#i think this may be more informative than my old format

[kotton-kandy953]

❏ 𝐓𝐄𝐘𝐕𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 !

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🔪 love interest ꒱ . . . yandere ! k. kazuha ! high school ! au x fem ! reader

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🔪 format ꒱ . . . headcannons

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🔪 warnings ꒱ . . . obsessive themes, stalking, yandere themes

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🔪 authors note ꒱ . . . I love kazuha so, so, so much omgggg || teyvat high school simulator homepage!

˗ˏˋ꒰ 🔪 word count ꒱ . . . 0.4k

Kaedehara Kazuha always has this dreamy, almost romantic look in his beautiful, red eyes as he daydreams. His cheek resting in his bandaged palm as he watches the autumn leaves fall from the tall trees out the window. Well, when he’s not gazing over at your elegant figure, that is.

Kazuha always carries around this old, ruled, notebook he uses daily to write down different poems, haikus or whatever he feels is right. A majority of them being love poems addressed to an anonymous recipient named, “my love” or “darling.”

Unbeknownst to you, his “love” he just adores writing to is you.

If he ever dared muster up the courage, he would gladly give you every single poem he has expressing his undying, and quite obsessive, love for you. But that may never come to be.

On the topic of his poems for you, the first ones would start off simple. Almost as if you were fascinating to him, in a way. Despite him not ever calling you out by name, by the way he explicitly described you, you could instantly decipher who he was talking about.

Once Kazuha began to fall in love, to fall hard, actually, his poems became more romantic. Describing his feelings as almost obsessive, knowing a bit more information about you than you’d feel comfortable with another classmate knowing.

Actually, Kazuha loves poetry so much that he began a poetry club at school, making himself the president. Sometimes, he’ll even ask you to proofread some of his works. Obviously not the poems he dedicated to you, because if you ever found out how obsessed he is with you… he prefers not to think of the outcome.

If he ever notices you a friend of his struggling in a subject, he would gladly help you out. Because of his kind personality and soft voice, he’s a great tutor.

When having to write an essay or speech, he’ll use big words, phrases that most people don’t understand.

He takes band (with Xiao) and plays the flute, a wood WIND instrument.

His favorite classes are English and Social Studies/History.

Kazuha is an overall well behaved student, he’s polite and kind to whoever he comes across. But when he’s jealous, it’s a totally different thing. Everyone knows that… disposing of someone permanently is really bad. So why does that thought refuse to leave his mind?

No matter what words he jots down into his notebook filled with poety, his raging jealousy relentlessly eats away at his already deteriorating sanity.

Nevertheless, he shouldn’t be afraid to get a little blood on his hands for his darling, right?

Kazuha doesn’t like the idea of “stalking” you. Believes that everyone should respect your each other’s privacy. Nevertheless, he will watch you from afar while you’re out alone in public. He has to make sure you return home safely every afternoon!

What would he ever do with himself if he never saw you again?

[thegirlingold]

Hiii can u make a post on study tips and and just like having a healthy relationship with school/ studying?? Thanks !! X

Hii! sure, hope this helps <3

The Golden Guide to... having a better relationship with school!

Shift your mindset

Replace "I have to" with "I get to"

There are so many kids in the world who don't have the opportunity to go to school or even the resources to study in general; it is something that we are privileged to have access to. We are so lucky that we get to go to school, it isn't a burden, its a blessing.

Instead of "Ugh I have have to go to school", think "Yay, get to go to school!"

Instead of "I have to study" think "I get to study"

This uses a phycological concept called "intrinsic VS extrinsic motivation", which explains how people are more inclined to do things that they think is a privilege to do rather than an obligation.So if you start thinking going to school and getting to study is a privilege, you would have a better relationship with it and feel more motivated at the same time!

Set realistic goals

Aim for progress, not perfection

Lets say you got 70% on your math test and you want to bump up your grades. Instead of setting a goal of scoring 95%, aim to get anywhere between 75 and 80%

This is much more realistic and achievable If you aimed for a 95%, it would be highly unlikely for you to achieve in a short period of time + if you didn't reach it, you would have felt bad and your self confidence could lower. You may end up convincing yourself that you are simply bad at school, when in reality, the goal just wasn't achievable. On the other hand, if you aimed for 75-80%, the chance of you scoring that would be very high + seeing that grade on that paper would make you feel like you can do better and your confidence in that subject and your abilities would increase.

Stay organised, but not overwhelmed

Keep yourself on track, but don't overwhelm yourself with to many things

Prioritise tasks

If you have 3 tasks, one which you know you'll spend a lot of time doing + two which would take a short amount of time to complete, do the small tasks first.

This makes sure that you wont get too carried away doing the big task, leaving you with a short and stress inducing amount of time left to do the short ones.If you first do the small tasks, it wont take you too long, leaving you with a good amount of time & an easy time limit to complete the bigger project!

Use a calendar

Use a calendar to mark the start and due dates of your assignments & the dates of any exams or events

Study Techniques

Use past papers

Just search up "*subject* *topic* *grade/year level* *curriculum* past papers"

e.g. Biology human body IGCSE past papers

2. Pomodoro technique

Study for 25 mins, then take a 5 min break (you can change how long you want to study for and how long you want the breaks to be)

There are pomodoro timers online

3. Active recall

This is good for memorising

Instead of only reading your notes, actively test yourself by recalling information from memory

4. Blurting method

Write down everything you remember, then check your notes and see what you've missed.

5. Feynman technique

Teach the topic as if you were explaining it to a five year old.

6. Spaced repetition

Review your information at increasing intervals

E.g. Review your information on day 1, then day 3, then day 7, etc

my tips!

Make note taking fun by using different colours/types of pens

I like using a cute highlighter/marker, a coloured pen and a black pen (but I use a pencil too for math)

Play around with the formatting, until you find one that works best for you - you can do this in class when your taking notes on different topics & pick which one you like best! Don't stress on aesthetics, just go with the flow and do what feels right

This makes note taking much more fun & aesthetically pleasing so your also more inclined to read them

2. Use post its or a small note book to write down your homework

When your teacher is giving you your homework in class, write it down so that you don't forget and check on it when you come back home so you know what work you get to do!

3. Use save my exams to revise and study for your assessments

It's extremely helpful as it has videos, notes and exam questions

It's free (but if you don't have premium, you don't exam questions and you can only read up to 5 notes a week)

It is based on your grade/year level and curriculum

Premium is very affordable - like $5 a month

I hope this helps yall!

xoxo,

The Girl In Gold

[arom-antix]

Hey, just wanted to reach out to say that I found you pointing out and calling this person was really great and you shouldn't have apologized. It was incredibly true what you said, and to be honest it seems out of touch with the reality of a great deal of the japanese fandom, the nuances and their culture. Also, it was as you pointed out, extreme and may I say rude. I want to mention too that the way it was written, as if entitled of the knowledge and the 'explanation' made it all worse in context of the 'fucked up'. The original poster always gets away by using the 'well-written academic'' statement of their 'metas' as an excuse to do or say and make everyone else agree and if not, uses victim narrative and discourses exactly selecting wording for people to agree on it or feel bad.

I don't know if they tagging you in the way they did made you reblog and apologizing/backing up, but no one thought bad about you pointing it out. On the contrary, a lot of people had been bullied and discriminated by this person when they called them out/disagreed going onto lenghts of sending their friends to harass people, and the other persons can't even defend themselves because they are effectively blocked. To quite a few people in the fandom has been done, even accusing them as 'acephobes' (when they're not) or even Nazis by spreading lies. So yeah, I just wanted to say that. I think you were right to call them out publicly.

Thank you very much for this ask. To be completely honest I agree with everything you said here and don't actually feel bad about pointing anything out. I mainly apologised because I didn't want any potentially poor phrasing from my side to cause unnecessary hostility and because I myself have gripes with this person's behaviour but didn't want to cause a scene.

My honest opinion is that they have a serious issue with taking accountability for their own mistakes and highly overestimate their own intellect. If you're reading this, @thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai, sorry if I seem harsh, but it's true. I saw your post lamenting how you're the only academic meta writer / fan in the fandom and I didn't interact then because I honestly do not care enough to start that drama but with the information Blonndiec has just given me, I think it's necessary that someone calls you out.

You're not an academic. You're not beyond the mental capabilities of other fans. You're actually incredibly childish in your metas and analyses and I am not kidding when I say that I was halfheartedly writing essays more academic than every analysis I've seen from you when I was barely a teenager. I don't know how old you are and I frankly don't care. You're not as clever as you think you are.

Also, don't think I didn't notice that you didn't reblog my correction (link here to my correction and here to their "response" for those who didn't see that exchange) of your post so that you could control what your followers saw of the exchange. You're the opposite of an academic. You control information to tailor the narrative, you don't cite your sources properly if at all, you don't format your posts in anything close to how an academic analysis would be, you make unbased claims, you reference posts and canon material without in any way indicating where that information is from, you reference your own (equally unacademic) metas and your conclusions from them without indicating what post it's from or that it's your own theory this new one is based on and instead present it as a common fact, and I could go on and on and on. Your posts are also riddled with logical fallacies and you talk in absolutes and opinions when there's no canon basis to claim such things. I'm sorry, but that's not academic in the slightest.

To be clear, you don't have to be an academic to post on the Internet. You don't have to be anything at all. You could up front be a genuine idiot with no remorse and that's fine. But when you claim to be an academic and also put down the rest of the fandom for not being on your level, you have to be able to back that up. It'd still make you sound like a prick but at least your arrogance would have a basis. It currently does not.

I haven't personally seen the discussions that Blonndiec is referencing and I'm not going to claim anything definitive (because that would be unacademic of me, take notes) but if what they're saying is true and did happen as described, which I have empirical, if anecdotal, evidence to believe could very well be (a friend of mine has personally been blocked by you after they criticised you without actually mentioning your name which I of course can't prove is the reason for the block but the timing is awfully convenient), you should know that you should be ashamed of yourself.

If there's context missing, feel free to enlighten me and call out any incorrect accusations. You have every right to defend yourself. However, I encourage you to cite your sources since you're such an academic. If you don't, then it's just your word against Blonndiec and anyone else who might comment's word and that doesn't prove anything. Don't misunderstand, acephobia and nazi rhetoric should absolutely be called out but only if it's actually happening. False accusations can ruin lives. I hope you know that.

I'm not a fan of calling people out publicly and, again, thank you for this ask, Blonndiec. But considering many of the issues I've personally seen and those I've been informed of by second hand sources were posted publically, I don't really feel bad about calling this out. I could do a full breakdown of just the insulting "academic" comments alone and how there's no academia to be found in said academic metas and, Samurai, if you give me reason to, I will show exactly what I mean point by point (and academically just to give you an example of even low level academia).

If you respond to this, do it in a reblog. That's what a real academic would do. If I'm wrong and you can prove it, you'd have no reason to not show my post in your rebuttal. If I'm right, you'd have every reason to be upfront about your mistakes and how you intend to rectify them. There's nothing wrong with being wrong but there's a lot wrong with refusing to admit to it in a way that lets others peer review you (academic thing, look it up) and come to their own conclusions about the situation. That's what you did when you just @'ed me instead of reblogging my response. A true academic wouldn't hide a peer review. You'd know that if you were one.

I swing in many academic spaces and yet that doesn't make me any kind of expert and I don't claim to be one because I'm not. But since you want to be one so badly, reblog this with a response and show us all how smart you are. I'm dying to know what your academic take on this is.

[tsuutarr]

Hello! I'm Tsuu, and this is my multi-fandom writing + art blog! I plan on posting both 18+ and SFW content (meaning that the characters I write for will be written as if they're 18+ years old OR platonically written), so if you are a minor, please DNI!

My AO3 can be accessed here: AO3

Requests are open, so please ask away! More specific information below:

Tags and a Masterlist are a WIP and will be created as I upload more things.

Current tags: Tsuupicy (18+ content), tsuuper silly (just random thoughts), Tsuuper OCs (OC tag!), Tsuuper Art (art tag), fandoms will be tagged accordingly

Masterlists:

Yantober 2024

Current fandoms:

Pokémon (all regions; human characters)

Twisted Wonderland

Tokyo Debunker

Monster/teratophilia

Yandere (mostly OCs)

There are a few others, but those will be updated as I produce content for them!

I will write:

18+ content

Fluff, angst, the whole shebang (like AUs and stuff!)

Character/reader + OC/reader (can be romantic, platonic, etc.)

Monogamous and poly relationships

GN or AFAB readers (I am not entirely comfortable with writing male readers, especially for smut)

And others, don't be scared to ask (as long as it's not in my "will not write" list!)

I will NOT write:

character/character (unless it's a poly situation)

piss, scat, etc.

pedophilia

When requesting, please specify what you would like! Formats I will write in are:

Short stories (one-shots)

Head canons

Drabbles

If you can, please keep your request somewhat specific, like "Arven x reader, picnic date head canons" rather than just "Arven x reader." HOWEVER, please do not send me paragraphs of information! I think a paragraph or two is fine, but if it exceeds that, I may have some trouble digesting your request.

Also, if possible, please be SPECIFIC about what characters you would like to see. "Any character" or "all characters" is a lot more difficult to do, so please keep that in mind!

Thanks for reading!

[wonderstrucku]

how the boxers ask you out on valentine's day! (+ the date after) <3

this is just a little (actually very long) list of headcanons detailing each of the boxers' valentine's days with YOU!!

no cw/tws with this one, just plain wholesomeness :)

also reader is gender neutral/not specified

i apologise if the formatting of this is bad.. i'm really bad at tumblr ;-;

anyways, LET'S BEGIN VV

Glass Joe:

when it comes to romantic endeavours, joe is EXTREMELY nervous

spends a lot of time working up the courage to ask you out and practising what he's going to say and do in the mirror

asks you a lot of questions (or makes his friends ask you questions) about what kinds of gifts you like, what flowers, what foods, etc.

when valentine's day finally comes around, joe shows up at your door with an assortment of gifts based on the information he gathered earlier (said gifts are drenched in sweat because of how nervous he is)

despite practising his words for ages, joe still struggles to ask you out quite a bit

he's terrified that you'll reject him

if you say yes, the biggest, warmest smile spreads over joe's face as he gingerly takes your hand and whisks you away

if you say no, however, joe is utterly heartbroken

he pretends not to care that much but as soon as he gets home, he ugly cries in the shower

his sobs can be heard from paris

for the date, joe either takes you to a café or a restaurant (again based on what you've told him before)

pays the bill (as he should)

at the end of the day, joe takes you for a small walk in the park

he shows you a lovely spot by the lake where you both talk and stargaze for hours (maybe even kiss a little idk)

joe drops you home after

throughout the day, joe is so unbelievably sweet and tender towards you

he compliments you, he opens doors and pulls out chairs for you

he's just too AAAAAHHH <33

Von Kaiser:

von takes pride in being traditional and old school, especially when it comes to romance

starts by sending a few love notes to you, very short and quite blunt at times

although you have no idea who's sending you them until..

on valentine's day, von shows up at your door with a letter and asks you to read it

he uses this letter to ask you out instead of speaking to you directly, as he's afraid his jitters may get the better of him (he doesn't want you to get the ick, even though you would never)

he can't even look at you as you read the note

he almost jumps when you accept

von takes you on a classic fancy restaurant date

at the beginning of the date, von is unusually stiff and doesn’t really talk much (he’s nervous :( ), he just listens to you blather on about whatever you want

however, as the date progresses, von loosens up a little and you both talk for hours

also pays the bill (as he should)

after dinner, von drops you back home

but not before giving you the cutest, fluffiest teddy bear

he says it reminds him of you (AWWWWWW)

Disco Kid:

disco kid is the polar opposite of joe and von, he’s confident and constantly comes up with new ways to impress the person he loves

disco kid doesn’t really do anything before valentine’s day, but on the day itself HOO BOY-

you wake up to the sound of deafeningly loud music playing outside of your window , go outside and see disco kid performing this whole dance routine with a large banner saying ‘WILL U BE MY VALENTINE? <3’ on the floor in front of him

you have no choice but to accept his offer

takes you to the arcade for your date

absolutely DESTROYS you in dance dance revolution

but uses his tickets to get you a giant teddy bear to make up for it

after the arcade, disco kid takes you to a dance club

definitely busts out his best dance moves for you and even teaches you some of them! (although it mostly ends up with both of you falling to the floor laughing)

the two of you literally dance until morning and (accidentally) fall asleep in disco kid’s car in the parking lot when he tries to drive you home

King Hippo:

king hippo is way more casual than one might think, he doesn’t really think valentine’s day is that special as he expresses his love for the people he cares about everyday anyways

he DOES use it as an opportunity to do something extra special for you though

he doesn’t really ask you out per say, he just asks if you’d like him drop by

at the beginning of the day, he delivers a fruit basket to your house

he then comes over and makes you both a nice, large meal

nothing super over the top or flashy but it still makes you feel special and loved and that’s honestly all hippo wants

you spend the rest of the day just talking and watching TV, enjoying each other’s company

Piston Hondo:

like von kaiser, hondo is also more traditional and proper when it comes to love and romance

asks you out a day or two before valentine’s day using a sweet little handmade card

tries to hide his smile when you accept but it’s so big you can’t help but notice it

spends the next few days planning what you’re going to do together

on the actual day, hondo takes you to a new cat cafe on the far side of town where you have lunch and oogle at all of the cats lounging around the place

afterwards, he takes you to his house where he gives you a few gifts and even cooks you some dinner

the gifts aren’t really typical for valentine’s day, they’re mostly old poetry books and random items that made him think of you, but you still absolutely love them

throughout the day, hondo is nothing but polite and doting, he asks you if everything is okay, he holds open doors for you

when he takes you back to your place, you repay his kindness by giving him a little kiss on the cheek and he goes RED

like he could put a tomato to shame with how red he is

he manages to splutter out a small ‘thank you’ and speeds off

Bear Hugger:

bear hugger loves nature, bear hugger also loves you. so naturally, it makes sense for him to take you somewhere outdoorsy for valentine’s day

asking you is the most difficult part, he doesn’t know you’ll react to the prospect of a long hike or rowing through river rapids

thankfully, bear hugger has the ability to push his fears aside and couple of days before valentine’s day, he approaches you and strikes up a conversation

in the beginning, bear hugger beats around the bush a bit, briefly mentioning that valentine’s day is coming up and stuff like that

when he realises these brief mentionings aren’t really doing anything, he suddenly asks if you’ll go out hiking with him

the smile on this man’s face after you accept could light up the entire world

in the days leading up to valentine’s day, bear hugger makes all of the necessary preparations for your hike

he marks out the trail on a map, makes sure you have enough food, water, medkits, etc.

he just wants this to be a great experience for you

on the day, bear hugger picks you up and drives you to the start of the hiking trail

it takes you almost the entire day to get to the end of the trail but it’s so worth it

the view from where you’re both standing is genuinely breath taking

it’s now quite late so you and bear hugger decide to camp overnight

you spend most of the night chatting and star gazing

Great Tiger:

everyone knows that great tiger loves to show off, especially to people he wants to impress

you’re one of those people, he wants nothing more than to see your eyes sparkle or a smile creep across your face as he shows you his magic or boasts about his achievements

the things he has planned for you this valentine’s day are sure to sweep you off your feet and (hopefully) into his arms

you wake up to find an outfit you’ve never seen before hanging on your wardrobe, along with a selection of luxury perfume oils and a note reading ‘i’ll pick you up at 10’

you excitedly wonder who could possibly be waiting for you as you get ready

you go outside at the designated time only to see great tiger, posed perfectly on his magic carpet holding a bouquet of flowers you said you liked

he offers you his hand and pulls you up and onto the carpet, making sure to hold you extra close to ‘make sure you don’t fall’ (yeah right…)

takes you on a personal tour of the surrounding area, stopping in the evening to go to a restaurant

at the end of the day, he drops you back home and flies off

you enter your house and find a letter on your kitchen table from great tiger that details his feelings for you

how the hell does he do these things??

Don Flamenco:

valentine’s day is one of don flamenco’s favourite days of the year, as it gives him an excuse to dote on and spoil his partner one hundred times more than usual

don flamenco ALWAYS meticulously plans his valentine’s day activities, taking even the tiniest details into account so you can both have the best day possible

this particular valentine’s day begins early in the evening with don showing up at your door with the fanciest suit and a comically large bouquet of roses in his hand to woo you over

like he’s down on one knee grasping your hand asking you to go out with him

afterwards, he drives you to a discreet location on a cliff, where a gazebo beautifully decorated with roses has been built

the view is absolutely gorgeous, you can see the sunset glistening on the ocean

don leads you into the gazebo, where a candlelit dinner table with your favourite meal is sitting

after you both have dinner, don leads you back out of the gazebo onto the grass where you both dance the night away

(AWW)

Aran Ryan:

despite his loud and brash nature, aran is actually quite awkward when it comes to love

before he asks you out he goes to a few people for advice, mainly don flamenco because according to aran he’s the ‘lovey dovey eejit’ and could give him the best advice

don just tells aran to say or write what he feels deep in his heart and soul (and to try not to shout so much)

aran is all like ‘yeah no shit’ until he sits down to actually write the letter and realises he is emotionally constipated as hell

nothing he says or writes seems to come out right and he is constantly rewriting his letter to you over and over again

after a few drafts, he goes to glass joe for help

french people are romantic, right??

unlike don flamenco, joe actually gives aran some solid advice and helps him write his letter

finally happy with his work, aran shows up to your house on valentine’s day with a small bouquet of flowers you like and his letter to you

he asks you to read it in front of him

aran’s letter is.. strangely poetic?? and sweet??

you can tell that every word came from the heart

you look up from the letter to see aran facing away from you, as red as the hand of ulster

to aran’s delighted surprise, you accept his offer to go out

as soon as he hears the word ‘yes’ slip from your lips he instantly whisks you away..

.. to a theme park!!

being the adrenaline junkie he is, aran thinks that it’s a great idea to take you on some of the biggest (and scariest) rides

also being the sneaky lad he is, he uses the fact that the rides are scary to encourage you to hold onto his arm or grab his hand

like whenever he sees you’re scared he’s just like ‘here, love.. hold onto me and you’ll be grand....’ (the cheeky fucker)

after the theme park, he takes you to his favourite pub where he teaches you how to play pool

after the eventful day, aran drops you back to your house and you give him a little peck on the cheek as a thank you

aran goes completely red AGAIN and quickly makes his escape

(god he’s sooo AAAAAAAAhhhhhh!!)

Soda Popinski:

like king hippo, soda doesn’t really care for valentine’s day that much

honestly, i think that it's more likely that you would ask him out rather than the other way around

if he does ask you out, it’s extremely casually and in the middle of a random conversation

like you mention valentine’s day and he goes like, ‘oh yes! i’m doing nothing then, would you like to go out?’ ‘huh’

you and soda’s valentine’s day is extremely casual, but still really nice and sweet

you go to a cute little diner and order food

well, you order some food.. soda just gets.. soda

he’s nice enough to pay for the both of you though

you just kinda yap on about the stuff that’s been happening in your life while soda listens (attentively, might i add)

Bald Bull:

bald bull has.. mixed opinions on valentine’s day

on one hand, getting to spend the day with the person he loves sounds great

but on the other, the paparazzi would probably completely ruin any and every plan he would try to execute

bull still wants you to have a nice day, so he organises a little ‘home date’ for you

he just invites you over (discreetly, he doesn’t want the paparazzi getting involved) and you two spend the day together

it’s nothing flashy or expensive, just a home cooked meal by candlelight and a movie

but to you, it means the world

it makes you so happy to see bull so… content and calm

you wish that it could be like this all of the time, but for now, you savour these rare and quiet moments with him

Super Macho Man:

like great tiger, super macho man LOVES to show off to people, especially people he likes

although the way he tries to impress them is… drastically different

instead of showing them magic, he shows them his money (and crazy pecs but we won’t talk about that right now)

with you, super macho man is no different..

on valentine’s day, you wake up to the sound of..

moving furniture???

you rush downstairs to see a throng of workers moving a plethora of items into your home, including but not limited to: a wardrobe, mirrors, lamps and paintings

you stop one of the workers and ask them what they're doing in your house

he says that a guy called ‘super macho man’ sent them

you run outside and see none other than super macho man waiting for you (while taking a bunch of selfies)

he asks you if you like your valentine's day gift and you're like ‘WHATT’

but that's not all, super macho man proceeds to take you all across the city, going into whatever restaurants and shops you want to buy things from

he DOES NOT care about prices, whether the item is $2 or $2,000 he's still buying it for you

after a few hours of this, he takes you back home

the interior of your house now looks almost completely different to how it was before

everything has been upgraded in some way

he asks you if you have anything for him, so you give him a kiss on the hand

super macho man considers this a satisfactory repayment and drives off, leaving you with a bunch of new stuff (some of it you probably won't use, but honestly who gaf)

Mr Sandman:

most of the time, mr sandman is far too busy for romance with him being the world champion and all

his life consists of a daily cycle: train, eat, sleep and repeat with a fight now and again

but even with his strict and tight schedules, sandman knows that he can do at least one thing with you, go for a meal

sandman asks you out to dinner suddenly but with such a sweet genuineness that you can’t even think about saying no

sandman picks you up from your house and drives you to a nice little restaurant on the pier

the date is short yet sweet, with sandman being forced to leave early due to what he refers to as ‘workin’ ‘ (he’s so silly i love him)

pays for both of your meals on his way out (as he should)

he texts you a little while later, apologising for having to leave early and promises to make it up to you when he finally has some free time on his hands

OKAYYY it's finally over '-_-

i hope that you enjoyed reading this silly brain dump of mine :)

... i'm thinking of writing more stuff so stay tuned for that

[kitkatt0430]

Star Wars Rebels fanfic idea keeps spinning in the back of my head, so I may wind up writing something for that eventually.

The idea?

After the Seige of Lasan turned into a massacre, in canon Kallus basically doubles down on believing in the Empire because he has to or else his self image of himself as a good, honorable man falls apart. But his feelings of guilt over it were what let Zeb get through to him years later and accidentally knock over the dominoes that directly led to Kallus becoming Fulcrum.

So what if he had his crisis of conscience earlier. In the wake of the massacre of Lasan, Kallus starts asking questions and he learns this is far from the first genocide the Empire had perpetrated since it's inception. It was, arguably, founded on genocide - the Jedi, the Clone Troopers, the Kaminoans, the Caamasi, and several others. All within the first year of the Empire's founding. The more he digs, the more he finds, and while he doesn't trust the Rebellion because a.) it's a bunch of disparate groups at the moment and b.) Saw Gerrera's treatment of his platoon at Onderon was incredibly fucked up... he knows he has to do something.

Fast forward to the start of the Rebels canon. There's significantly more sympathy to the Rebellion and there are more rebel cells out there, some that have already been forming alliances between sectors though the tendency towards insular thinking is still hampering the creation of a wider Rebel Alliance. The increased Rebel sympathies, even within the Imperial Navy itself, is in part due to an enigmatic broadcast that hijacks Imperial frequencies and civilian frequencies alike. Calling itself the Genocide Report, it has inundated the Empire with top secret details of the decisions behind countless genocides. Notable exceptions being some of the ones that happened in the first year of the Empire's rise. Presumably because so many details, and thus actual proof, has been lost.

The Imperial propoganda machine works hard to dismiss the Genocide Watch as nothing more than conspiracy theories and lies, but the more it reports... and the more those reports can be verified, the more people believe in the facts it presents. It is a major thorn in the Empire's side.

Many Imperial Agents have tried to track down the person - or persons, most believe there's a rebel cell or network of cells behind the propaganda - behind the Genocide Watch. Including Agent Kallus. But, of course, none have succeeded and eventually all get reassigned elsewhere.

And of course the reason no one has found the network behind the Genocide Watch is because it's actually two people. Alexsandr Kallus and a hacker he recruited. Alex finds the information and creates the broadcast information. Formats it in a way to make it both easy to understand while still presenting the facts, then passes it on to his hacker contact who then disseminates the information on their own schedule.

He's gotten away with it for so long that he's honestly shocked he hasn't been caught yet and he's still trying to get info on the Jedi massacre as his final report before he gets the hell out of the Empire and either finally joins a rebel cell (if any would take an ex-Imperial like him) or get somewhere far, far out of the way in the Outer Rim.

Which is what's going on with him when he's sent out to the Lothal sector and comes into contact with the Ghost's crew... right as Kanan reveals himself as a Jedi and takes Ezra as his padawan. This brings in the Inquisitors and Darth Vader, giving Kallus the excuse he needs to request access to the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant in order to gather information on Kanan Jarrus' past... and thus putting him in position of identifying both Darth Vader's true identity and answering the biggest unknown of the Clone Wars - who was the Sith Lord behind both sides of the conflict?

It'd weave in and out of canon - I really like the idea of Kanan finding out Kallus isn't exactly a loyal officer when Kallus kills an Inquisitor to stop Kanan from being tortured. Whether that would actually work in the actual fic (if it ever gets written)... who knows? But the main thrust of the story would be Kallus finally getting close to the answers to questions he started asking after Lasan, yet at the same time his position is getting increasingly precarious as his sympathies to the Ghost's crew continues to grow to the point he's taking risks for them he knows he shouldn't. Not if he wants to keep suspicion off himself and protect the hacker half of the Genocide Report.

[the-letterbox-archives]

۶ letterbox newsletter: 1st edition ৎ

janurary edition, 2025

��ⲁⲥⲟⲉⲧⲏⲉ𝛓 𝛓ⲥꞅⲓⲃⲉⲛⲇⲓ ─── ⲥⲁⲥⲟⲉⲧⲏⲉ𝛓 𝛓ⲥꞅⲓⲃⲉⲛⲇⲓ ─── ⲥⲁⲥⲟⲉⲧⲏⲉ𝛓 𝛓ⲥꞅⲓⲃⲉⲛⲇⲓ

hello all! i’m back! this is letters, presenting the very first edition of the letterbox archives newsletter! i’m still tossing up if it should have a formal name, but i am open to suggestions! regardless, there’s a lot to cover this fortnight, so let’s get to it!

what is this newsletter? ‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅

first, a quick guide to the newsletter system!

this is a regular instalment in the archives, hopefully either once or twice a month, that for many intents and purposes functions as a means to update people to what’s happening around the archives! instalments may vary in length, depending on how busy i get (or if i forget), but think of it as a tool to navigate new information in the archives.

no other posts (save for a certain few) will include a tag list, so this is your stop to be notified to anything that might’ve flown under the radar. let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from the newsletter tag list, i hope these updates won’t be an imposition!

newsletter masterpost!

⋆°.☾ return to the archives

as i said in the introduction, i’ve returned! it was difficult staying away for so long, though things in my personal life did get rough, but i’m so happy to be back! i am incredibly proud of all the work i’ve done over my hiatus and am super excited to share it! i am so thrilled to see the archives growing and progressing, and all the stories expanding by the minute!

whether you’ve been here since the beginning, or have only stumbled upon the archives recently, thank you for your support, it means the world to me!

masterpost!

volume 3 ‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅

now that i’m back from hiatus, i have another volume to introduce! volume 3 has been in the works for a while (in fact, most of the stories have come from old ideas repurposed for the archives), and i’m excited to see where they’ll go!

v3 masterpost!

⋆°.☾ new platforms

with the archives continuing to grow, i’ve made the decision to additionally make the archival stories available on other platforms! some may have noticed my linktree, and within that are links to my new ao3 and tapas accounts, which have all the debut instalments for every story, volumes 1 to 3, already available!

tumblr will remain my main source of engagement, and chapters will be released here before anywhere else. but, if you enjoy reading on other platforms as well, these new accounts are active!

ao3, tapas!

edits ‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅

this may be new information for some, but fun fact! before now, all the stories uploaded to the archives were first drafts (don’t ask about my writing process, it’s hell)! as such, there were small issues in the old versions of all the instalments, and over this hiatus myself and the interns have been working to improve them; that means editing!

all the edited versions are in their original posts. for most there are no incredibly major changes, but if you are dedicated to any specific story, i would recommend rereading.

also, new instalments may release at a slower/more staggered rate due to the beta reading and editing process. nonetheless, this should result in better stories overall, so i hope it’s worth the wait!

v1 masterpost, v2 masterpost!

⋆°.☾ on kingston alley and soleil éteint rewrites

during the editing process, some stories were edited more than others. as the only screenplay and second podcast (before volume 3), on kingston alley and soleil éteint changed significantly in the editing process.

due to the fact i was worried some platforms wouldn’t support the screenshot system i use on tumblr to upload these stories, i began to transcribe them into pure text format, and during that i realised that the beginnings of these stories did not portray the image i have for them. so i rewrote all of them (some may have changed a bit less than others)! namely, the first episode of kingston and the first session (minus the story/nightmare segment) of soleil.

there are no significant lore changes, just they are generally better written and clearer than they were before (mystery stories need a lot more care than i gave them upon their beginnings, i’ve found), so if you followed either of these stories, i strongly suggest rereading them to understand the new form they’ve taken.

200 visitors! ‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅

while i was gone, we reached 200 followers! 200 visitors have passed through the letterbox archives and decided it was worth their while! i am starstruck, frankly. i never expected this degree of attention when i began the archives, and i am beyond grateful for all the support and interest i’ve gained since i started. thank you all so much!!! i cannot begin to describe how much this means to me, thank you all again <3

⋆°.☾ new projects?

over my hiatus, a lot of new projects made themselves known in the archives (around... maybe 20... hypothetically). the most important ones are a certain 3, however. a while ago, i got my start writing novellas, and a part of me misses that, so i have planned for a few novels to enter the archives! they won't be documented the same way as other stories, they will be released as a whole when they're completed, but i'll post updates and snippets whenever i feel inclined to do so!

the current one i'm working on is called Hyrde, a fantasy horror novel following two kids, jericho and faun, as they uncover the gory, fervently well-kept secrets of their secluded hometown. i can't wait to share it with you all!

and that’s all for this edition! this is a much bigger edition than most, i expect, due to the fact i’ve just returned and have a lot to share! i am so happy to be back, i can’t wait to get back to it! hope you enjoyed reading the first edition of the archives newsletter!

@an-indecisive-nerd, @autism-purgatory, @cherrychiplip, @arality, @corinneglass,

@drchenquill, @gioiaalbanoart, @glassfrogforest, @hetaeraofhephestus, @honeybewrites,

@illarian-rambling, @inseasofgreen, @introchasingstars, @justsomeunmemorablewords, @kind-lion, 

@leahnardo-da-veggie, @loverboyxbutch, @melpomene-grey,  @millipede333, @moltenwrites, 

@mysticstarlightduck, @noxxytocin, @oliolioxenfreewrites, @ominous-faechild, @paeliae-occasionally, 

@pheonix358, @pluppsauthor, @rumeysawrites, @ri-toast167, @storyteller-kara, 

@tc-doherty, @thecomfywriter, @thecrazyalchemist, @the-golden-comet, @thesaddersalad, 

@theink-stainedfolk, @verdant-mainframe, @world-of-iridensia, @wyked-ao3

ⲥⲁⲥⲟⲉⲧⲏⲉ𝛓 𝛓ⲥꞅⲓⲃⲉⲛⲇⲓ ─── ⲥⲁⲥⲟⲉⲧⲏⲉ𝛓 𝛓ⲥꞅⲓⲃⲉⲛⲇⲓ ─── ⲥⲁⲥⲟⲉⲧⲏⲉ𝛓 𝛓ⲥꞅⲓⲃⲉⲛⲇⲓ

[angeldrawsstuffs]

Hi Angel back again to offer her unsolicited meta opinions about Lego themes (specifically Dreamzzz).

So, because of recent leaks, I’ve seen some speculation online Dreamzzz is going to come to an early end, possibly not making it past 2025. Now, before we go any further, let me make something extremely clear:

That is all rumors and speculation based on different rumors/alleged leaks about a canceled large set. To my knowledge, nobody who has actually worked on the theme in any capacity (show or sets) has said anything in relation to either of these. The information about the canceled big set came from leakers and the other speculation derived from that. This is ALL hearsay from the past 24-48 hours. Nothing is official, take it with a pinch of salt.

Ok now that we’re on the same page about the validity (or potentially lack thereof) of the claims/speculation, time to get into a mini rant/ramble I have so Buzzfeed-ishly titled:

Why Dreamzzz Being Cancelled Would NOT be a Good Thing AT ALL For Lego (and why even non-fans should care!)

So, you may ask: “Angel, why would you say this is a negative for Lego as a whole? Themes get canceled early all the time! In the hypothetical-and-currently-unsubstantiated-scenario Dreamzzz is canceled, it wouldn’t have that much of an impact!” well, nonexistent strawman I made up because I suck at making my point, it has to do with the way original Lego IPs are currently set up. Like it or hate it (or in between!), the beginning of Dreamzzz, even a before that, one could argue, was the start of a new era for how Lego handles their IPs. Gone are the days of getting multiple new themes a year, each lasting a planned 2-3 years, before entering a mapped out and anticipated retirement, maybe being cut short or extended a bit depending on sales. From what I’ve observed, it seems the priority is longevity of a theme over quantity of themes. Another factor is this is the ideas from those many themes over the past few decades have been slowly merged into other, larger themes like City, Friends, or even Ninjago. So, back in ye olden days of the 90s to the 2010s, a theme (specifically an original IP) being cut short was no big deal because there were like- 3-4 others running alongside it and several more in the foreseeable future. But, currently, that’s not the case because Dreamzzz is the only new IP to release and be running in the 2020s. Think about Lego’s currently running original IPs, not original themes as a whole (Icons, Creator, Ideas, etc.), but IPs (Ninjago, Power Miners, Atlantis, etc.). As of right now there’s really only four:

City, Friends, Ninjago, and Dreamzzz.

Take Dreamzzz out and you’re left with three. As much as it sucks, Dreamzzz being canceled won’t bring back the old format of IPs, in fact, I personally believe it would push back any return of that format or a similar one even further. Why do I believe this? Well, unfortunate as it may be, we’ve seen this song and dance before with plenty of other brands. New, original thing fails, executive people have to look at the “why”, and the conclusion is that people just don’t want new stuff and we should rehash the same stuff over and over and over again. Obviously that’s the very WRONG conclusion, but look at Disney and Pixar as a prime example of this. Of course I have a LOT (like- a lot a lot) more faith in Lego than I do the mouse, but do we really want to run that risk?

Also, circling back to my point about IPs being cut earlier than planned wasn’t as big a deal back then because there were a bunch of others already out and planned for release that could fill that void quick. But now? With the new formatting for IPs? As far as we know, there’s no new Lego IPs planned for the foreseeable future. Unless Lego’s somehow kept some new IP under such wraps that not a single person outside the company, not even online leakers, have found anything out about it, even its existence, (which very rarely happens to my own knowledge), there’s nothing currently planned. If Dreamzzz goes, there’s nothing to take its place or keep new IPs chugging along.

So then, hypothetically say Dreamzzz is canceled and doesn’t make it to 2026 (which, I am going to say I do not think will happen, I personally believe, if the big set being cancelled is true, it may be to make room for smaller, more affordable sets, since that’s the most consistent criticism of the theme as a whole). What then? Well, if the path most other companies have taken of “nobody wants new things” comes into effect, then that would probably mean not getting another new IP for a while. While Ninjago, City, and Friends all have a lot to offer, it’s clear people want something new. To be clear, it’s not the guaranteed path in this hypothetical-and-currently-unsubstantiated-scenario.

What’s my solution? Well, I’m a teenager on the internet with no business knowledge or expertise in any kind of related field so OBVIOUSLY I’m qualified to talk on this (/lh /s). But, in all seriousness, the best I can say is make criticisms known, but with the stipulation of that the theme should be able to continue and buff out the dents, as I would argue we’ve seen happening. I believe Dreamzzz has potential, a lot of it. But losing that potential to an early cancellation could possibly spell trouble down the road for Lego’s original IPs.

Once again, this is just a sleep deprived Angel spewing her opinions onto the internet. Hope I made my point clear enough and that this isn’t a totally incoherent mess of a post. Also, I’m personally not looking to debate/have to defend my thoughts here, as shallow as that may seem, so if you disagree vehemently with every word: that’s alright! I’m just not interested in an online back and forth about it (especially cuz I’m a terrible debater, lol-). Anyway, thanks for reading this long-ass post if you’re still here, have a wonderful rest of your day/night, and wear your seatbelt! /ref

[buckleylove]

9-1-1 Character Birthdays

Okay, so I’ve been going through all of 9-1-1 to create a timeline of when episodes were set etc - I have no intentions to post that tbh, it’s purely for myself like my brain fully latched onto this idea and wouldn’t let me rest until I figured it out.

However, this does mean I’ve found a fair bit of information on birthdates/years of main/side characters so I thought I’d post that here as a kinda comprehensive list with all the evidence I’ve found that supports (or even directly contradicts) these dates for anyone that's interested. This doesn’t include all of the main/side characters, because with some of them there is literally nothing to go from and I wanted to try to stick to the facts we’ve been given instead of just guessing random years from nowhere.

Before I get into it, I just want to emphasise that whilst there are a few moments where the date of certain episodes is clear, a lot of what I’ve had to go off of is when characters reference past events by how many weeks/months/years it’s been. And when a character says “x months since..”, they may be rounding up, rounding down, or they may just have an awful concept of time. So, just take it all with a pinch of salt because even though I’ve narrowed it down as best as I can, I may still be a few months out. 

So, here’s what I found in a table format, and then below is all of my explanations/workings for each of them!

Athena - March 22nd 1967/68

Okay, so Athena’s birthdate is one of the simpler ones, because Athena says she was born on March 22nd in 6x08.

“Can you read his handwriting? Because my birthday is 3/22-“ [6x08 at 20:45]

Now, Athena didn’t say the year she was born in, but in 1x09 she says that she is 50. 

“I’m figuring out how to be single at 50.” [1x09 at 37:15]

1x09 is set in March 2018. The way I worked this out involves a lot of working backwards, but I’m going to list it below for anyone who’s interested.

Firstly, we know 1x09 isn’t set an earlier than March 2018 because 1x06 is the Valentines episode (so February 14th 2018), and 1x07 shows dispatch call logs from February 28th 2018. Now that we know it’s set in at least March 2018, we need to check if there’s been any time jumps that would result in 1x09 being set later in 2018.

So, here’s how I confirmed that there has been minimal time jumps between 1x07 and 1x10:

In 6x15 at 09:45, we see Shannon’s grave and find out that she died on May 6th 2018. 

Shannon died in 2x17, so this episode must’ve been set on May 6th 2018.

In 2x18, after Shannon’s funeral (so not long after 2x17), Eddie says his probationary year is nearly over and at the end of the episode, his probationary period ends. So, 2x18 is still set in May, with the episode likely ending around June 2019. 

Therefore, 2x01 (when Eddie starts his probationary period) would likely be set in June 2018.

In 2x01, Bobby and Athena have been together for “almost 4 months”. [2x01 at 26:31]

This means that 1x10 is set 3/nearly 4 months before 2x01, which would mean 1x10 is set in late February/early March.

We know that it can’t be set in late February because of 1x07 being set on the last day of February, so 1x08-1x10 must all set in March 2018.

Personally, I think it is more likely that 1x09 is set in early march. This would mean that because Athena’s birthday is on March 22nd, she’d be turning 51 that year, which would make her birthdate March 22nd 1967.

However, there’s no official confirmation of this, and it’s still possible that 1x09 is set later on in March, which would mean she turned 50 in 2018, so her birthdate would be March 22nd 1968.

So, Athena’s birthdate is March 22nd 1967/68 (with a higher likelihood of it being 1967 in my opinion).

Bobby Nash - between late March 1965 and early March 1966

Okay, so Bobby is one of the characters in 9-1-1 that has had his age mentioned/shown more than once but both times contradict each other.

In 1x01, Bobby outright says he’s 50.

“I’m 50 years old, I’m taking the elevator”. [1x01 at 11:21]

1x01 is set in January 2018, so if Bobby is already 50 at this point, he either:

Already had his birthday that year, so turned 50 in January 2018 (born January 1968), or;

He’s turning 51 that year, so was born February-December 1967.

However, this is all made redundant because his dating profile in 1x10 says he’s 52 [1x10 at 08:19]. This might’ve been an honest mistake when they made his dating profile because it’s on screen for like two seconds and they may not have thought too deeply about it, but I’m more inclined to believe this as canon than his comment in 1x01. This is mainly because 1x01 is obviously a pilot episode, and a lot of things in shows get changed after a pilot. Normally, I would believe what a character says over something like a dating profile that’s shown for 2 seconds so may not have been fully thought through/fact checked, but in this case I’m gonna believe the dating profile. 

We already know 1x10 is set around March 2018 (from what I wrote about Athena’s birthdate, I’m not going to torture everyone by writing it all out again). Therefore, Bobby either:

Turned 52 in January-early March 2018, meaning his birthdate would be January-early March 1966, or;

Is turning 53 in late March-December 2018, making his birthdate late March-December 1965.

Therefore, Bobby’s birthdate is between late March 1965 - early March 1966.

Chimney - October 20th 1977 but also April??

Chimney is another character that has two mentions of his birthday that contradict each other.

Firstly, we see his ID in 2x10 [at 42:47], which says his birthdate is October 20th 1977.

However, we actually see Chimney celebrate his birthday in 3x11. There’s no mention of how old he turned in this episode, but we can deduce that this episode is set around April 2020. We know 3x11 is set around April 2020 because 3x10 was the Christmas 2019 episode and in this episode, Karen makes an appointment on January 3rd for her and Hen to start the fostering process. In 3x11, they foster Nia “after 3 months of paperwork”. So, this brings us to April 2020 for 3x11.

Therefore, Chimney’s birthday would be in April. 

(Not gonna lie, this is hilarious to me because they’ve given us two months that are 6 months apart which is literally the furthest apart you can be in a year lmao)

If I was to guess, I’d probably say he was born in April 1977, which is a mix of the two dates they gave us. It’s hard to deny that he was born in April when we literally witnessed him having his birthday in an episode (something we haven’t seen with any other main character). Also, the ID is similar to Bobby’s dating profile in that it could just be something that wasn’t 100% thought through or fact checked. 

Hen Wilson - September 1979 to September 1980

Compared to other main characters, there’s very little to go off of with Hen’s birthdate. The only thing I could find was from 4x03, which is set towards the end of 2020.

In 4x03 [at 34:50], Hen says “I’m a Black lesbian that joined the fire department at 30, that started med school at 40”. If Hen is 40 at this point, she either:

Turned 40 pre-September 2020, so was born pre-September 1980, or;

Is turning 41 post-September 2020, so was born post-September 1979.

So, Hen was born between September 1979 to September 1980.

Buck - March 1991 to October 1991

With Buck, I came across three times where they’ve mentioned his age, so I’ve narrowed it down from there.

Firstly, in 1x09 [at 23:56] Buck says he is 26. Therefore, he either:

Turned 26 in January to March 2018, meaning his birthdate would be January to March 1992, or;

He is turning 27 in March to December 2018, meaning his birthdate would be March to December 1991.

In 3x01, Maddie says “Buck is 28 and I still have my hands full.” [3x01 at 35:10].

3x01 is set around October 2019 because in this episode, Buck says he has been fighting for five months to get his job back [3x01 at 22:35], and his leg was pinned by the ladder truck in 2x18 in May 2019. 

So, if Buck is 28 in October 2019, he either:

Turned 28 in January to October 2019, which means he was born January to October 1991, or;

He is turning 29 in October to December 2019, so was born October to December 1990.

Therefore, looking at these two separate statements, the only months that overlap are March to October 1991. If he was born in any other month/year, only one of the statements could be true - this is the only way both statements can be true.

Another time that his age is mentioned is in 4x05 [at 10:42] when Buck says it’s been 29 years. 4x05 is set late 2020, so if Buck is 29 at this point, this supports the theory that he was born March to October 1991.

Considering that Oliver was born on June 27th 1991, they seem to be sticking pretty close to that for Buck.

Maddie - 1982 or 1983

A lot of the information we have on Maddie’s age is given to us around Buck Begins - so 4x04 and 4x05.

In 4x04, Maddie says she promised her parents she’d keep Daniel a secret, and Chimney said that she made this promise when she was 9.

“I promised my parents-” “-when you were 9!” [4x04 at 04:06]

So, the year Daniel died, Maddie was 9.

From 4x05, we know that Daniel died in 1992, because he died when Buck was 1, and Buck was born in 1991.

“He was seven when you were born. He was gone a year later.” [4x05 at 01:54]

Therefore, Maddie was 9 in 1992. This means she was born in either 1982 or 1983. This would make Maddie 37/38 in season 4 (2020) when she is pregnant, which is supported by Phillip saying she’s a high risk pregnancy (over 35).

Eddie Diaz - September 1st 1992 to August 31st 1993

Eddie’s birthdate is an estimate purely based off of Shannon’s. We see from Shannon’s grave in 6x15 [at 09:45] that she was born on October 16th 1992. 

In 6x17, it’s revealed that Eddie and Shannon were in the same grade at school.

“Weren’t you guys in the 12th grade when you met?” “8th, then we lost touch and reconnected in 12th.” [6x17 at 14:22]

So, to be in the same grade as Shannon, Eddie would be born between September 1st 1992 and August 31st 1993.

This means that in canon he is definitely younger than Buck which is insane to me and I might just choose to ignore it lmao.

Christopher Diaz - January 2011 to April 2011

Eddie Begins [3x15] outright tells us that Christopher was born in 2011 from a flashback of Shannon giving birth in 2011. 

There’s a few other mentions of Christopher’s age that helps to narrow down the months.

In 2x02, Christopher is 7. [2x02 at 16:31]

2x02 follows on from 2x01, which is set in June 2018. So, if Christopher is 7 in June 2018, we know he was born in 2011 so that means he has already has his birthday this year. (If he hadn’t had his birthday, he’d be 8 in 2018 which would mean he was born in 2010, which we know isn’t true.)

So, Christopher would’ve been born between January and June 2011.

In 3x03, Buck says Christopher is 8 when he’s searching for him.

“I’m looking for an eight-year-old boy” [3x03 at 12:36].

3x03 is set in October 2019, so using similar logic to before, Christopher has already had his birthday that year. So, this supports the idea that he was born between January and June 2011. 

So, ‘Eddie Begins’ does actually make things slightly confusing when Eddie’s helicopter goes down. We’re shown that this happens in 2015, and then the next flashback says ‘El Paso, Texas, three months later’. So this flashback is either still in 2015 or in early 2016 at the latest. Now, this is all fine until in the flashback, Eddie says “And you immediately want me to get into a car and drive 800 miles with a six year old” [3x15 at 29:31]. This flashback can’t be set any later than early 2016, which means Christopher can’t be 6. At most, he’d be 5. I guess he could’ve turned 5 in January 2016 and Eddie is rounding up, but who would round up their kid’s age by nearly a whole year when it would’ve only been a couple of months maximum since his 5th birthday?? I’m inclined to believe that this is just a result of them messing up the year that Eddie’s helicopter went down, because the next flashback is in 2017 and Helena implies that Christopher is 6, so we’re back to the correct timeline.

In 3x16, Christopher is hosting his first sleepover, and Eddie doesn’t outright say Christopher is 9, but it is heavily implied.

“Celebrate with a bunch of nine-year-olds” [3x16 at 07:39].

3x17 is set May 4th 2020, so 3x16 is likely in April 2020. Therefore, if Christopher is 9 at this point, he would have been born between January and April 2011. Christopher still could’ve been born in May or June 2011 and Eddie could have meant that Christopher is nearly 9, which would have made sense for Eddie to round up because it would’ve been only a few months until he would have been 9. However, I’m trying not to make too many assumptions, so I’ll stick with the January to April 2011 estimate until they do something else in canon.

May Grant - December 29th 2001

In 6x08 [at 20:37], we find out that May’s birthday is December 29th from Bobby’s lucky numbers.

In 3x02, May is 17. 3x02 is set in October 2019, so that means she will be 18 that year. Therefore, she was born in 2001.

This is directly contradicted in 4x10 [at 36:56] when May listens to the 9-1-1 call that Athena made in 1x02 where May overdoses. In this call, Athena says May is 14. But 1x02 is set in January 2018, which means she would’ve been 16 (turning 17 on December 29th 2018).

Harry Grant - February 7th 2010

Ah, a nice and simple one with no contradictions (so far).

In 6x08 [at 20:34], we find out that Harry’s birthday is February 7th from Bobby’s lucky numbers.

In 3x13, Michael says Harry is 10. 3x13 is set in April 2020, so Harry has already had his birthday that year. This means he was born in 2010.

Albert - mid/late April 1999 to early/mid April 2000 

Chimney makes it easier by saying that Albert is 20 when he makes his first appearance in 3x11. 3x11 is set in April 2020, so Albert was born between mid/late April 1999 and early/mid April 2000. 

He’s either turning 21 April-December 2020, so was born in 1999, or;

He already turned 20 in January-April 2020, so was born in 2000

Jee-Yun - January 2021 to March 2021

Before I get into Jee’s birthday, it’s important to remember that she was born in season 4, and season 4’s timeline is weird. Most of early season 4 I have written down as ‘late 2020’, which makes it harder to narrow down Jee’s birth month. A lot of the confusion comes because they messed up the timeline by making covid/lockdown canon for season 4, but they seemingly forgot that they’d already reached May 2020 by the end of season 3. For example, 4x01 has a title card saying it’s September 2020, but they also say it’s been 6 months since Athena was attacked, which was on May 4th 2020?? And 6 months would make it November 2020?? And they say lockdown happened in March 2020, but this would’ve been mid season 3 in 9-1-1?? So, straight away season 4’s timeline is weird. 

Luckily for us, Jee-Yun was born in 4x09, and in the episode before this, it’s revealed that Nia has been with Hen and Karen for nearly a year. Hen and Karen started fostering Nia in 3x11, which was set in April 2020. So, this means that 4x08 and subsequently 4x09 are set close to April 2021. 

Therefore, I’d say that Jee is likely born between January and March 2021.

Denny - October 2009/2010

In the crossover episode, which is set between 4x03 and 4x04, Hen says Denny is 10. 4x03 and 4x04 are set towards the end of 2020, so Denny was born in 2009 or 2010.

In 6x09, it’s Denny’s birthday.

“It’s your birthday. We can do whatever you want today” [6x09 at 08:51]

6x09 is set in October 2022. I found this out because this is the same episode that Wendall dies, and we see in 6x12 that he purchased a camera on the same week he died, and the transaction was on October 19th 2022.

“A $300 purchase to an electronics website. Same week he died.” [6x12 at 08:52]

So, Wendall died towards the end of October 2022.

Therefore, Denny’s birthday is in October, but he could still be born in either 2009 or 2010.

Mara - mid 2014 to early 2015

In 7x07 [at 14:03], we find out that Mara is 9. 7x07 is set some time after April 2024. 

Therefore, Mara either:

Already had her birthday in early 2024, meaning she turned 9 in 2024, making her birthdate early 2015, or;

She is turning 10 in 2024 and hasn’t had her birthday yet, so was born in mid to late 2014.

Therefore, Mara was born between mid 2014 and early 2015.

That's all!

And that's all of the information I found! I may have missed some important bits of info, but I did go through transcripts of each episode and skim through each episode too (looking for stuff like calendars on fridges and call logs lmao). So, I'm hoping I didn't miss too much!

[your-resident-boat-person]

I noticed there are dates on your top liners list, ranging from the 1870s to the 2000's. I think on my alt you told me it was one of the last made, and the last in current use (as a hotel [and apparently haunted house according to the third video?]).

Anyway, I was wondering if you had an overview on the history of Ocean Liner design and how they've changed over the years, both technical in terms of operation, and aesthetic from the point of view both as a theoretical passenger and a learned liner enthusiast!

Plus any fun details about your examples would be nice as well.

Svjsvphsvpusvpusv okay. I am going to need to split this up into multiple posts, because I can not convey all this information with the 10 Pic limit. So periodically, check the reblogs of this post. I will periodically be adding more to it over time. Also, I'm not really citing any sources because this is mostly from memory, so there MAY be some mistakes. Also, I'm typing all this on my phone, so... please forgive the formatting, grammar, and spelling mistakes.

To begin, let's quickly discuss what an ocean liner is. An ocean liner is a ship you travel on to cross the ocean. It's called a liner because it goes in a line across the ocean. In this sense, “cruise liners” don't really exist. The proper term is cruise ship. Many people mistake liners for cruise ships and vice versa, but they are different in both function and design. As wikipedia puts it, “Though ocean liners share certain similarities with cruise ships, they must be able to travel between continents from point A to point B on a fixed schedule”. This means liners need to be both durable, and fast, something cruise ships are neither of. Cruise ships also almost never do trans-Atlantic crossings unless absolutely necessary. They just aren't built to handle the Atlantic at its worst. Cruise ships usually stay relatively close to land and reschedule for bad weather. For example, the only liner still in service is the RMS Queen Mary 2, built in 2004. Her construction used 60% more steel than a cruise ship of the same size. She also has a top speed of about 30 knots, whereas a cruise ship never really needs to exceed about 18. So, to summarize, an ocean liner is a ship you use to cross the ocean. A cruise ship, while it may take you to numerous excursions, is essentially the destination itself, and it will return you to where you started once the voyage is over. Last thing before we start, GRT. Gross Registered Tonnage is essentially a measure of the total usable internal volume of a ship. Generally, this is a much better measure of the size of a ship than length. For example, the RMS Adriatic was 729 ft long. The Titanic was 882 feet long. Only 150 feet longer, no big difference, right? WRONG. The Adriatic was 25,000 GRT. Titanic was 46,000 GRT. Britannic, which was the same length as Titanic, but 2 feet wider, was 48,000 GRT. Nearly double the size of Adriatic, even though she's not much longer. The Lusitania was 787 feet, and she was 31,000 GRT. So even though Britannic was only about 12% longer, she was about 55% bigger. Last thing, a knot is a unit of speed 1 knot is 1.150779 miles per hour, or 1.852 kilometers per hour.

Anyway, now that we have that sorted out, let's get into the history >:3

So, it starts with the steam engine. At the start of the 19th century, if you wanted to get from Europe to America (or vice Versa), you needed to book passage in a sailing ship. In just 4 short months, you can cross the ocean :D! Between extremely unsanitary conditions and the high chance of you not making it to your destination at all, something needed to change. There were some experiments with bolting steam engines to old sailing vessels, and these were very successful, but really only proofs of concept. Railway engineer Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel realized that if ocean travel could work like the railway, travel between continents could be much more efficient and safe. With a sailing ship, you were dependent on the wind and weather, so your departure and arrival dates couldn't be predicted with any guarantee of certainty. With a steam engine, the ship could move at a consistent speed over a set distance, regardless of the conditions. Now, ocean travel was consistent, regimented, and much safer. All of these came together in 1838 with the launch of Brunel's SS Great Western, which crossed the Atlantic in 18 days, going at 8.66 knots. She was 1,700 Gross Registered Tons (GRT, a measure of internal volume) and 234 ft 11 in long (71.6 meters). She was the first ocean liner. Granted, she was essentially just a sailing ship with paddle wheels attached to a very rudimentary steam engine, she even Still had sails, and she had a hull made from oak, but she was the first commercial venture to bring passengers across the ocean on a regimented schedule. She was also the first purpose built liner.

Now, these very early years of ocean liners aren't really my specialty, so I'll cover some major events.

In 1839, Sir Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract, and in 1840, formed what would later be known as the Cunard Line, one of the most famous lines ever, And still around to this day.

In 1858, Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel was back at it again with the SS Great Eastern. With this ship, Brunel set out to solve a problem: He wanted to make a ship big enough to carry enough coal to not need to stop and refuel on the voyage to Australia. The Great Eastern was the largest ship in the world by a WIDE margin. Before Great Eastern, the largest ship in the world was the SS Adriatic of the Colin's Line. She was 3,670 GRT, and 354 feet (108 meters) long. The Great Eastern was a whopping 18,915 GROSS REGISTERED TONS. 5.5 TIMES BIGGER! SHE WAS 692 FEET LONG. As wikipedia puts it, “Her length of 692 feet (211 m) was surpassed only in 1899 by the 705-foot (215 m) 17,274-gross-ton RMS Oceanic, her gross tonnage of 18,915 was only surpassed in 1901 by the 701-foot (214 m) 20,904-gross-ton RMS Celtic and her 4,000-passenger capacity was surpassed in 1913 by the 4,234-passenger SS Imperator.” IT IS WITH HONOR THAT I INTRODUCE YOU TO BRUNEL'S “GREAT BABE”, THE SS GREAT EASTERN.

LOOK AT ‘ER! AIN'T SHE A BEAUT? IN A WORLD WHERE MOST SHIPS DIDN'T HAVE ANY FUNNELS, AND THE ONES THAT DID ONLY HAD ONE, THE GREAT EASTERN WAS THE ONE AND ONLY F I V E F U N N E L E D L I N E R. Even though she later lost one in an explosion, which was never replaced. She was rigorously mocked for her size and number of funnels, which is strange considering the 4 funneled superliner boom just 50 years later.

She FAMOUSLY didn't work, and the stress of trying to MAKE her work ended up sending Brunel to an early grave. SHE INDIRECTLY KILLED ONE OF THE GREATEST ENGINEERS OF ALL TIME! She then spent nearly a decade laid up as a glorified billboard:

She damaged or sunk at least 10 ships in her short Career, had a penchant for spontaneously exploding (which is where her 5th funnel went), and when she was scrapped in 1890, all of her size records were still at least 9 years from being bested. She was NEVER profitable, and the DEFINITION of an outlier. Whenever discussing the largest ships in the world from 1848 to 1890, it goes without saying that the Great Eastern is not included. There is a REASON she's on my top 25, and I've only skimmed the surface. She was a hot mess, and I love her for it. I'd be happy to make a post entirely dedicated to her.

Next, we have the birth of the White Star Line. In 1870, they got their first ship: The SS Oceanic. (Not the RMS Oceanic of 1899 mentioned previously).

Many consider her and her 5 sisters to be the first “modern” liners, in the sense that they were starting to evolve past glorified sailing ships. She was 420 ft 4 in (128.12 meters) and 3,707 GRT. While her size PALED in comparison to the MIGHTY GREAT EASTERN, she was the “largest” ship in the world. Again, the great eastern kinda doesn't count. As modern as she was, Oceanic still had sails, and she had an INCREDIBLE top speed of… 14.5 knots. It was fast for the time. In fact, she won White Star Line their first Blue Riband for the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing. The ships of the Oceanic class were the Oceanic, Atlantic, Baltic, Republic, Adriatic (not the aforementioned RMS Adriatic, OR the SS Adriatic of the Colins Line), and Celtic. One of the big innovations of these ships was that they had a longer length to width ratio. Most sailing ships have a 6:1 ratio of length to width. The Oceanic class increased it to 9:1. With a thinner hull form, it reduced drag and allowed for a higher speed, albeit at the cost of stability. She was also one of the first ships at sea to use electricity. Not for lights, though. Those were still oil lamps. No, the electricity was for buttons in the cabins, which, when pressed, would summon a steward. Founder of the White Star Line, Thomas Ismay, realized that most of the profits of shipping lines came from The hundreds of steerage passengers, rather than the ultra wealthy first class/saloon Class passengers, so he made sure that he had THE BEST steerage accommodations by a scenic mile. He wanted to make sure that he'd be the one getting their business. Her steerage accommodations (3rd class) were fuckimg REVOLUTIONARY in their standards. In an era where poor people were treated like literal cattle, the steerage accommodations on the Oceanic class must have seemed like heaven on earth. Certainly better than anything they would have ever experienced on land. Steerage passengers had FRIGGIN PORTHOLES, which was a new thing for them because, like I said, before White Star, no one gave a shit about poor people. Also, for decks beneath the water line, there were skylights that reached all the way down to the bottom decks. The designers went through great pains to make sure everyone had fresh air and natural sunlight. Which, again, not something you'd find on other ships of the era, as basic as it seems. Anyway, the SS Atlantic, the White Star Line's second ever ship, was their first loss at sea. While we associate the line with Disaster today, history shows quite a different story. In their 65 years of operation, from 1870 to 1935, they operated at least 89 ships. They only lost 5 during peacetime disasters. This is a genuinely phenomenal track record, especially for the time. The aforementioned Collins Line lost literally 2/5ths of their ships (although they did have a much smaller fleet, so it's not an entirely fair comparison). Anyway, the SS Atlantic ran aground near Halifax Nova Scotia, with a loss of 535 people, leaving only 429 survivors. In the 30 minutes the ship took to fully sink, not a single lifeboat could be launched. I'd highly recommend Part-Time Explorer's videos on the subject.

In part 2, we'll cover from 1874 to 1900, with some of the most famous ships of all time. Like I said, this early stuff is where I'm weakest. Part 2 is where I'll become REALLY knowledgeable. >:3

[tyriq-edits]

In the Plain of Nysa

Millions Knives

Nai, the God of War

God of War and Vash’s twin brother

Younger brother of Tesla (Goddess of Victory)

Raised by Rem (Goddess of Wisdom)

Based on Ares and partly Demeter

Respected and rather well liked among the other Olympians (except Meryl)

After the death of his sister at the hands of mortal Soldiers during the Trojan war and Vash losing his left arm to the same soldiers, he became fiercely protective/possessive of his twin brother

Some time after the end of the Trojan War he built a giant "cage” under Mt. Olympus and locked Vash inside it for nearly a Millennium.

When any of the other Olympians asked him regarding Vash’s whereabouts he’d tell them his brother was travelling through the mortal realm, which seemed to shut the majority of the other gods up regarding this issue and the Golden Cage beneath their feet remained a secret only he and Vash knew about.

After Vash managed to escape the the golden Cage with the help of Meryl and Roberto, rather than an eternal Winter like Demeter in the Myth of Persephone & Hades, Nai, overcome with rage, created a giant war that would slowly spread across all of ancient Greece.

For more Information/lore about this AU just look at the in the plain of Nysa tag on my page or just send me an ask in my inbox.

As always thanks to my friend Stephan for helping me with this drawing of Nai and this AU in general. Please check out his art on instagram!

Please do not Tag this AU as Plantcest

[More ramblings about Nai’s design under the cut.]

Nai’s Design as you may have gathered is very much based on your typical Greek Hoplite Soldier

He was supposed to also wear a helmet but i was so proud of how the hair had turned out that I did not want to cover it up haha.

Around the time that this story takes place in, classical greece, bronze armours like these had actually fallen out of fashion in favour of iron ones so I just like to think that Nai, being over 1000 years old, is just very traditional or never fully mentally moved on from the Trojan War so he kept his old Bronze Plate Armour all those years while still adopting the newer Hoplite Warfare system (which used spears and Phalanx formations in comparison to the open battle fields and sword fights of the Mycenean Age/the Trojan War)

As for Nai‘s spear, an actual Dory could be up to 4 meters high, especially in the case of Macedonian ones. But making him run around with one of those would be impractical for many reasons as you may assume. The half-moon shaped spikes right underneath the actual Spear‘s spike is the part I stole from ancient greek hunting spears. The point of them was to keep wild animals like boars at a safe distance from you. Because boars, even if you pierce their skull with the actual spear‘s tip would just keep on running towards you even if it meant impaling their own brain on the entire spear Dracula Style. If you look closely you can kind of see it on the Meleager Sarcophagus.

[tokidokitokyo]

It's the end of 2024, and 2025 is about to begin. So I'd like to review my year of Japanese studies, including my progress on my goals from the beginning of the year, my progress overall, and where I fell short. This will be a long post, but since it's for my own benefit I hope you won't mind.

My review will include the following:

Evaluate how I did on my 2024 goals

Review the time that I dedicated to each area of study as well as what techniques worked for me and what didn't

Review briefly the materials I used to study in 2024

2024 Goals Progress

1. Read one page a day of 日本の歴史366 (にほんのれきし366) every day in 2024.

Status: Fail

I did not read a page every day ^.^ I figured it might be too much when I set this goal for the second year in a row, but the quickness with which I fell off surprised even me (it was February lol). I did read a few pages here and there throughout the year, but there was no consistency. Maybe when my son is old enough, we can read a page a day together. I would like to recommend this book, however, as it is interesting and the bite-size one-page-a-day Japanese history information is a good format for not getting too bogged down in reading long passages.

2. Review and learn grades 4, 5, and 6 of the 教育漢字 (きょういくかんじ) - elementary school kanji.

Status: Success

I made it through the review of the second half of the elementary school kanji in 2024. Would I say I've mastered it? No. But, I have more confidence in remembering these kanji (recognizing them and remembering on'yomi and kun'yomi), so I will call it a success.

3. Read at least one book every three months.

Status: Mostly Success

I did not read one book every three months, but I finished a few books this year, and I will call that a success. I would love to read more novels in Japanese, but time is not on my side, and I will have to be satisfied with reading a few each year. I always try to get into book clubs but I usually fall behind. I might just try reading books that I am interested in for next year.

4. Write at least one sentence in Japanese every day.

Status: Fail

I did not achieve this goal for the second or maybe third year in a row, and I really should stop trying to assign it to myself (at least in such a strict format). I did write, but not everyday, and I didn't get the sentences corrected unless they were going out to my in-laws or sometimes to the Japanese preschool moms. I would like to write more, as writing sentences can be more challenging than speaking for me.

5. Practice Japanese at least 10 minutes every day.

Status: Much Success

I at least achieved this goal! Attainable goals are the best goals, and I continually assign this goal to myself, since then I know I will achieve at least one of my goals each year ^.^

So what did I learn about my study habits in 2024?

I need a routine or I just tend to give up. Lack of time is my biggest excuse, so I need to stop trying to cram too much into each study session.

My goals may be too specific, but I think that keeping in mind what I want to focus on for the year is a good thing because it makes me actively seek out studying in that area.

My time is very limited thanks to work and family commitments, so focusing on what I've achieved is more important than mentally beating myself up for falling short of my goals or comparing myself to the progress that other people achieve.

Despite the fact that I spend at least 10 minutes a day on Japanese on a daily basis, I want everyone to know that I have times where I am unproductive or am just not in the mood to study, and that's ok - brain breaks are important, and anime is always an acceptable study method.

2024 Study Area Progress

The study areas I focus on and track are:

Vocabulary

Kanji

Grammar

Listening

Reading

Speaking

Writing

I mark down daily what area I focus on (not the amount of time, just whether or not I focused on studying in that area on that day), and I was interested to see that the distribution of where I focus my time throughout the year was more even than I thought. I probably do more Speaking than I mark down, and Vocabulary and Kanji tend to come along with the other areas, but Listening and Reading were my biggest areas of focus. I listen to podcasts, shows, and conversations so that makes sense, and in 2024 I've been trying to read more, even if it's just a bit at a time. Grammar is an area I consistently try to work on but I still don't get to spend a lot of time on it.

Below, I'd like to make a few notes about what worked well for studying each area and things that didn't work out so well.

Vocabulary

I post vocabulary 5 days a week on tumblr, and usually they are words I've encountered in books or conversations, but also I use words from JLPT lists. I want to learn vocabulary so I only do one a day, and I also try to use it in conversation soon after I learn it. This helps me cement it in my memory rather than just reading it and forgetting it.

Vocabulary lists are hard for me since there are so many words, and even if they are related by topic or kanji, I find it harder to grasp if there is a list rather than one word that I can internalize. I also like to try to make sentences with words so that I have an example, rather than just a word in a vacuum. I'd like to start looking up the kanji more often rather than just writing down the word and not paying as much attention to the kanji, so that I can improve my kanji skills as well.

Kanji

When I started out studying Japanese, I wrote down kanji multiple times as I learned it so that I could remember how to write it. Now that I'm a busy adult, it's a lot more difficult to do that, but I do try to make some time for kanji practice. I'd like to do more handwriting, but maybe when my son is older and has kanji homework. I am a big proponent of learning how to write kanji, but being able to recognize it is a big accomplishment as well. So I try not to feel too bad about myself because many Japanese people are losing the ability to write kanji out thanks to the digital age.

Kanji flash cards I find very helpful for a quick review, and it makes me aware of the kanji I have forgotten as well as the kanji I do not know. Memorizing kanji is probably most people's least favorite part about Japanese, but I like kanji because it is like a puzzle comprised of different components, and you need to remember how to put it together.

Grammar

I think that I enjoy studying grammar the most of all study areas. I spend a lot of time reviewing grammar that I am unfamiliar with, trying to find example sentences and then write my own. Just reading the definition of the grammar point doesn't cut it for me. I also then try to put it into practice in conversation, even if it's sometimes forced. Repetition is key for grammar. Flash cards do not work for me my brain just can't process that.

Listening

This year the biggest amount of listening I did was conversations with the Japanese mothers at my son's Japanese preschool. I try to emulate them, so that I fit in, so I try to pay close attention to how they speak while I listen in. I also pick up new vocabulary and hearing it multiple times helps to reinforce it.

Other listening I do is Japanese TV and movies, primarily children's shows, but also some variety shows and shows for older audiences. I also include music, Japanese language podcasts (mostly about learning Japanese), and Instagram/TikTok/Facebook videos in my listening repertoire.

I figured out this year that I must do active listening to achieve any benefit - I am too good at just blocking out ambient noise to get any benefit from passive listening. So if I am doing something that involves thinking I can't have something on for listening in the background because I'll pay no attention to it.

Reading

I enjoy reading in English, so I want to enjoy novels in Japanese as well. And now that my level is high enough, I try to read more in Japanese. However, it's a lot harder than listening, so it takes me a long time to get through novels. Manga are easier, but I still don't have a lot of free time to read them. So I try to fit in reading where I can, and I also read articles or shorter bits of media to keep up my reading practice. When I read novels what I really want is time to get into the story and not have to stop after a short stretch, but longer stretches for reading are harder for me to come by.

Speaking

My primary speaking practice comes from speaking with the Japanese moms at Japanese preschool. I try to emulate them because that's the kind of speaker I want to be, but of course my American habits come through anyways. I try to use that to my advantage, but I always shy away from using the "gaijin pass" (being able to get away with things due to being a foreigner). So I try not to use English words when I'm speaking unless I absolutely cannot describe what I'm trying to say; I try to speak properly and not take short cuts; and in general I try to pay attention to how they speak and incorporate it into my speech.

I find this important because we are teaching our son Japanese and I want to also be good at Japanese. It's my own personal pride in the end, but I want to make the effort. So I also get conversation speaking practice at home on a daily basis. Additionally, when I am listening to podcasts or sometimes TV shows, I will speak back to them (for practice, not because I'm weird, of course) and sort of emulate a conversation. When I first started studying Japanese I spoke to my dog, to my parents (who can't speak Japanese), to the TV, and to inanimate objects, because I didn't have a lot of opportunities to practice speaking outside of class. And even now, I still do some of these, because outside of work I use almost exclusively Japanese when speaking.

Writing

Writing is where I always spend the least time in Japanese. Writing digitally even is a stretch, but writing by hand almost never happens. I want to dedicate time to writing but I have a lot to balance and I just don't make it happen. I want corrections, but I don't log into HiNative or HelloTalk to write sentences for corrections. I do write texts to the Japanese preschool moms, and also to my in-laws, and often I get them corrected because I have an overwhelming anxiety that people are judging my Japanese and finding it lacking.

I think that more writing practice will make me feel more confident, but Japanese writing involves so many cushion words that you need to include (open with a greeting, talk about the weather, inquire after their children, then get to the point of the message) that I find it stressful to write formal messages. I also want to write one-off sentences for practice, but I just don't make time for it (I'm really tired at the end of the day, and that's when I have time, but I just want to doom scroll). Someday I will write sentences, I believe in myself.

2024 Study Materials

I don't mean this to be a comprehensive list, but I wanted to jot down some of the books and other materials I used in 2024 to study Japanese, in case anyone else is interested (and also cos I tend to forget).

Books for Review

日本語総まとめN2 (Series) - The So-matome series is a good one for reviewing the different subject areas of Japanese that are required on the JLPT. I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone textbook, since it doesn't go into very deep review, but as a review workbook, the series is good. I know there are many series for review out there, but I have seen a lot of progress with So-matome. (Japanese and English).

Books for Fun

にゃんこ四字熟語辞典 - This book combines 4-character kanji idioms and full-page photos of cats, and so if you would like to learn and remember 4-character kanji idioms and you like cats, I would recommend this book. I think it is also good as a coffee table book. (Japanese only).

Books for Improving Speaking

わかる!話せる!日本語会話 発展文型125 (Speak Japanese! series) - This book introduces 125 sentence patterns for use in daily conversation. This is the intermediate book in the series, and has three parts - "Basic Sentence Styles by Form," "Basic Sentence Styles by Purpose," and "Basic Sentence Styles for Conveying Detailed Nuances." Familiarizing yourself with the sentence patterns as well as listening to the audio and shadowing will help improve your sentence forming ability on the fly. (Japanese with English).

尊敬語から美化語まで 外国人のための日本語敬語の使い方 基本表現85 (Speak Japanese! series) - This book introduces keigo and how to use it in everyday conversations. Since keigo is difficult even for native Japanese speakers, this goes into detail for Japanese learners. If you'd like to strengthen your understanding of and ability to use keigo, this is a valuable resource. (Japanese with English).

「表現力」に差がつく! 12歳までに知っておきたい言い換え図鑑 - This book focuses on how you phrase certain things when you speak to other people. While intended for older children to help them be more empathetic in their language choices, it is interesting to read about the nuances of the Japanese language, and to think about how you phrase things in a language that likes to avoid being direct. (Japanese only).

Books for Improving Reading

10分で読める伝記 1年生 - This series contains bite-sized biographies (10 minutes) of famous personages, which is ideal for reading in short periods of time. You learn something about a famous person as well as practicing reading in Japanese. I started out with the book for first graders, and would like to eventually read the other books in the series for older students. (Japanese only).

日本の歴史366 - This is a page-a-day book about Japanese history, intended for elementary school students. The one-page format makes it easy to read about historical events, and I often found myself looking up the events in more detail. (Japanese only).

Apps

renshuu.org - I use this primarily for flashcards for vocabulary & kanji

Todaii JP - I usually use this app to read articles, but it offers videos and other ways to practice Japanese

Japanese Pod 101 - I had a subscription to this site this year, and they give you lots of freebies, mostly aimed at beginners, but there is plenty of material for upper levels. The listening and quizzes on the learning track were my favorite parts.

In Conclusion (TL;DR)

If you have made it this far, I am impressed ^.^ Thanks for hanging out with me this year, and I hope that you will join me again in 2025 for more Japanese fun!

I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about studying Japanese, and actively trying to incorporate new things into my Japanese arsenal. I don't have a lot of time to study so I try to make the most of the time I have. Making Japanese a part of my daily life is the thing that propelled me from zero to hero (ok I'm still at the intermediate plateau but I don't think there's a stop to get off any time soon) so I encourage the students I've TA'd and even the casual learners I know to try to incorporate a little Japanese every day. There's no magical formula, but you too can become 日本語上手 if you just work at it.

Thank you all for the support, likes, comments, and reblogs in 2024! Wishing you the best in 2025!

[simpforchuchu]

A HELPFULL GUIDE TO THE RAMPAGE FROM EXILE TRIBE BY CHU-CHU

Hi Guys! I see that there are many new Rampage fans - Ravers - among us and I would like to introduce the members to you. Other than formal group information, some of it will be my own opinions. You can easily find other official informations about the group on the web. Rather, I want to share with you how I see each member, what impression they made on me, and what I liked or found interesting about them. So please keep in mind that these are my opinions. And of course, I'm not a very old fan either. There may be things I don't know or misunderstand. You can share with me what you want to add or correct 💜

-I am also sharing with you some blogs that I know who is posting about Exile Tribe/The Rampage. You can check them out too 💜I will continue to introduce the members when I have time :') I hope you like it :D 💜

@ataryutaro @banqanas @elenilote @fextsubs @rainisawriter @rowdyshogun @thistaleisabloodyone @zhaolusi (Hope I didn't forget anyone :( )

The Rampage

A Japanese dance & vocal boy group formed and managed by LDH JAPAN.

16 members: 3 vocalists and 13 performers. 

They made their major debut on January 25, 2017 with the single “Lightning”.

Fandom name: Ravers ( RAmpage loVERS)

Formation: September 12, 2014

Debut: January 25, 2017

Genres: J-pop, hip hop, dance pop

Leaders: Likiya and Zin

16 Members: Likiya, Zin, Riku, Kenta, Rui, Yamasho, Kazuma, Hokuto, Iwasho, Shohei, Itsuki,Kaisei, Makoto, Ryu, Takahide and Takuma

And yes they have a hip-hop sub-unit : Ma55ive the Rampage (Likiya, Kenta,Yamasho, Shohei, Takahide)

I also didn’t know this part;

At the beginning it was unclear how many and which candidates would be chosen for the group's final line-up, the members later described the time as a desperate, harsh and stressful "survival situation". According to Kawamura Kazuma, the three vocalists were especially tense and taking the situation very seriously, thinking that one of them was going to be cut, due to the fact that LDH only had a two-vocalist system for all of their boy groups at that point.

But luckily they were all chosen :’)

However, while they were training for their debut in the public eye, the members later revealed that the group had been struggling behind the scenes and actually went on a hiatus the year after they were formed until their debut. Several members mentioned that they considered quitting during that time as it was mentally and physically difficult.Also Fujiwara Itsuki revealed that the members had also been working as staffs of the company behind the scenes in that time period, for example as tour staff for senior groups, or in Fujiwara's case, as staff of EXPG schools.

June 16 had been chosen as "RAVERS DAY". This specific date was selected because it is the only month out of the year that does not have a member's birthday, and because the number "16" is important to the group :D

During the first five years, all members of the group lived together in a dormitory.There were four rooms, and four members lived in each room, sharing bunk beds. Each room also had a room manager.

-I don't plan to mention TV series, movies, awards, songs, albums or tours. I get most of the information from Exile Tribe Wiki, you can read more there :’)

MEMBERS

1) LIKIYA : Elliot Likiya (エリオット·力矢)

Born: November 28, 1990 (age 32)

Birth Place: Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Height: 170 cm (5 ft 6.9 in)

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Emoji: 👨‍🍳

Leader and performer of THE RAMPAGE and a rapper in MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE.

DAD of the group

He may look serious but he is literally a cinnamon roll

I love Likiya, with his style, personality, sweetness and everything

Someone who is frequently teased by other members

When group members were asked who they would like to date, most of them chose Likiya.

Also, Elly from Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS is his older brother. That's why he said that he was often compared to him and that he was flustured.

According to Wiki;

He participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION, but did not make it to the finals.

LIKIYA's father is Carlos Elliot, a former professional boxer and LIKIYA started practicing boxing as a hobby.

He loves basketball and cooking. That's why his emoji is a cook. 👨‍🍳

Described as a calm, quiet and very reliable person with a strong sense of leadership. According to his members, he also has a mischievous side and occasionally makes a joke to calm the mood.

In charge of the choreography of THE RAMPAGE.

He is very good at cooking. His skills are so good that he even invented his own curry, "Likiya-man's Indian Spinach Curry" (リキヤ～マンのインド風ほうれん草カレー), which is actually sold in Japan. In 2020's first broadcast of "RMPG DOPE STATION", he talked about his dream of appearing on a cooking show.

His favorite color is white. He collects white clothes and white things, and most of his furniture and accessories are white.

2) ZIN : Sakamoto Zin (坂本陣)

Born: April 28, 1994 (age 29)

Birth Place: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Height: 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)

Zodiac Sign:  Taurus

Emoji:🐴

Leader and performer of THE RAMPAGE

MOM of the group

I LOVE HIS SMILE <3 HIS SMILE IS SO PRETTY <3

He is really like a mom even to the older members. He is fun, funny and really so cute. And I really love when he talks :’)

Probably the one who gets bullied the most

He is one of the tall members

According to Wiki;

He participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION, but did not make it to the finals.

Described as a good talker, mood-maker and hard worker. His members appreciate his cheerfulness, responsibility and communication skills.Additionally, he is also described as compassionate, tearful and a bit clumsy. Because of his friendliness, he is often teased even by the younger members.

Usually takes the lead when it comes to interviews and has a natural talent for hosting live performances and events

Didn't like his smile very much for a long time, but after he joined THE RAMPAGE, people started to tell him that he has a nice smile, which changed his view. :’)

Has a cat named "Luky".

Likes the manga Jujutsu Kaisen.

His favorite color is red.

3) RIKU: Aoyama Riku (青山陸)

Born: August 10, 1994 (age 29)

Birth Place: Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Height: 174 cm (5 ft 8.5 in)

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Emoji: 🐶

Maybe you think Rampage’s only vocalists are Kazuma and Hokum but no. This handsome man is a vocalist too and he has an amazing voice…

He is really good at teasing and annoying people and a bit savage.

He has that prince vibe and has a really charming visual.

His English is pretty good and wants to speak English to reach international fans &lt;3

IwaSho and him are close friends

He likes going GYM… really…

He loves playing soccer and really good at it 

He really loves children and A RIKU WITH KIDS ALL YOU NEED BELIEVE IN ME :’)

According to Wiki;

A very good dancer and known for his ability to dance with the same level of sharpness as a performer while singing stably.

Initially viewed his high-pitched voice as a complex. He is often jokingly imitated and teased by the members for it and he consciously keeps his voice low in magazine interviews.

Taught himself how to play the piano.His first keyboard was gifted to him by SHOKICHI.

Often compared to a golden retriever due to his cheerful, communicative, clumsy and soft nature and muscular physique.

Went to an all-boys high school for six years.

Always keeps a list of restaurants that interest him on his smartphone.

He has a friendly rivarly with KAZUKI and Sato Taiki, who attended EXPG Tokyo at the same time as him.Initially, he felt inferior to KAZUKI, which motivated him to practice harder.

His favorite color is pink.

Used to be the centre of the group, but the position was reappointed to Kawamura Kazuma.

4) KENTA: Kamiya Kenta (神谷健太) 

Born: May 27, 1995 (age 28)

Birth Place: Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Height: 170 cm (5 ft 6.9 in)

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Emoji: 🐿️

Performer of THE RAMPAGE and a rapper in MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE.

Even though he is a performer and rapper, he has great vocals. And I'm so happy ma55ive used him as vocals &lt;3

He's funny, sweet and entertaining

I think he has a flirty personality

He and Rui are childhood friends and very close friends. (But he'll never admit it)

He has interesting and funny drunk memories...

He has a lot of questionable (in a good way) behavior and always makes me laugh

He's one of the oldest members but he definitely doesn't act like one :D

When he was a kid, he wanted to be a FBI Agent but I think he still does :D

According to Wiki;

He participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION but didn't made to the finals.

In 2013, he was introduced as a member of the trainee group EXILE GENERATIONS.

He has a childhood friendship with fellow group mate Yonamine Rui

Him and Yonamine Rui together are called the "Haisai Duo" or "Haisai Combi". They are from the same hometown and the first students from EXPG Okinawa to join LDH.

Described as a mysterious and quiet person. He says about himself: "I'm not a loner, but I'm a free spirit and have my own pace". However, he also has a playful side characterized by strange moves, peculiar laughter, and eccentric worldview.

Has a curious nature and likes to try new things.

His favorite artists are Michael Jackson and Chris Brown.

In 2017, at the start of the group's first solo tour THE RAMPAGE LIVE TOUR 2017-2018 "GO ON THE RAMPAGE", he launched a video corner called "The Two Who Can't Talk" (しゃべれない2人) together with Fujiwara Itsuki in order to improve their talking skills. :D

According to his members, he is always late in his private life.

His favorite color is black.

[graysoncritic]

A (Negative) Review of Tom Taylor's Nightwing Run - Conclusion

Introduction Who is Dick Grayson? What Went Wrong? Dick's Characterization What Went Wrong? Barbara Gordon What Went Wrong? Bludhaven (Part 1, Part 2) What Went Wrong? Melinda Lin Grayson What Went Wrong? Bea Bennett What Went Wrong? Villains Conclusion Bibliography

Though it may not appear so given the length of this essay, I did try to be fair to Taylor and Redondo. I focused my criticism on Taylor because my knowledge of written storytelling far exceeds my knowledge of visual storytelling, especially when it comes to sequential art. As such, I did not think it was my place to criticize something that I did not feel entirely comfortable addressing.

As I implied in the introduction, this essay was both an intellectual exercise and a cathartic one. Much of the information in it were reworded discussions I had with other Dick Grayson fans throughout the past couple of years. I must also thank them for allowing me to quote them when appropriate, as none of this would have been possible without their contribution. The essay itself was written in the time span of months, and sometimes I went weeks without even opening the document, only doing so again when a new issue came out and I wanted to vent.

As I worked on this, I was able to articulate a frustration that has been building up inside of me and, I know, many Dick Grayson fans for years. These frustrations are not exclusive to Taylor's writing. Rather, Taylor’s writing is but the most obvious and prominent example of said problem, with new and old symptoms drawing glaring attention to themselves on a monthly basis. The real problem behind all of these grievances and, quite frankly, the hurt Dick Grayson fans feel at the moment is rooted in the fact that DC Comics as a whole seems determined to undermine, if not completely erase, the importance of this amazing character.

There are other ways in which this can be observed. One of the Dick Grayson fans I know has been collecting examples of this erasure that span decades. I, myself, have thoughts on the motivations behind these actions and how they are reflective of a societal dislike for those who are othered, and especially those who challenge patriarchal ideals, the gender binary, and heteronormative culture. 

Perhaps one day I will address those subjects. Or perhaps not. As cathartic as writing this was, I do want to write more about the things I love rather than the things I hate. But I also believe it is important to express dissatisfaction when experienced, to vent when required, and to critique when necessary.

If you stuck around this far, then I do not believe that this needs stating, but just in case, I must assert that I reject any claims that comics should not be analyzed in this much depth. I do not, for a second, believe that comics are above serious criticism simply due to their format or their content. Comics, like every form of storytelling, are worthy of being examined and dissected. They are a part of our culture. They are literature and as such, they deserve to be studied. 

This essay explored Taylor’s current, ongoing run of Nightwing. I believe it proved not only its failure as a good story, but also as a good Nightwing story. Taylor’s superficial characterization, weak plot, and simplistic morality that undermines the story’s stated themes, demonstrate that Taylor does not care about Dick Grayson. He does not see Dick as a character worthy of his care and attention. At the very best Taylor lacks the knowledge to understand Dick. At the very best, Taylor has no interest in getting to know him, nor any respect for his predecessors to learn how they handled Dick and incorporating their work into his continuity. At worst, he despises the character so much that he wishes to re-invent him into something different, tossing away everything that was special to his fans in order to bring in a new crowd that never cared about Dick Grayson before he was made palatable to them. 

And that attitude is not isolated to Taylor. It is, I believe, observable throughout much of DC. Not all current writers, editors, and artists are like this, of course, but for years — decades, actually — there have been attempts to erase Dick’s importance to certain characters, to replace him, to downplay his achievements and his uniqueness in order to prop up others, and to water him down until he becomes but a shadow of who he was. Sometimes, it feels like DC is trying to kill Dick Grayson, remove his parts and give to other characters. This character gets his unique relationship with Bruce. This character gets to keep Dick’s relevance to Robin. These characters can have Bludhaven. For how long, I must wonder, do Dick Grayson fans have to put up with this silently? Must we just quietly watch this continue until Dick is all hollowed out and is only a memory living in the hearts of those who love him? 

Because we do love him. We love him for all the special characteristics that made him different, that did not make him into a blank canvas, an every-man hero. I do not hate Taylor personally, but I believe that his clear disinterest in Nightwing is not an isolated case, and that DC, at this moment in time, is unwilling to engage with Dick’s character and his fans. They want a brand new and palatable hero to step into his place, not the long standing bastion who has been around longer than most of DC’s characters. They don’t want Dick Grayson. They do not respect or care for him. And as such, I believe Dick’s fans have a right to be angry and to feel like DC does not care or respect them. 

I do not know how long these attempts at erasing Dick will last. I do not know how long-lasting the effects of Taylor’s run will be. But trends come and go, and Dick has been around for nearly a century. He’s a strong enough character to survive this long, and I believe, despite previous and current attempts, that he will survive this as well.

And as he does, I will be there, cheering him on. 

[equal-shipping]

Kaishin Reveal and What It Means For You

Okay I need everyone to keep their shit together because I think this is being blown out of proportion. What follows is a quick rant about what the hell is going in the DCMK fandom and what is going on in fandom in general cause I don’t know why I’m seeing so many people lose their shit over something that was most likely going to happen followed by a quick lesson by a ‘fandom elder’ on how to ignore canon and make a ship your own. 

Spoilers ahead and whatnot. 

April 11th the DCMK 27 movie came out and information was revealed about how Kaito Kuroba and Shinichi Kudou are now cousins. Twitter lost its mind, Tumblr lost its mind, Discord servers are being created and now everyone is wondering what the hell should they do. 

I’m going to be honest, if you are a creator for KaiShin, please don’t delete your work. 

Either archive it or orphan it but please don’t delete it.

You put time and effort into this, into something you love, and just because the mangaka is so SO set in his ways of every single ship being friends to lovers does not mean you have to follow the same format. This doesn’t make you an incest shipper or whatever, it doesn’t make you a person who you don’t want to be, it’s just something that you had no idea of knowing was going to happen and I hope that you can look back at it fondly. 

Anyways, for those enjoying Kaishin on the sidelines all I’m going to say is Pick a Lane. 

Ignore Canon 

If you are an old time shipper then this may not be new for you. I mean Gosho literally had another ship that turned out to be cousins like at this point it’s ‘who is my cousin’ being played in the entire Detective Conan manga. You either already guessed it, are an active incest shipper (hi, hello, tis a me) or you are used to your favourites dying. This situation is no fucking different. 

Wolfwood is dead, in my head he is alive and well and treating his Plant husband right. 

Sora is missing, not in my head where he is kissing Roxas and Riku and Kairi and whoever else wants to get at the sunshine of the KH universe. 

Ben is dead, NOT IN MY REYLO FANFICTION. 

If you are a person who actively kept up with the manga or actively kept up with the show it is possible to ignore canon because they do not suddenly go super deep into being cousins and knowing about each other. They both don’t know if they are cousins or else the jig would be up immediately and the manga would be finished. You CAN ignore canon and if Kaishin is a ship that brings you joy and just serotonin production I implore you guys to choose this lane if you still want to enjoy Kaishin. 

It’s by far the healthiest option and teaches you how to curate your own fandom experience. 

Alternate Universes and You 

I was in the Hannibal fandom for a while and I clearly remember the ‘Hannibal is not a Cannibal’ tag on AO3. I thought it was hilarious but I would never dare to make fun of it because that is a prime example of CURATING YOUR FANDOM EXPERIENCE. 

Here are some examples on how you can start tagging: 

Not Cousins AU

Kaito and Shinichi aren’t family 

No Family Relation AU 

Pre Kaishin reveal 

Or just make a quick blurb of how you mean this drawing/fic to be perceived. Again, this is your experience and you get to make the space you want to make. It’s up to you to make/interact with the content that makes you most comfortable. Again, if you want to delve into AU’s then that is up to you and I think it’s a pretty good lane for those who just feel weird about the whole reveal. 

Stepping Away

Your moral values are your own, people, and I am in no position or even want to judge them. If you feel uncomfortable about this now, see your love for Kaishin diminishing because of the reveal or just don’t see yourself shipping Kaishin in the future then you are more than capable of measuring your response and stepping away from the ship entirely for your own health. 

Is it going to be sad? Yes, but they are fictional and I recommend having an idea of what you have in your life outside of fandom that makes you happy that you can focus on as you go through this. College, work, whatever hobbies you may have taken up–hell put all your eggs into another ship that you know also brings you joy! 

Do not let this dictate your day or your month or your year. This is just fandom, you don’t have to make a big statement unless asked about it, you do not have to justify your decision to anybody, curate.your.fandom.experience. 

I’m going to end this with a repeat of what I just said. 

This is all fictional. We are playing in a fictional sandbox where we can all make whatever we want in any capacity and as long as it is tagged correctly then nobody’s lines have to be crossed. If you just started enjoying Kaishin, find out how you still want to enjoy it or step away. If you have shipped Kaishin for a while, do the same fucking thing! The east side of the fandom is having a field day with the movie, why can’t the west have some fun too?! 

I’m going to ship Kaishin (however all my reblogs will be moved to my other blog for incest-y stuff and just other content people may not vibe with in general) and hell I might just join the Kaishin Big Bang for the hell of it because I have been shipping this ship since I was 15 years old and I’m about to be 30 so….I’m staying fucking seated cause you aren’t getting me out of this chair, Aoyama, you aren’t getting me to ship Aoko with anyone other an Akako so suck on that. 

Be safe, be smart and curate y’all.

[archaeology-findings]

I know this isn't what I usually post, but I want to share my journey of getting an autism diagnosis.

I want to show everyone who might be considering seeking a diagnosis the actual steps, to help de-mystify the whole process.

I know that I despise unfamiliar situations, and therefore going into a process where they hide each next step from you can be very anxiety-inducing. I couldn't find much information online about the actual process, only that I needed to ask my GP for a referral, then go to the assessment. It didn't help that none of the articles referred to the changes to this system that covid has made.

The process I'm sharing with you may not be exactly like yours. I'm trying to get a diagnosis on the NHS in England, post-covid and while most doctor's surgeries are experiencing severe staff shortages. I am also an 18 year old white female, so your experience might be different than mine.

My first step was to make an E-consult on my local surgery's website. I would have preferred a face-to-face appointment because it's a lot easier for me to interpret tone and get my point across this way, however they're not really offered anymore, especially for this type of appointment. Making the E-consult was quite hard, because you have to jump through a lot of hoops to find the right option for a referral, and even then I don't think I picked the right one.

The next day, I received this text, so I followed the link to download the questionnaire. It turned out to be the first ten questions of the Autism Spectrum Quotient questionnaire for adults. Since it was only a scan of the document, I printed it off to fill it out then scanned it and sent it back.

The next day, I received this response:

Obviously I had selected the wrong option, which is easily done since none of the options in the E-consult were explained. In true socially-anxious fashion, I put off responding to this for a few days but I eventually did and explained that I would like a NHS referral.

I then got this reply the day after:

The form was in the format of a word document so I completed it on my computer. It consisted of some personal details then a more in-depth list of symptoms for which I had to describe my personal symptoms. My mum and I filled it out together and I sent it back the same day.

This morning, I received a reply:

I am choosing to assume that this is a typo and that they meant to say ASD, since I don't show any symptoms of ADD (attention deficit disorder) and I did not ask for a diagnosis of ADD. Hopefully I will be contact by the ASD assessment service soon and I can confirm I was referred for the correct disorder.

This is everything up til now, I will reblog with updates as they occur. On the whole I'd say I'm fairly impressed with how fast my GP has responded to me, so I'm hoping this continues to be the case.