#like if you don't commit 100% and don't go to the extreme you are “watering down” the subculture oh my god

[marioparty]

people are SOOO annoying about subcultures it's driving me insane

[elumish]

I know everyone has different views on both worldbuilding and characterization, and especially on the idea of consistency in both, but I wanted to share my feelings on both of them (which are kind of the same! people and places are sort of the same thing sometimes).

Consistency, to me, is about three things: rules, guidelines, and lies.

Rules are things that (whether they've been told explicitly or not) are immutable. They are the law of the land, and you don't break them. You don't actually need to tell the reader what they are, but you should know what they are. They can be simple or they can be extremely complex, but they are things that you stick with. Unless stated otherwise, readers will generally assume that the rules of the real world apply to your story.

For the world, that might be "water is H2O" or "mountains will not stand up and turn into giant creatures and walk away" or "vampires and werewolves can cross-breed but only if they have sex during a new moon" or whatever. For a character, that might be "this character will not kill under any circumstances, no matter what" or "this character won't every tell their parents about that one time they committed arson." It's easier to do never rules for characters than always rules, but you can do both.

Guidelines are things that generally happen but aren't a requirement. This is where people tend to get caught up in character/worldbuilding consistency. Most character traits are going to be guidelines, not rules, because most people do have exceptions or things that change their mind or just character growth. Most things in the world don't work exactly the same way 100% of the time. But there generally needs to be an implicit or explicit explanation for the guideline not being followed, or it just feels like the author screwed up.

For the world, these might be "water isn't flammable--except in those cases where it is" or "vampires and children can't have kids, except in those super rare cases where they can" or "that one time, a mountain stood up and walked five feet and sat back down, but other than that it's never happened so we're pretty sure it'll never happen again". For a character, that might be "this character's instinct is to run away from things that scare them, but this one time they will overcome that instinct to protect someone else" or "this character is generally happy-go-lucky but right now they are deeply sad because something tragic has happened".

Lies are where it gets fun. Lies are things that you have presented as rules that are actually not. Somtimes this is because a character is literally lying to the reader or to other characters, sometimes it's because characters don't have full information, and sometimes it's because some other factor has changed.

For the world, this might be "only people from the royal family can bond with dragons because they have been genetically modified to bond with dragons--oh, actually, that was a lie perpetrated by the government to keep people from trying to bond with dragons" or "there is no eighth continent on Earth--actually there is, it was just hidden from view by magic". For a charcter, this might be "this character would never under any circumstances kill someone--except they just did."

The thing about lies is that they need to have a good in-universe reason behind them, and they can't conflict with other rules you have. I always go back to Stephenie Meyer when I think about this. Early in the series, she set up two rules that she told the reader explicitly: 1) all of vampires' fluids are venom and 2) vampires have 25 chromosome pairs, werewolves have 24 chromosome pairs, and humans have 23 chromosome pairs. The lie that vampires can't have children with humans runs into the issue that it's in direct conflict with those two rules above--but those two rules are never rescinded. So it doesn't feel like a lie so much as it feels like an inconsistency. It feels like she messed something up.

When you're thinking about internal consistency, consider:

Is something a rule, a guideline, or a lie?

If a guideline isn't being followed, is it clear why (e.g., is it an exception? character growth?)

Why was the lie a lie?

Does the lie conflict with other rules in the world?

What does the lie or the exception to the guideline accomplish?

[1111jenx]

Jen haiii I missed you so much. Gurl tell me some chart placements that have completely altered your previous views on them after meeting irl. Stereotypes about signs you've found completely wrong after getting to know them. I'm dying to know the placements that truly shook you to your core, comparing your astrological studies and real life experiences with them.

Hi love,

I'm literally that one person that will ask for your birth time, birth date and location after 5 minutes of meeting yk so trust me when I say, I do have many stories to tell LOL. Before I start tho, I do need to mention that this is based off my own experiences purely and again, this is just for fun:D So please enjoy this post and let me know what you think in the comment<3

Mini Interesting Astrology Observations

- stereotypes vs. irl edition

— The amount of time I heard people telling me that Leo Rising is a ray of sunshine when in reality they can be, however not at first 100%. The way they come off are extremely practical, even a little bit distant at first. They have this powerful yet quiet aura to them. What I would say tho is that they enjoy the company of people who feels like sunshine, its just something about goodness in people that gets to Leo Rising. They adore a sweetheart always.

— I would even go as far to say that all Fire Rising initially have a hint of distance. Aries Rising can appear intimidating, truly living up to their stereotype with their nonchalant demeanor. But beneath that exterior, they possess genuinely kind hearts, though sometimes their delivery might be a bit raw. Leo Rising commands respect with their mere presence. Sagittarius Rising aligns closely with their stereotype, but remember the Water 12th houses of the Fire Risings:.

Pisces 12th house - Aries Rising: Hiding their unselfishness and uncondinational side to protect themselves.

Cancer 12th house - Leo Rising: Hiding their nurturing side and soft-heartedness to ensure they're respected or perceived in a serious way.

Scorpio 12th house - Sagittarius Rising: Hiding their devotion and secretive side out of fear of being taken advantage of.

— Libra Moon is an extremely interesting placement for me to see. People usually think they're pushovers typically but like.. lets be for real. They're just nice and they like to be perceived that way. But the second they can sense that hint of disrespect, all hell break loose LOL. They're extremelyyyy opionated people and for them, respect is something they believe they have worked very hard for. Mediators at core though, always see different sides but doesn't mean they can be one of the most stubborn people ever :)

— Scorpio Venus justifying their intense feelings is the funniest thing ever. They can 100% be very devoted in relationship but the thing is, a lot of Scorpio Venus are never ever gonna give themselves to you if they sense that you're not committed to them or even the little hint that you're not in it for real. Remember, this is a Scorpio placement we're talking about. Their pickiness can even outshine Virgo Venus on a good day. The type to genuinely stalk your socials and disappear at the blurriest red flag. For them to take you seriously, you have got to be all about them in every single way, they don't want that fleeting romance, when they're in, they're in. Playing games might be fun at first for them but they're are not going to be around to entertain anything as such for long.

— Sun conjuncts Venus gets along so well with women. A lot of their friends are usually women and it seems that they just know how to put people at ease. There's an energy of almost androgyny about them in the sense that they have a great balance of energies. Can easily befriend anyone.

— Libra Mars forgives often but usually its very logical. One of the best boundary setter I've ever seen. They are sweethearts don't get me wrong but they can easily put you in your place while still being the sweetest angel ever.

— Sagittarius Sun are extremely ambitious people. They're very very driven. While they enjoy letting loose, they're equally devoted to their work and aspirations. From my experience, they're the kind who would invest months into a project, only to celebrate grandly once it's accomplished. They truly embody the 'work hard, play hard' spirit.

— There's a stereotype that pegs Aquarius Mercury as detached and overly rational, almost robotic in their communication. But as you dive deeper, you realize this couldn't be farther from the truth. While they do possess an innate ability to see the bigger picture and communicate ideas ahead of their time, there's a depth and warmth to them that often goes unnoticed. These are some of the smoothest talkers. Contrary to the belief that they're disinterested in personal stories, many Aquarius Mercury individuals are deeply curious about individual journeys and narratives. I also noticed that since they can be so nice to talk to, people just casually open up to them about literally anything.

— I saw squares aspects synastry plays out in real life and often times its honestly super funny. Its like 2 people that speak 2 different languages trying to get the same thing but don't want to admit it out of pride LOL. I'm not a big fan when there's too much squares within personal placements but to be fair, they promote hella growth. After these kind of relationships, everyone just kinda become either more stubborn with their values or extremely open-minded LOL

— While Taurus Moon is very emotionally reliant, in the sense that they're their own safe haven and therapy guide a lot of the times. These people also may be prone to denial. They take time to come to terms with a lot of events that happened and kind of just buried it sometimes until they fully accept it. Unhealthy coping mechanisms as well but with time, they find their own peace in the truth.

— Earth Risings, lets talk. They got to be one of the funniest people alive. Their sense of humour always hits and they're the living proof for don't judge a book by its cover. Everytime I'm with them I always hurt my stomach by laughing too much PLS. However, when time calls for it, they can sit down and get all corporate on you trust😉

This has been surprisingly kind of fun, please let me know if you'd like to see more of this in the future:))

love,

saint jenx🪐

© 2023 Saintz Jenx All Rights Reserved

[harvesti]

extended intro post:

daily workout (running/pilates/yoga): home workouts, because gyms make me nervous and a bit annoyed (too many people making too much noise!). I usually spend around 45 minutes-1 hour doing each of these, and I rarely do more than one per day, except when I mix my yoga routine to my pilates routine. I don't like to take full rest days so usually my rest days are just yoga days, and I leave my full rest days for occasions when I can't workout because of another commitment.

no refined/added sugar: made the decision to cut back on sugar by the end of 2023 because I started reading a lot about nutrition and realized that sugar is just not meant to be consumed the way we do, in this extremely processed, refined, concentrated form. it's addictive, harmful for our health, and it spoils our palate for other foods. not to mention that it is the biggest villain when it comes to weight gain. I meant to just cut back a bit when I made the decision but since around April 2024 I just cut it off completely.

no highly processed food: another huge villain when it comes to health and weight, full of toxic additives that we don't even understand, addictive, and a big enabler of laziness. I only eat food that I can recognize as food and understand what's in it, so almost nothing that comes in an aluminium foil packet makes it to my shopping cart.

no red meat: I was actually vegan for 2 and a half years but eventually went back to eating dairy and eggs, and I'll eat the occasional chicken and fish, although so rarely that I think I could consider myself a vegetarian. but even when I went back on my dietary choices, I couldn't stomach red meat anymore. most people don't even know how to cook it properly anyway, I hate handling it on my own, and it just makes me feel heavy, both physically as well as spiritually.

no soda: this came naturally as I decided to stop eating highly processed foods, but I used to be the Diet Coke Girl™ all my life, and I thought it was cool since it had no sugar. imagine my surprise when I found out that artificial sweeteners such as the one in diet Coke actually make you crave sugar and leads to binges. not to mention, soda makes me totally bloated.

no overeating: that's a no-brainer, but it was the hardest part of my journey! I love eating, y'all, and my brain was always like, I rather feast and indulge than feel like I'm going to miss out. it took me a long time to find a balance and being able to just enjoy a meal without feeling like I need to ravage a huge plate to feel like I truly enjoyed it. cooking 100% of my own food helped a lot with that.

no alcohol: quit on May 2024, after I realized I was using alcohol as a way to distract myself and ease anxiety when it occured. I was also feeling my limit getting weaker, so I had to drink a lot more to get tipsy, but when I got tipsy, I got sick almost immediately. it stopped being fun, and it felt more like a hassle than something that could give me pleasure. now that I'm completely sober, I realize drinking alcohol is kind of... terrible. it was a great decision, even if I did it sort of by accident really.

low caffeine (coffee only in the morning, green tea all day): I used to drink 4-5 cups of very strong black coffee throughout the day and, of course, I had major anxiety to the point of trembling, getting migraines and becoming paranoid. I started lowering my intake first to deal with this aspect, but later I found out that caffeine also leads to cravings and binging exactly because it accelerates the body and the mind so much! now I only have it after I wake up and sometimes in the afternoon, if I'm really sleepy when I can't really be sleepy. I still have a lot of tea because I love a hot beverage, and green tea actually calms me down a lot, even if it does have caffeine as well. I take mine with ginger and a splash of lemon juice.

lots of greens, lots of whole foods, lots of water, lots of fruits, lots of sun: another no-brainer! my favorites are broccoli, kale, leeks, chickpeas, zucchini, cherry tomatoes (which I grow myself), mushrooms, grapes, plums, pineapple, bananas, coconut and melon.

i.f. 16:8: I feel like it's absolutely necessary to give my body time to deal with itself without the "burden" of digestion. everything that happens in the body is a trade-off, so if my body is constantly dealing with food, it can't pay attention to other important processes. not to mention that, intermittent fasting takes my mind off food for a while, helps me plan ahead my meals better, makes me focus on nutritive choices instead of ones that are just yummy... and I enjoy eating when I'm actually hungry!

takeouts/eating out out on special occasions; same with dessert: it may seem like a restriction, but it's something I decided to kind of recover a sense of hacing these things be special again. once I started to make my own money and become independent, I started to indulge a lot on these things because when I was a kid they were so rare and exciting, so I was always eating out at my fav restaurants and always having something sweet around, until it just became a bad habit. now, keeping these things safe for special days makes them special too instead of just feeling like a boring indulgence. (I still try to get desserts that are sugar-free or very small on sugar though.) my fav food to eat out is sushi!

daily reading, at least 3 hours: as a real Classic Millennial, I used to be a huge reader when I was a kid, but as social media became a thing in my life, I lost the habit completely. the pandemic made me realize I needed to go back to books and delete Twitter, basically, which was my biggest distraction, and I've immediately reconnected with my old self and started to read like 50 books every year since. my fav genres are romance and non-fiction about nutrition and botany!

no complaining, no gossiping: it's a big part of my mental health to be grateful and to focus on myself. it may seem small, but it completely changed my perspective on day-to-day life once I set the rules to not complain and not gossip. actually, I don't engage with anything that doesn't concern me directly, doesn't benefit me directly, and is out of my control. life is chill like that.

no dwelling on the past: burned my childhood diaries, cut ties with past relationships that were just hanging around me because of the size of our history, let go of constantly reminiscing and trying to run scenarios and dialogues in my head. I only deal with the day and the week I have ahead, and that's what exists in my reality. no past, no distant future. two feet on the ground.

skin and hair care every evening: I've been genetically blessed with poreless skin and thick hair, but I still have to care for my skin because it tends to dry heavily, and caring for long, thick hair is a must, otherwise it tangles within hours. my skin care is a mix of high hydration, careful nutrition, and The Body Shop's aloe vera night cream for my face, and my hair care is washing it every 3 days (2 days in the summer), keeping it in a hydrating mask, blow drying it, coconut-oiling it, and keeping it in braids whenever I can, especially when sleeping.

silence = gold: I focus immensely on being observant, being a listener, being non-reactive. I think spending long periods of time not speaking, not watching anything, no music, just listening to nature (especially in the mornings) is of utmost importance to a healthy mental and spiritual state. "speech is silver, silence is gold" is one of my life's mottos!

(thanks for reading all of this!)

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Do you have a previous post or ask about why venomous snakes are poor pets? Tumblr search rlly doesn't wanna work

I can't find it either so I will simply make another. Love you tumblr

Right, so, I think hot snakes (snakes with medically significant venom) make poor pets for a few key reasons. For the keepers, obviously -

It's an incredible commitment to own a snake with medically significant venom. It requires you to be extremely responsible with enclosure design, sealing the room, etc. It requires knowledge and training that most private keepers simply will not have.

Venomous snakes are hard to work with. Full stop. At any reputable venom lab the rule is always going to be that you cannot work with the snakes if you're not at your 100%. If you're sick, feeling down, just not feelin' it, your head isn't in the game - you do not get to handle them. If you're a private keeper you're just not going to have the luxury to decide you're not in the right headspace and you're going to make mistakes eventually.

But it's also important to consider why it's an unethical arrangement for the snakes, too -

Not all reptile vets will see hot snakes, especially privately-owned hot snakes. It is very likely that the snake will not be able to get necessary medical care.

Minor medical issues will often be allowed to go untreated. In a venom lab, we can do things like remove stuck shed in-house. A private keeper often won't know how to do that safely.

Many private keepers will often neglect their snakes because they don't have the expertise to safely do basic maintenance. I've met many hot snakes who were neglected because their keeper was too scared to change out their water dish for fear of being bitten.

I firmly believe that hot snakes belong in the wild and at accredited facilities, and not in private homes.

[narcjsistx]

hi i love your works, they are amazing! if you don't mind could you write a one shot with Baji x reader, where they are 12-13(maybe before boys formed toman or just formed), she can be his friend, classmate, tutor, neighbour, Emma's friend, whatever your prefer, and Baji is so in love with her that everybody can see it and reader also knows it and his friends tease him A LOT. and maybe you can write how he confessed his love and his friends helped him(while they are still 12-13)

HI! thanks for the request, hope you have a good day ❤️‍🩹 and thx for the support!

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

— I know it too, Baji

You really disliked Keisuke at first. When Mikey had told you that another child would be joining your group, you had been happy; only later did you realize that the child who had to join was the same one who had ripped your uniform on the first day of school. You came home crying about it, and then he disappeared. You knew he was at the same school and year as you, but in fact you hadn't found him anywhere. You had been friends with Mikey since birth, your mothers were great friends, so seeing that arrogant child join your group had bothered you enormously

Only a few months after you started laughing at his jokes. Instead, it had taken you a whole year before you accepted him playing on the same team when you played soccer at the Sano house. In short, you had gone extremely easy on him because you found him extremely annoying

But as we know, girls always have an edge over boys. From the beginning, it became clear that Keisuke was seeking your attention, amused by your aloof demeanor. He probably didn't even remember ripping your uniform when you were 6 years old. In the end, however, it must be said that you became inseparable: you put aside your pride for something that was actually stupid and after a year or so you decided that being his friend wouldn't be so bad

It had been years since you had first spoken to each other. You were now 13 years old, Keisuke had failed his first year of middle school and you had passed. However, he worried relatively little about it given that Toman, a gang built with his best friends, had been born a few months ago. You weren't part of that gang, but you spent pretty much all your time with them

"Overtake Mitsuya, show him how fast you can go!" you say sitting behind him, while you are on his motorbike. It was a beautiful sunny day and together with Mitsuya and Mikey you had decided to go to the beach. The others should have come too, but due to various commitments only the 4 of you had gone. Baji nods laughing, and speeds past Mitsuya's bike, arriving at Mikey's side "Stop being so boastful!" shouts Mitsuya "Say it hurt, loser" you say laughing "It's just dangerous to go that fast with a girl nearby... Baji puts too much trust in your balance" says Mitsuya, making Mikey, who is further ahead, laugh too

"Shut up! You know I'm always careful when I have a passenger" Baji says as he gives more gas, arriving next to Mikey "Or you just want to make yourself look cool in front of Y/n" Manjiro adds, and Mitsuya nods

“I'll kill you, you pieces of shit" Baji shouts, making you laugh. The thing is, you knew Mikey was right too, as more than a few times Keisuke had tried to make himself cooler than the others in front of you. You suspected he liked you and by asking Mikey, he had confirmed it, however you weren't 100% sure. Many times they, like Draken or Kazutora, teased him by saying that he had a more particular behavior with you, however you dismissed the situation by saying that you were simply very good friends

"Be careful Mikey! He might get mean if you say something too much in front of his girlfriend" says Mitsuya, receiving yet another insult towards Baji. This goes on for a while until you get to the beach, where you find a quiet place to sit

The four of you settled down, Mikey along with Baji ran into the water without putting on sunscreen, and you stayed with Mitsuya "They'll both get burned" you say sighing, putting on your sunglasses "Probably" Mitsuya says settling under the umbrella

Spend a quarter of an hour in silence. Mitsuya focused on a fashion magazine and you looking at your two friends in the water: Keisuke often waves at you from afar, receiving splashes from Mikey. You giggle, but find Mitsuya also observing the two boys "He has a thing for you, you know that right?" Mitsuya says "I know... but I don't understand half of his behavior" you say "What do you mean?" Mitsuya asks putting down the magazine, sitting down next to you

"You know... I've never understood his behavior. Since I was little he has visibly treated me differently than his other friends, he almost seems more protective, or maybe he would like to make himself look cooler in my eyes... but I don't think he feels anything. If he tried something would have already been declared, you know well that it would be difficult to keep something so important inside" you say, sighing. The situation had been going on for years now, and you had lost hope a little. Mitsuya remains silent, then suddenly starts laughing "Huh? What are you laughing at?" you ask slightly embarrassed "Oh nothing, sorry, nothing..." he says wiping away the tears born from laughing. He turns back to his magazine and you, sighing, let go of his behavior

From afar, however, you no longer see the two boys. You look better and find them sitting on a rock: Baji is telling something with great enthusiasm, and Mikey bursts out laughing after a while. You see in the two of them the same thing that happened to you and Mitsuya just now, but due to the distance you don't understand what they are talking about

When Mikey sees you looking at them, he yells something while waving at you, getting some insults from Baji. You don't hear what they say this time either, yet it seems as if Baji doesn't want Manjiro to say hello to you

Half an hour later the two boys return and you decide to have lunch. Lunch goes by peacefully with a few laughs and Mikey teasing Baji for deciding to sit next to you, but you don't even notice. You're more focused on thinking why Mitsuya laughed earlier

“Y/n!” Mitsuya shouts, bringing you back to reality "Huh? Sorry, I was thinking about something else..." you say sighing, taking a bite of your sandwich "Don't apologize to me, but Baji has been calling you for half an hour and you still hasn't heard" Mitsuya says laughing, while Mikey makes a very strange face "Huh? Why do you say that?" you say confused, and only now you notice that Baji is no longer sitting next to you, but is back on the nearby rock "Forget it, go over there" Mikey says taking the sandwich from your hand, to eat the rest. You glare at Manjiro, but get up and head towards the rock

It takes you a little while to get near Baji. The boy is sitting with his back turned, and as soon as you sit next to him he doesn't dare look at you "What's happening? Mitsuya told me you were looking for me" you say crossing your legs on the rough stone. Keisuke looks so flustered and you wonder if he's getting food poisoning from the sandwich he just ate "What was in your sandwich?" you ask, finally making him turn around; he seems so confused by your words

"Huh? It was a normal sandwich... why?" he asks confused, and you notice a light blush on his cheeks "You look sick, are you sure you're okay?" you ask “LET THIS GO!” he shouts, making you jump. An awkward silence falls between you

"Look... do you like someone?" he asks in an insecure way, and you look at him surprised for a moment "Um... more or less. It's difficult to explain" you say thus hiding the fact that your relationship right now was complicated "To you?" you ask “I like someone I've known for a while” he says looking down. When he says that it feels like a small boulder falling on you, but you hide it; deep down, you thought it was Emma the girl he was talking about "If you've known this person for a long time you should come out"

"You're right. I like you" he says with a speed that makes it hard to realize what he said "HUH?" you state, turning around quickly, finding him with his face hidden in his hands "You understood what I said, don't act stupid!" he shouts, keeping his face hidden. Feel your heart beating so hard it can leap out of your chest. You look at Keisuke and automatically think that Mitsuya's and Mikey's reactions were like that because they knew what he wanted to do. Your cheeks turn red, and you feel warmer than you might already feel at the seaside

"...I think I do too. And then... I know it too, Baji. I simply thought you had grown fond of me in a brotherly way" you say looking ahead of you, with the beauty of the infinite sea. You see Baji surprised by your words, but a smile comes to his face "Is that a yes?" he asks "It's a yes, Keisuke" you say, feeling embarrassed like you've never felt before, but in a good way

You see the boy quickly stand up, running behind him where, you hadn't noticed, Mitsuya and Mikey were "SHE SAID YES!" he yells coming over to his friends, making you laugh as you remain seated. Only now do you realize how much Keisuke was just afraid to declare himself

[great-and-small]

how do you feel about aquatic turtles as pets vs tortoises? i don't know anything about herp care but i like hearing about them, are novice owners more likely to meet the needs of species that isn't waterfaring? it feels like as soon as a tank with water gets involved the potential for neglect skyrockets

Such a good question and honestly one that I think about a lot. I think in general my opinion of chelonians (turtles and tortoises) in captivity is roughly equivalent to my opinion on reptiles in general being kept as pets. That is to say, a handful make great pets, many of them can be well cared for by a well-educated and experienced keeper, but the majority of species are not ideal as pets. Although I do feel some tortoises are a little easier to manage than aquatic turtles, they also present their own unique challenges that have to be considered. I also have some overlapping concerns regarding the keeping of both tortoises and turtles as pets.

For both turtles and tortoises I have three primary concerns.

Firstly, conservation of these animals has reached a critical state, and the pet trade absolutely contributes to this for many species. I am publishing research on a critically endangered species of tortoise and almost all of the videos about them on YouTube are “unboxing” videos by private keepers who acquired them to keep as pets. Ideally anyone seeking a turtle would ensure the animal was captive bred by an ethical breeder (ideally one that works with a biologist/herpetologist). Capturing a wild invasive turtle is another way to ethically procure a turtle, for example RES are considered extremely invasive in many places.

Second, you guessed it- the husbandry! Although many turtle species do really well in human care I personally wouldn’t call any of them a beginner species. The aquatic species need either a carefully managed 50-100 gallon (at least) indoor tank or an outdoor enclosure that will protect them from predators and prevent escape. That’s not even touching on their often complicated dietary needs. Smaller tortoises are probably a little less high maintenance when it comes to enclosure management but many do best in an outdoor environment, which cannot be provided in all climates. In my opinion the larger species like sulcatas and aldabras will need an enclosure roughly equivalent to what you would provide a couple of goats, and the goats are far less likely to tunnel their way out of the yard! Like many other reptile species, there is a lot of room for error in the care of turtles. The majority of health issues that we see in these guys in the veterinary field are related to issues with their husbandry. It requires a diligent keeper to keep them healthy.

My third concern with keeping these species as pets is their lifespan. Many, many species of tortoises that you can buy on a whim at a pet store have the potential to live more than a hundred years. That is an enormous commitment for anyone to make and it should not be taken lightly. You might not be thinking of it when buying an adorable tennis ball sized baby tortoise but who is going to take in and provide dedicated care for a 200lb adult tortoise in 50 years when you’ve died? Even the sliders can easily live to be 40 years old. It sounds morbid but I think anyone with a long lived species like this has the responsibility to make arrangements should their animal outlive them.

This doesn’t mean that I feel nobody should ever have aquatic turtles as pets. If I ever have the means I would love to have an outdoor turtle pond with captured invasives or non-releasable aquatic turtles! In my experience turtle owners adore their pets and work really hard to care for them, I just feel the husbandry needs are a bit more advanced than people anticipate. Some turtles can really thrive in the right hands, but they’re not a low maintenance animal and I sincerely wish they weren’t quite as ubiquitous as an easily accessible household pet.

[petrenocka]

I skimmed over the Dante's Inferno wiki article and now I am ready to make some god damn Ultrakill Act III predictions babyyyy.

So obviously liberties have been taken, but overall Ultrakill so far was surprisingly faithful to Divine Comedy's portrayal of Hell. Wrath and Limbo being the standout "to a tea" ones.

7th layer of Hell is Violence. In Inferno it is devided into 3 rings itself. However the third ring, a scorching desert for those who committed violence against God, was already integrated into Greed in Ultrakill.

This lives us with 1st ring and its boiling rivers of blood for those who committed violence against their neighbors, and 2nd ring for those who committed violence against themselves and are turned into infertile trees harassed by harpies.

Thus I expect 7th layer to be mostly forrest themed, with rivers of blood for the deadly "floor" like water was in 5-2. Specifically, I expect it to draw from the Japanese Aokigahara, the suicide forrest. Somehow. Maybe one of the levels is going to happen in a suspended tree house city type location, and another will be rafting down a river.

Additionally, both Limbo and Greed have introduced a flying enemy to the roster - Drones and Virtues respectfully. So I suspect Violence is going to continue that and add Harpies, who I think will be husks, if only because I can hardly imagine an Ultrakill demon flying. Maybe they'll be somewhat tengu-like in appearance, or just Filth with jetpacks. Who knows.

7-s will 100% be a Duck Hunt reference. I can feel it just as surely as I could a fishing minigame for 5-s.

Moving on. I straight up have no idea what Hakkita will do with Fraud. None at all. There is like a fucked up city there in Inferno, but Ultrakill already moved that to Lust. Other then that, maybe it'll be a volcano level, idk why. I do find the potential to have a surviving Council member as a boss here extremely exciting, although unlikely.

Maybe 8-s will be an Ac Attorney reference, because it would fit Fraud.

Moving on again.

Treachery, the last level of the Act and of the game too most likely. The gauntlet. The one where P-3 is.

Oh, Treachery. In Inferno, it is a frozen lake with sinners encased in ice. I thus expect the 9th layer to be ice themed, although since it is The Gauntlet™ there won't be new mechanics and therefore no ice physics, don't worry. But we do lack a white level, and blood splatters will look beautifully on the snow.

1st Round of Treachery punishes "Traitors of Their Kindred", and I am like 80% that either 6-1 or its ost will get called exactly that, since this is such an Ultrakill name.

2nd Round of Treachery is for traitors of their country. I think it fits Gabriel pretty well, considering he never really betrayed God of you think about it. He went against the Council. And yes, obviously a Gabe fight in 6-2, is there even a qestion about it?

Very low chance, but maybe there is 6-3 where we kill Hell itself, since it's sentient and all.

Now for P-3. Take out the crack kids, we'll need it for this one.

3rd Round of Treachery is for traitors of guests and I think it will correlate to the gauntlet before P-3 boss. This in not the part we need drugs for.

And that is because in Inferno the 4th and final Round of Treachery, at the very bottom of Hell reserved for those who betrayed God Himself, Satan, aka Lucifer, is encased in ice and is chewing Judas.

For Ultrakill that means that we have them fucking options for our Flesh and Prime.

For Flesh it could be just another container cube. But since this is the very bottom of Hell, and Hell is alive, it could also be The Heart of Hell, or something. It could also, hear me out, be Satan. In Inferno, Lucifer is basically Judas' flesh prison, in fact, I am half convinced that the imagery of Judas being chewed by the Devil is the very reason why Flesh Cubes have teeth.

Our first two Primes were ancient Greek Kings. And the Prime of P-3 might be another ancient Greek king who I am sleeping on entirely.

But I think it is pretty safe to assume that this pattern is getting broken, just like we are not going to fight V2 in act 3 either. As far as I know there is no Greek king more into defying gods then Sisyphus and the game requires escalation.

What is more important about Primes to me is that both we have so far are enemies of God. We have a peaceful protestor in Minos, then a revolutionary in Sisyphus. So the Arch Enemy of God in Lucifer seems like a plausibility for our next ass wooping.

I am personally more in favor on Judas for that role though. I mean, he is kind of the guy who managed to get God killed, if you think about it, a natural progression from Sisyphus who tried but failed. Also Judas hung himself, so him being the King of Violence, specifically the forest part of it, makes sense.

This concludes level predictions.

We are also getting Red variants for 4 weapons, a new Arm and probably an Alt version, which is ridiculous. Absolutely zero idea how the new guns will be like. Imo S.R.S is already pushing the bloatedness of our arsenal, but Hakkita is obviously a super genius, who made the ball work, so will see.

As for the arm, we are defo getting it from 7-4, and because of the colour, my bet is that we are ripping it off of the Real Swordsmachine, the twist being that the ones in Prelude were copycats afterall, explaining why there are suddenly so many of them in 6-1. Maybe it's V-0 or something, the machine that spearheaded the modular design approach, or the first blood-powered machine, period.

I also, for literally zero reason other then "what else could it be", expect the new Alt to be a Slug variant for Shotgun. A Winchester lever action rifle sort of deal.

Ye, rant over, I don't have a concise way to wrap this up.

[starlightsigner]

I have things to say. Thoughts and closing remarks on the Knuckles show (light spoilers)

WHO TOLD THEM THIS WAS OK?

not in a fun wat but like in an actual way. It's so disheartening because this was such a good premise and the show had a great message it wanted to deliver. It had everything it needed to be a fun, feel good, nod to the fans of all ages show. All i9t was missing was a good writing staff. Ya'll the writing in this thing is ROUGH. The two main points of the show are that the power to be great is inside you and it's ok to allow yourself to be happy and have a home to return to. but they decided to go 80/20 splitsies on how much weight each plot point/message had. wade get's his whole character arc, he becomes the champion he was always able to be. knuckles (the TITULAR CHARACTER) doesn't. yes, he realizes that earth is his home and he learns to relax more, but it absolutely takes a back seat past episode 2. the show immediately starts with knuckles getting grounded and having to stay in his room, where he stays for 10 minutes until pachacamac tells him it's his duty to turn the local deputy sheriff into a warrior. there is no closure to this plot point. the show ends with them driving back to green hills. they could have written a fantastic scene where knuckles comes home to an absolutely livid maddie, who throws all that anger aside because her son is ok and he's home, and he admits that it's a home he's glad to come back to.

The villains are lackluster at best and useless to the plot at worst. only 2 out of 3 have a motive, the other one is just there. the two were both betrayed by GUN in different ways that were extremely interesting, but this was only touched on in a short exposition scene.

I could keep going until i started nitpicking, so instead I want to talk about the number one sin this movie committed, referencing sonic 06. I have no doubt that they thought taking elements form 06 would be seen as a 'fun little thing' to throw in for the older fans, but it's not, its borderline insulting. hardcore fans of any media franchise know the lore, even if a fan isn't neck deep in the series history it doesn't take a scholar to know about major events in a series. by taking iblis and the flames of disaster and slapping them onto knuckles' origin story is like ripping the band aid off 06 and slapping it onto knuckles, it doesn't work was needed and it makes both things worse. 06 can not be cannon in this universe, it just cant (unless you use a lot of au and cannon bending), so why take the inciting incident of a well known game in the series and use it as past events for your short special? there was absolutely no reason to expand on knuckle's backstory, the echidna tribe fought with the owl tribe and they lost, leaving knuckles as the sole survivor of his race. there was absolutely no need to tack on 'oh and then he decided to go find the flames of disaster and take it (no explanation or elaboration is given for this)'. not only does it muddy the waters lore wise and have insane implications for how 'powers' work in this universe, but it also feels like a slap in the face for people who like the story for 06. silver and blaze have always been some of my favorite characters of all time, and to just take their battle and sacrifices and give them to a character who didn't need a new backstory is just ludicrous. they don't even expand on it. they just say knuckles searched for and found a demon of fire and ash (who they don't name but is 100% iblis) and took the flames of destruction from it. this has nothing to do with the death of his entire race or seeing his dad die in front of him, there's no prophecy that says obtaining this power will help him find/guard the master emerald, it is literally just there.

I'm gona make a hard pivot here, there were things i actually liked about the show. not even 'this was a good concept but they failed to execute it' bc there ALOT of that, but there were a few things i legitimately liked.

as much as i hate the flames of disaster thing, i unironically loved the rock opera. it's stupid and watching it is a trip and a half, but also it was the past of the show where I could tell every one of those actors and dancers had so much fun. it reminded me so much of a sonic shitpost made with love and some of the props and costumes were legitimately impressive. the giant iblis puppet was so interesting to watch and even tho it was 'low budget' you can tell that the prop department put their entire hearts into the puppets and props for this.

Another thing I absolutely adored was knuckles' friendship with wade's mom. this small lost orphan and this single mother who just wants to have dinner with her kids who don't visit. how she tells him about their religious and family traditions and how he both respects them and is clearly interested in learning about them. the fact that after both of her children leave the dinner early, he stays with her and they both openly learn form and enjoy each other's company.

I also adore the girl scout and how she goes from wade's bully to his teammate in the final event, I wish they had put more focus on her and wade's relationship and her coming to respect him as he became confident in himself.

and of course the wachowski family and all of their interactions were perfect, from sonic trying to be a good brother to knuckles by helping him get used to earth to maddie being oh so tolerant of her three alien sons (to an extent). also the fac that she openly tells the construction crew that her son just so creative and imaginative with home defense, he just like to be a little warrior please don't sue us i'm so sorry he hog tied you to your truck.

also knuckles trying to teach ozzie (the family golden retriever) how to reclaim his wolf heritage in defense of the home was priceless and until tails called him away he was 100% paying attention and trying to be a good student boy.

3 out of 10 - don't watch this unless you are a diehard. it will still disappoint you, but the moments you can see what it could have been shine when given the opportunity

also the sister is the worst character even more so than the villain who betrays GUN bc he wants to fight aliens and make money, something he was already doing as a super secret government agent. I will admit the thumbs up after the rescue got a genuine laugh out of me

[miscellennyous]

Should You Major in English

I majored in English in undergrad.

Was that smart? I don't know. Do I regret my decision? Sometimes. Do I think majoring in something else would have solved my problems, watered my crops, and delivered my kingdom from a centuries-long curse? No.

Your Major Doesn't Matter

Oh come on now, you say. Surely that's not true. STEM degrees are just better. They're worth more. There's more job growth in those fields.

So let's talk about the disparity between jobs on paper and jobs in practice. To get a job these days, you have three options:

Apply for hundreds of roles and hope something sticks

"Network" and periodically bother randos about professional development

Be so rich you don't actually have to work

Basically, unless your degree comes with a certification or license that you definitely need to pursue your field of interest, your degree only loosely kind of sort of correlates to where you'll end up [source].

Even just in my small friend group, many of my peers with English degrees went on to work as project managers (construction), HR generalists, sales representatives, and IT specialists.

Meanwhile, of the people I know who graduated with STEM degrees, one worked as a sales representative for an HVAC company (geology), one works as a project manager (civil engineering), and my brother is the odd man out by actually using his chemistry degree for chemistry.

In short, there's a degree of randomness to finding a job after college. Not to mention, if you aren't particularly enthusiastic about coding, math, or chemistry you aren't likely to enjoy doing it for 40 hours a week. Lastly, there might just not be a lot of jobs in your geographic region that require STEM degrees.

So I Should Major in English?

No, probably not. Not unless your university specifically prepares you for career searches because once you graduate no one you talk to will have a goddamn clue how your thesis about Moby Dick demonstrates analytical thinking and writing capability.

I can't comment on what most universities offer, but look for some kind of professional writing, web writing, and career readiness course in the retinue. Literary analysis (the bulk of most English major coursework) is great if you enjoy it. It's less great if you have to convince a recruiter that it's somehow relevant.

What Are English Majors Good At?

English majors are really, really, really good at drafting a whole thought from start to finish. This is a skill that you'll need in any profession. English majors train you in a versatile way to tackle a wide variety of subject matter, even things you aren't necessarily familiar with.

Short version, you're going to learn:

How to read dense text written by some guy who had no idea how to talk to regular people

How to explain that dense text in a logical way

This, coincidentally, prepares you extremely well for roles where you need to somehow translate technical subjects into plain English. This is never a bad thing to know.

Your Plan Will Change

Likely, you'll start off college with some idea of what you want to do and promptly change your mind for some reason or another.

I majored in English because I started as a Psychology major and I hated it. I spotted a factual inaccuracy in one of my textbooks for a 100-level class and couldn't stop doubting the course material. I brought it to my professor's attention and she didn't seem very concerned.

I decided at that point that psych wasn't for me and jumped over to English because I couldn't think of anything else I really wanted to do and biology was really only geared towards premed students.

English was flexible enough that I could study things that interested me without fully committing to any of them. (I went on to become a technical writer, which lets me study things that interest me without fully committing to any of them.)

TLDR

English majors are fine, make sure you take a resume-writing class and try to sneak an internship in there somewhere if you don't wanna get stuck in Academia.

[studioasa]

KEY THINGS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN DESIGNING YOUR NEW OFFICE BUILDING

Assuming you've been developing and developing your business for yours, it may very well be prepared to move to its own workplaces. The new premises ought to mirror your organization's way of life and deal security and solace to laborers and clients. In any case, what to do when office space is scant in your space? Now is the right time to begin without any preparation and account for your workplaces! Here are only a portion of the highlights that should be available in your new place of business:

MAKE CERTAIN OF YOUR AREA

Before you begin examining your plan with draftsmen and inside creators, you really want to ensure your area is 100 percent suitable. Permit this stage to keep going however lengthy it needs in light of the fact that the area is something extremely difficult to change once you begin building. Make certain to sit tight for the right plot of land in your space.

TRY NOT TO DISREGARD SECURITY

When you're certain of your area, now is the ideal time to employ workers for hire and begin talking about your plan with experts. As the workplace space gradually comes to fruition, you should think about security. Try not to hold on until you begin working and cheats break in to take your information or important hardware. Shield the workplace space from harm and plan for a decent security framework. Don't modest out however get the most ideal bundle with development identifiers, recording choices, flood finders, and fire locators. On the off chance that anything occurs in your place of business, from within or outside, you'll realize that you and your space are safeguarded and work environment satisfaction stays kept up with.

CONCOCT A PRACTICAL FLOOR PLAN

The open space plan is as yet pushing ahead, particularly with regards to more modest office spaces that take advantage from the simple collaboration and solidarity of the organization. So regardless of how huge or little your structure will be, you can expand the space by picking a more open-plan design.

Australians are specialists with regards to this kind of plan, so assuming that you need the best plans, talk with specialists who have practical experience in drafting administrations in Sidney. These old pros will ensure that your place of business is utilitarian, creative, and open to everybody. Your master fashioner will make an open format that will make the most out of your space and give workers more space to team up. At the point when representatives can convey and team up effectively, you will most likely have a more productive work environment.

CONSIDER REPRESENTATIVE SOLACE

Present day workplaces are planned in a manner that limits pressure and weariness in representatives who use them. Make a financial plan that will be committed to purchasing ergonomic office furniture. This furniture looks exceptionally contemporary as well as diminishes paces of back torment in clients. Great furniture lessens back torment, supports solace, and limits non-attendance. Remember your laborers' prosperity while planning your office.

CONSOLIDATE ENERGY EFFECTIVENESS

Workplaces squander a great deal of energy, for the most part because of wasteful machines and installations. While examining the office with your planner, make a point to feature energy proficiency. By presenting Drove lights, water, and power saving apparatuses and machines and expanding regular light, you can set aside a ton of cash over the long haul.

COORDINATE STATE OF THE ART OFFICE INNOVATION

Innovation has entered all aspects of our lives. Particularly influencing the manner in which we take care of business. Ensure that tech is coordinated into your new place of business. Do that by presenting building plugs at every workstation. This must be finished to decrease the requirement for augmentation links. Put resources into viable specialized devices that will take your business correspondence to a higher level and invite quick remote charging.

Whiteboards have forever been an indispensable piece of office gear. Yet rather than utilizing old whiteboards, you can put resources into something more intuitive. Intelligent whiteboards are touchscreen gadgets that capability as a whiteboard yet can likewise be utilized for introductions, preparing, research, and different purposes.

MAKE PROPER BREAK SPACE

Current workplaces are something beyond where individuals come to do their 9-5 moves and return home. Today, individuals contribute a ton of devotion to their organizations, so permitting legitimate breaks from the workplace climate is essential for imagination and prosperity. A decent lunchroom can permit rest, yet in addition help efficiency.

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Planning a place of business without any preparation can be a test, however one that will receive extraordinary benefits once your undertaking is done. You won't just have a structure to use all through your vocation, yet in addition a space that welcomes quality specialists by igniting imagination, giving prosperity, and offering the best security.

About

Studio AsA - Office interior designers in pune is an Architecture and Interior design studio created by design enthusiasts always curious about new design innovations. An association of young minds looking forward to bringing the transformation beyond dreams and imagination. 

Address - 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor, Ashtagandha Bungalow Phase 3B, near The Rustle Nest Restaurant, Baner, Pune, Maharashtra 411045

Call Us - +91-93095 90430

[neko-nemesis]

Ok ok now its 3 am again and I'm tired of daydreaming and bestie I luv your mind lemme just say that

Coming to Cyrus tho, the other day I was watching some educational videos purely for science and that gave me some inspo like just imagine cyrus sitting on the floor in front of a bed with the back of his head resting flat on the edge while our marvelous mc/yn etc whatever smothers his face (obviously choking him with their thighs but that's besides the point)

Of course there's a mirror right in front of them for our mean lil dom mc to admire themselves riding his handsome face while watching him gasp and struggle to breathe. He's 100% moaning right into mc and sending vibrations that feel like mfing heaven. His Adams apple would probably be bobbing up and down while he tries desperately to catch a breath of air. Ngl doe its the messy clothes that tease you with just hint of his massive mommy milkers and toned abs that make me chug some holy water like hawt damn. His beard is prolly drenched with your juices and its 100% rolling down his neck and chest and LAWD HAVE MERCY I AINT NEVER WANTED TO ABSOLUTELY RUIN SOMEONE SO BAD BEFORE BUT WHOOPSIES IG

Its common sense that Cyrus Jr. would be at full attention during this whole fiasco. Lil precum just drooling from his 1000% veiny glowstick (The Grand Master has a thicc, veiny cock that twitches at the simplest touches now stfu). But all in all its the perfect image of Cyrus being at your mercy while you drag your nails across his chest and neck reaching up to his chin and how he quivers and whimpers at needing more and how he gasps and sputters after being released from your thighs but then dives right back in cuz ma man is so so so sooooooo addicted.

Huehuehue this looks better in my head tho lol i dunno

I-

It's extremely late into the night for me too and let me just say

C'mere. I need to either crush you with a hug or kiss your brain. I gotta catch my breath, idk if it's cause my asthma acting up or THIS FUCKING SHIT.

What have you done. Mean DOM with the teddy bear gentle giant CYRUS?! HOLY FUCKING GOD BESTIE? I can't fucking sleep at all tonight. This fucked me up.

Looks better in your head? Well lemme tell you sum. This is making me go feral. Istg I don't do drugs but I feel like I'm in a permanent trance rn. I can fucking see that shit happening. Gosh I fucking bet he gets a lil too committed. To the point, he would gladly fucking die between your thighs but won't stop, not even when you're getting overstimulated. It's driving me INSANE to even think of anything else.

Like I've mentioned before, this man probably has no mean bone inside of him, so I also fucking say that the entire time whenever he pulls away, praises will be slurred out from him, against your sex, almost like the fucker is trying to spell out the praises ON your skin directly at times. You could barely understand it but he just won't stop. L bombs on a repeat, wanting more even though the man gotta fucking breathe for once and just BEGGING you to cum on his tongue and face all over again.

AHHHSHRYEBDHDHDJDNRNJE

Just picturing him, blonde hair sticking to his forehead due to sweating, flustered face with a drunk ass smile, prettiest green pupils blown out in lust and hunger and those perfect large hands on your ass making you grind on his face and tongue more, to the point his grip is gonna leave pretty hand marks but hey, we don't mind now do we? ;)

[tbartss]

Hello! Read through your Free History Lesson tags and had a good laugh at the insults, then stared at a wall for a bit because my God, none of the wars were necessary, the men in charge caused so much damage over their dick measuring. Not sure how long ago you posted these, but if you're still taking questions- what are your thoughts on the atomic bombs and the subsequent arms races + insistence (to this day) that it was necessary?

holy shit dude i can't believe you willingly sat through that I had my followers held hostage for like an entire day while this was happening ToT Anyways, to answer your question:

Anyone who says the arms race was necessary is a 100% bootlicker and possibly also a 50% capitalist. it's either or.

People who say that the arms race was necessary think about the advancement of technology and thus the "advancement" of society. But I beg to fucking differ. To hold society to the standard of how far they are technologically is a western standard, specifically Eurocentric and is mostly due to industrialisation. Technology is not inherently advancement, it is a tool, just like how indigenous people use nature (plants, wool, wood, skins, water etc.) as a tool. But of course, because the West think they're the Best, of course they are going to hold everyone else to their own standards and dismiss other people's way of life. So the next time someone says it was necessary, try to dissect what exactly they mean.

Why is it necessary to build weapons of Mass Destruction if you're too afraid to use them because they would inevitably lead to the destruction of the human race as we know it and therefore will render every single act up until that point utterly futile?

Men in power, especially heads of governments, think that they are indestructible, so of course they didn't count on themselves being annihilated to mean anything because they simply wouldn't get hurt, right? and it's not like it was for the concern of other people that they didn't use those fire arms, because, well, as we saw in WWI and WWII these bitches don't care about none but themselves. so what was it all about? Well, as always, it was about power and money. They didn't want to "lose" the passive aggressive bitch fight, so they both bulked up and started meddling in other people's business.

Don't you think it's weird that we haven't heard about middle eastern and/or latinamerican history until after WWII ? What were these areas like in the 1800s ? Heck, what were they like in the 30s? They call it World War Two, as if the entire world was involved, but that's not the case, and especially not for the countries that we have all heard about today: Cuba, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Korea, all of which took the brunt of this fucked up Dick Measuring contest. I could go into extreme detail for each of these countries but then this post would never end, and I would receive a blood pressure so high I would need to get a doctor's appointment. So let's fume silently and leave that here.

Oh yes, I know why it is necessary now. It was necessary for the west to plunder all of these countries and landmasses for their wealth and resources and claim it for their own. This was the scandal of the Suez Canal Crisis and also the Opium wars (you can look it up, it's a trip esp Opium Wars). It was necessary because the West was afraid of losing power, and they needed an ego stroke.

If they try to justify it with United Nations, ask them where exactly there is peace. Afghanistan? Syria? Palestine? Phillippines? Ukraine? Yemen? North Korea? When The United States of America went to the middle east and plundered, raped and murdered civilians in their homes, were they held accountable? Or when they tortured prisoners in Abu Ghraib? What about when UN committed fraud by stealing relief money for themselves that was meant for hungry Iraqi civilians in the 90s? Were they held accountable then? It's a joke and an insult to every country outside of the Western Circle, and the funniest thing is that now we see them finally turn against each other for yet again: power and money.

Chant to yourself from now on: Where there is war, there is wealth.

[mimondee]

Hi Moni, my initials are K.A.M. (08/09/2002) and I would like to ask a question regarding a guy with the initials J.E.T. (06/01/2001). Does he actually like me and actually serious about our plan to build a life together? I think so, but then again I’m not 100% sure. And all I want is to KNOW for a fact.

We dated in the past but due to my trust issues and the relationship turning toxic, we decided to call it quits. The situationship we’re in now SEEMS like it’s leading to another relationship, but idk.

Please please please and thank you 💗

Hey, dear @krssylv! Thank you for your request!💖

Feedback is very much appreciated and if you consider tipping me, you can do so on my ☕️ko-fi.

Let's see what the cards have for you!💟

I can see that there are extreme emotions in your situation. This is not the right time to commit and you should stay away from the drama. Keep an eye on every small detail because your connection isn't going to change. If you had a level of toxicity in the past there are great chances that it will be the same now.

They come to you as a reliable and dedicated person, that wants to renew everything that you had in the past. I think that even if they are going to make you an offer you should wait and think twice about it. Now you are going to be the one who is going to decide if this connection is worth or not your time. Whatever it will be your decision you shouldn't take any step to this person because if things aren't going to work smoothly then this is a sign to stop interacting with your person.

If you ask for my opinion I think that this is a lost battle because it's going to bring you a lot of conflicts and disputes and you are going to be blamed for everything. It is dangerous to continue and you will deal with a lot of anger and disspaoint meant if you allow this person to come into your life again. Don't wish to resist the situation only to see if they had changed or something has changed, it's done. They are telling you that they want to try again or that they are not the same anymore but this is just a lie. You will spend so much time worrying about this connection and what other people think about it and this is only a waste of time.

There are good signs that a new person will appear in your life, a better one and you should examine your past actions. Stop feeling guilty because it wasn't you who was toxic, it was them but they knew how to put it on your shoulders. Take the responsibility of your life, accept that this connection isn't going to bring you something new because it's just like watering a dead flower. The collapse was inevitable don't feel responsible for what it was.

Now you have the opportunity to start something new, not to try to rebuild an old structure. Start again, but with a different person and without allowing old frustration to affect your present situation.

Wish you only the best!

Moni🧚

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon, im gonna start combing the two separate submissions again cause its getting too short to have them separate I think?

1: His possession messed with memories Ranbob had before, so memories of school friends or playing with Ran were distant to erased. Though after Dreams possession it was also harder to make and keep memories. But thankfully as Ranbob was recovering from Dream and got futher away making memories came eaiser to him, though he'll never get back the memories he lost. 

3: Oh he would very quickly grow to regret his decision, but it would be funny. And Benjamin would later admit that while it was annoying and stressful, it was also fun and he was very happy to have his two families meet and generally get along. 

8: Everyone is just in shocked silence before Cletus just goes "YEAHHHHHHHHHH!" Oddly happy that Ranboo committed so much arson. Oh definitely, after all the outcasts of society where put there. Of course people would make such negative rumors about Mizu and treat the people as the scum of the earth. Though this also means, people don't know what happened in Mizu, and anyone who knows, view it in a more happy and a "Their finally gone" type of way, then viewing it as the tragedy it was. 

Spoons is a card game technically. A group of people sit in a group and everyone gets 4 cards, and you keep discarding at least 1 card of yours to the person on your left, who then does the same to their person on their left, the last person in the group puts a card into a discard pile. The goal is to get 4 of the same cards, and once someone gets 4 of the same cards, that person goes and grabs a spoon in a pile in front of them (let's say there's 5 players, theres only going to be 4 spoons cause there's always a spoon less than the people playing), once they grab one anyone can grab a spoon. And the person who doesn't get a spoon gets a S added to them, once Spoons is spelled the person gets out of the game, and a spoon gets removed to continue the game. Basically for flowers its played the exact same way but with flowers in the middle expect for spoons.

11: I just imagine Dream sulking in a corner as you yell at him and him going like "well I didn't know…" as he kicks a stone. And he wasnt sure what it was, but quickly jumped on the idea that maybe it was the fact that Ran was still alive somewhere, and that that's causing Ranbob to willingly let himself become weak and defy him. Causing Dream to become angrier at Ran and punish Ranbob harder. 

----

3: During the brothers fight in the storm, and after everyone runs off to find Ranbob, Ran is left alone. And he decides to just wander off into the storm, not protecting himself from the rain so he does get burnt. The whole time he's lost deep in thought and isn't really paying attention. He continues to wander for a whole day unfollowed (because after the Gladiators and Fishermen came back to the cave after finding Ranbob they are in no rush to find Ran and decide to look for him after the storm passes, which takes a full day) and at some point Raq finds him wandering. Which Raq then uses Rans distraction to his advantage and attacks him. At first only really the gladiators where concerned when they found Ran gone. But once they found him blinded and terrified everyone felt awful and a looming sense of guilt. And everyone continued to feel that way, even after they got the antidote and Ran started to see again.

4: They would just leave Ranbob alone and check in on him every now and again. But generally let him deal with it himself. They'd feel guilty leaving him alone, but they also know that they can't really do anything for him as their not prepared or briefed on how to help him in this situation. 

10: Oh definitely, even with Ran blinded they would've been kicked out immediately for fighting, without even a second glance. Dont forget, Ran still cares for his brother. And maybe, losing his sight made him face the side of him that wanted to become family again with Ranbob, maybe it brought enough to light that he just can't ignore it anymore. Mostly only negative potions can be permanent, like posion, blinding, wither, and nausea (I know the last like 3/2 are effects but they've also found a way to make effects into potions.). You already know what a antidote for blindness would be. A antidote for wither would be, a ghast tear (actually a basic ingredient for almost every antidote), blaze powder, and glistening melon to make a overpowered healing potion. Antidote for posion would be ghast tear, swiftness (so it acts fast to get rid of the posion), and the 3rd ingredient depends on what kind of posion it  was (posion that has a side effect of constricting or filling the lungs with water? Pufferfish and Turtle shell for last ingredients. Posion that has weakness? Blaze powder, and glistening melon) And antidote for nausea would be ghast tear, and potion of slowness to allow the person to slowly feel better, so their nausea doesn't hit them all at once before disappearing, which can cause them to throw up or have side effects. 

13: Thats exactly what they did. 

14: Jackie will 100% attempt to fight God and no one can stop him. :) (to be honest im not sure yet, I know I want to do more with Raq and have the idea that maybe he could be the person that finds Dream and gets him out of Mizu, but that's pretty often used in stories and I want to try to think of something more unique. Maybe I'll have it so Raq actually manages to capture the brothers or at least one of them and uses them as blackmail?)

15: When Ranbob was a child and Ran was just a baby Ranbob would often take Ran out of his crib and take him to go watch the fish swim by. When Ran was old enough he'd follow Ranbob everywhere, even a few times he managed to sneak into Ranbobs class room and almost wasn't caught. Ran got extremely clingy one day and managed to gather his haunting all up into his arms and carried them around, even though he was obviously struggling. And Ranbob used to complain about his teachers and idiotic classmates whenever he got home, which is funny when you consider Ran was very impressiable at the time and Ran started mimicking Ranbob, leading to him cursing, much to Ranbobs dismay. 

And im curious, do you have any questions that I havent answered? Or do you have any ideas for anything? I'd love to hear whatever you have to say about anything honestly!

Course! I dont have much lore wise other than they go to Kelalen and when they hear Dream is still around they decide to stay back to help fight him. But the idea I have is that Karl is just kinda hanging with everyone I listed, talking about allies or treaties when his time traveling clock/watch starts to go off, and he panics, but sadly in his haste to stop it he makes it worse and it grabs everyone, where they end up in the future. After hours of confusion and explaining they calm down. When 2 days later they find the Gladiator and Fishermen group, at first Karl is strongly against going to then for help, but everyone basically ignores him and go to ask for help. Hours of explanation and proof giving later the GF (Gladiator and Fishermen, got tired of writing it out) group sadly tells them that they cant really help. Until Ran (who was previously gone searching the surrounding area and making sure it was safe) appears high up on a tree (cause I just can't get the image of Ran on a tree and looking comfortable and confident as hell out of my head), and says that maybe Kelalen can help, if not going to Foolish may be a good alternative. Isaac, and Grievous are extremely against going back (at this time a 2 months have past since they left Kelalen)n saying it could be dangerous but Ran just aboustely shoots them down, along with Watson and Jackie agreeing with Ran, and Karls group agreeing to it. They head off to Kelalen. And Jackie is extremely excited at the potential of going to see Foolish finally. And it'd probably be like a sub au where the brothers au is the main backbone for it but at a certain point it separates from the au and becomes its own.

1: Okay, ouch. Can you imagine if Ran brought one of those memories up, and just had Ranbob look confused, or horrified, depending on how quick he realizes what happened? How would Ran react to that realization, both before and after he forgives Ranbob?

3: If nothing else, everyone got some laughs from it-even Benjamin, once his friends were far, far away from his family and not able to teach them more chaos. 

8: Cletus, why are you so happy? Do you just enjoy knowing chaos existed back then? Are you an arsonist? What’s up with you? 

Also, wow. Not cool, other city people, that’s very mean.

Spoons sounds like it’s interesting, I might try it sometime. Did the group just have those cards on them? What other games did they have?

11: Good, put Dream back in the corner, I’m gonna be yelling more. Because, seriously dude? I know you probably exist solely out of spite, but c’mon. Admittedly, from a certain point of view, it could be considered amusing that your first thought was that Ranbob was making himself weaker out of defiance/spite but like. From a more responsible and mature viewpoint, that’s incredibly stupid, and I-just. Buddy, hate to tell you, but I’m pretty sure that’d just be a you thing. Besides you were in Ranbob’s head, didn’t he think Ran was dead? It doesn’t even make sense. Good lord, I’m half-tempted to get the broom and chase you around like you’re a particularly unruly barn cat. 

------

3: First of all, that sounds really scary for Ran. Second of all, are we getting an overprotective arc?

4: Kind of sad, but understandable, they’re dealing with the situation as best they can.

10: Even if the group was provoked by the townspeople? Potions sound really cool, wish I could make those in real life, tbh.

13: W-what do you mean ‘that’s exactly what they did’? Anon, is your friend, like, a legit gremlin? I’m spooked. 

14: Foolish takes one look at Jackie, wearing a smile that exactly matched Tubbo’s when he was about to cause chaos, and immediately nopes out of that. He knows that face, and he will not be getting tangled into a fight with a goblin child today, no sir. I’m sure Jackie tries regardless though. (Also, that sounds like that goes horribly, do we get an overprotective ender-sibling, for whoever gets captured or used as blackmail, if that’s what you do?)

15: I love all of these so much, oh my gosh. Baby Ran seeing the fishes and following his big brother around. Poor Ranbob’s face when his baby brother cursed one day, Ran trying to carry all of his haunting. I’m in tears, honestly. 

Umm...I can’t think of anything right now, to be honest. If I ever do have a question or idea though, I’ll through it on the Brothers AU tag for you to check out, I guess. 

Oh, this sounds really cool. The part about them just ignoring their local time traveler when they’ve just time traveled particularly amuses me, as does Jackie wanting to see Foolish-I feel like Foolish may be a little more than terrified to see both Tubbo and Jackie back, honestly. Why was Ran willing to help them so much? What did they do to offer proof? How did Ranbob react once they proved who they were? How does all the group get along? Are they Ranboo’s haunting, and if so, if Ranboo gets close with his descendants, does he merge his hauntings with theirs? How does the time group feel about the Brothers fighting, and Ranbob’s possession?

[hvilested]

Infatuation Is a Temporary Illusion: How to Escape the Pain

LucyJul 14, 2020

As a neuroscientist, I am fascinated by infatuation; it's such a strong, mysterious phenomenon, yet is entirely scientifically-explainable.

This Too Shall Pass

I will start this by saying that however deep and impossible your situation feels, you will leave this infatuated state. There will be a day when you can think about this special person without any type of pain or passion. You will remember how strongly you felt towards them while they didn't have the same feelings for you, and it will seem completely crazy that you were so stuck in limerence.

Albeit cliché, the concept that time is the only thing that will make you feel less magnetically drawn to someone who you cannot be with is true. You cannot magic away these feelings, because they are a strong illusion created by chemicals in your brain. Over time, your neurobiology will balance out again and this person, who is acting as a potent stimulus, will no longer inspire the same physiological response in you. Thinking about your situation scientifically helps, as it steers you away from thinking in terms of romance and delusion.

What Is an Infatuation?

Are you currently struggling with huge, incredibly deep feelings for someone that you will never be with? We use the term 'infatuation' (also limerence) to describe the state of being utterly enamored by and obsessed with someone; it is the wildest thing that a human can experience in the sober, baseline state. The invisible pull that you feel will seem so novel and colossal in strength that, if experiencing infatuation for the first time, you will be certain that you will 'never feel this again', and that this person is 'the one'. After all, your body and mind react so strongly and surely to them that it is impossible to imagine a life worth living that doesn't have them at the center of it. This is not the case, as you will experience several infatuations in your life if you are prone to them.

Due to differing genetics and brain chemistry, some people are more prone to entering limerence than others; in fact, some will never experience this roller coaster of euphoria and insecurity. Unrequited crushes are normal and not too much of an issue; unrequited infatuation not only encompasses incredibly powerful attraction, admiration and a general feeling of 'love' towards the subject, but is also agonizing and depressive by nature.

If the infatuated cannot be with the person that they desire, they will likely enter a deep depression and will feel completely out of order for weeks or months, until the feelings fade or they gain closure. Irrational thoughts and misery normally accompany this rollercoaster experience, as well as physical symptoms such as elevated libido and lack of appetite (due to an excess of dopamine in the brain).

Is It a Normal Crush or an Infatuation?

You may wonder how we can define things as vague and fluid as romantic feelings. However, the line between a healthy crush and a problematic infatuation is not as thin as it seems. Crushes can be unwanted and painful, bringing ups and downs into our lives, but a true infatuation blows a crush out of the water. If deeply infatuated with someone that you cannot be with, you will think irrational thoughts such as 'I want to die - X isn't in my life and everything else makes me miserable'.

These thoughts are falsehoods, for the world is so open that you will definitely encounter other people (as well as places, music and even fashion trends) that you find fascinating.

If you are simply experiencing a romantic crush, you will find the person very appealing and may intensely want to date them, but there will be less feeling than there is in limerence - less hormonal influence, less joy, and less crying. The highs will be less euphoric, sure, but the lows will not be nearly as crushing as those experienced in the limerent state.

The difference between a crush and an infatuation is that the former allows you to enjoy the warm feelings and be in control of your emotions, while the latter is extremely unhealthy and causes the sufferer a lot of pain if they cannot be with the person they desire. A crush may feel very strong and you may want to act differently to charm the subject of your feelings, but it will never be as delusional., destructive and fantasy-based as a true infatuation is.

So, how does one differentiate between the two? In short, if you feel so distraught that you cannot be with the person that you are googling for solutions, crying before bed and upon waking, losing interest in activities that you normally love, struggling to imagine a future without the person in your life, you are definitely infatuated and not crushing. If you treat this emotional conundrum as if it were a drug addiction, you will stop feeling this way in a matter of weeks or months.

Why Do People Become Infatuated in the First Place?

Most people go through their lives organically forming healthy 'crushes'; even when not actively seeking a partner, they will encounter a few people a year that will grab their attention and seem irresistible. After all, this is biologically advantageous; we are mammals and are meant to pursue, and eventually reproduce with, those that we deem physically and emotionally intriguing.

Having said this, I will clarify that your sexual orientation is totally unimportant in your ability to develop all-consuming, raging feelings for someone. This level of feeling is just as prevalent between people of the same gender as it is between those of opposite genders. However, we are wired to pursue, bond with and care for other human beings for the sole reason of reproduction and the survival of our species. If someone is infatuated with someone of the same gender, they will experience the same concoction of erratic emotions as a straight person. Neurochemical changes will temporarily dominate your life regardless of the perceived likelihood of the passing on of your genes.

infatuations

Rupi Kaur

What to Do? Understand That Your Feelings Are Scientifically-Explainable and Never Permanent

The wild array of feelings that come along with any form of attraction may seem intangible and wondrous, but they are caused by altered levels of different neurotransmitters. Focusing on the science behind such a strong human experience is crucial in dealing with the pain that it can cause you.

Reject dwelling in the infatuation too much. It's incredibly tempting to spend hours writing and lamenting about the subject of your "love", only to enter an even more heightened state of delusion. Even if this isn't your first infatuation and you saw that you got over your last one, remember that, naturally, you will be convinced that this person is the one and that you are ruining your life by missing out on being with them.This is nonsense and is your brain tricking you!

The best way to avoid falling into this nauseating, fantasy-driven loop of obsessing and fantasising and despairing is to understand the science behind this crazy human experience.

It is also incredibly comforting to know that unrequited infatuation very rarely lasts for more than 6-8 months, and often will fizzle out incredibly suddenly and much earlier than this. This is because infatuation is neither logical nor grounded at all. It is so, so ephemeral by nature; one day you will look back at this period of your life and it will seem like a wild but distant dream. Trust me on that one.

However, to break this person-addiction habit and ensure you never, ever cry over unrequited love again, you'll need to dig very deep and be committed to recovery. Your external world is a mere reflection of your beliefs and what you allow to imprint itself into your subconscious mind. By meeting your psychological needs healthily and treating unhealed wounds, you will become completely, 100% immune to infatuation/limerence. Potential partners will sparkle to you, make your heart sing and you'll be able to transition into real relationships with them instead of you manifesting unrequited love and crying spells. I promise you this.

infatuations

Feeling Something Intensely Doesn't Mean It's Permanent

Don't get confused and think that, just because you feel such strong passion for this person, your feelings will 'last forever' and you will 'never get over them'. For some reason, when us humans experience something intense or profound, we do what no other animals do and we introduce a poignant aspect of eternality to the situation. It's a huge logical fallacy to think 'I feel strongly about X, hence I will ALWAYS feel this way', yet we all do it. Our tragic flaw is, in many ways, that we are aware of time and the future and cannot simply live in the moment and deal with whatever strong feelings we are experiencing as they come and go.

If you think about, a large part of your pain is that you feel that you won't ever have a happy, fulfilled, exciting life without this individual. After all, they've inspired so much energy in you and you haven't felt this way with anyone else before. The truth is that, no, your infatuation will not last long and will certainly not be permanent.

Infatuation has a shelf-life because it is based in the fantasy and reality cannot maintain it. It is such idealisation and irrationality that, once the real world creeps in and you become aware that your feelings are unfounded and inappropriate, they will naturally dissipate. It is for this reason that couples who feel 'infatuated' often become bored after around 6 months. They aren't experiencing that surge of initial attraction or the wondrous mystery that their partner made them feel when they first met, because they were simply infatuated then and didn't really know their partner.

What Does It Mean If You're Prone To Infatuation?

Being a neuroscientist, my attention has been drawn to the fact that those of us who fall into infatuations are 1. prone to this state (experience it over and over again until they learn precisely how to treat the root cause, even if each "episode" feels novel and "different this time"), and 2. we are people who feel things very intensely.

Now, I am aware that virtually every single person on this planet feels certain things strongly and irrationally, but a limerence really is at the top of the scale in terms of intensity, especially since mental illness is usually thrown into the mix. Nearly every single person who I have seen who has fallen into a deep infatuation has been on the spectrum for severe depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD) or OCD (meaning, they could obtain a psychiatric diagnosis for one of these illnesses).

I don't want to scare you; I am a firm believer that we all sit on spectrums for most mental health conditions, and that there should be no fear or taboo enshrouding this type of information. Many of us could be diagnosed with different things and obtain certain psychiatric labels, but I don't think we should strive to do this unless our mental health is affecting our quality of life extremely negatively. However, I do have to tell you: infatuation at its worst is not neurotypical.

If you tend to live your life emptily, only motivated and made to feel emotion by unobtainable people who you think can make everything okay, then you are most probably mentally ill (by society's definition, at least). If your self-esteem was moderately high and you were mainly mentally healthy (no depressive episodes, no propensity to obsession, no episodes of mania) then it is highly unlikely that you would fall into an illusion so controlling as infatuation.

As I have mentioned and will continue mentioning in this article, infatuation is a deceitful trick. It's your brain's way of latching onto something that could, in theory, make you happy and take away all your troubles. For this reason, if you are infatuated with someone, you are not happy with your current life. You might want to tell me "I am happy and confident, this person is just so special/beautiful that I need them", but that statement would be yet another dopamine-driven delusion.

If you are prone to infatuation/limerence:

you have a lot of love to give to people, whether platonic or romantic (this is a blessing). I suggest that you utilise this in the healthiest possible way and focus on solidifying strong, platonic friendships. You won't feel the high of infatuation and attraction, but you won't experience the horrible lows either, and you will be immensely satisfied because you'll form close bonds and feel understood by people who want to be in your life for genuine reasons, other than desire.

as mentioned above, you are probably mentally ill in some way, and could most likely be diagnosed with OCD, depression, anxiety, BPD, or bipolar disorder. Don't let this scare you. A diagnosis would just be putting a label on what you've felt your entire life.

you will fall into more of these miserable infatuations if you do not treat the root-cause, which is unmet psychological needs and limiting beliefs regarding yourself and your worth. Don't let them shape your months and years, and don't let your life be a string of feelings for different people with you making no advancements in your own life. Even if you don't feel sound enough on a psychological level, force yourself to make friends, to exercise, to work and to read books. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you actually make new brain pathways and *escape* this hell.

you're very prone to fantasising about ideas, people and concepts that could, in theory, help you "escape" the current life or situation that you are in. Use this to your advantage - it just means that your brain is prone to creating dopaminergic pathways to motivate you. Currently, you're motivated to get this person into your life, but you can use this mental tactic to enjoy other things intensely, like academics, hobbies, pets etc. Become obsessed with another country, and make it your mission to learn the language fluently and move there within the next 8 years. Grab onto something other than a person that sparks your interest and get you thinking "my life would be amazing IF ...", whether it be the idea of gaining muscle at the gym, redecorating your house or writing a novel. Some would advise against this, but I have evidence to prove that it's a healthy way to cope with a propensity to idolising people. Hobbies/pets/languages/exercise won't turn you limerent, so obsess over them instead.

unless you work hard on yourself to recover from this susceptibility to falling hard and selflessly for people, your partners will never be on the same page as you. They will never love you as fiercely as you "love" them, because they will never be consumed by someone in the way that people consume and fill your existence. This may fill you with sadness but is reality; the fact that you have developed the behavioural pattern of limerence isn't their problem, nor is it something that many people will relate to. Wishing for someone to fall for you in this lovesick, bittersweet way is going to align you with reactive, toxic people who are generally unstable and enmesh with you too quickly.

the best comes last: you can become immune to infatuation/limerence! You'll need to do a lot of research on how to attack your subconscious mind and alter your brain's fundamental wirings, but it's surprisingly simpler than it sounds and the only path to complete emotional freedom.

infatuations

Rupi Kaur

Yes, This Is Just One of Your Many Phases!

Live in the moment and deal with any false, irrational thoughts like 'this will last forever'. Every time you think that, correct yourself and remember that you're feeling something very strong and unpleasant, but that's all it is and in no way does this equate to any form of permanence.

You can feel things strongly without them lasting forever! I don't know why we, as humans, struggle with this idea so much. There are so many sensory afflictions that come and go. For example, think of a terrible illness where you're vomiting constantly and can barely walk. You feel like you're never going to feel well again, but days later, you bounce back. The illness is just a faint memory that doesn't even inspire much emotion in you. Similarly, sometimes we come across music that we love and then can barely stand to hear it a month later.

We, as humans, go through many phases in our life. Phases are definitely valid life experiences, but find comfort in their ephemerality! This boy or girl is a phase in your life, albeit an intense one. One day, you will look back and associate them with whatever music you're currently listening to, the clothes you're currently wearing and the way that you feel. That is because those aspects of your life are also a phase. This person won't make your heart skip forever. If you take one thing from this article, let it be that. You won't believe me now, but there will come a time when you don't care who they date, and their name won't even stand out to you in a list. Human emotions are weird, huh?

Remember: You Love Your Brain's Chemicals, Not This Person

Unless you are experiencing a healthy crush within reality (just attraction and the feeling of connection), your infatuation is a result of an unhealthy dopamine reward circuit that your brain has essentially created as a survival mechanism. You are so depressed/unfulfilled/lonely that your brain knows that real life isn't offering much for you in terms of incentive to live, so it creates its own happiness in order to temporarily relieve you from unhappiness, nihilism and lack of focus.

Infatuation is the brain making its own fun through a 'fantasy bond'. Your brain provides you with a sugary high full of wonder and hope and promises for the future, and then when real life doesn't follow the illusion (e.g. when the person unsurprisingly doesn't devote their entire life to you because they have their own life/feelings), you will experience the consequent crash. There is a duality to every strong psychological experience, and what goes up always comes down.

Mocking yourself slightly and realising that your brain is 'glitching' in this way is imperative. Tell yourself, "I love dopamine, not him/her!". If the attraction wasn't there, and you knew their personality inside out, would you still 'need' them? It's almost impossible that you would. You might love them in a genuine, affectionate way, just like some elderly couples love each other after years of commitment, but it wouldn't be delightful and euphoric, nor would it be what you're craving now.

Find comfort in the above. If you find yourself thinking "I've met him at the wrong point in my life, we could have grown old together etc." remember that the romance wouldn't feel like this for more than a few months anyway. Yes, maybe if you had met this man in 5 years time you'd date and then marry him and be happy (in the stable sense of the word, with no thrill), but the truth is that that's not even what you want. You want to be able to act on the passionate feelings that you currently have, and for those to last forever, which is why the supposed "missed connection" is so tragic and hard for you to cope with. The thing is, as I've explained, the sheer concept of living with them forever and feeling this way with them forever is a fairytale that your brain has created.

In short: your brain has messed up here, and is misunderstanding the situation. We are animals at the end of the day, and our bodies function to promote survival, often not bothering about our feelings. If your life is lacking authenticity, excitement and motivation, your brain may work to ensure the survival of your genes by creating its own goals. Don't listen to everything that your mind is telling you and try not to crave the highs that it is offering you!

Neuroscience: What Causes Infatuation?

Understanding the science behind this turbulent experience is crucial, and is the only way to think practically without being nihilistic and numbing yourself to your feelings. This area of neuroscience is fascinating, as it deals with human experiences that seem so spiritual and magical that it's hard to believe that they are caused and controlled by relatively simple chemicals. However, a handful of neurotransmitters control all aspects of your mood and mental health, and therefore can explain every thought and motive that an infatuation will cause you to experience.

1. Dopamine is the 'pleasure chemical', and relates to euphoria, addiction and craving. It can also inspire goal-based behaviour, e.g. wanting to save money to plan an elaborate trip, or, more relevantly, wanting that "perfect life" with someone you have recently met where you two are alone and free, revelling in each other's happiness. When you first fall into infatuation and you cannot imagine happiness with anyone else but this individual, it is dopamine acting... and boy, is dopamine a powerful neurotransmitter! It gives us momentum in life and quite literally drives humanity, but in the case of infatuation, it is a delightful yet dangerous substance.

When noradrenaline is also released, the two neurotransmitters can undergo a reaction and produce not only an elated mood, but also focused attention, hyper-activity and loss of appetite. All of these changes can be witnessed in the "lovesick"; you develop tunnel vision during these biochemical changes. You are greatly inspired by anything to do with the other person, and bored at the rest of the world, for it all seems so dull compared to the object of your passion. While noradrenaline is a neurotransmitter and adrenaline a hormone, the two contribute synergistically to a racing heart and the novel excitement associated with love.

2. Serotonin is low when you are infatuated, which is counterintuitive, as high levels of serotonin are also commonly associated with "lovey-dovey" feelings. In fact, taking ecstasy causes a great release of this neurotransmitter, and depression is caused by low levels of it. However, the infatuated brain shows the same low serotonin levels as someone with OCD, which explains the obsessive nature of infatuation, and hence why you should avoid romanticizing your state and realize that you are essentially mentally ill while in the throes of this level of passion.

3. Adrenaline activates stress responses in the body, and is involved with the physiological signs of infatuation. It activates the levels of other hormones like cortisol, which all activate the sympathetic nervous system in a cascade-like manner, causing trembling, sweating and an increased heart rate.

4. Oxytocin is released during intimate acts, cuddling and other forms of close, trust-based contact. It is slightly different to the others, as it does not directly cause "infatuation". In other words, it does not contribute to the insanely powerful passion that one feels while infatuated. Rather, it adds to the experience by increasing the sweet feelings of trust and fondness. For this reason, it is also extremely important in relationships after the infatuation and hence the craving (caused by dopamine) wears off. If the people in the relationship do not possess adequate amounts of oxytocin (and vasopressin), it is unlikely that the relationship will last once they have passed through the drugged-up stage of infatuation and are suddenly aware of each other's flaws.

I urge you to think about the science behind your feelings, as it will help you rationalise what you feel. Allow yourself to cry but don't let yourself romanticise this 'missed connection', because it was never there in the first place. Your neurobiology has temporarily gone awry and taken control of your feelings, but this level of misery cannot and will not last.