#this is just a basic way some systems function

[esamastation]

Gamer girl gets transmigrated into a farm boy Chapter 2 [<<Prologue | <Chapter 1 || Chapter 3>>] Ao3 link

-

This dream… has been going on for a while. For hours now. And it's getting kind of… boring. Sure, it had been amazing to start with, taking the reins of the cart and steering it away from the farm and into the open road, but after a while, after a couple of hours… 

It's just hills and farm fields as far as the eye can see. There's a few spots of trees here and there, some other farmsteads, a few actual orchards, but nothing particularly exciting. Definitely nothing worth wasting a perfectly good lucid dream on. 

Also, Van's ass is starting to get numb.

Even the automatic driving function doesn't help with the tedium - if anything, it makes this whole thing that much more boring, really. He doesn't need to focus at all, which leaves time for his mind to wander, which is… all it does, really. 

He can still see the white text floating about - it tells him which Pebbles by the road are suitable slingshot ammunition and that a Fallen Branch is somehow Lvl. 1, which should mean there is some combat to be had. It's been pretty peaceful so far, however. Aka boring.

It had been that way in Age of Tales too, though - everything started quietly until the Incident. This is still in the tutorial section - though at least the tutorial had helpfully skipped the slow travel portions of this mission. Not so here.

Wonder at what point could he stop enjoying the dream and start worrying about having been for real isekaied into Katie's favourite game, Van glances over his shoulder at the back of the cart. Mr. Gylcross is fast asleep on top of some oilcloth, using a sack of grain for a pillow, snoring peacefully. Deeming the guy well and truly out, Van looks forward and then calls, under his breath, "Open menu?"

Nothing.

"Okay, uh. System?"

That gets him a window, white and shining, blinking into existence in front of him. It's geometrically perfect as though drawn with a ruler, and now that he looks at it, he's pretty sure the font is Arial. Cool.

Though Katie is pretty sure you're not supposed to be able to read stuff in your dreams, Van can read the menu just fine, just like he's been able to read the other System windows. 

[Character] [Inventory] [Missions] [Journal]

It's pretty much exactly as it was at the start of Age of Tales, including the greyed out options that had to do with class selection and later events. No Magic tab, no Lore tab, no Bestiary or Herbarium or Military Strategy… he doesn't even have the Crafting tab active yet.

Still, seeing the list fills Van's heart with gleeful excitement, and he hits the Character tab first. It opens up his Equipment and beside it his Status screen, just like in the game. 

In Age of Tales, the player character could equip five articles of clothing - a hat, shirt, jacket, trousers and shoes - with up to five accessories - anything from capes and gloves to magic rings and amulets - and four weapons. Currently Van is wearing three clothing items - Rough Tunic, Lvl.1, Rough Woollen Trousers, Lvl. 1 and Peasants Wooden Sandals, Lvl. 1. His belt isn't categorised as an Accessory item, but as a Backpack item - Workman's Leather Belt, Lvl. 1, which gives him extra three Inventory slots on top of the four he has without any equipment. All of those extra inventory slots are taken by his weapons: Simple Knife, Lvl. 1, Shepherd's Sling, Lvl. 1, and 14 x Basic Stone Ammunition, Lvl. 1.

It's all exactly like it is in Age of Tales.

"Do I have eidetic memory or something? This is kind of trippy," Van murmurs, rubbing his chin with his free hand, the other still holding the reins. The System seems a bit… stiff. "Hey, System? Can you answer questions? Or talk at all?"

No answer.

"No AI assist?" Van asks hopefully. "Mods, administrator? Spiritual guidance? Anything?" 

Nope, apparently not. 

Oh well, at least he has a System, Van muses, and then looks at the Stats screen.

[Farmboy] [Van] [Lvl. 1 Commoner]

[Status:] [Constitution: 10] [Strength: 10] [Dexterity: 1] [Intelligence: 1] [Wisdom: 10] [Charisma: 1] [Luck: 1]

… Ah, right. Katie had a build in mind for Van, and the stat points were allocated in the character creation, so she'd maxed out the essential for an early Paladin build and left everything else to… rot, basically. Which was fine, since in the early game it was easy to level up… plus she cheated. Gold duplication glitch plus travelling potions salesman equals 99 Draught of Memory Potions at lvl. 1 - aka, exp boosters.

It had been a fun run, though. Van had beaten the first mini boss and all of Valthor's Minions in Westbrook with a rake in one hand and pot lid in the other, wearing nothing but his undies. The cutscene after the battle was hilarious - though sadly, Van's streaking did not translate over to Valthor's side of things, and the game forced Van back in his starter gear as the Big Bad spied on his minions' defeat with a scrying mirror.

It was a travesty, honestly. The game just refused to let Katie show Valthor Van's massive tits.

Shaking his head sadly, Van closes the character screen and investigates the rest. The Inventory is pretty much exactly as he expects it - with the belt full and the apple sitting in his pocket, he has three open inventory slots left - and so is the Missions - which only has the trip to town in it.

His Journal though…

1st day.

Woken up by Ms. Gylcross, asked to get the cart ready - did. Josel helped, gave me some Slingshot Ammunition. Breakfast was good. Ms. Gylcross gave me an Apple.

Heading to town with Mr. Gylcross.

… Shakespeare Van is not. Or rather Van's System, because he sure as hell didn't write any of that.

And just as he thinks it, the entry changes before his eyes and completely rewrites itself.

1st day.

I woke up in Van's body in a pile of hay, on a hayloft, in the Gylcross farm, inside Age of Tales! What's up with that?! Like, is this Isekai? Have I been Transmigrated? System, help!?

Thank god it's still the tutorial and Age of Tales dialogue kinda sucks, because no one noticed anything weird. This starter NPC, Janelle, came in when I was just about to jump down the hayloft and gave me the beginner mission, told me to get a cart ready for a shopping trip. In the game it's supposed to teach you how to interact with quest items. Here…

Here I can see levels of people and items, just floating there, in the air! It's like something out of mmorpg! Pretty cool. Also, my boy Van is Stronk, son! Also, bigger than Big Boy Josel. Sorry, Josel. You were cute and then you died. Rip.

Anyway, I got the cart ready and Josel got the horse and gave me some Slingshot Ammunition, so that's cool…

Van isn't sure whether to be amazed or creeped out.

The rest of the entry goes on like that - exactly as Katie would've written a diary entry back when she used to write diaries, when she was thirteen. It details the morning, ending with…

…and now my boy Van is getting a bruised butt from driving a cart, wagon… thing. Whatever. I've been Transmigrated into another world - into the world of Age of Tales! All my Isekai dreams are coming to life! 

Van closes the tab slowly, staring right ahead for a moment. He's shivering, breaking out in cold sweat. Katie thinks he might be dissociating.

The town of Westbrook is finally visible in the distance, columns of smoke rising from the chimneys and the town's church spire rising above all the other rooftops.

By the end of the tutorial chapter it would be on fire, as the Incident began.

Van swallows and turns to look over his shoulder at Mr. Gylcross. "Sir," he calls, his voice dry and thready, and clears his throat to try again. "Mr. Gylcross, we're here."

The farmer lets out a guttural snort and coughs himself awake. "What's that?" he asks, his impressive moustache twitching from side to side. "Ah, yes, yes - here we are. Straight to the market, Van, if you please."

"Right," Van says, and lets his body run on automation for the rest of the way.

The town of Westbrook is a perfectly quaint, vaguely medieval, vaguely European town, with vaguely Tudor houses and a vaguely gothic church. There's English ivy growing over a lot of the houses, and little colourful signs advertising the item shop and the smithy, and the only inn in town is the second biggest building in Westbrook, of course. The marketplace is right in front of it, full of colourful stalls, painted carts of traveling salespeople, and a milling crowd. There's happy chatter in the air and the sun is shining beautifully.

It's all very picturesque. The only thing missing is the merry background music.

Van is probably still dissociating.

Thank god for the autorun feature. 

"Ah, here we are," Mr. Gylcross says and points. "Just over there, Van - bring the cart around the fountain - yes, good."

Van parks the cart - is that what it's called when it's something drawn by a horse? - beside a stall full of empty crates. Mr. Gylcross hops down with a cheerful, "Drakner, my good man, how are you?"

As the farmer approaches the buyer, Van clumsily gets off the cart and tries to stretch his stinging behind. Bell the workhorse is leaning towards the fountain, and there's a mission prompt.

[Tend to Bell the Workhorse, Lvl. 1.] [Bell the workhorse has been working hard and needs to be cared for. Get the Bucket and some Water for her and wipe her down.] [Quest reward: 5 exp.]

[Prepare items?] the System asks and Van selects yes. His body picks up a bucket from the cart, fills it from the fountain and holds it up for Bell to drink from before grabbing a rag to wipe the worst of the sweat off her.

Bell rewards him by trying to steal the apple from his pocket, just as the System informs him the quest is complete. Well, 5 exp is still something.

"Van, come here and help me with this," Mr. Gylcross calls and there's another mission prompt.

[Unload the grain, Lvl. 1.] [Mr. Gylcross has sold his excess grain to the travelling merchant, Mr. Drakner. Unload the grain sacks from Mr. Gylcross' cart into Mr. Drakner's cart.] [Quest reward: 5 exp, 2 silver pieces.]

[Prepare items?] is Van's favourite System feature, he decides, and continues to daze off as his body does the work, grabbing the grain sacks and piling them up in the buyer's cart.

"Damn, you're one a big blighter," the buyer says, peering up at him. "What's Gylcross' here feeding you? Say, why don't you come work for me - with a big fella like you around, I won't even need guards!"

Van looks at him. The buyer is a short man, very short - but not thick or bearded enough to be a dwarf. He kind of looks the part, though, with a heavy dark brown coat embroidered with copper-coloured thread and fastened with big, elaborately decorated metal buttons. His hair is cut short, though, and his face is almost clean shaven, aside from his impressive sideburns.

Van reads the floating text above the short man's head.

[Travelling Merchant] [Gavin Drakner] [Lvl. 25 Spy.]

… Huh.

"I'll pay you fair wages - I'll even throw in some gear, free of charge," says Gavin Drakner the spy and sticks out his hand. "What do you say - fancy a life on the road? Sword at your side, wind in your hair - there's nothing like it!"

"Hey, none of that," Mr. Gylcross says. "Van's contracted until the end of the harvest, and I need him. Those fields don't plough themselves!"

Drakner laughs. "With this one, I doubt you even need a horse - or the plough!" the man chortles and waves a hand disarmingly. "Ah, I'm just messing with you. Van, was it? Unusual name."

Yeah, well, the game wouldn't let Katie name him Brick Shithouse and naming her character Dump Truck just didn't appeal as much. So, Van - it sounded vaguely medieval, like, Van Gogh or Van Hoenheim or something.

… Actually, she almost named him Ice-Cream Van - she even picked him a hair that looked like caramel vanilla soft serve. It had amused her to no end, but in the end it's probably a good thing the name didn't stick.

The hair did, though.

"Well, if you ever need employment, big man, remember the name, Gavin Drakner!" the spy says, clapping Van on the lower arm - because he can't reach his shoulder. Then the man turns away. "Gylcross, good to see you, pleasure doing business…"

Mr. Gylcross parts ways with Drakner the Spy and turns to Van. "Now that that's over with, take the cart away - let's not get in people's way more than we have to, eh? I have some business to do in town, I shouldn't need you for a bit, so - here."

The man hands Van five round silver coins. 

[Quest Trip to Town, Lvl 2 complete! You gain 15 exp and 3 silver pieces!] [Quest Unload the Grain, Lvl. 1 complete! You gain 5 exp and 2 silver pieces!!]

Nice. Love it when quests stack.

"Advance on your salary," Mr. Gylcross says and winks, his moustache twitching. "Spend it wisely, my boy."

"Yes, sir," Van says, eying the worn coins in his wide palm. "I will, sir."

"Good, good," Mr. Gylcross nods. "I'll come get you once I need you. Now, off you go. Make sure Bell gets some rest."

"Yes, sir."

Van lets the autorun take care of the cart and horse, leading them to what looks a lot like a horse and cart parking lot behind the inn. After securing the cart and the horse and getting Bell some hay to munch the automation wears off and Van is left with five silver pieces and an existential crisis.

This dream has gone on for way too long, and it's way too elaborate, and he's going to freak out if he stops to think about it. 

So he's not going to think about it. 

Considering the silver pieces, Van closes his fingers around them and decides he's going to put this world to a test. It might not be allowed, the same as time skips weren't a thing, but… what would it hurt, to check it out?

-

The gold bar duplication glitch requires three things. One, a gold bar. Two, the fortune teller NPC. And three, a candlestick from the inn.

You set the candle stick on the fortune teller's desk just so that the flame hits the fortune teller's hand during certain animation. Then you select, [I would like to hear my fortune,] and try to pay with the gold bar. The fortune teller rejects the payment because for some reason fortune tellers just doesn't accept gold bullion, and, because aside from being the highest form of currency gold bar is also an item, an animation plays with the NPC handing the gold bar back. 

If her hand hits the candle flame while holding the gold bar, she will drop it. If you just happen to simultaneously have the shop menu open, and if you happen to accept the trade of one gold bar back on the exact moment the fortune teller drops the gold bar, well… you're left with two gold bars, one in your inventory and the other on the floor. 

And in game, you could go this as many times as you wanted, with the rate of about 4 gold bars per minute for a nice sum of 24 000 gold pieces per hour. Which bought you 24 Draught of Memory potions. Each of which boosted your exp gain by 300%.

Yeah, Van was almost a lvl. 100 right out of the tutorial.

The hardest part of using the glitch is turning five silver pieces into a gold bar. Sadly, there's no glitch for that - for that, you have to gamble.

In every inn of Age of Tales, there are three games you can play. One is a game that's basically Poker re-skinned and given as a new name - Vist. The second is a game of Yahtzee, though they just call it Dice. And last is Echo, which is basically just Memory. Each game is affected by different stats - Charisma and Intelligence help you with Vist, Luck helps you with Dice and Intelligence and Wisdom help you with Echo.

The trick is, having Wisdom above 10 gives you an auto buff during tasks that require concentration. It slows time for you. With high Wisdom and a good eye, you could easily win every round of Echo.

Van's Wisdom is technically above 10 - and Katie got pretty good at Echo, playing it for hours on end to get that one gold bar.

With that in mind, Van heads for the inn - and is nearly bowled over by the warm, smoky atmosphere and the smell of stew hanging thick in the air. The inn is much like the rest of the town of Westbrook, a near perfect copy from the game - but it's a whole different experience, seeing it through Van's eyes. The welcoming warmth and light, the atmosphere - the door he can only barely fit through…

In the game he's never hit his head on the door frame, but here he has to duck below it - only to then immediately bang his forehead on a ceiling beam.

"Ow - sonnofa-!"

"Oh, no - are you okay there, man?" the innkeeper calls, looking worried. "That was quite the resounding knock your noggin made there!"

"... Yeah," Van groans, rubbing at his head and checking his hand. No blood. "I'm alright."

"You want something to drink? I can bring you an ale."

"No, thank you, I'll just sit down for a moment," Van answers, rubbing his forehead and looking around. He has to slouch to keep his head from banging on every ceiling beam along the way - they're all on the exact height to, well, beam him right across the forehead. 

Van had felt big before, walking in the crowd, taller than anyone else - but now he feels uncomfortably big, too big for this space. It's like being in a miniature house or something - the tables are a bit too low and the chairs all look too small for him. It's kind of cool, though. 

And then Van finds what he's looking for.

"You want to play a game of chance, big man?" the hooded local gambler asks and motions to the chair across from them. "Please do take a seat."

[Lady Luck's Acolyte] [Kerly Accomo] [Lvl. 16 Gambler.]

Van sits. The chair creaks pitifully beneath his weight. "I'll try a game of Echo," he says, leaning his elbows carefully on the table between them. "I bet two silver coins."

"Very well," Accomo says and takes out a deck from a wide sleeve with flourish. "If you can beat me, you gain double your stake. If I beat you, you will lose your stake. That seems fair, yes?"

"Yeah," Van says and puts the coins on the table, sliding them over. 

There's every chance this wouldn't work. If this world is more realistic than the game, and it kind of looks like it is, then he doubts the gambler carries enough money to buy him a gold bar. Still… it could be that every shopkeeper has an endless sum of gold, just like in the game. He wouldn't know until he tried. So.

"Let's see what happens."

The gambler splits the deck to shuffle it, and there's a mission prompt.

[Game of Wit, Lvl. 1.] [You have been invited to play a game of cards. Win 10 games of Echo.] [Quest reward: 20 exp, 1 Lucky Playing Card.] [Accept?] [Yes.] [No.]

-

[<<Prologue | <Chapter 1 || Chapter 3>>]

Proofread by @nimadge, many thanks.

-

It's gonna be bit of a slow start, still getting my footing here

[whereserpentswalk]

Children are no longer legally allowed to exist.

Human reproduction was the last of the major functions of the human body to be technologically replaced. Sleep has been cut down to less then an hour a day, the digestive system has been altered so a modern person can eat as much or as little as they want, and gain and lose as much weight as they want, without producing waste. Even aging is no longer something done by those who don’t want it. It only made sense that the luxury of the modern world would eventually outmode the cruel and diminutive state of childhood.

A modern person will be conceived artificially, possibly with thousands of individuals contributing to their genetic code, and grown in a large tube from the age of minus nine months to the age of eighteen. For nearly nineteen years they will lack any sentient thought, being put in a state on anesthesia until they come of age. It is considered unethical and inhumane under international law to allow a human being to exist in a larval state.

Before being awoken, people have knowledge of basic education that in previous generations would be covered by years of schooling. They are also given basic knowledge to exist as an adult. Most people are awoken as students within universities, their first experience being their initiation into school and their freshmen year, their first home being their dorms. In some places companies are allowed to awaken humans as workers, which is not legally slavery because people are allowed to leave the jobs they’re awoken into, even if they’re not told they are able to. In times of war people will sometimes be given a pre awakening conscription, meaning they’re actively awoken as new recruits in basic training. Eugenics isn’t legal, but there’s not much oversight for if a company or military organization tends to awaken more people with physical traits they prefer.

Without children the world looks a lot different then it did in when they were around. Those who remember when the transition was made can talk about a world with empty playgrounds, and toy stores without customers. But now the world is completely without anything catering to children. Those who argue for the return of children to the world are met with just how little exists for them in this world. There are no safety standards with children in mind, no ratings on movies, nothing made in child’s size save for a few accommodations for dwarfs. Every piece of media is made with an audience of exclusively adults in mind, even things like plushes or action figures are designed for adult collectors, not children who would play with them. There are some superstitious people who think doll eyes have always looked a bit sadder since they last children grew up.

Since children are no longer legally allowed to exist, the means to physically produce them has been removed from human bodies. Long before any human in awakened the organs that would be used to reproduce are removed through painless surgery, and the ability to desire sex is whipped from their minds. It makes things easier. And likewise it’s safer, just as the removal of children meant the removal of the abuse of children, the removal of sex means the removal of sexual predation.

People in a way have a type of freedom without sexual attraction that they wouldn’t back when it existed. People can touch or cuddle each other in any way they want without it being weird, people can dress how they want, women don’t fear men the way they used to. It’s possible these things could still happen within a species with sexual attraction but we never got there, and the education implanted into people’s minds before they awakening certainly teaches one as leading to the other. There are still a few people who do still have some amount of those feelings, but they’re considered a statistical anomaly and are encouraged not to talk about or act on such things.

There is a feeling of emptiness in some people who remember the world when children existed, like something is missing. Even some people born long after children were outlawed sometimes feel an emptiness. Some people get pets if they have a instinct to take care of something, though humans are the only mammal to survive the great plague, there are lizards and birds and snakes and small robots that can keep people company. Some people take on apprentices that they can grow extremely close to them, often having relationships that reflect a parent’s relationship to an older child. There are even some subcultures where people will form relationships where one person will pay for another’s expenses for nothing in return, and allow that person to live with them without any employment, which some theorize in a mirror of parenthood. There are even some people who practice types of sensual acts that seem to mirror the mating process humans once had, even if they’d never seen such acts. It’s like these things are part of us, even when we don’t have the things these emotions were meant to interface with, like an animal still having a cry to alert for a long extinct predator.

Children are one of those things a lot of people think they might be happier if they got to live in a world with, but legalizing them just never seemed practical or ethical. There isn’t really any major political ideology that wants to bring them back, it’s not something people think about. People talk about children like they do swords, something that once was, but is not thought of in the context of fantasy. And perhaps that is how it will be. People will have their normal adult lives, and life will go on, and people will still have happy memories, and still write books, and still look at sunsets, and still sing songs, even without them.

There are some people who believe you can hear the ghosts of children in certain places, their laughter ringing in people’s ears in lonely spots near ancient parks. Psychologists haven’t yet figured out why every culture possesses such a superstition.

[imjustaf444keriguess]

the question was what need there is of endogenic alters if there’s no trauma.

ah, then my response is "i don't think there's a particular need, but brains do not always require a "need" to do something."

i think there's probably reasons why some people are prone to creating systems, and reasons why the brain is capable of creating other "selves", with and without trauma, but i'm not a psyschologist or neuroscientist or whatever. i don't personally study the brain.

i just hear people's experiences and see that people are more often than not honest. i also know that if systemhood was trauma exclusive, that would make it different than other experiences within and outside of disorder criteria, where there's more often than not some overlap between the general (non-disordered) population and the disordered population.

i am also aware of IFS, or "internal family systems", and the idea that everyone in some form has "parts", but with DID, those selves are more differentiated. i'm also aware of tulpamancy and other created system practices that seem to work for people, alongside spiritual practices that allow people without a disorder to talk to another "person", which would be similar to tulpamancy in actuality (at least, i assume, and that's what the scientists doing the tulpa brain scan study think and are studying right now).

i hold the position of "i think endogenic systems are real, and in order to believe otherwise, i'd have to be shown actual evidence that the experience of plurality is exclusive to trauma-based DID", which doesn't seem to be the position of the DSM or ICD. they give exclusions to those who may have a system or consider themselves multiple/plural but do not fit the disorder part of the criteria.

here is the ICD, where they use the same language for alters ("personality states") regardless of if they're DID members or not.

with the DSM, it has it as part of the criteria that the disturbance is not "normal" in things like cultural practices, religious practices, fantasy play, imaginary playmates, AND that it has to be clinically significantly distressing and cause impairment in important areas of functioning.

if it was exclusive to DID and there was no way that anyone could experience something similar to DID systemhood outside of trauma-based DID, then why would they need to say "well if you have these alternate self states but its spiritual or something and you're chill with it and its not causing you distress then this doesn't fit for you"?

maybe because the experience of multiplicity/plurality/systemhood can exist outside of DID, but DID is a disorder and the other symptoms (the forgetting things and impairment) are influenced or even caused directly by trauma, and if you have that plus the "selves" thing then that's probably a disorder?

dunno if im making any sense and i think after this i probably won't reply to you, but i think that trusting peoples words with subjective and personal experiences is kinda the bare minimum, unless i can prove that it's impossible. if it was physically impossible, it'd be provable. if it's not physically impossible, why are we arguing that they can't exist?

(also, unrelated to my main point, but yeah. people don't treat isolation as serious as they should. while i think "extreme" is not always applicable, there's very much extreme types of isolation, and even less extreme types of isolation can be traumatic and influence or worsen DID or other disorders. humans are inherently social creatures, socialization is like... one of the basic needs after stuff like eating and breathing and stuff. next to having a shelter and clothes. humans very quickly deteriorate if we don't have socialization or proper human interaction. it's why 2020 was traumatizing for many, and is probably gonna lead to some VERY fucked up teens and adults down the line. this is entirely unrelated to the syscourse but people treat it as not a big deal but it's a big deal. same with bullying, bullying is a form of abuse and can be traumatic. most people reading this hopefully agree tho but same kind of tangent.)

hey, reminder for all endogenic systems.

YOU ARENT FUCKING VALID AND YOU NEVER WILL BE VALID!

YA HEAR ME BITCHES OR DO I NEED TO SAY IT LOUDER?

YOU WILL NEVER BE VALID.

thank you.

-Gradient

[thelunastusco]

Hey folks, just for the record, system members often have complex and varying genders that don’t always match the genders of other system members, any potential host/core/”original”, or even just how the system as a whole decided to present bodily.

It’s almost like different system members are different people.

[arolesbianism]

Thinks abt oni pmd au oh so hard. When you get a second chance at a relationship only to re experience drifting apart from them all over again

[8pxl]

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BLUESKY

Hiya! Curious about joining bluesky but intimidated by all the features? Already on bluesky but want to learn more? Then welcome to my quick guide on getting started and navigating bluesky!~

What is Bluesky?

it’s a social media site that’s owned by no single person or company. it's aim is to bring back the early days of twitter before bots, elon musk or algorithms took over. Personally I find the site really cozy, wholesome, and engaging. my Bluesky account for example

What’s unique about Bluesky?

→ CUSTOMIZATION: ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎your timeline is very easy to control. There’s tons of options, so be sure to go through each tab in your settings. some options include: turning off autoplay, changing the order in which threaded replies show, changing DM settings, content preferences and lots of visual app settings.

→ MODERATION LISTS: human made, mass blocklists. These are public lists of accounts that when you subscribe to you automatically block or mute everyone in that specific blocklist. A great way to avoid unwanted content, and interactions. ✦ Moderation lists I recommend will be below the cut

→ STARTER PACKS: recommendation lists on who to follow, made by users. You can even curate your own starter pack of recommendations! ✦ Starter pack recommendations will be below the cut

→ FEEDS: public timelines, basically. There are a lot of feeds you can join, or you can even create your own. I made a feed featuring just my pixel art so it doesn’t get cluttered with text posts or other photos in my media tab. ✦ I’ll post feeds I recommend below and link you to a tutorial on how to create your own feed

→ BLOCKING/MUTING: bluesky has a great blocking system. When you block someone they can no longer see, or interact with you. They also have a feature to make your blog inaccessible unless logged in. you can also mute specific people, delete post replies, and even detach your post from a reblog. You can also mute specific words, phrases, tags etc.

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→ LABELS: this is a really cool feature on the site, you can subscribe to certain pages that enable a lot of fun/useful labels that help you in different ways! (like pronoun tags, artist tags etc) ✦ Labels to browse will be posted below

→ COMMUNITIES: the vastly diverse communities really feel like the best parts of tumblr. since you can so heavily curate your experience, it can really feel like a calming oasis. Mine is mostly artists, and other creatives.

there’s also a large community of professional artists, art directors, authors, celebrities, and even the best shitposters from twitter. the app really is what you make of it but it’s thriving right now.

RECOMMENDATIONS & LINKS BELOW ⬎

→ MODERATION LISTS:

HATE SPEECH: NAZIS | MAGA | MAGAv2 | MAGAv3 | TRANSPHOBES & HOMOPHOBES | FAR RIGHT | FAR RIGHTv2 | FAR RIGHTv3 | ELON MUSK FANBOYS | ANTI-BLACK | ANTI-VAX

NFT/AI/CRYPTO: MASTERLIST | AI/NFT | AI/NFTv2 | AI FANBOYS | CRYPTO | NFTs

SPAM/SCAMMERS: SPAMBOTS | BOTS | CONTENT SCRAPERS | CONTENT FARMING

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THE GRAM: a timeline for exclusively image posts from those you follow. no textposts etc. ONLYPOST: similar to the gram, it shows a timeline of only those you follow. no reposts, just original posts. 📌: a way to bookmark posts. just reply with the pin emoji.

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✦ EXPIRIENCE ENHANCING TOOLS RECS ✦ CLEARSKY: TRACK BLOCKS AND BLOCKLISTS ✦ SKYFEED: CREATE CUSTOM FEEDS EASILY ✦ use the block function often. do not entertain trolls or hate speech. ✦ as well as starter packs, there’s also lists! lists can be used in the same way to create curated lists of accounts. it’s a good way to keep track of specific genres of posters you’re interested in, and finding new ones! ✦ hashtags: use them! they’re beneficial in boosting your post. you can even link hashtags in your bio making you easier to find. another method of making you more visible is if you post an ‘interest’ post! basically just type things you’re interested in and it’ll help people find you / vice versa ! ✦ update your profile first thing, like bio avi etc. make a small post so people know you're real. interact and engage! the communities there are so welcoming!

I think that covers abt everything i wanted to cover! Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading lol

[absentlyabbie]

seriously, though. i work in higher education, and part of my job is students sending me transcripts. you'd think the ones who have the least idea how to actually do that would be the older ones, and while sure, they definitely struggle with it, i see it most with the younger students. the teens to early 20s crowd.

very, astonishingly often, they don't know how to work with .pdf documents. i get garbage phone screenshots, sometimes inserted into an excel or word file for who knows what reason, but most often it's just a raw .jpg or other image file.

they definitely either don't know how to use a scanner, don't have access to one, or don't even know where they might go for that (staples and other office supply stores sometimes still have these services, but public libraries always have your back, kids.) so when they have a paper transcript and need to send me a copy electronically, it's just terrible photos at bad angles full of thumbs and text-obscuring shadows.

mind bogglingly frequently, i get cell phone photos of computer screens. they don't know how to take a screenshot on a computer. they don't know the function of the Print Screen button on the keyboard. they don't know how to right click a web page, hit "print", and choose "save as PDF" to produce a full and unbroken capture of the entirety of a webpage.

sometimes they'll just copy the text of a transcript and paste it right into the message of an email. that's if they figure out the difference between the body text portion of the email and the subject line, because quite frankly they often don't.

these are people who in most cases have done at least some college work already, but they have absolutely no clue how to utilize the attachment function in an email, and for some reason they don't consider they could google very quickly for instructions or even videos.

i am not taking a shit on gen z/gen alpha here, i'm really not.

what i am is aghast that they've been so massively failed on so many levels. the education system assumed they were "native" to technology and needed to be taught nothing. their parents assumed the same, or assumed the schools would teach them, or don't know how themselves and are too intimidated to figure it out and teach their kids these skills at home.

they spend hours a day on instagram and tiktok and youtube and etc, so they surely know (this is ridiculous to assume!!!) how to draft a formal email and format the text and what part goes where and what all those damn little symbols means, right? SURELY they're already familiar with every file type under the sun and know how to make use of whatever's salient in a pinch, right???

THEY MUST CERTAINLY know, innately, as one knows how to inhale, how to type in business formatting and formal communication style, how to present themselves in a way that gets them taken seriously by formal institutions, how to appear and be competent in basic/standard digital skills. SURELY. Of course. RIGHT!!!!

it's MADDENING, it's insane, and it's frustrating from the receiving end, but even more frustrating knowing they're stumbling blind out there in the digital spaces of grown-up matters, being dismissed, being considered less intelligent, being talked down to, because every adult and system responsible for them just

ASSUMED they should "just know" or "just figure out" these important things no one ever bothered to teach them, or half the time even introduce the concepts of before asking them to do it, on the spot, with high educational or professional stakes.

kids shouldn't have to supplement their own education like this and get sneered and scoffed at if they don't.

[paganinpurple]

AO3 Etiquette -UPDATED

Based on both decent and not so decent replies, I have made some changes to my original post below.

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

As well as likes, kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished it, you liked it - so kudos.

If you really liked it, you should try to comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it (so use your notes to say if you want some constructive feedback). Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. No, posting it online is not an open invitation for that. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity and just want to share. Don't ruin that for them. I've seen so many authors just stop writing coz they can't handle the negative emotions the critism brings, and it's only meant to be a fun thing shared for free (pointing out tagging errors is not included in this).

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

The tag exception is if you don't want to tag a million things or spoil your story, you can rate it as "chose not to use warnings," and maybe tag the bare minimum.

Don't censor tags. How can someone exclude a tag if the word isn't typed out correctly? There are no content bans for terms so don't censor them.

If the tags are mostly content/trigger warnings, especially if they are things considered very fucked up or graphic, you might want to use "dead dove - do not eat" to ensure people know that you're not messing around with tags and what they get is exactly what you've warned them about.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLATONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite or an exchange youve written for going public). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Instead of deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - consider making it anonymous or orphaning it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to your name anymore. If you still want to delete it, fair enough.

It's come to my attention that metaworks ARE allowed on AO3, which is something I wasn't aware of. So if you do post an essay or theory, please tag it as such so others can choose to search for it or exclude it. Art is also allowed.

The only reason this archive works is because NON ONE PROFITS. Do not link to your ko-fi or patreon or mention monetary gain in any way or you violate the terms and risk having your account removed. If anyone does link, it leaves the archive open to people claiming it's for profit and having the whole thing removed.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[lovelyrotter]

fellow fictives my babes my darlings i am BEGGING YOU to stop tagging your very personal stuff with ships relating to your fictive-shape and then start talking about whether or not you ''condone'' these ships entirely purely based on your personal comfort as if youre talking about law. do what you want with your own irl body and relationships. you are not part of shipping. you are a real person. i am BEGGING YOU PERSONALLY to not partake in the crossing of these lines

[barnbridges]

andy barbour and bunny corcoran are both the same autistic child, except low vs high support needs. read as andy would beat his ass at the playground.

[autistichalsin]

I hate that I have to give this PSA at all- that I do is a failure on the part of multiple governmental organizations. But it is important.

COVID damages a lot more than you think. It damages more than your lungs, and does more than give you digestive issues. And sometimes, those issues can last well after you get better, even if you're not a person you would otherwise think of as being sick with long COVID.

If you only remember these two things, please just remember that:

COVID can and does damage your heart.

COVID can and does damage your nervous system, particularly your brain.

If you have had COVID in the last 18 months, you are at a highly elevated risk of sudden cardiac death compared to someone who hasn't. In the first three weeks after getting sick, your odds of dying from a heart-related event are 81 times that of an uninfected person, and five times higher in the following 18 months. You are also at a higher risk of of developing nonfatal heart disease; 40% likelier. (Source for all claims in this paragraph)

If you develop ANY cardiac symptoms at all after getting COVID- heart palpitations, blood pressure issues, fatigue, fainting, getting out of breath easier than is normal for you- you need to see a doctor as soon as possible, and you need to tell them you've recently had COVID. You have long COVID until proven otherwise.

Similarly, your risk of neurological disorders remains heightened over a year after getting COVID; approximately 40% higher. (Source) This manifests in more ways than I have time to list, but includes a vastly higher risk of dementia of all types (doctors are particularly seeing this with the under-45 group that was previously extremely rare), memory disorders, sensory issues (like persisting loss or distortion of taste and smell), mental health issues like anxiety or depression, and even more.

These can manifest in a lot of ways. But if you experience new anxiety or depression, new behavioral issues (particularly for those under the age of 18), if you suddenly can't focus anymore or can't remember things anymore (ESPECIALLY words, COVID has been noted to cause extreme difficulty with word recall), if you have tremors, if you're tired all the time, if you have "brain fog", if you have trouble sleeping, I could go on... again. You have long COVID until proven otherwise. EVEN IF you aren't "that sick". Even if you have energy to do things and can mostly function but you just aren't doing well in school/at work anymore because you can't remember the things your teacher/professor is talking about/the new work protocols your boss went over with you.

If you hop over to the subreddits for teachers or professors, you will notice a lot of them noting their students don't remember basic things the teachers have been pressing for an entire semester, or that students can't sit long enough to focus through a movie. And sure, some of that is cell phones reducing attention span, or students just not paying attention- but they just can't seem to pick up the pieces there that they are seeing long-term sequelae (that is, a different illness arising from COVID infection) in their students. It is everywhere, but few people are connecting the dots.

Similarly, there is a huge wave of pilots being unable to pass their physicals and losing their licenses, or making mistakes due to brain fog (in some cases even leading to crashes) or falling victim to sudden cardiac death in the middle of a flight.

EVERYONE is at risk from this. No one is talking about this. I don't kn- well, actually, no, I do know exactly why, I just don't like it. People want to make COVID the new flu, but it just isn't. It is not and never will be the flu. And we are willingly inflicting cardiomyopathy and dementia and all sorts of awful things on people in the name of regaining a sense of normalcy that is gone, but ironically would be closer to returning if we had accepted for a while that things WEREN'T normal and acted accordingly. But that chance is gone now, COVID is never going away because people couldn't bother, but they still can't admit it, they can't face the consequences of their actions, so instead we're getting this attempted coverup of the real long-terms dangers of COVID that even "young and healthy" people have.

But pretending things are normal doesn't make sick people healthy. So instead, try to educate folks, because there is a very high chance you or someone you know is sick right now, due to COVID infections they had months ago, and doesn't know it because people are pretending COVID is just the flu but with tummy upset and a disrupted sense of taste/smell.

People NEED to know what the actual dangers are.

ALSO, sidenote: if you are masking, and ask your medical team to mask, and they respond by starting to suggest you are experiencing "COVID anxiety", find a new provider. Immediately. Don't even continue the appointment. They are not interested in helping you.

Signed, your friendly neighborhood epidemiologist.

[wilwheaton]

The GOP wonders why young people (and others) don't want to vote for them. Some wise scribe assembled this list.

1.) Your Reagan-era “trickle-down economics” strategy of tax breaks for billionaires that you continue to employ to this day has widened the gap between rich and poor so much that most of them will never be able to own a home, much less earn a living wage.

2.) You refuse to increase the federal minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour (since 2009). Even if it had just kept up with inflation, it would be $27 now. You’re forcing people of all ages but especially young people to work multiple jobs just to afford basic necessities.

3.) You fundamentally oppose and want to kill democracy; have done everything in your power to restrict access to the ballot box, particularly in areas with demographics that tend to vote Democratic (like young people and POC). You staged a fucking coup the last time you lost.

4.) You have abused your disproportionate senate control over the last three decades to pack the courts with religious extremists and idealogues, including SCOTUS—which has rolled back rights for women in ways that do nothing but kill more women and children and expand poverty.

5.) You refuse to enact common sense gun control laws to curb mass shootings like universal background checks and banning assault weapons; subjecting their entire generation to school shootings and drills that are traumatizing in and of themselves. You are owned by the NRA.

6.) You are unequivocally against combatting climate change to the extent that it’s as if you’ve made it your personal mission to ensure they inherit a planet that is beyond the point of no return in terms of remaining habitable for the human race beyond the next few generations.

7.) You oppose all programs that provide assistance to those who need it most. Your governors refused to expand Medicaid even during A PANDEMIC. You are against free school lunches, despite it being the only meal that millions of children can count on to actually receive each day

8.) You are banning books, defunding libraries, barring subject matter, and whitewashing history even more in a fascistic attempt to keep them ignorant of the systemic racism that this nation was literally founded upon and continues to this day in every action your party takes.

9.) You oppose universal healthcare and are still trying to repeal the ACA and rip healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and replace it with nothing. You are against lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs that millions need simply to LIVE/FUNCTION in society.

10.) You embrace white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, and other groups that are defined by their intractable racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and intolerance. You conspired with these groups on January 6th to try to overthrow the U.S. government via domestic terrorism that KILLED PEOPLE.

11.) You oppose every bill aimed at making life better for our nation’s youth; from education to extracurricular and financial/nutritional assistance programs. You say you want to “protect the children” while you elect/nominate pedophiles and attack trans youth and drag queens.

12.) You pretend to be offended by “anti-semitism” while literally supporting, electing, and speaking at events organized by Nazis. You pretend to hate “cancel culture” despite the fact that you invented it and it’s basically all you do.

13.) Every word you utter is a lie. You are the party of treason, hypocrisy, crime, and authoritarianism. You want to entrench rule by your aging minority because you know that you have nothing to offer young voters and they will never support you for all these reasons and more.

14.) You’re so hostile to even the notion of helping us overcome the mountain of debt that millions of us are forced to take on just to pay for our post K-12 education that you are suing to try to prevent a small fraction of us from getting even $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

15.) You opened the floodgates of money into politics via Citizens United; allowing our entire system of government to become a cesspool of corruption, crime, and greed. You are supposed to represent the American people whose taxes pay your salary but instead cater to rich donors.

16.) You respond to elected representatives standing in solidarity with their constituents to protest the ONGOING SLAUGHTER of children in schools via shootings by EXPELLING THEM FROM OFFICE & respond to your lack of popularity among young people by trying to raise the voting age.

17.) You impeach Democratic presidents over lying about a BJ but refuse to impeach (then vote twice to acquit) a guy whose entire “administration” was an international crime syndicate being run out of the WH who incited an insurrection to have you killed.

18.) You steal Supreme Court seats from democrats to prevent the only black POTUS we’ve ever had from appointing one and invent fake precedents that you later ignore all to take fundamental rights from Americans; and even your “legitimate” appointments consist of people like THIS (sub-thread refuting CJ Roberts criticisms of people attacking SCOTUS' legitimacy).

19.) You support mass incarceration even for innocuous offenses or execution by cop for POC while doing nothing but protect rich white criminals who engage in such things as tax fraud, money laundering, sex trafficking, rape/sexual assault, falsifying business records, etc.

20.) You are the reason we can’t pass:—Universal background checks—An assault weapons ban—The ‘For the People/Freedom to vote’ Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Act—The ERA & Equality Act—The Climate Action Now Act—The (Stopping) Violence Against Women Act—SCOTUS expansion.

21.) You do not seek office to govern, represent, or serve the American people. You seek power solely for its own sake so you can impose your narrow-minded puritanical will on others at the expense of their most fundamental rights and freedoms like voting and bodily autonomy.

22.) Ok, last one. You are trying to eliminate social security and Medicare that tens of millions of our parents rely on and paid into their entire lives. And you did everything to maximize preventable deaths from COVID leaving millions of us in mourning.

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/e8DBZLH

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

Basically, it’s discovered that to help stabilize Danielle, aka Ellie, it’d be best to have her be smaller. She refused to be turned into a kid by Frostbite/her own power ability, when Danny remembered the shrink ray his parents made. The side effect is that they’re kind of stuck as humans when they’re that small—they can use some ghost powers, but basically, it’s a weird side effect of the shrink ray. That’s canon, by the fucking way, lmao

Anyways, so Ellie agrees, and Danny will shrink himself with the ray to her size to help her out when needed/when she wants company her size, with Jazz, Sam, and Tucker occasionally helping out. Sam buys one of those really ornate Victorian dollhouses, with wooden everything, and Danny does some… renovations… so that it no longer opens and is a proper house. There’s still some oddities because it’s a dollhouse originally, but it was easier and faster to give her a home. One of the first additions was a water/wastewater system, followed like two hours later by an electrical system. Since it was so small, Danny was able to do it fairly quickly in his big size, occasionally going small and using the small window for using his powers to double check on things.

The water system had to be refilled every week, unless hooked up to a plumbing system in a house, which Danny made some outlets for in Jazz’s room—it was easier and had significantly less questions/didn’t stand out as much if placed in Jazz’s room. They usually did it every three days, though, as the plug-in process was still a bit… hinky. The tanks for holding the water were in the ‘basement’, which was mostly inaccessible from the inside of the dollhouse but basically looked like a big stand the dollhouse stayed on. Like someone ripped a full house out of the ground WITH the basement attached. There was a small access hallway down some stairs in the house for the clean water system, though.

The electric system was fairly simple, as it didn’t cost much energy to light a dollhouse and heat/cool water. There was an AC unit, Ellie’s request, but it hardly was used and was fairly efficient just due to pure size. It was fueled by ecto batteries, which Danny made sure had a few rechargability options—just because it was efficient energy didn’t mean it didn’t ever need recharging. There was a very small ecto filter, but due to its relative small size, was easy to clean and was fairly stable, so they had a whole closet of them just chilling out, both filled and empty. The battery itself could be charged by ecto sources, Danny’s own blood, or ambient ectoplasm gained by using something that looked like a solar panel and a satellite dish had a child that the batter could be placed in. The hookup also allowed for like… normal D cell batteries.

They would buy dollhouse furniture, and occasionally just buy the big version then shrink it down. Ellie had a huge old house to herself, basically, might as well go ham. And she had a fun time with the designer doll clothes Sam liked to get, although the cheap doll clothes from the store were also fun. Best option was just buying normal clothes and shrinking them, but using things that were already small or just making stuff using normal sized objects was fun.

At some point, though, the Fenton siblings decide to go on a trip. Ellie begs to be taken along, and Jazz agrees—there’s a doll showcase in Gotham, and Jazz wanted to see if anything caught Ellie’s interest. Danny, having a room in the dollhouse himself, also went along. Might as well make it a sibling’s trip, right?

Ellie can be full size for small chunks of time, which they did while exploring the expo. They found some cool things to add, and some doll clothes Ellie was far too interested in trying on, as well as some to force on Danny later. He sighed, but like—that’s his little cousin-sister, he’d put up with it. After all, he learned how to plumb an entire (miniature) house in two days when she refused to move in until it had a fully functional bathroom, so.

Anyways!

They have a fun time, and sure, lugging the relatively giant dollhouse was a PAIN, but it was Ellie’s home, and some stabilizing tech made it relatively safe to move without risking everything freaking breaking. They load everything in again, and the dollhouse is now restocked with clothes, tiny furniture, and a lot of shrunken supplies—some foods are just hard to work with full size, and are easier to shrink, okay? Also soap, paper goods, pencils and pens, books, etc. Jazz loads the thing into her car, and Danny offers to stay with Ellie in the dollhouse—so Jazz gets them in, and shrinks them down, holding onto the shrink ray in the meantime.

All is going relatively well in Gotham traffic until there’s a rogue attack.

Go figure.

Jazz ends up unconscious, and Danny and Ellie can’t do anything before the rogue is taken care of and a paramedic team comes up. They hide back in the dollhouse, listening as the medics say she seems to be okay, just unconscious. A relief, but now they’re taking Jazz away. Fenton luck states she’s one of the few actually injured. The Bat Brigade comes by, and Batman notices that there’s a wallet for one Danny Fenton. Red Robin confirms that Jazz was likely here with at least two other people, based on the ticket stubs for the expo. However, there is a strange lack of social media presence, Danny doesn’t have a photo ID, and there’s no way of knowing for SURE that it was just Danny with her, if it was just two other people, or if Danny was in the car with her. Still, as they can’t find him but DO have his sister and his wallet, they assume he might be missing, possibly kidnapped.

The Gotham PD of course take in the car, although it’s pretty trashed. Knowing well and good that the dollhouse and such things are actually quite expensive, Commissioner Gordon mentions that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Batman to maybe hold onto the Fenton’s things that *aren’t* related to the investigation.

Batman just takes everything. Including a rather peculiar looking gun that seems to have sustained some damage during the attack and car crash.

Gordon sighs. Figures.

So, Danny and Ellie end up in Wayne Manor. Most of the things end up in the Batcave, but Alfred insists that they place the doll things upstairs in the manor proper—the cave isn’t *that* damp, but doll things are small and delicate. So, upstairs they go.

At first, it’s fine. Danny and Ellie are fine in the dollhouse, and it’ll be at least a week before any of the systems NEED to be worked with.

Then Ellie ends up with a massive migraine. She gets them, on occasion, a sort of growing pain. Usually, they just shrink some medicine for her as she needs it, because she’s like—twelve. While they did have some medicine that had been pre-shrunk, when they were stocking up in Gotham, it turns out pain medicine was more expensive there. Not by much, but they figured—they’ll just stock up in Amity Park, they’ll be there in two days.

Haha. Nope.

So, Danny finally has to venture out. He lucks into finding the first aid kit—why there was one in the main living room, he’s not sure—and is currently working on trying to get open the blister packet of an ibuprofen when Alfred finds him.

Alfred stares at this tiny boy with a tiny make-shift knife trying to get into… over the counter pain medication.

Danny stares at this butler guy who had very gently cleaned the outside and noted the strange fact that the dollhouse did not open.

Danny waves at Alfred.

Alfred waves a tiny finger back.

“Hello,” Alfred says softly, which is fantastic because loud noises could get painful—part of the reason for Ellie’s headache was an argument between Tim and Damian. “How do you do?”

Danny hesitates, before he makes an exaggerated so-so gesture.

“You understand me?”

Danny nods—it’s rare for people to understand what he’s saying when he’s 5 inches tall.

“How wonderful,” Alfred smiles. “And how can I help our young guest tonight?”

Danny gestures to the blister packet.

“Pain medication? Isn’t that a little bit large for you.”

The teen thinks for a second on how to communicate. He points to the pill, then makes a slight show of pretending to grind something, like a mortar and pestle.

Thankfully, Alfred got the idea. “Would it be easier if I ground it up for you?”

Danny takes a moment to think before accepting with an enthusiastic nod.

“Very well,” Alfred says, taking the blister packet in one hand. He then hold his other out, palm up, like a platform. “Would you like to come with me?”

Danny ‘his survival instincts died when he did’ Fenton gets into Alfred’s hand.

Alfred grinds up the pill into a fine powder. Danny hands him a tiny bottle—still large in Danny’s hands, as it was not a shrunk bottle—that he had tied around his waist. Alfred fills it, and hands it back.

“I assume you came from the tiny house we have in our living room?”

Danny again nods. Alfred takes him there, setting him down outside the front door. Danny bows, and sure it’s Japanese as hell, and he’s white as all get out, but it’s a generally understood gesture of thanks. He hopes.

Alfred understands it just fine. “I bid you goodnight, then. Perhaps we will talk more, when you are feeling better?”

Danny hesitates, again, but he nods. Alfred had been nice enough, so far.

Danny heads in, quickly measuring out the medicine—shrunk pressure plates and scales and weights made what it was measuring relative—to him the weights on the hand balance scale felt the same weight. Ellie got her medicine, and they both went back to sleep.

He told her in the morning what happened. Ellie was strangely gung-ho about meeting this butler guy, and so—when no one else was around—, she and Danny went onto the tiny balcony as Alfred came in to dust.

“Oh my,” he said. “There’s two of you, now. Should I expect more?”

Both of them did an exaggerated ‘no’ dance.

“Very well, I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself. I’m Alfred Pennyworth, the family butler. Welcome to Wayne Manor.”

[heck-theo]

Okokokokok- ignore how rough and messy some of these redraws/sketches are - but it's apparently also dinosaur month?? (WHY did no one ever tell me it's Jurassic June? I love dinosaurs) And like. What if Rise but dinosaurs?!

I don't often post such loose sketches but I wanted to show these off cause I really like some of this.

Design choices and dino species + the reasons I picked them bellow (looking for potential Donnie dino suggestions):

Clothes: Without the shell they really need clothes. They'd all have pretty much the same pants to keep some unity, except maybe Mikey (I decided they should all have the same pants after I finished the Mikey sketches, not sure if I'll keep the shorts or change to pants). Accessories are a mix of pre and post finale.

Raph - I think would keep it simple and practical but would also wear nice jackets and stuff when in casual situations. I need to work on giving him an alternative outfit and tweak his accessories a bit.

Donnie - An oversized pull-over hoodie cause we already know he loves that shit. We see him wearing it all the time. Easy enough. He wears a comfortable singlet underneath so the straps of his battle sail don't rub. Nice soft fabric, tight fit so it doesn't move around, tucks it into his pants, etc. When he wears the battle sail he won't overheat so he can wear hoodies basically all year round.

Leo - He's in one of those shirts with obnoxiously large arm holes and make it cropped cause 1. I think he would 2. I want it to be different from Raph and Donnie's singlets. He usually wears the shoulder strap off his shoulder but pulls it up when he needs to. He has some of the black bandages over his mid drift atm but I might just make his pants super high waisted in the final version. He'd probably wear a bomber jacket (also cropped?) over the top for cool weather, but doesn't like to hide his feathers.

Mikey - I think he'd mostly wear hand me downs when he's younger. He definitely goes through a stage of rebelling and wanting to pick his own and would find a middle ground of appreciating sharing some of his brother's clothes and modifying them, as long as he has the choice of his own available. Not sure if that would be before or after this design. At the moment he's got Raph's old shorts (from a loooong time ago), Leo's old shirt, and Donnie's old zip up hoodie. He does have his own accessories though, including pins instead of stickers.

Dinosaurs: I kept them all as non-avian dinosaurs, AKA not including animals that are colloquially considered dinos but aren't (like pterosaurs). I wanted to keep an even split of herbivore vs carnivore just so one wasn't the odd one out. I wanted to keep most of their body structure, colours and distinguishing features the same as canon. Obviously I added tails cause, yeah, of course haha. I did want them to be recognisable as different species of dino using distinct characteristics that their species is known for. I did ignore a lot of differences though, like size and bipedal vs quadruped (although the quadrupeds might be more likely to go to all fours, especially when fighting or afraid). Leo and Donnie are carnivores so have sharper teeth and claws.

Raph - Some kind of Ceratopsian (likely Triceratops or something very similar) and he was the first idea I had for this and I'm really happy with it. I think it just suits him. Trike Raph just came to me in an unprecedented moment of genius. His spikey frill replicates his spikey shell. His sturdiness, protectiveness and willingness to kick ass when needed, all scream trike to me.

Donnie - Spinosaurus but looking for other species recommendations. More details below: So I wanted to figure out a way for him to have tech with a similar function to his battle shell (in the sense that it's something that helped him in day to day life) and so I went with spino cause one possible theory about a function of spinosaurus' sail is temperature regulation. So his battle sail has heating/cooling systems as well as other tech. A spino's sail was probably not fragile but the battle sail would also help protect it from being targeted during fights or crushed during extreme impacts. It was also thought to be used for display, and what's more of a display than a battle sail? The only problem I have with this is that it's lacking part of what makes Donnie's battle shell so great, which is that it is essentially a prosthetic. Not quite the same as how prosthetics are used in people of course, just in the sense that it is replicating the functionality of a body part that he doesn't have (I can't think of a better word). Well he does have a shell but it doesn't function in the same way that his brothers shells do, which leaves him with less defense than they have, hence a big reason for the battle shell (I hope I explained this well, it was hard to try and word properly). I can't think of a good way to do this with dinos. I was thinking of a carno or something with tiny arms, then Donnie could have tech enhanced arms but I'm pretty much ignoring body structure in the others so it would be weird to have just Donnie be affected by a difference in limb structure/functionality. I was thinking prosthetic tail but every non avian dinosaur had a pretty substantial tail. Except therizinosaurus but even they hade pretty obvious tails. I'm open to suggestions for this one if anyone has ideas. It does have to be an extinct non-avian dinosaur (anything not in Avialae), preferably carnivore but if someone suggests a really good herbivore or omnivore then I can try and swap Mikey for a carnivore. I want there to be an even split. I also wanted to give him something different on his face, like his brothers, and that could only be a little spino crest and it crowds the top of his head but I can't put it anywhere else...

Leo - A type of Dromaeosaur. I was tossing up between this and a dilophosaur where his red stripes were part of the dilo's crest, cause I wasn't sure about giving him feathers. But dilo Leo was so plain compared to the rest and the crests were hard to get looking right so I went back to raptor Leo. I can definitely imagine him literally and metaphorically preening his feathers too. You can't really see it but he does also have that big raptor claw. Raptors were smart, tactical and worked in packs so I think that suits him. I wasn't specifically referencing how some artists draw Leo's stripes coming off his face (I was just trying to replicate his stripes somehow, even though it doesn't make a huge amount of sense) but I realised afterwards that it kinda looks like that and might have been subconsciously inspired by it.

Mikey - Is an Ankylosaur. I'm pretty happy with the species but I need to work out the design of his armour plating so that it looks interesting, cool and protective but isn't too chunky, too pointy or super lumpy looking. I went with an anky cause Mikey is often hiding in his shell and he can't do the same here but he could curl up in a defensive ball. Plus I could imagine him using his tail club in his razzmatazz fighting style. A little like his kusari-fundo or nunchacku/nunchucks (not sure on proper wording).

[hel1houndz]

Apps we use as a system !

Simply plural!

Simply plural is a great app for Systems! it allows you to track who's fronting, add more in depth information about who's fronting, Sort headmates out into groups, it also has a chat function.

Negatives: whilst it is a great app! it is more ideal for Smaller to medium sized Systems or Systems that switch solidly or for longer periods of time, as a bigger system outself, we find it quite difficult to use Sometimes, as it can be difficult for us regrading having to get up and log things.

they are also supportive of endogenic "Systems" and their resources do contain misinformation.

Octocon!

octocon is very similar to simply plural!

you can add headmates, categorise them, it also has a bit directly in discord, so it could be easier for some systems to use! It also has a diary feature! we have less to say about this as we personally don't use it, but it could be helpful for other systems!, it is currently only on andriod but will be releasing on IOS late 2024/2025

we feel that the app is quite clunky and can be difficult to use, especially if your already using apps like simply plural.

they also have a limit on how many alters profiles you can create to "limit the amount of fakers" - to specify direct quote from the official octocon server linked on there website, “the alter limit is to basically protect against ddos attacks, without the limit someone could take up an unreasonable amount of the bots resources and crash it. theres no way to go past it, and nobody so far has gotten close to going past the alter limit as far as we know.” I heard the term fakers being thrown around, I also assume that by “fakers” they mean endo “systems” but still the tone is there and it rubs me the wrong way considering systems that have high high alter counts (such as ourselfs) :)

Notion!

Notion is a great app! we personally dont use it to track our system but we know many Systems that do! it can easily be used for tracking fronts, alters, giving alters journal pages etc! it's very easy to use for beginners and there are many tutorials on YouTube about it! It is also used by a alot of singlets too!

our only criticism is that it isn't built for Systems! So you would need to build it all yourself or use templates if that makes sense which we know for Some Systems could be a struggle!

Mindly

Mindly is a very easy to use app, which is commonly used for making innerworld maps! It's very simply to visualise and understand!

Our negatives for mindly are that there is a limit on how many maps you can make, if you are like us for example and have different layers in your system you wouldn't be able to make multiple maps for those layers, also it is very limited on how you can customise your bubbles, with only the colour, text and emoji

Fortelling

Fortelling is a great app! you can use it to create innerworld maps every easily! being able to include images and in-depth describes also!, we also use it to create split/fussion maps, and you can also use it similarly to Simply plural as you can add in depth information and also custom fields!

Anytype

Anytype is a good app for creating private journal pages for headmates!

It's a great way to allow alters there own private space to express themselves

Our negatives is that it can be quite confusing when you first start using the app, and it could get confusing if you are a bigger System

Twinote

we love twinote! it's such a fun way to communicate with your headmates! the app is very similar to twitter but it's completely private! alters can completely create there own profiles and communicate with each other very easily!, we also know singlets that use it for role playing also! :)

Daylio

We use daylio well daily! it's a great way to track things like switches or Symptoms eta very simply! we also use it for non system related things just like sleep, school, our mood etc!! It's been so helpful for us and our doctors!

We use daylio well daily! it's a great way to track things like switches or Symptoms eta very simply! we also use it for non system related things just like sleep, school, our mood etc!! It's been so helpful for us and our doctors!

[jim-the-simpleton]

Fallout 4.

There is a settlement in Fallout 4 called Spectacle Island. It's situated off the coast of the southern half of the map, and is one of the largest settlements you can acquire in the base game.

Fallout 4's settlement system allows you to set up supply lines between settlements, which allows them to share basic resources like food and water, as well as component items you need for crafting. This will also set up a settler on that supply line who can be encountered in the world moving between the two settlements, which can create some interesting encounters.

You can set up supply lines to and from Spectacle Island, but the game doesn't have any functioning boats and NPCs aren't supposed to swim, so the settlers will just kinda hang out on the coast with a brahmin. Fallout 4.

Functionally, the supply line still works and the settlement will share resources with wherever you set it up, but cosmetically it isn't a great look to have someone longingly look out to the coast with a pack brahmin.

However, if the settler is wearing power armor, they can just walk along the bottom of the ocean between Spectacle Island and your other settlement just fine. Fallout 4.

The problem is, you can't assign settlers to power armor. Fallout 4.

Well, I know for a fact that settlers CAN get into power armor, as it's happened to me and several other people in the past. If the settler is engaged in combat and if they have a fusion core, they will- sometimes - enter an empty suit for the fight.

However, they have to be close to the power armor (which, I mean, yeah), and Spectacle Island is one of the largest settlements in the game, so the chances of a settler being close to the power armor while they're in combat is low. Thankfully, in workshop mode, you can tell settlers to go to a certain location. Less thankfully, they will walk as slowly as possible to where you need them to go, and they tend to get distracted on the way by anything and everything, requiring constant guidance the entire path. On top of that, as soon as they reach the requested destination, they will wait there for all of two seconds before getting bored and going back to wandering aimlessly. Fallout 4.

Well, I put a fusion core in the settler's inventory and hold their hand as they walk to the shed where I'm keeping the power armor. There are ways of bringing enemies directly to a settlement thanks to a DLC I have installed, but it's a long and slow process that I really didn't want to have to deal with, so I used console commands to spawn in a Deathclaw Matriarch, a high-level enemy. However, at my high level and with the defenses I have set up, the deathclaw takes about all of thirty seconds to take down, which isn't enough time for my settler to decide to get in the power armor. Fallout 4.

After this, I start spawning Deathclaw Matriarchs in 2-4 at a time. My settler keeps running out of the shed to fight the deathclaws with a base-level pipe pistol and getting knocked down instantly, which prevents him from entering the power armor. I decide to use the power armor to trap the settler inside the shed, so that the only way to leave us to enter the power armor. The deathclaws are still dying too fast, and I still have to spawn them in multiples to keep combat going as long as possible. The settler simply won't get in the power armor. He's clipping through and getting stuck on the power armor, but not entering it. Fallout 4.

Miraculously, after about 12 Deathclaw Matriarchs had their lives taken as unceremoniously as they were given, my settler finally decided that now was the time to enter my power armor. I could now safely assign him to a supply line. I usually liked to give my supply line settlers higher-level weapons since they tend to encounter enemies pretty frequently. Plus, basic pipe weapons look really small and awkward when paired with a beefy suit of power armor, and this entire endeavor has been for cosmetics' sake, so I walk up to my settler and press the talk key. Instead of hearing my character ask to trade a few things, I instead hear:

"I need you to get out of your power armor."

My settler agreed and was more than eager to hop out of a top-of-the-line suit of T-45d Power Armor. Fallout 4.

I gave him the weapon I wanted him to have equipped and started the entire endeavor over, with another dozen Deathclaw Matriarchs dying for the express purpose of forcing a settler into a suit of power armor. But, well, it worked again, and he had the Assault Rifle I wanted him to be using. I hit the quicksave key as fast as I could because if Fallout 4 knows you've done a lot of things since you last saved, it will crash just to make you do it all again, because Fallout 4 is a vindictive and spiteful force of evil.

All of this so I could see my settler do this:

Fallout 4.