#its 4am i am rambling

[maremortus]

HEADCANON LOVE LANGUAGE & COURTSHIP

i'm going to start this off by saying that valora is a difficult person to love , or even really like depending on who you are . she is stubborn , combative , does not understand human emotion well or even emotion in general due to being raised in such an unforgiving and loveless environment . for those under the sea , i suppose it's easier for her to get along whenever she finds herself a love interest but it's worth mentioning ( especially because most people write muses that are from the surface ) that ...

valora's love languages are things she has learned while being in the depths . she does not know about land dwelling tradition & so therefore does not practice most of it knowingly . valora was raised in an entirely different world , where love itself struggles to exist .

but i digress ... let's talk about what valora does when she is plucking up the courage to court someone . i'll start with the underwater traditions and then follow up with how she chooses to adapt these traditions when on land .

01. it's common among merfolk to show romantic interest in someone by gifting them small precious things ( pearls , nice shells , crystals ... basically anything they can scavenge that looks shiny and/or colourful ) . this is seen as the sort of 'first base' among merfolk and is really what you do when you want to admit to having a crush . now , gift giving like this definitely happens when a relationship is established too , but this would be the first step of courting someone . these gifts are very often rejected by the potential love interest for the first few attempts , purposefully to play a game of ' hard to get ' just so they can see the lengths valora would be willing to go to in order to establish a romantic connection . while it is completely normal for the first few attempts to be rejected , there are of course ways in which merfolk understand when and when not to continue finding gifts . if the rejection is stern and the gift is buried into the sand ( away from sight entirely ), this means that valora should not continue pursuing them because they are not interested . however , if the person gently sets it atop the sand after inspecting it for a few seconds , that is their silent way of saying ' keep going and maybe you'll get there ' .

02. after having found the right gift , the courting stage can then move onto something different . now that interest has been established and returned by the other person , valora's next course of action would be to invite them to dance . she herself must prepare a stage , ensuring that every single detail is perfect . there must be no debris , it must be in a secluded and private location , the sand must be built into a specific pattern and the lighting must be perfect . a slight problem with any of these things could mean that her partner may end up uninterested by her . if the stage is to the persons liking , then both them and valora will engage in an intimate dance at the center of the stage .

side note : this is an old tradition , something that has been among merfolk for a very long time . the newer generations are more relaxed with the rules and although they still enjoy the traditional courtship , they are much less harsh when the small details are a little off . most people do not get this far without there being a genuine interest and so , this interest will not just collapse if a shell is facing the wrong direction . this would be the case for older generations however .

03. if you've managed to get this far , then that means this courtship is going pretty darn well ! the dance shared between the partners if often enough to seal the deal between most people ( especially the most recent generations ) but there is one last step that is an important part especially if you're from some kind of royal family . the courtship process at this point would be made public and the next step would be to come before the person's parents in order to ask for their approval of the relationship . if they approve , great ! if they don't ... well it can be complicated . for the royal family , a rejection is final and you will not be able to try again lest you want to be thrown in jail . for common folk however , it's more relaxed and you can find creative ways to sway the parents opinion of you .

that's about it for the basics of underwater courtship ... now onto the love languages between merfolk when they are actually in a relationship ... gift giving is still very prominent but there are a few other things that really scream ' i'm in love with you ' and i'll list them below .

preening scales & tails . a common love language among merfolk is the act of helping you partner take care of themselves . specifically taking care of their scales and tails/fins . helping your partner look their best by removing any dirt/blood/blemishes or even by styling their hair & adjusting their clothing , is seen as very romantic . it's not something you would do unless you are together with someone . for example , valora will not allow anyone to help clean herself unless she is very interested in them .

singing . while a lot of merfolks voices can be used for bad ( ie putting humans into a trance in order to drown them ) , it's also a very sacred way of really showing how much you love someone . merfolk absolutely do not sing for everyone and often reserve their voices for a person that they are totally sure that they love wholeheartedly . singing to your partner ( and especially if they sing back ) is like peak romance and it's almost a way of saying that they will be together forever .

in her time on land , valora has realised that love and courtship is seen very differently . she has learned to adapt her underwater methods whilst still keeping everything very similar . for example , she will still give gifts and still invite said person to dance if she feels the time is right . asking for permission is entirely unnecessary on land , so that's something she tends to avoid . she has learned that a lot of land dwelling people enjoy romantic meals , and so tries to put together something from their own culture instead of basing everything on what she was raised with . on land , valora will make a conscious effort to learn how to be more open minded .

[racetrackmybeloved]

thinking about how much pain crutchy must be in

like. his crutch is clearly too short for him. did he get it before hitting his growth spurt and now can't afford a taller one? is he waiting until he grows even more so that he doesn't have to keep on buying new ones? bending over sideways like that constantly must hurt him SO much.

and combine that with carrying stacks of papers all day? the other kids can transfer their papers to their other arm when they start to get tired, but he can't.

someone give crutchy a back massage please and thank you

sidenote: i wrote 'someone get that boy an ibuprofen' as a stupid tag and then thought hm did ibuprofen exist yet and no it did not (until the 1960s)! paracetemol didn't appear commercially in the US until 1950. production of aspirin started in 1899, and it was advertised and distributed to doctors and hospitals at this point, but was not available to the public without a prescription until 1915.

HOWEVER newsboys did sometimes go to hospitals - in 1897 a newsboy named john kelly staying at the duane st lodging house had a sore throat, and the superintendent sent him to the hudson street hospital. and in 1900, after a fight between two newsboys led to one of them stabbing the other in the neck, the injured boy was sent to the hospital (he was apparently fine). that was a very long winded way of saying that it IS feasible for crutchy to have gone to a doctor and gotten a prescription.

so yeah maybe our boy crutchy was actually taking aspirin !

sources woo

[coloredcompulsion]

You ever just have media that is so psychologically damaging you end up making the characters in Stardew Valley so they can just,, chill for a bit. They need somewhere to rest and this is where they shall.

[stevethehairington]

it is barely 8 am and the univer is t e s t i n g me i SWEAAAAAAR

[sonicranger1]

If I didn't already figure out I was Bi I feel like Epic the Musical would've definitely made me realize

[madame-mongoose]

Anon who thinks I hate gay people for real come back here so I can shove your face in my yaoi art

[bidokja]

i've seen a few comments before (not on here, just in the past on other sites) frustrated and confused about why the oldest dream never talked to yoo joonghyuk. or anyone for that matter. why couldn't he just say something, anything at all? did he feel nothing as they suffered? couldn't he have helped somehow?

and there's a lot i could say about this and a lot of various layers and details and perspectives. but in the end it all comes down to this:

not a single one of us can talk to the characters in a book we're reading.

that's just how it works.

[newtness532]

okay to-do list for the next 12 hours: make vasilopita, finish the stupid faces, decide what i want to wear on nye and nyd and pack that+ whatever else im gonna need, and shower

[pho-noodles]

Does anybody else like staring at Charles when on missions /w him?

…

just me?

ok thanks ..! ^_-

[futuristichedge]

Nothing makes you have to do drawing studies quite like being interested in less popular Sonic media

[danidoesathing]

wait hello I just saw that ‘feelings about the cowboys’ post and am EXTREMELY INTRIGUED by the “Lonesome Dreams is a time loop” thing??? 👀

ok ok ok so like. the plot of the lonesome dreams MV always kinda bothered me cause like if it's Huron and Blaquefut's first encounter, just. huh? How does Huron have a picture of Blaquefut in his pocket? why does he have a picture of Blaquefut in his pocket? is he searching for Blaquefut, if so, why? did he take this journey in search of him, and if so what could Blaquefut possibly offer to make him take such a dangerous journey? it just. never made any sense to me.

the island is implied and often theorized to be the afterlife or some kinda limbo. And Blaquefut does die during the Time to Run music video, so the idea of Huron going out to save his brother isn't really that much of a stretch. But he knows Huron at that point so Lonesome Dreams couldn't take place afterwards, right?

but like. what if its not their first encounter?

Time and death have always been a bit fucky in LH lore and like. lets say Blaquefut dies right? and somehow, Huron figures out this island exists and even though its insanely risky and may not work, he's willing to try. Because he can't just abandon his brother and he's willing to risk life and limb for it. So he does, and he does make it to the island. And then things just get...weird. it already doesnt make sense already with the changing biomes and the seasons changing within too short of a time. But even memories start to blur, even if the feelings remain. And washing up on the shore with nothing but a picture of man and the strong urge to find that man, Huron's left with no choice but to follow his instincts. It does eventually lead him to find Blaquefut, whose got no clue who he is either and well. we see what happens next. They form a close bond and get off the island together, and set off to all their future adventures together. They grow as close as brother and form a loyalty to the other unlike any other.

At least until it loops back around to the Time to Run MV and Blaquefut dies again.

and like. lonesome dreams the song is also weird in the sense that like. its not actually about the events of the MV and more about Huron having a strange dream about a lonely world that makes no sense. Maybe, one he's been to before 👀.

seriously like look at these

and hey hey. you wanna know another fun aspect of it that ive completely pulled out of my ass? with this theory and the fact that Huron is the one perpetuating the loop, it keeps with the "doomed both by the narrative and their own actions" and "I love and care about you a lot and that will be the death of us" things. Because the whole thing in the album is like. Huron really wants to go home to Helena. and as time goes on, he becomes more and more desperate to actually get back to her.

but in this scenario, its a timeloop. one he's causing, because he just...can't let go of his friend. He wants to get back to her more than anything but how could he just abandon his brother? if there's even a slim chance of saving him, how could he not take it? so he goes after his friend, and brings him along to this journey to get back home, and then Blaquefut dies again and Huron is going to go save him again and he just. isn't going to get home because he can't let go. Maybe if he took a different path, maybe if he stopped trying to go home and accepted that the life with Helena is unobtainable to him, then maybe they can avoid that fight and maybe Blaquefut can get out it alive. But Huron can't let go of Helena either, so he'll keep trying to return and Blaquefut is loyal enough to follow him to the ends of the earth and it just. keeps going. He can't have the life with both that he desperately wants but he refuses to make the choice necessary to free them from this loop. and thus the cycle continues.

[dizzybizz]

we have these baubles with a bunch of our family's names written with these glitter glue pens or whatever they are

and this time around my mom changed mine to my new name

and i kinda wanna cry about it

cause i walked down the stairs to the living room and i saw them all resting on towels and drying

i sat down on the couch to just look them over

i was searching for my bauble but i tried to act like i wasn't, don't think i was actually too subtle about it but i pretended

there were baubles with the names of our pets, half siblings, nephews and i found mine

and my mom had changed it

i had a hunch she might've, it's just like her to do something like that

but idk i guess it just kinda really drove home the point that i am accepted and this is all real? it's not some elaborate daydream or something i came up with after fantasizing about coming out and all

im just feeling some trans joy

sorry it's 4am i can't sleep but i am thinking and feeling and my family accepts me and im just overwhelmed with it all and ahshdjfjfjshhdnffmmgvm..... y'know

[cinnamon-won]

O7

I’m really sitting here depressed about a guy at almost 4am

resisting the urge to post the fat paragraph of memories I’ve just written

being too scared to post it even though I know there’s no chance of him seeing this

Someone tell me what to do 🥲

[loafbud]

I haven't played twst in a while and coming back to it, I'm this close to quitting the game coz im still stuck in book 6-67 hell and I just wanna progress in the story

but i need to grind lessons to get spell books to level up my active cards' spells

but that's gonna take me weeks n I don't want twst to consume me

i only haven't given up because a year before it finally came out on the en servers, I've always wanted to experience/finish book 6 firsthand because I'm a huge idia nerd

but then the horrors of 66-67 happened and graaaah i hate it when I'm tryna play a game for the story but smthn in-game gets in the way where i have to get more materials or n shit

im this close to quitting story mode and looking up book 6 spoilers + idia's overblot myself......

but im like??? i waited so long for this silly little moment to finally be able to play this part of the game, only for me to look up the rest of the story myself? bluhh

might cave in and just stick w/ farming spell books via alchemy lessons, get my active cards spells to at least spell lvl 5, and then maybe have them all around card lvl 40-50

i'll do all this on the side while im playing kingdom cryin (totk)

[asummersday]

im writing rn bc as i was falling asleep i sat up with a BRAND NEW fic idea but im mad about it bc its almost 2am and i have to be up early tomorrow

[beelas-bees]

did I stay up an additional 2½ hours bc I'm so afraid of confrontation that I couldn't use the bathroom? yeag