#is there a word for moderately school related

[olderthannetfic]

Now I'm wondering how countries like Japan and China teach literacy.

Since kanji / hanzi don't really have that much in the way of phonetic elements, they kinda have to teach them by memorization and I don't think they have many reading comprehension problems over there.

(Although both countries do have supplementary phonetic writing systems in the form of bopomofo and pinyin for China, and the kanas for Japan)

--

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It's a little closer to teaching vocabulary than spelling, but the same kinds of principles apply: You teach the building blocks, like the traditional radicals, which aren't so different from teaching Latin and Greek roots in an English class for English speakers.

And, as a matter of fact, lots of those radicals do predict pronunciation, just not in every single case. They can also be clues to meaning, but again, not absolutely consistently. Many characters have a sound-cueing radical on one side and a meaning-cueing radical on the other. It's just that only some are still useful in the modern day, while others are more like the English word 'plumbing' where knowledge of Roman lead pipes explains why this word comes from the one for lead, but the root probably wouldn't help a kid learn the word in the first place.

One similarity to teaching phonics would be teaching students to tell very complicated and similar characters apart: you want to help a student spot all the little building blocks of the character and then spot the ones that are different, not just glance at the whole character and get a general overall vibe. If you do a whole look-based approach, too many characters are too easy to mistake for one another.

Remembering a bajillion Chinese characters is hard if you're trying to memorize them in a year and not all of elementary school, but I think people who don't read them underestimate how many component parts there are and how approachable they can be if you start by learning fundamentals, not just memorizing a few individual characters as though they have no relation to anything else.

They're actually pretty systematic, just in the way that English spelling is with its overlapping systems and historical artifacts, not in the way that highly regular Spanish spelling is.

Having taken a lot of Japanese classes, I will say that Japanese as a foreign language textbooks often do a piss poor job of this and totally do teach kanji in a sight words-y way... But my Mandarin class started with important foundational concepts that served me well in Japanese later even if I bombed out of Chinese class at the time.

Can you tell how irritated I am by all the foreign language learners who think characters are sooooo hard when, really, it's just their crappy textbook? Haha.

They're moderately hard in the way that learning a full adult spectrum of vocabulary is hard, but people do that for foreign languages all the time. The countries that use characters do tend to make sets that are smaller for certain kinds of applications, same as we have things like simple English wikipedia, but a literate adult will always know lots more, whether it's from their career in engineering or their predilection for historical romance novels.

Uh... anyway, the answer is "Bit by bit in elementary school, just like in any other country".

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Emotions (Sadness)

Sadness can manifest differently in different people. Here are some notes on writing sad characters in your stories/poetry.

Sadness: Other Words to Use

HIGH grieved, crushed, gloomy, hopeless, heartbroken, devastated, despairing, distraught, heavy hearted, miserable MODERATE dejected, dismayed, hurt, hurting, disillusioned, downcast, forlorn, glum, cheerless, melancholy LOW down, disappointed, blue, discouraged, low, somber, sorry, unhappy

Sadness: Some Phrases to Use

A wave of sadness

Irremediable sorrow (impossible to cure/put right)

A sob rose in my throat

A pining melancholy

A plaintive cry (mournful)

A great pang gripped his heart

Her eyes were prickling with tears

Aching with sympathy

His eyes misted over

There were tracks of tears on her face

Her face contorted as though she was struggling not to cry

Sadness flitted across her face

Shaking with grief

His voice cracks, thick with grief

A lump formed in her throat

Sadness: Show, Don't Tell

Eyebrows may be lower and pulled closer together

The inner corners of the eyebrows may be angled up

The corners of the mouth may be drawn downwards

The lips may be either drawn in tightly or pouting outwards

Crying: A Sign of Sadness

Tears may first pool in the eyes before they streak down a person’s cheeks.

Tears distort vision, so if you’re writing in the first person, don’t forget that your character’s vision will be blurry.

Crying usually isn’t a pretty sight, so don’t be afraid to show that the character’s face is red or that their nose is running.

Sadness: Other Notes & Tips

There are many different ways that sadness can be felt and expressed depending on the intensity of the emotion, and there are many different things that can trigger a sad response in a character.

When a character is truly heartbroken, their expression may change to be more numb: their mouth may hang open loosely, their eyes may remain closed, and the rest of their body may become limp and heavy.

Complexity also means that sadness is often experienced in tandem with another emotion, such as anger, happiness, or disgust.

Show your reader the sad (a) behaviours, (b) facial expressions, (c) actions, (d) speech and (e) inner thoughts of your character.

The arts, humanities, give us the space and freedom and consolation to share our sadness.

Sadness can be one of the best things to happen to us, because it shows we still feel and want to strive for a better life.

We usually associate rain with sadness BUT Bad weather is better than good weather at sustaining people’s attention and maintaining productivity, according to a study by Jooa Julia Lee of Harvard University, Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School, and Bradley R. Staats of the University of North Carolina. In a study of Japanese bank workers whose windows gave them a view of the weather, a 1-inch increase in daily rainfall was related to a 1.3% decrease in worker completion time for data-entry tasks. When the weather is bad, workers are less distracted by thoughts of outdoor activities.

Tap into your own emotionality. It’s important to remember that emotion is inside of you—you just need to access it and put it on the page. In fiction writing, you might achieve this by doing some writing exercises or prompts that help you tap into your own emotions and then translating those feelings to your characters’ emotional states. Or, you might find yourself getting deep into your characters’ heads and using their backstories to connect to your characters’ emotions.

Know the difference between sentimentality and truth. To successfully write an essay or novel with weight or substance, you have to understand the difference between sentimentality and truth. Sentimentality is manipulative and unsurprising. It’s the easy words that have always been used to signify certain emotions without actually moving someone into feeling them. Oscar Wilde said, “A sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of emotion without paying for it.” In a similar vein, James Joyce said, “Sentimentality is unearned emotion.” The sadness can’t be forced or formulaic, but it’s important to always look for a way to move people, to add meaning, with more than laughter. You provoke tears or deep emotion when you open a genuine window into who you are or who someone else is. Sadness has to be authentic, so you need to maintain that authenticity in your framing of the emotional moment. Resist the impulse to overplay it. It’s not a soap opera; if your subject is experiencing real pain, they’re doing all of the work for you.

Leave room to be surprised by specific detail. That is how you will create natural emotion, which will resonate with your readers, especially if you show and don’t tell. Often something small can trigger reader emotions better than big, dramatic events or descriptions, especially if they’re already familiar with your characters’ backstories.

Pair strong emotions with ordinary ones. When working with heightened emotion, think of ways to pair it with an ordinary, everyday moment. This can help emotional writing sound less melodramatic and make intense feelings stand out.

Use backstories to add weight. If you show your character’s history, that can help build up to an emotional reaction to minor-seeming actions, language, or even body language. Foreshadowing a sad event with a backstory can make the climax feel more intense.

Use sad moments to further character development. Remember as you’re writing that your characters are on a journey. You are rendering only a small slice of that journey on the page. Nonetheless, your characters will need to grow and change. Difficult emotional experiences can shape your characters, so make sure intense emotional scenes fit into the whole story in a way that feels authentic to your characters and plot.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

If these writing notes helped with your poem/story, please tag me. Or leave a link in the replies. I'd love to read them!

[the-nanowrimo-chronicles]

A Summary of the allegations against Nanowrimo

A group of Rogue Writers have managed to assemble a list of the allegations that have come out against Nanowrimo in the last year, below.

PROTECT KIDS FROM NANOWRIMO

NaNoWriMo and its staff have recently come under fire for their numerous unethical and predatory practices. These include, though are not limited to:

Hostility and inaction after numerous members raised child grooming allegations against a volunteer moderator who was in charge of teens within the NaNoWriMo forums.

Headquarters took nearly 2 months to quietly remove the accused moderator's leadership powers, and over 5 months to remove their account… which they only did after this former moderator threatened to damage NaNoWriMo's contract with an affiliate.

Refusal to protect kids in the Young Writer’s Program from predators. Kids were instead bullied and silenced by the staff.

Ivan the Icy, a scavenger hunt game that featured a terrorist-styled “supervillain” (which they admitted was a mistake).

Local organizers (called MLs) not being background checked, yet required to host in-person events with kids present.

Harboring volunteer MLs who were reported as racist, homophobic, transphobic, and/or abusive.

Ignoring and silencing MLs who begged for help regarding serious issues within the volunteer program. This resulted in at least one participant suffering an event-related assault.

Inaction when MLs abused fellow MLs with bullying and ableist discrimination.

Promoting multiple Vanity Presses (predatory, scam-like publishers), including Inkitt, even after outside sources confirmed and announced they were predatory.

Solicitation via email for donations from kids in the Young Writer's Program.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Do you know of a school or classroom participating in NaNoWriMo through the Young Writers Program website? Please bring these issues to their attention.

If you donate to the NaNoWriMo organization, stop. There are plenty of other charitable organizations far more worthy of your monetary support.

Continue enjoying the November writing challenge WITHOUT the NaNoWriMo organization. Many authors and writing groups have written 50k words in 30 days without even being aware that the organization exists.

Please share this post.

[jotun-philosopher]

Discworld/Good Omens parallels ramble

Exactly what it says on the tin! These are some fun little Discworld/Good Omens parallels that my brain picked up on at various times (usually 3 a.m. or thereabouts... Thanks, mum, for the persistent insomnia...)

Mild-to-moderate spoilers for Wyrd Sisters, Lords And Ladies, Men At Arms and Carpe Jugulum below the cut.

In A Life With Footnotes, the official biography of Terry Pratchett, Rob Wilkins mentions that when he was in school, a young Pterry wrote for English class a story (sadly lost to the mists of time) about orcs attacking a vicarage in full Jane-Austen-spoof fashion. Now, given how the Whickber Street Shopkeepers' Ball turned out, it seems reasonable to assume one of two things: a) this story was not a factor under consideration when writing S2 and the parallel is an ineffably delightful coincidence (a bit unlikely) b) this story *was* an inspiring factor in the writing of S2, and the nod to Pterry happened to work really well with the plot (seems a bit more likely). Either way, the parallel is there and giving me all of the warm fuzzies <3

There's an idea in Discworld, forming a significant part of the moral backbone of the series, that's very succinctly summed up by Granny Weatherwax in Carpe Jugulum: "[S]in [...] is when you treat people like things. Including yourself." This is absolutely at the core of what's wrong with Heaven and Hell and God and Satan in Good Omens; the leadership and culture of both organisations/cults treat everyone -- angels, demons and humans alike -- as disposable things to be used and toyed with and discarded or destroyed if they start having the temerity to be imperfect or form opinions or thoughts of their own.

There're two characters in Discworld who parallel Aziraphale surprisingly strongly: Magrat Garlick (of the Lancre witches) and Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. -*Magrat is viewed as a bit of a soft, soppy 'wet hen' by the other witches, but she is still a witch, with all that that implies. She also has at least one scene in every book in which she appears where she does something extremely badass and witchy; for example, turning an ancient wooden door back into a tree, or (very pertinently to GO) delivering a literally iron-clad punch to the face of a villain who's mentally torturing her with her own insecurities. Likewise, Aziraphale seems to mostly be viewed as a bit dull and wimpy by the other angels we see (though Magrat still has the genuine respect of her witchy peers) but he is still an angel -- a Principality -- with all the powers, steadfast guardianship and bloody-minded stubbornness of that rank. The Metatrash might not be vulnerable to iron in the same way as Discworld elves, but you can bet that his attempt to break Aziraphale and bring him into line is going to backfire just as spectacularly! *For the parallel between Aziraphale and Captain (well, Corporal, at this point in the Discworld timeline) Carrot, the novel I have in mind is Men At Arms. At one point, Vimes is being held at crossbow-point by a villain, and has a bout of internal monologuing about how, if someone has you at their mercy, you'd better hope they're evil, because that way they'll take time to gloat and mock you so you'll have an opportunity to think of a way out; a good man will kill you with barely a word. Carrot does exactly that at the climax of the plot, putting his sword through the villain and the stone pillar behind said villain without saying a thing. Now, Aziraphale might not quite have Carrot's 'incorruptible pure pureness' tendencies, but he is -- for all his flaws -- a good person. If he knows that something needs to be done to prevent an evil outcome, he will DO it without hesitation. He knows how to use a sword, too, and if That Frickin' Elevator Smile Of Tranquil Fury is any indication, the Metatrash is in far deeper doodoo than he realises! Related to the above, The Smile also reminds me of the old adage, "beware the fury of a patient man." (Well, man-shaped being in this case...) Very appropriate for our careful, thoughtful angel -- it would not surprise me (much) if Metatron were to depart the plot of S3 with a flaming sword pinning him to one of Heaven's columns (probably won't happen, but I can dream, eh?)

Hope you enjoyed reading all that :D

[thepascalofus]

Growing on Me - Chapter One

AO3

Din Djarin x botanist!Reader

Word Count: 6.1K

Summary: The Plant Species Inventory Project is a one hundred day expedition in the forests of Nevarro. You’re Nevarro’s best (and only) botanist, which is something Karga doesn’t want to risk losing. Making sure you’re safe on this years expedition, Karga hired a Mandalorian to protect you—Mando.

Series Content Warnings: 18+ only, MDNI, swearing, completely made up species and/or irl species instead of canon ones, inaccurate descriptions of Nevarro (it has forests instead of lava plains), lots of biology and environmental stuff (I promise I won’t go too deep with it [i have a bio degree]), 70% strangers/30% enemies to lovers, semi-slow burn, lots of tropes (because what are tropes if we don’t use them am I right?), canon violence, eventual SMUT, eventual FLUFF, reader is described as gender neutral as possible but has female sex organs and is occasionally referred to as a girl, no Y/N, hurt/comfort, happy ending guaranteed!

A/N: I have had this idea brewing in my mind for a while now. I’m so happy to share this with all of you. I truly love the topic I went to school for (biology), so this is mostly for me, oops. There will be lots of biology related stuff in this series, but I promise it will be “comprehensible”, not textbook jargon. Every single like, reblog, comment, smoke signal (that’d be a fun one), and ask truly means the world to me. Sharing my writing is a new thing for me and I’m enjoying it so far. Alsssoooo, I’m planning for this fic to be a long(er) series. 

Leaves crunched underneath your hiking boots with every step you took into the forest. Further and further in, green soaked into your vision and found its home. The forest was moderately dense. Trees of various shapes and sizes were scattered throughout the land. Distances between tree trunks varied, but gaps still allowed for traversion.

The understory was spectacular. Biodiversity could be defined in a dictionary, and a picture of this landscape would take up two and a half pages. Tall, leafy plants with elongated petioles and broad leaves gave the small shade plants cover. Tiny collections of different mosses littered the surfaces of landlocked rocks. Vines found their way up tree trunks and retreated back down, hanging from branches as thick, green ropes.

Light peeked in from the gaps in the forest canopy. Small lizards basked on rocks where the light shined especially bright. Happy, buzzing pollinators made their way from flower to flower in search of sweet nectar.

The light also reflected off of Mando’s silver beskar, and right into your eyes.

You squinted at the white splotches that harassed your vision. In response, you turned your head and ignored the man that stood in the corner of your eye. Your feet continued to weave between plants, careful not to break too many with your steps. With each step, the brown rucksack on your back bounced against your torso and your blaster patted against your thigh.

Karga lent you the rucksack to hold the maps and forms needed for the expedition. It was one hundred days out here. You’ve done longer land surveys and experienced plenty of joy from doing them. But you were with your university mentor then.

Now you’re with Mando.

Karga insisted that the Mandalorian come with you. You sauntered into his office this morning to retrieve the rucksack and its contents, and were met with two men instead of just the High Magistrate himself. Karga pulled you aside and told you to, “think of him as more of an assistant,” but you knew he truly hired the man donning beskar to protect you.

You rolled your eyes in response, but thanked Karga nevertheless. The Plant Species Inventory Project was in its third year, and you were on your third year of running it. Every year you hiked through the surrounding forests of Nevarro for one hundred days to document the species of the forest.

But last year you had to stop early due to receiving a venomous bite from a lizard. Karga called in an airlift and had you rushed to the hospital. The doctors said that if you had arrived five minutes later, you would’ve been dead.

This year, Karga decided that your knife and blaster weren’t good enough against lizards. Instead of getting you better self defense tools, he bought a Mandalorian to protect you. From the lizards.

Right before you passed another rock with a lizard sunbathing on its peak, Mando made his way over to you and put his body between you and the rock. You huffed in response. The lizard had brown, pointy skin with splotches of blue along its back.

“That one is harmless, Mando,” you deadpanned to the man.

“Yeah? How do you know?” He quipped in response.

Taken aback by his sudden eagerness to talk to you—he hasn’t said a word to you since you both left Karga’s office—you quickly explained, “The harmless ones, Glendia ropensis, have blue spots on their back. The venomous ones, Glendia frediama, have green spots.”

Mando turned his helmet to look at you. You stared back at him, directly in his black visor. Other people have told you bits and pieces of folklore about the Mandalorians. The galaxy’s best warriors. They trained to develop their fighting skills as soon as they were old enough.

Yet, the beskar man didn’t phase you. Karga wouldn’t send you into a remote forest with a man he didn’t trust…right? You trusted Karga and his judgment, therefore you trusted Mando to not kill you.

“I thought you were a botanist?” The shiny man stated in confusion.

“I am,” you replied, “just because I know plants doesn’t mean I can’t know animals.”

His helmet tilted in a “fair enough” motion and you two continued to trek through the forest. Mando cleared his throat, “Karga said you were Nevarro’s best botanist.”

“I am,” you repeated, then continued with tight lips, “I’m also Nevarro’s only botanist.”

The man hummed, the sound crackling through the helmet. Facing forward, your gaze drifted downwards to the array of plants on the forest floor. Different leaf shapes popped out at you. Some plants had bright flowers while others lacked them.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Your watch went off, signaling for the first sampling. Bringing your rucksack around your shoulder and in front of you, you plopped it down on the ground and opened the sack. A holopad and two cubes were held in your hands as you brought them from out of the brown bag. 

Flipping the switch on one of the cubes, you tossed it to Mando. He stood there, examining the device, while you pulled up the proper programs on the holopad. One program mapped your hike while the other helped you record the species you sampled. You tucked the holopad under your arm after setting up your sampling preferences.

You looked up to see Mando fiddling with the cube you gave him. Your hand whose arm wasn’t holding the holopad flicked the switch on the corresponding cube.

A hologram square projected out of the cubes, the devices corresponded to two diagonal corners of the square. You walked closer to the Mandalorian and the square shrunk. You walked further and the square grew.

Selecting a small rock protruding from the ground, you set the device on top of it. Mando picked up on your motions and found a log to prop the corresponding device onto.

“Don’t all of the sampling plots need to be the same size?” The silver man questioned.

You retrieved the holopad from under your arm and tapped the screen to initiate the calculations on the size of the plot. Looking up from the holopad you pointed to the screen, and replied to Mando with a hint of sass, “The programs standardize everything, so the sampling plots don’t need to be exact.”

His gaze bored into yours while the program calculated the dimensions of the plot and ran other diagnostics of the area. You raised an eyebrow at him, shifting your weight to one foot, “Do you not trust Nevarro’s best botanist?” You asked jokingly, yet with a tone of seriousness.

At first Mando didn’t respond in words, but his shoulders rose, as if he let out a silent laugh at you. He shook his head, helmet rotating from side to side, “It’s only been a couple hours, we’ll see,” Mando drawled. Light glinted off the beskar donning his head as he turned to observe the surrounding woods. 

Bending down, you began to assess the leaves of the first plant to identify. The veins were parallel, running side by side to each other. Leaf arrangement was alternate, no two leaves shared the same growth point on the stem. No vein on the plant touched. They all went and came from the same direction, never meeting.

The second plant had net-like veining on its leaves. Veins crossed and morphed into each other. Leaf arrangement was opposite. Pairs of leaves pinched the stem with their petioles and crossed it perpendicularly. Every feature on the small herb met and weaved together. Each vein could only be minutely distinguished among the web of veins working together to keep the plant alive. 

Stenica aparinese and Wortanum tortanumus.

The pair of you haven’t met before. You knew nothing about the beskar man, besides that he didn’t talk much. But it had only been a few hours, as Mando said before, and you still don’t feel like your paths have crossed. Even though you two have been walking side by side. 

—

You completed ten samplings before you decided to call it a day. Squatting over plants and counting petals wasn’t mentally difficult, but it was physically. Knees aching and thighs burning, you two made your way through the maze of trees. The holopad glowed in the fading sunlight and aided you in finding the nearest safehouse. 

Footsteps created a chorus of crunches that echoed off the tree trunks. Your gait was focused on avoiding the small, rare plants on the forest floor. Occasionally, you’d stop to get a closer look at some—having never seen them before. 

Mando would pause behind you. His large hands settled on his belt, palm resting near his blaster. The helmet swiveled from side to side as he dragged his gaze over the forest. He would wait patiently near you as you took notes about the species, attempting to identify it. 

“Are we good to go?” He’d grit out after a couple minutes. 

You stood up from a squat and clicked the holopad off, throwing him a quick nod. The crunching chorus resumed, feet finding pockets of common grasses and clovers. Mando’s heavy boots tried to fall within the same pockets of green that yours did, but his success was debatable. 

Sunlight shining down from the canopy became scarce, but not obsolete. The blaster hanging in a holster on your hip tapped against your thigh. The crunches caused by footsteps were accompanied by a cadence of muted pats.

Mando cleared his throat, a sound that choked out of the helmet’s modulator, “Do you know how to use that thing?” The beskar man asked.

You turned to face him, stopping in your tracks. You’ve never had to shoot it, the blaster hung from a holster just in case you needed it. But it can’t be that hard, right? Just point and shoot.

“I mean, yeah,” you shrugged, “you just point and shoot.” Thinking that was an acceptable answer for Mando, you turned to continue towards the safehouse.

“Just point and shoot?” Dry exasperation churned out like gravel from his helmet. 

Lips became a line on your face, and your torso faced him again. Before you could start speaking, he cut you off. “You haven’t used it, have you?” Mando sighed.

You crossed your arms over your chest, exhaustion took over your expression, “Why does it matter? Does a Mandalorian need back up?”

Head turning, your footsteps resumed towards the safehouse. The holopad indicated it was less than fifty meters away. A warm shower and a comfy mattress sounded better than a shooting tutorial—from a man destined to be far better at it than you—would be.

Mando sighed and continued behind you. “What’s the point of carrying a blaster if you don’t know how to use it? If you’ve never shot it?” His helmet gave his tone a sharp edge.

“So I can look like I know how to use it. I don’t want to use it.” 

It was true. You didn’t know what you would do if you actually had to use it. Your biology courses always talked about the fight or flight response, but they rarely talked about freeze.

That’s probably what you would do. You’d freeze. 

“Firing bad shots at someone who does know how to use it, makes you look like you don’t know how to use it,” Mando said matter-of-factly. 

Shoulders dropping, you sighed and trekked forwards. “Look, I know that the bolt comes out of the barrel and to point it at what I want to shoot. And pulling the trigger fires the blaster. I feel like that’s good enough for now,” you rebuked. 

Thankfully, Mando dropped the subject, since the gray exterior of the safehouse came into view. The small building formed a basic cube of cement walls. Only a few windows interrupted the slabs of stone, and they were dark, bleak. Near the tree-brown door was the only sign that the safehouse wasn’t a long-lost monument—a glowing, yellow keypad. If you were the only humans in the forest, the safehouse shouldn’t have been used since last year. 

Approaching the brown door, you dug into your memory for the code that allows entry. Karga asked you what code you wanted when he had them built throughout the forest. 

That’s right! The code is your birth date.

You pressed the corresponding keys, the yellow glow bathed your fingertips in a warm light. The brown door slid open once the last key was pressed. Before you could even find the kriffing lightswitch, a crackle came from behind your head.

“What’s the code?” Mando asked with intention.

Mando must have assumed that you knew where the lightswitch was, because he continued his path over the threshold and directly into your back. The momentum from his body ramming into yours made you stumble, falling towards the wooden floors. You brought your arms up to brace yourself for the harsh impact.

And they hit nothing.

Instead, a large, gloved hand settled on your stomach and pulled you upwards. The muscles of his arm pressed against your side and burned their warmth into your skin. Suddenly, you were back on your feet and the lights were turned on.

You turned around, eyes wide in shock at the speed of events. Mando’s gloved finger dropped from its position under the switch. “Sorry about that,” he sighed.

Acting like he didn’t just seamlessly haul you back to your feet with one arm.

A feeling that was foreign—but not too foreign—seeped from your chest down to your stomach. The ticklish warmth emanated throughout your body in all directions. The same feeling you opted to tune out at while you were at university. Shit.

One guy put a hand on you and now you have butterflies? C’monnn. 

Just like every other time, you blockade the warmth from spreading too far out. Mentally, barricades went up before the feeling could leave your torso. It’s better to stay focused on the task at hand.

Shhkt.

The Mandalorian pressed a button that triggered the door to slide closed.

“Um…”

Were you supposed to thank him? Scold him? Leave it at that? Your mouth tightened and you gave the Mandalorian a curt nod and a, “Thanks.” 

Before receiving his reaction, you turned your back to him to assess the layout of the safehouse. A small, cozy living room with a fireplace filled up most of the space to your left. Knit blankets were draped over the thick cushions that sat upon the wooden furniture frames. 

The space continued into the equally small kitchen. Basic silver appliances filled up most of the kitchen space. Simple, gray pantry doors blended with the small, semi-shiny machines. On the right of you were two doors, one you assumed contained the fresher, and the other containing beds.

Turning to your left, you removed your bag and plopped onto the thick cushions of the couch. The burning in your legs made you unconcerned about making food for dinner or discussing sleeping arrangements.

The burning—or maybe lack thereof—in Mando’s thighs didn’t dissuade him from being persistent.

Mando sauntered over to the couch you were laying on. The thunks of his heavy footsteps became louder as he grew nearer. “Are you going to tell me the code?” Mando’s helmet came into your line of sight as he towered over your slumped figure.

You groaned, “Are you going to stop walking into me?”

The horizontal line of his visor tilted in your view, signifying a, “really?” emotion. His shoulders dropped, “I just want to be able to get in and out of the houses.”

Begrudgingly you told him the code, “It’s my birthday,” you explained.

“Oh, uh, happy birthday.” He gave you a curt nod and turned to walk into the kitchen.

A small smile spread across your face, and you sighed once more, “Today isn’t my birthday, metal man, the code is my birthday.” You propped one of your elbows on the couch to look over the back of the couch at him. He stood against the small metal sink, arms crossed. His large hands grasped his biceps on each side of him. The Mandalorian made the sink look like he stole it from a child’s playset. 

Once your gaze landed on him, his shoulders slumped. The T-shaped visor looked away from you and towards a map displayed on the wall. Silence ensued over the space. You too glanced at the map—yet there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it.

Mando’s visor pivoted on his shoulders and returned your gaze. After a few seconds his helmet crackled to life, “You’re getting a shooting lesson tomorrow morning.”

Your brows furrowed together and slanted downwards. “Ugggghh. I thought I told you I was good for now,” you gritted out. You let your elbow give out from underneath you and you flopped back down onto the couch cushions. 

A rumbling noise came from over the back of the couch. Footsteps followed. The heavy boots Mando wore sent muted dunks your way—then they ceased. A black T framed by silver entered your view yet again.

“I’m not good with it. Tomorrow morning after you eat,” Mando finalized.

You maintained “eye contact” with him after you rolled your eyes. Instead of staying awake—sore—and putting up with his banthashit, you willed your body to get up and to one of the wooden doors on the right side of the safehouse. Bending down, you scooped your bag onto your shoulder. Hopefully the room was the fresher.

A few paces. The turn of a doorknob. Creaking door opened. A sink, similar to the one in the kitchen, welcomed you with—metal arms? Either way, you were glad to be able to get to clean yourself after a long day. The heavy backpack slid from your shoulder and onto the floor in front of the silver sink.

Turning to close the door, you look up and Mando’s stare is directed at you. An eyebrow of yours raised, directed at him. He began to saunter over to the door next to the freshers’. His bag hung from a large, closed fist at his side.

His frame passed the threshold, making the rectangular entrance appear much smaller. A heavy object hit something soft. Hopefully Mando was finally laying down so you could be left alone. You paused for a couple seconds to see if the heavy footsteps would resume—but nothing.

Relief flooded your body, giving you the idea to close the door and get ready for the night. Water washed away the remnants of soil, tiny pieces of bark, and fragments of shed leaves from your skin. Liquid that once ran dark down the fresher drain steadily turned clear. Your body was a sponge, sucking the warmth from the water into your bones.

You finished your pre-sleep routine and ventured over to the room that contained the beds. Calling it a bedroom was too homey for this space. It was more of a room bunk beds would be kept in at camping lodges. Except there were only two adult-sized beds. And Mando’s confusedly still-silver frame covered most of the bed he chose. He laid on the mattress like someone was giving a eulogy—for him.

Peeling your gaze away from the Mandalorian’s mummy-like body, you peeled back the blankets and shuffled onto the mediocre mattress. You faced away from Mando, getting a nice view of a generic forest picture framed on the wall. It was the only decoration in the room.

“Night, metal man,” you murmured. He was already asleep, why not tease him again?

The helmet crackled to life.

“Metal man earned you one lesson. Say it again and you’ll earn another,” the words gritted out from the beskar helmet.

You laid in your bed, wide-eyed. Not knowing what to say, and honestly too tired to have this conversation, you opted to say nothing. After a couple moments, you heard shuffling from over your shoulder. The helmet crackled once more.

“Night.”

Your eyes drooped once your brain knew that social interaction was no longer required for the night. The pillow beneath your head lulled your slumber closer and closer.

“Ruus,” came from behind you.

Too tired. So sleepy. You’ll ask in the morning.

—

You woke up to birds chirping. Their calls and songs came in through your cracked bedroom window. Naturally, your brain deciphered the individual calls.

Cheep. Cheep. Cheep.

Shrrrrrk. Shrrrrrk.

Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki.

A common house sparrow, a buzzard, and a finch.

You shuffled around in your bed seeking a couple more minutes of comfort before your alarm inevitably went off. Mattress providing a soft cushion of support for your body, pillow delightfully cold against your face, and your eyelids heavy, your body absorbed your surroundings and let them influence you. Everything influenced you to stay the fuck in bed. Shifting in and out of consciousness, your blurry dreams pulled you further into a deeper slumber. 

Dawn quickly approached, signaling for the birds to scream at each other that they’re awake. Bird calls blared through the air like tiny sirens. The rays of sunlight shone through the slits in the window blinds.

The extra-loud bird sounds snapped you out of your dreamlike state. Your gaze was trained on the warm glow of sunlight seeping into the room. Everything was natural. Ethereal. In sync and calm.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Dank farrik. Whipping the duvet off your body and swinging your legs to let your feet touch the ground, you hurriedly zipped open your bag to find the holopad. Once your hands found it between clothes and your notebooks, you clicked it on. The bright screen made your eyes squint at the device. Clicking the screen once more, the alarm was silenced. Now that the blaring ceased, your mind began to catch up to your surroundings. 

Oh kriff, the alarm probably woke up Mando. Your voice was a whisper, “I’m sorry if that woke yo–.” You turned towards his bed and the silver frame of his body was no longer there. Once you noticed his absence, you quieted yourself and listened for any noise. Nothing.

But then you smelled caf. 

Your brain put two and two together. Your thoughts slowed down. After a second, you rummaged in your bag for a change of clothes and your toiletries. Once your outfit was changed, you strode over to the door and aimed to enter the fresher.

The wooden door opened to reveal Mando sitting on the couch, reading something on his holopad. Hopefully the helmet muffled any sounds you could make. You took one sock-clad step over the threshold. Then another. And another. Only a couple more until you reached the other door.

“Morning,” Mando’s speech crackled.

You turned towards him, holding up a hand, offering a quick, “Morning,” back. He didn’t say anything afterwards. Slunking into the fresher, you closed the door behind you and began your morning ritual. 

Mid-teeth-brushing, you remembered last night.

“You’re getting a shooting lesson tomorrow morning.”

Fuck.

Well, wouldn’t Mando remind you the moment he saw you in the morning. You didn’t even set one foot inside the safehouse before he demanded the code for the door. Maybe he forgot. You can only hope.

The wooden rectangle swung on the hinges, opening the fresher. You stepped out and made your way to the kitchen. Before you entered the pantry covered space, you glanced over Mando’s shoulder to see what he was reading. His gloved finger clicked the holopad off before you could get a good look. Silver beskar filled your vision as he leaned forward to place the holopad on the empty table in front of the couch. 

You continued to the kitchen, too hungry to care. Reaching into a cabinet, you retrieved a mug, then poured a generous amount of caf into it. In the adjacent cabinet were ration packs and miscellaneous hiking-friendly snacks. Trail mix. Jerky. Protein bars. Cans lined one section of a shelf—in case anyone wanted to craft their own meal, instead of tearing open a ration pack.

Being Nevarro’s best botanist had its perks, and one was that you helped Karga set up these safehouses. So your favorite ration packs were always in stock.

You reached for one and opened the pack, eager to satiate your stomach. Your fingers found the lip of a drawer and pulled, revealing small piles of cutlery in a wooden organizer. The same fingers danced over the utensils, determining which one you preferred. Opting for a spoon, you took the utensil and fed yourself generous spoonfuls. Hiking did a number on your hunger, plus you needed the energy.

After a few sips of your caf, finishing half the mug, and a ration pack, you leaned against the counter and observed the back of Mando. His large frame nearly spanned across an entire couch cushion. Silver donned his shoulders and traveled its way down his arms, towards his hands. He spread his wingspan across the couch, exaggerating his size—not that he needed to. The Mandalorian’s leather-clad fists also donned beskar on top of them. One of his fists flexed and relaxed in a slow rhythm. 

Bubbling began at the center of your stomach, threatening to boil over into the rest of you. Heat bloomed near your face at the sight of him.

Nope. Not happening.

You peeled your gaze away from his figure and went to wash the mug. Thoughts wandered and yours landed on how Mando still hasn’t mentioned the lessons. Maybe you got off this time, you got lucky. Warm water poured over your grasp. Suds coated the shiny surface of the ceramic drinkware. The faucet let out a steady stream of water, and it dribbled against the metal lining of the sink. Soundwaves from the water traveled to your ears, which blocked the sounds of Mando’s footsteps approaching the kitchen.

You shut the faucet off and turned to place the mug back into the cabinet. The Mandalorian’s towering beskar figure standing in the space between the living room and the kitchen made you gasp in a lungful of air. 

The modulator in his helmet crushed the tone of the sentence he spoke, “Let’s go, time for your lesson.”

Shit.

—

“You’re holding it wrong,” Mando stated sternly.

You sighed and rolled your eyes at him, “I’ve been holding it for, like, ten seconds. Not even.” Instead of focusing on the black T stamped on his silver helmet, you shifted your attention to the stump of a fallen tree. It was covered in moss and mushrooms, decaying. The fallen trunk with dense branches sprawled out on the forest floor behind the stump. Light could barely make it through the thick foliage.

Metal man insisted that the lesson should take place at a location far from the safehouse, “to keep it hidden, in case anything hears the blaster shots,” he reasoned. You supposed that it wasn’t a bad explanation, but the hike before your lesson was challenging. Mando guided you through the forest for so long, you thought he forgot about the lesson. But he didn’t. And this lesson sucked.

You were having more fun looking at the ground around you. A couple different leaf shapes popped out at you from below. Flowers were scattered throughout the area, and you matched them to their respective leaves, giving you quick identifications. 

Mando used one of his gloved fingers to tap you on the shoulder. The gesture returned you to the present moment from your resentful thoughts. His leather-gloved hands gripped his own blaster. It was much larger than yours, yet his grasp consumed the handle of the weapon. Another broad, gloved hand covered the one gripping the handle. 

Your hands attempted to match him on your own blaster. It was clear that you were struggling. Eyes in slits and brows furrowed, your gaze repeatedly shifted from his grip to your grip. Fingers stumbled to find their rightful places. Instead of giving up, you settled on something that sort of resembled the position his hands were in. 

His helmet tilted downwards at you and cocked to the side, another expression of, “really?” This gesture seemed common with him. Metal clicked onto metal when Mando re-holstered his blaster. Then, his hands were on your blaster, giving the weapon a slight tug to release it from your grip.

You thought he was going to demonstrate on your considerably smaller blaster. Instead, he grabbed the barrel of the blaster and pointed the handle at you. His other hand reached for your wrist. Worn, warm leather slid against your skin. A wide palm rested against the back of your hand. Thick fingers formed a loose—but stern—grip around the base of your palm. 

His hand was so warm. And strong. Every movement was done with purpose and confidence. The grip he had on your hand guided yours to the handle. Once you grasped the metal you expected him to let go, but his hold remained. Small flecks of light glinted off the barrel of the weapon when Mando turned your wrist.

Light shined off the helmet as well. He leaned down to check if your fingers were in the right places. Spotting an incorrect placement, he used his other hand to nudge a finger downwards and onto the handle. He nodded, “Good.”

The short praise sent heat flying towards your face, and you willed for it to sink back down. His thumb shifted on your wrist, giving you slight goosebumps. How could his fingers be that thick? And his hands so strong? What would they feel li—.

You backtracked in your head. Nope. You didn’t want to go there. You had one hundred days in this forest with this guy, and you had a job to do.

Mando took your other hand with his other hand, and placed it on top of the one gripping the handle. The hold he had over the new hand tightened. In exchange, your own grip tightened over the handle.

“This hand,” he tightened his grasp once more, “squeezes down on this hand,” he rasped as he shook the wrist holding onto the warming metal. Each squeeze threatened the bubbling in your stomach to evaporate into the rest of your body, but you repressed it. Managing to control your pointless butterflies, you did as he explained, and the hold you maintained felt better than it did previously. 

As you raised the blaster up towards your eye level, Mando stepped away. Shutting one eye, you looked down the barrel and at the old tree stump. Your arms were both steady and relaxed. Remembering only the second half of Mando’s lecture from earlier, you spaced your feet shoulder width apart, and squeezed your grip around the trigger.

A bolt shot out of the end of the silver barrel and into the top of the tree stump—much higher than where you aimed. Crackling came from your right, “The piece of metal at the end of the barrel needs to line up with the notches above the trigger.”

You let out a heavy exhale, that information was in the second half of his lecture, “That’s what I did,” you told him. He let out an exhale in response, but his was in amusement, “Well, you didn’t hit the center,” his head jerked towards the stump to make his point.

He stood with his hands on his belt, shoulders back, with one knee out. Chrome plated armor gleamed from the sun coming in through the forest's canopy. His dark leather and clothing contrasted the bright metal. Without seeing his face, you knew he had a smirk on it. 

You huffed as you turned towards him, “If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?”

He gave you his signature head tilt towards the side, “You know that I would hit it,” he stated.

Honestly, you knew he could. The man is fully decked out in beskar armor and carries several weapons with him at all times. But you were fed up with the slight smugness he exuded. “Do it,” you challenged him.

Before you could even register he was doing so, he pulled his blaster from its holster. With a firm grip and confident aim, his blaster bolt hit dead center into the tree stump. Just as quickly as he pulled it out, he re-holstered his blaster and looked at you. 

His incoming responses went through your mind, “It’s because I don’t suck,” “Don’t even bother,” “Why’d you buy a blaster in the first place?”

“Just try again,” his helmet gritted and the black T shook from side to side, “I’ve just been doing this longer than you have. It takes practice.”

Without thinking, you responded, “And what is ‘this’?” The Mandalorian gave you a stare—not like it wasn’t always a stare—but his helmet didn’t move a bit, unlike the usual tilts and shakes you had been getting. 

“If by ‘this’ you mean shooting, then I’ve been shooting since I could hold a blaster. If you mean my profession, my occupation has required shooting since I’ve been an adult,” his voice stated, sounding like churning gravel.

Both of your eyebrows lifted and your eyes widened. You tried to hide it, but you probably failed. Only a few professions in the galaxy required shooting all of the time.

“So you’re a bounty hunter?” You asked with confusion, your mouth semi-dry.

Mando nodded, “Yes, now try again,” he pointed towards the stump.

‘Okay cool, we’re just going to gloss over that one?’, you thought. Instead of voicing your inner monologue, you raised the blaster once more. The metal lined up with the notch and you squeezed the trigger. Your shot landed half a meter above Mando’s. It was far from his shot, but much closer than your previous one.

“Better. But you flinched,” Mando critiqued. His gloved hands rested on his hips and his visor bored into you. 

Trying again, the notch lined up with the metal as you peered down the barrel. Instead of holding your aim and then getting ready to fire, you fired as soon as your barrel lined up with the center of the stump. Energy left the end of the blaster and shot into the decaying wood. It landed about fifteen centimeters above Mando’s.

You heard crunching on the ground as the Mandalorian walked towards you. Lowering your blaster, you pointed the barrel at the ground. Maker, if he showed you how to hold the blaster again, you were going to lose it. Once he reached you, he stood in front of you, hands clasped in front of his belt buckle.

The helmet crackled to life, “Good job. Those were better than my first shots,” he stated plainly, then turned, “Let’s get going.” Before waiting for your response, he continued on into the dense forest.

—

The section of the forest you just entered was darker than any other area the pair of you had been in previously. Light barely made its way down from the forest canopy. Shade-loving plants bathed in the lack of light. Small rodents scampered from shrub to shrub, picking the fruits off of their stems. Scuttles were heard in all directions, creating a chorus of sounds influenced by food-web interactions. 

Mando decided to lead the way. His helmet remained on a swivel as he constantly scanned the area. You had been this way before and knew there was nothing harmful, it was just dark and ‘scary’.

Then the scuttles stopped. And in response, Mando stopped. Which made you run right into the back of him. “Ufff!” You let out as your chest collided with his back. Rough, black fabric scratched against your face. It smelled like wood and musk, but in a good way. Did he usually smell like that or was it just the forest?

You pushed yourself off of him and stayed behind. Mando held a hand out to his side in a, ‘stay behind me’, signal. Everything froze, and left you freezing with it.

Then you felt it.

The ground shook softly. A steady rhythm of shakes became increasingly more intense. Trees sensed the waves too, as their leaves rattled above. You looked downwards and noticed that Mando retrieved his blaster from its holster. His stare was locked forwards. Almost as if he was looking beyond the dense foliage into the distance.

Dun. Dun. DUN.

Each shake caused your feet to vibrate in your boots. And then they stopped. In front of you, the large silhouette of a creature made its way through the foliage and towards you both. You squinted into the darkness in an attempt to identify the creature.

And Mando fired his blaster.

[mystycalypso]

i see u on my account... *poke poke* thought i'd leave a message here...

anyways heloooo ^_^ unrelated but thoughts on trinity bales? and maybe cats? trinicats?

I'm sorry I'm stalking tumblr while- ironically drawing Trinity cats wheeze, hold on lemme just

Nicky gets ambushed by Trinicats (the cuteness is overwhelming) (I'd color it but uh- A. I cannot draw cats for the life of me TvT and B. I have to get Maritza's Entry done (you guys are gonna love her design I promise))

I also have notifications on for like- all the other hn artists on here just bc uh, I am feral for this franchise and all content even slightly related to it (My graduation cap for reference is gonna be either Mr. Peterson and Imbir or the rescue squad kids with the words "Goodbye neighbor" on it)

Other Trinity thoughts are just, I need more of her lol. I'd love an episode showing more of her dynamic with her father or both her parents since the incident happened. Plus the more information I can gather about each of the members the better I can write their late teen to adult selves in rtrb (who- I might redesign the outfit for a little. I was having some art block when I designed her so- her outfit is just her child outfit again and I don't think that's fair compared to how different say Maritza's outfit is, but I needed entry one out before people started asking why I started with two and had no one lol)

I also just want to see how her dynamic develops with other characters, obviously Nicky is at the forefront of my mind for this because well- I need to know how inevitably they do end up looking into this stuff together. But also Ivan and maybe finally questioning his feelings about Mr. Peterson. Or Maritza on why she has to pretend they aren't all messed up from the incident (/j I still love you Maritza) or Finch on why she's... uh

Probably a stand up person and I won't hate her in the slightest (even tho who tf takes pictures of someone having a breakdown?) (Kaydin says I need to stop bullying 13-15 fictional characters ú_ù /j)

Ig if there was anything else, I mean, okay for context I've had several family members with diabetes, type 1 and 2, and, okay have they actually cut like- all sugars out of her life? There are cell phones so I assume there are artificial sweeteners which sure doesn't mean you can shovel down junk food but they're okay in moderation. Plus they don't seem to monitor her school lunch so just like- let this girl have some actual-ish lemonade pls instead of- just highly saturated lemon water, she deserves it

[patibato]

[Bitter Sweet Sixteen] 002-A14 - KEY to The Upside Down

Akuta: Th-th-that's, that's uuuh, n-not… an egg! It's kinda shaped like an egg but it's not really!

Momiji: (He's really freaking out… I see… It is an indecent puberty-related thing, so…)

Akuta: Look, give it here!? Wrap it in the bag like this and~~! It's like a cold hard ice pillow that feels real good~!

Hugging it while you sleep is the best! Right! It's used for sleeping! In fact, I was sleeping with it just now!

Can't sleep without it! Without hugging it! Can't help being a Taurus!*

Nanaki: … Too noisy to sleep… What are you yelling for, Akuta…

Akuta: Nanaki, haven't you also needed your goat plushie to sleep since you were a kid!? Wo~ah, what a small world~! I also need this to sleep~!

Momiji: Oh yeah, you did mention a goat or something at the cafe. So that was it, Nanaki-kun.

Nanaki: Huh!? A… Akuta, you…!

No, could you stop!? Don't get the wrong idea! It's really not like that!

This guy's just joking around…! Right, Akuta!

Akuta: Ugh! Gh… ggghhh…!

Sakujiro: Wh-what a magnificent front choke…! Beautiful it may be, it is a dangerous technique! Please cease!

Nanaki: Don't worry, I'll let him go once we've left the room…! So excuse us, good night, hurry up Kinugawa-kun!

Kiroku: ! R-right…!

*footsteps*

Sakujiro: Please hold on! Where on earth is the gym you learned that from! Who is your instructor? Where could I polish that technique-!

Momiji: Sakujiro-san! Let's just drop it!

Sakujiro: But…!

Momiji: Teenagers have lots of secrets, okay…!

Ushio: Aaa… tea before bed is great. I can feel the caffeine working its magic through my body.

Muneuji: Look, the moon is beautiful. Its shine is brilliant.

Ushio: …It's dazzling. Makes me feel even more awake.

*door opens*

Nanaki: Haa, haa…! This is bad…!

Akuta: Aagh~~ today got to the point of seeing someone across a river calling me over~~!

Ushio: Hey… I think entering without even a knock makes you a lost cause, but do you have any excuse?

Nanaki: -It might've been seen.

Ushio: Huh?

Nanaki: The egg.

Muneuji: By who?

Nanaki: Chief, and… Sakuchan-sensei.

Ushio: HUH!?

Muneuji: Easy, Ushio. It's unbecoming to blame Nanamegi and the others alone.

More importantly, is the egg safe?

Akuta: Ah, it's probably fine. Did fall a bit but I don't think anything was wrong when I put it back in the bag.

Muneuji: Understood. Allow me to examine it.

Nanaki: … The countdown just keeps on going, huh.

Akuta: On that note, what is the countdown? It's not the same pace as a clock~

Kiroku: …It goes down one… about every 3.5 seconds.

Muneuji: I suppose it will be revealed once it reaches zero.

Ushio: And then, it'll go boom like the old school building?

Nanaki: …As I thought, we shouldn't have taken it along. Leaving it at the building was the correct answer.

Ushio: Well we did take it along, so no point insisting on that now.

Nanaki: I was against it from the very start, you know.

Kiroku: …

Ushio: Actions speak louder than words. If that's the case, shouldn't you have told a teacher right away?

You didn't want the adults delving too deeply into why you were there that day. So to get out of questioning quickly, you didn't mention the egg.

Nanaki: …

Akuta: No infighting~ we're already in the same boat! Let's get along.

Nanaki: We're not particularly fighting. Kurama-kun's unpleasantness is just flaring up, is all.

Akuta: Anyway, I'm on the side of keeping the egg. I might be able to encounter another explosion scene that way, y'know?

I could get a Hollywood-level shot without spending any money! That's too good!

Nanaki: I'm still of the opinion that we get rid of it.

Kiroku: …

Ushio: Huh, do you agree, Kinugawa? How nice. The dovish ones are content just picking flowers.

Kiroku: …Dovish?

Muneuji: Moderate. Conversely, hawkish refers to hard-liners.

Nanaki: We all agree that if this egg was in that classroom, another egg is what caused the explosion.

Moreover, the countdown keeps going.

I'm telling you, this kind of problem isn't something we can solve ourselves. …Before anything more happens-

Ushio: So you dispose of these kinds of unfamiliar things as soon as you're away from home?

Nanaki: That's a reach.

Ushio: It's not. That's why you can't discuss it with the adults.

Disposing of it is the only way to stop this issue getting bigger. That's what you two doves are chirping about, isn't it?

Nanaki: …

Kiroku: … …

Ushio: Sigh… could you stop looking like you don't agree at all?

I'm just expressing my own opinion. …How about we do this democratically, with a majority vote?

I'm against throwing it away. Idiotake is too. There, that's two votes~

Muneuji: Count me in too. I don't want to get rid of it.

…It may become a lead in my long-running search for aliens.

Therefore, I want to keep it perpetually. It was I who took it from the old school building to start with.

Apologies.

Nanaki: Kaguya-kun's reasoning is, well, I can accept it. But Kurama-kun, why are you against it? Let's hear it.

Ushio: 'Cause it seems fun. Seems like it could become a weapon for scaring the hell out of irritating guys. Is there any other reason?

Nanaki: … I don't even know what to say.

Akuta: Noooooow now now now! Let's leave that there!

We're three to two, which means we're keeping the egg.

Kiroku: …

Akuta: We're the ones who found this egg, and the ones who took it along. If you flip your thinking-

Isn't it like it wanted to be found by us?

"Use this, and render everyone speechless!" Says the scriptwriter, handing the protagonists a key item.

In short, we were chosen as protagonists.

This egg shows that we're different to those around us - it's a sign that we're special.

Therefore, the plot demands we keep it til the end of the story.

Nanaki & Ushio & Muneuji & Kiroku: …

Nanaki: …Got it.

If the counter continues as it has until now, there's still time before it hits zero-

So, we'll keep passing it around. …Here, next person.

Kiroku: …Got it.

Akuta: Yahooooooo! The same as always! Alright, if anything happens, get in touch with the usual walkie-talkie app!

Nanaki: If Chief or Sakuchan-sensei try to butt in, how do we respond?

Ushio: Just play dumb. That's what we're changing the owner for.

Nanaki: …Understood.

Muneuji: Is the matter settled, then? …Incidentally.

Everyone, how is your work proceeding?

Nanaki: I think… …I've got a bit of motivation.

Muneuji: ? You're making a somewhat pleased expression.

Nanaki: I look the same as usual.

Muneuji: Isotake?

Akuta: Not to worry, there's no need to rush yet.

Ushio: Idiotake's filming on the festival day, so yeah, no reason to hurry.

Anyway, I can't do it. I'm not making progress nor do I have the motivation to. And most importantly, there's just not enough time between preparations and festival day-

Muneuji: That's no obstacle.

Ushio: Wow~ labour violation much~?

Muneuji: And you, Kinugawa?

Kiroku: Ah… ah.

Akuta: Kiroku'll be fine! He's an incredible genius artist, after all.

Kiroku: …

Akuta: His drawings are incredible, so he'll have no problem making incredible lantern art to incredibly eviscerate all of humanity! I've got high hopes. Incredibly.

Kiroku: …Th…

Muneuji: If so, that's a relief. Well then, I'll brush my teeth, use the restroom, and head off to sleep.

Akuta: Same~

Kiroku: …

Ushio: He called you incredible or whatever, but aren't you just painting a predetermined design? That's practically AI work.

Kiroku: … …

Ushio: … Hellooo, anyone home?

Kiroku: ……

Ushio: Are you listening?

Kiroku: ………

Ushio: …Hey, I've wanted to ask you this for a while now.

Kiroku: -…

Ushio: Are you always like this?

Kiroku: …! Th… …

Ushio: …

Kiroku: ……

Ushio: Sigh… it's fine. Forget it.

Kiroku: ……

*Akuta says "そういう星の下に生まれた", a phrase referring to one's fate, but is literally "that's the kind of star I was born under", so… I couldn't help myself, basically

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Masterlist

[billyrussoapologist]

I consider myself to be politically moderate. I don’t like to jump immediately on either side of anything. I’m always willing to hear out both sides of any argument, and I extensively research all political points (through legit sources, not social media). I’ve been really struggling with the upcoming election because both options are just awful. But today I made up my mind.

I’ve been reading Project 2025 and it is extremely radical, I’d call it cult-like. It claims to be a plan to hand freedom back to American citizens, but talks about things like destroying the government hierarchy, banning certain words in schools (all relating to gender and diversity), banning books, and, of course, criminalizing women’s rights to health and safety in every state. This last issue is one that is particularly important to me, so I’ve included some quotes below, just to give anyone who might not know about this an idea of what Project 2025 is aiming for. But I encourage everyone to do their own research. This sounds funny coming from me, but please don’t get your information from strangers on social media. It can be a great jumping off point, but please fact check everything by going directly to the source (in this case, Project 2025), or researching through a credible source.

[succulentstrawberries]

Hello there!

Are you looking for a space to create and share niche fanworks with other like-minded people, without judgement? Do you find other websites and social media to be too sanitized, either by the members themselves or by desperate appeal to corporate overlords? Do you like participating in events, kinkmemes, showcases, and/or exchanges? Finding fellow fans of your blorbos and beloved tropes?

Well do I have the community for you! 🫵

💛🍋Come past the Golden Gates and enter paradise!🍋💛

'urine_paradise' get it? Haha we love puns here is an 18+ community on Dreamwidth.org for creations containing any pee-related kinks or tropes, where you can create and share writing and art of all fandoms and original works! RPF is also welcome! We're happy to let members share their works- anything on the spectrum, whether it's harder kinks, softer, or even 'nonsexual' fetish works.

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If you are not familiar with Dreamwidth, it is an 'old-school' blogging website with considerable customizability, as well as several ranges of privacy options! You can curate your own 'circles', choose who can interact with your page AND individual posts, and join communities (which are like specific subreddits or forums). Dreamwidth accounts are free, and they have wonderfully accepting rules about NSFW/Explicit content, as well as a commitment to stay advertisement-free!!! Much like AO3, it is a site made for fans, by fans!

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We would love if you would come join the fun! 💛😁💛 Feel free to reblog to spread the word!!!

[dottedmage]

GOOD LIRD I FINALLY FINISHED THIS

Finnally a proper references for my agent headcanons hurray. “Nakey” version + other info under the cut (looking you with eyes, you will read everything)

Timeline for this is Sara and Cube post RotM, Mars and Eight with their splat2 outfits but beginning of splat3 appearences (i was too lazy to come up with clothes lol)

Sara

-23 years old

-Top left side of her head is permanently scared due to direct contact wih sanitized ink. Has permanent blury vision on her left eye, moderate hearing loss on her left ear and pain on her left shoulder.

-His hands and feet got hit by significant amounts of fuzzy ooze while cutting it all down. This is why he wasnt able to keep going 👍 (no bones for an ankle to be broken uknow)

-Says the most unserious of things in the most serious tone, seems like theyre joking but its always from their heart

-Sees themselves a lot in Cube and takes care of it and gives it advice contantly. Offered Cube to go live with them after their mission was over but Cube refused

-Knows a little bit of octarian, hes trying his best but has a unique way of mispronouncing words

Mars

-22

-Very clumsy during his 1st time as an agent so he has lots of scars because of that

-Scars on his right side are from a bomb explosion gone very wrong

-After splat2 she grew her hair out and styled it to match Maries a bit

-Lives in a shared apartment with Sara and sometimes Eight

-Was catching up with her high school missed agent years and is now studing some general science/space-based course 👍 he like space a lot

-Was very mad and very upset and very sad he was not the one choosen to be sent into space to save the earth

-Fluent in octarian, also knows a bit of salmonling

Eight

-22

-Her weird spots are a reaction from perlonged exposure to a sanitized environment, the bigget her spots are the better, the smaller the worse. She sometimes wakes up with random pains, especially in her right arm and back

-Lives with Pearl and Marina post OE, also spents a loooottt of time at 4 and 3s place

-Fluent in inklish but has a funny accent

-Loves travelling with Pearl and Marina, honestly she loves travelling with anyone but her cool lesbian moms go to 100 places in a month so its a plus she gets to go with them for free

-Very good cook, is bad with deserts but shes getting better

Cube

-16

-Became a little furry tiger-ish inkling due to prolonged exposure to fuzzy ooze. Unlike Sara it is less fuzzy, its just spread all around its body

-Cannot change into squid form and produces ink very slowly in a small amount, limiting its capacitie of participating in ink related sports.

-Scavanged the deserts around splatsville for trinkets to sell in 2nd hand markets and fairs. Meet with Deep Cut once or twice during that period, hence their pre-assumption that it was gonna steal the stuff for itself

-In their free time they used to participate in turf wars. They considered doing salmon runs but found it extremelly wrong and immorall

-Little buddy was a salmonid that wanted to see more of the world so they snuck into, a very distracted, workers hat. Lucky for them that worker was very friendly, and tired of grizzcos work, so they showed little buddy all around splatsville and its deserts and even a beach. They quickly beacame friends and are inseparable now

-It knows salmonling wowow

-Maths fan, number one stan of geometry and shapes

-Tableturf card collector

-Lives in a too-big of an apartment with the squid sisters

-Goes to school now hurray!!

-Visits Sara a lot, doesnt spent much time there as Eight but does show up unannounced

Suspense music, relatioship thang:

Sara

About Mars; My friend, my one and only. I can count on her for everything. I do have to keep an eye out for her extreme clumsiness

About Eight; I wish i got to spent more time with her. Shes very fun and makes me feel at home when shes around.

About Cube; Was this how Callie and Marie felt when i joined the splatoon? Fun kid, has to stop stepping on metal.

Mars

Sara; oh Sara my good friend Sara. We ding dong ditch together, our neighbours hate us but they dont know that. (also i dont think she realizes were dating....)

Eight; oooo my love kiss kiss muah muah

Cube; funny kid, does need to make up for not inviting me to space with them. Im joking, i love it and the little rocks it gives me.

Eight

Sara; Hes very unserious! You would think behind her intimidating looks is someone thats shy and reserved but she has the wildests things to say sometimes, shes very funny i like her a lot (we need to talk to her abt that, you cannot keep assuming things Mars...)

Mars; There is not a single conversation with you where i dont laugh my heart out. Thank you for the butterflies in my stomach head and eyes

Cube; It comes into our house, it eats all the food, it gives a long detailed compliment, it leaves. Interesting child i guess.

Cube

Sara; Seemed very intimitading at first but i think shes just worries about me but hey! i can take care of myself fine

Mars; i like to give her animal shaped rocks and crystals.

Eight; I haven't talked or seen her a lot but she cooks so well

o wow you read it all congrats! you have the right to 1 (one) drawing request ;) and if you have anything to ask please do, talking abt headcanons and stuff makes me develop characters faster and its fun :]

[rabbitindisguise]

happy adhd awareness month!

I'm not gonna lie, I saw posts that reminded me I've been meaning to do a self dx post for adhd since 2 minutes ago (when I realized I could channel my energy into something fun and exciting)

Anyways, this post comes in two parts:

ADHD diagnostic criteria a) literal criteria b) discussion of the meaning of various terms and how they relate to everyday experiences

ADHD community terms a) executive dysfunction b) neurodivergent c) hyperfocus/hyperfixation

bonus content: a) getting diagnosed b) stim toys and other accessibility aids c) accommodations d) bonus literature

diagnostic criteria

Symptoms and/or behaviors that have persisted ≥ 6 months in ≥ 2 settings (e.g., school, home, church). Symptoms have negatively impacted academic, social, and/or occupational functioning. In patients aged < 17 years, ≥ 6 symptoms are necessary; in those aged ≥ 17 years, ≥ 5 symptoms are necessary. Symptoms present prior to age 12 years. Symptoms not better accounted for by a different psychiatric disorder. Symptoms may be classified as mild, moderate, or severe based on symptom severity.

Hyperactive type - ADHD-H

Patient meets inattentive criterion, but not hyperactive/impulse criterion, for the past 6 months.

Hyperactive Symptoms:

Squirms when seated or fidgets with feet/hands

Marked restlessness that is difficult to control

Appears to be driven by “a motor” or is often “on the go”

Lacks ability to play and engage in leisure activities in a quiet manner

Incapable of staying seated in class

Overly talkative

Impulsive Symptoms:

Difficulty waiting turn

Interrupts or intrudes into conversations and activities of others

Impulsively blurts out answers before questions completed

Inattentive type - ADHD-I

Patient meets inattentive criterion, but not hyperactive/impulse criterion, for the past 6 months.

Inattentive Symptoms:

Displays poor listening skills

Loses and/or misplaces items needed to complete activities or tasks

Sidetracked by external or unimportant stimuli

Forgets daily activities

Diminished attention span

Lacks ability to complete schoolwork and other assignments or to follow instructions

Avoids or is disinclined to begin homework or activities requiring concentration

Fails to focus on details and/or makes thoughtless mistakes in schoolwork or assignments

Combined type - ADHD-C

Patient meets both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive criteria for the past 6 months.

source: DSM-5 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition; ADHD: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (via aafp.org)

Changes made in the DSM-5 update:

Overall, the revised diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5 do not fundamentally change the concept of ADHD. However, the definition of the disorder has been updated, to more accurately characterise adults affected by ADHD. In all previous versions, ADHD was depicted as a disorder affecting mainly children, and to a lesser extent adolescents, but not adults. Hence, the wording of the 18 symptoms, and corresponding examples, was appropriate for assessing mainly school-age children. With the DSM-5, efforts have been made to more appropriately guide clinicians when assessing adult ADHD. These changes are based on two decades of research, which show that, although ADHD is a childhood-onset disorder, the core symptoms and resulting impairments can persist into adulthood, and continue to have a significant impact on everyday life. Box 1. The most important changes to the diagnostic criteria for ADHD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition [bulleted list below]

ADHD grouped with other neurodevelopmental disorders, rather than with behavioural disorders

Subtypes changed to presentations

Age of onset increased from seven to 12 years

For adults and adolescents aged 17 and above, only five symptoms now required instead of the six needed for younger children

New symptom examples added

Updated definition of situational pervasiveness

Definitions of ADHD severity added

Autism spectrum disorder removed as an exclusion criterion

Mild ADHD is defined as having no, or only a few, symptoms in excess of those required for making the diagnosis. At the other end of the spectrum, severe ADHD requires either many symptoms in excess of the minimum required, several very severe present symptoms or a very high degree of social or occupational impairment. Individuals with moderate ADHD are between the two extremes, either in terms of the number of ADHD symptoms or the level of impairment. Although this initiative is praiseworthy, in that it defines terms that are already in use but lack specifications, the definitions are not particularly specific or operationalised. It could also be argued that adults with persisting ADHD may have a more severe form of the disorder; this has not been incorporated in the definitions of severity, despite the fact that adults with ADHD often have more problematic outcomes.

(source Hayward Medical Communications 2015, ADHD IN PRACTICE 2015; Vol 7 No 2 - warning, pdf download link!)

Self-scorers:

others mentioned here

ADHD Rating Scale IV (ADHD-RS-IV) With Adult Prompts

Adult ADHD Clinical Diagnostic Scale (ACDS) v1.2

Adult ADHD Investigator Rating Scale (AISRS)

Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) v1.1

Adult ADHD Self-Report Screening Scale for DSM-5 (ASRS DSM-5) Screener

Adult ASRS Symptom Checklist v1.1

Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11)

Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Symptom Assessment Scale (BADDS) for Adults

Clinical Global Impression (CGI)

Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS)

Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults (DIVA) 2.0

Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS)

(source)

Discussion of terms:

Fidgets: picking at the skin around fingernails, tapping fingers/bouncing leg, tipping chairs, changing seating position frequently (more than once every ten minutes is too much), stimming, using a fidget toy, touching face, doodling, etc

Restlessness: the feeling of wanting to move, change activities, get up, or struggling to be satisfied by doing the same thing.

"driven by a motor" phrases: basically not wanting to take breaks because it'll be distracting, as far as I can tell. Busy as a bee, etc. Not wanting to (or being able to, or noticing) pause while speaking, not wanting to speak to someone while walking to something else despite being in no rush, etc.

Listening skills: paying attention without needing to doodle or imagining funny scenarios in your head the whole time. Might include being able to answer questions when asked about what they were listening to, responding when prompted, and looking in the person's general vicinity.

Unimportant stimuli: things not related to what someone *should* be focused on. Like if you're in school and you're distracted by a bus going by out the window, or if you get distracted by the sound the lights make while trying to focus on what the cashier is saying.

Daily activities: eating, sleeping, using the bathroom, doing chores (sweeping, laundry, shopping), getting dressed, etc

Completes schoolwork: includes answering every question you know the answer to, fully, and doing all the steps to questions as well as filling in required fields like name/date/etc.

Thoughtless mistakes: typos, spelling your name wrong, wrong fonts, forgetting to attach the bibliography, doing basic addition wrong on an algebra problem, etc.

In many of self-scorers there are questions like: "How often do you have problems remembering appointments or obligations?"

This is a very "but I have a system!" question. It might help to understand the neurotypical expeirence here.

Neurotypicals do not struggle to remember appointments, unless they have so many of them that it would be difficult for anyone to keep track of. If they have one appointment this week, they are not setting eight alarms or putting stickynotes everywhere. They say "oh! I have an appointment." And then go to that appointment. That's it. It doesn't take a lot of energy to remember. They don't have to repeat it in their head every chance they get to remember it. They haven't tried three different planner systems in the past year or struggle to stay with them. They don't religiously check google calendar every day. They simply know they have an appointment, and (assuming nothing weird like they're a secretary managing 9 clients or they got a cold) they remember it. All of these questions are pretty much like this. If you've had to struggle to do something most of the time and still fail, the answer is you have problems "most of the time." It's not the amount of times you have failed to remember.

ADHD community terms

Executive dysfunction

Not specific to ADHD, this term describes something that both people with depression and people with ADHD struggle with (though often for different reasons). People with ADHD tend to put off tasks until the last minute, struggle to finish things, and have a difficulty doing something when they need to. It can have a severe impact on someone with ADHD and their ability to do things in their daily life. Having executive dysfunction is one of the (many) reasons why ADHD is considered a disability.

One person (Dr. Russell Barkley) has a theory that ADHD should be reclassified to be a disorder of executive dysfunction, but aside from being a useful tool to understand ADHD it doesn't explain many of the other symptoms or why they are presented the way they are. In particular: it doesn't explain many of the concepts that folks with ADHD have developed to talk about our experiences with each other, and how folks with ADHD tend to have less issues with executive dysfunction in settings where openly expressing ADHD symptoms is perfectly fine. It also understands ADHD through the lens of a disorder that's wholly maladaptive and dysfunctional, an understanding not shared by everyone in the community.

Neurodivergent

This is a term coined primarily by the autistic community. It describes autism (and other types of neurodivergence, things that diverge from the norm/"the typical" aka neurotypical) outside of the idea of the medical model. [Autistics in particular has faced a lot of inhumane treatment in schools and by the psychiatric system under abusive (and legal) things like ABA (applied behavioral analysis) and shock therapy. Autistics have fought for the right to openly stim, to not make eye contact, and to communicate while being non-speaking for decades. This has pushed back against the medicalization of autism, and the process of diagnosis not involving autistics in the creation of the criteria or what treatments (if any) should be approved for autistics.] This overall philosophy promotes the idea that neurodivergent people should not be stigmatized, and should exist as equal members of society regardless of how their symptoms present.

People with ADHD were early adopters of this concept (maybe because of the high rates of comobidity of autism and adhd). As a result, many of the concepts feature heavily in the language and strategies for ADHD- especially online. Along with alternative methods of orgnization (many small trash cans, two laundry bins, etc), you'll often find people with ADHD discussing stim toys and things like that.

Hyperfocus/hyperfixation

Hyperfocus describes one aspect of difficulty regulating focus. Basically: during hyperfocus a person struggles to pay attention to things outside of the thing that's taking up their attention.

More specifically they lose awareness of signals like hunger, exhaustion, the need to pee, and can even struggle to hear someone calling for their attention. If they do try to stop focusing on the thing they're focused on, they might still struggle to pay attention- even as they try to hold a conversation or go make a meal, they might be distracted by thoughts about the thing they were focused on before. This might lead to doing things incorrectly (like putting on shoes without socks or putting toothpaste in the freezer). With such acute focus someone with adhd can create art quickly with a lot of detail, discover a lot of information on a topic, and even learn new practical skills. It can also provide a lot of joy and accomplishment to someone, and improve self confidence.

A hyperfixation is the subject of hyperfocus, either once (hours) or over longer period of time (weeks, months, years). It can be anything from abstract (like a favorite subject) to specific and grounded in reality (like a hobby), or broad (a time period) to specific (a particular beetle).

Hyperfixation was a term coined by the ADHD community to describe an experience that wasn't described in the medical literature about us that needed terminology. Hyperfocus is also an experience that is really important to folks with ADHD because it's often wrapped up in the "twice exceptional" narrative many people experience- having both amazing talents and terrible grades in subjects that don't interest them. On top of that, neurotypical adults treat kids with ADHD hyperfocusing as doing something wrong and punish them, when what they're doing is perfectly fine and isn't hurting anyone. A greater understanding of this concept has helped people work with how their mind works, rather than try to resist it and be "normal."

Bonus content

Getting diagnosed

fill out self scorers

interview your family and teachers with parent/teacher scorers (optional)

get you information together, like insurance, debit, and credit card information. They will ask you for your full name, your date of birth, your insurance information, any pre-existing conditions, your availability

find a local low/no-cost neuropsych testing facility near you. If you're currently in school, you're in luck! Many will refer you out to a low/no-cost testing facility. (Either way, the result is the same: these can be universities teaching students studying neuro-psychiatry, state sponsored programs, and more. Here's a solid comprehensive guide on getting low cost testing, as well as managing the costs associated with ADHD).

make it known that you would like to be assessed for ADHD to have it ruled out. That is the specific phrasing that you should use with everyone- do not claim you think you have anything, simply that you're concerned and wish to be assessed. Talk to your therapist, your parents, your pcp, your teacher- whoever it makes sense to contact, based on your prior research. If you were unable to find anything, then contacting the people who might have better access to information like your therapist or teacher would be best. (If you're not yet in therapy, getting into therapy would be a good idea.)

If all else fails, contact your insurance (if you have it). Testing can cost a lot of money and might not be worth the expense. You're still welcome in the ADHD community regardless of being diagnosed or not.

If you go to get assessed, here's what to expect:

you will likely have to fill out self scorers for lots of things, including things that don't apply to your situation like mood disorder evaluations to rule of depression. Your answers on these should not affect how you will be diagnosed with ADHD.

there will be a lot of weird things in full neuropsych evaluations, like repeating words back to them, or playing with blocks, or drawing shapes

they will pay attention to how you act in the room, so don't resist the impulse to fidget and feel free to ask to get up or take a break after an exercise

it may last under sixty minutes, but with a student it could take longer. I have 4+ hour sessions twice a week for a month, but not everyone has such an extreme experience (they had last minute additions that went beyond ADHD testing).

Tips for the day of testing:

do not bring your best self. Leave your best self at home. They need to see you at your usual or your worst to make an accurate assessment.

bring water. You will be talking a lot.

some information can help, like recent test performance and last semester teacher comments

comfortable clothing is best. T-shirt and jeans are totally fine.

prepare to be totally out of it when you leave, by bringing a snack or having someone you trust pick you up. It's mentally exhausting and makes you do all the things you avoid because they suck.

A neuropsych (or any type of ADHD evaluation) can help you get access to things you might not normally get, like medication (stimulants, typically), accommodations, and recommendations to your therapist about what to work on. It also can be shared with doctors and other therapists in the future so you don't have to worry about someone questioning your need for whatever it is they helped you get in the first place (like accommodations, etc).

Accommodations

In order to request accommodations through most colleges, you need a letter from a therapist of some kind requesting an accommodation in writing. Getting diagnosed for ADHD helps with this. Some accommodations you can request include:

time and a half on tests and quizzes

extensions of papers and projects

alternative assignments (i.e. oral exam over essays, different topics, etc)

excused absences

a notetaker

audio and/or video recordings of lectures

laptops in classes that don't ordinarily allow laptops

snacks in classes that don't ordinarily allow snacks (unless it poses a safety hazard, like in labs)

stim toys in class

and more

Literature

books on adhd:

You Mean I’m not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?!

Smart but Scattered Guide to ADHD

other:

additude magazine

*looks at the clock* oh god it's 7 p.m. I've been trapped in making-a-long-post hell for four plus hours OTL but I'm finally free.

Anyway, I hope this helps and feel free to DM me if you want to know more. I got diagnosed with ADHD (combined type) back in late 2017 so I'm happy to talk about that with anyone who might be considering going through testing.

[bobthebenevolentpirate]

From the article (emphasis added by me):

Mohammed Abu Sharkh, displaced from northern Gaza to the Deir al-Balah camp, told Al-Monitor, “Palestinians felt helpless about the way members of the US Congress treated Netanyahu during his recent speech and lost hope for a radical change in the United States' pro-Israel policy.”

Commenting on congressional members' clapping during Netanyahu’s 55-minute speech, Abu Sharkh, who holds a master’s degree in international relations, said, “For us, the applause sounded like bombs falling on the heads of Palestinian children.”

Still, when it comes to Gaza and the next US president, he has a preference: the current vice president.

“I think Harris will have a better vision for the Palestinians, especially with regard to human rights, such as increasing aid and Gaza’s reconstruction,” he said.

Abdul Rahim al-Hayek, displaced from Gaza City to the town of Qarara, in the south, shares Abu Sharkh’s pessimism about a possible change in US policy toward Palestinians and the war, regardless of who wins the election.

“I have lived through 14 US presidents, all of whom were blatantly pro-Israel, with the exception of President Bill Clinton, who visited Gaza in 1998 to push the peace process forward,” Hayek told Al-Monitor.

Hayek said he would like to see Harris victorious in November, adding, “I prefer anyone over Trump, who recognized our future capital, Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel.”

It has been the hope of Palestinians that East Jerusalem will be the capital of any future Palestinian state.

Palestinians readily recall the collective setbacks they experienced when Trump was president. During his time in office, he made a series of decisions considered a blow to the Palestinian cause.

Most notably, Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel in December 2017 and moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May of the following year. In 2019 he overturned decades of US policy and declared that Israeli settlements on the West Bank were not illegal.

Trump also suspended US aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which assists Palestinian refugees, and the Palestinian Authority (PA). In addition, he closed the Washington, DC, headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the internationally recognized representatives of the Palestinian people.

Shireen Zaiter, a government employee displaced from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah, told Al-Monitor, “Harris seems to sympathize more with us Palestinians, and I believe that once in the White House, she will exert pressure to end the Israeli war on us.”

As for the current Israeli prime minister, she remarked, “His position is against Harris’ political positions.” She also said that Netanyahu is not telling the truth about wanting to end the war and wants to impose a new military occupation on Gaza.

Zaiter expressed strong words about Trump, saying, “This man hates the Palestinians and perceives Arabs as animals.” She does not believe he will work to stop the war if reelected.

Rabab Abu Rahma, a high school principal displaced from Gaza City to the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “Honestly, we don’t have electricity to watch the US election [campaign] on television, and there is no internet. We have been cut off from the world for nearly 10 months now because of the Israeli war.”

When asked which US candidate she prefers, however, Abu Rahma said, “I don’t know much about Harris, but I know a lot about Trump. He is a big villain to the Palestinians.”

One analyst who spoke with Al-Monitor believes Harris, while still supporting Israel, may adopt a more moderate approach to the Gaza war, taking into consideration the plight of the civilian population and the deepening humanitarian crisis.

“Although Harris does not oppose Biden’s pro-war position, she opposes Israel’s policies in Gaza, especially when it comes to civilian casualties and the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip,” Talal Okal, a writer for the local Al-Ayyam newspaper, told Al-Monitor.

“Harris said no to the displacement of Palestinians, no to the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, no to the siege, and no to the reduction of its territory,” Okal added. “She supports the reconstruction of vital infrastructure in the enclave and the strengthening of the PA’s security services there.”

Harris seems more willing to publicly criticize Netanyahu and express sympathy for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, he further remarked.

Although Trump has called for a quick end to the war and a return to normalcy, Okal believes that his statements are merely due to the electoral campaign.

“I think Trump is trying to win the votes of Muslim voters in America, but in fact he is the biggest supporter of Israel, and Netanyahu in particular,” he said.

Vote.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

hello summer!

i have been to a doctor about possibly having autism once now with my mum.

she suggested that i have ADHD + CAPD rather than autism, or my symptoms were caused by a deficiency in Vitamin B12. she said that it was very unlikely i had autism, just because she thinks that throughout all my life we would've caught it by now.

it's possible it's just a deficiency in Vitamin B12, because you mostly get the vitamin from meats. i am mostly vegetarian and don't eat a lot of meat.

if the deficiency in Vitamin B12 is the case, then all my symptoms should go away if i start taking Vitamin gummies or something to get the required vitamins.

It would be great if all these problems went away as easy as that, but then it doesn't entirely explain some other things?

like, for example, autistic people can have poor proprioception, which i feel i relate to. i have gonr at most an entire 14 hours without eating because i simply couldn't sense i needed to eat. it's an ongoing problem for me that i can't sense that i need to eat/drink, and it isn't exactly new. it's been going on for a while and for 2-3 months i thought i must have some kind of eating disorder, but of course, no eating disorder i researched described what i was experiencing. but then, i discovered that it can be an autism thing.

for the past maybe 4.5 months i've been researching what exactly autism is and how it appears. i've looked back on experiences in my life and thought that it made sense i could have autism.

i feel like it can't really be just a deficiency, but i have no idea how to say that. i'm not great at communicating why i think something, so i don't want to say it to my mum, because if i do she'll ask why and the answer is complicated and long, and i always seem to stutter and trip over my own words. i just really struggle to explain complicated things, and the more i fail to explain, the harder it gets because i start to panic that it's not working.

and then, if it is just a deficiency and my sensory issues go away as fast as they just suddenly appeared (noise sensitivity just kind of appeared in january.), then what about my other experiences? if it's just a deficiency and not anything more, then is there just something wrong with me? it's really frustrating to me, because i have no idea what it is.

i've taken spectrum tests online, most of which said i had moderate to high symptoms of ASD, and i've seen that people afab often end up learning early how to mask and don't get diagnosed (i'm afab).

having ADHD + CAPD could explain some stuff for me too. i was told that my concern isn't being pushed aside for what the doctor thinks, but it feels a little like it is.

she gave us some tests and there was one for my teacher. i gave it to her a week ago, and she hasn't handed it back. i'm hoping she can give it back soon because there's only a few days left before summer begins and my school year ends.

i guess i'm just worried in general about this, + some other stuff going on in my life right now. thank you for reading through this, i appreciate that. it was just kind of a rant. 💞

Hi there,

I did some research on ADHD and Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). I found one article that goes into detail about both of these. Here are some excerpts:

People with ADHD may have trouble processing sensory input, including auditory information. For example, a 2017 studyTrusted Source notes that children with ADHD do not perform as well on auditory processing tests. However, they perform similarly to neurotypical children after treatment with methylphenidate. This suggests that auditory processing issues may be an ADHD symptom.

ADHD affects executive functioning, attention, and impulse controlTrusted Source. This may make it more difficult for people to process sensory input, including sounds. It may be difficult or impossible for a person with ADHD to interpret sounds or distinguish one sound from another, particularly in distracting environments.

Research also suggests that people with ADHD may have other sensory processing issues. They might crave sensory stimulation through chewing or be less responsive than typical to sensory input, such as loud noises or bright lights.

Similarly, symptoms of APD may mimic those of ADHD. This is because a person who cannot correctly interpret sound may appear to be inattentive. Their sensory difficulties can also affect behavior. A 2018 systematic review emphasizes that children with APD have similar characteristics, including behaviors and test scores, to children with ADHD.

It is also possible for a person to have both ADHD and APD.

The article will be below if you want to read it.

If Vitamin B12 is the issue, I would try to take some vitamins and see if your symptoms improve. If not, then I would talk to your doctor.

I should also mention that the signs and characteristics of both ADHD and Autism have quite the overlap. Here’s a helpful Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences.

There’s also another Infograph talking about the statistics of ADHD and Autism:

I’ll also leave the article below so you can check it out.

I really hope you find this information helpful. I wish you luck and I hope you figure out what’s going on.

Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ❤️

[kanguin]

On my way to work today, I spent some time reflecting on my experience with autism growing up after listening to a video talking about neurodivergence in general. And it really hit me just how frustrated I am with the limitations that are placed upon me with autism. While my stunted social capabilities is frustrating in its own right, the thing that makes me feel the most helpless and aimless is my flat affect and muted emotional spectrum. I used to think that I'm just not really very emotionally impacted by things that happen to me, but in reality I feel the feelings, but just, cannot express them in a way that I or others understand. And because some feelings like fear, anger, sadness, and joy, are self-feeding emotions that react to your own expression of them, the fact that I often don't express an emotion or am even aware it is affecting me until I assess the symptoms afterwards, means that my emotional reactions rarely "bloom" for lack of a better word. This also means that a lot of my emotional reactions to things that happen to me go completely unnoticed by myself and others around me, meaning my emotional needs often go by the wayside and get buried as more things happen. I should point out this does apply to all emotions; I've been questioned on my level of interest in the past when the idea of going to Disney World was discussed as a kid, despite the fact that heck yeah I was excited! But it came out as "Yeah I'd love to!" in a flat pleasant voice that reads to allistics as meager enthusiasm.

My emotions do get loud and pronounced sometimes, but I've found usually only when overwhelmed, or when the circumstances are JUST right for me to express Big Joy (genuine excitement). Hell I still to this day have trouble relating to people defined by big emotions. Anger is one I definitely struggle to relate to, because it's a lot easier to keep a cap on your anger when you don't always notice frustration at first, so things rarely have a chance to boil because the fire isn't fed. Even for things I really SHOULD get angry about, I get mildly indignant or frustrated, and I sometimes feel like voicing my frustrations then make me sound impotent and pathetic. Probably because I was bullied in a way where people tried getting a rise out of me to see my reaction, but yeah. People who explode with righteous fury scare the living daylights out of me, even though I know they're right. It's just so alien, to me. I honestly feel weak-willed sometimes, and get frustrated with the fact that I don't pursue my interests or dreams with any more than moderate passion. I'm pretty sure if I put my mind to it I could gather my finances, find the right, well paying job, and move out within a year, but because my mental disress at being confined to my mother's home simmers barely above lukewarm until it errupts so big that I can't think clearly, before going back to tepid… I just make no progress.

The fact that it took me so long to realize that I'm not cis, and then when I realized that, it took me so many years to accept that I wasn't just "neutral" but wanted to start HRT and wanted to be outwardly perceived as a girl, is all entirely due to how muted my experience of my emotions is. I've debated for a while on whether or not I experience dysphoria about my appearance, and I've come to the conclusion "yeah, I do and I have for a long time going back to early high school". It's kind of obvious in retrospect that not wanting to dress out around boys and starting to prefer to wear a swim shirt with the convenient excuse of being pale/fat, were forms of not wanting to be perceived by others for how my body was. It's so painfully obvious now that the disress that my voice dropping brought me was not just because it was sudden, but because it was dysphoric, not me. But it took so long to even realize that because my emotions are so muted that extreme discomfort is hard to tell apart from mild discomfort unless analyzed in retrospect.

The school psychologist for the early college entrance program I attended my junior year of high school once told me that the thing that sets me apart from my peers is that while most of them had strong dissatisfactions with their life as it was, I was just extraordinarily content with whatever life gave me. And for years, I believed that, becasue yeah, I generally just accept whatever happens to me without much fuss, I don't fight for anything, even if I want it. But hindsight has proven her so, so very wrong about that. And I don't really blame her, she was making the best of what I presented with her and the accounts I gave. I didn't have an official diagnosis of Autism or anything so there was nothing really signalling that my mild, placid demeanor was the combined effort of severely stunted emotional expression and complexity and the early signs of depression. So now I just have to look back, and wonder how differently I would have developed as a kid were my convictions just a little stronger, were my emotions just a little louder. It's not much use looking back and wondering, but it's hard not to when you feel that a defect in your brain has basically held you back from achieving what you want for most of your life.

I'm extremely thankful to the friends I have in my life today. I've learned so much about recognizing my own emotions and my emotional needs from people around me that care so deeply for me. I don't talk to my friends as much as I should, but the past week I've been putting in a concerted effort to talk more, about anything. Just more time with these people who mean so much to me but I give so little of myself to. And I haven't gotten to prioritizing all of the people I consider the most important to me just yet; I have about two or three friends I still want to make sure I set aside time and energy for, but I'll get there in time. My mental health hasn't been great for a long while, for a combined number of reasons, but I want so badly to have quality time with my favorite people, and I think it's finally spurring me into doing something about it. I can only hope that from here on I get better at recognizing the things I want, need, and feel on a daily basis, and not just write everything off as being mildly interested.

[greatwyrmgold]

Comparing Animorphs to Worm

The first comparison is my relation to the series. (Serieses? How do you pluralize that word?) I was obsessed with Animorphs in grade school, starting younger than my parents probably would have allowed if they were familiar with the books. (I knew the name "Scholastic" from these books before my first Scholastic book fair, which should tell you a lot, if kids these days still have Scholastic book fairs.) I was obsessed with Worm immediately before and during college, shaping the way I engage with fiction and fandom to this day.

That's one of the reasons I'm comparing the two series, but there are plenty of other comparisons. Their teenaged protagonists, their heavy subject matter, the stories framed in an almost YA format that slowly peels away like old paint over rusty metal, the planetary threats from outer space...

And of course, the characters.

The Heart

This might sound weird if you're used to the fanon versions of Cassie and Taylor—the former being a weak-willed hypocrite who's constantly whinging about whether they're doing the right thing, the latter being Chuck Norris if he was a war criminal and controlled bugs. But they're very similar characters.

Superficial stuff out of the way: They're both unpopular introverts with unusually strong connections to animals, and end up in a messy interracial relationship with their team leader.

Now onto their shared core. They both have a powerful moral compass, which slowly warps under the pressures of the violent plotlines they're involved in without completely vanishing—even when they commit acts of shocking brutality.

Cassie's character arc is relatively simple. She's reluctant to hurt anyone, even Yeerk soldiers and especially their Controllers. She's so reluctant that she leaves the team in the first third of the series. But she also comes up with a lot of really concerning ideas for the group, including David's fate (I'll come back to this).

As for Taylor? She starts out joining a villain team to help the local superheroes, and becomes the voice of caution and moderation pretty much immediately. She also comes up with some pretty brutal ideas for the Undersiders, albeit mostly ones she implements herself.

As far as this aspect of their characterization goes, the big differences is where their moral compasses go in the end. Cassie becomes more comfortable with the moral compromises required by war, but not completely comfortable. She's always at least a devil's advocate, but she doesn't start arguments every time the animorphs need to premeditate their violence.

On the other hand, Taylor falls face-first into moral decay, whittling away at her moral beliefs until she finds the unbending core that she refuses to compromise. And a big part of that is critiquing inaction as strongly as action. People who could have stopped something but chose not to are as culpable as people who actively choose to cause it. That's part of why Taylor is as ruthless as she is, in the "seeing the bright clear line that goes from motive to means" sense.

Both of them also have strong self-sacrificial tendencies. Taylor's are front and center (our girl is practically jumping at martyrdom from her first night in costume) but Cassie is also willing to sacrifice herself for her beliefs. She traps herself in caterpillar morph to prove her conviction to a Yeerk, which is a pretty serious sacrifice since she didn't know she could demorph after metamorphosis. (...yeah, for all its darkness, Animorphs is still a YA series.)

Oh, and they also have a strong friendship with the team's pretty blonde extrovert and its violent butch bitch. But for Cassie, they're the same person.

The Big Guy

Rachel and Rachel are both the most violent members of their teams, but their arcs go in different directions.

Rachel Berenson started as the pretty popular mall-loving cheerleader gymnast type, but started sliding into blood knight territory as she adapted to the war.

Rachel Lindt, on the other hand, starts out antisocial and violent, and she only starts getting friends and finding a more comfortable, less violent life after meeting Taylor (and, to an extent, the other Undersiders). Rachel climbed out of the pit that swallowed Rachel whole.

This comparison is a pretty obvious one...probably the only obvious one.

The Leader

We're getting to the part where it's hard to compare Animorphs to Undersiders; I don't think I have any substantive comparisons to make between the other halves of their team. (You could make comparisons between Marco and Lisa, or maybe Alec or Aisha or Taylor; Tobias turning into a bird is kinda like Taylor's cape escapism but they go different directions; and Ax is too literally alien to have a clean parallel with the earthly Undersiders, except maybe Alec.)

But I think there's something between Jake and Brian, beyond their shared status. For starters, neither one wants to be a leader. Jake chafes at the title of Prince, and Brian stubbornly refuses to take sole responsibility for the Undersiders. In both cases, this flattens their team's hierarchy. Jake and Brian help set the agenda and direct discussions, but they don't force their will on the group if they can avoid it.

They also care strongly about their family, especially their siblings, Tom and Aisha. They're putting their lives in danger in large part for those siblings—rather more directly for Jake, whose brother has a Yeerk in his brain, but Brian explicitly says he became a supervillain to provide for his kid sister. (Which is a lot funnier from an outside perspective, since both of their parents are alive.)

The big differences are age (Jake is 13-16; Brian is 17-18 pre-timeskip) and the scope of what they care about. Brian is very clear; he cares about his family, he cares about his friends, but the rest of the world can sort itself out. Jake, on the other hand, knows he's on a mission to save the world and acts accordingly.

But if Brian was a few years less jaded, and given the nearly sole mandate to defeat a threat to the entire human race...I think he could end up a lot like Jake. War crimes and all.

The Traitor

David and Cherish were both trapped just offshore by the team they betrayed, and their screams can sometimes be heard by people on the shore.

David's fate is a bit less nightmarish (he's a rat on an island instead of a brain in a box) and his screams are less deadly, but the fact that I'm comparing something the Animorphs did to something the Slaughterhouse Nine did should indicate how dark the books can get when they aren't engaging in instant maple-ginger oatmeal shenanigans.

If I reread the series, I could probably come up with more comparisons. But for one Tumblr post, I think this is enough.

[iwanttofuckereh69]

now reading 2ha vol 2

ch 55 - 71

… but the careless thought would fly through his mind and soon be lost, like the drizzle of rain falling into a deep pond.

Mo Ran’s entire existence put into words perfectly

1. now im sad 😭

Ahhh the way Shi Mei’s death is described is gut wrenching. I was so sad reading that. But yeah, at least there are more details to what happened. It seems like Chu Wanning couldn’t do anything to save him that day. Or rather, he had to choose. I feel like if he tried saving Shi Mei, he wouldn’t hold the barrier. So he chose, faithful to his principles. It ties to Chu Xun’s sacrifice that seems to be supposed to show how hard of a decision it must have been both on Chu Xun and Chu Wanning. My guess is Mo Ran either didn’t realize at the time that CWN had to choose one over the other or he couldn’t understand why he would sacrifice his disciple to protect all those people he himself doesn’t care about. 

But damn that description hurt. Mo Ran’s heart was truly aching. And that comparison to a snowflake, equally beautiful and equally unimportant. Ehh

@thegreymoon if this is "moderate and usual amount of suffering" then i dont know if i want to continue!!!!

(jk, i like when it hurts 🙂)

2. Chu Wanning is even more awkward than i was in high school which should be considered an achievement

Tbh I like moments of Mo Ran’s longing for Chu Wanning. And how he reacts when he sees Chu Wanning finally after all this time CWN spend “in seclusion”. Its lovely, but also hes so dumb for not realizing. This whole whatever was going on between them during New Years Eve celebration was just lovely but also so awkward. Chu Wanning deliberately giving him a copper coin dumpling? Absolutely cute. But also so awkward and just 😬 Instead of finding thousands of weird ways to flirt maybe just tell him? Idk its an outrageous idea, but idk give it a try maybe?? And omg that awkward moment when he wanted to invite mo ran to watch fireworks but… yeah. I felt it in my bones. 

3. Breaking news, Mo Ran, despite being 32 yo in 16 yo body mentally somehow ended up being 5

Sometimes it feels to me as if mo ran desired CWN not as a person but as an object. And he is even comparing him to an ugly box that nobody wanted with perfectly fine food inside. An ugly box only he himself dared to open to discover the treasure inside. And he is so childishly jealous when now that box is on display for everyone to look at. Its almost silly. But also yeah, its another time he treats CWN more like a thing he owns. And nobody else should see any worth in that thing, because its only his to consume. There is a fine expression in my native language for a person like that, and funny enough, its also dog related. But I couldn't find any translation that would convey all the nuisance. It’s for a person that won’t let anyone else enjoy a thing even if they themselves have no intention of enjoying that thing either. It reminded me of this quote:

Eventually, like a beast, he had known only one thing: that Chu Wanning was his. Even if he didn’t care for Chu Wanning, he was still his to sunder and to ruin. 

And like… Right now, Mo Ran seems to me like an annoying jealous kid that wants CWN for himself out of pure spite. Because CWN never gave MR attention he thought he was owed or that he deserved. I want to punch him just a bit.

4. Shi Mei is totally Chu Wanning’s wingman

Like he always tries to show Mo Ran that CWN isnt all that bad XD And I won’t believe he didn’t realize after all those completely awkward confessions and random hand holdings that Mo Ran has feelings for him. Like I won’t believe he wouldn’t see right through him especially on that boat. And I think he is smarter than MR and saw that CWN isn’t indifferent to Mo Ran after all. I want to say he would be happy if they’d get together but BASED ON COMMUNITY’S REACTIONS i feel like i will look like a clown lol. But oh well thats my very biased impression of Shi Mei. 

@rosemary-screams

Never back down never what? NEVER GIVE UP!

Also it dawned on me while reading that you’re totally right @02cm, Mo Ran totally is wasting his chances with Shi Mei. I mean it happened before but that boat scene striked me as so annoyingly obvious. Like, he knows Shi Mei dies after he gets back from that “summer camp” in peach blossom springs. Its not gonna be long till that day and he can’t be sure it won’t happen again. And he is waiting around, unable to express his feelings that he was supposed to be so sure of. Is it… perhaps… a live showcase of Mo Ran’s only two brain cells almost connecting? Almost! Not quite there yet, but we’re on the right path. 

5. This book makes me feel disdain towards the characters and then feel bad for them in the matter of chapters njnjgviuvnjuigi im not well

I'm so heartbroken with the story of how Mo Ran was punished when he tried to steal the haitang flower for Chu Wanning because he had a crush on him. And CWN never let him speak and explain himself and punished him instead. I mean it’s kinda understandable but it makes me sad knowing that MR had such pure intentions... Also, that bedtime story about ox… Mo Ran sees himself in that boy? Because it seems like he always took the beatings no matter if he deserved it and nobody was kind enough to actually listen? And it seems like it will happen again now that he's being framed for murder.

6. Me when MR gave Xia Sini butterfly hair clip and made his hair:

THIS HAS NO REASON TO BE SO CUTE. Also i'm actually enjoying that smol Chu Wanning arc despite being weirded out at first. It gave CWN opportunity to be more relaxed around MR and the rest. And just like he can enjoy sweets as much as he wants without having to worry about losing his face, he can also just chill a bit because oh boy, my guy needed it so much

7. Someone really dislikes Mo Ran and is actively plotting his demise (which im not even surprised with). It’s either someone he already managed to wrong after reincarnating or someone of those many, many people he offended in his past life that somehow also got reincarnated into the past. What are the odds?!

Also, if Chu Wanning and Chu Xun are related (rather closely given how they look alike) and Chu Xun died and Chu Lan died and it seemed like there wasn’t anyone left out of their bloodline… how. Also what’s the self sacrifice gene because it clearly runs in this family.