#not to mention a decent chunk of people spending a lot of time getting into fights online are literal teenagers under 18

[hootenanie]

if you're freaking out about tumblr posters saying they won't vote and others shouldn't either, please remember that this is a very obscure website and the amount of bloggers making these posts and living in swing states in the usa is just statistically incredibly small

[mypimpademia]

— College

College student! Bakugo x College student! Black! Fem! Reader

Synopsis: Headcanons of how Bakugo would be as a college student + what it’d be like to date him.

TW: Swearing, mentions of injuries, suggestive on some parts

Note: Made with the help of @katsumiiii <3. Also this is a sort of implied quirkless au bc it’s a college au but it doesn’t matter too much.

⇶ When Katsuki gets to college, he mellows out a whole lot

⇶ Of course he’s more mature than he was in high school. But now, he has a very obvious security in himself and is like a whole new person

⇶ He’s much quieter, and keeps to himself for the most part

⇶ Somehow, he’s even more focused on his goals than ever, and because of that he just doesn’t have energy to waste on cussing people out and yelling all the time

⇶ He has so much going for himself and he knows it, his priorities are set in stone and nothing can keep him from reaching his goals

⇶ Katsuki would likely major in something related to business whether it’s actually business, finance, analytics, etc, that’s all he can see himself in, and he’d fit the part well

⇶ Even though Katsuki has worked through a lot of his issues by this point, he still has a lot of frustration and stress he needs to channel

⇶ And being competitive by nature, he joins the football team and boxes on the side

⇶ Despite most of his teammates being fairly popular, Katsuki is extremely lowkey

⇶ He is still very popular, in a sense. People know him and know of him, but he minds his business and hardly speaks to most people

⇶ But of course the one person he spends as much time with as possible is his pretty girlfriend

⇶ What drew Katsuki to you initially was your determination and work ethic

⇶ You were smart, and heavily involved with the school and your peers, and he found this oddly attractive

⇶ Before getting together, you were decently known through your in involvement around campus. But after, you were both school celebrities

⇶ Everyone knew, or knew of, the two of you. And they all knew you belonged to each other

⇶ Though, you were both so busy that you’re hardly together during the week

⇶ But you always make your way towards each other by the end of the day, and compensate for lost time over the weekends

⇶ During your freshman year, you’d sneak into each others dorms for the weekend to spend time with one another

⇶ Of course, staying in a drab dorm room all day could be boring, even with company

⇶ So the two of you would always end up taking little adventures together whether it was a walk around campus, driving around town, shopping, or going out to eat, you always made sure your time was well spent

⇶ By your sophomore year, Katsuki would get his own apartment near by the campus

⇶ And although you still had a dorm, you essentially lived with him

⇶ A good chunk of your clothes and shoes were there, he bought all your body care for you so you weren’t taking it back and forth, more bonnets than you’d ever need, and of course, him.

⇶ But it was an advantage to the both of you, and your relationship. Because as busy as the two of you could get sometimes, even if you didn’t see each other the whole day, laying in the same bed at night was enough for you

⇶ During the week, even if your schedules had no alignment whatsoever, Katsuki would always make time to see you

⇶ He has a special knack for always knowing where you were at all times, and knew just when to show up, even if your location was off and you hadn’t communicated where you were to him in the slightest

⇶ This especially comes into play in the context of getting all three meals in on a daily basis

⇶ Katsuki still loves to cook, and he’s never played about having a proper diet and he won’t start with you

⇶ Even if he’s gone from his apartment by the time you wake up, there’s a nice warm breakfast sitting on his counter for you

⇶ And no matter where you are come lunch, he’ll make sure that you eat

Katsu💖: You eat yet princess?

You: Nah, I don’t have time to eat rn anyways

You: I think ima just skip lunch ngl

Katsu💖: The fuck do you mean you’re gonna skip lunch

You: I mean I’m gonna skip lunch!

Katsu💖: No tf you’re not

Katsu💖: I’m otw I’m bringing you food

You: bro

You: my location not even on rn fym you’re otw🧍‍♀️

Katsu💖: ? I don’t need your location to be on to know where you are

Katsu💖: What kind of bf would I be if I didn’t know where my gf was

Katsu💖: Especially if I just let her voluntarily starve like a dumbass

You: Alr.

Katsu💖: What do you take me for??? A fucking loser???

You: Now what if I said yes Katsuki.

Katsu💖: Then you’re not getting food

You: Yeahhhh okay😂😂😂😂

Katsu💖: I’m outside

Katsu💖: Hurry up before I change my mind🤦‍♂️

You: Ty bbg😋

Katsu💖: Do not call me that

⇶ Katsuki pulls his random “I’m outside” texts often

⇶ Usually, it’s to bring you some food, and sometimes he just misses his girl

⇶ As crazy as they may be at times, seeing that notification pop up never fails to make you smile

⇶ Nobody misses it when you smile like that either, you’re so well known as a pair that it’s expected that you’re going to see him when you basically skip out of the room

⇶ Unfortunately, being a well known pair doesn’t stop audacious people from hitting on either of you

⇶ On Katsuki’s end, he think people are insane when they approach him in such a way knowing that he’s dating you

⇶ It’s such a slap in the face whenever it happens, that he can do nothing but stare at the person like they’re stupid until they go away

⇶ On your end, Katsuki’s temper jumps out whenever people get the nerve to approach you in any sort of flirtatious way

⇶ If he’s in the area whenever it happens, he always pops up to remove the person from your space

⇶ If he’s not, you always tell him exactly what happened and the only response you ever get is, “I’ll handle it.”

⇶ Regardless of whether or not he’s present, he always handles it by having a less than friendly exchange with your pursuer that usually puts an end to things

⇶ If the person decides to persist for some reason, you become more reluctant to tell Katsuki about it

⇶ You know he cares about you, but you don’t want him stressing or putting to much energy into something that’s not worth it

⇶ But Katsuki can read you like a book, and to him, no energy that goes towards you is ever too much

⇶ Though Katsuki’s is reputation is fairly polished, it’s only blemishes come from people he ended up fighting over you

⇶ Days where neither of you are busy are both of your favorite days

⇶ They’re usually spent at his apartment, or running errands together

⇶ And of course, he squeezes in time for dates

⇶ On occasion, he’ll randomly tell you to get dressed up nice before taking you out for a fancy dinner and spoiling you with delicious food and thoughtful gifts

⇶ While you always stress about him spending so much money on you when he doesn’t let you do the same, he doesn’t mind at all

⇶ To others, Katsuki always seems to have a suspicious amount of money for a college student

⇶ It sparks some rumors, but nobody cares enough to make a big deal about it

⇶ The truth is, he makes money by modeling for his mom on the side, and makes a little off boxing as well

⇶ And if he’s being honest, most of his money goes to you

⇶ He pays for your hair products, hair, nails, clothes, random things you want, and sometimes even your groceries

⇶ Most of the time, you do small dates like picnics and study dates

⇶ He’ll set a cozy mood in his apartment with a led lights, a playlist going, candles lit, and both of you in matching pajamas

⇶ Katsuki makes snacks during breaks and gives you kisses whenever you get a question right

⇶ And what kind of boyfriend would he be if he wasn’t your personal tutor? He helps you on all and any work that you have, and if he doesn’t know jack shit about the class he’ll learn just for you

⇶ On days where just one of you is busy, you’re still attached at the hip, tagging along wherever the other goes just to be in each others presence

⇶ Game days are “secretly” Katsuki’s favorite

⇶ There’s a certain feeling that he only gets when he sees you wearing his jersey and hears you shouting his name from the stands

⇶ Runs over to talk to you whenever he gets a chance, even if he’s not supposed to be over there

⇶ Takes his good luck kisses VERY seriously, and honestly gets frustrated if he doesn’t get one both before the game and during half time

⇶ Even though he’s supposed to be with the team after games, he somehow always manages to slip away and simply go straight home with you

⇶ Half the time, he should be going to his trainers to get any cuts and bruises treated, but he’ll break a bone before he goes to a trainer instead of you

⇶ Puts it on everything that he heals extra fast when you do it, and even faster if you kiss him while you patch him up

⇶ While cleaning him up should really only take 30 minutes, it always ends up taking 2 hours because Katsuki can’t keep his hands to himself

⇶ Always going to kiss you on your lips, cheeks, and neck, always trying to hold your hands, grab at your thighs, pull you closer by your waist

⇶ You can hardly manage to ice a bruise when he gets like this

⇶ But when you finally get done cleaning him up, he thanks you and smothers you with more kisses

⇶ Cooks up a nice dinner to curl up on the couch with, and puts on a movie that you more than likely fall asleep to

⇶ But like the good boyfriend he is, Katsuki carries you to bed where he puts your bonnet on for you and crawls into bed with you

⇶ Coming home to you is by far Katsuki’s favorite part of his day, and even with the path in front of him, he thinks he’d be lost without you

—

Taglist: @megurulvr @ivanine @planetlunaa @rynfiles @szaplsdropthealbum @dreampurpledreams @goldenglow149 @gender-queery @roaringlion @cosmiles @tatiquichi @kxtsxkii @lillizxzz @starsoir @nikorubakugou @ruubric

Send in an ask or DM me to be added to all taglists, or fill out my form to be added to select ones.

—

Thank you for reading, follow for more! Comments and reblogs are appreciated! <3

[mdhwrites]

Andrias vs. Collector: Who Was Redeemed Better?

Andrias hands down. Not only is it helped IMMENSELY by character consistency with him but it actually functions with what we know of him. Despite literally only ever getting half an episode dedicated to him (he doesn't actually get a lot more screentime than The Collector, especially while as a villain) we understand his motivations, the reasons for his cruelty, why Marcy made him cold and annoyed every time she was even mentioned post True Colors (he did not enjoy torturing Marcy. The literal only claim there is one line from True Colors where he blames her but otherwise, Marcy is fridged SPECIFICALLY to give someone for Andrias to show regret about) and then when shown how far he had fallen from the good man he was, he goes ahead and tries to fix that. First a final act of heroism but then not asking for forgiveness or the like. He is too guilty to need, or perhaps even want, such things and he instead can try to put things right on his own. In the end, we are left with the impression that Andrias WILL continue to tend to Amphibia now until the day he finally dies. It's actually done pretty well for the fact that it's given such little direct attention, especially by the time he's supposed to start being redeemed.

Meanwhile, the Collector's arc only works if you ignore large swaths of the show. His redemption mostly comes down to the idea that he needs to learn morality and that other people can be hurt by his actions but... He already did. In Watching and Dreaming, he yells at Belos controlled Raine specifically about how King will hate him for the nightmares, showing that he understands that his actions can upset people. In S2B, he talked about wanting to play with bones and criticized Belos for potentially murdering the Grimmwalkers, kind of opening up a moral conversation about the nature of Belos' treatment of them while showing his knowledge of death.

Even if we believe he didn't know these things and try to say he was manipulated, we can't. Belos' goal was extremely explicit and back when he was Philip, he had no reason to lie to the Collector. A spell to kill all witches in return for your freedom was the deal. That's pretty damn evil and the Collector could have always said no but instead he's EXCITED for them to be dead in Hollow Mind. All that matters to him then is his freedom, screw anyone else. Then when he is freed, he has neither the archivists or Belos to push him around and tell him what to do. As such: Why the fuck did he make the hunting stars? You know, the roaming stars that turn people automatically into puppets, rendering them to a fate worse than death as they are conscious and aware of what's going on, even as they are entirely incapable of doing anything about it. They are still around MONTHS later. Hexside literally keeps watch for them. If he is just a little guy, why the fuck did he make those in the first place and why are they still around?

None of this is ever addressed though. Instead, the show spends a quarter of its finale, and a decent chunk of the special before it, focusing on trying to redeem him and show him off as a good guy while not having him actually acknowledge the awful, terrible things he did. There's no taking of responsibility like with Andrias. There is no proper refusal of his morality or change in his thinking. Even his attempt to make peace with Belos is flawed because it's still the same all or nothing thinking that we've seen up until now for the Collector. "I do X, I get friend." It's not actually an acknowledgement that other people are complex and have their own free will, it's just a new form of trying to easily get what he wants. Then after her turns people back, which is good, he just leaves. He doesn't do anything to actually make up for what he did or allow him to face a world that he has irrevocably damaged. Instead, he abandons it all. All that responsibility and guilt can just be left behind instead of actually worked on. How is that a show of what he learned? Of him rejecting how he was before? Of him being REDEEMED?

It makes it much less an arc and more something we're told. At least when Andrias powers down to make Anne's final punch on him more effective, we have seen his regret. We have seen his motivations. We have seen as one is pushed into his face and the other torn down. Then we get to see him act on it, allow his conquest to fail, as a willful decision to back down from that evil rather than double down. Then we see follow through with him in the timeskip where he is still simply trying to make up for his sins, even if no one will ever tell him his work is done.

We don't get anything like that with the Collector and that's why he will always be easily worse to me.

======+++++======

Someone shared a Reddit post on this topic in my Discord and I almost posted 95% of this as a comment there. I... I know better than to do that on Reddit though so I decided to just let it be a blog over here.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[fallingtowers]

so i've been thinking about season 4 lately, and i've got this theory that adam is actually a good villain.

ok, before i'm flayed alive for my apostasy, lemme qualify that statement. i can't pretend s4 is my favorite season of btvs by any means, but i gotta give credit where it's due -- it's got more going on underneath the hood than you might think.

s4 is all about purpose and direction. it's about the characters changing tracks and trajectories, bumping up against the questions of who they are and who they're gonna be. obviously this is a recurring theme on buffy (it is a coming-of-age story, after all), but it's never more front-and-center than here, where much of the cast is crossing perhaps the clearest line between childhood and adulthood in usamerican society -- fitting, considering the show itself has lost a large part of its established framework and is now trying to establish a new status quo.

let's take a look at what the characters are up to during s4. the kids have graduated; buffy and willow are starting college. willow's relationship with oz ends, and she spends a decent chunk of the season coming to terms with her feelings for tara and her identity as a lesbian. xander's looking for work, with an emphasis on looking -- before he settles on construction, he spends some time drifting from job to job, never quite sure what he wants to do. giles is out of work too and spends much of the season struggling to fill his days. the scoobies as a group are scattered and directionless, unsure of their places in the world.

the list goes on. riley's whole arc is about losing his bedrock purpose and having to find a new one; "no sir, i'm an anarchist" may be a lame-ass line, but it is very thematically significant. spike gets chipped and finds he can't kill people anymore, and so now what is he good for? and then he realizes he can still hurt demons, and his trajectory for the remainder of the show is set. anya, talking about her career as a vengeance demon, gets a very telling line in "restless": "well, you know how i miss it. i'm so at loose ends since I quit." even faith's brief appearance in this season sees her struggling with questions of purpose and (in a particularly on-the-nose example) identity.

of course, since it's btvs we're talking about, all this is reflective of what buffy is going through (remember, this is the season that makes explicit the metaphor of the core scoobies as different parts of buffy's psyche). buffy's in a transitional period; she's going from high school to college, from her mom's house to a dorm room. she's struggling to adjust, and the show takes pains to provide her with things to struggle to adjust to. at the end of the first episode of the season, she says college is "turning out to be a lot like high school," but this statement is immediately undercut by the first appearance of the initiative.

say what you will about the initiative plotline, it makes a lot of thematic sense. there's a lot of very intentional contrast between the slayer and the initiative; where the slayer bloodline is ancient and mystical, its roots lost to history, the initiative is sleek and modern. its rife with purpose -- and, sure, to be fair, that purpose is absolutely clandestine and sinister, but it's unmistakably there. from its first appearance in "the freshman," there's a sense that the initiative is working towards some unknown goal.

sunday's gang and the initiative occupy different roles in the story, of course -- one's a straightforward group of enemies of the kind we (and buffy!) have grown to expect, while the other is a much thornier and less straightforward kind of problem. the way the show trades the former for the latter, not to mention the way the latter takes prisoner a member of the former, is of course very intentional, a way to reinforce the upset of the status quo. still, we can read both groups as representative of the same metaphor: the idea that buffy's been thrust into a world in which she feels she alone doesn't know what she's doing, but everyone else seems to know exactly what they're doing and where they belong. in a word, it's buffy's first true brush with adulthood.

buffy eventually aligns herself with the initiative, but even then, she remains the odd one out. she's a better fighter than any of them, but their methodology and aesthetic make her seem antiquated (see walsh's "we thought you were a myth" line), and she can't figure out their jargon or their militaristic command structure. try as she might to fit in, she just can't seem to be who they want her to be.

compare this with adam.

much hay has already been made about how well or (much more commonly) how poorly adam works as a character, and i won't bother to relitigate all that stuff here. yeah, walsh's exit is abrupt and unsatisfying, and yeah, adam lacks the personal connections to the rest of the cast that made her such an effective villain, and yeah, god help me, he does have a disk drive in his chest. i'm not gonna argue that there aren't big flaws with the execution of the initiative plotline generally and adam specifically, but i will argue that there's some really interesting thematic conversation going on between adam and the season at large.

s4 has this throughline of various characters inhabiting various personas. this is sometimes voluntary and sometimes not; it usually involves the character becoming stronger or more competent or more carefree or otherwise "better." of course, btvs as a whole is very preoccupied with identity, so s4 is not alone in this -- "halloween" and "band candy" spring to mind as examples of the kind of thing i'm talking about here, and of course e.g. riley pretending to be an ordinary person is something we've been watching buffy do for three seasons now -- but i'd argue that it's even more prevalent in s4 than elsewhere in the show. there's cathy pretending to be human in "living conditions"; veruca in "wild at heart" suggesting that the wolf is oz's true self and that "this human face is just your disguise," and oz telling willow that "i don't know where that line is anymore between me and [the wolf]"; buffy's transformation in "beer bad"; giles's transformation in "a new man"; faith and buffy switching bodies in "who are you?"; the entirety of "superstar." towards the end of the season, after adam reanimates forrest as a half-demon, forrest says, "i'm surging with life and strength [...] this is the best thing that ever happened to me."

it isn't, of course. in fact, most if not all of these forays into being someone else end badly. they're explorations of who the characters are and who they might (like to) become, and they all seem to point to the same conclusion: you can pretend to be someone else, but sooner or later you're going to have to be yourself, whoever that might be.

so who's adam?

the show asks this question at least a couple different times, in a couple different ways. this first happens in "goodbye iowa," when adam himself asks, "what am i?" later on, in "restless," buffy comes at the question from a different angle by asking adam's human half his name. the answers the show gives to these questions are telling. in "goodbye iowa," adam is told he's a monster ("i thought so," he replies). in "restless," his human half says, "before adam? not a man among us can remember."

who is adam? well, he's no one. he's a monster, a frankenstein, a thing remade and stripped of all its past identifiers. he wasn't born, but built, and this is crucial. this is the thing that makes him superior as a villain to professor walsh in at least one respect. for all their secrecy and sinister aims, the initiative's soldiers and scientists are human. they, like the demons they capture, are messy, alive, with no inborn reason for being. adam is different. in a season that's all about the search for purpose, he stands out as the only character to have been purpose-built. one of his most important lines imo comes from "superstar," where he says: "i'm aware [...] no one -- no human, no demon -- has ever been as awake and alive as i am. you are all just shadows."

in the end, buffy and her friends defeat adam by means of the enjoining spell, but the spell is just a metaphor for the actual reason they win. this is the moment i was talking about above, the moment where the scoobies-as-parts-of-buffy metaphor is made explicit, and it is itself a metaphor for them accepting and affirming not only their roles in buffy's life, but also their identities at large. see, it's not enough for xander to say he's the heart, or willow the spirit, or giles the mind; they have to believe it. so here we are, at the end of this awkward bumpy transitional season, which our characters have spent figuring out who they aren't anymore and who they might be and who they want to be, and in this moment, they know. and now that they do, they mop the floor with adam, because in the end, he's not much more than a machine. he's never chosen who he should be, it has only ever been decided for him -- but buffy and her friends are human, so they can decide for themselves. at the beginning of the episode, adam says, "once you [...] embrace your destiny as I have, you will know power you've never dreamed of" -- but in a show so centered around free will and choice and the struggle to make meaning in an uncaring and chaotic world, of course there's no real power in a destiny that's been chosen for you. of course choosing for yourself who you're going to be is the most powerful thing you could do.

[bestworstcase]

Hello! You've mentioned being a NanoWrimo veteran, and I was wondering if you had any advice for planning out your writing for the month? I was going to do an outline beforehand to prepare, but I'm not sure if that's authentic to the NanoWrimo spirit.

i am i’ve been doing nano most years with wildly variable success since i was fourteen. my best advice is:

start writing now.

not your actual nanowrimo project necessarily and not the 1.6k and change daily you’d need to ‘win’ but start writing every day right now. if i’m going into november from a dry spell i like to start with a daily goal of minimum 100-200 words for a week and then at the end of the week, set a new goal of a few hundred more than daily average. rinse repeat until you’re in the habit of writing a decent chunk every day. THE POINT OF THIS is to avoid hitting the “”two week wall“” which is a thing that happens because writing 1.6k+ words in a day is pretty easy but writing 1.6k+ words per day every day for a month is really hard if you don’t, you know. train for it.

you will get the most value out of nanowrimo if you think about it as a writing marathon. it’s difficult because it takes a level of endurance and discipline that you probably do not have unless you’re already a prolific daily writer.

outlining is in the spirit of nanowrimo and has always been part of the culture; some people outline extensively (‘planners’) some don’t (‘pantsers,’ as in writing by the seat of your pants), many fall somewhere in the middle. the only hard rule if you want the, like, pure nanowrimo experience as it was originally conceived is: don’t start writing the actual story until 12:01 AM on november first. you can have anything from zero plan to minutely detailed scene-by-scene notes for the entire novel locked and loaded, but on day one you open a blank document and start writing.

another thing i’d really recommend is trying to write over that 1.6k daily baseline. an extra 340 words per day for five days will net you a free day and those are nice to have in case you hit a day where you can’t write for whatever reason. it’s a lot less stressful to bank up extra words ahead of time than to miss a day or two and have to catch up.

if you don’t already have a process for turning off your inner editor, start trying to figure one out now. the temptation to delete and rewrite a paragraph dozens of times will bite you if you indulge it. try things like hiding your text so you can’t read it (set font and page to the same color, or use wingdings), try sprinting apps like write or die, stuff like that. you are trying to complete a rough draft. it’s okay for it to be rough.

lastly, use the time between now and november to figure out warm ups that work for you. these are quick, simple writing exercises separate from your wip that you do before every writing session. here are some that i like:

set a timer for five minutes and write continuously, stream of conscious, without stopping until the time’s up.

set a timer for five minutes and write a loose synopsis or ramble about the scene you plan to write: what happens, who’s in it, what subplots is it advancing, what pieces of foreshadowing or set up do you need to work in, what’s the emotional tone, etc.

pick an object in the room. spend five minutes describing it in exhaustive but simple detail. think “this cup is a tall red cylinder. it’s made of glass. there’s about a half-inch of clear glass at the bottom. the red is bright and saturated, firetruck red. it’s sitting on my desk with sunlight falling through it, casting a red shadow. there’s water in it with three ice cubes. the cup is about six inches tall.” <- you want a stream-of-conscious list of observations, basically.

use a random [name/setting/plot] generator and write 2-4 paragraphs of something stupid based on the output. just the silliest or most overwrought or edgiest grimdark or saccharine bullshit you can spew out.

take the last five hundred or so words of your last writing session. read them over. open a blank document and transcribe them word-for-word (or nearly, if you can change a word here and there without breaking stride). the idea is not to edit, but to write out a decent chunk of words quickly, without thinking much about what those words are. (i like to do another warmup and then this one and then just keep going when i hit the end of the chunk i’m transcribing.)

the idea is to preempt writer’s block by giving yourself 10-15 minutes of no thoughts head empty rapid-fire word vomit to get your brain on track and ready to go. warming up before your writing sessions will dramatically reduce the frequency of sudden creative paralysis when you sit down to write.

[thefanficmonster]

Gaming Night

Ash [Team Theorist] & Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Stress and Anxiety, Crying

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Fluff, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: When a mishap at work proves to be the final straw for Y/N, Ash is there to be the best friend and offer comfort.

Requested by @freakshows199 Hi dear! Sorry for the wait on your request but I hope the final product makes up for it! Love, Vy ❤

It's been quite the week for you. It's exam week, after all, it's to be expected.

Pushing through college while working on Team Theorist means your plate is constantly full but you've gotten used to it. You've built a routine and dynamic around it that allows you to manage your time in a way that allows you to excel at both and still enjoy a decent chunk of free time. Or at least seven hours of sleep.

At the end of the day though, you're only human, and having such a lengthy to-do list is pretty anxiety inducing no matter how organized you are. Just looking at your daily schedule of things that need to get done is enough for stress to start creeping in. It's admittedly not fun, but the final product - whether it be a GTLive video, a theory video you did the research for or a successfully passed midterm - is so rewarding. It makes it all worth it.

This week, however, it's been rather difficult to feel proud of the work you do and even find the motivation to do it. Stress and anxiety have riddled your mind and bleed over into your dreams which has by extension made falling asleep very difficult.

Stress and anxiety coupled with very few hours of sleep and a particularly high dosage of caffeine in your system, it's all a recipe for an inevitable crash-and-burn. Or burnout, in short,

Currently you're setting up the camera and lights for an upcoming GTLive recording session. You got to Steph and Matt's house an hour early because if you were to make a pitstop at your dorm you'd undoubtedly fall asleep and be late. You didn't wanna risk it so you just thought you'd get ahead with your work.

Ash beat you to it though, seeing as how you found them already seated behind the screen, editing the footage you recorded yesterday.

It was only after seeing them that you realized just how much you didn't want to take on the task alone. Ash is one of those people that exude such a calming and comforting aura and they are the most amazing friend to have by your side. It especially shines through when you're going through a period such as this one. They're always there to look out for you when you forget to do it yourself.

"Hey, Y/N?" They grab your attention, removing their headset as they look up at you from behind the monitor.

You stop your ministrations with the ring light and turn to give them your full attention, "Yeah?"

"Can you do me a small favor?" They've barely had time to finish their sentence before you nod, "A lot of people have mentioned that the VHS filter in the game makes it hard on the eyes when they watch the video. I guess it brings down the video quality or something. Could you take a look at the game settings and see if it can be turned off?"

"Oh yeah, I saw a lot of complaints about it. Let me see..." You stabilize the light before sitting down on the couch in front of the TV and opening the game.

You spend an unhealthily large portion of your day staring at a screen. Looking at a bigger one makes no difference as it immediately causes a migraine to start taking over, blurring your vision. That may be due to the lack of sleep or the fact that you forgot to drink enough water today, but before you know it or have been able to blink the blurriness away, you've accidentally pressed the left mouse button.

Once you do you come to realize you've made a big mistake.

Horror floods your whole body when you see that the 'continue game' option is now a darker shade, suggesting it is not available. There is no longer a game to continue. You've accidentally deleted all of the progress Matt made the previous time he played the game. It wasn't small either, he'd made it almost halfway through the story.

And you have just deleted all of it. Two hours of gameplay and effort down the drain.

You cover your mouth with trembling hands, tears already starting to form in your eyes.

This catches Ash's concern, "Y/N? What's wrong?" They ask, removing the headset completely so they can get up off their chair and come over to you, squatting down next to you. The worry you see in their eyes only makes the urge to cry worse.

"I....I-I deleted Matt's progress..." You explain in a shaky, mousy voice, a sob racking through your chest when the words reach your own ears.

Had it been any other day, sure, you'd still be upset about it. But not crying level upset. You'd see it as nothing more than an inconvenient hurdle you can easily overcome in a rational way. There's no rationality at play now.

It just happened at a very wrong time. It's nothing more than a small mishap in theory but its timing is feeding into the self-doubt you've been struggling with since exam season started. Academic insecurity and impostor syndrome have been eating away at you all week and now this feel like a confirmation that all those doubts were in fact warranted.

Even though they aren't at all, whatsoever.

"Hey, hey, hey...." Ash doesn't say it but they're relieved. Seeing your reaction without context scared them into thinking the issue was way worse. Still, they can see it's a major deal to you and they respect that. Especially since they've been well aware of how much stress and pressure you've been under. They've been through similar situations and have had similar reactions. They understand you on a personal level. And they'd never let a friend feel that way without doing their best to intervene and comfort them. Which in this case would involve just putting the whole predicament in perspective to show you how miniscule it is. "It's no big deal. Please don't cry, Y/N. We'll fix it." They say, their arm wrapping around your shoulders to give you a tight, reassuring hug you immediately fall into. You've needed nothing more than a hug this whole week and getting it brings you such relief. It provokes even more tears to stream down your face. Turns out, you've also needed a good cry.

"How?" You manage to say through sniffles, "We're starting filming in twenty minutes."

"We'll play a different game. Last minute game switch. It's happened so many times before. Matt doesn't care, he'll have fun regardless. We'll find him something to play, don't worry." Ash explains calmly, letting you start to grasp on how simple this problem is to solve when the panic takes the backseat. "Tomorrow's Saturday so I can just stick around a bit longer after we're done and play up to the point where Matt left off last time."

There's not a moment you're not grateful to have Ash in your life. This is just one of those moments where you also start believing in angels because they have to be one.

"Thank you so much, Ash." You pull away from the hug to wipe your eyes and be able to look at them properly, "But you're not doing it alone. The least I can do is accompany you. I genuinely want to."

Ash shakes their head, "No way, you need to go home and sleep..."

You cut them off with a wave of your hand, "I will. As you said, tomorrow's Saturday. I can sleep in till 3 PM if I want to. I'd want nothing more than to help fix the mistake I made."

Knowing that your resolve is impossible to shake, Ash decides it's best to just sigh and nod and agree. So that's what they do, "Alright, fine." Suddenly, their eyes light up as they get an idea, "We'll make a night out of it! Get snacks and stuff. It'll be great!"

You can't help the smile that brightens up your face as you nod, "I'd love that."

You truly would. There's very few people whose company you enjoy quite like Ash's. You don't know what you did in a past life to deserve a friend like them but you are very certain that everyone needs an Ash in their life. Everyone needs a ray of sunshine like them to part the rainclouds.

[the-least-undefinable-ordinal]

how do I get into math as someone that only knows highschool level stuff? and what's the best place to start? just any tips in general :)

Sorry about the delay with this answer, it's been sitting in my drafts for more than a month now, this thesis thing is taking a great chunk of my time :(

I'd say the safest bet regarding starting topics are some calculus and linear algebra, they are among the most straightforwardly useful topics you can learn right off high school, even if they don't interest you in their own right, they make a great foundation upon which to learn more math (which you will hopefully find more interesting or useful!) and the process of studying these topics will probably lead you to train your math skills and to understand what study techniques work best for you.

As to how specifically you should get into math, I don't really know, it depends a lot on what you want to learn and why, a biologist won't usually learn the same math as a physicist, and probably neither will put as much emphasis on mathematical proofs as a mathematician.

I'm doing a pure math degree, so all the books I personally know are focused on rigorous definitions and proofs, with practical applications and examples sprinkled in as fun facts (only a slight exaggeration here). Additionally, I don't really know how I would go about learning by myself what I know now, I've learned most of the introductory stuff by going to classes and asking my professors for help when I got stuck.

The standard textbooks my professors based their classes on were Spivak's Calculus and Hoffman and Kunze's Linear Algebra, these books are not particularly beginner friendly, that's why I got a lot of value from just going to class with professors who had the skills to fill the didactic gaps.

I've read that A Concise Introduction to Pure Mathematics by Chapman & Hall is pretty accessible to people with only a high school level of math knowledge, so you may want to start there (just don't pay for it or any of the other books I've mentioned, they're like 250 dollars each).

As for specific tips, the first that comes to mind is to do the exercises in your textbook/course, they are essential as diagnostic tools to check whether you're actually understanding the topics and they also help retain what you've read so far.

You should also give each problem a decent try before you ask for help with it: the process of attempting to solve it will work those math muscles (never a complete waste of time!) and if you do end up solving it yourself you'll retain what you learned much better than if someone just gave you the answer.

Incidentally, this is why on math forums mathematicians will often not give the answer outright, but leave clues to find it: they don't want to "spoil" the answer, because to many of us the thrill of the chase is part of what makes finding the solution so satisfying, and we sometimes forget that not everyone enjoys failing quite as much.

The last advice is something that may not be applicable to everyone, but if you want to study math just for the sake of it (i.e. not for practical applications) you should try to enjoy the act of solving math problems in itself, not just seeing it as the intermediate stage you have to slog through before you get results. You will spend most of your time failing at math (and if you aren't, then you're not probably challenging yourself enough), so you might as well make yourself comfortable.

If you intend to study math completely on your own for whatever reason (time and money seem to be the most usual constraints), you can ask specific questions on reddit or math.stackexchange, I don't mind helping you myself but I don't always reply as quickly.

[zydrateacademy]

Current Activities in ESO #7

A lot of my gameplay has been catchup by day, RP by night.

I had a decent windfall of selling a chunk of crowns for 19mil gold, and I've spent the bulk of that decorating several households to serve as heist targets for thief-based RP with variable difficulty. I mentioned that in the last post.

I was trying to conserve my last few mil to buy and decorate the upcoming Merryvine villa in Gold Road. However I kept getting into gearing and re-gearing old and new alts to make them playable. Some of my older alts had a far too hefty reliance on Briarheart and Hundings when the new(ish) Order's Wrath set for crit is now the go-to baby. I set up one of my arcanists as a tank and following a build online got incredibly expensive, utilizing those runes that cost ~90k each (they buff all three stats). That tank set is stupidly well geared now, but I still generally prefer healing. I've been slowly but surely trying to gear up a lot of my "most used" alts for double duty. DPS in overland, questing, zone clearing, etc, but having a heal/tank set for faster queues and generally having more to offer my roster than others.

Exception being perhaps my werewolf orc, whom I've retooled with Oakensoul. She has some insane light attack crits and can almost braindead her gameplay but she's so much more viable than the basic bow/bow bitch that threw cliff racers at people.

I've discovered I don't much care for B/B builds anymore except in one scenario; Battlegrounds. It's fun to plug away with poison-based arrows, whittling down enemy HP bars while it takes them several seconds to figure out where all that damage is coming from. Sure I get spotted and gunned down like I usually do, I'm not invisible, but it's fun to join already in-progress fights and plug away before they realize where that damage is coming from.

An exception to this exception is that my main necromancer. The class just isn't very fun to play at all. Our main sources of damage are all deeply flawed. Their biggest his is the blastbones skill that every Necro build uses but it takes a full 3 seconds to even leave the ground. By that time the trash pack might be dead already, or against single target bosses that's 3 seconds of not doing very much else. You have a skeleton pet (usually archer, I don't even know what the other morph is because nobody uses it) that only lasts 16 seconds and only shoots every so often, but mostly serves as another corpse to use once it goes down. Then there's the corpse-based laser beam that's very awkward to use and position reliant, and in certain boss fights your position may matter more than the laser beam. So that's another DPS loss.

I couldn't even play melee necro because you spend your whole rotation summoning blastbones, throwing the skull, or using some other skill that I found myself not swinging my weapons at all. Just a clunky cooldown chase. Gross.

The good thing is, she has a functional heal kit so that's another queue in the bag usually. Not as good as my arcanist healer whom is amazing, but still feels better to play than any kind of DPS.

On an RP standpoint, I've joined and left a couple of RP guilds. Well, more on the cusp of being kicked before just quitting to maintain my own dignity.

I won't name any names but it was a guild based on the Brotherhood. I have an assassin character and wanted to put her to use. They had this fun little system where they had a discord bot that would spit out a target, custom added. It gave more variance to overworld stabbing because it feels like base-game DB radiants just send you to the same six places over and over. So it was fun to get a change in scenery, and even helped push my assassin girl to collect a few wayshrines from lesser-seen towns. It also tied in their promotion system. Normally I wouldn't like PvE achievements leaking into RP promotions but it was a fun thing to do. The guild was also heavily hybridized, they had a lot of their membership that don't RP at all.

I found this culture to be a bit taxing. They had this strangest system of using local chat for OOC and only RPing in emotes, which I have never seen before (in any RP setting, ever). They claimed it was for filtering purposes.

There was also a jarring moment where, after claiming I was doing OOC movements, went around to take OOC screenshots of their promotion event. I have a reshade and screenshot helper mod to help me get very cinematic shots but while my UI was hidden apparently I was getting yelled at for being on the main stage where all of the officers were. I had already specified I was OOC but they claimed I was "breaking the sanctity of the ceremony". So my first day in there, it felt as though I had joined a guild of people that were incapable of keeping their attention on anything specific. Can't differentiate any posts between IC and OOC, and can't handle a crouched, hiding character in a corner taking cool screenshots of your proceedings.

I was in this guild for a solid three weeks or so but eventually an officer contacted me about there having been multiple complaints against me. It felt like this post's situation all over again, though the officer here was significantly more diplomatic than that link. I just got the "I've gotten complaints about you" vibe when a large portion of this guild barely interacted with me at all to know otherwise.

Basically my style or personality was conflicting with people. Naturally I never got any specifics or names so I couldn't defend myself properly. According to this officer my previously mentioned conflicts about the way their do their RP, I was trying to set my standards as "THE" standard. While I was in fact, trying to make conversation and understanding their way a bit better. But it rubbed some people the wrong way. I decided instead of being shadow-shunned by several people I would just leave. The options were to shut my own personality down and be much more silent in the guild (which defeats the fucking purpose of RP as a hobby), or continue to RP and interact with a guild where I know there's several people purposefully avoiding interaction with my character because they didn't like me as a player. I just can't really handle being in a guild where I know most people don't want to interact with me. Or is it most? Or is it just two or three complainers? I have no idea! Because the officers that have these conversations never tell me!

This happened before in another guild I quite liked. Though a while ago, back when I was much more active in 2021. I liked that guild, its systems, but the officer of the 'roguey' sub-faction in the guild just decided he didn't like how I spoke to him (completely ICly, mind you) and chastised me for that.

And much like that guild from three years ago, this Dark Brotherhood one wasn't all bad. In some cases I'd even recommend it to people, but it would come with a few asterisks and extra thoughts on the matter to those who would care to hear it.

Kinda put me off for a couple days. I'm not really sure how to adjust my own self when approaching a future RP guild to replace my lost 5th slot. Do I just... talk less? It's certainly some food for thought.

[dreaming-of-mossballs]

Bamboo for a Bashful Captain - (Gepard x Reader) - Chapter 3

Summary: Gepard gives you a tour of the city (although it’s more like you’re dragging him along.)

▸ Genre(s): Fluff, a sprinkling of angst

▸ Word Count: 15k in total, 2.9k for this Chapter

▸ Tags: Gepard x reader

▸ Warnings: Food mention, possible ooc, reader is shorter than Gepard and slightly fem coded, explicit pronouns aren’t used but Serval calls you a doll,

A/N: I took most of my rules for writing dialogue from some random Wings Of Fire I had on my desk. It’s been so many years since I’ve read it.

MASTERLIST (also link to series)

The sun was high in the sky the next day when you met Gepard in front of the Everwinter Monument. 

He was hard to miss, really. The light reflected off every possible inch of his uniform. When you turned to face him, you had to shield your eyes with a gasp.

Oh, this man was too brilliant for everyday life. 

“I hope you weren't waiting too long,” he said gently, blonde strands of hair waving in the breeze. 

“Not at all! I was just taking my time admiring the monument.” You gazed back up at the incredible sculpture. “That’s not real ice… is it? I feel stupid for asking,” You murmured. 

“Not exactly. It does look remarkably realistic, though. It was made as a tribute to Plamya, one of the many great architects of this city,”

“What did she do?” You looked at him, feeling intrigued but slightly uneducated.

“She's the one who led the charge in constructing the citadel in order to protect the city from the eternal freeze,” he responded, gazing up at the structure. 

“I can't believe one woman spearheaded that entire operation!” you commented. “You sure know a lot about the history of Belobog, Gepard,”

“You could say that. Now, why don't we get going? There’s a lot to see in Belobog’s administrative district,” 

———

To say there was “a lot to see” in the Administrative District was the understatement of the century. 

It was everything you had imagined it to be, pieced together from stories told by your upperclassmen, and more. Your first decision was to stop at various newspaper stands, ecstatically flipping through half of the available merchandise. 

There was so much to read up here! In the Underworld, the same 30 books were cycled between people over and over again. Most of them were medical records kept by Natasha, too. 

Gepard made sure to point out important buildings and historic facts to you as you walked. You had no idea there was so much history to the place! You started bouncing down the street so excitedly, he had to pull you out of the way of an oncoming street car. 

Next, you made sure to peer through the windows of all of the shops. At one particular clothing store, you bent down to get a closer look at the stitchwork on the pieces. There was not a seam to be found. Your guide noticed you staring particularly hard at a certain item of clothing.

“Is there anything that piqued your interest?” Gepard inquired. You sighed, scrunching your face up.

“Well, yes, but I'd rather not spend recklessly right now. I don't want to look like an upstart,” you scoffed. You stared at the article a little longer before turning away and standing up.

“That’s understandable.” He folded his arms and nodded. He took a step back to get a better look at the display window that belonged to the boutique you were so curious about. 

After successfully making every shop owner in a 3-block radius uncomfortable, you decided to check out the famous theater in the area. The building was more elegant than anything you had ever seen in your life, with square columns were detailed down to the centimeter. You figured a single chunk would fetch a pretty decent price. You did still have your old mining pickaxe—,

You squished your face with your hands suddenly to dispel your unholy thoughts. A confused expression flickered across Gepard’s face, but he thought nothing of it. He merely wasn’t accustomed to seeing people this excited, especially when he was present.

You decided to write down a reminder to buy tickets for your next day off.

By noon, you were ridiculously parched from scurrying around the city. You spotted your savior, a friendly vending machine, resting by the stone wall of the lower level of the city. You enthusiastically punched in the numbers for a Jim Roger Bread Soda, asking Gepard if he would like one too.

“Soda? I’ve only had the pleasure of trying it once,” he responded, 

“Ah, I see. We used to drink it a lot when the water wasn't safe,” you reminisced, meeting his gaze. “I wasn't sure if you guys indulged in that type of thing up here,”

“It wouldn't hurt to expand my view on beverages, I suppose.” He rested a hand on his chin thoughtfully.

You fed some more coins into the machine, and out popped a differently shaped bottle. It was rather small, especially for someone with hands like Gepard’s. 

“The carbonation in this one is a little weaker, so maybe you'll like it better. Who knows?” You said with a grin, handing it to him.

When he inspected the label, it read, “Strawberry Svarog”, complete with a curly straw and a cartoon of a laughing child. He deduced it must have been a children’s soda, popping the cap off and tilting his head back, but you stopped him before the bottle reached his lips.

“Nuh uh,” you shook your head disapprovingly. “You’ve gotta use the straw, or else you won't get the full experience!” 

He looked at you quizzically. “Do I really have to?”

You pursed your lips at him. He sighed, tearing open the straw and taking a sip. You had to admit, he did look a little silly, with a serious look on his face and his nose all scrunched up. Stifling a giggle, you screwed the cap off your own soda.

“How is it?” You asked. “I don't think I've ever had that flavor before— Strawberry Svarog? I wonder what he would think if he found out he was being used as a marketing gimmick,” you snickered. 

What on Jarilo-VI is a strawberry? Gepard wondered.

“Not too shabby. Here, try some.” He held it out to you, but instead of taking it in your hands to drink, you leaned forward and took a sip while he was still holding it.

The background chatter around you seemed to cease slightly. 

“I agree! A little on the lukewarm side, but—,”

Mortified, you realized what you had done. 

“Shoot—! I'm s-sorry. Must be gardener’s reflexes or something! I guess I thought I still had dirt on my hands or something… hahaha,” you trailed off.

Your face felt like it was burning as you flailed your arms about, so you spun around quickly to prevent him from seeing your frazzled expression. 

And it was a good thing you did, too, or else you would have seen his.

The soldier next to you resembled more so a “strawberry” than a man. His eyes darted around wildly as he turned the other way to give you some privacy, his hands falling to his side. 

“W-well, no matter.” He coughed. “Why don't we stop and get something to eat as well? You must be famished,”

“Yeah… definitely,”

———

Gepard took you to the cafe by Serval’s workshop, where she and Molly would often stop by on their lunch breaks. You grabbed a croquette sandwich, and him, a muffin. You sat down at the metal tables outside and began to enjoy your food. 

The guard made a noticeable clanking noise as he sat down. He was almost a head taller than you. It was a little embarrassing, frankly. 

“So, Gepard, do you always wear your uniform when you're out and about?” You questioned. 

“I do, yes.” He nodded.

“It has to be comfortable if you wear it all the time, then,” 

Gepard hummed thoughtfully. “Not exactly. But it is required of me, after all.” He took a bite of his muffin. 

You reached across the table and grasped the arm with the gauntlet, examining it closely.

“Whoa! It’s really warm!” You exclaimed, turning his hand over so his palm faced upwards. You curled each of his fingers almost instinctively. “This thing makes you look really tough, you know?” You added. 

Gepard could have died right then and there, and he would have been happy.

“R-really? You think so?” He closed his eyes bashfully. 

You hummed in response, still focused on his handguard.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen anyone around here that looks remotely close to him, you wondered. I figured there would be more, since he's a soldier and all, 

You took a bite of your food, determined to remain unbothered. Gepard finished his muffin quickly, so you offered him half your sandwich in your usual generous fashion. 

As you finished up, a commotion coming from the center of the plaza drew your attention. A crowd of around forty people had gathered by the monument, clapping their hands to a steady beat. They seemed to be arranged in a circle surrounding someone.

Your face lit up as you heard the tones of an instrument beneath the chatter of people. The metal chair, which you had been sitting in previously, was pushed away with a screech as you got up. 

Gepard reached out a hand to you as you sprinted towards the throes of people, but faltered and let out a defeated sigh. He gave in and rose to join you instead.

When you reached the center of the square, you spotted the musician you often saw practicing outside the shop, strumming her guitar as people smiled around her. (Although the only reason you knew of her was because Vaska had a huge crush on her and would NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. “Ooh, (Y/N), do you think she likes reading? Do you think she likes Tale of the Winterlands???” It was actually kind of sweet, though.)

According to your sheepish co-worker, it was “just a passing fancy”. This “passing fancy” had been going on for about two months. 

I wonder if I should take a video to send to her, you wondered with an amused smile.

You began to tap your foot in sync with the downbeats of the song. You were taken aback by just how quickly the music ensnared you in its hold. It filled you with energy that coursed through your veins.

And it seemed like you weren't the only one, either. Several people in the crowd began to dance, children and couples alike twirling hand-in-hand. You feel a grin start to form on your face, and decided that now would be a great time to join the fray. 

You leapt into the center, right next to the musician, who gave you a wink. You swayed on your feet with the strums of the guitar, your dress whirling. You kicked your legs into the air, mirroring the person across from you with a giggle. 

Meanwhile, Gepard was politely making his way towards the front of the crowd. 

“Excuse me, apologies, coming through,” he muttered while tapping on people’s shoulders. The crowd parted when they spotted him coming. 

He strained his neck to look into the mass of dancers, spotting you at the center, dipping your arms and spinning on your feet with another girl your age. 

You caught a glimpse of Gepard’s iconic uniform in your line of sight, and immediately waltzed over to him in a rather dramatic fashion. 

You ran your fingers down his forearms lightly, and then interlaced your hands with his, yanking him backwards with all your might into the dancers. He yelped as he stumbled into your arms. For someone built like a tank, he sure came unbalanced easily. 

“Wait— ah, h-hold on, I don't know how to dance—,” Gepard stammered, glancing down at you. 

“That's fine, just hold on to me!” You winked at him, pulling him closer so he couldn't back out. You rested a hand on his shoulder, and wrapped the other around his gauntlet. You shuffled him into a silly looking box step, something that would resemble a dance a family might have in the kitchen.

Gepard’s breath was much heavier than usual, especially because he was in such close proximity to you. Your chests were pressed together, in order to take up the least amount of space as other people spun past you. 

His eyes were wide with surprise as you raised his arm and twirled under it. It took all of his concentration to keep his hands from shaking. He was worried about gripping you too tightly or too loosely, as one wrong move from a guard like him could squish you. 

He tried to dispel his worries, and instead focused on you. You were as radiant as the sun, with a smile brighter than the Belobog snow. 

You two wove through the crowd, stepping rowdily with the upbeat music, and he tried his best to keep up. Gepard felt his cheeks warming while you stared into his eyes, an elated expression paining your features. Unfortunately, it was cut short though. You stepped on your own foot and sent you both tumbling onto the pavement, the clatter of his armor dimming the laughter of children for a split second. 

The crowd stepped out of the way as you rolled on the stone ground, limbs tangling together. 

You burst into raucous laughter as you sat up, holding your stomach because it hurt so much and wiping tears from your eyes. Gepard was engaged in breathy laughter of his own. He looked just like a prince when he was happy, you realized.

“Wow, that was… incredible,” He coughed.

“I know right? I have the grace and beauty of a warp trotter.” You got up and curtseyed, flaring your jacket for extra impact and offering a hand to him.

“I don't see why that matters as long as you're having fun,” He took your hand and you pulled him up with a grunt.

You noticed the crowd was giving you some strange glances, some of them looking directly at you as they whispered under their breath. You clenched your jaw slightly. 

“I guess you're right. On the other hand, you got pretty into it too!” You turned your attention back to him, teasing him with a grin. He wiped his cheek with a distracted look.

Heading out of the crowd, you leaned on his shoulder like a wounded soldier. When you finally escaped, you realized the sun was setting with a start.

“My gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to take this long,” you spoke, embarrassed. “I just got super caught up in the moment, s’all,” 

“No worries,” He said as he gestured reassuringly. “I enjoyed it. I can't remember the last time I spent some quality time in the city,”

“I guess there's always some fun to be had, even if you've lived here your whole life,” you commented. “Wait! I almost forgot— I wanted to get a picture in front of the monument,” you fished your phone out from your bag.

“Of course,” he said courteously, holding his hand out towards you. You looked at him, puzzled.

“Of us, I mean,”

“Oh, um… sure,” He swallowed a lump in his throat.

“It’s all right if you'd rather not,” you yammered, your face beginning to heat up. “It’s just that it's my first time on an outing with a friend! I wanted something to remember it by,” 

“It's fine, it’s not an inconvenience or anything,” he blurted out. 

You motioned for him to stand in front of the monument next to you and raised your phone up. No matter how hard you tried though, you could never catch more than half of his face in the frame, even on your tippy toes. You grumbled as you kept trying to adjust your position.

He took the phone from you gently, holding it up so it caught you both from above. The shutter clicked and he handed it back to you, and you raised your arms above your head with a cheer.

“It looks great! Thank you so, so much. I’ll send it to you once I get the chance,” you beamed. 

“I would enjoy that,” he responded with a soft smile. Fortunately for him, the sunset hid the blush on his face that stubbornly refused to go away. 

He walked you back to the florists, shoulder to shoulder. The streets were now quieter, with the trams having stopped for the day, and all that remained outside the shop was a group of kids and their caretakers. 

You stopped at the stairs, bowing your head when you turned around. 

“Thank you for accompanying me today,” you said gently, rocking from the balls of your feet to your heels. 

“My pleasure,” Gepard replied. He placed a hand on his chest and nodded back, just like a gentleman would. 

As corny as it seemed, your heart fluttered in your ribcage. Resting a hand on your hip, you used the other one to flick him in the forehead, sending a few strands of golden hair flying. You bit your lip to keep from laughing. 

His eyes sprung open, his hand going to his forehead in surprise. 

“It’s best you get going,” you said. “Soldiers need their beauty rest, after all. Get home safely!” 

He nodded with a silent smile before turning away and starting off towards the direction of Qlipoth Fort. While he was walking, he felt a vibration in his pocket. 

His phone had one new notification, which was from you. Gepard opened up the messaging app to see the photo you had taken. You were wearing a goofy grin, and he was bent down with his lips pressed together sheepishly.

Gepard felt something akin to happiness bubbling up from his chest. He looked up into the sky, allowing himself a single second to loosen up, and pumped his fists into his chest. He sauntered towards the estate, humming one of his sister’s songs as he went. 

Meanwhile, the kids playing nearby were dumbfounded. A little red-haired girl stopped and pointed at him.

“Mommy, what's that man doing?”

2023 - Dreaming-of-Mossballs - Do not repost/translate without my permission - NO AI

[theglitchywriterboi]

I regret making this poll, some of the 10mil voters are being so fucking rude & condescending....

Like stop sending anons explaining "Why 10mil is objectively the correct choice" But I'm begging you to stop being so stupid. Like if you wanna be as rich as possible before you die, then sure investing w/ 10mil is the choice for you. But you can still get really decent savings w/ the 1k a day & while you can get decent savings while not working [cause let's say your monthly needs+fun money is on average 12k - far more than most spend, that's 221k a year just to put away in savings [which after 27 years would be nearly 6 million saved] or to invest [idk how much that'd be]]. As I've said a million times, there's no objective answer its what you choose to do based off your lifestyle & goals....

Like some people know they lack impulse control & would blow through 10mil, some have been in financially abusive relationships & want to know even if their money gets messed w/ there will be more coming in, some just don't wanna be bothered investing & don't wanna hire anyone they just wanna live their live as is, etc etc

Also "Any financial analyst would agree" Okay ??? I'm not asking them "Hey which is the best choice to end w/ the most money" I'm asking Tumblr "Hey which would you personally choose"

Also that logic doesn't even work cause a good chunk of 10mil voters aren't voting because of the reasons most financial analysts would. They're voting for it: Because they're old, they need the money now, they just want the money now, they want to immediately have fun & pay everything off, they want to donate it all, etc I got & am getting so many non-investing answers like fuck outta here. [Not to mention the amount of people going "I could die soon so I want to enjoy now" which once again has nothing to do w/ "In the long run you can make it more money"]

To be clear once again I'm not anti-10mil its a super great choice but some of its voters are being condescending prices just cause you don't want what they want 🥴🥴🥴

Like the question was "Which do you personally want & why" not "Out of these two which can make you the richest before you die ?!?!" & a lot of y'all are answering as if it's the latter... Cause once again: Not everyone fucking cares about being rich. Some people are content owning their own house somewhere w/ a small [to some of y'all at least] but steady stream of money constantly coming in for food, the bills they have to pay, & whatever hobbies/things they want to fund.

Again, 10mil is a super great choice & I get why people are voting for it !!! But some [not all or even most] are being super rude for having a different POV on what you wanna do in this hypothetical scenario.....

Explain your reasoning plzzz

[gossamer-scraps]

Am I the only one absolutely unsurprised that they're doing raids? Here's why:

I agree with the assertions everyone's making that only a small portion of the userbase, by percentage of accounts, raids. But I don't know if that splits quite so dramatically if you scale by ingame hour count and—crucially—what that ingame hour count correction does to revenue split.

I know a toooon of gw2 enthusiasts on this website who have a deep love of the game and its lore and also log in like three times a year. I guess, ruining my point somewhat, I do think a fair number of those players I'm thinking of will buy the expansion eventually.

But it makes sense to me that there's a fair bit of revenue tied up in players like me. You know, the Snow Crows discord members (okay in my case I actually have a colored name on SC discord, which is fun). And there are a loooooot of people like me who would have a decent chance of straight up not spending that $25 USD if you cut out the instanced PvE part of that announcement. And by $25 I mean $50, because like a lot of this demographic I have 2 active raid accounts, and by $50 I mean $50 + $25 * however many marginal users stay engaged with the game because of the theorycrafting that gets done in this part of the community, the speedrun videos, and in my case the gear optimizer existing.

Yeah, yeah, jokes, nobody raids. But the "nobody" who raids, I have to assume, are worth a decent chunk of money to anet, not to mention recurring weekly users and gameplay hours (I assume NCSOFT cares about those).

[theburninggalaxy]

Atla live action real time reaction - ep1 Aang

(Minus the first five or so minutes cause I forgot, also i havent looked at any other opinions so if i like it and everyone else hates it or i hate it and everyone else likes it then oh well)

Ok why is Aang basically flying without his glider. Like ik technically he's not zaheer type flying but it still feels WRONG cause. Just take your glider with you.

Oh god please no I'm gonna get all invested in a thriving air temple fuckkkk

IT WAS A CELEBRATION THEY ATTACKED DURING A FUCKING CELEBRATION

That's a lot of bison

Ngl it does make more sense that it'd be a gathering of all air nomads instead of staging four simultaneous attacks and then spending years if not decades trapping them

Why are the air nomads getting involved in a conflict. Like. Even as a defence force that's unlikely to happen cause then otherwise s4 of Korra wouldn't have been predicated by Tenzin saying they're gonna break from tradition and become involved. Like yh some sort of response sure but seemingly sending some sort of volunteer force? No.

Imma say it now or I'm gonna be massacred when it comes up later: I don't like The Storm. And I really hope that by getting Aangs backstop changed here they also change when we get Zukos.

Ok I really like the scene where Gyatso tells Aang he's the avatar. I love the emphasis on their relationship and I hope it continues past ep1

OH JESUS THE ACTOR FOR AANG IS BETTER THAN I EXPECTED OW

Ehhhh this monologue feels very forced and I don't think it's necessary? The point would've gotten across without it imo. Just add another scene of Aang being a normal kid instead.

Also I don't like how they left out the social isolation he felt after everyone found out

With that said, I do like when Aang and Appa hug, it's a good setup for their friendship

I also don't like how it isn't Aang running away? Like. That's the basis for a decent chunk of his arc?

Jesus Aang was close to being killed

I'm not sure how I feel about the bending. The airbending looks fine but the fire and earthbending look a tad off. Maybe it'll get better once I see it in any light whatsoever. Why aren't scenes lit anymore why are people in movies and shows nocturnal.

While I agree that the air nomads fighting back is the right choice, I don't like how there hasn't been a single mention of their philosophies.

Ok I'll admit the back and forth between appa over the ocean and the battle at the temple is pretty neat.

Would've been better if we had any evidence that the comet is doing anything

This is pretty explicit violence bloody hell not what I was expecting. Not sure how I feel about it and how it's gonna work with the more lighthearted aspects

The music is cool.

I'm sorry but I just found Gyatsos death a little goofy

Cool iceberg

Why is Katara in the ship. Idk I don't like how they keep missing small things cause the small things are pretty important to character arcs

Why is the Southern water tribe so big

And why does it sound like there are multiple settlements in the south Pole.

No.

Wrong.

Ok the Sokka lecturing kids scene works well

Whys Sokka serious. Again.

Ehhh don't like how Kataras waterbending seems to be a secret from the village. Dunno why they did that.

Why haven't I heard a single joke from Sokka. Did they learn nothing.

Why didn't they find Aang correctly. Just. Why. It's such an important scene for establishing their characters.

Whys Zukos scar so small

Ok we got a little sarcasm

Ok Zuko is pretty much bang on just turned down a little

Iroh needs to be more lighthearted

AND THE FUCKING CABIN NEEDS TO BE LIT BLOODY HELL BRING BACK LIGHT

I'm gonna quote "but for me it's my destiny" until the end of time now

But where's the honour?

Aang is rightfully confused. A much more logical reaction than to ask someone to go penguin sledding and not caring what's going on

What the fuck. Where's his glider. That's just fucking wrong.

I'd like Sokka to make more intentional jokes but I am finding the dry sarcasm and humour decently funny

Ok the actor for Aang is way better than I was expecting

Why is Gran Gran saying the line. And why now.

Why is she saying all this. Why haven't we had any proper interaction between sokka and katara and aang.

Zuko needs to be angrier. Right amount of angst not enough anger.

I like Katara but she feels too old. Like I knew someone who was the type of 14 year old that Katara is and she feels older.

Zuko however. Yeah. Spot on. Its painfully and embrassingly familiar I do not miss being 16

Ok I really like Aangs explanation of bending. It ties it all together and brings it back to balance really nicely

I'll admit the moment where Katara bends is nice. Bit of a deviation but I'm not too mad at it? I hope it doesn't set a president for removing kataras agency

I don't like how him being the avatar is revealed.

Katara hope count: 1. Zuko honour count: 0.

Also where'd the water tribe get all the wood?

The music is pretty good I will admit

The water tribe kids fighting back is nice

Wait so Aang has his staff but it's not a glider?? Tf????

Ooh I'm a fan of how they're doing Iroh, minus the lack of lightheartedness (which. Is becoming a theme.)

Ok I'll admit, Sokka screaming on Appa is pretty funny

Might just be me, but imo Zukos desperation when he first saw aang out of his cell is really apparent yet really subtle and I love it

Ok I like how Aang apparently can't fly without smth to bounce off that's something

I'm in two minds about the change in what Sokka and Katara are doing. On the one hand, I like Sokka catching Aang. On the other, the fight with them there had some great moments and I'm sad that they're not here.

Nvm I fucking love that Katara was the one to stop the fireball

JESUS THE KID WHO PLAYS AANG IS A GOOD ACTOR I ALMOST CRIED WHEN HE SAW GYATSO

Not a fan of the lack of fun before finding out about the fire nation attack

The slow motion "Aaang" made me laugh I'm sorry I just find slow mo inherently funny

Seriously tho Aangs actor is some of the best child acting I've seen in a while

Yh they're definitely going with unintentionally funny sokka. Which. I don't like. At all. I get that they're aiming it at a different audience but still. Intentionally funny and goofy teenagers exist.

Having said that, I am enjoying moments like "oh is that all" I like the humour, it just isn't sokka

Zuko drawing I am accepting that as canon after the war he does art constantly to help him relax and during book two he'd use sticks to draw in the earth when he was bored I am accepting this as canon fight me.

And that's the episode! I'd say a 6/10 on the cartoon accuracy (0 being you know what and 10 being a moment for moment exact replica of the cartoon) a 7.5/10 on the "does this feel like atla" scale and an 8/10 on the enjoyment.

It's incredibly obvious that this is a show for teens. My 10 year old cousin loves atla and I would not recommend showing it to her. Personally I like the idea of making it for teens, partially cause it might allow for deeper exploration on a couple of things that wouldn't be appropriate for a child audience (Zuko and Ozais relationship in particular) however I think they've slightly missed it by cutting out the more lighthearted moments.

As for characters: Sokka is wrong but is just about recognisable, Katara and Iroh are pretty solid but do feel a bit wrong due to changes to events and lightheartedness respectively, the actor for Aang is fucking incredible imo but Aang really does suffer in the writing from the darker tone but ngl with this actor I don't actually mind it as it does still feel like Aang, and Zuko is almost perfect literally just needs a bit more anger.

The special effects are fine. I like how they're doing airbending and the firebending and waterbending are fine. Doesn't really add or detract anything to my opinion really. However I do like the costumes, they're simple enough to be recognisable but detailed enough to be realistic. I really like how much Aang blends in at the air temple but stands out in every other environment, its the sort of thing that can work a lot better in live action and I hope they continue to take advantages of the medium instead of just assuming live action to be the default.

There are some changes I really don't like (the way the find Aang in particular) and some I really do (seeing Aang in the air temple). I think the general vibe is a sort of alternate dimension atla where it's geared towards teens instead of kids. It's fundamentally the same show, but still very distinct in a way that could be its greatest asset or its downfall.

[official-drpeaches]

I feel the need to point out that there’s nothing wrong with disliking alcohol or not drinking, it’s not a bad thing that most young people decided they didn’t like it. Alcohol isn’t good for you. But that’s not to say the youth doesn’t have their vice of choice, a lot of people I meet around my age vape or consume weed in some form. But really I think that most of the “we weren’t allowed to be crazy” comes from not just the corporate rat race mindset, but also the rise in social media and smart phones making it so much easier to be under surveillance not just in the government sense, but also from your peers and parents. It’s harder to get away with these things like skipping classes even if you wanted to, but the societal panopticon I think just makes people less inclined to even think about it.

And that’s all without even mentioning the fact that the majority of us “young people��� spent a decent chunk of that “late teen/early adult” period under Covid restrictions. This generational trend was definitely already in place pre COVID, but it definitely has been worsened by it. I think for a lot of people, even when lockdowns eased and it’s like mostly acceptable to go to a bar or rager now, if you already been spending all this time alone and it’s been fine, it’s like why bother? Going out? I have work tomorrow? Kind of mindset

Maybe this is the wrong platform to pose this question given the average tumblr user but

Is it just me or did our generation (those of is who are currently 20-30 ish) just not get the opportunity to be young in the 'standard' sense?

Like, everyone I talk to who's over 40 has all their wild stories about their teens and 20s, being young and dumb, and then I talk to my friends and coworkers and classmates, and we just... dont.

[marshmallowprotection]

That might be an odd request, how do you think Saeray would spend time in his bad day? Like Let's say that his is back from the job or errands, he is tired, maybe kinda annoyed ofc nothing extrime but MC is bact kin 2-3 hours from now.

I guess he might go gardening, but do you have any other ideas?

A bad day for GE Saeran? Well, he's no stranger to a bad day. We've all experienced them and even he is going to have them every now and again. Bad days were difficult for him in the past because there wasn't a way for him to know how to cope with it. He didn't have any tools or people to turn to in his time of need.

He had to throw a dozen darts at the wall and second-guess himself until something stuck. It gave him a lot of habits that he's trying to work to undo. He's in therapy so he's learning how to deal with that, but being medicated and having a safe spot to turn to won't remove bad days. Everyone gets them. You have to learn how to adapt to that and take what you can out of the bad to get through the worst of the bad day. That's a different story for everyone.

His anger is the one thing he's been working to let go of. But, he can't hide that. He can change how he confronts it but he still feels it. He's just determined to learn healthier ways to confront anger and disdain instead of lashing outward or inward. It's tough but he's learning and it means a lot to him if you notice that. He gets irritated on his decent days and irritable on the worst days. Yet, he decides to get busy with his hands.

If he's busy working on something, he won't have time to get angry. He'll have time to set aside his frustration and come back to it when he's ready. It has the feeling to it like when you have an argument with somebody and take some time apart to think about why you were upset, and the best way to confront the conversation between the two of you in the right way.

He's not avoiding the conflict of the problem. He's taking some time to think about himself and that's better for him. It's easier to digest what he's feeling in chunks than it is to deal with it all at once. It's important to make a note of that because some people think that if you push yourself into doing something else after you get frustrated, that means that you're trying to avoid it. He's not avoiding them.

He's making the educated decision to step away from something so that he can clear his mind and think about the best way to phrase himself. They say never go to bed angry and to always clear your mind before then, but that's not always the case. Sometimes what you really need to do is step away and reassess the situation from a different angle. 

This is all situational and circumstantial. it largely depends on what was getting him worked up in the first place. So, for minor things that get him worked up as opposed to major things, he handles them in a bit of a different way. If it's not something that he has to work out with you or somebody else, and it's just a problem with something that triggered him or bothered him, there's a different methodology. 

He spends his time thinking about what got him worked up and what would be the best way to handle it in the future. You can't always avoid the things that make you uncomfortable but you can adapt to the situation to find a better way to protect yourself from those things.

So, depending on what got him upset in the first place is going to direct his thoughts. So, for something as little as a minor irritation like you mentioned, it's not going to be a big deal where he needs to reassess how he interacts with the world around him. 

It's more likely that he's going to return to a hobby that he enjoys to cool off for a little bit and then figure out why he was frustrated in the first place. How can he handle that in the future? What is the best way to confront the things that he is dealing with? Is this something that he's going to need help with in the future? Is this something that he can do by himself? There are a lot of thoughts that go into this sort of thing. He wouldn't want to talk to you about it until he's sure of how to describe what it is. He doesn't want to come to you confused about what he's feeling without knowing a word to at least describe it. 

So, for him, that's going to be different hobbies that he's picked up along the way. Gardening is the most obvious one because that's his go-to thing. Baking is another hobby that he likes to pick up when he needs to clear his mind. There are definitely a few others that get mixed up in there that he likes and continues to work at. You might catch him in the process of trying to sort out his feelings while he's doing this, and it's okay to approach him but he'll let you know if he needs time to be alone or not. That's healthy communication, folks.

[buck-yyyy]

an explanation of stranger things tumblr <3

okay so the thing with the stranger things fandom is that it’s VERY divided by ships- so i’m like. in one very specific corner of it yk? i’m in the crowd of literally ~74k~ people on tumblr who are focused on byler, which is primarily about analysis.

so we’ve got the film and english majors analyzing the SHIT out of cinematography, writing, micro expressions, etc etc in order to compile evidence towards byler endgame in season five. it’s lowkey really really impressive some of the stuff that people have picked up on, i can show you if you’re curious. but we just kinda stick to our own corner? there’s a conscious effort not to cross tag, and for the most part people are chill about letting other people do their thing.

then you’ve got the m*levens, who a lot of are fine and really nice, actually, but there’s a fairly decent chunk who devote way too much of their time into invading byler inboxes to spew made up shit about m*leven and rant about byler, most of which is wildly homophobic or borderline pedophilic at worst. we don’t talk about them. for a while m*levens had an issue with crosstagging, and invading the byler tag with shit, but that’s gotten a lot better, so theyre fairly chill now. so despite the shipping war we both just tend to stay in our own spaces to quietly fire shots at the other ship that are properly tagged so the other people never see it- peaceful m*leven shippers ily and you are never included in my ranting about the other members of your tag <3

then you’ve got the st*ddies. the FUCKING st*ddies. a lot of them are really cool! but a LOT a lot of them crosstag SO MUCH. they tag their fics and posts with other ships and characters that aren’t at all mentioned in order to gain more traction, meaning that a good chunk of the byler fanfiction on ao3 is really just st*ddie fanfiction that’s horribly tagged. fuck the shitty taggers, y’all SUCK.

lumax, ronance, jopper and elmax shippers are super chill, just kinda peacefully doing their thing while everyone else goes absolutely apeshit over everything.

j*ncy and st*ncy shippers are constantly at each other’s throats, that’s,, a lot to unpack.

and one other section of the overall stranger things fandom. the fuckin weirdoes.

this section includes the billy stans who are willing to forgive him for being a racist abusive fuckwad simply because he’s pretty, the stobin shippers who enjoy erasing the fact that robin is literally gay, and the m*levens who spend their time popping into byler inboxes practically drooling over the thought of a m*leven sex scene, which is the most fucked up part of relatively surface stranger things tumblr. we don’t talk about any of these people.

i’m not even going to bother talking about the h*rringroves.

and a bit more about byler tumblr because i have a lot to say on the matter- it’s kinda subdivided into smaller sections of people each doing different things, even more so than most other divisions on the overall fandom. there’s of course some overlap, and people will reblog stuff from all over the board, but for the most part people stick to creating one or two specific things. the divisions are the artists, fanfic authors, theorizers, shitposters, and debaters.

the artists and fanfic authors are self explanatory.

the theorizers are absolutely INSANE at what they do, i’m constantly amazed by how much smarter these people are than me.

the shitposters just kinda hang around making jokes and screaming about whatever new crumbs we got that day.

the debaters are.. interesting. they’re the ones that get the most hate in their inboxes, and rather than ignore it, or post it and just make fun of the asker, they end up starting huge arguments on their blog with anonymous askers. they’re pretty cool tbh? they do a really good job of summarizing all our evidence into clear concise points, it’s just. a little overwhelming to see constant fighting over in one corner.

but yeah! stranger things tumblr as summarized by a byler who enjoys poking around other tags :)

[south-park-meta]

Actually the idea of south park power dynamics is pretty fun, who in the group of kids do you think has the least say in things/least influence and do you think there exists a social 'hierarchy' of sorts?

The social hierarchy part's kind of weird to work out just because the class is so small. And there's a lot of rotating background character kids who just up and die or something. Like I think Stan is seen as pretty fucking weird by Craig and his friends, but Craig is seen as pretty fucking weird by Stan and his friends. South Park as a town is small enough that I think socially it's a wash. Honestly even the kids who don't like each other play with each other quite a bit, and Stan seems to label pm every known kid as a 'friend' when it actually comes up, even though he only really seems to spend a big chunk of time with three kids. And I do think that's pretty typical of a small town dynamic (at least it was of mine).

When it comes to the town as a whole I think it's mostly UNpopular vs not unpopular, with no real popular kids; the group's so small that it's basically just you're accepted or you're not. And the unpopular ones are Butters and Cartman. Butters was clearly on the fringe before the three kids drew him in, and went BACK to being on the fringe once Kenny was more permanently alive. Even when the kids play games with him it's often with reluctance and the kids don't really even want him to have fun.

Cartman is also unpopular. ALL the class is into it when he gets his ass kicked. There's times he has to actually offer to pay them to come over, even if he doesn't and they should KNOW he's not going to. But he can actually get the kids to listen to him pretty often by either actually having a decent point or by being loud, pushy, and manipulative enough the other kids cave to following along with it. Like the kids might be hurting Butters' feelings, but he puts up with it. The kids might not really be hurting Cartman's feelings but if he doesn't get what he wants he'll say they are, and even if they don't like him, they WILL feel bad about it.

And like I mentioned before, I do think it is uniquely Stan that sort of allows Cartman this pull. As sick as they are of Cartman, for some reason or another it seems to pretty consistently be Stan alone who can and will pull the plug on him having a place not only in their own friend group but a place within the entire class' group.

When it comes to just within their group I think Kenny probably has the least say. He actually doesn't have that many vocal opinions anyway, at least not ones that disagree with the group majority. When he does he's easily talked over and ignored, even in one to one settings, when the other boys already have their minds set on it.

Within a classroom setting I think either he or Kyle has the least pull even though I think Cartman is far less liked. Again I don't really think Kenny has a lot to say, but it's also that Kenny and Kyle are both actually othered in the group as a whole. Kenny is othered by being poor. Even Kyle's mom in Chickenpox calls him that weird kid, and it's DEFINITELY because his family is seen as poor white trash even if she doesn't say it outright. Kyle is othered by being Jewish-- he doesn't go to church with the rest of the kids, but its ALSO just because Cartman has been loud enough with shitting on him that the other kids subtly pick up on Kyle as being an acceptable target. I don't necessarily think most of the kids would tie their dismissal of Kyle to him being Jewish, but it IS tied to Cartman marking him as loud and whiny and bitchy with a stick up his ass and sand in his vagina, which is tied to how CARTMAN sees Jewish people. Cartman ALSO perpetuates how Kenny is seen by ripping on him for being poor constantly. As much as Cartman is disliked, he is loud enough to get his opinion lodged into the other kids' heads and feed into allowing them to be dicks.

I think that dynamic is interesting. Cartman is the least liked kid in class, but he's able to drag Kyle and Kenny (and even Butters) down with him and get them to be less-respected even if not actively disliked. And that probably IS why Stan has an influence to kick Cartman out that the other kids just don't have. Stan isn't really able to be othered the same way. He's not different from the other kids economically or religiously. Cartman actually TRIES to other him by ripping on his masculinity (he calls him gay or tries to box him in when he's not behaving manly enough pretty often) and it doesn't work. The other kids don't seem to really pick up on what Cartman tries to get Stan taken down a peg by, even though Stan himself has plenty of hangups on seeming or not seeming masculine enough or tough enough. So it kind of follows that's why Stan has the 'power' to oust Cartman. For one thing he doesn't have anything that puts him on the outside looking in, but for another, all his friends do. If HE says it's enough, then it stands to reason it actually is and it's easy for all the kids to hop on board on knocking Cartman down.