#love 365 app

[unsurebazookacore]

my mom very awkwardly coming into my room and handing me my freshly folded laundry telling me "you should be happy in life" 30 minutes after i finished a full mental breakdown in front of her because she said she's not paying for college unless I get into a top 30 university

[smokeclovesrainashes]

Today’s music: I’ve been deaf now I want noise

[fluffypotatey]

today my dad learn that Mr Barack Obama posts a list of his top songs of the year (or season or something), so he began to play them to us immediately and give us his feedback on whether he agreed or not with the choices

[annicaax]

alright I have been following the preview episodes in love 365. Haven't posted anything from the title yet but am tempted to post this now. Vince and Luca are going to be my favorites 💙 m sure...

I saw that this app is up and about in JP for over seven years now. I got to know this recently but i did feel the art was kind of old looking. it still looks good though. I wonder when the app is coming... I will post more after the app releases.

[hellcatinnc]

Destined Mr. Almost Right Review

Spoilers Games In Love365 App

Takane Momochi

This dude came off so sweet and in the app he seemed like this genuine dude. The fact that he was the MC's love interest in college made it seem like a reconnection until you realize the MC was practically his puppy doing everything to make him happy and then when it was her time to confess her love to him he shot her down like her feelings didn't even matter. She spent the next 10 years missing him and still remembering she cared so much about him. So when you meet him you go to the airport because he is a pilot and you hang out and talk and he gives you flowers. He seems so sweet and sincere and he tells you how sorry he was for being a kid back then. Honestly I guess my red flag should have gone up with bullshit meter fast because I wasn't even 2 chapters in and he was happy to be with her and wanting to spend his life with her and so on. He pushed every button then took her to the bar to drink after the second date and then he literally tells you since in the app it says your 100% physically matched he wants to sleep with you to find out if thats so.

When you go to shoot him down he shows how much of a prick he is and even tells you he was just using you to sleep with you. The mc I will admit is ballsy she tells him I will not sleep with you but for the next 30 days or something like that you will want to have sex with me and I won't until you fall in love with me. Honestly I had already spent like 40 hearts on this dude in love365 and was pissing me off cause the ones I used was back when I thought he was nice. So not only did he screw over the mc but me too what a fuckin asshole. Anyways didn't think a character could make my blood boil so fast but I swear he really made me mad as well as the mc. I wouldn't even want him if it was me after the way he acted. Its also why I stopped playing his route to save my hearts for some one worth them. It might turn out he falls in love with her but if they make me mad and I have no interest in them then I won't continue. Its not even like the tsunderes either he is a male chauvinistic pig who wants to sleep with anyone he even tells her he wants her panties until she sleeps with him he is just rude. I'm done wasting my breath on him but I got up to like chapter 10 before I couldn't deal with him anymore because every single date he was just as much as a asshole as the one before it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Komuro Satoru/Araya Kuze

Now this guy is the guy that followed mc around in high school even when the mc was so in love with Takane. He would find out things about him for the mc and things he liked. He would pass letters or anything she wanted to help her be with Takane even though he was in love with her the whole time. He thought being her friend until she realized Takane was a asshole was better than not being anything at all. He was sweet and genuine he was also 2 years behind the mc so she went to college with Takane and it was a different college than Araya got into so they were separated. Until this app and they matched at 99% and the moment he realized it was her he was over the moon. They connected right away when they met and I swear this man let nothing stay hidden he admitted he had wanted to see her so bad in the last few years. They had dinner and went back to the bar to drink and just joking about good times together and such. She gets super drunk and they go to leave and she falls but he catches her. They kiss then he confesses he has been in love with her since high school.

She is so out of it she doesn't pull away from the kiss and she had been treating him all night like he was a kid cause he was younger than her. He tells her when they get to messing around please give me one night, you can do whatever you want to me and I will never thing bad of you, I just want to feel important to you and feel like you see me. They end up back at his place and they have sex and then she wakes up the next morning and freaks out. He apologizes however she makes him feel like he really did something wrong with both of them had been drinking she kinda made me mad with that honestly because he is a sweetheart. Then he continues to apologize and even tells her he takes complete fault for it and he would like it if she would let him make it right. She is kind of like what? But he goes into tell her how he feels, and how things went down and that he thought they were on the same page and how they were connected that night. He then says but give me a chance let me be your boyfriend and then you can take that it was not a one night stand. It was so sweet how he came up with this after expressing how he has always felt.

He is a lyrist and all his songs over the last 5 years or so has been written about her and no one else. She is his heart, muse, and love of his life she is his destiny. He altered his name just for the app so that no one knew it was him since he is famous. She agrees and its so nice to see him when girls throw themselves at him he shuts them down and makes it very clear she is his only important person. Like omg.... this man is a freakin keeper such a difference from the first guy and to think she knew them at the same time yet chose the pig over this cinnamon roll. One of the sweet things he did was rented out a whole theme park for her and brought her to overlook it then turned on the lights and lit it all up for her. That was like the sweetest yes he has money but as long as he gets to spend it on her he is happy.

He even tells her that since high school she has been his princess and just wants to do right by her. I was in such awe when he told her he wanted to be with her and he wanted to marry her in the future like how many men just know and the fact he just knew since highschool thats alot of years being in love with one person. There was a bit of drama of a ex fiancé trying to come between them but to show his love he took her to a jewelry store to get her any engagement ring she wanted. So anyways alot of drama came out of things later in the story. It comes back that it was all a lie he set up the app the ex fiancé all of it to make her give him a chance and to fall in love with him. He was afraid she would never give him a chance any other way. Then when he realizes he lied to her and it hurt her he felt like he wasn't worthy of her so he tried to leave her and let her live her life without him because he did love her. I mean in the end she doesn't let him leave that easy and they end up together.

Honestly I guess in away its a bit of a betrayal and I think he will have to make it up to her because it was like their relationship was built on a lie. However I think their love for each other I think they would be fine. On voltage's side I will say after all the hearts that I paid for that I ate through in this game mostly on this guy it was a bit of a disappointment. His character I love in the end just for a happy ending there are alot better stories than how this one played out. I think if I had a 5 star rating system for this game would be 3 it loses 2 stars because of the fact it almost felt like the pay to play shit and then even after that you don't even get the kind of ending that you really should have.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Because this is a story that uses hearts I am only reviewing the 2 that interested me enough to pay and then went with the last guy even more so enjoy the review of these to men of destiny.

[dwuerch-blog]

Pillow Promises

Seems the new “sleeping” trend these days is satin pillowcases. That is one of the Christmas presents on my granddaughter’s list last year that I purchased for her for $49. So, when Bed, Bath and Beyond was having its store closing sale, I bought two at $4.50 each. I wanted to see if what “they” said was true and at that price, it was worth the test. So, I put one of those satin pillowcases on…

[ruruvxz]

brat - SNEAK PEAK

Lara Raj x Female Reader x Megan Skiendiel

~ synopsis: You've never really been an emotional drunk, that was until your boyfriend left you for your closest friend that things started to spiral for you. Tonight at one of you recurring escapades at one of the locals pubs near your apartment, you unknowingly stumble across two girls. Two girls you didn't know now, who would change the trajectory of your life, whether it was for the good— or the bad, you just needed something to take you off the edge. And so, Lara and Megan knew exactly how to do that, but at what cost?

~ cw: three part series, alcoholism, commitment issues, mentions of previous relationship with a man, fluff, swearing, love triangle(?), everyone here is toxic

~ wc: N/A

(a/n: sigh. I’m gonna discontinue “the woman who left too soon” LAWL!!! Cus these apps pmo and literally take so much storage 💔💔I’m going back to writing cus that’s so much easier. anyways sneak peak ^_^)

brat,

365 PARTYGIRL, B2B, GIRL SO CONFUSING

Lara and Megan never had the issue of sharing, even during training days, they managed to share everything they owned with one another. Their clothes, their jewelry, and even their secrets, no aspect about themselves wasn't shared with one another. The bond between the two girls was unshakable, though that didn't negate the fact that in some circumstances both the girls could be quite... passionate. After a long marathon of double dates, they couldn't possibly find their other halves, each guy and girl who they spoke to didn't ignite a spark within them.

Maybe staying single would've been a lot easier, but that's boring! Both the girls took their only opportunity to sneak out to seek refuge in a club, not seeking anything more but to get lucky tonight. That was until they stood sipping on their cheap beer when Lara set her eyes on your figure. The obnoxious lighting made it hard to tell you out, but her odd fascination drew her closer to you. What felt like hours of staring for Lara, was mere seconds for Megan, as her interest also piqued.

"Who the hell are you looking at, Lara?" Megan pried, tugging onto Lara's waist belt loop, Lara only gave a little head nudge at the general direction of where you stood. Megan fixated her eyes, grasping at the glass, her eyes widened when the light reflected from your infectious smile.

Maybe it was the ambience of the club, but she was instantly hooked and Lara sensed that the ginger had similar intentions as her. "Isn't she gorgeous?" Lara mumbled, watching the Hawaiian as she checked the girl out from the other side of the bar. "I'm gonna talk to her—“ Megan spoke, about to walk off before her wrist was quickly nabbed by the desi girl.

"What the fuck are you doing?" The red head bit as she yanked her back over to the table, "I literally saw her first, so why would YOU ever go over there and talk to her Mei."

Megan scoffed as she pulled her hand away from Lara's grasp, ‘What the hell was her problem' Megan thought before she spoke. "What are you even on about, if you care so much how about you talk to her then."

"Great idea, Meg." The desi laughed before pushing Megan out of the way, leaving the ginger utterly shocked at her change of demeanor. "Wha- Come back here! I was kidding!"

Lara just laughed at the ginger trying to plead her case, turning in her heels to walk into your general vicinity, practically hopping over to you as your friends you where previously with dispersed. Bringing the shot glass to your lips, you took another fiery swig of the vodka, your eyes almost bloodshot, as tears were biting back from pouring. ‘Shit, where you crying?’ Lara thought as she approached you, from a far, the way you laughed, and smiled, she wouldn’t have ever expected in a million years that you’d look so disheartened.

But of course, that didn’t sway her, not one bit, once she was fixated on something, it was hard for her to ever let it go. She approached closer to you, your hands slithering to another shot of vodka the bartender quickly poured for you. Despite everything, you still looked as wonderful in her eyes, she’s seen her fair share of broken things, but you by far were the most beautiful of them all.

The way the strobe lights bounced off your face, or the way everything seemed so fitted to your body as you sat letting trickles of liquid fall down from your lips towards your chin. It made her look insane just staring at you. And despite how you lacked any sobriety in your bones, you noticed her looming presence almost instantly. Even in this club setting she stuck out like a sore thumb, she was much too pretty to be loitering around a place like this, and she didn’t look all that much of a plentiful drinker.

She approached your seat on the bar, sitting on your left hand side, trying her hardest to be slick, but it very much came off as the opposite. You jerked your head up to look at her, giving her a soft smile before indicating for two more shots. Lara looked at you in disbelief where you really going to have two more shots? That was until the bartender handed you the two drinks that you slid one over to her with a smile.

The silence between the two was palpable, she just stared down at the shot awkwardly as you carefully watched her reaction. It took a minute or two before finally breaking the silence between the both of you. “You got a staring problem.” You slurred, coming off more aggressive than you’d like, “What?” She bit staring back at her as her eyebrow raised.

“Haha— No sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” You hiccuped raising your head up and turning your body towards her, “I meant like… fuck— You just kept staring, I was wondering if you wanted to say something.” You laugh indicating at where she stood beforehand, clearly insinuating that you had seen both her and Megan staring at you moments prior.

“Ah…” The redhead gasped, before laughing with you loudly, the interaction flowed seamlessly as she spoke. “No, sorry, you were right. I was just taken aback by you— your breathtaking.” She complimented, raising up the vodka and taking a fast swing at it.

“Oh! So I guess we both misunderstood the situation!” You giggle softly to yourself before doing the same, taking a swing at your glass and practically leaving it empty as you place it back down on the countertop.

“Anywho I’m Y/N, nice to meet you…?”

“Lara.”

“Nice to meet you Lara.” The way she spoke felt like swimming in honey, it was slow and addictive, not to mention the fact she looked at you like her next meal made it all the more enjoyable as you chatted about mindless conversation. Although this didn’t go unnoticed by the poor roommate Lara just ditched, her blood seemingly boiled seeing the two of you.

Not only had Lara managed to bag another girl that Megan had wanted, but the fact that she ditched her was the icing on top. And lord knows Megan wasn’t just gonna let that slide, the ginger hooked her handbag over her shoulder and walked over to the two girls. Angrily plopping a seat on your right side, shooting Lara a dangerous look before persuading the bartender to get her any beverage he could conjure up. Honestly the desi girl couldn’t care less, but she was amused by the Hawaiian and her antics, so she continued to shoot her shot at you.

“You know… you’re absolutely stunning— has anyone told you that?” She complimented, bringing her hand up over to the edge of a strand of hair, twirling it for a moment before pulling away.

Before you could speak, the bartender handed you an espresso martini that you never ordered, “Oh! Uhm sir this isn’t mine…” You mumbled as you raised the glass towards him, the ginger girl who sat next to you spoke up.

“It is yours.” The girl laughed, “I ordered it for you, pretty.” She giggled pointing at the glass and then pointed at herself, “You look like someone who’d enjoy a good cocktail.” Megan smiled as she raised her hand out to shake your hand, and you reciprocated the gesture. “Megan. And you?”

“Hah… thank you Megan… Gosh I feel so popular today.” You joked, referring to the two girls who suddenly started talking to you, your back faced to Lara as she glared into Megan’s soul, mentally cursing her out for ruining the perfect moment. Megan laughed at your witty response, looking at Lara, sticking her tongue out playfully before focusing back to you.

“I wouldn’t doubt it you’re beautiful.” Megan slyly complimented, bringing her hand to your shoulder, leaving the redhead to scowl at her actions. “I second that.” Lara butted in, bringing her hand onto your other shoulder.

“Haha…” You laugh awkwardly sensing the tension between the two girls, before jerking your head over to the entrance of the club, watching two familiar silhouettes. Your best friend— well ex best friend and her new boyfriend— YOUR BOYFRIEND hand in hand, with no care in the world. “Shit!” You shouted to yourself, catching the two girls off guard as you ducked down to hide your face. The whole reason you came to these clubs to drink your heart out was because of them, and now they were out here ruining your perfect ‘sanctuary’.

“Y/n! Are you okay?” Megan spoke up as you hid your head onto the counter. “No!”

[rheas-chaos-anthology]

YOU— YEAH YOU! DO THIS THING WITH ME!

THIS IS YOUR AGGRESSIVE SIGN TO CREAT EVERY DAY FOR ONE YEAR.

Okokokokok so the goal is essentially what I said above. Write/draw something every day for a year. I know that sounds like A LOT but even if you can spare 2 minutes in your day to quickly scrible something into your notes app that's perfect.

Why should you bother with this?

You will end up at 365 pieces by the end of the year

you will improve your skills

you are bound to find some gold

even if you miss 1/3 of the days you will still have 243 things!!!

helps you be more in tune with your feeling (especially if you treat it like a journal)

you can try out different styles in a judgement free zone

uhhhh you love me

you will learn how to be more creative

you will have content to post on your blog/publish/submit to contests

you will have something to keep you going/motivated

you won't be alone

AND LOTS OF OTHERS I DONT HAVE TIME FOR

So this is your sign to write with me

(don't worry about starting on the same day just start making stuff)

I will be posting the things I write on @rheas-poetry-motivation

JOIN ME 🫵

Tagging people for reach and cause i love my moots:

@mister-dirty-hands, @bamb1fawn, @outromoony, @themortalityofundyingstars, @garden-of-runar

@ancientpokemonrock, @ang3lic-t3ars, @justiceforplutoo, @albatris, @gayafaaryn

@lorelangdon, @imastoryteller, @chaoticcandle, @gildy-locks, @jamespotterbbg

@seekmemystar, @tequilaqueen, @picklerab23, @a-k-oblackhat, @leahnardo-da-veggie

[cheritzteam]

[The Ssum] Happy One Year Anniversary to <The Ssum>!

Hello, dear lab participant!

Thank you so much for joining us for the first anniversary of <The Ssum: The Forbidden Lab>. We couldn't have reached our first birthday without your support.

Thanks to your love and support, the past 365 days have been very meaningful for the development team at the Lab.

The one-year anniversary illustration that was revealed in-game on your August 17th! Check out your cute Ssumones in suits in a larger size♡

Can you recognize the people behind the two Ssumones? Hint: They've already appeared several times in conversations with your Ssumones! (Their identities will be revealed in an upcoming feature update, but until then, try guessing who they are >.0)

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for spending 200 days with Teo and Harry. We're sure the two Ssumones are very fond of and cherish the time they spent with you.

Prior to the completion update of Season 1 of <The Ssum>, <Forbidden Lab>, this fall and winter <The Ssum> will be revamped and rebranded as Season 2, <Love from Today>.

*Stay tuned for updates this fall and winter! *Seasonal content updates for Season 1 characters will continue.

Here are the highlights of the update of Season 2 <~Love from Today~>.

Addition of New Characters In Season 2, a new Ssumone (or Ssumones!) will come to you. What kind of Ssumone will be the first to visit you in Season 2?

Change in App Theme Season 2, <~Love from Today~>, will offer short but powerful scenarios to immerse you in a more romantic atmosphere, and will feature video calling. *Some UI changes will only be applied when you are matched with a Season 2 Ssumone.

Change in Art Style Season 2 will feature a more casual illustrative style!

Return of the <Mystic Messenger> Writing Team Starting from Season 2, the story will be written by the same team that wrote <Mystic Messenger>. Expect a fuller story. Some researchers may even recognize some familiar faces.

Change in Update Interval Starting in Season 2, we won't be providing more updates than the number of days after launch. We will be updating every 30 days, so stay tuned for a short but rich experience with your Ssumone.

Visit the homepage now to check out the silhouette and BGM of Season 2's (first) Ssumone.

We're also upgrading our existing Season 1 Ssumones Teo and Harry, and will come back with more good news.

We hope you're excited to see what's new, dear lab participant. Here's to your happy and love-ssum fall and winter this year!

Thank you!

-Cheritz-

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

In thinking about the relationship between tech and labor, one of the most useful conceptual frameworks is "centaurs" vs "reverse-centaurs":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

A centaur is someone whose work is supercharged by automation: you are a human head atop the tireless body of a machine that lets you get more done than you could ever do on your own.

A reverse-centaur is someone who is harnessed to the machine, reduced to a mere peripheral for a cruelly tireless robotic overlord that directs you to do the work that it can't, at a robotic pace, until your body and mind are smashed.

Bosses love being centaurs. While workplace monitoring is as old as Taylorism – the "scientific management" of the previous century that saw labcoated frauds dictating the fine movements of working people in a kabuki of "efficiency" – the lockdowns saw an explosion of bossware, the digital tools that let bosses monitor employees to a degree and at a scale that far outstrips the capacity of any unassisted human being.

Armed with bossware, your boss becomes a centaur, able to monitor you down to your keystrokes, the movements of your eyes, even the ambient sound around you. It was this technology that transformed "work from home" into "live at work." But bossware doesn't just let your boss spy on you – it lets your boss control you. \

It turns you into a reverse-centaur.

"Data At Work" is a research project from Cracked Labs that dives deep into the use of surveillance and control technology in a variety of workplaces – including workers' own cars and homes:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work

It consists of a series of papers that take deep dives into different vendors' bossware products, exploring how they are advertised, how they are used, and (crucially) how they make workers feel. There are also sections on how these interact with EU labor laws (the project is underwritten by the Austrian Arbeiterkammer), with the occasional aside about how weak US labor laws are.

The latest report in the series comes from Wolfie Christl, digging into Microsoft's "Dynamics 365," a suite of mobile apps designed to exert control over "field workers" – repair technicians, security guards, cleaners, and home help for ill, elderly and disabled people:

https://crackedlabs.org/dl/CrackedLabs_Christl_MobileWork.pdf

It's…not good. Microsoft advises its customers to use its products to track workers' location every "60 to 300 seconds." Workers are given tasks broken down into subtasks, each with its own expected time to completion. Workers are expected to use the app every time they arrive at a site, begin or complete a task or subtask, or start or end a break.

For bosses, all of this turns into a dashboard that shows how each worker is performing from instant to instant, whether they are meeting time targets, and whether they are spending more time on a task than the client's billing rate will pay for. Each work order has a clock showing elapsed seconds since it was issued.

For workers, the system generates new schedules with new work orders all day long, refreshing your work schedule as frequently as twice per hour. Bosses can flag workers as available for jobs that fall outside their territories and/or working hours, and the system will assign workers to jobs that require them to work in their off hours and travel long distances to do so.

Each task and subtask has a target time based on "AI" predictions. These are classic examples of Goodhart's Law: "any metric eventually becomes a target." The average time that workers take becomes the maximum time that a worker is allowed to take. Some jobs are easy, and can be completed in less time than assigned. When this happens, the average time to do a job shrinks, and the time allotted for normal (or difficult) jobs contracts.

Bosses get stack-ranks of workers showing which workers closed the most tickets, worked the fastest, spent the least time idle between jobs, and, of course, whether the client gave them five stars. Workers know it, creating an impossible bind: to do the job well, in a friendly fashion, the worker has to take time to talk with the client, understand their needs, and do the job. Anything less will generate unfavorable reports from clients. But doing this will blow through time quotas, which produces bad reports from the bossware. Heads you lose, tails the boss wins.

Predictably, Microsoft has shoveled "AI" into every corner of this product. Bosses don't just get charts showing them which workers are "underperforming" – they also get summaries of all the narrative aspects of the workers' reports (e.g. "My client was in severe pain so I took extra time to make her comfortable before leaving"), filled with the usual hallucinations and other botshit.

No boss could exert this kind of fine-grained, soul-destroying control over any workforce, much less a workforce that is out in the field all day, without Microsoft's automation tools. Armed with Dynamics 365, a boss becomes a true centaur, capable of superhuman feats of labor abuse.

And when workers are subjected to Dynamics 365, they become true reverse-centaurs, driven by "digital whips" to work at a pace that outstrips the long-term capacity of their minds and bodies to bear it. The enthnographic parts of the report veer between chilling and heartbreaking.

Microsoft strenuously objects to this characterization, insisting that their tool (which they advise bosses to use to check on workers' location every 60-300 seconds) is not a "surveillance" tool, it's a "coordination" tool. They say that all the AI in the tool is "Responsible AI," which is doubtless a great comfort to workers.

In Microsoft's (mild) defense, they are not unique. Other reports in the series show how retail workers and hotel housekeepers are subjected to "despot on demand" services provided by Oracle:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/retail-hospitality

Call centers, are even worse. After all, most of this stuff started with call centers:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/callcenter

I've written about Arise, a predatory "work from home" company that targets Black women to pay the company to work for it (they also have to pay if they quit!). Of course, they can be fired at will:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/impunity-corrodes/#arise-ye-prisoners

There's also a report about Celonis, a giant German company no one has ever heard of, which gathers a truly nightmarish quantity of information about white-collar workers' activities, subjecting them to AI phrenology to judge their "emotional quality" as well as other metrics:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/processmining-algomanage

As Celonis shows, this stuff is coming for all of us. I've dubbed this process "the shitty technology adoption curve": the terrible things we do to prisoners, asylum seekers and people in mental institutions today gets repackaged tomorrow for students, parolees, Uber drivers and blue-collar workers. Then it works its way up the privilege gradient, until we're all being turned into reverse-centaurs under the "digital whip" of a centaur boss:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/25/the-peoples-amazon/#clippys-revenge

In mediating between asshole bosses and the workers they destroy, these bossware technologies do more than automate: they also insulate. Thanks to bossware, your boss doesn't have to look you in the eye (or come within range of your fists) to check in on you every 60 seconds and tell you that you've taken 11 seconds too long on a task. I recently learned a useful term for this: an "accountability sink," as described by Dan Davies in his new book, The Unaccountability Machine, which is high on my (very long) list of books to read:

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/02/despotism-on-demand/#virtual-whips

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[tokidokitokyo]

明けましておめでとうございます。今年も宜しくお願いします。

Happy New Year! Thank you for your continued support this year.

This is the traditional New Year's greeting in Japan (formal). If you'd like to be less formal, you can just say

明けましておめでとう！今年もよろしく！

And with your close friends, to be even less formal (because Japanese people love to say things in shortened format):

あけおめ！ことよろ！

The year is new and I think we're all motivated to study Japanese more than ever. Have you set your goals for the new year already? I haven't yet (that's what this post is for) but I like to wait until the year has turned and then come up with my goals. Usually because I'm continually running around up until the New Year, so I don't have time to sit down and put my goals into writing until the new year has already come.

This year I'd like to set out some general goals, as well as small goals I'd like to make into daily habits (along with the daily habits I already have). This will be a long post, so read as much or as little as you like! 2025 Goals below the cut!

Past Goals from: 2020 | 2021 (no post) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024

Tips for Setting Goals

Some things I've learned from the past 4+ years of setting Japanese language study goals that might help you too:

Be realistic: It's great to say you will memorize 10 kanji a day every day for 365 days, but is it realistic? Will you do it every day for a year? What if you get burned out in February? Will you be able to come back to it in March? I know the extent of my free time and my own ability to be consistent, and I try to be realistic for my own sake. If I make a goal more flexible, like memorize 10 kanji a week instead of daily, it gives me more leeway to take a day off here and there, and to recover from burn out when it happens.

The goals you set are flexible: Rigidly adhering to your goals doesn't help you and it really doesn't make a difference to anyone else but you (I speak from experience). Set goals you think you can accomplish, then change them if they aren't what you need. They aren't set in stone, and they can be changed as often as you want. No one will think anything of you for changing them, and being kind to yourself is a good thing.

Be broad when setting long term goals, but remember why you want to set those goals: "I want to be fluent in Japanese" is a good many-year long-term goal, but how you get there is something that can be made into short-term goals. Do you want to improve the number of vocabulary words you know? Kanji recognition ability? Listening in conversation or anime? Maybe a better long-term goal might be "I want to improve my conversational listening ability in Japanese," and then you can create attainable short-term goals from there.

Goals aren't for everyone: Maybe you don't need goals for 2025? Or to post them publicly? I set goals because I am that kind of person who likes to look back and to track my progress. And I feel like posting publicly holds me accountable (before I go ahead and meet none of my goals). But maybe goal setting isn't for you! If you want to study for the JLPT because of work-related needs or bragging rights, maybe just setting up a study schedule using one or more of the study textbooks for the JLPT is enough. Or if you are just learning Japanese to learn Japanese, maybe just continually watching anime or chatting with people on HelloTalk is enough for you. Do you need goals to motivate you? Keep your goals super realistic. Do you just want to track your progress? Make a spreadsheet or get one of the many tracking apps. Goals aren't for everyone, and in the end they really only matter to you.

Without further ado, my goals...

Daily Goals 2025

In 2024 I had a set of daily habits that I did a very good job of keeping up. Some days it was harder to fit in everything than others, but having a set of daily goals and a small minimum time commitment (10 minutes) helped me to maintain my study momentum, even if sometimes I had less motivation. After all, the key to progress in Japanese is using it every day.

Daily Habits from 2024 (that I'd like to continue)

Study Japanese for at least 10 minutes a day

Read something in Japanese every day

Speak Japanese daily

Listen to/watch something in Japanese every day

New Daily Habits for 2025 (that I'd like to add)

Learn 1 vocabulary word daily

Learn 1 kanji daily

Write one sentence daily

Weekly Goals 2025

I didn't consciously follow a lot of weekly habits in 2024, but I'd like to be more mindful of incorporating certain aspects of study on a weekly basis.

New Weekly Habits for 2025

Study one N3/N2 grammar point weekly

Listen to one podcast weekly

Watch one TV show episode/movie/YouTube video weekly

Write on HelloTalk once a week

2025 Goals

These are my more general goals for the entire year and what I want to accomplish by the end of 2025.

Finish 総まとめ N2 (Sou-matome N2) workbooks: I started these workbooks last year but never got into a routine with them. This year I'd like to complete them.

Read 3 Japanese novels level N3 or N2: I will use Natively to help me to find books that sound interesting and match the level at which I'd like to read.

Work through the 漢字検定ステップ6 (Kanji Kentei level 6) book: I have had this book forever but stopped using it seriously a few years ago.

Read 3 Japanese textbooks from the Libby Japan Foundation LA Library: I found some Japanese textbook study type books for Japanese learners and some for Japanese elementary school students on the Libby Japanese Library (needs a US phone number), and I'd like to read at least three of these.

Consistently watch one Japanese drama: In 2024, I watched the NHK Taiga Drama Hikaru Kimi e (光る君へ) every week, and although they used old Japanese, poetic Japanese, and lots of ancient government-related vocabulary that took me time to pick up, the consistency of watching the drama every week (and knowledge of Murasaki Shikibu's life) helped me to understand the drama without subtitles (JP or EN). I'd like to pick a new drama for 2025 (even if it's not year-long) and keep up with it.

Thanks for sticking with me! I hope your studies in 2025 will be productive and fun! If any of this helped you, great! And if it didn't, that's ok too. Whether you set goals or not, remember to be kind to yourself this year. And if you have set goals, let me know your number 1 goal (I'm actually really interested to see what everyone's goals are!).

素敵な一年になりますように！

Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!

[starbeltconstellation]

Since you are a passionate jedi fan, I would be interested in your opinion on a thing I noticed on AO3. There is a fanon that is inspired by Ancient Greek scholars having had sex with their pupils. In the fics there is a special night in which the masters have to fuck their padawans because it is tradition. Sex and AO3, you ask? What's new, you ask? What is new is that the writers explicitely write in their notes that the institutionalized fucking of the padawans is their way to show how corrupt and morally bad the jedi are. But how is something that fanfic writers completely made up to get more readers (because sex sells) a critique of the jedi in canon? No matter what answer I come up with, it is weird. Are these fanfic writers fetishizing a law allowing teachers to fuck their students, feel bad for their own arousal and try to shrug it off by making themselves believe that they are just writing these sex scenes for a "good cause"? I mean, if they hated the jedi so much, why would they write about them? The MCU or DC would get them more readers, right? I simply can't come up with a satisfying answer to why this mental gymnastics exist. I know this is a very long ask, but please address it if it is of any interest to you as well!

Hi, anon! 👋💕✨

Sooooo deeply sorry for the long wait time. 😭😖💔 Things just got away from me, and I kept putting off my response because I wanted to make sure I had the time to give the nitty gritty of my thoughts on your ask.

And as a pro jedi fan and a SW fan in general… I just have to say… ew. 😭☹️🤢💔

And it’s not necessarily that I’m trying to SHAME people that write darker or more sexual stuff (even though there are some things that just genuinely baffle me why ANYONE would enjoy writing something so horrible, but then again, I’ve never been a fan of horror movies, sooo… 😂🤷‍♀️).

And look, I’m aware that fiction is separate from reality and not necessarily a show of a person’s morals (it’s FAKE, at the end of the day), but at the same TIME, I believe people on this app and just in fandom spaces in general sometimes purposely plug their ears and sing “lalalala” by pretending that how we interact with the world doesn’t shape our perception and psyche to SOME degree.

And this isn’t me saying that if someone writes something like “noncon” or “whump” that they’re going to go out and hurt anybody! That’s the EXTREME reaction that conservative panic tries to drum up by pretending that people have no self control and need to be shielded from “corruption 🙄” or something like that. But what I DO believe is that seeing stories (whether love stories or family stories in general) WILL affect how someone can come to view relationships. This is on a tier scale, obviously. Kids and teenagers will have a harder time grasping why “365 Days” is not a modern Beauty and the Beast movie. 😭🤦‍♀️ BUT… with ADULTS… it’s easier to separate fiction from reality… in a CONSCIOUS way. But for me, from a psychological standpoint, if a person grows up with a specific attraction to certain toxic love stories that are PRESENTED as healthy when they just aren’t—it’s POSSIBLE that they can unconsciously seek out someone who fits that mold. I don’t think this is the NORM—but it IS a possibility, and that’s why I think it’s so important to recognize yourself and your own wants and needs in the real world and ask yourself “Does this make me feel safe and happy? Or just obsessively DESIRED?” and other things such as that.

Anyway, I got a little off topic (which I often do 😭😅), but my POINT is my disgust isn’t necessarily about these writers’s choices on exploring such darker themes in their work if they truly want to—it’s THEIR fic, at the end of the day. But what DOES disgust me is (yes, dear anon, you guessed it! 🙃🙃) that apparently writers are USING this trope to create even MORE anti Jedi rhetoric when there is already SO much of it in the community in general (and that god awful ‘The Acolyte’ show only made the hatred and genocide apologia worse, even though I do acknowledge the show wasn’t given as much of a chance as Ahsoka and The Mandolrian shows were).

Just as The Acolyte had to INVENT an entire scenario where the “EMPATHETIC SPACE MONKS 😭🤦‍♀️” of the galaxy apparently cover up a massacre which DIRECTLY parallels Anakin Skywalker’s descent to the Dark Side—which makes NO goddamn sense that it’s truly LAUGHABLE—you have brought to me a fic trope scenario where the writer has apparently INVENTED something that was NEVER canon to show how “corrupt 🙄” the Jedi Order is—before they stand back and go “haha! 😌 See? SUCHHH horrible people.”, as if they didn’t just invent that scenario in THEIR own head to justify their bias against the Jedi and their way of life.

It’s very similar to the uncharitable views that certain parts of the SW fandom (specifically the Anidala and the radical Anakin fans) have towards the Jedi in regards to NONCANON info that we do NOT truly know (such as why Anakin never visited Shimi all that time), before just CHOOSING the most uncharitable and mean spirited view of the Jedi that they can, which is saying—“Well, the Jedi Order must have a strict policy on NEVER seeing your birth family again, or they’ll be kicked out! 🤪🤪”, when there is NOTHING in canon to ever give any indication of that. It’s literally fanon that has somehow all but become canon in the eyes of the fandom, and I haven’t the foggiest clue how it happened (yes I do. 🙄🫠 It’s because SW fans LIKE Anakin, so of COURSE they don’t want to admit he was in the wrong or that he could’ve taken things too personally or the wrong way—so they settle on, “Those mean Jedi must’ve bullied him and kept him from his mom! 😡🤪”🙄🤦‍♀️).

Fans will make something up out of thin air—literally twisting themselves into KNOTS to try and excuse Anakin’s choices while blaming everyone else to pretend it’s not his fault and he didn’t truly have a choice (COMPLETELY untrue)—while at the very same TIME, giving absolutely NONE of that courtesy to the Jedi Order themselves. The Jedi’s actions are nitpicked to DEATH. Everything they do—choosing to fight in the war to save lives instead of sitting on the sidelines to watch the galaxy burn, not worshiping the ground Anakin walked on to try and teach him humility and grace and respect, literally putting their LIVES on the line RIGHT BESIDE THE CLONES each day on the battlefield, Mace going to arrest Palpatine before realizing the man would never be convicted at a corrupt trial—NONE of it is ever enough.

They are 10,000 strong (NOT taking into consideration how some are younglings or retired Jedi), and yet they are judged with the sharpness of a knife that they cannot solve every damn trillions of problems in the galaxy.

They are a literal DROP in the ocean. It is LAUGHABLE to expect them to somehow be able to end slavery throughout the galaxy in the Outer Rim without the backing of the Republic’s help (which they definitely would NOT choose to help the Jedi, and even if somehow they DID, it would STILL be a long and tedious thing that would take DECADES to fully accomplish), and it is even MORE ludicrous to BLAME the JEDI FUCKING ORDER of all people for the Clones’s situation, like they could just stroll into the Senate building and wave their lightsabers around to suddenly give the clones their (deserved) rights, or to expect them to somehow—what? Kidnap all the clones (because a lot of clones would sadly NOT go willingly because of their brainwashing indoctrination that this is what they were ‘made for’) and run from fighting in the war? Where the hell do people expect them to GO? How do people expect the Jedi to be able to take CARE of all those people (INCLUDING their own) in such a situation without the Republic backing or the Temple walls?—be able to just magically give the clones rights or to just magically be able to say no to fighting in the war as if that would somehow do ANYTHING for the clones instead of just placing them under the rule of men like Tarkin.

The one thing I will concede is that (WHILE being in the war, because YES, despite what some people believe, it was UNAVOIDABLE. Palpatine definitely made sure of that) the Jedi probably needed to learn to get more into politics to control their image in the eyes of the public (ironic, considering how many people blame them for their own genocide by saying they were ‘too involved in politics 🙄’ when the TRUTH is that they did everything to AVOID being in the political sphere because they heavily disliked it). There is a bit of (gentle-hearted) naïveté here, because they all assume that the citizens of the galaxy will just SEE that the Jedi are trying to protect them. But people get selfish and greedy REAL fast when their lives become affected badly by things happening around them. And the more the war dragged on, the more citizens of the galaxy (disgustingly) latched onto Palpatine’s slowly growing propaganda that the Jedi were somehow the big bad villains of the war and not like—oh, I don’t know—the fucking SENATE. 😭🙄🤦‍♀️

My POINT is that—you’re RIGHT, anon. This fic trope you’ve brought up is (while HEAVILY ew in my eyes 😭🤢) just one part of a growing infection of the SW fandom where it’s becoming the “edgy” take to blame the Jedi (the VICTIMS) for their own genocide, instead of placing the blame at the politicians’s feet, where it belongs. Palpatine wasn’t able to gain this power ALONE. The Senate makes it EASY for him. Because they’re all out for themselves at the end of the day (YES, even Padmé, who would’ve taken Anakin’s tusken massacre to the grave if she’d had the chance), and even the ones that DO care about the bills they’re trying to push to help change things STILL are in such a position of privilege (ironic, considering fandom pretends the Jedi Order is ‘privileged’, when they are anything but and are more of a ‘model minority’ group struggling desperately to keep the soft power they have to at the very LEAST have a place at the Senate’s side to TRY and make them see reason sometimes) that they forget about the little people suffering underneath them (Padmé has to be REMINDED of this by one of her handmaidens at one point).

The point is that George Lucas intended the SENATE to be the corruption of the Prequels that brought about their own doom. Not the fucking JEDI. 😭🤦‍♀️ But somehow, SW fandom has rewritten their memories to somehow believe this to be true. But if they’d watch ANY George Lucas interview, they’d see this is not the case. And people are allowed to have different interpretations of stories at the end of the day—but what IS ridiculous is how certain anti Jedi fans SHAMELESSLY try to rewrite history by outright STATING that it WAS GL’s original intent to portray the Jedi as ‘corrupt 🙄’, which is just… SO far from accurate that it’s laughable.

But yeah, at the end of the day, the REAL ‘villain’ (besides the Sith) of the prequels is the SENATE, because THEY are the ones who should be doing their jobs, but who are INSTEAD lining their pockets or kissing up to the clueless citizens of the galaxy come election time, while apathetically expecting the Jedi Order to solve all the problems that the SENATE is too damn lazy and selfish to solve.

The one conclusion I can make is that if the Jedi HAD realized they’d need to play the game of politics to keep in the public’s good graces—then you bet your ASS they would have been on intergalactic interview after intergalactic interview subtly “hinting” at the clones’s lack of rights and plight to try and stir up public outcry—because THAT is how you get true change. By changing things from WITHIN the very public itself. Because THAT is the only thing that will make the Senate LISTEN—is if they’re at risk of losing votes later on down the line.

Anyway, I of course went on the longest of rants once again. Lol. 😂😅 But I hope the long wait time was worth this response! 😊❤️💕

-

To any readers that stumble across this and are curious enough to check out my fic:

-

Tags:

@ensomnia

@heartfairy

@fangirlteallie

@shoniwake

@lemons-2-limes

@lexskiss

@spidersaye

@selenaftmarvel

@silverwoodj

@ajtaals

[aritsukemo]

My New Year Goals and Wishes + My Thanks

2025 is finally here and y'know what's crazy? There's a 70% chance I have either bronchitis or pneumonia. I'm actually tweaking out sooo badly rn-

That aside, 2024 had many ups and downs for me, but one of the best things that came out of it was this platform! Making Tumblr my main writing platform was def one of the best decisions I made this year, and to that, I wished to express my thanks to everyone who's made this decision such a great one!

⇻ My Followers

You all are such amazing people! I didn't do it much last year, but interacting with you all via comments, repost, etc., taking and writing your requests, and just seeing you like my works are just amazing motivators for me! It truly makes me giddy that 200 of you found my little corner of the internet and liked the place so much you decided to stay! I love you all and I hope good things like ya'll will continue to happen to me in this year to come! :D

⇻ My Mutuals

Ya'll- Omgosh where do I begin?

You guys made me so much more confident in myself! Joining Tumblr, at first, made me feel a bit overwhelmed. I had no friends on here aside from ivory, I knew nothing about Tumblr besides it being a blogging platform where people happen to write fanfics, and overall I just felt isolated and alone. Furhtermore, irl I had, and still have no one to really talk about fanfics with. I can't ramble on about my book ideas or my wips or talk about writing tips without someone growing bored of me and, ngl, I thought the same would apply here.

To be honest, as wonderful as my Wattpad days were at a time, my relationship with my followers/community was pretty rigid. I was pretty standoffish, and while I did have mutuals, it was nothing compared to my moots on here! Like, being on here and talking with my other writing moots is such a comforting thing and it's just UGHHH YA'LL ARE THE BEST AND I COULD LITERALLY MAKE A WHOLE POST ON HOW AMAZING YA'LL ARE!!

( I especially want to thank @nursedflowers! You are by far one of my favorite people to interact with on this app! Happening across your blog and befriending you by chance was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me and I hope our friendship can continue to blossom into an even more beautiful flower <3 )

⇻ Anons

Even though I know nothing about ya'll, you guys are hands down one of the most positive things on this app to me! Like, literally my favorite part of logging into Tumblr is checking my notifs and seeing an inbox from one of ya'll whether it's a request or some simple expression of praise! I feel truly cherished and loved here and ya'll are one of the main reasons why! ( Which I don't believe I deserve seeming as I barely repay ya'll.. I swear I'll work towards getting better at completing requests- 😞🙏)

⇻ Those I follow

I plan to tag some of ya'll in this just so you can see this, but to those I follow, thank you for uplifting me! I know most of you have no idea who I am, but I just wanted you guys to know that reading your amazing works, seeing your writing events, and seeing glimpses of your daily lives have brought me immense comfort! These past couple years have been by far my darkest and, to me, ya'll are like little candles keeping me lit! You guys have inspire me so much and I walk in your footsteps to hopefully one day be able to write like you all and be as fun and confident as ya'll. TLDR; thank you for existing, you and everything you create are amazing and I hope to one day be a little more like you! <3

Now onto my goals-

Every year I do this. I always love setting goals ( reasonable and unrealistic ) as it helps keep me motivated. In the past, a lot of goals I set weren't really centered around me and more so meant to appease my following, but this year I want to be a bit different. I wish to be a bit more selfish online if that makes sense. That said, here's my top five goals I wish to accomplish in these 365 days!

⇻ Paradise ( Ch. 5 - 10 )

Starting off with my pride and joy.

As I've said one hundred times already, this fanfic means a lot to me and I wish for my dreams for it to become a reality! I want to see all the moments, all the characters, all the developments and story arcs that replay in my brain play out on internet paper and I want to see your comments and reposts and likes supporting it! That said, my main goal for the year is to, at the very least, get five more chapters out! While my overall goal is to completely wipe out the Unwavering Resolve Arc ( Basically season 1 of demon slayer ), I think knocking out two of the mini arcs is much more reasonable for me to achieve! :)

⇻ Our Home ( Getting past the starting point )

While this story was originally created as a scapegoat to put off the publication of Paradise, I do yearn to see it develop as it's own story! AssClass holds a special place in my heart and though the fandom is pretty dead on here, I wish to indulge myself regardless. I don't have a specific goal for it like Paradise, but if anything, I at least wish to post the next chapter or two before the end of the year! :D

⇻ Work on other long-term fanfics ( KNY, Danganronpa, and Genshin Impact )

Over the years, I've had many ideas, and while many didn't stick enough to full on write about like Paradise or Our Home, there are a few that did that I just never wrote about because either my following didn't like my ideas, I prioritized completing requests over it, or I simply convinced myself that my currently published stuff is far more important to work on.

I have three stories in mind that have stuck with me, and while they still remain nameless, their plots are more or less fleshed out to a degree.

The first one is an enemies to lovers Muichiro x reader fanfiction that follows an original au I thought of. I very briefly talked about the idea on Wattpad a few years back and it just like..stayed in my head so here's the general synopsis of it..

Imagine you're the prince/princess/royal child of your kingdom, assigned a task to kill your fiancé after his coronation and become their ruler. You're not really distraught by this. After all, your fiancé was of the rivaling kingdom, the one that killed your beloved father and turned your kingdom into the laughing stock of the Eleven Kingdoms of Kimetsu. In your opinion, he had it comin' to him...

The only problem with this is, the young fourteen year old, your fiancé and soon-to-be king, is hopelessly smitten for you. How annoying..

Just as it implies, the story revolves around a world that's divided. From the simplistic layout I thought of, 50% would be Muzan's while the other 50% would be Ubuyashiki's with Muzan's half being more tyrannical compared to Ubuyashiki ( to play back on the original contrasts they have in KNY ).

In this au, the Hashira ( and you ) are royalty who own a small percentage of Ubuyashiki's 50%. ( While the Twelve Moon live amongst Muzan's 50% ) Each Hashira + you have their own kingdoms with there own customs & rules, powers, etc.

You and Muichiro's kingdom butt heads, your kingdom loses, and you have no choice but to brood over the loss of your father and the land lost to war for the years to come.

Years later, you receive a proposal from the Mist Kingdom. Essentially, they wish to prevent a repeat of a war between your two kingdoms and decided to mend your relationship through the marriage of you and the current king. Your family accepts the proposal, though not for the same means of peace, but because of a conniving plan to take revenge.

The plan itself is a simple one; marry the current king, kill him afterwards, and ascend to the position of ruler. ( In Muichiro's kingdom, when a monarch dies, the partner of the monarch would become ruler if they're alive. ) You initially go in with no remorse, believing that the current ruler was in his 40s and had direct dealings in your father's death only to find out that, one, the king is dead, two, the one your marry is younger than you by two years and isn't officially the king yet, and three, he's genuinely a good person who had nothing to do with your father's death and loves you with all his being.

The second one has been talked about on my blog before so I won't yap too much about it but it's a Danganronpa x Demon Slayer au fic that takes the plot of all the Danganronpa games and the characters of Demon Slayer. Also, for clarification..

It be a Y/n/reader insert

Though it'd follow the concept of the Danganronpa games, it won't be a copy and paste of them. The murders, developments, trials, etc. would all be original and unique straight from my noggin.

It won't follow a specific game in particular and would simply take ideas from all four games ( yes, that includes udg )

The third one is a genshin fanfic that follows the male traveler and reader. Essentially it's just the plot of genshin but with you added to it. Ofc, like my Paradise story, I'd give the reader depth ( I refuse to write bobblehead mcs/characters in general ) and their own backstory. In fact, I've long had ideas in mind for them! Some of which being..

They have their own 'Paimon' ( Who used to be a worldwide threat back when in wartime day who was turned into a harmless animal by Celestia because they were too powerful to kill

They're from a nation with similar concepts to Khaenri'ah ( basically a human-ran nation that has a human serving as their god ) but unlike Khaenri'ah, their nation is hated and feared by all of Teyvat

Reader has a twin who currently rules over that nation and is basically insane

The twin also has an animal companion that shares a past with your companion ( they both ran a group of powerful people who were all united under their shared hatred for the gods and Celestia due to past trauma caused by them and wished to exterminate them )

Reader is visionless but adept at the art of many weapons, martial arts, etc. Their companion in their human lifetime was able to wield all the elements as a product of a cruel experiment.

And that's just some of the ideas I had in mind.

With all this said, it'd be impossible for me to write and post all of this in one measly year on top of my other goals hence why my goal is to at least write the full draft of one of them before the year is over or at least the layout of one of them.

⇻ Stepping out of my comfort zone ( Becoming more vocal )

Now this goal is probably the hardest for me to achieve just because of my own anxieties, but I wish to become more vocal in the fanfic community. There are so, SO many fanfics I've come across on this app that I simply liked and blankly reposted without expressing my thoughts on it ( or did neither ) and I wish to change that! My goal is to just express my love for whatever I read loudly and proudly without fear. I also plan to try and make more mutuals/friends! :D

⇻ Fill my blog with more diverse content ( My starting goal )

To be simple and straightforward, this is just a restatement of the reason my blog exist; to get better at writing and grow my anime horizon. I wish to soar to new heights, write about different genres and themes and animes, and overall become a multi-versed writing weapon! >.< Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, and so, my goal is to fill up my archive and write something about my main animes I haven't yet ( so TBHK, Black Butler, Link Click, Sally Face, and HSR ). I think that's a great starting point on my long journey to come, don't you think?

Thank you all who took the time to read this excessively long post! And please, let me know what your 2025 goals are! I'd happily read them! :)

Tagging: @nursedflowers, @iivorydreams, @saioratral, @meowzfordayz, @romaritimeharbor, @mrs-k0zume, @helloescapist + anyone who wishes to yap about their goals! <3

[alexlwrites]

From my notes app: grieving over your ex lover

Tw: sad as fuck

Based on this request from @morningglory18 : "Hey I just want to request you a fic where the fl had a dead first love , whom she always chases after but it is always Namjoon who catches her when he realised she is really gonna fly away"

***

It was April 29th again.

How long had it been since the last one? A couple weeks? 365 days? A lifetime? You weren't sure, but the earth had once more completed a circle without you even assimilating the last one.

Your body still ached from phantom pains - a non-existent weight in your left ring finger, the impact of a car crash you never lived, shards of a still broken heart and loss, dear lord, so much loss. How could someone even lose something that they already no longer have?

But every April 29th reopened a wound barely stitched together and you felt the burden of another year lost, a multitude of days that could've been lived as someone's wife but instead barely could be called a widow - after all, there was no wedding. There was only a white dress, a pair of rings and a call from the hospital that sent you into a spiral of unfortunate events and ripped your soul from your body.

Every April 29th brought a slew of what-ifs and if-onlys that buried you under the avalanche of painful possibilities. If that driver had never been drinking, if he had left earlier, if the wedding had been scheduled to the next saturday... Every minimal detail added to insurmountable strands - different paths and roads that could've been taken in a different life.

In a different life, you could've been Yoongi's wife.

In a different life, you could've kissed him on an altar and went on to start a new chapter written together. You could've watched him put together your shared furniture, made him coffee and kissed his pink tinted knucles. In a different world, you could've built a family together, slanted eyed babied and fluffy brown dogs, maybe even a black cat. In another universe, you would've watched someone's first steps guided by his long fingers wrapped around a tiny chubby wrist. In a separate world...

"Love" someone called snapping you out of your morbid fantasies and you turned to see Namjoon offering his hand.

You took it and stood up from the ground, interlacing your fingers with his and bringing them to your lips as you walked away from the forget-me-not adorned grave, silent and contemplative. In another life, things could've been different, but in this one you were given catastrophic grief by fate and its antidote by the same hand. The same prophecy that had taken away Yoongi from your sobbing grip had gifted you Namjoon.

Namjoon who also lost his best friend and had been the first one to reach for you as crumbled to the floor in a white gown; who had been forever patient and understanding, a buoy in the storm as disgrace had rained from the skies ; who stood back to back with you as you leaned on each other to stand up once more ; Namjoon who bought the forget-me-nots and took you where you needed every April 29th.

"I miss him" you said.

Namjoon nodded "Me too. Everyday."

Namjoon helped you into the car and drove away softly, his hand never leaving yours, tethering you to this lifetime where you were now his, six years after being someone else's.

***

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[pinkacademic]

Studying Language

Sorry I've been rather inactive, I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of things!

This is something I’m actually qualified to talk about! I speak three languages fluently, albeit in need of a little practise, and I’m learning one more currently, with one on pause due to time constraints. Nevertheless, I feel pretty confident in my information lol. I’m also a qualified TEFL teacher and have worked abroad teaching English!

Full immersion is the best option. The best thing you can do is spend your time in a country that speaks your target language and force yourself to learn, once you have the “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Where is the bathroom?” all mastered. In Ireland, there are places called Gaeltachtanna where you go for different lengths of time depending on the course and live in a town speaking exclusively Irish, usually staying with an Irish-speaking family, and going to classes for the language and for games and dances. Of course, that’s not an accesible option for everyone, so you could try going to places like your nearest Asian market, Eastern European market etc, and any areas in your city with a lot of immigrants that might speak your target language. If you have friends who speak that language, natively or just to a better level than you, ask to meet them for coffee and chat as much as you can in your language.

Immersion Part Two: Culture. The people who speak your target language natively do so not just becaus that’s the place in which they exist, but because that’s the place that they live- they get their groceries there, they go to school there, and their language developed because of the day-to-day, as well as unique aspects of their culture such as dances, music, and especially food. Learn about the culture of the country or countries that speak your target language. Eg, fold a paper crane or eat sushi if your language of choice is Japanese, watch an telenovela or go to a salsa class if your goal is to learn Spanish.

Watch TV shows in your Target Language. If you can’t access the locations, and even if you can, watching TV or movies is great because it’ll help you understand the cadences of natural speech that you can’t get from a textbook or formal class situation. Start with movies you might be familiar with like Disney movies (I will die on the hill of “Mother knows Best” from Tangled is better in Spanish). You can also combine your subtitles and audio, using subtitles in your own language at first, and challenge yourself to changing the subtitle.

Similar to the above points, use YouTube or Twitch to your advantage too. That’s probably a lot easier if your target language is English, but there are creators that speak in their non-English native language too. My friend watches a Mexican Minecraft YouTuber called Quackity who has a Minecraft server modded to feature a live translator between Spanish and English, which is very cool.

Read books in your Target Language. We don’t love The Chronicles of the Boy Wizard in this house, but the books are available in 85 languages. The Hobbit also has a tonne including Cornish, Thai, and Ukranian, and Twilight has about 37 translations, just to list a few well-known examples. Learn especially about books written originally in your target language.

Consume Media Originally from the Country or Countries that Speak that Language. Read the Witcher, watch Física o Química, join the dubbed vs subbed anime bloodbath. It can be so beneficial to your understanding of a language to see how those who speak it write it themselves, not just for localisation purposes. It can especially be useful for slang and dialects.

Duolingo and other apps. I’m swiftly approaching my 365 day duolingo streak,* and I fully intend to celebrate with pierogis and a green cake. But there are other options out there, and all of them are great for beginners. I can only speak about Duolingo as its the one I use, but I’m having a lot of fun with the layout of it. However, I do need real practice if I’m going to become actually fluent.

That’s it! I hope this has been helpful!

*I've surpassed it since writing this!! I'm at 400+!!

[hellcatinnc]

Love365 Ate My Votes For My Guys Event

I'm so irritated right now I had bought credits last month bout a few stories got the vote raffles for this and put them all into Minoru Tsujimoto. I get on there today and it shows I never voted once and yet I gave all my hearts for it and I wanted a special message they were promising. This is bullshit my man is number 34 and it ends today I think. Did anyone else lose their votes and hearts too? I don't even like the top picks either which stinks.