?

A few years ago but we kind of just ignored it lmao

62. How many Members did you know about during your Syscovery?

6 or 7 (Gray, Delilah, Mirror, Rocky, Breeze, and Chaos + the 'core' or Inky at the time)

63. Was accepting your Plurality a challenge for you?

Oh yeah. Before knowing much about plurality we thought the concept was super cool (like not the trauma behind it obviously, but the way people's brains could just. Form other people) so we felt like we were unconsciously faking because we thought it was interesting, hence we ignored it for years.

64. How did you learn about Plurality?

Partially through tiktok (that's where we first heard of it), but we learned about it through an old friend of ours that's a system.

65. Where there any signs of your Plurality, if you look back at your past?

Yeah for sure, starting at age 13 or 14 we had a lot of instances where Chaos fronted, as well as Buttercream, which looking back is very obvious as they are super different from Chloe, who was the host back then.

66. Do you think your Syscovery changed a lot in your life?

Not really tbh, it's been a comfort to have names to our different 'moods' but it doesn't really affect how we live day to day life

67. If you're out to others as plural, have they ever told you later on that they already thought about it before you realized?

Nope.

68. What was the biggest struggle during your Syscovery?

Differentiating between mood swings and actual headmates.

69. Was there any big event that led to your Syscovery?

Not really? It was a gradual realization during a rough period in our life that hey, sometimes when things are super shitty I start using different pronouns that's weird

70. What is something you want questioning plurals to know?

It's okay to not know everything right away, it takes a while to process and learn all the terms and figure out headmates, and sometimes you need to just exist without worrying about who you are and who's in your head.

71. Are you Neurodivergent (and if yes, how?)

Yes, we might(?) have ADHD, plus a couple personality disorders which are like our Main Issues lmao, being plural is almost like a secondary thing

72. Do you have any physical disability?

Uh...maybe? We don't feel disabled enough to call ourselves disabled but we for sure aren't fully able bodied.

73. Do you have a dissociative disorder?

No idea

74. Do you have any other disorder?

Borderline Personality Disorder 🤩 we have npd as well but bpd affects us the most by far it SUCKS

75. Do symptom vary in intensity depending on the fronter?

Yes! I'm the bpd holder so bpd seems to affect me more than the others (Delilah and Chaos as well), and npd affects Angel the most. Circus has the worst ADHD symptoms.

76. Do you think your disability / disorder has an influence on your plurality?

For sure, we're heavily affected by bpd and it causes us to be blurry a lot as well as making it hard to keep track of headmates as we have awful mood swings and identity issues and it's hard to tell what's an episode and what's a new headmate. In fact we sometimes wonder if most of if not all of us are made up just to explain away how inconsistent our personality is, which even if that is true we've found a lot of comfort in being a system and it's helped us tons so we wouldn't change how we label ourselves even if we aren't wrong.

77. Do you have amnesia of any kind?

Mostly emotional amnesia, though we have memory blocks between certain headmates, like Mirror and Buttercream.

78. Are there Members who deal better with symptoms than others?

Some of us cope with things better than others.

79. Do your disorders / disabilities influence communication or switching within your System in any way?

It makes it harder to keep track of switches

80. Does being plural help with your disorders in any way? (example: another Member switching in to take care of the body during difficult times, ...)

Yes but I don't feel like elaborating rn

81. Which is your favourite plural flag?

I'm biased but I like the quoigenic flag most. It's like a sunset over the ocean.

82. If you have one, which is your favourite plurality related tumblr blog?

This one (pluralasking) not to be a suck up lmao we just like answering questions

83. What is a fun fact about your System?

We are collectively super hyperfixated on scambaiting! I can't tell you how many hours we've spend watching / listening to youtube videos and livestreams of scambaiters. We know Way Too Much about how scams work.

84. What is a flavour of ice cream that describes you collectively?

Cookies and cream. Don't ask why the vibes are just right.

85. Which pride flag is the prettiest, in your collective opinion?

We love pride flags but our favorites are omnisexual, queer, and abrosexual. Plus there are a ton of xenogender flags we like as well.

86. If you collectively had to choose between being a sweet or a sour candy, which do you pick?

Sweet

87. Your body always morphs into what the current fronter(s) look like, would you want this power or not?

Uhh for me it wouldn't make much a difference. I supposed overall it would be cool but considering how often we switch it would bring a lot of unwanted attention, plus we don't always want it to be known who is fronting

88. Is there a Hatsune Miku in your System?

No lmao

89. Who has been in your System the longest (if you can remember)?

Chloe is the original so for sure her. Amy, Breeze, Chaos/Corci (we split off from each other at some point but we used to be the same person I'm pretty sure), and Buttercream have also been here a while.

90. If you collectively had to choose, would you rather only eat sweet foods or only eat savoury foods for the rest of your life?

Collectively sweet, but I prefer savory

91. If you collectively had to choose, would you pick to become a vampire or a werewolf?

Vampire

92. Your body is transfered into one of your Members sources, which do you pick and why?

Sian, his source is pretty and gives us a lot of gender envy

93. If all of you turned into animals right this second, which animals would we find in your System?

A lot of cats, deer, and mice lmao

94. What would a Minecraft server with all of your Members look like? (example: chaotic, peaceful, laggy, ...)

A mess, just all sorts of unfinished houses and farms everywhere. And we'd only play on create mode.

95. If you could choose between only living in Headspace or only living in Meatspace (real life), which would you choose?

Headspace, idk if it's basically nonexistent I don't like the real world

96. What topic would you collectively make a youtube channel about? (it can't be plurality!)

Scambaiting, or queer or otherkin related stuff

97. Which superpower would your body obtain, if you had to collectively decide on one?

Shapeshifting or invisibility (or like making ourselves unnoticeable to people)

98. Who would pick the coolest tattoo for the System and who would pick the worst?

Coolest would be Chaos (he wants us to get a snake that wraps around our arm) and worst would be Circus (it would be something jjba related I just know it)

99. If you only were allowed to eat one food for the rest of your life, but you would have to decide on the food collectively, what would it be and what would the decision making look like?

Ramen because A) it's easy B) we all like it and C) I'm the host and I say ramen

100. What is the most fun about doing polls and answering questions, in your opinion?

Talking about ourselves lmao, we have npd we will take any excuse to focus on ourselves

#One-Hundred

[pt: #one-hundred]

In order to celebrate 100 days of posting, here are 100 questions for you to answer! You can either answer them all at once, or let others send in the numbers they are most curious about!

Some of them are general questions, others are just really silly and should not be taken too serious. I put a lot of effort into coming up with all of these, so I truely hope you have fun with this!

For simplicity sake, all questions will use the words "System" and "Members".

1. What is your System name and / or the name you collectively go by?

2. Which word do you prefer to use for your System? (example: System, Collective, Constellation, ...)

3. What are your Systems origins, if you choose to label them?

4. Do you have any Subsystems?

5. Do you have any Sidesystems?

6. What is your opinion on you& / your& language and similar types?

7. What methodes do you use to keep track of your System and it's Members?

8. What is your Systems ways of communication?

9. Is communication hard or easy for you (and why is it the way it is)?

10. Do you view yourselves as parts of one person or as multiple people in one body?

11. Who are you out to as plural?

12. What languages do you collectively / one of you speak?

13. What is something you can't seem to collectively agree on?

14. If you have a collective Identity (such as Gender or Orientation), what is it?

15. Do you collectively identify as queer / LGBTQIA+?

16. Do you collectively identify as Otherkin, Alterhuman or Nonhuman?

17. Do you have a collective rentry / carrd / something along those lines? (feel free to share!)

18. What does switching feel like for you?

19. Are you Monoconscious, Polyconscious or something else?

20. What does fronting feel like for you?

21. How many System members do you have?

22. Which word / words do you prefer to use for members of your System?

23. Which age group seems to be the most common in your System?

24. Which gender seems to be the most common in your System?

25. Are there any talents / hobbies you picked up because of a Member?

26. Do you have any in-system relationships?

27. Do you label roles within your System (and if yes, which ones?)

28. Are most of your Members introjected, brainmade or something else?

29. Do you use names, emojis or something similar to sign off messages (and if yes, which ones and why?)

30. Do any of your System members use Xenogenders?

31. How do Members pick face claims?

32. Do you have any Introjects of popular sources?

33. Do you have any Introjects of unpopular sources?

34. Do you have nonhuman Members?

35. Do any of you use Typing Quirks?

36. Do all of you front, or only a selected amount?

37. Are there any Members who can't or prefer to not speak?

38. Are most of you short or tall in height?

39. Is there a Member that is collectively loved by all in the System?

40. Do any of you struggle with being front-stuck a lot of the time?

41. Do you have a Headspace (if not, is there a reason)?

42. What does your Headspace look like?

43. How do Members look like in Headspace? (example: Cartoony, Foggy, Realistic, ...)

44. Is there a reason why the Headspace looks the way it looks?

45. Is it easy for you to enter Headspace?

46. Do you remember what happened in Headspace when you switch into front?

47. Does time in Headspace pass (and if yes, is it at the same speed as in real life)?

48. What is your favourite place in Headspace?

49. Are there "NPCs" within your Headspace?

50. Are there any interesting fun facts about your Headspace?

51. Are there any "System Stereotypes" you fit into?

52. Who of you would be considered the "evil alter"? (in a lighthearted, joking manner)

53. What is your favourite inside-joke with a Member?

54. What is your favourite Plural meme?

55. Is there any character that you headcanon as plural?

56. Is there any show or movie that you believe is a good plural representation, despite that not being its intention?

57. Is there any song that you believe decribes your plural experience?

58. What about an artwork that describes your plural experience?

59. Which Member of your System do you believe to be the prettiest of them all?

60. Do you collectively have a lucky number?

61. When did you first discover your System?

62. How many Members did you know about during your Syscovery?

63. Was accepting your Plurality a challenge for you?

64. How did you learn about Plurality?

65. Where there any signs of your Plurality, if you look back at your past?

66. Do you think your Syscovery changed a lot in your life?

67. If you're out to others as plural, have they ever told you later on that they already thought about it before you realised?

68. What was the biggest struggle during your Syscovery?

69. Was there any big event that led to your Syscovery?

70. What is something you want questioning plurals to know?

71. Are you Neurodivergent (and if yes, how?)

72. Do you have any physical disability?

73. Do you have a dissociative disorder?

74. Do you have any other disorder?

75. Do symptom vary in intensity depending on the fronter?

76. Do you think your disability / disorder has an influence on your plurality?

77. Do you have amnesia of any kind?

78. Are there Members who deal better with symptoms than others?

79. Do your disorders / disabilities influence communication or switching within your System in any way?

80. Does being plural help with your disorders in any way? (example: another Member switching in to take care of the body during difficult times, ...)

81. Which is your favourite plural flag?

82. If you have one, which is your favourite plurality related tumblr blog?

83. What is a fun fact about your System?

84. What is a flavour of ice cream that describes you collectively?

85. Which pride flag is the prettiest, in your collective opinion?

86. If you collectively had to choose between being a sweet or a sour candy, which do you pick?

87. Your body always morphs into what the current fronter(s) look like, would you want this power or not?

88. Is there a Hatsune Miku in your System?

89. Who has been in your System the longest (if you can remember)?

90. If you collectively had to choose, would you rather only eat sweet foods or only eat savoury foods for the rest of your life?

91. If you collectively had to choose, would you pick to become a vampire or a werewolf?

92. Your body is transfered into one of your Members sources, which do you pick and why?

93. If all of you turned into animals right this second, which animals would we find in your System?

94. What would a Minecraft server with all of your Members look like? (example: chaotic, peaceful, laggy, ...)

95. If you could choose between only living in Headspace or only living in Meatspace (real life), which would you choose?

96. What topic would you collectively make a youtube channel about? (it can't be plurality!)

97. Which superpower would your body obtain, if you had to collectively decide on one?

98. Who would pick the coolest tattoo for the System and who would pick the worst?

99. If you only were allowed to eat one food for the rest of your life, but you would have to decide on the food collectively, what would it be and what would the decision making look like?

100. What is the most fun about doing polls and answering questions, in your opinion?

[huntedspy2]

gonna scream into the void for a second

trying to be more genuine with myself and others. Reaching out or complimenting people even if I'm scared to do so. opening up to people more, asking for help or setting boundaries. I also want to feel less scared of how I use tumblr. I want to be able to use my main blog without feeling like ill annoy others, or being more open about my kin identities. I often feel cringe for it which makes no sense because this is the "cringe website". like I can and should be myself this is my online experience

I was planning to redesign my blogs' structures before making the Big Switch but I think that's what's holding me back

For about a month now too I've been building a personal website on github purely for my gender hoard, kinlist, and pronoun/name info. It was originally for ponytown (lol) but it's been helping me improve my html and css skills andddd its been making me feel more inspired to make a general personal website

the ideas I have for a personal website would to just make it my place. I want to have info about my ocs on there, thoughts on certain media, random pages with useless shit that are there just because its fun. and I want to include stuff like the gender hoard and kinlist pages on there too because again, I want to be more genuine

I am the most stressed and anxious I've been in so long. my jaw clenching has started up again, I'm getting acne again, I constantly feel tense and my chest is always anxious feeling and tight, I've been losing the motivation to make meals and eat and losing energy. I cant keep up with college and at this point I don't know if I made the right choice in computer science. I have a passion for working with computers, but I realize now that passion leaned more towards the IT side of things and. im in CS. I have no motivation or ideas for doing projects outside of coursework unlike a lot of my peers. I'm closeted so I feel like I'm just fitting their stereotype of "girl cant do cs!!!!!". fuck!!!!!!!!

parents stressing me out and overall not taking into accountability I have disabilities

thats another thing, I haven't been able to get my ADHD properly treated since I got it diagnosed 4years ago. I also know im autistic but I dont want to get formally diagnosed bc of several issues, so speaking up for myself with that disability is impossible when my parents don't think im autistic and don't like self diagnosis

maybe its not too late to finish my degree and do a 180 and get into 3d modeling. I'm sure my passion with art could mesh with my programming skills there or something

I don't know who I am really. I always feel like other people have aesthetics or themes that fit them, and here I am with so many different interests in aesthetics and themes that I cant choose one. hoe do people choose a theme for a website? how do people decorate their profiles with a clear and solid theme? I feel like I always have 20 different themes that I want at the same time, its hard to choose one and have people only perceive that one with you

I have a headache rn

on the plus side i also had the tastiest clementine in possibly my whole life

I always remind myself I am only 21 I am so young in the grand scheme of things. but outside pressure wants me to know who I am at this exact moment. its so hard

fish and aquariums have quickly become a special interest within the last 2 months id say. im debating between a 10 or 20 gallon and what id stock it with. im thinking honey gourami and neon tetras and shrimp, but I love the idea of a betta fish or a crayfish. I've had to take care of a crayfish before they're lively little creatures

I want to be more social with people and make new friends or at least gaming friends, but im always apprehensive because I know ill be masking. need to try to open up more, might play more vrchat to socialize but its hard

[mysticsapphicsblog]

The aquarium as a date, seems so cute tbh. No doubts, just fishies. :( <3

Yes little fishes and when the when the rays come up to the edge of the tank with their lil smiley faces and the starfish and the glowy fish and the cool domes and the-

[fifteensjukebox]

5, 7, 18!

5. favorite form of potato?

cool cool starting off with the impossible question... i think either garlic matchstick fries or pierogi (pan fried bc deep fried is too greasy and just boiled ones are sad)

7. what animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium?

this is such a fun q but i haven't been to an aquarium since i was a kid and i really hadn't thought about it! so probably just a general curiosity about everything

18. your boba/tea order?

i used to get green apple but this is another thing i haven't done in at least 10 years... as far as tea in general my favourites are chai and matcha lattes, but the caffeine puts me to sleep for some reason? so i have mint tea the most often

tysm for asking, bethany!

[bellafragolina]

Go get some rest, everyone needs some, Renee. Sorry I haven't been more active too because damn exams gave a strong sucker punch!

Oh and I have something to give, another SPYxFAMILY AU for Volo and Makoto.

Sabi was the adopted one from the orphanage, she may not have the power to read minds, the orphanage owner offered her to for his request was a smart child, she is smart, a predicting what's next to happen!

Lian is already under Makoto's care for as long as he could remember. His power to read minds really helps him with knowing his foster mother's identity as , but doesn't question it, she did it for the better. Oh spare him when Makoto praises him in her mind, he will always turns red and Makoto doesn't even know what to do.

The kids were...really surprised with their parents' sudden marriage. Sabi expected this, she saw a vision of it, and she doesn't care, she just loves to have a mom and a brother. Lian was kinda troubled, his mom, married a spy, but...a spy dad, assassin mom, and a sister (he doesn't know yet), and the fact that knowing "this country wants to start war!? I have to help"

Thus, they zip their mouth about the secret

Whoever trash talk about their kids... *nerveously glances and Makoto and Volo's fists* yeah

Entrance Exam. Send help to these children. Telephathy and Clairvoyance won't help, the whole room is crying, only the thought of Papa Volo's prayers and Mama Makoto's hugs after the exam gives them the motivation

Pokemon exist in this world! Volo and his Togekiss, Makoto and her Hisuian Zoroark! Look at them fluffies, Sabi always has the tendency to ride on them

(In SPYxFAMILY this is the arc where they're gonna have Bond the dog so here's the Bond role in my AU)

The kids want Pokemon of their own too, Lian to befriend Kamado's child (Rei) and same with Sabi. Volo and Makoto's a little conflicted at their sudden request.

'I found Kiku (Hisuian Zoroark) when I saved it from a snowstorm, the <Caretaker> allowed me to have her because of my dangerous missions. Isn't it too early for them to have a Pokemon?' - Makoto

'Togekiss has been with me since she was an egg, <Handler> let me take care of her on my own since she's my first ever Pokemon from an egg. But Lian and Sabi still has years until they're 10 to train their own Pokemon, it's better to wait for that time to come' - Volo

Lian heard dad, mama and papa. Sabi saw the future, mama and papa, that you will say no. A little convincing that they will be safe with a Pokemon, they will take responsibility, they can befriend Rei with their love for Pokemons they can prepare themselves to become a skilled trainer when they're older!

The couple reconsider. A memory of Sabi's kidnapping and both children's abduction (once actually, the aquarium incident was a cover up so Mama Makoto can beat the guy up), maybe another Pokemon would be a nice addition

-🦀anon

Ahhhh!!! So cute!!!

And they fall in love!! They become a beautiful family full of love!!!

I missed you!! I’m glad you’re back and still thinking of wonderful ideas!! This one is especially sweet!! I love it!!

~Renee

[gracereally]

Settling in

It's hard to believe that it's been over 4 weeks since I boarded a plane to come to Korea. I've only been free for half of that time, but I've already explored and learned so much. So far, things are going well! There are still growing pains, but I've been really enjoying my time here despite the strict covid guidelines that prevent me from being able to travel often or teach the way I would prefer.

It's crazy, but even after only two and a half weeks at work, I already feel myself settling into a routine. Routines have always helped me understand what to expect from the days and weeks ahead. This post is a quick rundown of what a typical day looks like for me in Korea.

9:00a: Wake up! I set my alarm for 9 so that I can still have a productive and full morning. Occasionally, I do wake up earlier than this. Other times, I'm so exhausted I only want to lay in bed. Luckily I have plenty of time before work for either option.

9:00a ~ 12:00p: During my mornings, I like to speak with my family and friends, since it is the evening for them. If I don't speak to anyone, I try to do something fun for myself, like read a book or play a video game. I also make myself breakfast every day. While I get ready for work, I watch TV.

Between 12:00p ~ 12:30p: I prepare to leave for work. All of my co-workers live in the same apartment building, so travel to work together. We can walk or taxi. Typically, we like to walk when it's nice out, but taxis are quick and easy (as well as cheap!) when the weather is bad or it is way too hot.

1:00p: Arrive at school

1:00p ~ 3:50p: This is my prep period. It may not seem like a ton of time, but we have a lot of resources for our lessons, so if we use our time effectively there's plenty of it for lesson planning. So far, we haven't been finding out what classes we teach that day until we get to work, which has been a huge downside. I would much prefer to be able to plan ahead or use any extra time for future lessons. However, I think this will change soon and I will get a regular schedule as I and the other new teachers settle in.

3:50p ~ 6:00p: I teach two classes to younger students, typically between the ages of first to third grade.

6:00p ~ 6:50p: Dinner break! Every day my school provides dinner for us. We order from a different restaurant each day and everyone submits their order before classes. Our order is waiting for us during our dinner break :)

6:50p ~ 9:00p: I teach two more classes, this time to the older students. The students in this block are typically between third and sixth grade.

9:00p ~ 9:30p: my co-workers and I try to finish up some grading and other loose ends before we head out. The work day technically ends at 9:10, but we often stay later to finish a few things. I really don't mind since I hate taking grading home.

I typically get home before 10:00p. We usually take the bus, but we can also walk on a nice night.

For the rest of the night, I have free time! I usually do my chores, like taking out the trash (such a hassle in Korea) or going for groceries. I try not to snack too much, but sometimes the convenience store is too tempting! I like to watch TV or do some online shopping to relax at night before I hit the hay around 1 or 2.

But there's fun stuff too I swear!

On weekends I've been exploring and shopping! Below are some more photos I took last weekend. I met up with a friend in Itaewon for lunch, and we also visited the war memorial museum. On Sunday I went to Lotte Tower, which is a mall here in Seoul that spans five huge floors and an enormous underground complex. There's an aquarium, cinema, tons of restaurants, a big department store, and so much more. I spent way too much money lmao

So that's what I've been up to! My day might not seem exciting but it's been very relaxing for me. I know my schedule might seem very different from the normal 9-5 setup, but it's honestly perfect for me. It's a stark contrast to my old job, in which I was constantly rushing to get to work in the morning and working in a stressful environment that I didn't enjoy very much at all.

So far I love teaching, despite sometimes having mixed feelings about the school itself. But that's a post for another day hahaha

Peace out ✌️

Grace

[laixrim]

May 1, 2022

Venting

///TW: Talks of Depression, Poor Husbandry for Red Eared Sliders, Metabolic Bone Disease, Talks of Anxiousness, Disorganized Eating Habits

Mentions of: Red Eared Sliders, Low Income, Stress, Anxiousness, Financial Troubles, Neglect, Early signs of a life/death situation, loss of a pet

--

Hey. It's been a while.

My mental health has greatly improved within the past year or so. Thankfully my family is well, although my father did move out, and things have been a little difficult with money. I work a part-time job - - it's been a little less than a year now.

I'm currently extremely stressed and overwhelmed, as I had to take one of my pet sliders to the vet on Saturday. Apparently she's showing slight symptoms of pyramiding, has some pink skin, and really needs calcium, as she's suffering from a deficiency. She's also showing early signs of MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease). The way the vet described it to me, is that with a lack of proper calcium, they try to grab it from elsewhere, such as their bones, which then weakens them, and with time, they could very much die.

My Mandy has been suffering, and we're hoping she'll improve with giving her sunlight and feeding her often, as she's small for her age (around 8 years old). I don't know much about turtle care. YouTube and subreddits have been a great help, but unfortunately not much regarding sunlight is mentioned... I hope to ask the vet about this.

My other turtle, Billy, who's around my age, so around 20, has been showing signs of an eye infection... So I have another appointment booked on Wednesday morning for them. It costs about $80 just to have them consulted, and it cost around $250 to get calcium, x-rays, and for the consultation, just for Mandy.

Unfortunately I don't think I can afford the same for Billy, and chances are, their condition is the same... Both turtles have lived in a (separate) shitty 10 gallon tank for their whole lives, and my mom and I are worried they'll freak out and will have trouble adjusting. Shallow water (that has since been raised) is all they've known for their whole lives, along with a bit of food every day or so.

I could probably afford getting them proper setups, but all I have in my bank is roughly around $6k, the 5k came from my taxes from working for half year or so... So really, I'm running on a budget of maybe half of that. Though, I live in a shitty apartment on a two-story, and am sharing living room space w our uncle, as he's trying to make ends meet for his family. Our bedrooms don't have much room, and so there's concerns of our carpet in the bedrooms, or the tiles in the living room, along with the added weight of possibly having a 100 gallon tank filled.

I'm overwhelmed and haven't been able to sleep. I haven't been able to eat properly without feeling sick. I don't want to give up on my babies, but I also don't want them to suffer any longer... I feel useless. I'm irresponsible. Our neglect and ignorance, or lack of knowledge, is hurting them. And only until recently did they start showing signs of that...

My mom would tell us to clean their tanks, as sometimes she wouldn't have the time, and I'd either put it off, or forget about it. So for some time, they did live in really dirty water. I have seen worse water conditions from the shitty aquarium subreddit (?), but I guess the slightly more murkiness is what finally got to them. And of course, now we have to pay the price.

The least I'd want is for them to continue living this way, to give up on us, or to get worse... If it's not a money issue, it's space, and if it's not that, it's time. And we're unfortunately busy people. Even with my part time job, I work many mid-late shifts, and I'd spend the other time sleeping, or trying to take care of myself.

In the past, my parents have considered letting the turtles out into the wild, or what I assumed was the wild. I freaked and fell into a spiral, researching like crazy. I swore to myself I would give them better living arrangements, yet that hasn't been put into motion. And now they're suffering. And now they're showing signs of illness, and infection.

And there's not much we can do... When my cat was in her last weeks of life, she was healthy! But we couldn't afford x-rays or any tests, the best we could do was try to hydrate her with an IV every night, and try feeding her wet food... Until she couldn't walk around much and eventually stopped breathing. I remember that night vividly, and it has since tormented me.

What if we had the money? Would she have lived a long and healthy life?

She didn't even reach 15 years of age.. Maybe 10.

My dog, I don't know her breed, but she's pretty long and has curly hair. She had spine issues the past year, sometime after my cat passed, and I could just barely afford the x-rays, the consultation, and who knows what else. $400... All for my dog.

And this, with my turtles, can easily reach double that. Thousands.

I had to work today, and I cried at least three times. I've been so overwhelmed that it started affecting my ability to do my job. I've become more stiff, less present, or too aware to the point that it's killing me.

One of my pals was making jokes, as we both worked together for a bit, and it was a little hard. I was dealing with some stuff and he'd be extremely happy. It was a normal Monday for him! Yet, I could barely bring myself to smile sometimes. And if I did laugh, it's been a while since I have... Sure, maybe a week ago I've laughed, but I've been sitting in this negativity for so long, I have no idea on how it's like leaving peacefully. With little to no troubles. To be carefree and okay with reality as it is.

On my lunch break, I just started crying. I broke down and had to text my therapist about how I was feeling. It's like I was feeling everything that came with suicidal ideation, without wanting to off myself. After a while, I had to numb the pain, so as of now, 12 am, May 2, I've disconnected from my emotions and have kind of been "floating around." I don't feel present, but at least I'm not shitting myself every five minutes...

By God, I don't want to live on this planet anymore, but I have to. There's so much going on and I wish I could even have a little bit of hope for the future. But I don't. I'm absolutely terrified.

I do not blame my turtles one bit. And even then, I can't fully blame my family either. Sliders, like hamsters, and fish, are commonly abused, mistreated, not taken care of properly, and seen as a source of entertainment, or as a "gift." We don't have a lot of disposable income, even with me not buying myself trinkets as often. Even with my budgeting of half my checks, and keeping them all, isn't enough.

The fact my babies have lived "alright" even with these conditions, is surprising, and I feel, a bit remarkable! But... It could be better. Much better than this.

This isn't to excuse their living conditions by any means. I just wish things were different. Mandy has become a bit more active. Maybe she just needed to train herself to swim more, as again, they used to live with shallow water. I think the pink has gone down a bit, as with Billy, but I'm not sure. I'm still going to keep an eye on them...

What stresses me out the most, is that I care about them, even if it's a little late to open my eyes to it now. The hardest part is getting started. Getting the right setup and having them adjust. Feeding and everything is simpler. But Billy has lived this way for nearly 20 years, and seems a little distressed with my recent change of feeding them in the sink (with water) opposed to only in the shit 10 gallon tank.

It takes these babies a while to adjust to changes, and I feel these, like putting them in the sun, haven't been all that huge. The sunlight one, definitely is, however. But even with a small change, such as feeding location, THAT had them a little on edge. Suddenly putting them in a 75+ gallon tank would probably scare them shitless.... I don't know.

I'm still seeing the vet on Wednesday. One of my friends was checking in, and she seemed sad about the turtles not doing so well. I felt a little bad because it's partially my fault, for keeping them in such a state. But I don't want to make it guilt-trippy...

Her support is good enough for me. And I appreciate it heavily. I want these babies to be okay. It scares me to let them go, to have them with a rescue, or in better hands, but I'd rather they be happy with someone who can truly care for them, opposed to continue this way... Future me, please update me on how things go. Please tell me they'll be okay.