#plants are very important to me and i like talking about their benefits

[technocipher]

Some may wander onto the church's balcony, never once sparing a glance at the rolling rack of plants. "They're just plants. Who cares? Doesn't Eva grow flowers over there?" Sure, there's a scant number of plants growing there. Nothing seems to support much life over there. No signs of any vegetables from those seed packets we give her, either.

(In all likelihood, the developers probably thought that few would notice that section. Fleshing out the balcony with more plants might've been deemed a pointless gesture.)

What many don't realize, however, is that many plants are medicinal! Consider that the next time you pass by the herb pots at the grocery store. Common thyme, for example, is antibacterial! It can also be steeped as a tea for sinus infections, and that's just a small fraction of what it can do!

The central shelf on the rolling rack carries rosemary, along with a plant I could not identify. Just generic, silly nonsense, right?

Wrong! Rosemary is more than just a kitchen spice. It's a fantastic herb for the brain!

It acts as a brain stimulant!

It aids with memory!

It aids blood circulation to the brain!

It aids with treating early onset dementia/Alzheimer's!

It acts as an antidepressant!

It acts as an antiviral!

It aids concentration!

It also has anti-anxiety properties!

Where the revenants are concerned, I'd say that's quite the vital herb! With the help of scavenged alcohol and some sterile jars, bottles, and lids, there's potential for the crafting-- and trading-- of rosemary tinctures! (In the absence of proper sterilization, whatever they can use to rinse would have to do. Above all else, these chosen jars and bottles would need to be airtight enough to prevent oxidization. An oxidized tincture is not desired-- it can lose a lot of those helpful properties!)

If water is still consumed by the revenant population (and if it is, I haven't seen it mentioned)... they can take these tinctures through water. A couple drops or barely a spoonful would go a long way! Some may attempt to slip these under their tongues and get quite the burn for their trouble. At Home Base's bar, there are numerous bottles of blood bead leukocytes. These could possibly handle a small dosage... if our favorite revenants can stand to hold the first sip for ten seconds.

Now, the uppermost shelf of the rack holds some decorative plants... and some parsley, growing out of a generically-labelled tea tin. Parsley? Really?!

Parsley's got quite the high vitamin content, though. I don't know if revenants require the same intake allotment for vitamins like humans have-- I've never seen it mentioned before. But if you factor in the maintenance of the host' body, vitamins are just as important! Whether or not the BOR parasite directly benefits remains to be seen, but for now, we're covering the fun stuff.

What the heck does parsley do, anyways? Well...

It's got stupidly high amounts of Vitamin K, which is not only good for your bones, but also boosts blood production!

It's full of other key vitamins and antioxidants!

It acts as a diuretic!

It also helps to keep your eyes healthy!

In the grand scheme of things, it might not seem like that big of a deal. But it could help boost a revenant's regeneration. Code Vein flip-flops a bit on how regeneration works, especially with gameplay in mind. Could parsley increase the healing amount, or even the number of times it can be tapped into? Quite possibly! It could also be circulated to the shelters, and thus assist blood donors with recuperating quicker. The diuretic properties can also be utilized to help flush status effects quicker. And as for the eye health of revenants far and wide, wouldn't that go a long way? That's a lot less stress on them, isn't it?

Though I cannot identify the other plants on the rack, that doesn't mean that they're lacking in benefits. There are some flowers that can be eaten and be used in medicine. Calendula, for example, is an edible flower that can be used to aid the healing of wounds. Besides, it's such a bright and cheery flower-- why not keep a few blooms just to look, and let them go to seed, while you're at it? (Calendula is very easy to grow-- save those seeds!)

Another one is chrysanthemum, which is another edible flower. Its primary benefit is eye health, and I believe it's even stronger than parsley in this regard. (Do not consume the store-bought ones, as they have been treated with a myriad of extremely harmful chemicals! The best way to avoid this is by growing them yourself. Remember to buy non-neotic seeds; these are better for pollinating insects and keeps you safe, too!)

And if the parts above the soil aren't safe for consumption, remember that the roots can still be used! Roots can have loads of medicinal properties! Some can be edible, while others can be dried and infused into oils! An example.of an edible root is the humble dandelion. Though the entire plant is completely edible, its taproot is a potent liver detoxifier! Should it be roasted and brewed into tea, it tastes just like coffee!

Even if revenants aren't taking these medicines themselves, consider how much it would benefit the human population living in the shelters. If we really gotta split hairs, the medicinal benefits could carry over into blood donations. Entire categories of enhanced blood could be produced by the shelters, and distributed to the revenant-occupied shelters. In times of disease where the latter is concerned, these unique products could be life-saving. Even then, the more positive trading arrangement may improve human and revenant relations-- a massive issue omnipresent within the Gaol of the Mists. This isn't just food and decoration; it's something greater.

Just a little thing that makes life a bit more bearable.

[todayisawthewhxlewxrld]

I KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING RIGHT IN BETWEEN US!

I'M MOVING CLOSER BABY, WHY DON'T YOU SEEM TO CARE?

synopsis// “you’re going on a date?” “well yeah..it’s not like we’re exclusive or anything right?” “yeah..yes ofc not” “yeah” (prompt from @jasminesfury)

➚ pairing// choso x gn!reader ➚ word count// 3.2k

contents// suggestive—friends with benefits but nothing explicit/no actual smut, no curses!au, unknown mutual pining, both of u r just idiots tbh

notes// MY MAN MY MAN MY MANNNNN i need to get him pregnant soooo bad. on that note here's a low quality one shot from a low quality man. anyway! besides the prompt this was inspired by better by clairo (shivers)

Choso plops down next to you with a sigh, bringing the sheets up to cover his chest, and instead of cuddling up next to him like you normally do, you sit up and look around the room for your clothes. Once spotted, you snatch the sheets away from Choso and cover yourself with them, leaving him exposed instead.

“Y/n cmon,” he whines as the cold air leaves goosebumps across his bare body.

You hum, ignoring him as you slip your clothes back on, which quickly catches his attention.

“What are you doing?” He asks as he sits up and stares at you with half-lidded eyes; you’d almost consider them fuck-me eyes if you hadn’t already just done that.

"I'm getting dressed, Choso. What does it look like?"

“You’re not staying?”

"No, sorry, I know I usually spend the night after we..." You clear your throat awkwardly as you put on the last of your clothes. “...After we check in the benefits to our friendship, but I have plans tomorrow.”

A lazy smirk plays on his face. “You know you can just say after we fuck, right?”

"I'd rather not—I don't have a dirty mouth like you.”

“…are you sure about that cause you were just-“

“Do not finish that sentence if you ever want to see me naked again, Choso.”

“Got it,” he says, nodding curtly. “So what plans do you have tomorrow that are oh so important to be taking you from me?”

“Oh.” You look away, scratching your cheek awkwardly. "Um, I'm going on a date.”

Whatever small smirk Choso had been previously sporting falls—falls isn't even the correct word. It vanishes in thin air, one second there and gone the next, as quick and fleeting as the clap of a butterfly’s wings. “…you're going on a date?”

"Yeah, I mean..." Your head dips down, your hands now awkwardly fumbling with themselves as you look up at him through your lashes and mutter, "It's not like we’re exclusive or anything, right?”

"Yeah," he nods hesitantly, like he's not even really sure he should be nodding at all. "Yeah, of course not.”

“Yeah… Well…” You quickly clear his throat and approach him, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "Bye, Choso, I'm gonna get going! talk to you later?”

“Talk to you later, Y/n,” is all he says before you’re rushing out of his house.

The slam of his front door has him gasping, belatedly realizing he had started holding his breath sometime earlier to begin with. Choso feels like he might just vomit now that he's all too aware of everything that just happened and everything that’s currently happening within him. He practically jumps out of bed, stumbling a bit as he pulls on his boxers on his path toward the bathroom.

He comes to a halt in front of his sink, immediately turning it on and splashing his face with water, as if that would actually do something to stop the way his heart is beating at light speed. Choso stands there, borderline waterboarding himself, for god knows how long, and when it doesn’t feel like his legs are about to give out from underneath him like he’s a baby deer standing for the first time, he turns off the faucet and groans.

He should’ve stopped you.

He should’ve told you that he did, in fact, actually want to be exclusive. And if he couldn’t have done that, then at the very least he should’ve tried to get you in bed again—he should’ve done literally anything just to keep you in his grasp and not in the paws of whatever filthy person you’re off to have a date with tomorrow.

but he knows he was playing a losing game all along anyway. It was only a matter of time before you got tired of this and called it off—yet Choso can admit he wished he had just a little bit more time with you before you went off and found something you didn’t know he was more than willing to give you. Choso has loved you from the moment he laid his eyes on you, and never in his wildest dreams did he think he’d have you in any way—but one day, to his amazement, you suggested this arrangement, and Choso was not about to say no.

He was not about to deny himself the only way he might ever be able to have you.

And now it’s seeming like he’ll never be able to have you in anyway ever again, and there’s nothing he can do about it—nothing he can do to make you feel the same way. But at least this was a nice way to end things, with one last hoorah. Choso can at least be happy at the fact that you gave him one last chance to adore you.

☆。*。☆。☆。*。☆。☆。*。☆。☆。*。☆。☆。

Your elbow is on the table with your cheek resting against your fist as you stare at the person in front of you who's talking about something you can't hear. not because it’s loud. No, your date made certain that it wouldn't be by bringing you to a secluded booth in the corner of a romantically lit restaurant, so that's not the problem.

The problem is you.

You didn’t even want to come on this date in the first place; you didn’t think you were actually going to have to end up showing up. What you thought would happen was last night when you told Choso he’d get jealous or do something, anything, to show you that he’s just as head over heels for you as you are for him, and then you'd cancel this date.

But no.

All you got was confirmation that you two truly are just friends with benefits—nothing more, nothing less. And really, it shouldn’t hurt this badly. It shouldn’t feel like someone’s just ripped your heart out and served it on a silver platter for you to watch as it bleeds out. yet it does. And even still, you can't help but be here thinking about Choso. You’ll probably always be stuck thinking about him. You've thought about him so much that you're convinced he's the only thing on your mind. A head filled with nothing but Choso; it's been that way since before you two had what you have going on, and you're sure it'll stay that way long after.

“You know you could at least pretend to pay attention, right?"

They roll their eyes when you do nothing but stare at them in stunned silence. "If you don’t want to be here so bad, why did you even come?”

"I-uh-" you swallow harshly. "I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Who are they?”

You stare at them blankly. Is it really that obvious? If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you have "I'm in love with Choso!” written smack dab on your forehead.

“You look miserable, and I'd like to think I'm not at full fault for that.” They tilt their head slightly to the side, unamused. "So, who are they?”

“You’re not,” you say, an apologetic smile being the only thing you have to offer them. “You didn’t do anything, really. I just.” You stand up abruptly and quickly exit the booth. "I should go.”

“Yeah,” they agree. “That’s probably best.”

"I'm really sorry again-"

They interrupt your sentence with an impudent wave of their hand, and you frown. But obviously, since this date was doomed from the moment you arrived, you ignore it, pushing their bitterness (though you can’t fully blame them) out of your mind and walking away. As you rush out of the restaurant, you immediately pull out your phone and call Choso. You’re not sure what you would even say; all you know is that you need to hear his voice. Who knows, maybe hearing his voice after that cluster fuck of a “date” will be the very push off the cliff you need to confess. The phone seems to ring for an eternity.

"Cmon, pick up,” you mumble to no one other than yourself and the ghost of the wind.

The line falls, as does your face. Okay. Choso always answers you. So why not now? You shake your head and call him again; maybe he was just in the bathroom or something. This time, the phone only rings once or twice before dropping, and that's when it hits you: he’s ignoring you on purpose. You stop in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at your phone blankly.

What the fuck?

Choso ignoring you?

That's unheard of; Choso would never dare ignore you, yet he is. You rack your brain, searching every nook and cranny for an answer, trying to recall if maybe you did something wrong. You two were fine last night after you left—at least, you think? You can't totally remember if you’re being honest. You’re brain checked out the minute Choso gave you confirmation that he doesn't feel the same about you. You groan to yourself. You have to fix this. First, you just have to figure out what exactly you need to fix, and if you don't have that information, you have a strong suspicion about who might.

☆⋆。𖦹°‧★⋆。𖦹°‧☆⋆。𖦹°‧★⋆。𖦹°‧☆⋆。𖦹°‧★⋆。𖦹°‧☆

The pounding of your fists on the door falls in tune with the pounding of your heart. You're about to start knocking again when you finally hear the faint grumble of someone from beyond it.

“What the fuck do you-“ He comes to a halt when the door swings open enough to reveal you. "Oh, it's just you.”

You roll your eyes. “Great to see you too, Sukuna!”

He looks you up and down, unamused. “What do you want?”

“Are you gonna invite me in?”

Sukuna looks over his shoulder at something—or rather, someone—before looking back at you. “'m busy.”

“Like the kind of busy me and Choso got going on or...”

"Ew, what the fuck?" He reluctantly nods, though his grimace is still evident. "I mean, yeah, but gross.”

"Okay, fine, whatever, I'll make this quick. Have you talked to him?”

“Choso?”

You nod.

“Uh yeah, I talk to his dumbass all the time.”

You sigh. "I mean recently, like last night or today?…”

Sukuna quickly shrugs before leaning against his door frame, tilting his head to the side as he asks, “Why?”

“I’m like…” You look away and mumble disappointedly, “...pretty sure he’s ignoring me.”

“Bro what?” Sukuna looks at you like you’ve grown two heads. “Choso ignoring you?” He snickers. “You sound fucking crazy.”

"Dude, I'm serious!” You snap, returning your gaze to him. “Watch, call him.”

Sukuna, unmoving, quirks an eyebrow up at you skeptically.

“Just do it, Sukuna.”

“Fine.” He lazily pushes himself up right and pulls out his phone. He dials Choso, and within seconds, Choso answers. "Yo, uh, I just wanted to see if you were alive." Sukuna shakes his head at his own horrible improv skills. "And I can tell you are, so I'm gonna hang up now. Ok. Bye.” Sukuna pockets his phone and stares at you blankly. "Ok, now what?"

Your jaw is dropped, and Sukuna is tempted to reach out and shut it for you. “He fucking answered you?!”

“Is he not answering you?”

“No! Why do you think I'm here telling you he’s ignoring me?” You quickly pull out your phone and call Choso. “Watch.” 

The two of you watch how the line almost immediately goes dead, and Sukuna holds a fist to his mouth to stifle his laughter (though it doesn't do much). "Bro, what did you do?”

"I didn't do anything!” You trail off unsure, "I mean, I don't think I did anything?”

“When's the last time you saw him?”

“Last night.”

“Ew,” he says, a grimace on his face as he shakes his head. "Okay, uh, what was it like before you left?”

“Fine?” You pause for a moment. "I mean, usually I stay the night, but I had to leave because I had a date today.”

“You what.”

"I had a date today."

Sukuna stares at you with narrowed eyes, hesitant. “Did you tell Choso that?”

“Um... Yeah?”

"Y/n, are you a fucking idiot?” He asks earnestly, like he genuinely wonders if you’re actually this stupid and is slightly concerned for your wellbeing.

You stare at him blankly.

Truly not a thought behind your eyes, he thinks.

“Huh?”

“Oh my god.” He begins to explain slowly, enuanciating each and every syllable as if talking to a child. “You tell Choso you’re going on a date, and then suddenly he’s ignoring you, and you have no idea why?”

“Thanks for the recap, Sukuna." You roll your eyes and cross your arms defensively. "What's your fucking point?”

“My point?” Sukuna shuts his eyes closed and rubs his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. “You know he's in love with you, right?”

"That's not funny, Sukuna,” you say, your jaw clenched tight.

Sukuna’s hands fall to his sides, and he leans back against the door frame, rolling his eyes before glaring at you, his head tilted tauntingly to the side. "No, it's not, especially when you're such a fucking idiot.”

“Stop fucking around, Sukuna.”

Sukuna stands straight up again, only to lean forward, his face inches away from yours as he studies it. "Do you seriously think I'm lying?”

“Obviously you are!” You exclaim as you push him back into place.

"Y/n, that dumbass is head over heels for you.”

“You don't know that!”

“Anyone with eyes knows that!” he sighs. “And besides, he’s literally told you he loved you once.”

"Huh?" You blink a few times, trying to remember if he had. "No, he hasn't?"

"Yes, he has.”

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember that, Sukuna.”

"Unless you were—“ Sukuna grimaces as he finishes his sentence,”—too fucked out to remember or hear him.”

Your mouth falls in shock. “He said it during sex?!”

"Man, I don't fucking know,” Sukuna says, his grimace growing deeper. "I didn't ask for the details; I hung up on him. What the fuck?”

“Oh my god, I'm an idiot,” you mumble to yourself.

Sukuna knows you weren’t talking to him, but he still answers anyway. “I know.”

“Fuck.” You take a deep breath and seem to come to a conclusion almost immediately. "Okay, this was very insightful. Thank you. I'm gonna go to his house now.”

"Dude, don't go unless you like him back.” He frowns slightly, and you and him both aren’t sure if it’s actually for Choso or just for the sake of acting nice. “Just give him space.”

“Of course I like him back!” you stress. "I only went on that date to make him jealous in the first place."

In an instant, Sukunas' face falls flat. "I'm not even going to say anything. Fuck you, get off my porch.”

and the next thing you know, he’s slamming his door in your face.

☆⋆。𖦹°‧★⋆。𖦹°‧☆⋆。𖦹°‧★⋆。𖦹°‧☆⋆。𖦹°‧★⋆。𖦹°‧☆

It doesn’t take long until you’re at Choso’s front door. In all honesty, you ran here. It’s not like Choso’s is very far from Sukuna’s in the first place, but you’d rather not waste any more time; you’ve wasted enough as it is. You knock softly at first, but when that doesn't seem to work, you full-send it and start banging on his door.

“Choso, open the fucking door and come talk to me!”

He doesn’t.

but you do hear him grumble from inside, “Go away, Y/n.”

“Stop acting like a child!”

That seems to do the trick, considering he flings the door open so fast it gives you whiplash. He stands in the doorway, shirtless, looking as disheveled as ever. You can’t help but stare at the way he makes looking messy like art. like every detail, from his frizzy, sticking-up hair down to the bags under his eyes, is purposeful. You don’t know how long you stand there just ogling at him, but you know it’s long enough for him to notice and call you out on it.

"Did you come here just to eye-fuck me or..."

"Right, uhm," you say, clearing your throat. “You were ignoring me.”

“Dunno what you're talking about," he shrugs curtly, looking away.

“Choso.”

“What?” he asks, turning his attention back to you with narrowed eyes, like he’s challenging you.

You narrow your eyes right back, your voice even as you speak, “You answered Sukuna but ignored me."

“Don't recall.”

You genuinely have no idea how he can stand here and lie straight to your face while looking you dead in the eyes. Does the man have no shame? (The answer is no, but you already knew that.)

“Are you serious?” You gawk before shaking your head; this is not worth it. “You know what? I'm not here to argue with you.”

This catches his attention, and as he stands up straighter, you can make out the slightest of glints in his eyes. “Then what are you here to do?”

"I love you.” After a moment, you add, “Too.”

Choso stands there, star-struck, his eyes as wide as saucers, and although you can't hear him breathing over the hammering of your own heart, you can see just how his chest heaves. You shift uneasily in place, his gaze piercing, and under different circumstances, you usually adore having his eyes on you with the way they make you feel like you're the only thing in his universe, but right now? Right now, it only serves to make you alarmingly aware of how you just laid out your heart to him, and he hasn't said a word.

"Choso, did you hear me?”

"Am I asleep?”

Despite your better judgment and jelly-like legs, you take a step forward and wrap your arms around his neck, answering with a small, breathy laugh. "No, Choso, you're not.”

You watch mesmerized at how his adam's apple bobs as he swallows harshly and mutters, "I'm not..."

“Nope.”

“And you love me?”

“Always have.” You look down and notice how languid Choso is in your hold, his hands at his sides rather than on you, and that just won't do. Choso does not keep his hands to himself, especially not around you. You make quick work of untangling your arms from his neck and grabbing his hands, placing them on your hips before returning your arms to their original state as you speak lowly, "I went on that date to make you jealous. I thought it didn't work."

Bringing up the date was apparently all it took to break Choso out of his trance; all of a sudden, his hands are exploring up from your hips to your waist, softly squeezing and pulling at the flesh as if making sure you’re really there—that he really isn’t asleep and having the same dream that he’s had for forever now.

“It worked a little too well, Y/n,” he says, chuckling.

"Yeah, I guess it did, didn't it?"

"Wait, how do you even know that I love you?” His face scrunches up in confusion. “I didn't-“

You cut him off with an awkward laugh. “Sukuna gave you up and called me an idiot for not seeing it before…”

"Well..." he half-shrugs innocently. “He’s kinda right.”

You roll your eyes. "Haha, you're so funny.” You clear your throat before subtly glancing to the side and over your shoulder, mumbling,

"Can you let me in now, though? Cause I'm pretty sure there's people staring at us…” 

©TODAYISAWTHEWHXLEWXRLD

[thecurioustale]

Writing Psychological Horror Is Hard

Writing horror is hard for me.

I think it is perhaps the clearest example, at least when I'm the subject, of the difference between being the author and being the audience. I find it extremely difficult to know what will creep out someone who doesn't know all the behind-the-scenes details of what is happening. This is despite my considerable experience as a consumer of [psychological / environmental] horror media.

When I think about the things that scare me, or maybe "unsettle" is a better word, it usually comes down to two things: 1) narratively plausible violations of the laws of nature; and 2) foreboding, i.e. the slow-building setup that something bad is coming—something that is specific enough to be apprehensible but still ambiguous enough to be cloaked in mystery.

But! Not just any attempt at these things will actually work. There is definitely a secret sauce that makes some efforts fail and others succeed.

In the game Oxenfree, probably my favorite horror game of all time, there is a scene on the "Find Clarissa!" subplot where Alex et al. are in something akin to a classroom in an abandoned military base on an uninhabited island, and a discordantly upbeat and normal-sounding midcentury-style gameshow host is talking to them through a haunted radio asking them questions in a game of Hangman (whose figure is gradually being drawn by invisible means on the chalkboard), while a lamp overhead illuminates the room in a very unnatural light as it swings back and forth for no apparent reason. And this was one of my favorite moments in the entire game, because it was really scary. It benefitted from the existing atmospheric horror build up in the events immediately preceding it, and also benefitted from not being a narrative climax; it actually ratchets up the tension in the story even higher, without resolving anything (other than itself).

But I think that if you went purely by my description, you would be hard-pressed to create a scary implementation of this scene. I certainly would be—and I know that for a fact, because I have more or less tried it!

What is it that makes something profoundly unsettling in that oh-so-delicious manner of a good horror story? Well, the academic answer is that it's appealing to our instincts of danger: dangerous environments (like rocks or cliffs or plants, or, indeed, "the dark"), dangerous predators, dangerous people, dangerous forces (like fire and wind and water), and dangerous sicknesses (e.g. infectious disease). Most horror taps into at least one of these primal apprehensions in the human psyche. And to succeed it has to feel real, the way a roller coaster feels like you're really falling. But I don't think "the academic answer" really sheds all that much light on the mystery of actually composing horrifying situations and events.

A lot of the craftsmateship is a balancing act.

For example: You don't want to hit the audience over the head with obvious bogeymates—jumpscares for the sake of jumpscares, as it were, or having your big scary cryptid jump out in its full costume in broad daylight and look absurd—but I have also found, through experience, that it is very easy to hide horrifying details too well, to be too subtle about it—and it is extremely difficult for me to get a sense, on the audience's behalf, of how subtle is too subtle.

That leads me to an important insight: Part of the secret sauce of horror is contextually embedding horrifying story elements into a broader context. A "haunted stick of furniture" isn't going to get many people a-quailin' in their boots. It has to be more about how that object is embedded in the story. You know, like a haunted couch, or a haunted table: How do you make that scary? I don't think it can be scary on its own. Not consistently and convincingly. Instead you have to set it up ahead of time in some way(s), by providing information to the audience that you are then going to subvert or manipulate later. Yet it is all too easy to do this in a way that comes across like a paint-by-numbers exercise: "Wait a minute! Wasn't this couch pointing the other way earlier?! GASP!!" No one is gonna be scared by that. It's not enough.

Ultimately, I think scaring people successfully, in the psychological horror sense, therefore involves an element of overwhelming their ability to cope with and anticipate environmental changes, which assumes an elaborate environmental structure that you're going to have to set up, in non-obvious ways, earlier in the story. You have to give them expectations about how things will change and then either gradually go beyond that magnitude of change or else go in a different direction of change entirely—usually the former. Psychological horror is all about the fear of the jumpscare that never comes.

But I'm also just spitballing for the purposes of this essay. I don't really know. I struggle with this stuff!

It really is an art form to be able to scare people in this way.

Additional, medium-specific difficulty comes in the fact that the written media that I work in does not have access to a scary soundtrack or sound effects or voices, or to scary visuals and visual effects. Written text does have the corresponding advantage of having unfettered access to the reader's imagination, allowing them to essentially self-select the personally scariest interpretations of some of the details of a scene. But taking full advantage of this power is not easy at all; you have to put the right kinds of details in, and you have to do so in a digestible format, all without cluttering the flow of the story.

I have been doing a lot of Galaxy Federal writing lately, and have been trying to write some of the "scarier" bits and pieces in it, and I almost resent how totally clueless I am in regards to whether I am hitting the mark to my satisfaction! 😮

[mr-double-downer]

So since a jerkoff tonight wanted to mention “entry level positions” here’s the starting pay for grade 1’s/2’s for the waste water industry here california.

For a small fee of 99 dollars at my local community college (where I saw a flyer for this since I had gone in to take my Brit Lit final) I can take a three hour online course from 9am to 12 pm for a duration of four months. I’ll get my credentials for my grade one and will be eligible to take my grade 2 immediately. Even the minimum starting salary at 60 grand a year is very much doable to live on my own and save up to buy a house, even around here. There are five grades for operators as well as other types of positions for plant management and leadership that require a degree.

My father makes last time I checked 52 an hour as a grade two (he can’t pass his grade three because he’s not good at taking tests) along with all sorts of other benefits due to working for the city/county. He has no education higher than a high school diploma and he’s been doing this for over two decades. In fact the only reason why he learned about the job in the first place was because he knew a guy.

So what’s my point?

Opportunities like this in spite of the seeming ease of entry, are hard to come by. If I hadn’t taken a class in the building this flyer was posted in, I might not have seen it, and if my dad didn’t know a guy, he never would’ve found a breadwinner job so easily.

And sure 99 dollars isn’t much of an expenditure for me, but someone who is actually living paycheck to paycheck might have to think about it, even though it pays well because they’re always hiring operators as they build more plants. 9am to 12pm might be hard for some people to schedule around as it is kind of awkward time placement wise, and unless you have a laptop or computer (which can be another couple hundred dollar investment that some people might not have money to spend if they’re making minimum wage and living paycheck to paycheck) you’re going to have to find a public library with good internet access and hope they have computers available if at all, and honestly online classes really aren’t for everyone especially if you get distracted easy or find the lack of direct access to an instructor discouraging.

Social mobility/advancement has always been gatekept by money, because a lot of time to make money you need to spend money you might not have. This is really nothing to me money wise because I’ll be the first to admit I’m privileged in a lot of ways but a lot of people aren’t me. People don’t even talk about wastewater as industry because it’s also dirty work, the kind of work people turn their nose up to because you work with literal shit and shit water and piss and all sorts of other gross stuff.

Yet the entry level position that requires a 99 dollar enrollment fee and spending 3 hours a week for four months pays a lot better than most jobs that require a degree or trade school/apprenticeship.

So when people say entry level positions shouldn’t be livable I’m going to share this, and say “I bet you feel real stupid now huh?”

And some will say “but downer waste water is really important work our society couldn’t function without it!” yeah you’re right so would every other entry level wagie shit because I doubt most people have the means to live on their own without having to go to the grocery store every couple of weeks. Not even that but people lose their shit about not having access to caffeine, and if you have a pet especially an exotic one like a snake that requires mice whether dead or frozen how are you going to feed without some schmuck like me grabbing it for you?

now never did I say wagie shit needs to be a high paying career cause I’m a firm believer in a job being a job till the next one, but if people take me saying what amounts to “I don’t think people should have to struggle to live even a little comfortable” as some kind of… attack? then I really don’t know what to say other than go fuck yourself and develop real issues to be angry about.

[mpsansy]

A View In The Garden

Idk what the heck to title this, I haven't written a fanfic in such a long long time :P

Also this has been sitting in my drafts for too long and I needed to share it already. So enjoy the bond Casper will have with his uncle Stinkie!

___

There wasn't a breeze out on this late morning. And by the off chance there was, the young spirit wouldn't have felt it anyway. Couldn't really feel most things if he was being honest with himself. Especially the three uncles that were currently resting within the manor.

But that wasn't really important to him right now. What was important, however, was the new greenery that was sprouting up. With a little convincing and pleading, both Casper and Kat were able to create a colorful landscape in the garden. Initially looking otherwise devoid of life before they started.

It was perhaps the one thing that caught one of Casper's uncle's eyes before darting off, as if to play off his interest at the display.

___

Casper, alone for the meantime, was in pure amazement. Previously when looking for flower seeds so many months ago with Kat, Casper with much enthusiasm, picked out the best flowers for the garden. All with no assistance needed from her.

For a moment, it was fascinating for Kat to see his understanding of most of these plants he picked out. They must've really meant something to the boy to have been picked out with no hesitation.

Unfortunately, she wasn't here to enjoy the garden with Casper. Something with applying for some big school, but either way, he was happy for her. She's doing all kinds of different things now. Things he was very happy with listening to from time to time.

___

The child didn't realize how far time had passed until one of his uncle's came from within the manor. He didn't seem to be in such a bad mood himself, because his call for his nephew was at a normal volume. Unlike his other two uncles who could practically rattle bones with their voices.

Casper looked up to face the uncle who called him. A smile plastered on his face.

"Oh! Hey, uncle Stinkie." He called back. Smile still present.

"What's the deal, shortsheet?" Stinkie asked, floating a bit closer to his nephew. "Have you really been out here all this time lookin' at JUST flowers?"

Casper shook his head.

"Not just flowers. There's more things I've been looking at!"

"More?"

"Mhm!"

Color the other ghost curious, cause once he got to where Casper was resting at, he saw it. Bugs. For most that would probably be uninteresting, however for these two? It was something mesmerizing.

"I don't think I've seen these little critters here in a long time." Stinkie commented to Casper. A few bees passing by, landing and collecting pollen from the newly bloomed flowers.

The boy nodded.

"I think because of all the gardening me and Kat have been doing. It got their attention."

All around the two, life was booming. And Casper tried to show his uncle all the different bugs that were appearing left and right. Besides the bees, there were others. Ants, beetles, caterpillars, you name it. It was all there.

Matter of fact, Stinkie had a response to all this. He was talking about all the different types of bugs Casper had listed off. It's benefits to keeping nature going strong. Especially for a garden such as this.

And for some reason, it felt like Casper had already heard this kind of talk from his uncle before. But this is the first time they've really had a normal conversation. So it was strange.

"Uncle Stinkie, how do you know all this stuff?"

"Hm, what do ya mean?"

Casper continued, now feeling a bit embarrassed to have temporary interrupted his uncle's lecture on bugs.

"Well, I've never seen you interested in stuff like this. I mean, it's really nice to hear it! Honestly."

Stinkie couldn't answer that question initially. With turning his head to Casper briefly and then to the ground. Bringing a finger to tap on his chin. Thinking.

Finally came a response.

"Casper, I'll be honest with ya. An' don't tell the others about this. But I think I'm startin' to remember things."

Casper looked confused.

"Remember?"

"Y'know, like, remember things before being a ghost."

"Oh..."

Give it a second.

"OH!!"

There it is.

"Really?!" His voice came out louder than it should've, quickly clamping his mouth shut.

"Really?" Casper asked again, quietly this time.

Stinkie couldn't help but snicker. Soon nodding to the boy. Looking back to the bugs who had not a single clue of the spirits viewing them.

"It's kinda weird. Didn't even know I had a feelin' of recallin' stuff like this before."

"Does Stretch and Fatso know?" Casper asked. "That you're remembering stuff now?"

A pause, followed with Stinkie's head tilting to his nephew.

"Mm, nah. Just happened recently. S'ides, I'm sure they'd be bored outta their minds hearing me ramble about this new discovery. Better to not make a fuss about it."

Guess he's right about that. They were usually just fixated on the TV than sitting down to hear a random fact about a topic Casper was interested in.

Still, he didn't think his own uncle was finding his memories. Something to ask him more about later.

"I like this though." Stinkie commented, breaking his nephew's train of thought. "Just somethin' about it feels sorta. Nice."

Casper couldn't agree more. And was so happy to hear such a thing coming out of his uncle. It felt so sincere. Something that didn't come often with any of them.

"Yeah."

___

"Say, Casper?"

"Yes, uncle Stinkie?"

"Would you be interested in plantin' more flowers here? I can help if you don-"

Stinkie didn't manage to finish his question. Because in that instance, the boy immediately answered.

"Of course you can! I don't mind at all! But... uhm..." There comes the nervous tone in the boy's voice.

"You think uncle Stretch and Fatso would get annoyed by us spending time outside? And me not inside doing chores?"

"Ah, fuck 'em." Oops. That came out by mistake. Nothing he could do other than cover his mouth.

"Uncle Stinkie, language!" Casper said with an exaggerated gasp, pretending to be shocked at the use of his uncle's profanity. Honestly he's heard so much throughout the years that he could put them in a book.

"... I think it'd be nice ta change things up though. But maybe keep it between us. The rememberin' part that is."

"Yeah, right!" Casper with such excitement couldn't help but wrap his arms around Stinkie. And instead of shoving the child off. He let it be. Smiling as he went to pat the top of his nephew's head.

"Let's get back inside though." Casper said, letting go of his uncle and beginning to float up. "I really don't want to hear Stretch screech his head off about how long we were outside."

"Good idea, bulbhead." That comment was all Stinkie said before following his nephew's lead back inside.

Hopefully they would get to have this time again soon.

[is-this-yuri]

i've been thinking about small talk recently.

i don't like small talk about the weather because, being homeless, the weather is a serious topic for me. it effects me more directly and intensely than other people who have climate controlled homes and workplaces. the way people talk about serious weather like blizzards and tropical storms is how i talk about rain and humidity. there's a disconnect there, and if i were to talk about the weather honestly during a bout of small talk, it could very easily be offputting to my conversation partner, which is counter to the point of small talk.

but that's because i'm homeless. i'm sure we all have personal hangups when it comes to small talk in some way. my example is just an extreme case.

here's the thing tho, i don't like small talk, but i engage in it anyway, because sometimes there can be nice moments where a real connection is made. especially with people i see regularly, like the service workers i interact with. there are people in my life who i know nothing about, not even their name, but at least i know they'll make a great sandwich for me, and i know they'll do their best because they recognize me and they appreciate that i'm nice to them. that's all there is to it.

it's a way to signal that i'm a safe person to talk to, not with the intent to continue into a friendship, but just to put them at ease when they see me, to remove the 'stranger/unknown/potentially scary' tag from over my head.

i saw a reply on a post that said small talk is basically like a dog wagging its tail to signal it's friendly. that can be a good analogy, but i would say it's more like when dogs sniff each others butts. maybe i don't want my butt sniffed today so i put my tail down and walk away. that's perfectly fine too. not everyone wants their butt sniffed.

i've learned that being fully honest and authentic during small talk with people you're not nessecarily going to be friends with isn't actually needed. i've learned not to really lie, but to give the bare minimum needed to get through the interaction. if they say 'i'm so glad it's finally raining, the plants really needed it' i wouldn't say 'actually i hate rain because i'm homeless.' i could just say 'eh, rain isnt my thing. good for the plants, though.'

it's important to be polite and considerate in public, and small talk is a very good skill to have and a lot less scary/difficult than some people make it out to be. granted, it took me 27 years to get to this point, but it's possible.

that said, i think some people make too big of a deal about small talk and connecting with strangers. it's just not that big of a deal. some people have bad days and go to the store with a scowl on their face and they ignore the cashier because they're just getting through the day. that's fine. it's fine if every day is like that for you (and as the cashier it's fine to think of them as a sad grumpypants, but not to be mean about it). maybe you just don't want your butt sniffed today for whatever reason. you're not causing physical harm to anyone by being a little grumpy or closed off, and simply not caring to make a connection of any kind with strangers is also fine. we don't all need to strive to be friendly all the time, but the benefits of it are there if we ever want them.

[townsenddecades]

1329 – Day 3

The last quarter of summer brings the first taste of autumn – namely, rain. It is colder now, which makes the constant precipitation far less pleasant than it had been earlier in the season, but as always, the Townsends have little choice but to resign themselves to the discomfort. At least there are still some dry, sunny days for them to enjoy.

They are glad the rain is intermittent enough not to completely waterlog their fields, too. The after-effects of the horrific famine of the last decade might have eased, but the memory lingers.

To make sure that nothing like that happens to them again, they are diligent in planting at a fortuitous time. Much of what they will harvest in fall, like the apple trees and grapevines, already exists and has been cared for throughout the year, but there are other things, like carrots and onions, that need to still be sown. Frank takes over responsibility for that, with some help from his father and brothers. They make an effort to fertilize their plants properly, too, to ensure a good quality for their crop. That is especially important now that they want to make their fruit into nectar.

More important to Malcolm – although, it must be said, not to the rest of the family – is making good on his promise to talk to his parents about his marriage to Hawise. They seem to suspect what is coming when he asks them to sit down with him at the table because he has something important to tell them, at least judging by the amused look they share. But they wait for him to broach the topic himself. He doesn’t know whether to thank them or curse them for that.

“You know that I have become…close with Hawise. Uncle Robert’s maid.”

“Yes.” His mother shoots another look at his father, already smiling widely.

“She is a very hard-working, kind girl. I think she would make a great addition to our farm.”

His father snorts. “Do you want to hire her as a farmhand, boy?”

“I want to marry her.” The words come out in a rush, as if to defend himself. He wanted to broach the topic logically, to make them see that she isn’t some hapless town girl and will be a benefit to them, but somehow, his parents’ amused faces make him believe that he is going about this wrongly.

His mother nearly squeals at his words and claps her hands, while his father gives an amused shake of his head. “And have you spoken to the young woman about this, son? What do my brother and his wife say?”

“I have asked to court her and told her that I want her to be my wife.” He can’t help but hesitate then. He is sure that Sir Robert will raise no objection, but he can’t swear to it. “I only did so last evening, so I don’t know if she has talked to Uncle Robert yet, but do you think he’d be against it?”

“No. But I will talk to him if he has doubts.”

“She has agreed, then?”, his mother asks, leaning forward.

For the first time in this conversation, Malcolm actually feels proud as he nods. He can’t fight down his smile, either. He may not look forward to the prospect of children and all that they entail, but he is full of joy at the prospect of having Hawise by his side for as long as the Watcher wills it.

“Yes. She was overjoyed, in fact. I think the prospect of gaining an entire family by marrying me is even more pleasing to her than the thought of having me as a husband.”

His father turns to his mother. “We will need to talk to Robert about her dowry, too. And we will need to think about sleeping arrangements.”

“I was hoping we could have the cottage”, Malcolm interjects. “It’d probably be better for Grandfather to sleep in the main house, too, so it would be to everyone’s benefit.”

“Your grandfather can’t climb the ladder to the loft”, his mother objects. “But maybe, if Edwin sleeps up there…Well, I’m sure we’ll figure these details out.”

Neither Sir Robert nor Lady Chevalier voice any objections to the marriage. It’s hard to tell if either of them is melancholy at the prospect of losing a trusted servant, but they profess gladness that a good-natured girl like her will be well settled.

There is much talk between Sir Robert and Benjamin about the conditions of the marriage, but they agree that it should take place before the beginning of winter, ideally in the coming year.

Aside from these matters, and with the fall sowing finished, Benjamin uses his time to go fishing with the younger children to put some additional food on their table and have to use their catch for fertilizing their fields. Even Frank, who hasn’t initially shown much promise in the craft of fishing, reels in a big specimen, much to his pride.

Things seem to be going almost too well for the Townsends. While there is no profit from it yet, their nectar-cellar is starting to become well stocked, they will have no problem to pay off their tallage, and despite that financial blow, their eldest son is soon to be married, which will surely usher in a new generation of Townsends to assure the future of their farm and their budding nectar business.

By all accounts, the Watcher seems to be smiling down upon their family.

So of course, it can’t last.

At first, when Edwin complains of nausea and an aching stomach, his parents don’t think much of it. Maybe he has eaten something that hasn’t agreed with him. Maybe it’s just a passing malady, of the kind children often suffer. Malika tries to give him the herbal remedies she knows and prays to the Watcher for a swift recovery, but that is what she always does when her children are ill.

It is only when the pain and the vomiting continue for days that they start to worry. Edwin can’t keep any food down, and even drinking doesn’t seem to help him be less thirsty. Soon, he is too weak to even rise from bed. Either Malika, Benjamin, Benedict or one of the older twins sit with him at all times, to watch over him and try to coax him to drink broth, but they can tell that he is withering away before their eyes. By the second day, he is feverish, weakening his body even further.

In their worry, they call in the village healer, but even his attempts to cure him don’t have any effect. When they ask him if there is anything they can do, he makes some suggestions – many of which they have tried already– but they can tell from the look in his eyes that he doesn’t hold much hope.

Still, they watch over their boy. And they pray.

Previous: 1329, Day 2, Part 3/3 <--> Next: 1329, Day 4, Part 1/3

[that-purple-creature]

Look I bet you have a lot of "kys" anons in your inbox right now, so just to start of this is not one of those messages. If you're feeling overwhelmed by those, I think the best think you can do is log off and go on a walk. Remember that these are people who don't know you, they just have an idea of you based off of one thing you've said.

I saw the post that someone reposted your tags on, and since you seem kinda young I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt and explain what people are so upset about.

The US has a long history of exploiting Latin America's resources and meddling in their politics. Look up "Operación Cóndor" and "Banana Wars" for some particularly egregious examples. The current reality of USAmerican food imports is that we get a lot of our food from large companies such as Chiquita Banana, Dole (both were participants in the Banana Wars), and Driscoll's. I'll be talking about Driscoll's mostly because that's the one I know the most about.

Driscoll's sell berries, but they don't actually own the farms they grow the berries on. They enter into a contract with farmers where Driscoll's provides the seedlings and the materials needed to produce berries to their exacting specifications. The issue with this contract is that farmers don't own the plants they grow. In fact, they're copyrighted by Driscoll's. What ends up happening is that Driscoll's gets the majority of the profits, and these farmers get pennies on the dollar. It's reminiscent of sharecropping in the US, where poor black families who just gained their freedom had no choice but to rent land from white plantation owners and give them the food they farmed to pay rent. A lot of Driscoll's farmers are located in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico.

Driscoll's is only one example. The issue is that the tropical and out-of-season foods that we take for granted exist because of this system. Having access to bananas year-round is only possible because of worker exploitation. Saying you'd rather remain in ignorance of the issue than lose access to your safe foods is insensitive.

(Also, you may want to reconsider sharing your age online. You have no obligation to tell anyone anything about you.)

I actually have very few people telling me to stop existing, which I am thankful for. It's mostly just informational, though you're the only not-anon in my inbox.

Anyway; Thank you for the information, that was great /gen. I was surprised that we actually do have Driscoll's where I live, although I've literally never bought from them because I live near quite a few massive pick-your-own farms. I was aware of the US's weird nonsense in Latin America, though not to what extent, entirely.

I don't even live there, so the way your/their food is produced is not very relevant to me, especially since it seems most of the fruit we get from wherever during off-seasons are completely flavourless and nobody really buys them, so I was kind of sitting here in blissful ignorance with bananas from Queensland sitting on my kitchen bench and wondering if they're produced with slavery too, or if it's just the migrant workers Pauline Hanson complains about so often.

(It feels like they probably are so I'm glad I don't eat bananas.)

Apologies if this reply felt late, I just woke up and time zones are wierd things.

[commsroom]

if w359 were to be adapted (and imagine this is a perfect world where adaptations are perfectly true to source and author intention) would you prefer a live-action w CGI or animated? how should Hera be portrayed?

oh god, okay. first i have to get over my gut reaction to the idea of a wolf 359 adaptation, which is... please no, not in any form, never. literally the nightmare scenario for me. but okay, other than that.

the wolf 359 that exists in my mind's eye when i'm listening to the show is, like... live action, physical sets, practical effects including some puppetry (for the plant monster, notably) - and that's definitely influenced by gabriel urbina citing farscape as the main inspiration for the tone of the show. so, in a perfect world, assuming at least the main characters would still be played by the same actors and everything... like that, i guess? i love to see fan animations, and there's the obvious benefit re: voice actors, but i don't think it would work. the realism and mundanity undercut by larger than life scenarios and science fiction nonsense is a necessary contrast to me, and the characters are just... such Real Life People, when i picture them in my mind.

and hera is definitely a big reason why i don't think the show can or should be adapted to any visual medium. when i commission art, my personal design for hera has that blue holographic look because 1) it's important to me to have recognizable visual signifiers, and 2) i want a way to give her a physical presence for artistic purposes while still suggesting some intangibility + distance. but i don't literally think she looks like that. if you are portraying what hera actually looks like, then there are two heras: viewed from the outside, formless and faceless, basically a disembodied voice without any other autonomous parts to express herself with, and the way she sees herself in her own mind and her own memories. from what we can infer, i honestly think the image hera has of herself is just of a regular human woman.

i don't know if you could portray hera in any visual medium, because... you can't show her, you can't make her a hologram or a face on a screen, and you can't make her... more robotic, with more expressive moving parts of the station, etc. because any of those things would imply something different about her than what exists in canon. like, i love the idea that eiffel looks at hera's cameras when he's talking to her, but it's important that something like hera's cameras never comes across as hera, as a physical presence. if that makes sense? the sense of isolation, the way hera feels trapped, at a physical distance from the others, unseen - that's such a central conflict of her character, the very literal way that her struggles are invisible to the others, and how the contrast between her internal vs. externally perceived self is at the heart of a lot of commentary re: identity, disability, etc. that surrounds her. audio is really the only medium where that can be maintained while still keeping hera an equal presence to the others - maybe there's some commentary you could make by deconstructing audience assumptions in a visual medium, but it would be difficult to make it the same.

... and that's not even getting into how music, and radio, and voice, and sound recording are all thematic components of the show!!

[fbenvs3000f24]

Unit 2 Blog Post

Describe your ideal role of environmental interpreter. What might it entail? Where might it be? What skills might you need? (Keep these all-in mind as you begin to work on your assignments – tailor these to that ideal job!)

Environmental interpreters work to create a connection between nature and the target audience (the public) by adapting to suit the needs of the audience. As we have learned in Unit 2: Teaching Learners, there are a few different learning styles that must be catered to in order to successfully convey our message. My ideal role as an environmental interpreter would be one where I get to be hands on and in the field. After taking the “What’s Your Learning Style?” quiz, I determined that I am mainly a tactile and visual learner (they were tied for first), with auditory being not far behind. I clearly benefit from a mix of the three but have noticed that I do better when I am actually doing, as opposed to just hearing or talking about doing something. Due to this, I think I would be most successful as an environmental interpreter if I got to be able to show the things I am talking about.

Hands-on learning in the field!

I enjoy getting to connect with people and since I have previous experience as a camp counsellor, I think my ideal role as a nature interpreter would be to run some sort of children's programming in local parks, bodies of water, or nature centres. I would be able to lead guided walks and prepare activities for the audience to do so that it is not just listening to me speak for however long. Potential examples of this would be planting seeds and growing our own plants in a community garden, using nature to create art (which is a very common camp craft), trying to identify bird calls, and completing nature scavengers hunts in the area. This would allow me to be the best interpreter that I can since I am playing to my strengths as a tactile and visual learner. I would however need some adaptability skills to cater to those that may prefer auditory learning. I would have to work on public speaking and making sure that all the information I am conveying is correct. My ideal role as an interpreter would be to help foster a love for nature in impressionable minds so that more and more kids grow up with an appreciation and interest for our surroundings. 

Example of a nature activity. Accessed on September 18, 2024 from https://fridaywereinlove.com/nature-scavenger-hunt/

Some additional skills that may be beneficial here would be creativity and organization. I would need to be able to come up with new and creative ideas that pertain to the environment and conditions we are in. Being able to think of fun activities to do in each season would be key as trying to identify flowers would not work very well in the winter. Additionally, being organized is always an important skill to have but I feel like it is even more necessary when outdoors. Depending on the location of the park we may be quite a while away from cars and buildings so I would need to have everything I needed for the program ready to go. 

All in all I would be very happy being a nature interpreter anywhere that lets me be outdoors doing hands-on activities.

[natasha-in-space]

Hey im the matsuda enjoyer anon who pointed out that he and yoosung are basically the same guy.

I cant help but imagine......what if they met, i mean in the age of social media its not impossible. While I dont think matsuda was a gamer but he was very much into pop culture and so is yoosung.

What if they both unite over their love for a certain kpop group (in my head its Girls Generation) and become internet friends

I can imagine after the good ending yoosung prolly might go to japan a couple of times for work related stuff or just to enjoy with MC (and drag seven with him as well)

What if the now mid-late 20s yoosung (who is a vet) meets the now early 40s matsuda (who is still a cop but is confined to desk jobs cuz the task force was tired of his shenanigans). What if they decide to share a drink and eventually have a long conversation. What if they start their talks by talking about their shared interest and eventually ending up venting after realising that they had been through a similar journey (being infantilised by their friend groups grief low self esteem yet keeping an optimistic outlook in life) and perhaps share advices to each other whilst being drunk which struck a chord in each other's heart.

I can see matsuda being an older man advising yoosung but i could also see yoosung (who has accomplished a lot in a short time despite his own struggles with loss grief and of course the eye injury) advicing matsuda. Both of them reassuring each other that it will get better (bye im crying)

Good to see you back Matsuda anon! I must say, this ask made me grin so wide as I was reading it. I adore it when people make two of their faves meet and become friends. It's such a sweet notion, both as a way of expressing your shared love for these characters, as well as a neat basis for new interesting analysis. (It's my own guilty pleasure as well, hehe)

Meeting someone who understands what it's like to struggle with grief, conflicting feelings about someone who was once very important to them, and the frustration of never being taken seriously due to their young age would benefit them both greatly. While they both must have overcome the last problem by that point, discussing it with someone who understands can still be very cathartic.

Having a good friend who can make Yoosung feel comfortable and understood is something he deserves. It's also heartwarming to think of Matsuda becoming a new kind of role model for Yoosung! Not on the same level as it was with Rika, but just as a figure of strength and motivation for him, when things are tough. Having friends who are older than you can be a very beneficial experience as you are moving through life!

And as for Matsuda... It'll definitely do him some good to have someone with whom he can openly discuss what he had to go through. Sure, he has a few people like that, but none that can actually fully relate on a deeper level. I also think he'd be super impressed by Yoosung. By all that he managed to overcome and achieve in his (relatively) young age. His determination to better himself and to protect his loved ones, him finding (or rather resurrecting) his passion for his own path in life, and him resolving what conflicting feelings he still held for Rika... It's so much, and it's-

It's inspiring.

I know I said that Matsuda can become a new role model for Yoosung, but it goes the other way around as well! Having these talks with the younger vet can greatly motivate Matsuda to work on himself further and pursue what he truly wants. It's never too late to restore your happiness. It's rather sweet to think about, actually. Two people who share similar painful experiences planting fresh seeds of hope into one another that everything is going to be okay. As you put it: it will get better.

On a lighter note, the thought of them being fans of the same girl groups makes me giggle. (Them going to a Girls Generation concern??? More likely than you'd think! Although Saeyoung will definitely tag along and create some mischief) I feel like they both are still struggling with openly expressing their likes and interests, as they got teased for that in the past, so it'll be very beneficial to them to have a safe space to chatter excitedly about this or that, without fear of being judged. Being passionate about something is not a bad thing, and should be celebrated! On that note, they will definitely send each other exclusive merch and buy each other tickets for events. There are some benefits to having a friend in a different country!

Overall, it's nice to think of these two being good buddies. It's what they deserve. And I love reading your thoughts on them! :)

[faith--in-the-future]

I’d love more of Louis on social media, like the Q&A and fan challenges ideas the previous anon mentioned. And I agree LTHQ is dropping the ball in lots of ways. But I also think Louis not doing social media in the same way, for example, that Niall does ultimately comes down to Louis just not wanting to do it. It seems to me (and I know I might be totally wrong!) like he’s measured the pros of how social media could advance his career against the cons of having to do something he doesn’t enjoy, and he’s decided his dislike of doing social media outweighs the benefits. Maybe LTHQ isn’t doing a good job of pitching it to him, but with his experience in the industry, it’s weird they should have to. And of course there’s still so much more they could do on social media without even needing his direct involvement.

But even if he’s decided not to put a lot of direct effort into expanding his fan base - and that’s obviously his call to make, and we might all make the same decision if we were him and knew all the considerations involved - I’m still surprised and disappointed he doesn’t do it just as a way to engage with current fans. 😔 I think he’s authentic when he talks about his relationship with his fans, and more social media would be such a great way to connect with us. Doesn’t have to be anything formal! And it’s especially a great way to give back to fans who can’t get to a show. I always appreciate your take on things - am I really off base? Thanks for your patience with newbie asks! 🙂

hi! sorry I'm answering late but I was busy earlier

when I talked about fun promo I was thinking more of things like YouTube interviews/late night shows with games etc (I have been campaigning for the celebrity bake off thing for YEARS) and fun photoshoots, things that keep fans engaged, that give us content and also insight in a different side of louis in a more relaxed environment.

I think its really important to make the fan experience actually fun in general but especially with louis bc there are so many things to get frustrated about that nobody can really change like the radio blacklisting or the close contact with sides of the fandom that hate each other so its crucial imo to offer fun distractions and in general to keep fans interested! this is a sort of hobby for people right? and nobody wants an hobby that's not enjoyable!

I do think louis doesn't like social media and honestly it's fine like it doesn't have to be the end all be all of everything, and a good a social media manager can work on it anyways (regular posting especially in promo season would help him get more followers/not lose them and it wouldn't be so hard).

but like, we already know radio is out, award shows and other events don't invite him/he doesn't go, he doesn't do festivals bc "they don't call him" (although I think it's more like he has a shitty booking agent), he doesn't do collaborations, and then if we cut out photoshoots and social media and YouTube stuff too what is left?? like genuinely we're just left with the usual rehearsed print interviews with the same questions and answers and then the classic promo interviews on TV that louis doesn't even like doing bc they make him anxious!! like how is that productive in any way! neither him or us are actually happy ! also it would be great for him to be seen by the gp in an actual happy light instead of the "hope after tragedy/difficulties " light!

look, this is totally speculation bc I don't know him, but I do think that louis is not comfortable with/scared of uncontrollable environment and of engaging with funny things, imo bc for years people have been either laughing at him and insulting him or analyzing his every gesture to spot "gayness" or whatever. nobody who has been subjected to that for years will remain unscathed, it's like putting a plant in a dark room without water and asking why is it not giving flowers.

but the problem with comfort zones is that they can very very easily become our own limits, we think they're keeping the world out but really they're just trapping us in. if u leave someone in the dark too long their eyes get adjusted to it and then they won't get out bc the light hurts them !

what I'm saying is that when I say louis needs a new manager/team it's bc I think he needs someone who won't just settle for the bare minimum necessary to keep louis happy, he needs someone with ideas and ambitions and the guts to push him a little out of his comfort zone and to encourage his growth! his team is way too lazy and unimaginative and they're just happy with what they have now , and for some reason don't seem to realize that things are always changing and u can't expect to keep something forever without taking proper care of it

it's sad bc louis works so hard on what he does but then it all gets washed away into nothingness and he ends up blaming himself all the time, I just want that cycle to be broken

somewhat related: I also think that his story/image/persona whatever you want to call it won't quite be complete/make sense/be truly compelling until he actually gives us the bigger picture, like he always talks about the difficulties he's faced but what are they exactly? who's the enemy? (a good story needs a good enemy just as much as it needs a good hero!) ,he was insecure and lost after the band but why? what made him feel that way? he's always telling up about the "after" and the consequences but we never quite understand the before

us fans know the answer to these questions or at least we've tried to come up with them but to people who don't have access to all that background knowledge and who are just checking him out it's not so clear, and a story like that can truly be efficient if it stops being superficial imo

so I'm curious to see how that has been explored in the documentary and I really hope that it won't be the same few things we already know but actually the real underbelly of the story (within the legal confines that I'm sure he has to respect rip)

[balkanradfem]

I've been learning the differences between spruce, pine, fir and yew tree this morning; it's important to know because the first three have edible needles, and yew is deadly poisonous, ingesting even a few needles can end you. You can also use spruce, pine and fir's young shoots to make medicinal syrups and tinctures, while doing the same with yew would be lethal.

I realized while absorbing this knowledge that I do not, in fact, have a great base of knowledge about trees; I've never taken a class on trees. I can recognize all of the fruit and nut trees because of my foraging habits, and I can recognize oaks, lindens, willows, birches, poplars, black locust, ginkgo, and maples. Last year I learned to recognize beeches, elms, and hornbeams. But there are still so many trees, even close around me, that I do not know the name of!

A few months ago, while walking around the park, I noticed it was filled with trees that were beautiful, tall, had smooth but layered bark and gorgeous maple-like leaves, and I couldn't figure out what that tree was, because it was not maple. Most parks here are filled with wild chestnuts (which benefits me a lot, since I use wild chestnuts as a laundry detergent), and I've seen oaks and poplars used as a park tree, but I had no idea what this was, and there was a lot of it.

I took pictures, and set out to research; eventually I found an old article that described the town's initiative to create all of the parks, and the tree I was wondering about was maple-leafed plane tree! It's a mix of american sycamore and asian plane tree, and it's not native to us, but very resistant to air pollution and drought, so it's a popular tree to import and cultivate in city parks.

I actually had never heard the name of this tree until finding it in the article, and all of other people I asked about it, had no idea what I was talking about. I was a bit offended there was a tree with origin and name completely unknown growing everywhere in the city.

Learning about trees makes me extremely pleased and inspired, so I thought I would create a little game; I go out, then confront every tree I see and figure out if I can recognize what it is; if I can't, I would take pictures and research until I know what it is. There are trees I already know and love around the building, like the poplar I can see from my window (and everyone complains about because it's horrible for people with allergies), black walnut trees that are a great foraging resource, pear tree that is most beloved because it provides me with fruit during the summer, couple of wild plums, and cedars that the nearby hotel planted for decoration. But there are probably 20 more tree varieties around me that I cannot recognize.

I was about to head out, when I realized, it's actually February, and none of those trees have any leaves on them, which makes my mission difficult. I could still potentially research them from the bark and the branch formation, but, it is much easier if I can see the leaf as well. Fruit trees are the most easy to spot in the spring, because they will flower and that makes them stand out, chestnuts and magnolias will flower as well. It's how I found a lot of fruit trees around the banished settlement.

But to do a more thorough tree research around the city, I will have to wait a few months. I'll make a post about how many trees I recognized, and how many I had to research! I am almost certain to learn about all of the uses, food, and medicine these trees can provide as well, information on any tree is like information on possible food and medicine source, and that makes it incredibly worth knowing.

Also, if you're still wondering how to successfully recognize spruce, fir, pine and yew tree, here's a video for you.

[ask-serendipity-sky]

https://www.tumblr.com/ask-serendipity-sky/736230087421231104/bro-im-a-jimin-biased-well-idk-if-i-should-call?source=share

Why do we have to dismiss all of JK's actions just because we think he might be Jimin's boyfriend. He's still an individual in his own right who makes his own decisions. Just because he's a member of BTS, a group I've always admired or because he's part of jikook, a relationship dynamic I'm fond of, does that mean he's absolved of any and all actions?

I agree with anon a little on one point. By itself, just the existence of JK's insane promo isn't something that harms Jimin. Mostly I use it as a yardstick to compare what Jimin got. However there are points where's it's very obvious they're downplaying Jimin specifically for JK such as the certifications. The lack of stocking of LC cd's. The way they clearly only pushed JK, New Jeans and Txt for awards in the west. The fact that a fanbase that we know is run by Hybe employees (a common enough phenomenon in KPop) has been biased as hell towards JK compared to the other members is also true. Did JK go and tell Hybe that he wanted Jimin to be sabotaged? No of course not. But he's benefitting from it.

Also has everyone gotten collective amnesia? Let's put aside the unfairness of it all. I haven't forgotten that JK very happily collaborated with 🛴 in spite of his rep. BTS have talked about not taking shortcuts before and that's something we used to admire about them. That legacy has been destroyed by JK. If that's not a big deal to anon then fine but some of us used to hold that up as a standard because BTS explicitly made it a standard.

I get that JK is very cute and adorable and his lives are funny and entertaining. He's not some Disney villain who hates Jimin or the other members. But just because you like him doesn't mean you pretend he isn't a - wait what did armys call Olivia Rodrigo and BP so liberally, oh yes - an industry plant. Its unfortunate but in many ways he's the face of the sabotage that Jimin faced. It's uncomfortable but it is what it is.

It's fair to hold Jimin semi accountable too for the perceived lack of action in advocating for himself. It's just that many of us know the history of how artists are suppressed by their labels. JK made a business decision for himself to avoid this for himself. Good for him I guess.

Hi anon,

Very good points. I agree with most of them.

I've repeated in the past that there some issues where we can blame the company, some where we can blame Jk, and it's important to differentiate which are which.

As jkkrs shouldn't we/they wonder why Jk agreed to Seven even though it would affect his boyfriend? This is where personal and business matters collide and I want to think that someone other than me thinks that's a horrible boyfriend move. It doesn't make sense to dismiss this action because Jk IS Jimin's boyfriend.

Everything else, is a business move and a company/Scooter that wanted money and Jk was the chosen one.

But we don't know why exactly the company mistreats Jimin so I cannot hold him accountable because his own label is shitty.

Thank you for sharing.

[blodofring]

Do you have any advice on how to connect with nature/feel a spiritual connection to it?

Thank you for the question! sorry for not replying earlier, been down with a cold for a couple of days.

i think listening to your senses and honing them, all the time, but especially in nature. listening to the sound of the forest, the feel of the ground beneath your feet, the smells, tastes and the feeling in your gut. i believe the gut feeling is a direct link with the source, and one should grow that feeling in a society that says to subdue it.

Spending time in nature, especially barefoot/touching nature with you bare skin is something i view as very important to stay connected. i very much believe in earthing/grounding and the health and spiritual benefits that comes with it. feel the energy flow enter and leave you, you really feel it tingle if you focus on it. i think wearing rubber soled shoes and polyester plastic clothing isolated us and keeps the energy from flowing freely. wearing more natural fibers keeps your vibrations high. and even when spending time in a city i try to ground myself, touching trees etc to stay connected to the earth.

spending time with nature is also very important for me visually. looking at how everything is made perfectly and grows according to perfect mathematical equations is the perfect example of how god/creator/mother earth creates everything with perfection. everything flows as it should. even just a plant gowing in your windowsil is a perfect creation to be admired. staying as much away from modern square buildings, esp glass buildings as possible, those are really harmful for your souls. and if you are in a place where there isnt a lot of nature around, spending time in old traditional buildings and especially religious ones can be a really good substitute. even if you arent following that specific religion, the buildings are constructed with healing mathematical formulas that affects your body in a very positive way.

listening is also very important to me. listening to the ambiance of the forest, or even putting my ear up the the trunk of a tree and listen. a lot of things are told without words and they have a lot of wise things to teach. especially the big old oaks have seen a lot.

for me its the forests that i feel the most connected to, but for you it might be the mountains, beach, prairie etc.

also doing nice things for nature. picking up litter, removing invasive plants, giving offering etc. after doing those things i often feel a warm presence when im in nature, like someone thanking me. i also tend to feel lucky the next couple of days, like the universe is working in my favour. talking to the small folk/nature/ancestors also works, as long as you are repectful about it and dont nag them too much. you can ask for quite a lot and you will receive it, as long as you give a lot in return i've experienced.

so id say, listening to your body and staying grounded is one of the most important things for staying connected with the earth. we are a microcosmos, as above so below, the better one is at listening to oneself, the better one will hear the whispers of nature. especially for women, learning to listen to our body's cycle in a society that doesn't take that into consideration at all is super important. not hating any stage of it, but recognising how incredible it is, even if it feels uncomfortable. i've found that a lot of my bodies struggles have eased once i started listening to it and worked with it instead of against it, which later has translated to all areas of life. this also certainly goes for men as well.

also trusting yourself and what you believe in. you can pick as chose what you want to follow and focus on, dont feel like you have to follow all the rules for any religion/lifestyle etc. you know yourself best and what works for you. borrowing and learning from all kinds of different people is okay.

this was a little jumbled, i think i'll make a couple of posts at a later date, going more into depth on different topics.

[mlenvs3000f24]

Blog Post 10

I think what I have learnt about being a nature interpreter through this course is the importance of reflecting back on your experiences, what it taught you and what lessons you take away from it. Even when I feel like I am learning so much at once, the process of reflection allows me another chance to experience it again and pick up things I was not paying attention to the first time. Being able to take the lessons from reflecting into my future experiences will let me build upon my overall skill as an interpreter.  

I want to be able to bring my experiences to other people in a way that is meaningful for them. Through conveying what I felt and what I learnt I want to be able to pass that on to others for them to have and to learn from. I think that it is important for people to share their experiences as everyone is different and therefore has different stories to tell. Everyone loves a good story; it is a powerful form of communication which can be represented in many ways from film to text, images and in person experiences. I think that sharing is important to also help inspire each other. Learning from so many diverse people and their stories opens so many different streams of knowledge and curiosity that can inspire so much in a person. 

Also being able to recognize certain privileges I have as an interpreter. I have talked a lot about my travels in these posts, something I would not have been able to do if it were not for my privilege. Acknowledging it as I talk about my experiences but using it in a way to bring some of the other places to others to introduce them to the nature of a new place. I think that gratefulness is part of my ethic as a nature interpreter. Being grateful for the places and things I have experienced, being able to physically get to certain places where I can fully appreciate the beauty, and grateful for nature and the earth.  

My beliefs when it comes to nature interpretation look to that of taking care of the environment and the natural world that surrounds us. We cannot survive without all the plants and animals in their natural ecosystems, which is why I feel it important to make sure we take steps to do our best to protect it. That does not mean we have to change our entire way of life but just being more conscious of the environment and how our actions affect it. Maybe that could be carpooling or taking public transit to work or school, but at the very least not doing anything to do harm to the environment such as littering.  

Another belief is understanding and communicating the benefits of nature for one’s mental wellbeing. Talks about taking care of yourself and your mental health have been becoming more regular where in the past they were not. Utilizing this moment to openly talk about ways that you can better your mental health. For a long time, there has been a stigma attached to mental health that is only now being broken down, but people still struggle to ask for help. Not that you should be discouraged from seeking help, but being able to communicate the benefits of being outdoors and experiencing nature on a person’s wellbeing could help them. 

It works into another part of my ethic, not just as a nature interpreter, but also as a person which is able to help people. Showing everyone, kindness and caring is something I try to integrate into my nature interpretation as I care deeply about the environment around me, as well as the people around me. Feeling this sense of purpose that what I do can help someone in any little way is something I prioritize for myself in my future. I want to feel as if I am doing something that matters and what matters to me is helping people and doing that through nature. I feel it is also a responsibility to others. Something that I can do to help others feel good, or something that I can do to help, if I can, why shouldn’t I.  

Other responsibilities that I feel fall on me as a nature interpreter would go to a call for action. Even if it is small and just talking to friends and family about certain things they can do to help it is important. Developing conversation with people about issues and how they can get involved is key in being able to make changes to problem solve big problems.  

An approach that I feel would be fitting would be mixing my interest in art and using that to convey a story through text. Other forms of media like film and videos are exciting but would be a place where I feel too awkward. I like the idea of incorporating art and text together to tell a story because the text is enough to give detail but too much of it can seem overwhelming or a bit boring. However, with images that gives the audience a visual, something to see and picture as they read the story. It gives a certain context while also the text working to keep the detail and description informative. Some photos do not every require a lot of text, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I would try utilizing that point, as well as letting it up to the viewer allows for more interpretation on the viewer's part. It puts important on the message while also allowing for creativity to be included. 

Overall, my aim as an interpreter would be to share my stories and experiences with other people. Focusing on the impact of these experiences, how they helped me and how other people can find a similar way to help themselves through nature. I want to be able to help people use nature and the environment to help themselves and in return participate in activities to help the plants and animals that live around us.