#most of them are in an arts and sciences field lol

[batboyblog]

I feel like some people can't be/refuse to be educated, or they're deliberately being obtuse because they're trolls, psyops, or they just fell for the trolls and psyops. But its still good to point out where they're wrong and to give actual, you know, facts, for the benefit of other people reading who might actually be reachable.

yeah, I mean I usually ignore them because usually its bad faith and when a post is getting hundreds even thousands of notes in a day you just can't keep up with the 10-20-ish people who say something, particularly if its in the tags because thats just hard or fighting in the replies which always feels weird

But I was in a bad mood and in general seeing the same either bad faith or straight up don't know comment over and over and over again is very annoying

the "lol Joe Biden didn't do anything about Student loans!" one is pretty annoying since Biden has forgiven well over 100 BILLION dollars worth of student loan debt, so like he has done a lot on student loan debt. I'm not a big deal but I remember I did one of my "what Biden did this week" posts and it had the student loan debt forgiveness for people who got defrauded by the Art Institutes, and a few people added their stories of being defrauded and being in debt to AI for years and the one that'll stay with me was an older guy who went to try to get a new degree to get a job in a different field kinda late in the game, his 50s or 60s and of course didn't get the jobs he hoped for because scam college and saying how he thought he'd die in debt and it was all gone, all forgiven. So just like people flippantly dismissing a very real life changing thing is very annoying

there are a few other very common annoying ones "why didn't he do this when he controlled congress before!" well he was busy passing the biggest climate change bill any government on earth has ever done, investing in our Infrastructure for the first time since before Reagan was President (Reagan 😒) listen Biden passed 4 of the biggest most transformationally progressive bills the US has seen since LBJ

American Rescue Plan

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

CHIPS and Science Act

Inflation Reduction Act

on top of which he passed the first gun control law out of congress in 30 years, and other things, like the Respect for Marriage Act to protect gay marriage, or making Juneteenth a federal holiday (the first new federal holiday since MLK day in 1983)

SO! thats why he didn't do the things he wants to do in his next term he was busy doing equally (and in the case of climate change more important) things and thats why we should all be hopeful if Joe Biden is President with a Democratic Congress he'll get most if not ALL the things on his agenda done, because he's fucking good at this, we haven't had a President this good at pushing bills through Congress and using every switch and lever of the federal government to make major progressive change since LBJ or FDR, I guess his big mistake was naming it something boring like "Inflation Reduction Act" and not something sexy like "New Deal" or "Great Society"

sorry to go off on a tare there, but its just frustrating to see 40 (out of tens of thousands really) posts saying the same dumb shit and having no real way to respond

[ranger-ribbons]

More General Rangers Headcanons

Sixth Rangers are inherently more powerful than the regular Rangers. You'll notice that most can 1v1 difficult enemies that prove challenging to even the Reds of the team (ie.: Zhane (In Space Silver) 1v1'ing Ecliptor). This is because, on a power scale, the Sixth is supposed to balance the team out. A team that can work as individuals and an individual that can work on/with a team

Reds develop an attachment to their Sixth Rangers, be it romantic (Carter Grayson/Ryan Mitchell) or platonic (Leo and Mike Corbett), but it's close and quickly formed

Similarly, Sixth Rangers form quick and close attachments to their Reds, platonic or romantic

Pinks and Blues are either siblings or best friends and there is no in-between

Survivor's Guilt is a powerful force and 90% of the Rangers have it, especially the alien Rangers or those like the Lunar Wolf Wildforce Ranger

Rangers getting discouraged and believing themselves unworthy of the Power is also common, so there's a network of Rangers you can call to help with that kind of stuff

If you don't already have fantastic spatial awareness, you develop it pretty quick as a Ranger. It's damn near impossible not to because of all the attacks by Monsters, Bugs, etc

Red Rangers can give orders to their teams and the Power will give little pushes for the other Rangers to following it, but that doesn't mean the other Rangers can't refuse of their own volition

The Morphin' Grid affords its Rangers a form of immortality. They can be fatally injured, but otherwise, Rangers are effectively immortal

Some Rangers go on to become police officers, but most Rangers agree that working to assist and help people (ie.: lifeguards, doctors, breaking ground in the science fields) is best. Some of them establish dojos to train people to protect themselves (Tommy Oliver) and others work with volunteer efforts (Troy Burrows)

Veteran Rangers, Reds especially, tend to hang back during crossover events- this is to give the new Reds the confidence in themselves and their abilities, and allow them to grow into their leadership. The only exception was Forever Red, because Jason is a little bit of a control freak. He's the oldest Red, it's his right

When a Ranger is in a battle that forces them into demorph (i.e.: Gia, Jake, and Noah (Megaforce) against Creepox) the other teammates will be supremely worried and clingy, this is because of a trauma bond each team shares, but also because seeing someone you love get so hurt in a battle that they lose their ability to hold their morphs is fucking terrifying.

On that note, other Ranger teams will check in after those battles because seeing your successors get demorphed in the middle of battle is also something terrifying

Also on that note, some Rangers have specific nightmares in which they don't make it out of those demorph fights alive

The TMNT do on occasion pop out of the New York sewers to assist in a battle or two with the Ranger teams

Rangers who have martial arts skills (Ninja Storm, Jungle Fury, Samurai, Ninja Steel, etc) stick together, much like Rangers who are from or went to space

The techs of the teams have secret channels that they use to make "communication devices" (cell phones) so that Rangers don't have to rely on their morphers to communicate as well as being able to communicate with other Rangers and teams

Bulk and Skull have been linked so tightly with the Rangers that they've been kidnapped several times, only to be let go when it's been clear they aren't Rangers themselves

Junior Rangers have a chat, kids that helped Rangers (Heather, Jordon, etc.) have linked up and compared notes. They know of or know each other and most of them are tightly linked together

Possibility of more later, I didn't expect more than one post lol

[dandylovesturtles]

just a little write-up for one of my sillier AUs that I have in my head because I was thinking about it and just wanted to chat about it. this is all meant for spooky funsies so don't take anything too seriously here.

I do plan to write one of my Bad Things Happen Bingo entries set in this AU (no idea when I'll actually get around to it, but anyway) and maybe some other things in this AU if I feel like it. It just floats around in my head sometimes.

this is very very vaguely inspired by the old show So Weird, or more specifically the hazy memories of So Weird that I have from when I watched it as a child lol

ROTTMNT Paranormal Investigator AU!

Timeline:

instead of being a martial arts clan, the Hamato clan is a clan of psychics, people who have a mystical connection to the paranormal and supernatural, able to see things other humans cannot. their task is to keep the balance between our world and the world of the supernatural, and to protect humanity from particularly malicious spirits, demons, and cryptids

after losing his mother to the fight against a demon, Hamato Yoshi decides to leave the clan and eventually becomes a famous movie star

unfortunately with no one around to keep balance, the forces of the paranormal start to encroach on the mortal world more and more, wreaking havoc

the boys are still mutant turtles and Yoshi still ends up a rat. how? idk. honestly it's not important. it's a thing that is mostly lampshaded in this AU lol I just still wanted them to be turtles. I think Draxum is still here and he still wanted to make warriors using the Lou Jitsu DNA but the whole thing went astray and now he's just like their weird uncle they call sometimes when they have a problem

as they get older, various dangerous paranormal events convince Yoshi that he needs to begin training his sons in their clan's ancient arts and honing their psychic abilities, so that they can begin to restore balance in the world

uuuunfortunately he's super rusty and the kids are still learning so they have to do a lot of investigating of rumors and tips that get sent to them. this means a lot of legwork and a loooot of nothing. like 95% of what the boys deal with are misunderstandings, hoaxes, and rich assholes taking advantage of local legends for nefarious schemes

the other 5% though... those are the doozies

Yoshi has an apartment in New York that the kids grew up in but now they spend a lot of their time traveling the country in a big ass camper (van life)

also April is here

Leo

the skeptic

up until they ran into their first real paranormal occurrence, Leo was fully convinced that all this ghost stuff was nonsense and his dad was just trying to come up with some kind of publicity stunt since his acting career is behind him

after their first real paranormal occurrence, he believes it's real, but he's still super skeptical that most things they hear about are going to amount to anything

and 95% of the time he's right, which he always reminds his brothers of and this is very annoying to the rest of them

he still enjoys traveling around in the van though so he doesn't complain much

super good at scouting out clues and noticing things that the others don't...when they can get him to actually engage with what they're looking into

Leo is on the lower end in terms of psychic ability, but specifically his psychic powers have manifested as essentially a giant negation field. He can't be possessed, enthralled, hypnotized, or compelled, cryptids tend to shy away from him, he naturally rebuffs other supernatural creatures, etc.

this doesn't really help with trying to convince him that these things are real because they tend to run away from him

Donnie

fully believes that the paranormal is real but takes a highly scientific approach to it. he is going to crack the science behind ghosts and he's already got the spot in his room made for his resulting Nobel Prize. he's gonna be Donatello Hamato, Father of Ectobiology

builds them all kinds of ghost/demon/cryptid hunting gadgets, and is the one that handles all their equipment anywhere they go

reads books on ghosts and cryptozoology and then writes truly scathing reviews on good reads

is also the one who does upkeep on the van (it's only nice as it is because of Donnie)

claims to only care about evidence during a hunt but then has a tendency to get carried away when he thinks he's on the trail of something interesting

still, he can come around to a natural explanation like Leo if he sees enough evidence

he's also on the lower end in terms of psychic ability; what he does have gives him information. he's able to see the threads of how spirits connect to and interact with our world, able to tell at a glance when a footprint or dropping is not of natural origin (even if he's never seen it's kind before), able to sense when there may be some evidence the others can't see in the room. sometimes spirits are even compelled to beam knowledge directly to Donnie. also, demons or spirits trying to disguise their true faces doesn't work on him.

which actually freaks him out sometimes but he doesn't tell them that

the twins' psychic power also manifests in a lowkey Twin Sense in this AU; they can't literally read each other's thoughts, but they can feel when the other is having strong emotions or is in pain, and they'll just get a Bad Feeling if the other is in trouble of some kind

Raph

sits somewhere between Leo and Mikey/Donnie on the skepticism scale, but frankly he doesn't care if it's natural or supernatural as long as he can help

cryptids never like him and this bums him out. some of them are cute :c

on the flip side he seems to be a calming presence for certain spirits, especially childish ones

very scared of getting demon possessed, doesn't mention it

actually kind of loves when the solution turns out to be some kind of bad guy and then he gets to help hunt down and catch and unmask them, like some kind of super cool police detective

is the defacto leader because he's the oldest/biggest and no one else wanted the job anyway

drives the van when Yoshi doesn't want to (the others drive it sometimes too but Raph and April are the only ones with an actual license)

has a much higher psychic ability than the twins, able to sense when there is something supernatural in the area, able to talk to spirits, able to touch spirits and demons if they've crossed fully over into our world even if they are normally intangible. means he can punch a demon in the face if he wants to. he's able to do various rituals and exorcisms if needed as well, and can often banish spirits or demons if he knows what they are and how to best get rid of them. often does protection wards on his brothers when he thinks there's something dangerous around.

Mikey

a true believer, but doesn't think it's a puzzle that can be solved like Donnie does. there are things about the world and universe that are unexplainable, and he likes it that way

if the solution is something natural he's pretty much useless at helping though

"don't run off-" Mikey is already on the other side of the haunted house

is easily the most restless when cooped up in the van and prefers when they decide to camp at a campsite. loves sleeping outside.

Leo and Mikey are still close, but have a very highkey sibling rivalry over their differences of opinion with regards to the supernatural and what they're even doing

even still, Leo tries to stay close to Mikey to protect him (but Mikey often runs off so its a moot point)

unsurprisingly, Mikey is the strongest psychic of the bunch, and is in fact ridiculously strong. he can sense the presence of spirits, can communicate with them even if they haven't fully crossed over into our world, and can even do some minor mind reading and tell when people are being untruthful or compelled (he has to actively choose to do it though so his fam's privacy is safe. sometimes he gets visions of things that are about to happen. unfortunately he's also very vulnerable to possession and compulsion because of this, and cryptids are attracted to him, for good or ill. sometimes the things they cross are friendly or just looking for help, and Mikey is happy to do so! other times... not so much

April

she already believed in the supernatural before meeting the boys and meeting them just cemented her worldview for her

she loves ghost hunting/paranormal investigation for the thrill of it all

goes with the boys whenever she doesn't actively have to be in school; demands all the details when she can't be there

the one walking in yelling WHAT'S UP DEMONS, IT'S YA GIRL

along the way she picked up Mayhem and he's her pet now. he can teleport her to the boys if they need her help and she's still in New York

absolutely no psychic ability but she does have a bat

Yoshi

almost as powerful as Mikey, but retired

gives the boys lessons but otherwise usually stays in the van watching TV while they're actively investigating

only steps in if he thinks something terrible is about to happen

usually it's fine

[jadevine]

Braiding Sweetgrass (and science)

So I said I'd finally start reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer this week and Friday still counts, lol.

Anyway I've gotten a couple of warnings about how this is not just a book about "PLANTS PLANTS PLANTS, THEY'RE SO GREAT," but also how Indigenous knowledge of plants relates to colonization, the environment, and Kimmerer's family/cultural history as a Native woman. I'm going to need some breaks between reading sessions, although it's not so much "upsetting" for me as "heavy." On the other hand, I find this book comforting as the contrast to Kimmerer's situation, a scientist trying to find the art/beauty in her field: I'm a non-white artist who has a habit of ending up in white science spaces because I need to research stuff, and the constant compartmentalization of "Art/lived-experiences(TM) versus "Science/Study-Of-Other-Experiences(TM)" just grates on me.

Disclaimer: I know this is being changed/resisted against in recent times, but art/artists still tend to be seen by scientists as "not knowledgeable (in the right manner)."

Against my better judgement, I saw a Reddit post asking "how do populations/ethnicities with dark hair and eyes tell each other apart?" and after I inwardly sighed and gave them a list of "different traits that people have," I mentioned that this question is a VERY common dog-whistle for racism, and since it has such an easy answer, I wasn't sure why it was in a SCIENCE forum (or why it was kept in a science forum, instead of just suggesting that the OP cross-post it and ask some non-white people about it).

I got at least one scientist irritated at how irritated I was, and I was told, "you're a writer/actor, so you probably shouldn't be posting so much in a post on a SCIENCE forum. Please let the actual scientists handle this question."

And I was like (obviously paraphrased--my actual response was longer), "Okay then, can you tell me why I have only ever seen people panicking about "How do random Asians/non-white-folks in a city/country tell each other apart on the street?" regarding LARGE populations, when that is not how most people experience daily life? Like, hearing this question is as weird as asking, 'how do people in Paris tell each other apart when most of you speak French?' Like... Manila residents do not keep detailed police profiles on every other resident, I promise."

While I wait for someone to either ignore me or answer my question that piggybacks on the main post, I'm channeling Princess Leia and thinking, "Help me, Non-White Anthropologist. You're my only hope." But given my luck, I might get "helped" by someone who's more Anthropologist than Asian, and they're ALSO going to tell me to be nicer to people who are just asking questions.

Maybe I should have scrolled past this question and let everyone else talk about 'how do Asians/non-white-people distinguish each other when they all have dark hair and eyes?' without my tired Filipino ass coming in with, "WE TELL PEOPLE APART BY LOOKING AT EACH OTHER, DUHHHHH. Here's 100 traits to distinguish your average human from another one, you'll find that hair-color and eye-color are only two."

[german-enthusiast]

hi im sorry this questons isnt in German but im not confident in my ability and I can only read some of your shorter German posts. Do you have any way to learn more than just buzz words? Like I can understand bits and pieces but reading still is really hard for me, I'm asking because of your recent post lol its okay if you cant help me, thank you for your time!

Hi! No need to ask in German, no worries!

It would be interesting to know how you've been learning so far and for how long!

At the start of learning a language by yourself, it often makes sense to choose a pre-planned curriculum such as a textbook or online course (a free online example that's quite solid would be the DW Deutsch Lernen program!) That way you learn basic grammar concepts and words that connect to whole sentences instead of merely disconnected buzz words.

Beyond the basics, I believe it makes most sense to focus on the topics that are important to you personally and try to curate your resources based on that. Be it hobbies (learn sports vocab, art vocab, history vocab etc), aspects of your personal life (talking about family history, queerness, mental health, etc), your field of study/work (talking about science, art, linguistics, crafts, etc), or interests (like analyses of video games, literature, movies, historical events, politics, etc).

If you're dependent on buzz words, it sounds like you need a larger vocabulary overall and maybe going (back) to the basics will be worth it! A good way to figure out what vocab you're missing is to create output and see where you're stuck (though of course you always can understand more than you can produce!)

Most of the time, I don't hold back with my posts (i rather add to my complicated sentences than dumb them down!) so don't judge yourself too harshly based on them!

[candycane969]

✨🎧🌆ROTTMNT DONATELLO HEADCANONS🌆🎧✨

made by me! candy! :3 no major spoilers

A quick guide!✨

💜 - Supported by canon (things that are pretty sure out there, maybe not confirmed 100% but yeah)

❤ - Kind of supported by canon (things that happened in the series that miiiight lead to some other stuff)

🧡 - My source is that I made it the fuck up (still trying to fit it into the character tho)

⭐ - Not sure if I'm taking this headcanon or not, but I do think It's pretty neat

💋 - Kinky! DISCLAIMER: Ive always seen the rottmnt boys (and April) in the age group from 17 to 19 and thats what I headcanon them as (as it is my own age group!). Ive seen the show and was fucking sure theyre my age and then a month or two later I was slapped in the face with thier actual age lol. I dont support any pedo shit, I also dont think minors can consent. Just putting it out there

Lets go!🌆💜🎧⭐✨

The 'Tism

• 💜 I think Its pretty fucking obvious that this boy is autistic, pretty much everything in the show supports this.

• ❤ Donny's headgear also works as noise cancelling headphones! He's often overwhelmed by background sounds and his gear makes it easier for him to live his life (either on missions or just spending time with his brothers and/or April). He still loves blasting his music on the highest volume tho. It's different when you consent to hearing your jams then when several people are talking at once and youre going crazy.

Tagging as kind of canon because he might have audio sensory issues because of his autism and you can reraly see him without the damn googles.

Different stims

❤ Foot stomping

❤ Hand flapping

🧡 Repeating a song/part of song over and over (yes, even if it has no words)

❤ Spinning on chairs

🧡 Pacing around the lab/the lair

• 💜 He knows ASL! Though It's never said in the show why he learned it, I believe that because he goes nonverbal often. Everyone in the lair can sign a bit because of that, but not everybody is too good at it. Donatello can communicate in ASL fluently.

Gender

• 🧡 Donatello never really felt connected to being "a men" and categorising things as "for boys" and "for girls" always seemed dumb to him. Shortly after Leo's coming out as a trans men (SURPRISE LEO HEADCANON) he went to talk to him about his gender experience. After some thinking and digging, Don came to the conclusion that he is in fact nonbinary. He still uses mostly male pronounces but always appreciates gender neutral pronounces coming his way.

Sexuality

• 🧡 While realising his own gender he also figured out that he doesn't really sees gender that seriously in others either. Men or women, its pretty much whatever to him. He doesn't like to label himself much when it comes to his sexuality, he accepts reffering to him as a pansexual or bisexual.

• 🧡 When it comes to dating Donatello doesn't imagine himself with anyone, really. He finds himself attractive, but doesn't think anyone would fancy him in a romantic way. He's not interessted much in dating either way. But he doesn't exclude dating someone in the future. It's just he won't go out of his way to look for love.

• ❤/🧡 Its obvious Don is a men of science, he's a genius when it comes to coding, math, engineering, I would say chemistry as well. Thats the field he feels the most comfortable in, but he loves learning new things in general. As long as there is interesting knowledge he can obtain, he will be there, soaking it like a sponge. He likes listening to info dumps, and probably listens to long ass video essays and/or podcasts.

• 🧡 Don likes to learn about others people hobbys and takes interest in learning about it. He likes showing others that he cares about something, even though Its something totally indifferent to him. For example, he knows lot about art making process from Mikey (Angelo even made him paint with him a couple of times!) even tho he doesn't really likes drawing and/or famous artists. No many people appreciate his work so he wants to show his appreciation to others.

• 💜 He is pretty low empathy most of the time. It's hard for him to relate to others, and can often feel like someone is overreacting. It's also challenging for him to put his feelings "out there". Which often makes him look unloving or unfriendly. And it couldn't be farther from the truth. He loves his brothers even though they bother him most of the time. And he loves April as well (though she never really troubled him much). He never really thinks that his low empathy is a flaw (more often he thinks about it as a blessing) but there rare are moment when he feels helpless because of it. He is glad that his family knows that he truly cares about them (and accepts any effort he puts in to express his feelings, even if it seems small).

• 🧡⭐ I've seen people headcanoning Donny as a baker and honestly I like it a lot. Cooking is Mikeys domain, and it suits him well, as it allows a lot of freestyling and just overall feeling. Baking and pastry making is very calculated and one miatake can ruin the whole thing. It reminds Don of engineering in a sense. Also baking is an easy way to get love and appreciation from his family because, cmon, he just made the most angelic fruit tarts in the whole universe, of course they're going to praise him. It also works as a stress relief. When feeling stumped and/or overwhelmed over a project or a situation he'll make something easy like brownies to get his mind of it.

• 🧡 He's very sentimental. He loves receiving gifts and will cherish and use them (even if he doesn't like it). He still has every "gamers dont die they respawn" Tshirt and every "dont fuck with my brother he was born in october and has autism" mug. Sometimes he REALLY wants to throw something away but god damn it this is painting Mikey did when he was ten and is just five splats of paint and thinking about him somehow finding out and crying about it might destroy him forever.

• 🧡⭐ This bitch reads fanfics, thats it. It started when he was around 13 or smth with Atomic Lass x Reader and now he knows all the fanfic lingo. He still might read something from time to time and writes very long and well written comments (with constructive criticism).

• 🧡 Speaking of which, Don writes perfect sentences while texting. All the correct spelling and punctuation. He also communicates with emojis and gifs like a millenial.

Food, TW: drinking!

• 🧡 He has a rather strong head, you cant make him drunk that easily. But when it finally happens, youre in for a ride. Shutting him up is near impossible, he will talk non-stop but with much less eloquence then while sober. Its extremely easy to make him laugh, so Leo absolutely loves it. He often looses track of what hes saying and starts completely different rant. Overall a chaotic mess. Really fun to witness it at least once. His beverage of choice is either fun cocktails or beer (tho rarely and/or only with some kind of juice because he doesn't like the fizziness on his tongue).

• 🧡 And that takes us to Donatello that hates fizzy drinks. He hates carbonated beverages, no matter if its cola or champagne. The feeling on his tongue and in his mouth makes him really uncomfortable. When there is no other choice but to drink up some bubbless, he leaves it open for as long as he can to get rid of them. His brothers despise him for that.

• 🧡 He doesn't like weird food combos either and is rather picky. When ordering food Don sticks to what he knows not to risk an uncomfortable texture touching his mouth. Texture is the most often reason for him not liking a specific food. Donnys pretty strict to preparing food as well (the way he does a thing is The Correct Way and no other exception is acceptable). Also he puts milk first so his cereal doesn't get soggy.

• 🧡 I feel like he likes fruit juices in boxes and fruit mousses but this is pretty random 🤷

• ❤/🧡 He wears contacts! We've seen little Donny with glassess, so I assumed he wears contacts now. When he knows he will be spending all day in the lair (for example because of an injury) he still has a pair of glassess he uses. And yes, he tapes them to the head. Because he rarely ever wears them, he never came up with a solution for not having ears and needing glassess.

• 🧡 ABSOLUTELY hates smoking. Will go on a rant if he sees someone he knows smoking. He absolutely despises the smell and WILL take it out of someones mouth/hand and throw it away. Appreciates the fun smells of vapes but still hates them. Will call vapers losers (maybe not exacly in these words but he will for sure).

• 🧡 Really good at makeup, but not as good as Leo is (ANOTHER SURPRISE LEO HEADCANON). He spend years perfecting his eyebrows of course. He also wears eyeliner because serving cunt is important even on the battlefield. From time to time you can see his nails painted as well.

• 🧡⭐ While being flustered or simply distracted he stutters a lot, mostly in a way of repeating whole words or parts of a sentence ("Its good because- Its good- Its good because I um- Its good-")

• 🧡 Enjoys taking very long baths, and actually prefers them much more then showers. Can stay underwater for a rather long time as well!! Being fully submerged calms him down a lot and its overall very relaxing for him.

• 🧡⭐ Ive seen a lot of takes that without his battle shell, he is really flexible (due to having a soft shell). And I like the idea. I think, that before sitting infront of a screen (or a desk in general) to do his work for several hours he stretches deeply so his back won't be so sore later. Also a reason to draw Donny in yoga poses and thats always cool.

• ❤ Makes up shit to fuck with his brothers. Like just spreading misinformation and gaslighting them for shit and giggles. Or to get them to leave him alone for a while. Also will gaslight them if they somehow find out that he was lying ("what? you must have heard me wrong then 🙄💅")

• 💜/❤ Loves singing and dancing!!! Aint the best singer (tho I love his songs in the show Im kissing him as we speak) but is a gorgeous dancer! He finds it incredibly fun and feels fabulous while doing it. Also Im pretty sure dancing counts as stimming so add it to the list. Dances solo like 90% of the time but really enjoys dancing in pairs (dances with April a whole lot when they get the chance!).

• ❤ He rarely laughs out loud, but when he does it is loud and messy. A good joke can make him think about it all day and continue laughing for a long time. Not my og take, Ive seen this headcanon before and I love it so so much :3

• 🧡 From all his brothers, he kind of wishes to be human the most of them all. Its not a big big wish, he does think of himself as very unique individual and takes pride of being a mutant. But sometimes while hanging out with April he can get lost in his thoughts of "what ifs". Maybe in the process of making a cloaking accessory.

• 🧡 His handwriting is god-awful. All scribly and fucked up like Doctors writing. Unfamiliar eye would not decipher a word out of it, but Don knows exactly what everything means. But he mostly writes digitally.

• ❤ Dons dislike of hugging is canon, but I do believe he likes being touched on his head and face (head pats, cheek rubs, scratches). He enjoys hand holding when it's appropriate as well.

• 💋 Im headcanoning the boys to go through mating season once a year (except mikey cuz he small) everyone at a different time. It would be similiar to an ovulation but much more horny (with also fever symptoms). Don would be the second after Raph to get it. While in heat he doesn't go feral or anything, but after a few days stops working because he cant focus on his craft. Waves of sudden temperature changes (mostly high heat) with really horny thoughts and hypersensitivity to pretty much everything...yeah not the best work environment. He spends his  most intensive days closed off in his lab or room because he really doesn't want his family to see him like this (the rest of the turtles are in thier rooms during thier mating time as well for the same reason). Also add being possessive while having a SO, and also veeery easy to irritate.

• 💋 Donny takes on a more submissive role while being intimate, even though he loves to be in charge all the time. But he isn't a bottom either, I would put him perfectly in the middle as a switch (more leaning on that sub part tho).

• 💋 His biggest turn on is smell. Like someones natural smell, no perfumes and all. He likes to snuggle in the crook of the neck and take it all in. This becomes cranked up to eleven during mating season, as he absolutely cannot stop sniffing. Would love his significant other to leave him clothes with thier smell on it and sleep and/or snuggle with it.

Might add more later but thats all for now :3💜

Hope you enjoyed it⭐✨

[musicalmoritz]

If Sakumei stay together and go further. What will their date and relationship belike? Family dynamics even (if they adopted kids)?

More on SakuMei! Alrighty so if they got back together I see them being much more mature and ready for a relationship than the first time around. It starts out very slow, they’re hesitant to get back together after what happened the first time. But since they’ve been friends for so long, they fall into a natural comfortability with one another

They enter a honeymoon phase, being the happiest they’ve ever been together. Their friends are happy to see them happy, although there’s some slight jealousy on Natsuhiko’s end. Mei is leaving the art room more and actually trying to enjoy her “life.” Sakura helps her work through her existential problems and figure out who and what she is. Mei helps Sakura make sense of their own feelings and learn how to express them. Instead of focusing so much on their own wants for a relationship, they focus on helping each other. And through that help, they both become comfortable expressing when they’re unhappy with something or want something in the relationship to change. Real healthy shit, we have left their toxic yuri days behind

As for the type of dates they go on, I think they’re very lowkey. They drink tea and read books in the broadcasting room, or in Sakura’s boundary. Due to the open space, their dates often turn into group hangouts, so if they want privacy it’s best to go to the art room or the library. The art room isn’t always safe as Nene and Tsukasa will barge in whenever they feel like it. But the library can get crowded too so really, this school is hell for these two introverts. They make it work though, once the students have cleared out it’s pretty vacant

If you haven’t noticed I’m a big filmbro and like to include movies in just about every fic I write. This is more of a Sakura/Natsuhiko thing but I apply it to other ships with them, I think Sakura would be rly into creepy/gory movies. They have tackled the Disturbing Movie Iceberg (I’m only two tiers down, I’m too sensitive to watch all that shit lmao) and like to make ppl watch gross movies with them. To Natsuhiko it’s a form of torture but Mei doesn’t care for fiction so she’s more indifferent (Ik a lot of the movies on the Iceberg are documentaries/home videos but shhhh we’re ignoring that for this). She complains but she doesn’t get scared or grossed out the way Natsuhiko does, it’s more that she’ll point out how unrealistic the special effects are and make fun of the bad writing. Bad movies are Sakura’s favorite though so they laugh along, that way they end up bonding over their judgemental natures. By the end, Mei might end up falling asleep on Sakura’s shoulder

Most of their dates involve them just sitting around and talking. They don’t always have to say something, but they can keep a conversation going very easily. Neither of them are that talkative in crowds but one-on-one they could yap for hours. Because of this they know each other super well, they’re able to keep up with each other’s interests and viewpoints. They get into deep, philosophical discussions often, which leads Sakura to lighten the mood with tea

Now let’s imagine them in another life where they’re both human and get to grow old together. OG Mei and No.4 Mei are twin sisters here bcuz I said so. I don’t see No.4 Mei doing art full time but she keeps it up as a hobby for whenever she’s stressed, partially because it’s something that connects her to Shijima. She would have an art room in her house full of paintings of Sakura and her family (credit to you for that hc lol). OG Mei absolutely becomes an art teacher tho. I could actually see No.4 Mei going into the medical field and becoming a doctor, since art isn’t really her thing I think she’d be more of a science person. There’s also more personal reasons for it, she wants to help kids that are going through what her sister went through

For Sakura it’s hard to say. I think they’d own some sort of gothic tea room. They sell tea there as well to make some extra income. Not that they need it with their rich doctor wife, but it’s a nice bonus. To commit to the bit they wear black vintage gowns to work every day. And their house is an old manor, funded mainly by the aforementioned doctor wife. One thing abt Sakura is they’re going to commit to an aesthetic. They host a lot of events at the tea room like murder mysteries/scavenger hunts, especially around Fall. Mei stops by each one to support her partner, and when she does she’s always the one to solve the mystery

They have a son, one of those cursed little Victorian boys. They also own an unreasonable amount of cats, all with very formal names. They’re very weird parents, but good ones. I’m getting Addams Family vibes. Mei also goes butch in the future so she can be the Gomez, trust. They encourage their son to learn healthy communication skills and take up hobbies so he can explore his interests and make friends. They’re also very loving towards one another, a very romantic couple. They end up having a wonderful life together, along with their son and many friends who crash the manor. Natsuhiko and Shijima pop in most often, along with Tsukasa and Aoi/Nene. On occasion Mitsuba will drag Kou up to visit but he always gets creeped out by the place. This would make a great family sitcom

Thank you for the ask mootie, I love talking abt SakuMei!!

[fallynleaf]

Hey, I saw a post you made that mentioned that you went to school for star trek fanzines?? How on earth did you manage that, it sounds like a dream come true!!

it started with me seeing an article about the University of Iowa's fanzine collections! i think it was this exact article from this post in 2015. i had just graduated with my bachelor's degree and was considering going into library science at the time, but my state only had one school with an accredited master's degree program, and i hadn't gotten in the first year i applied to it, so i was sort of trying to figure out what i wanted to do next with my life.

when i read that article, i was really impressed by the University of Iowa special collections having a partnership with the Organization for Transformative Works, so on a whim, i looked to see if they had an accredited library science program. the answer was YES.

i started seriously considering actually applying there, and i found out that they also offered a dual library science master's along with a graduate certificate in book arts, so i thought i'd apply to that program and see what happened.

to my surprise, they accepted me! i also lucked out and managed to get a job that would cover most of my tuition and expenses, so it ended up being actually way cheaper for me to go despite being out of state lol. the downside was that i had to live in Iowa...

but grad school ended up being an amazing experience for me, and my professors were all super awesome and encouraged me to pursue my interests without being at all judgmental of me wanting to learn about fanzines, so i focused heavily on fan culture librarianship, and i spent a lot of time talking to Pete, the curator mentioned in that article, haha (he's extremely knowledgeable and also has so much respect toward fan culture. just a really great guy all-around; he truly deserves the opportunities he's gotten there).

i also studied zines from a book arts perspective, and learned about the history of the medium and got to meet one of the main scholars who is studying zines and archives.

i spent the rest of my degree taking way too many extra book arts credits (i actually applied for a full dual master's, an MFA in book arts along with the master's in library science, but i barely didn't get in (ended up being for the best in the long run, as i graduated right before covid lol), so i just have a graduate certificate in book arts and not a double master's degree). i took my required library science credits and did as many of my projects as i could about zines and fan studies stuff, haha, and then i filled the rest of my time by learning literally every book arts skill offered at UIowa.

there was surprisingly quite a bit of synergy between the two! special collections has quite a few people working there who also specialize in book arts stuff, so they got very familiar with me as a fellow librarian and also as a regular patron of special collections, either for my book arts classes or just because i kept visiting in order to read the Star Trek fanzines in my spare time, hahaha.

it's sort of an oblique angle to approach fanzines from, because most of what i studied was sort of, like, studying around the content, like i studied the material conditions that zines were made in as well as some of the issues with storing, archiving, and studying them rather than, like, analyzing the actual content of the zines, but it did put me frequently in contact with the zines and greatly expanded my understanding of pre-internet fandom.

the downside was that i ended up with a pretty print-material-heavy library degree (with some additional specialized knowledge that isn't very applicable in most library settings, since fanzine collections aren't exactly common...), and covid ended up largely killing my desire to remain in the library field.

so in terms of careers, i'm not sure it really did a whole lot for me (though in terms of personal growth it was a really incredible time and i don't regret it at all). i've pivoted away from libraries and back toward writing as my main career goal, and have spent the past few years also trying to learn Japanese translation so that i could maybe pursue that as a career. i concluded i need a work from home job, basically, lol.

i'm actually considering eventually reaching out to some of my book arts connections and seeing if i could find extremely niche work translating like Japanese papermaking stuff for English-speaking book conservators and such HAHA. but i'm waiting for my Japanese skill to be better before i try looking into that, since i'm not qualified at this point for any sort of professional translation work.

in the meantime, i've been learning translation by practicing with pro wrestling, hahaha. (i got into pro wrestling like two months before i finished grad school lol)

now my library degree lives on inside of me mainly through the work i've done volunteering with the OTW, some small zine projects and other book arts stuff i've done, and me using my book arts supplies/know-how to create materials for doing activism.

[dragonmarquise]

Bro i love reading your brc headcanons, do you have more about the futurism and eclipse crew members that date each other? I think i saw it mentioned in one of your posts and the idea lives in my head rent free

Ahhh thank you!! ;u; And I have a few for them! Maybe not as extensive as my other BRC ships but still.

Before I get into headcanons, just want give a shoutout again to this awesome art by @monkiinart which inspired me to ship these two in the first place! ;u;

So then, the two particular characters here, at least for my headcanons, are Nyx (FUTURISM spring palette, joins BRC in the post game) and Aquila (Eclipse summer palette, the one with dark brown hair).

First, the set up for them dating:

Nyx decided to just be blunt and asked Aquila for her number. Aquila of course thinks it’s just a trap, with the two of them being on rival crews and all. She challenges Nyx to a series of score challenges, five in a row, but is genuinely impressed when Nyx manages to nail all of them!

A quick script-thing of part of their exchange after Nyx finishes the challenges:

Nyx: So, am I getting those digits or what? Aquila: Still hoping for that, huh? You’re either very brave or very stupid. Nyx: Why not both?

That actually gets a laugh out of Aquila, and she figures, fine, why the hell not. They start texting/calling each other, and eventually go on dates, and then the rest is history!

And now other random bits:

Not quite related to them as a couple I think? But Aquila is femme and Nyx is butch, just saying. :u

At first, Nyx was pretty flustered around Aquila on their dates, partially in a “Holy crap I’m actually dating her now, what the hell do I do” kind of way. Which contrasts a lot with her usual calm and confident personality! Even after a while of dating, Nyx is still sometimes flustered around her girlfriend. Aquila herself doesn’t mind, she thinks it’s cute and will say as much. Which makes Nyx even more flustered most of the time, lol

Aquila does yoga and has gotten Nyx into it too. Nyx has also been getting Aquila more into video games, she’s found she enjoys turn-based RPGs the most.

Nyx tends to be snarky with others, even to friends and people she respects like DJ Cyber. Aquila is the only person to whom Nyx drops the snark. Likewise, Aquila is usually fairly dismissive of others outside of Eclipse, especially any rival writers, but with Nyx she’s genuinely respectful and kind. Not to mention they’re both very loving towards each other!

Favorite guilty pleasure for both of them is watching cheesy rom coms and romantic dramas together!

Aquila’s day job is as the director of a science museum in New Amsterdam. She loves it and often brings up science topics while she’s on dates with Nyx, like new research projects and discoveries across a whole bunch of science fields. She’s really happy with how Nyx is interested in this stuff too and can keep up with her.

Though, sometimes Nyx has to look up a ton of stuff afterward to get a better understanding of certain things they talk about. Usually with topics that she isn’t already familiar with. But hey, she gets through it for her girlfriend!!

Aquila has been meaning to try out cooking new recipes and stuff, but she would often put it off. Now that she’s dating Nyx, she has encouragement for cooking more, plus a taste tester for new recipes!

I mentioned in the FUTURISM post that Nyx sometimes gets into little prank wars with Cueball. She does “pranks” on Aquila too, but instead of like, scary or annoying pranks, it’s more like hiding positive and lovey-dovey notes for Aquila to find~

I think that’s about all I have… for now! If I end up brainstorming more stuff, I’ll either add them here or make a new separate post. :D

[mell0bee]

tagged by @candiedjellybean thank u dude!!! im p sure ive done this tag sometime last year so will be interesting to see if my answers have changed

Are you named after anyone? unfortunately, st. brigid of ireland, but also apparently it's a name thats been in my dad's side of the family too? either way my parents knew of the name due to irish catholic reasons. yipee! though im cool with it bc st. brigid used to be the goddess brigid from irish myth, and also both of them were badasses <3

When was the last time you cried? .....genuinely i think the last time i cried was in like. early march when i watched the holdovers? i think? taking a break from college has greatly decreased the frequency at which i cry lmao

Do you have kids? no sir

Do you use sarcasm a lot? i guess yes? probably about as much as the average person (this is not sarcasm)

What sports do you play? i do not play any currently (though i probs should. i am built like a twig and a strong wind will knock me over.) but as a kid i used to play soccer which i hated and was god awful at and softball which i liked more but i was also god awful at and mostly spent my time hitting foul balls and playing with the grass in right field. but it was fun!

What’s the first thing you notice about people? uhhhhhh. uh?????? if they're wearing a cool outfit or have cool hair or smth? idk man. i guess i dont rlly think abt it?

What’s your eye color? brown

Scary movies or happy endings? uh. both? am p sure my tolerance for horror is a lot higher than most people and im always down for a tragedy but i also like happy endings too. though from a writing perspective happy endings are significantly easier to pull off than sad ones (& more common. hero's journey and all that).

Any special talents? uhhhhh im double jointed in my thumbs. also i can put my foot behind my head. is that a talent? im also working on my sudoku time, i think my lowest time for master difficulty is around 6 mins 30 seconds? which is uh. above average?? i think???

Where were you born? idk apparently they cloned me in a lab somewhere

What are your hobbies? lately playing a lot of video games, writing (mostly fanfic), art stuff (mostly drawing but am learning how to use watercolor), uhhhh.... ttrpgs but i havent gotten to play in a while sadly

Do you have any pets? dog!!!!!

How tall are you? 5'3

Favourite subject in school? science

Dream job? ahahahah funny you should ask that, i say, having been doubting my choices in career aspirations and my post-undergrad 5-year plan that i've had since high school for the past 7 months, (please send help. but. for a serious answer. i think i still want to do science research? just maybe in a softer science like psych even tho my undergrad is bio & neuro???? idk. unsure.)

tagging uhhhhhhh candiedjellybean already tagged most of the ppl i usually tag sooo @halflingkima ? i think i tagged u last time too lol. & anyone else who wants to do this!!!

[siriuslysatorusimping]

Your rant about college au's and high school- first of all, I relate lol. Second of all, I had a slightly different college experience because I went to school at a teeny tiny women's college (700 students at most, no Greek life, no football). So it wasn't that there was a single student everyone knew, but that everyone just knew everyone. I love that I had that experience, but honestly reading Physical Paradox makes me wonder what going to a bigger school, a larger pond, if you will, would have been like. My grad school is still super tiny compared to most colleges in the state even though it feels a bit bigger to me. Maybe I'll get to experience it for my post doc - but if I only experience it through Physical Paradox, I can't complain :)

See, that reminds me of small-town syndrome. And as someone who is from a semi-small town, and whose mom is definitely from a small town (like, you mention her maiden name to someone there and everyone in a ten-foot radius knows who you're talking about 🙃) I feel like I would have hated that lol.

Though, I will say I went to a community college for a couple years before university, and that was actually really nice. But there weren't really people I saw regularly.

There's a level of anonymity to a big school that's super comforting.

I RANTED AND IT IS BELOW THE CUT 😂😂

When it came to my school, there were around... 35-40k students when I was in undergrad? We had a homecoming king and queen every year who were from some of the larger organizations or greek groups, but I couldn't tell you their names then or now. No one except the people in those orgs cared. Ever. They got people to vote by offering them free things. No one cared because it was literally just, "I need to survive this week. My future is on the line so why do I give a fuck if some asshole gets to walk on the football field and wear a fake crown?"

We had a student body president, but AGAIN I COULD NOT TELL YOU THE NAME OF ANY OF THEM EVER. (wait, that's a lie, one of my friends went to high school with one of them, so I spoke to him once in the hallway of the English building when he stopped to talk to her - long before he became student body president - and then promptly never spoke to him ever again. I think his name was Ben? 🤔)

I wasn't in any clubs, and I was never in a sorority, either, so things were likely very different for people who were. But I really enjoyed my undergrad and grad experience. I was depressed as fuck, but I still am, so I can't blame school for that lol.

When it came to recognizing people, I'm not joking when I say Mahomes was the only one people recognized. The quarterback a few years later was one of my friends' students and SHE HAD NO FUCKING CLUE WHO HE WAS AND NEITHER DID THE REST OF US BECAUSE WE STOPPED CARING ONCE WE COULDN'T GO TO THE GAMES FOR FREE.

If anything, there were a few professors who taught the basic courses that everyone knew because they'd taken a class with them because they had to at some point (a history, anthropology, science, or art history class). But I'm talking like, "Oh, Dr. Whatshisface, who teaches that one super weird class that counts as this core credit so you don't have to take the boring version? Yeah, everyone took that class." there was a professor who taught a northern myths and legends class who looked like a mix of Chris Hemsworth and Russel Crowe, it was strange. He also taught German. Most people had heard of him because he dressed up as Thor every Halloween to make his students laugh. He was really nice. He let us watch movies as extra credit.

Now, departments? Oh, the departments talked. Every department had professors everyone knew or hated or loved. My fave prof was a lit professor everyone thought was super hot (I've genuinely always been creeped out by this, and what's funnier is that he was also creeped out.) My least favorite was the asshole I've mentioned before, and literally no one liked him.

SO. Physical Paradox Goinko makes sense from a professor perspective because word spreads about the good and bad professors. "Don't take this guy because he's an asshole" "take this professor because she's wonderful" "if you take this guy, the class fucking sucks but it's actually really great and you learn a lot" "that guy is a dick, but he's actually a good teacher if you give him a chance"

That kind of shit always goes around. People ask acquaintances about professors or specific classes because a professor makes or breaks that class for the semester. I remember being devastated when a class I was taking got switched to a different prof last minute and GUESS WHAT IT WAS HORRIBLE. ONE OF THE ONLY B'S I GOT IN GRAD SCHOOL. FUCK THAT GUY.

But I'm trying to keep it as realistic as possible when it comes to the student aspect. Because people just don't know each other and they honestly don't give a fuck most of the time. You meet someone in a class and you become decent enough friends, but if you never speak to them again after that? Meh. No biggie. That's what Rinko and Geto were like before the class in Theoretical Introduction. They likely would have still become better friends in that class, even without Gojo there, though.

Grad school was different because you have cohorts and those are smaller groups of people you're with until you finish your program, but even then? I know next to nothing about anyone who was in my program aside from my best friend. BUT WE ONLY BECAME GOOD FRIENDS BECAUSE WE WERE OFFICE MATES. WE WOULD HAVE NEVER SPOKEN OUTSIDE OF CLASSES IF NOT FOR THAT. I think there were five(? it's been so long I actually can't remember) of us, and we became friends in that we occasionally grabbed drinks together and graded together but beyond that? I still speak to two people, including my best friend. The other lives kinda close to me now anD I JUST REALIZED I HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO A TEXT FROM HER IN WEEKS HOLY FUCK WE WERE TRYING TO PLAN GETTING DINNER-

okay rant over i'm gonna go reply and try to be a decent friend 🫠🫠🫠

[dualiti-real]

OC-tober Day 4: Re-Design

ok so I know it's no longer day 4 but I had a good reason and that was I had to actually draw something for this day instead of just posting old unused art, Ill try and get the others out because even if I miss the days the prompts help me get info out lol

MORE UNDER CUT

It's Grimm! I've posted some art of Grimm before, (he often got some of my most detailed artworks on my art blog @sp00ky-doodles) and recently, I had been going "man, I don't like something about this design."

(this is the old one. It's honestly not bad, there are many things I really like and kept- mostly it was just the face that was bugging me.)

So basically I dedicated a bunch of time in my sketchbook to drawing him a bunch in various slightly different ways until I found something I liked. turned out the answer was to give him an emo haircut haha

I also finally actually gave him ears and a nose. which for some reason I didn't give him when I first designed him. he looks better with them honestly I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. also I made his cloak a bit cooler because I am not immune to putting buckles and belts and zippers on everything I can.

anyway time for some Grimm Fun Facts!!

Grimm is a generally very laid-back person. he likes quiet environments and tasks that keep him busy.

due to a magic-related incident in his youth, Grimm has a bunch of extra weird arms that come out of a hole in his back. when he was younger he was freaked out by them, but he's gotten used to them. they're useful for carrying extra things.

Grimm is a Hunter, which is basically a Dualiti-exclusive variant of the undead that the main villain of Dualiti, Laurel, can make people into and control (think zombies but mostly sentient and strong as hell). he mostly uses them as soldiers, but due to the static nature of Dualiti, (not really able to go anywhere else, really only fighting the same people) most of Laurel's hunters are just sort of chilling. In Grimm's case, he's been around since Dualiti's force field went up like 1000 years ago and has no interest in fighting anyone.

this doesn't mean he isn't strong, though. he's a really powerful swordsman. Like crazy over the top anime levels. however as previously mentioned he is completely uninterested in fighting.

instead he spends most of his time maintaining a very large botanical garden area in some remote part of Dualiti. It gives him something to do, and plants are neat.

He's Vex's brother! they don't talk.

He was formerly part of the initial adventuring party that tried to stop Laurel back in the day, but a lot of things went wrong. like. a lot. he doesn't want to talk about it. he doesn't want to talk to anyone really.

The Society of Science (Scientific institution in Dualiti) actually uses the place to get any plants they may need for experiments, so there are some scientists who are also living in the garden in order to monitor some of the plants. they do not know Grimm is there, because Grimm avoids just about anyone who comes into the garden.

It's easy for him to do this because the garden is very big. If you want a visual reference for the garden itself, look at the Queens Gardens from Hollow Knight. I love that area in the game it's so pretty

Most people don't know Grimm is here and think the place is haunted. and maybe it is :)

Hidden deep in the heart of the garden is the grave of someone very dear to him. don't disturb it, okay?

[astrofae]

Currugated ask game: 🤕🌶️🚀🪞🔎🎳💺🛋️🧱🧰

🤕-Which boss is the hardest?

The Swansong is the bane of my existence. I've got over 700 hours in the game and I've... never actually beaten it. To be fair that's largely because I never really bothered doing mech stuff until recently (my achievement hunter brain craves Parasprite and Cosmic Intruder figurines) but hell, even the dungeon is hard. I can usually just blaze through all the dungeons, but even with endgame gear I die fairly often in the Dantalion!

🌶️-What do you think is your most unpopular Starbound opinion?

I don't care for Frackin Universe and similar overhaul mods. I just genuinely enjoy the vanilla experience! (Well, I call it Vanilla+ since I've got a ton of little QOL/bugfix/cosmetic mods. One of them literally just makes Snuggets glow)

I dabbled in Frackin once with friends, and it didn't interest me enough to start my own playthrough. It's certainly not a bad mod, just not my thing. I might do a heavily modded playthrough with Frackin and the whole nine yards someday, but I don't have any actual plans to do so.

🚀-Which ship design is the best?

They've all got their charm, but I quite like the Hylotl and Apex ships! I haven't actually gotten a fully upgraded ship with either of them, but I do like the futuristic designs. The Hylotl one is probably my favorite out of the two, though. The patchwork look of the Floran ship is also excellent.

🪞-Which starbound oc made you discover something about yourself, or inspired you to try something new?

I've been taking art seriously (as a hobby) for over six years now, but I never really bothered to draw people until I got invested in my Starbound OCs! I was a Wings of Fire kid so I started out drawing dragons(and I still do, just different dragons lol), but I've even gotten into gesture drawing lately just to draw my SB characters better.

🔎-What's a small, easy-to-miss detail that you just love?

I honestly really like the bug catching! It was absolutely a pain to get all of them for the achievement, but they make lovely lil decorations. The wild bugs add excellent ambience when wandering around on planets, too.

Also, all the little lore snippets from scanning stuff and talking to NPCs are excellent.

🎳-Funnest toy?

I must admit I never really bothered to do much with the toys! I kind of forget they exist most of the time. If I ever stumble across them I do have fun chucking them around my ship for a minute before they get banished into a miscellaneous storage box somewhere. I should do more with them

💺-What is your favorite furniture set? What is your favorite standalone furniture item? Do they go together?

I'm quite fond of the Astro set! One of my favorite things about SB is the sci-fi setting, and I love all the cool space props available. I like to mix and match them for individual builds, but Astro is my favorite whole set just because it's orange lol

My favorite individual piece has got to be the Symbiote in a Jar. I like to put them in my ship as a friend. Just look at him. Little guy

🛋️-Top 3 furniture mods?

I don't actually use any! At least not any elaborate ones; I have a few for little things like gravity field generators, ceiling-mounted sprinklers, and craftable plants and coral. Also more colors of string lights and neon lights, because shiny glowy things are a necessity.

Letheia Expanded does look very cool, though! I love mods that build on the existing lore like that.

🧱-Favorite block(s)?

The good old Ornate Wood and Classic Baseboards are some of my go-to blocks for regular house builds. Heavy Pipes, too! They make great extra details.

I also love a bunch of the super niche blocks. There's not exactly a lot of regular building uses for a block of eyeballs, but if you ever need some weird stuff for a science lab or whatnot then there's that!

🧰-What huge, super ambitious mod would you make if you had the time/energy/skills?

CHARACTER CREATION OVERHAUL. I utterly despise the little arrows for selecting everything. It's already a pain in vanilla, but when you start adding in things like Colorbound and new hairstyles it is absolute agony. I've never even tried modding and I've heard that the current BS system is hardcoded in, but I long for reasonable character creation. NPCspawner's creation menu is excellent (it uses lists of colors/hairs to pick from rather than the wretched arrows) and I wish vanilla had something similar.

[softgrungeprophet]

i write obviously, i took a lot of language and linguistics classes in college. it's a mix of art, science, it's deeply intertwined with anthropology and culture

anyway

it's rare (but possible; there are no universals in language) that a word is brought into the world bad. a word is a tool. it can be used to describe, to free, to find community and like minds (whether going on the adhd subreddit or being like, wow i'm gay too, let's chat) and of course it can also be used cruelly or twisted, to hurt people and confine them. words old and new can be used for all kinds of purposes of varying shittiness, varying goodness, varying neutralities...

but it's the people behind the words, not the words themselves making them tools/weapons/beauty etc.

on the one hand this means there are always new ways to use words and new words to exist, for better and for worse, and on the other hand this means that the problem is rarely the word itself (though obviously slurs are a bit more complicated in that regard) (and rarely straightforward among the people they are applied to) and rarely is a cultural or social problem addressed by something as black and white as "stop making words, stop using words, stop labeling experiences"--etc etc, take your pick of argument

the thing is, with words... is that stuff like that (restriction of any and all descriptions) is never going to happen (and if it did, that would be bad, imo), that's what words are and what language is

i think the most key thing i've ever kept in mind both during and beyond my language studies (and my general passion for linguistics, even as very much a low level non-professional--a hobbyist with a BA, if you will) is that words, grammar, intonation, all of it--language is context.

that might legitimately be the only universal in language now that i think about it lol. context. it's key--KEY--to meaning, to intention, to metaphor and color and poetry and all these other things. What language are you speaking? that's context. the fact that i'm writing this in english is context. it tells you how the letters and words i'm using should be interpreted.

context is the way language joins with culture (in all interpretations of the word: community, sexuality, ethnicity, class, etc.), with humanity and so on. they're linked so closely imo. this why any language class that's even halfway decent will generally have small mini-lessons, side paragraphs, tangents, about the culture in which they're spoken. Why IS this idiom? What DOES this word's use need? (though of course at a certain point you get into etymology there and ime most classes won't go too deep into that lol. it's essentially an entire field.)

now, listen, I don't buy into the sapir whorf stuff. for the most part, i think they were full of shit. at least when the hypothesis is taken to its most strict reaches. its highest concreteness. (not that there isn't sooome aspect of truth; i don't necessarily discount the hypothesis entirely and linguistic censorship and control 100% is a real, fashy thing, it's just... what i said. people make new words and find ways to talk about things they don't have words for. i don't think the nonexistence of a single or a few words necessarily prevents the entirety of a concept from existing, personally, though i won't argue that it can't mold perception or anything like that. what is propaganda after all...)

i'm rambling.

you know, last year around 8 months ago, a year or so after i first got diagnosed with adhd (was almost 28 at the time, am now 29 (and a half), took me... 5 years to find someone who would do anything) i was looking around, because i was physically allowed to begin stimulant medications after a couple of years of some serious health issues that prevented me from being prescribed anything other than non stimulants (probably reasonable at the time but still frustrating)--i went on reddit (i know 😂 but it's not that kind of story) to see what others' experiences were like.

the recurring thing people would say most often, of course, is that everyone on the board is different, that everyone's experiences will be (have been, are) different. not just medication but holistically. ADHD may have many commonalities but nonetheless, everyone's brain is different.

the other thing was me looking at threads of people saying, "am i the only one who does this?" and "no one i've ever met irl has this thing" and then seeing dozens of people say, yes i do this too, i also have not been able to meet other people doing this, i also thought i was alone,

and so on. little struggles and strangenesses that often felt like a pressure from everyone around them (us) irl asking why can't you just do X? (if you just cared more/tried harder) and you get a bunch of people saying, you're not actually alone, we're all here and not all of us do that but here are six or twelve or twenty or two hundred people who do.

it's funny because until my mid twenties (around senior year of college i think is when i began to look into it, thanks to posts i had seen online describing various aspects of adult adhd, adhd in girls, etc (not that i necessarily go with "girl" atm)) i had no word for describing what i was.

but the thing is i could tell there was something. so without the word to actually find other people like me or to learn about ADHD in a practical way, what i ended up with was not a lack of boxing myself in or of confining myself to a label. lol. lmao. prior, without "ADHD" as a reference point, what i had for myself was instead, "lazy" and "stupid" and "broken."

i don't trust any post that declares a cure to a cultural issue being to remove a word or words. rarely if ever will that solve anything. what it almost definitely will do, however, is deprive. when you do not have a word you can share with anyone else, it is very hard to find people who are like you (bisexual, ADHD, possibly a "drop of autism" as one of my therapists said) but people, including yourself, will still notice the things that make you yourself. that's the context, so where are the words?

(you know something funny? in either 6th or 8th grade (i only remember it was not 7th because we were in a different building in 7th grade) a friend of mine, in the gym, named Sadie, asked me "are you autistic?" Because she noted that i almost never make eye contact. i told her no. now, of course, with an unquestionably autistic younger brother (and me finally w an ADHD diagnosis like... 10 years later) all of us have begun to wonder about for example me and my sister but also about others in our family. we are a strange bunch. for some of us it's definitely ADHD, though some of my uncles are dyslexic, and for others... well you know how it is lol)

anyway what the fuck was i saying (how the fuck do i get my gboard to recognize context and stop suggesting "duck" no matter how many times i delete it?)

i just think it's always key to remember that the thing about words is that it's how you use them.

("born this way" is not innately a confinement; it was made that way out of a phrase intended to mean "this is who i am and there is nothing wrong with me"--not to restrict oneself to being only one immutable thing but to say I Was Born Me. Who "me" is doesn't have to be set in stone) (that's how i feel at least)

[soukeyed]

my cool and epic oc masterpost

(names from left to right: nebula, lynn, ember, dia, z, mercury)

link to their folder on toyhou.se, but honestly this post is probably a more comprehensive source of info

hello hello i was gonna make one of these sooner or later! thank u to @loveismine for asking abt them this was the motivation i needed LOL . also tagging @eqqbyte @harvsbian since they asked :]

STORY SUMMARY:

my oc universe (3 years unnamed and counting!) is set in a universe where most people die twice; the first time, you come back with powers based off of the way you died (or rarely something completely unrelated,) the second time you die for real. this brings with it a bunch of new cultural norms; middle and upper classes have ceremonies to achieve specific powers, lower class families sometimes save up for these ceremonies and bank on having one child with practical powers to support them through work. ptsd from the 'first deaths,' especially if youre someone who was put through a specific ceremony for it, is extremely common but largely dismissed. etc etc there's a lot of pointless details i've thought out

the story is centered around nebula - one of the many 'children' (test subjects) of the very very corrupt government - her wife lynn, a pretty normal woman who works as a model, and lynn's childhood friend dia (and HER sister ember) who resents nebula because . . . : )

nebula is keeping secrets, notably her actual origin and why she and lynn even met to begin with; when ember gets kidnapped during nebula and lynn's wedding, the entire plot kicks off.

CHARACTER SUMMARIES (UNDER THE CUT):

WARNING: all of these discuss death a lot given the story's themes, more specific warnings are given per character

NEBULA

art cr. me + me again + mocakola on toyhou.se / gallery

WARNING: includes discussions of child abuse/child death

one of the few legitimate children to her science-obsessed parents, nebula was involved in their government research since she was a child. the government intended to create an army of extremely powerful individuals, and to do this carried out a series of experiments to see just how random someone's powers could be - and if powers could be specifically engineered to manifest in a certain way.

to nebula's parents she was just another test subject, so she was given the name NE-004 and at five years old left to suffocate in space as part of one of their experiments alongside a group of other children. she came back to life with gravity powers; she can alter the gravitational field strength of any object within a 1km radius, as long as it's within line of sight. this wasn't the intent of the experiment, and so nebula was deemed a 'failure' and spent most of her life until around 19 growing up in a government facility with dozens of her 'siblings', being trained in combat, weapons etc. so she could still be useful in the future as a guard. it was dehumanising, isolating, and nebula and her 'siblings' were often subject to abuse from eachother or their handlers, or painful/invasive experiments from the facility's scientists.

nebula was sent out as a sort of spy when dia's family caught the attention of the government (more about this in ember's section, but ember's powers manifested in a unique way that the government wanted to research.) her mission was to get close to the family, gain their trust and eventually obtain the information the government needed more discreetly.

and then she met lynn.

(art cr. orpiiment on toyhous.e)

lynn was dia's best friend; the two were basically inseparable, so she was the perfect way to get closer to dia's family without seeming too suspicious, especially to the now paranoid and distrusting dia herself. with lynn, nebula felt for the first time that she was being treated like an actual person; her own emotions were clumsy and her social skills awful from her lonely upbringing, but the two of them quickly fell in love and got engaged.

all the while, lynn had no idea of nebula's origins. neither of them liked to discuss their families, so she had no real reason to suspect. but in the background nebula's superiors were getting impatient. two years passed and with no helpful information gained in all that time, they sought to resolve the issue themselves.

which leads to ember being kidnapped at the wedding.

LYNN

art cr. iouquie on toyhou.se + mocakola on toyhou.se + furei on toyhou.se / gallery

WARNING: includes discussions of child death (drowning) and references to csa

grew up as the oldest sibling in a large working class family; had to take care of her siblings a lot while her parents worked toward the promise of a proper ceremony for her when she became a teenager. lynn's family intended for her to gain fire powers since they were pretty practical + versatile, and as a result set her and dia up on playdates so they could become friends and eventually train eachother's powers together.

at the age of 11 she drowned. as a result she gained the power to turn her hair into water to its roots; something her family obviously didn't want for her. lynn's relationship with her family broke down over the years, not helped by her coming forward about the actions of a 'family friend' from when she was younger and made all the worse when they didn't believe her. she left home to live with dia's family at the age of 15; she still considers dia's parents more family than anyone else.

passing school with alright grades, lynn went into modelling and quickly picked up traction thanks to her looks and powers. she met nebula a little into her career; they bonded strangely quickly, and despite dia's distrust of nebula lynn proposed to her anyway. her life was going good.

in reality, lynn's self esteem was extremely low; her powers were weak and good for nothing except aesthetics (especially in comparison to nebula and dia's), she still felt guilt over 'abandoning' her family, she felt stupid and naive for letting herself be manipulated as a child but refused to kill her trust in people for it.

all feelings that would spiral out of control after the wedding, and after nebula would be forced to admit the truth.

DIA

art cr. zidanetribal on toyhou.se / gallery

pretty tame middle class upbringing; her mothers both worked for the government (relatively low level civil servants though.) went through a ceremony at the age of 13, just like her parents had before her, and came out with horns and a devil-like tail that could materialise fire (she doesn't use the horns often though because they singe her hair lol) and also severe nightmares but that's supposed to be normal.

pretty upbeat and flippant about most things but is fiercely protective of her younger sister ember, especially after the media attention her family gained in the wake of ember's powers manifesting. she shelters her pretty severely in an attempt to protect her and this definitely won't come back to bite her.

EXTREMELY mistrustful of nebula from the start; mostly gets along with her for lynn's sake. her hatred reaches a peak after the wedding and in the main events of the plot.

not a lot to say about her tbh? i love her though : ) if there's a character whose pov you'd be reading from itd probably be her

EMBER

art cr. yuchino on toyhou.se

dia's younger sister! more of a side character but she is plot important. very sheltered upbringing (much moreso than dia since ... dia is very overprotective lol) very nonchalant about like.. everything, she doesn't have much of a filter but it usually doesnt get her in trouble because shes not a mean person to begin with. underwent the same ceremony dia did at age 13.

the clawlike hands (she can summon fire w them) are the manifestation of her powers; this got her and her family media attention because this was the exact same way her mother's powers manifested - an extremely rare occurrence the reason she gained the attention of the government. this was one of their points of research; if there was a link between family members' powers and if there was a way to ENSURE family members had the same powers. this of course leads to them sending nebula out and later ember getting kidnapped.

Z

art cr. that_pitt on twitter + me + aquacanis on toyhou.se / gallery

i dont pick favourites but shes my favourite LOL. the girlie in my pfp!

scientist working for the government; plays a VERY minor role in the actual main story. her side story with her and mercury however is very dear to me. i'll just dump her toyhou.se profile link here because it has all her backstory etc written out anyway.

MERCURY

art cr. redline on toyhou.se + cookedshrimp on artfight + aquacanis on toyhou.se / gallery

WARNING: includes discussions of child death (via stabbing)

her and z's stories are like integral to eachother so i advise skimming z's backstory before this at the very least but i cant stop you lol

leader of the most high-profile resistance against the government. had a relatively happy childhood that was cut abruptly short when she was out with her family one day; they were mugged, and at 12 years old mercury was stabbed to death alongside her parents. she came back to life with the power to manipulate metals and was almost immediately bought into a prestigious school to train her powers, fully funded by the government. meanwhile her younger sister (being at home w a babysitter at the time) was put in foster care; their relationship was distant, though not from lack of trying on mercury's part.

mercury quietly grew to hate her powers; they were the reason she could barely see her sister, the result of her family's deaths, and yet they were treated like a blessing by everyone around her. at the same time they were the only advantage she really had in life, and in a way the last thing her parents had given her - so she trained like hell and graduated with top grades lest it all be for nothing.

somewhere along the line in high school she met z and they fell in love; z was smart and easy to talk to and about the only person she seemed to be able to have a real critical conversation with about their world - what these powers meant, why they happened in the first place. they both ended up in one of the country's top universities; funded and used personally by the government to scout new talent.

and then, at the start of her second year of university, z vanished. no goodbye, no texts, nothing.

mercury spiralled. she dropped out and searched desperately for z long after anyone else had accepted her death, devoted her life to that and nothing else and barely took care of herself at all. along the way she stumbled across forums; huge networks of people whose loved ones had vanished in the same way. then, even smaller networks talking about how they'd been working for the government months before and now their so-called 'employers' were acting like they'd never existed.

the rebellion was never meant to be what it became. it started as a sort of support group; a shoddily made up forum mercury created herself where people could freely discuss their loved ones and what might have happened to them. the group grew massively, countless stories of the very same circumstances; people digging up whatever proof they could, all manner of people contacting mercury asking how to help, offering funds, even those wanting to seek their own justice - and mercury can't say her encouragement of it was entirely selfless.

the grief had to go somewhere physical. over the years mercury's group outgrew it's original shitty webpage and became something else entirely. but despite being branded as the resistance's leader, most of its build-up felt out of her hands; she managed the funds and tracked members, sure, but she was never a leader. she couldn't give speeches or motivate any emotion but anger. violence was the language she spoke best, despite it all.

she never forgot about z. every time they raided a government facility or uncovered some new documents she looked for her face.

she found it, eventually - on the side that she'd been fighting against for years.

despite that, mercury still loved her. z was one of the only things she had left to love and she clung to her with everything she had. noone knew, of course, because the consequences for either of them would be deadly, but they still got together frequently. despite everything z had done, despite everything mercury knew she'd been capable of and despite how much they fought, now.

mercury is a minor character in the main story; she becomes a sort of mentor figure to nebula and her and z's relationship is sort of a parallel/worst case scenario of nebula and lynn's. i love her very very dearly.

if you've read this entire thing: thank you so much! have a mercurz image dump because they are truly everything to me.

(by redline on toyhou.se - right img is my current pfp!!)

(by aquacanis on toyhou.se aka the goat of mercurz art. they never miss)

(by twgp on toyhou.se . i just . explodes.)

tysm again if you took the time to read this entire thing. i love you and you are so cool

[miraculouslybobatea]

15 Questions 15 Mutuals!!

Thank you thank you so very much for the tag @bengaltiger25 !!

Are you named after anyone?

Kind of. My name isn’t the same as, but it is based on my maternal grandmother’s name.

When was the last time you cried?

Uhhh probably last night lol. Nothing really happened yesterday , I’ve just being doing that a lot for the past year.

Do you have kids?

NAUR. I’m wayyy to young for that lol.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Oh never. I’m probably the least sarcastic person ever /sarcastic/. No bit in all serious I can be pretty sarcastic. I’ve been told that despite being pretty quiet I tend to say the funniest stuff under my breath.

What sports do you play/have played?

I used to play soccer for a while until I was like 13ish. I would’ve liked to have continued but to do it in school I would’ve had to choose between sports or theatre (I chose theater). I also did track and field one spring.

What's the first thing you notice about someone?

I never really thought about it but probably their outfit. Not in a judgmental way, I just tend to notice what people are wearing, even if I’m just passing them on the street.

What's your eye color?

Okay so this is actually kind of interesting! If you’ve noticed in any of my drawings of myself my eye color is probably kind of indeterminate.That’s because I have central heterochromia, so the center of my eyes are kind of blue but the outsides are brown (it’s more noticeable on my right eye). Trust me, it doesn’t look as cool as it sounds irl.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings PLEASE. Though I love some good angst, I need it to end happily. I don’t really like horror movies because I usually just end up bored.

Any special talents?

Idk if I have any special talents. I like to preform, like music and acting. I also like most things art, so painting, drawing, digital (as you’ve all seen if you know me), etc. I also bake and I’m decent at it.

Where were you born?

New York New York baybeee

What are your hobbies?

I already listed some, but singing, listening to music, anything artsy, skating, watching movies and tv, sewing.

Do you have pets?

Until recently I had a cocker spaniel, best in the world- here look at him. Look at his face.

How tall are you?

5’0”, or 152 cm (I think). My parents are pretty short so it makes sense.

Favorite subject in school?

Ooh this is tough. I enjoy most subjects and I do about the same in all of them so it’s hard to pick. Idk if I can pick a favorite but I can tell you that my least favorite is probably mathematics.

Dream job?

I’m not really sure! I’m probably going to end up doing something medical/science oriented, but it would be really cool in a complete fantasy world to do something involving designing or where I’d get to work with animals.

@o-cinnamonstickz @eating-you-alive-cutely @spookyanxiety @silverwolfie100 @andonyourown @xocosplayluverxo and anyone else I may be missing, it’s your turn now!!!