#this would also be like. a way less stressful way for them to practice improv than anything neji makes them do for the class lol

[protect-namine]

you know, I think neji would enjoy playing dnd. getting to write stories and play characters with no limitations, and having to improv with the other players because he would never have full control of where the story was headed? it would be a dream come true, and also therapeutic. neji would of course be the dm who would "yes and" anything his players want to do. the story would be something everyone has input on and would help shape. an adventure that neji himself couldn't predict or write on his own. also, just imagine him describing his setting and doing all his character voices, he'd love that so much

I think it would be a good exercise for quartz too, because they'd have to make their own characters and backstories and roleplay in character without a script to direct them. especially to kisa "transparent vessel" tachibana, who can act out any character but is afraid of letting herself be seen through them. similarly, kai as well, since he'd be in charge of his own character instead of propping someone else up

on the flip side, fumi would get to enjoy playing a character but not having the pressure to be the lead/spotlight of a story. he's there to play, not perform

sou would also LOVE dnd. I think he'd be really into the character creation and lore, and is probably the next person I can think of who can try being the dm when neji is sick/tired/wants to be a player. he's the player who takes down notes and remembers one small detail neji mentioned four sessions ago that becomes relevant to the current session. neji loves him because sou is the one who appreciates his world building the most

suzu and fumi would instigate so much in the adventure, which neji would love. suzu makes a character everyone loves (like hachipochi) and always brings snacks to the table

fumi has read all of the player handbook, and mitsuki has read maybe a quarter of it (only the relevant parts to his character and how some dice rolls and combat work). mitsuki is also the one who doesn't put much effort into his character's backstory but unexpectedly gets big character development during the adventure, surprising everyone in the table including both the dm and himself

otori is very good at both roleplaying and combat, has created a compelling character, and tries to go on solo adventures but eventually gets roped into the party because he can't adventure alone in neji's setting

[suzannahnatters]

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!

[pigeonpeach]

Genshin men as cats!

Prompt: the genshin men are temporarily turned into cats for one day and you as their lover must take care of them and make sure they stay safe

A/n: idk what happened but apparently half of the post got deleted? I’ll have to rewrite it later ;(

Ayato

Oh he’s not happy. He’s probably a shorthaired white cat in terms of appearance. But he is quite annoyed with this predicament. No one is allowed to tell anyone that the Yashiro Commissioner is suddenly a cat. But being a cat is nice. He can lounge and nap all day. He’s probably demanding of attention though. He simply must have your eyes on him. He adores being brushes so lovingly too. Maybe he should have you brush his hair when he’s back to normal.

Al Haitham

Virtually no change. He may still try to read though he won’t be able to turn the pages as easily. He doesn’t mind a few pats but he mostly prefers to be left alone in the nice warm sun to nap the day away. He’s definitely a grey tabby.

Kaveh

He is so distraught! He meows a storm in fustration as he finds he is completely incapable of finishing his projects! You simply must take care of him! You need to have him strapped in like a baby carrier on your chest because he’s just so clingy. He needs constant reassurance and attention. He’s so needy but so cute. Probably a cute little cream colored kitty.

Kaeya

He is also probably a bit annoyed. While yes he gets a complete day off, he can’t do much as a cat. So he’ll probably try to find some entertainment if you don’t keep him thoroughly entertained. He will find a way to sneak out and go play with Klee or annoy Diluc if you don’t keep him in your grasp at all times.

Neuvillette

He is very confused but also curious. On one hand this form is verrrry different than he’s ever had before but its also very beneficial to him. People are far less intimidated and strangely he enjoys being coddled and pet more than he would. Of course miss Furina is teasing the crap out of him but he doesn’t really care. Sitting on your lap, small and warm. Its such a unique experience he will probably never have again.

Wriothesley

Once the dust settles he’s quite relaxed. This is temporary so might as well enjoy it. Sigewinnie has become very attached to him as she constantly makes sure he’s okay. But in particular he loves being held by you. He’s used to being the big strong man who lifts you all the time etc etc. its nice actually being the reverse here. He gets fed special fish from the cafeteria and gets to spend his day in your arms! The perfect break for him! He’s almost sad it’s temporary but he knows he can’t stay like this forever.

Childe

Oh he’s mad! Even when it’s confirmed to be temporary, he is annoyed! How can he improve his fighting skills if he’s a kitty! Sure he’s a adorable little kitty of course but he looks like a baby! Oh his ego is in shatters. It’s unfortunate too because it wasn’t even around his family so he could play with his little brother at least. He’s practically quarantined to keep him safe. He can’t go on kitty adventures. Therefore YOU must make it up to him. He spends his time sulking and trying to play with anything he can. Dangling uniform piece? New toy! Someone’s foot? New toy! He bites! He meows! He hardly naps. He does love cuddling with you though. Still he’s a ball of energy and he cannot simply sit still for long! No doubt will his office be trashed. You’re making him clean it up once he’s back.

Thoma

Stressed! So stressed! He has so many chores! He cannot hold a broom with two paws! You have to make arrangements for him to have the day off which was hard because everyone was upset by his sudden cancellation. Even so he tries to help. He tries to drag the broom but it doesn’t do anything unfortunately. Oh he feels so useless. You must pamper him. Lavish him with kisses and gentle praise. Call him the cutest little kitty in the world! Oh he’s such a affectionate boy too. He acts like a cat with separation anxiety almost. He cannot sleep if you’re not there with him. Therefore you end up spending the day with him, trying to dissuade him from trying to clean a mess and just making it worse, distracting him with a warm blanket and pets.

Zhongli

He probably did so on purpose actually. Perhaps he was a bit bored and decided to spend the day exploring Liyue from a different perspective. It was quite fun for him actually. He watched as people came over to pet him. Unfortunately they also tried to feed him seafood which wasn’t too good. But after the long day he returned home to see you panicked as to where he could be. He decided to come on over to you, still in his cat form, and distract you. It worked as he helped you relax.

You werent too amused when you found out that cat that broke in was him.

Pantalone

He is quite annoyed. Angry in a more agitated way. Don’t mess up his fur! Pet him properly! Don’t ignore him now! He is a demanding little feline. He is not content unless you are entirely focused on him. He even wants you to break up the fish ro serve to him. He isn’t going to eat like a animal! Oh but he is such s cute kitty. Entirely black with big expressive yellow eyes. Oh you can’t help but comply and spoil him a little more! And he has such lovely fur! He does like hearing your gentle praises as you pet him. He never knew how lovely it felt to be small, sleeping on a nice warm lap, being gently brushed, and told sweet little compliments. He may actually want to do this again sometime.

Diluc

Biggest drama king! How can he protect you or Mondstadt like this! Therefore you cannot leave his sight or he’s convinced you will immediately die. You must stay with him so he can protect you? He is a very warm kitty though so it feels nice to snuggle with him. His fur is a bit messy so you’ll have to brush it. Despite him trying to stay vigilant he ends up falling asleep quickly.

[onecornerface]

New study finds cash-transfers didn't have some expected benefits- But why??

A new study (NBER Working Paper) seemingly finds that a monthly cash-transfer ($1000 a month over a few years) to poor people in the US failed to benefit recipients’ mental and physical health or food security in a bunch of ways after the first year. It’s apparently more ambitious than some previous studies of cash transfers in the US. This may be some evidence that UBI doesn’t have all the benefits we’d like it to have for helping poor people or some subsets of them, which could impact future debates on UBI. There may still be consequentialist and/or deontological reasons to support UBI, but we need to ensure they’re aligned with the best evidence on the (good and/or bad) results (or lack thereof).

I’ve read the Twitter summary thread, and skimmed several sections of the paper (especially intro sections and Discussion), but haven't fully read the paper.

Some initial thoughts & questions I’m wondering about—

My main concerns are about the mechanisms, by which I mean how the cash-transfers impacted people’s behavior or psychology in ways that would bring about the measured results (assuming the metrics/results are valid). One of the most puzzling results is on food security.

“We also find that the transfer generated large and highly statistically significant improvements in food security in the first year. However, mirroring our results for mental health, these improvements were short-lived and, by the end of the program, participants in the treatment group reported no better ability to meet their food needs than those in the control group.” (Page 3)

If cash-transfers indeed fail to improve food security for a lot of people after the first year (yet apparently did help during the first year), why? What are the mechanisms by which it would fail?

From my armchair speculation, I can kind-of-sort-of imagine how psychological adaptation (or suchlike) may explain how cash may fail to improve mental health or stress after the first year, leading to something of a return to baseline (albeit with many reservations).

And some of the physical health results also might not be too baffling, since the relationship between income, medical care access, and health results, may well be complex and wonky. Medical access may be reduced by non-income factors, effective medical advice may not be taken up, and many medical practices may be ineffective. That said, there are still a lot of very plausible mechanisms as to how poverty would worsen health—it’s not all specious correlation (even if some is), and it’s not all the result of third-factors causing both poverty and illness (even if some is) and/or illness causing poverty. So there’s still some more explanation needed as to how a lot of these wouldn’t be impacted much, or would be impacted only temporarily, by cash transfers.

All that said, I’m still more puzzled by the food-security results. People’s food needs are a lot more consistent and predictable than their physical healthcare needs, and seem less likely to change due to any return to baseline.

Do the recipients develop a bigger appetite or altered metabolism after the first year? Do they start making worse (or at least, less food-focused) spending decisions, resulting in less money to spend on food? Or what? Was there something else they preferred to spend their money on, besides food, after the first year? Did they not have enough money to spend on food? Did rent take up so much they didn’t have money for food?

Maybe some of them spend more money on drugs or suchlike, resulting in less money for food—but the study seems to find mixed results as to whether drug use increased or not (see Page 36, and search the document for “drug” to see variations of the same claim throughout), and I assume a large chunk of the recipients didn’t spend a lot of money on drugs (even if there was also a large chunk who did). So, in any case, I don’t think very much of the food security result can be easily explained by “recipients spent the money on drugs instead of food.”

So… what gives? Why did food insecurity go down and then back up again??

I’ve skimmed the paper, and it looks like most of it consists in arguments that their statistical methods and suchlike are valid and not confounded, or suchlike. I probably don’t have the expertise to evaluate any of those arguments. But it doesn’t look like there’s much, if any, discussion on the mechanisms. Maybe it’s in there somewhere, I don’t know.

The results wouldn’t be magic. If they’re valid, they should be happening as a result of the recipients changing (or failing to change) their consumption patterns or other decisions or circumstances in various sorts of ways. So what are those? If there aren't any plausible mechanisms (which admittedly would be very hard to show), this could also be reason to question the validity of the results.

It sounds like the lead author, Sarah Miller, is in favor of cash transfers. So the negative results can’t be readily explained by a lead author’s bias against the policy.

Some of the failure may be explained by the fact that the study was only three years, and some benefits may take many years of cash transfers to achieve. However, this doesn’t address why the study did find a bunch of benefits in year 1 which then ceased in year 2. This pattern of benefits appearing and then disappearing also seems to count against the possibility that the study’s method was simply unable to detect the benefits. Apparently it did detect the benefits in year 1, which makes it puzzling why they disappeared in year 2.

A bunch of twitter commenters seem to think the study confirms UBI sucks actually, because poor people are just intrinsically shitty and make bad decisions that keep themselves poor and in bad health completely regardless of what the government does—as the critics had been saying all along.

I’m certainly open to the possibility that poor people tend to make bad decisions, and I want to guard against any politically-correct bias that wrongly rules it out. If and insofar as poor people make decisions that contribute to keeping themselves poor and in bad health (whether these decisions are bad or defensible, which is a further question), then we should want to know what those are, so we can work with them to improve their situations more effectively and ethically.

Many progressives are likely too biased toward underestimating the agency of some poor people, and may well underestimate how many poor people could somewhat improve their situation by making different decisions. I think we can concede a lot of these points without drastically undercutting the position that poverty is obviously extremely bad and unjust, that some forms of government intervention & redistribution are effective, and that the main in-principle objections to government redistribution are weak.

I’m also pretty confident that most of the critics are ideologically committed to the “poor people make bad decisions” hypothesis for biased and unempirical reasons—and also seemingly haven't put forward any detailed hypotheses for how exactly the “poor people make bad decisions” view actually explains the evidence.

Arguably, even if poor people make bad decisions, this isn't enough to explain how and why their consumption or lifestyle decisions (etc.) were impacted by cash-transfers in the right sort of ways to explain any of the main interesting data.

My ideas on the study here are all very provisional. But the study seems worthwhile for UBI proponents to get ahead of, and develop a well-thought-out empirical analysis as to what it does or doesn’t imply for UBI.

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

ten weeks left, five to go… two thirds of the way there! i am, indeed, le tired…. but it’s gonna be okay… this week is pretty full throttle but next week i’ll get at least one day off for thanksgiving, so that’s… something…

i had a major work win this week in that a kid i had been pulling my hair out over did WAY the fuck better than i thought he would on his first test sitting. it’s looking like he’s still going to take it again even though he has scores that are perfectly adequate for the schools he’s looking at, so… i am holding on to my most work-intensive client… but a) his sessions will no longer bum me out and b) i can finally feel confident that the 1 billion hours i have put into writing or compiling from various sources follow up problems because none of the one-stop-shop ones felt good enough have actually served a purpose and therefore i can feel less conflicted about my regrettably unkillable sense of professional integrity. two other kids also tested, one landing at “so close but not totally quite” and the other at honestly a little worse than i would have expected? but her next test date pretty far out so i’m not too stressed. (i am learning over time that the first couple times they take a test straight through, practice or real, it goes bad… sometimes they don’t improve despite my best efforts but even the ones that do wind up doing well almost always do worse than i expect for a while and then somehow pull it together through a process that remains mysterious even to me….)

i think i am going to try something this week which is to plan to work approximately 35 hours spread out approximately evenly. based on recent weeks this should be enough (and if it’s not enough i’ll know that soon enough to course correct) and i think going into the week with this intention will help with the part where like… there almost always is theoretically work i could be doing which is an annoying psychological cloud to have hovering around me. i feel like maybe aiming for “about 5 hours a day, including any sessions” will help me feel more balanced and hopefully more able to sort of compartmentalize and think occasionally of other matters lol. the trick with this kind of thing is not to let it oppress me under a rule of my own devising - it has often happened in the past that i find myself feeling totally insane about my struggle to live up to completely self-imposed expectations that don’y matter at all - but i feel like perhaps i am finally beginning to outgrow that tendency, because of how i have finally learned what it is like to feel actually pretty chill most of the time and how much i enjoy and cherish that feeling.

the other work related insight i have recently had is that i really do fucking hate getting up and having to do work before a set time (session) later that day, with the exception of just kind of gathering my materials digitally or physically for any sessions. updating the homework docs the morning after is both unavoidable sometimes and tolerable but it’s amazing how much worse it feels to prep a practice test i’m doing in 4 hours than one i’m doing even just as far away as tomorrow. i AM for the first time in a while going into this week going into monday fully prepped for all of tomorrow’s tutoring and ALSO caught up on admin work and it feels really nice and i hope that having a certain regular allotment of Work Time will make it easier for me to keep that up while also, like, doing laundry and stuff. (i find it hard to do multiple types of things a day so if i’m in a Chores Day then usually i’ll work as little as possible and then suddenly i have to prep a whole ACT by tomorrow… anyway)

the kitchen remains… acceptable! although i should at some point probably purchase “groceries.” room still very bad, is what it is. i only worked out a measly three times this week but at least one of them was full body day & another day was a hiit day that honestly was very fun but still has my calves knotted up three days later. i did not text g. bc i am a terrible friend. i did see the apprentice and it was not good and i did not mind bc jerbear ate as i knew he would and honestly sebstan was p. good too! i have started rereading jonathan strange & mr norrell primarily as a bedtime book bc it is a good inducement away from bedtime scrolling which has been a Problem, my sleep has NOT been great. actually that reminds me that i might start doing little mini versions of these nightly because i have come to really like this little sunday night ritual and the sense of closure it gives me on the week as well as optimism or at least fortitude for the week ahead, and i feel like it may be the case that doing a little “and this was the day that was” post may offer a helpful transition in moving into Bedtime Mode. (part of me is like, could i just do that in a journal…. but… the thing is i actually don’t think i could…. journal is very good for some things but it is not good in all the same ways as Blogging……… for me, an insane person)

[atthebell]

do you have any recommendations/resources to learn spanish?? i've been using busuu for about 104 days now, imo opinion it's actually pretty fun and i like it but i think my main problem with it is that it goes too fast?? it's hard to explain. it's also started to feel kinda repetitive to me. i still love busuu and i'm going to continue with my course, but it'd be nice to also have something else. like, preferably not an app, maybe a textbook or a website or something :D i don't really WHERE to find resources for language learning, despite being bilingual, i never really had to look on the internet to learn the languages i speak now, i picked it up from the people around me you know?

i've also been ''using'' duolingo but tbh, i really hate it. it feels boring to me, everyday it's ''ok what sentence am i going to be forced to write for the 40th time today?'' the single 'square' has 5 lessons and a 'unit' has around 10-8 of those squares and to finish a 'unit' you have to do about 50-45 of those lessons, which is shit because a 'unit' is only going to teach about 3 sentence structures and if you're lucky maybe 5. it's so shit, those greedy fuckers basically made it unusable. i've been using for about 140 days now, every single day i take at least one lesson, and it STILL has not taught me a SINGLE spanish tense. btw, i even had an entire phase where i would finish UNITS in about an hour and a half (1 min or less for every lesson) and still not a single ''pretérito Indefinido'' actual pain 🫠🫠 one day ll delete that app, one day (i guess that's why i like busuu in the first place, it actually teaches you these tenses and even some slang while duolingo makes you write ''papá, quiero visitar a nuestra abuela'' for the 700th time this week)

i want to watch vods and stuff, but tbh, i feel way too embarrassed? like, i don't know enough spanish to really understand them and even when they say basic sentences that i understand, i still have to listen to it multiple times and slow down the clip for me to really get it. the thing with spanish is that i'll understand the meaning of the words being said but i need to take a second or so to really comprehend what they mean together you know? i don't want to have to watch the stream slowed down because that would definitely make me feel stupid 😭 maybe when i have better spanish i'll start watching vods. although i do listen to spanish songs sometimes, it's fun :D

first thing: you don't have to feel embarrassed about needing time to process things/needing to listen to things slowed down. language learning is difficult and there are a lot of obstacles for many people; this is something i do understand and want to stress that i get that it's hard. you are not a bad person or an idiot or whatever for having a hard time understanding things-- you are still learning, and besides that, sometimes hearing things isn't someone's strong suit (it absolutely did not use to be mine, but i've practiced a lot and gotten much better at it. i'm still much much better at reading text in other languages, but it is something you can always improve on). if you need to take extra time to watch things, that is not a personal fault of yours nor does it make you stupid. everyone has different skill sets, and you can always practice to get better.

second thing: my own criticisms of both busuu and duolingo, along with their strengths. duolingo first, because i've used it since like. idk like 2016? not consistently but i've used it far more over the years and i'm very familiar with various changes they've made and the esp, ptbr, and french courses. busuu ive only been using for a few months

to get it out of the way, the recent change to laying off translators and using more AI in lessons. this sucks, obviously, for a myriad of reasons. machine translation cannot match with human translation, and frankly never will be able to. there are vast amounts of nuance and cultural context necessary for translation, along with the fact that an AI led course does not actually hit on all the things someone needs, particularly on a basics/foundational level. and from an ethical standpoint, laying off a ton of human translators because you think you can replace them with inaccurate machine translation sucks and is why so many people have dropped duolingo, myself included.

duolingo also has limitations in terms of format-- it gamifies language learning, which can make it feel more accessible to people and makes people want to open it and practice every day. however, most people use duolingo to do one lesson once a day and that's it. they're not getting in practice from lessons previously completed, they're not drilling vocab or conjugations, they're not actually maintaining or even remembering what they've already learned. obviously there are people (like myself, when i still used the app) who practice far more than that and continue to drill previous lessons, but that's not the majority, and it's not incentivized by the app. the paywalling of completing certain lessons and being able to drill error words also sucks for this reason. basically duolingo is not an ideal setup for actually maintaining knowledge once you go through it the first time and also the way the courses are laid out just. does not, imo, actually make sense. they rarely actually explain what they're trying to teach you and they don't get into enough detail on most concepts. and there is no incentive to review, which is hugely important. not an ideal situation for language learning, especially on its own.

my pros for duolingo: it gets you to practice daily. this is honestly what i use busuu for at this point-- when i get a notif for it, i open it up and flick through a lesson, but i also pull out a textbook or two to look at things there and practice stuff. if whipping out duolingo every day helps you practice a language, that is, at bare minimum, something. preferably you should be studying for at least 15min if not up to an hour or more of a language a day in order to really pick things up and maintain them; you can absolutely use duolingo or busuu for that (busuu i think is far less well formatted and oftentimes the lessons are very specific vocab, at least in the later courses).

for busuu, my issues are like. it's a poorly made imitation of duolingo, aside from a few things. the community aspect is something i REALLY like-- being able to send an exercise to a native speaker and get feedback on what to work on is great, especially with how it's a short answer question that lets you form your own sentences and try out vocab in context. that's a wonderful feature, and i really think it gets at something duolingo is completely missing.

but yeah like i said in terms of the lessons, busuu has very strange ways of teaching things. firstly, it's usually super specific topics and vocab that aren't paired with anything conceptually that helps you progress. usually in a language course, it's best to pair a concept you're working on with either relevant vocab or something that can be used to talk about similar subjects/in similar ways (for instance, subjunctive with food/restaurant vocab, so that you can build sentences both with the new vocab and using the new verbal form in ways that make sense, i.e. "I'll have whatever she's having, If I were to order the pasta, I would get a salad too," "If I were richer, I would always order filet mignon" (side note subjunctive is very difficult for eng speakers so idk if these examples actually make sense 😭))

also busuu will repeatedly teach me something phrased one way or with a certain word and then mark me wrong and insist i use a completely different word/phrase. i cannot figure out why it keeps doing this it's very frustrating. and it has recently been teaching me some european portuguese which is not what the course is supposed to be so i'm just baffled by what's going on there.

another positive for busuu, at least in contrast to duolingo, is it teaches you the vocab and phrases before quizzing you on them, which duolingo does not do. this is like a positive and also an "eh, idk" because i get why duolingo does that-- it's trying to throw you into using surrounding context to figure out what a word means, and that's a very good way to practice, but i think it doesn't necessarily achieve it well and sometimes will just spring random words on you without enough context for you to know what it's referring to without just clicking on the word anyway.

also neither app are good at teaching you verb conjugation or tenses which is really unfortunate for spanish and portuguese in particular, as they're both languages where verbs are really really key AND where understanding tenses and their names are important, particularly for native eng speakers who never got taught tense names or like. any terminology for languages in english 🙃

also here is a thing i wrote up complaining about duolingo & verbs ages ago: Duolingo does not teach you things explicitly. It expects you to pick them up in a semi-immersive style, which works okay most of the time for most people but for many people makes actually learning and understanding parts of a language very difficult. For instance, it won't teach you the exact difference in usage between ser and estar, in Spanish or Portuguese. This difference is something I spent weeks on in Spanish class in high school and continued to review the rest of my time learning Spanish in an academic setting-- it is a key element of two of the most important words in the language. Duolingo also doesn't explain stem changes or irregular verbs and their typical endings-- it simply expects you to pick these up and memorize them through sentence usage. Basically it's very obvious Duolingo was created by english speakers who were never taught key elements of their own language (this is not a dig on their personal fault; i was also never taught any of this shit about english) and don't know how to go about teaching a language, and the limited format doesn't help.

third thing, finally getting to what you actually asked: there are a lot of resources for learning spanish online! i'm not as familiar with them as i'd like, as i learned spanish in an academic setting, but i'll do my best to list some things out and anyone else can feel free to add on. i've been meaning to make a language learning advice post for literally ages and i guess this is going to become it lmao.

here is a video explaining how to make duolingo work for you along with other resources: A Linguist explains how to make duolingo actually work (tl;dr pair duolingo with conversation partners, textbook work, listening to music, watching movies, etc. etc.)

i've tagged this with my language learning tag, which has a bunch of resources including some specifically for learning spanish.

tumblr user salvador bonaparte has a drive of free textbooks you can check out here, including a ton of spanish resources. i also recommend looking around the internet/specifically linguistics tumblr to find more resources as well as looking at used bookstores/amazon/etc. for spanish textbooks to use, as that will provide a more thorough foundation along with other programs/types of learning.

i've never used babbel or any other online program like it, but spanish tends to be one of the more resource-heavy languages because it's so widely spoken, so typically spanish programs on various apps/sites are REALLY thorough (duolingo's spanish program is by far their best course, with a ton more resources than most other programs. you can go up to the equivalent of at least c2 on there i believe, versus many other languages where they don't even list the CEFR levels)

finally, the not-so-online answer: if you're in college/have a nearby community/junior college, consider taking spanish classes there! this option probably costs the most out of any others, but i genuinely think an academic setting is the a great way to learn a language for many people. if you're not one of them, that is totally fine, but an actual spanish course at a college is likely to be the most thorough way to learn the language. also many CCs/JCs offer spanish classes online, so if you can't drive or for whatever reason can't go to in-person courses, you'll likely still have options.

this is everything i can think of right now but i also want to add once again that learning a language is difficult!!! i know that, and i know that i complain a lot about monolinguals, but i am specifically complaining about people who refuse to engage respectfully with languages that are not their own and dismiss anything they don't understand as being stupid/not worth their time/culturally worthless. i am not complaining about people like you, who are trying really hard to engage with non-english content AND are trying really hard to learn another language.

i also think learning languages is one of the most incredible experiences there are and that expanding the kinds of cultural and social boundaries that you engage with is a really important facet of humanity that i wish more people would participate in. i get riled up because this is something i'm really truly passionate about, not because i think anyone is stupid or whatever for not learning. i want people to just try it and give it a chance, even if it's hard for them, and i'm glad that you are trying, anon. <333

[thatoneweird014]

TOYA'S FAMILY HCs (mainly toyabros):

Toyamom:

I don't think Toyamom is actually that bad (at least not as shitty as Harumichi). Does she stop him from being a bitch? No, but she doesn't encourage him either. She just kinda... stays out of it, which is still bad but when she's with the kids on her own she is very kind and sweet with them (not for any ulterior motives or gaslighting kind of way). When her kids would confide in her that "mom... I don't want to play piano", she would tuck them in, kiss their foreheads, rub their side and say "it's alright. Look, you got that part right today didn't you? You're improving very well :)" It's because of this that the kids slowly began to latch onto her if they ever felt like they needed praise (I'll talk more about this later).

While she isn't a perfect person, she is still probably the only member who hasn't fully given up on the family yet. The Aoyagi kids slowly grow out of telling her all their problems because she doesn't/can't really do anything about it, but they do like her. She always tries to smile when she greets them, even as her face gets worn with age and as her hair starts to grey. Also, her hair starts to grey early because of stress. She knows everyone has given up on this sorry excuse for a family and is probably the only one still trying to pretend they're fine. The Aoyagi kids go along with it because they don't want to see their mother suffering and because deep down they all partially hope that there is still something salvageable in this.

Toyabros:

I came up with names for them but idrk if im gonna keep them as their permanent hc names so if you have any better ones lmk!!

Toushiro - Eldest:

appearance: 6"4, slightly stronger than Toya but still relatively skinny; short, light blue hair; black glasses and tired, beautiful, deep navy eyes; is always wearing something semi-formal, doesn't wear button-ups or anything but his clothes are always perfectly sized for him, never too big or small (kinda like an npc).

Toushiro follows your typical eldest child formula: your destiny is written from the moment you are born, you will be the prodigal child and there's nothing you can do about it. He's probably the only one of the sons whose more reserved than Toya and he constantly has bags under his eyes (the second son - Tokujiro - does as well but they're less heavy). Both sons wanted to do something other than music once they got to their teens but unlike Tokujiro who tried and failed, Toushiro didn't try at all because, in typical eldest sibling fashion, it's too much of a risk to give up the only thing you're practically good for. He's also the son who latched onto their mother the most because praise is to an eldest sibling what cherry-flavoured vapes are to thirteen year olds - give us one whiff of it and we'll chase it for the the rest of their lives (I do not vape for the record). It's because of this he's the only son who calls home from abroad every now and then to check in with their mother and very rarely their father on the two occasions he's ever showed up on videocall. He also eventually grew to just accept his life as a pianist. He's not fully happy in it, but he's come to accept that this is his life and tries to find joy in it.

When Tokujiro was born, Toushiro was originally kind of excited that he wouldn't be alone anymore, that there someone he could teach piano to himself. He got shouted at for it. One time when he was trying to teach Tokujiro piano, Harumichi came down, completely enraged, and yelled at them for making such terrible noise and using the piano so carelessly. "But, mother lets us..." "I don't care, touch that again and I'll make you practice through the entire night." Toushiro was left so afraid from that encounter that he never took Tokujiro to the piano room again. When Toya came, he just kept his distance, he was busy with recitals anyway (he was seven at the time of Toya's birth). As he got older, he tried to form a connection with Toya on the few times he came home. He felt bad for not being there for him when he was younger. One of the first things he asks when he comes back home now is "where's Toya?" He barely gets to see him because Toya's either at school or asleep when he gets back and he usually has to leave very early again the next day. However, on the few times they do meet, it's very awkward because you can see he's trying but they don't really have anything to talk about, especially since he can't talk about the piano anymore. It's even sadder because while he's abroad he compiles a list of everything he wants to tell him when but he gets home they can barely get past the "hi... how are you?" stage to ever get there.

Tokujiro - Middle child:

appearance: 6"0, shorter than Toushiro but much more "healthier" (all the Aoyagi sons have terrible eating habits, this is just appearance-wise) ; dark blue hair which is longer than Toya's, but it never goes past his shoulders and he usually ties it up a lot as well; softer blue eyes, much closer to silver, yet he still manages to always look stern; rougher hands from all his 'escape' attempts; wears plaid button-ups a lot (like ichika) and it's always untucked

Tokujiro is much more salty and angry at everything. He was five when Toya was born but was much more distant, largely due to him being really angry now that he realised just what kind of a life he was stuck in. When he found out Toya started street music, he became insanely stand-offish towards him because he had tried throughout his entire childhood to get out of his horrible life (he hates piano much more than Toushiro does) and he had gotten beaten and yelled at for it and Toya just?? gets to do it?? He used to constantly makes passive-aggressive comments about Toya's choice to perform (he does this less now) whilst saying how well he's doing at piano but he doesn't even know why he's doing it anymore, probably just to make himself feel better if anything because he really hates his life. He'll purposefully not give his all in performances but since he's an Aoyagi you'd need an insanely skilled ear to pick up on it.

When he was younger, he'd look up to Toushiro a lot, even after he distanced himself. Even now, despite his snarky and 'go fuck off' attitude, some desperate part of him misses his brother who would take him to the piano room and teach him, and he longs for him back. Also, at about age thirteen or so, he had discovered CDs of some music that was very much not classical music in his brother's room and played it when no one was watching. That was his first introduction to rock music- and he LOVED it. He'd constantly sneak into Toushiro's room to listen to them. One day Toushiro caught him and it was kind of amusing cause that was the first time he saw his brother so nervous.

"Toku? Toku! What are you doing?"

"I'm not the one with" - checks cover - "RAD WEEKEND CDs." (I hc that back when they were just emerging on the scene, RW did a lot of rock music, so much so that they released exclusive albums for their rocks songs)

"How did you even find those-"

"They're cool. Why didn't you show me?"

"Because- we're not supposed to... wait... do you like them?"

"Yeah, they actually sound good."

"..."

"..."

Then they'd frequently listen to rock together. Until their dad found them. And then broke them and yelled at them for tainting their ears with that garbage - "no wonder you've become worse lately." Tokujiro saw this as more of an excuse to rebel, in fact, he tried to start a rock band with the few friends he had (this got discovered and broken as well) - Toushiro was devastated to hear this and it only made him grow even further away from his brother. He only partially blames Toushiro for the growing distance between them, whereas he fully blames their father.

Both brothers together:

Sometimes their concert venues/study schedules overlap. It doesn't happen as often as they like, but it still does. To the outside eye, they interact like complete business professionals, as though their only relation to each other is through their work and not blood. However, they are there for each other. Toushiro will use these moments to try and subtly uplift his brother. Tokujiro always brushes it off and acts like he doesn't care but he does listen and sometimes take it to heart.

They both had private education together. Toushiro, even though he wasn't content with it, would sit quietly and listen. Tokujiro would do silent acts of rebellion, stuff he couldn't technically get in trouble for, kind of like Rui (i think him and rui would actually be besties ngl. In another life maybe :")) ) He'd do stuff like hand in assignments at the very last second and ask a bunch of stupid questions. The only reason he didn't get a stern talking to about this (at least not as much as he should have) is because all his work was actually done to a high standard and was correct. He had, during this period, also tried to start a rock band, but due to being so secluded from actual society he had maybe only two friends, the receptionist's kid from the shop his mother would sometimes take him with her to, and one kid he frequently met whilst trying to sneak out. He always seemed stoned af but maybe that was just his persona, he liked it either way. Toushiro knows if his brother gets caught he's going to be absolutely fucked. A part of him wants to stop him but the other part of him wants him to succeed, to prove there's an escape, so he just stays quiet and if he's ever questioned about what his brother is up to, he just says he doesn't know (to protect him). Lo and behold, his brother gets caught, receives the worst talking to of his life as he sits in his room, hands trembling above the piano feeling guilty as fuck for not having stopped him sooner.

They both have a minor jealousy for Toya. Toushiro eventually overcomes this in order to try and fix their bond whereas Tokujiro just pushes it down. Because what do you mean he's doing street music and not getting fucked over for it? What do you mean he's going to a PUBLIC school and has so many friends? What do you mean he's doing something else with his life, something he's happy with and getting away with it? They had both tried to do the same and gotten beaten the fuck up for it and he just?? gets to do it?? No lecture or anything? And what do you mean he TALKS BACK TO THEIR FATHER.

"Hmph, that's barely an achievement Toya."

"But I'm proud of it, I think I've come very far."

HELLO??? IF THAT WERE US TALKING WE'D BE FUCKING DEAD. They both stare in disbelief the first time they see Toya do this (on separate occasions, they talk about it to eo next time their schedules overlap). They think Toya gets a shitload of leniency from Harumichi. They're pissed off about it but don't hate him for it. At least one Aoyagi gets to be happy.

Bonus:

Toushiro doesn't like family dinners because Harumichi would spend the entire time berating his brother for his 'unruly' (he's an Aoyagi, remember) behaviour instead of praising him for he does right. This still holds true. When he goes home Harumichi barely bats an eye at him whereas he starts complaining when it's Tokujiro. Tokujiro just lets it flow in ear and out the other, he doesn't bother trying to 'prove' anything anymore and Toushiro just doesn't try, there's no point.

[badchoicesworld]

Can I request miles 42 with an alien male s/o that has completely white eyes and struggles with social ques/ human culture🫶🫶🫶

miles 42 w/ an alien boyfriend !

i’m listening to charlie’s inferno rn, hope this is half decent <\3

established relationship

warnings: meh

pairing: earth 42 miles x male!reader

requests: refer to the blog guide besties

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

i’m gonna go ahead and quote the anarchist hobart brown rn and say i ain’t got a scooby doo where tf ur from or how u two met, that’s up to u

but at the same time i guess w the avengers n shit aliens aren’t something people can deny, so while miles was maybe a bit skeptical at first, it wasn’t the hardest thing in the world to believe

especially when you’ve got those big white eyes

not to mention how wildly awkward and clueless you are when it comes to earth customs

what’s christmas, you say ? it’s where this guy in red and a really big beard sneaks into ur home to drop off concealed items in a box that’s determined by lists that you’ve been put on depending on ur actions throughout the year. yeah, he sees you when ur sleeping my guy, be scared

i imagine miles explains it in a less lowkey way but i like to imagine ur now scared of santa and the concept of christmas

culture ! so much to learn

miles is obviously most eager to teach you about his own, his mum would be very happy to tell you things too

when he eventually tells her about his alien boyfriend, that is

you get to try foods from their culture, maybe try to learn spanish if you can

if you have some uncanny ability to grasp language’s immediately, then miles’ mum is thrilled, very happy to talk in her first language with you

gonna go ahead and assuming this miles is also fluent so, spanish all around if you can

go ahead and share ur own culture too, they’re admittedly intrigued

he occasionally likes to ask you about certain things, like if you have an equivalent of something on your planet while holding the thing up or showing you a picture

is specifically intrigued w art on ur planet, but he’s not the kinda guy to overwhelm you with questions

maybe like a handful a week

it takes miles a little while to get used to the fact that ur from off planet, so it takes him a bit to clock that you don’t understand a lot of things ur seeing

but eventually he’ll get into the habit of briefly explaining things to you, general concepts and guidelines

it becomes pretty second nature to him as some point and subconscious

like if ur staring at kettle and he notices how ur white eyes are just locked on it he’ll be like “…don’t touch it-“ cause he doesn’t want you to burn urself, he might fail to explain that at first

social cues ? who doesn’t struggle w them from time to time

miles likely won’t know how to help you at first, it’s an adjustment you both have to make to help each other out

so maybe you come up with some kinda signal when ur with other people, like he might do something discreet to help you out

ur still abrupt asf about it though because you never expect the signals, he honestly loves it about you lmao

might help you practice whenever he gets the free time, only if you actively wanna improve, he doesn’t mind otherwise

he cannot stress how important it is that you don’t wander off in the streets, if that’s something you tend to do

he loves you dearly and isn’t mad about your curiosity, but i feel like he’s able to read a room really well . if he feels like you aren’t safe then he’ll tell you to put your head down so people don’t see ur eyes, then ur both out

will figure out some way to hide them, it’s not even an if in certain situations

ur eyes are mesmerising to him but there’s no point if they put you in danger, so there are scenarios where he just won’t let you go certain places

not in a possessive way, it’s just literally the safest option

hates to be controlling like that sometimes but it’s better than risking it, he hopes you know that

while earth 42 is in flames i do still think that there would be a tight knit community in the neighbourhood, in those kinda circumstances all you’ve got is each other, y’know ?

so while it may not be the safest for you in some streets, you’ve got a home with miles and can feel secure enough

i cant even begin to imagine the amount of organisations you’ve gotta stay under the radar from

have fun w that

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

i’m lagging oh god

[xjulixred45x]

Korra Gang X Geisha (LoK) Reader

Characters: Korra, Mako, Bolin and Asami Sato

Genre: Headcannons

Warnings: mentions of prostitution, Fluff, by Reader's profession, female pronouns will be used.

Geisha: Japanese girl who is dedicated to entertaining and keeping men company by dancing, singing, reciting poetry, serving tea, etc.; She is dressed in the traditional Japanese dress.

Korra

Most likely, she met you during Book 2, at the gathering in honor of Unalaq and the northern water tribe. Being a relatively important event there is also specialized entertainment, so you and some girls from your house were hired to make the meeting a little less tense. Korra found it endearing even if she had no idea what a Geisha was.

Sometime after the banquet, her curiosity got the better of hee and she decided to go ask you directly about it. You were shocked to say the least. The avatar was talking to you! So while the conversation and explanation flowed well, you were a constant nervous wreck.

As you explain them to Korra, her face lights up a bit more, it's interesting how something seemingly simple actually requires years of understanding, and she respects that a lot.

Suppose you stay in Republic City to independently improve your abilities, rest assured, Korra welcomes you with open arms and plenty of moral support.

Going straight to the dating stage, korra is someone who like I said not only supports your work but sees all the effort and training behind it, you're not smart but you can do things she could only dream of . play an instrument? do you dance? Poetry? DO YOU SING? DO YOU SING FOR HER?

a lot of emotion

Since she goes to important events from time to time, I think I would encourage you to go with her and promote your services, if you agree, she stays around to play it safe. You never know.

And if you decide not to, she'll probably talk about it a bit anyway (especially if the person she's talking to has money).

Now, in case someone gets confused with what you do (like the Oirán example) it is already there to prevent any advance, if it is something innocent (ignorance) it will only give a warning, but if it is an important physical advance, it will Sorry friend, say goodbye to your teeth.

Genuinely offended that someone could mistake you for something like that (no offense).

In short, she finds it very endearing and above all admirable, she respects hard work and you deserve all the respect (and love) in the world for her.

Asami

She goes to meetings often, so it is to be expected that there will be entertainment in those meetings, especially if it is about Barrik for example.

But was pleasantly surprised when you performed your act(dances), expecting something much more "Barrik" so it was a breath of fresh air.

Most likely she researches geishas after that and she becomes more interested in it, she wants to know more in a practical way. So she makes sure to subtly tell Barrik that Geisha training would be appropriate in the future, and he agrees.

The next few times you're hired for meetings, your main activity is striking up a conversation with Asami, and being both well-read and intelligent women, it's not difficult at all.

She's delighted with this, you're someone with above-the-average general knowledge, which makes her initial interest grow bigger and bigger the more times you see each other.

When they start a relationship, as I said, she investigates more about the profession and solves her doubts, maybe I asked you, but at the same time she wants to learn it herself.

She definitely enjoys her chats with you a lot, but if she chose another activity to do with you, it would be listening to you play the Shaimen, especially when she's stressed (Barrik's to blame in most cases).

I probably can't make it to all of your events, so I'd ask if you'd like to have something like a bodyguard in case my mother-in-law does something (including asking Bolin or Mako to be there for a while as a favor), and if you say no, it will want you to update it from time to time to be calm.

If it were to happen that someone mistakes you while she's around, she'll most likely glare at them before simply walking off with you. He doesn't tolerate that shit.

It is the best option if you want to take advantage of all your knowledge and artistic skills, she is your number one fan and in events your own personal guard.

Mako

You two met through Wu, obviously he was going to have expensive and extravagant entertainment, but to appear a bit more "sophisticated" he hired all the geisha in your house. It was a great opportunity that they could not pass up. .

Mako, being Mako, while he kept up with Wu, he stuck to the only entertainment that REALLY caught his eye. he has no idea what a Geisha is, but he definitely likes her acts a lot more than the ones Wu brought, and you catch on right away and make small talk to him(and later to Wu too, who by the way still doesn't pronounce "Geisha" appropriately).

From then on, Mako sticks like glue every time they go to an event, giving rise to their current relationship.

As you may have noticed, Mako finds it relaxing compared to all the acts Wu himself performs, it's much more entertaining for him at those times, whether it's a normal chat or just listening to some music (especially the Shaimen), even if is in a particularly good mood, he may join you in the dance.

If he didn't know what a Geisha was before, he didn't know what Oirán was, so the first few times you get mistaken for one, think it's part of a geisha hierarchy, other than you just ignore it. , then it does the same.

That is until a guest tries to get too close and the other geishas jump on him and practically kick him out, then they explain in more detail the work of a Geisha and an Oirán, he is left confused. Who would be stupid enough to confuse you like that? Really? The only thing they have in common is white makeup! Has no sense!

From then on,You better hopes to have Mako near he almost always, it's not because he thinks that you can't take care of yourself or that the other geisha can't, but understand, he cares a lot about you and he I don't want you to have a bad time for some idiot being brainless.

He still keeps some distance if you ask him, it's your job after all, he doesn't want to get you in trouble with your teacher.

He likes to see you prepare your makeup, the hairstyles you put on and thinks that Kimonos are much more complex than they seem (and HEAVY), he admires the dedication you give to your work, he compares it to what it is to be a detective for him (yes, that important).

In general, he respects your profession a lot and supports it 100%, just make sure you take care of yourself and that he is calm 👍 and if not, he Will kicks they ass it himself.

Bolin

I honestly believe that they met when you were still training to be a Geisha, he would be the only one who has known what it is for a long time, he asked you many questions. Why is your face so white? Do you even eat? Where are those clothes from? Where do you come from? Are you a princess or something like that (you look like one)? Would you be her friend? etc..

You couldn't spend a lot of time with him because the training is very demanding, but he was always very friendly with you, you didn't have to say no, so your few days off you and Bolin would go for a walk around republic city, just do things of your own. age, go to pro-bending tournaments, drink some tea, etc.

It really makes you feel better about yourself thanks to those little moments, obviously being a Geisha was what you wanted, but it wasn't easy.

Luckily Bolin is there to give you moral support! Once he tried to get into the Okiwa house to cheer you up and they kicked him out, he learned his lesson, don't worry.

When you're FINALLY an official Geisha, expect Bolin to celebrate with you as if it's an achievement for both of you, he knows full well how much that title means to you so he's so glad.

Unfortunately it also made your already limited free time even more scarce, you had to learn in the field, so you constantly went to parties and events that left you exhausted.

Luckily Bolin, although a bit sad, fully understood, you worked so hard for this and he doesn't want you to lose it because of him.

However, on some occasions you escape from homework and go to do things like see him in his pro-control training, which seems to give him a very high energy rush, if you can't attend, dream of asking them to turn on the radio to listen to the game and the next day you congratulate him for winning or console him for losing. Before you know it, their apparently platonic relationship turned romantic, they don't know how it happened, but I don't know what they're complaining about

As far as you work, Bolin is THE BEST about it, he can even learn how to do your makeup and thus 1. Spend more time together and 2. give you a hand, he even does some really nice hairdos.

If someone confuses you with an Oirán, he react SO OFFENDED (even more than you). Really upset about something like that, I mean, even HE sees the difference. Is it really that hard to understand that they are not the same thing?

He definitely loves dancing above all else, he joins you and they even give him a fan to match.

Best boy ever, both as a boyfriend and as an assistant for the functions.

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

In the wisest words of @bonefall: “Getting tweaked on purpose is practically the mark of a species' intelligence.” (Found HERE)

So I started looking into ways to get my fictional war kitty cats tweaked! :D

EDIT: If y’all enjoy this research, take a look at my rewrite!! I tend to dip down deep into a lot of various aspects, and end up including a lot of it into the story itself!! ^^

DISCLAIMER: Do not give any of these things to your real life pets to ingest in light of what is described below, especially not without doing research or asking the opinion of an animal healthcare professional. This guide is merely an attempt to share some fun knowledge and additional world building for a FICTIONAL society of cats. You should never try to give your real life animals things described in books or writhing unless they’ve come from people who actively know what they’re doing and have something to prove it.

LIQUIDS

SYRUPS

With the easy access that these cats have to multiple trees, the syrups that they have the ability to make aren’t just limited to maple! Various nut producing trees (walnut, heartnut, butternut, etc) boxelder, alder, birch, and pine (amongst others) are all notable for their sap, which can, of course, be turned into syrup.

Though these sorts of syrups are primarily for flavor. The syrup that these guys would mostly be looking to for some fun times would come from other sources…

Namely valerian root syrup! If catnip can be compared to marijuana, then valerian root specifically might be a bit more like phencyclidine in terms of behavior, or isobutyl nitrite (rush) via chemical effects. It is commonly used in small doses by veterinarians to treat stress and anxiety in animals.

This is probably the only thing on the liquid list that might actually be safe for cats to ingest. But I want to stress again: Do Not give your pets anything from this list; I am NOT an expert in this field.

MEADS

Mead is probably the easiest for these cats to make, should they have any sort of access to honey.

Rather than adding yeast, which can be harmful to cats alongside being quite difficult for them to get their paws on, mead is to be fermented! Natural, less harmful yeast comes from the air (room-temperature water and honey is the ideal for fermentation) or it can be added via fruits or spices.

This is not safe for irl cats, however in small amounts, or fictional feline friends can enjoy some ol’ fermented honey-and-water fun.

CIDERS

Since the cats have used the prefix “Apple-”several times, we can clearly see that they know of apples. Which in turn, I’m sure, means they have access to them.

A natural, non-harmful yeast lives on the surface of apples straight from the stem, and as soon as it’s pressed into juice, it will ferment and become alcoholic on its own when left in a contained space and at a steady temperature.

Depending on the time it’s left to it’s own devices, that will affect the taste.

Keep in mind that all of these liquids are pretty high in both natural sugars, as well as containing sugars purposefully added; excessive sugar isn’t healthy for cats, so should they be able to make these, the danger of overindulgence should be stressed.

HERBS

CATNIP

Also known as Nepeta cataria, catswort/catwort, and catmint, catnip is an herb that is most well-known for its affects on felines.

It is most commonly used as a recreational substance and has been observed to have many different effects on various cats. One-third of cats have been noted to not be affected by catnip, and it seems that the behavior is linked to genes and age, and is usually hereditary.

The herb can improve relaxation, which may reduce anxiety, restlessness, and nervousness, making it a prime option in terms of medicinal uses. For recreational uses, however, it may cause cats to act in a number of different fashions, however the most common are as follows: excessive rubbing, rolling around, pawing, licking, and chewing when exposed solely to the scent, while consumption is followed by sleepiness, anxiety, bursts of energy, drooling, purring, biting, growling or meowing loudly.

MATATABI (Silver Vine)

While catnip is the most well-known, matatabi is reportedly more potent and effective. Silver vine contains more and different compounds that cats like and respond to, and, unlike catnip, silver vine’s effects are nearly immediate and last for a much shorter amount of time.

Also unlike in catnip, matatabi is most effective outright consumed, especially in the forms of sticks! Chewing on matatabi sticks, twigs, and shoots is not only a good way for cats to still feel the effects (which are the same as catnip’s, though with a more prominent lean into relaxation and stress-relief), but also an excellent way to keep up with dental hygiene!

Alongside being a a recreational substance, matatabi also has medicinal uses! It contains a significant amount of vitamin C, and is known to lower high blood pressure and provide relief from arthritis pains. In especially large quantities, its leaves may also have a mildly hallucinogenic effect.

TATARIAN HONEYSUCKLE

Honeysuckle berries, flowers, and leaves are toxic to cats and should not be given to them under any circumstances. It is exclusively the wood part of the plant that is safe, and is most often used via scent sprays and toys.

Unlike catnip and matatabi, tatarian honeysuckle specifically has been reported to not possess the same age effective limits that it’s counterparts have. As such, it is a prime choice to stuff into toys (for our cats in question: at the center of moss balls, inside of fabric toys, stuffed into woven mats, etc), especially for younger cats.

Tartarian honeysuckle also has an extended growing season: producing leaves, flowers and berries very early on during spring, and shutting down only late into the autumnal months. It grows quickly and tall, however it is invasive and can very quickly choke out other plants should it be left to its own devices.

FOODS

MUSHROOMS

Raw mushrooms are difficult for cats to digest, so any mushrooms eaten by this guys should only be done so if they have been thoroughly cooked and softened up.

Psilocybin mushroom specifically can be used for this purpose. Some psychedelic mushrooms can also be used for medicinal purposes via treating some forms of treatment-resistant depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and other mental health disorders.

Most hallucinogenic mushrooms used for recreational purposes are toxic to pets, however. Look HERE for various listings of mushroom poisoning and toxicity, alongside any potential symptoms found in some pets for some of these mushroom poisonings.

SEEDS

Various seeds can be used and are safe in moderation for cats.

Raw, unwashed poppy seeds specifically are some of the most popular - and some we see used even in Warriors canon as medicine! The seeds are most commonly boiled and made into teas that supposedly relieve pain, while other teas are simply used in an attempt to wring out the “high” and relaxation from said poppy seeds.

BERRIES

Mulberries specifically are the only berries I’ve found that are safe for cats to ingest while also providing some sort of recreational reaction.

Ripe fruit is a nice snack for cats on occasion! The hallucinogenics come from unripened berries, mature leaves, and the white sap that they produce.

Unripe fruit may (and probably will) cause stomach discomfort, neurological system hyperactivity, and hallucinations when consumed.

Repeated Disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: Do not give any of these things to your real life pets to ingest in light of what is described below, especially not without doing research or asking the opinion of an animal healthcare professional. This guide is merely an attempt to share some fun knowledge and additional world building for a FICTIONAL society of cats. You should never try to give your real life animals things described in books or writhing unless they’ve come from people who actively know what they’re doing and have something to prove it.

[berniesrevolution]

IN THESE TIMES

The future of the four-day work week is looking brighter after the results of a major new study were released last month.

Nearly 3,000 workers at over 60 organizations took part in the latest trial of reduced working time — and the findings surpassed most expectations. A large majority of workers reported significant improvements in their quality of life. And it wasn’t just employees who preferred the shorter working week: more than 90% of employers who participated opted to continue the arrangement.

The U.K.-based experiment introduced a four-day week or equivalent cut in hours, with no loss of pay, from June to December 2022. Research teams at Boston College, Cambridge University and the London think tank Autonomy studied the effects. Overall, workers reported lower levels of stress and burn out, higher job satisfaction and less conflict between work and family demands. They also said they felt more capable at work and better able to manage their time.

Almost all (96%) said they preferred working four days and most put a high value on their new free time. Asked how much money would persuade them to return to a five-day week, 29% said they would want a 26-50% pay increase, while 8% wanted more than 50% and another 15% said no amount of money would lure them back.

Employers benefited as well. Compared with the pre-trial period, there were fewer staff resignations and days off for illness. Revenues saw a slight increase. Asked to score their experience on a scale from 0 (negative) to 10 (positive), the average among employers was 7.5 for productivity and 8.3 overall.

One likely reason for the trial’s success is that it recognized there was no one-size-fits-all formula. Each organization could choose its own approach to work time reduction so long as it offered significant reductions without loss of pay. The trial was also meticulously prepared, with two months of workshops, coaching, mentoring and peer support, drawing on experience from earlier pilots in more than 100 companies in the United States, U.K., Australia, Canada and Ireland. This approach was geared to help participants improve well-being and economic prosperity at the same time — by designing new working practices and changing company culture.

The trial took place during a pitched moment in history, as evolving digital communications combined with a global pandemic to wreak havoc on the concept of ​“normal” employment. More employees than ever could work anytime and anywhere with a suitable device and internet signal. And most everyone who took part had fresh memories of when workplaces closed down, human proximity seemed lift-threatening and online meetings redefined personal interaction.

In some ways, the Covid pandemic gave the four-day week a boost by forcing companies to adapt to new ways of thinking and working. One manager of a manufacturing company in the UK trial observed, ​“I think we have come out of the pandemic with a new outlook on life… There’s a greater expectation around flexible working, hybrid working — people are taking that opportunity to think ​‘I want to do something completely different.’”

(Continue Reading)

[capsensislagamoprh]

Well, well, well. Not

Fueling my crazy-assed head cannons with In Cannon facts.

I swear to all the CANNON GAWDS this is correct. I know this is true IRL. So, makes sense in cannon, right? Source: Boy. Don't @ me. You have seen him observe Yurio's eyes for more than there dazzling color. He's seen into them. You have seen him put things together in one night, from choreography and improve. This takes a lot of skill. You not only have to be able to read the room, but the people involved as well. Being uncomfortable makes this sort of thing really bad, it could hurt people. Not with this man in charge. Otabek, why you just the most chill ... I STG this guy is old school FEY. Radiates it so bad you look it up and this is the image you get: Otabek causally droppin everyone's stress levels by EXISTING.

These manors. Most punk thing you will ever see. Everyone this day? Yurio. Victor. Chris. You see them. They are some kind of 'out there'. Most people are. Not Otabek. This man is in your face polite, which is quiet, genteel, and shocking. SHOCKING. Do you know how much EMOTIONAL DAMAGE you can do with the right word and a calm demeanor? I do. I have been DEVASTATED by this. This man wields the most deadly sword.

Honestly, this is just fueling my 'this guy is secretly well connected noble and just wont admit it because who needs that kind of attention. He likes music. He likes to skate. He knows who is his soul mate.' This boy be BOI. Man, I have heard LEGENDS less backed up by cannon than this. I love him, your honor and would like my petition for him and Yurio to get married yesterday to be approved by the court of law, and possibly several deities. Thank you.

I mean, I got no notes. Just more head cannon fuel. Bet even Lilia Baranovskaya can find no wrong in his posture. Just his flexibility. But. may boy, if it gives you an ass like that? *ahem* Whole bod, really. I am not sorry.

Old. School. Fey. Prince? King? If you play Changeling: the Dreaming (White Wolf) you know what I mean. Where Yurio is a new world Fey, Otabek is so old school, and it just makes me happier than I understand. The dynamics. Opposing elements that just click. Yes, your honor, I have a petition to push that proposal thrugh. You'll see the *drops several reams of paper on the desk* signatures on these pages. *rolls in several more boxes*

That formality is called 'finality'. There is no argument to be made against it that dose not make the person arguing a massive ass. There is no wheedle room. This is practiced in the highest circles. Also, that side eye, like JJ may have pushed Otabek's patience one to many times. Bet you it was when he heard how Yurio reacts to JJ calling him 'princess'. Otabek is far to respectful to push an unwanted nick name. Also, that's his boyfriend, your honor. We may get to see a duel. Suggest crossbows at range. You know Otabek is a sniper shot.

You bring this man home to your ice daddies, Yurio. Because I wanna see Victor freak out, Yuuri be happy, but confused, because this man has ALL the manors and Yurio is hissy kitty personified. The. DYNAMICS! your honor! Otabek with his courtly love until Yurio is ready. MY FRIKIN GAWDS! The way Yurio looked at Otabek's skating and made that little sound with the patented Victor-is-Interested-in-Something pose? We may not have to wait long. These Two Your Honor!

I KNEW IT! Otabek (when not suffering the all cursed helmet hair) pulls that under cut off. JJ dose not. Also: this is a man for whom the phrase 'I'm disappointed' can be summed up in a single look that will sear you to the soul and change your whole damned reincarnation cycle. You cannot convince me that even the worst person would be able to take that look and not feel something inside be blanketed in warmth that says 'I know you can do better, you deserve the effort it takes,' then cry about it because they know he's right.

Yurio is very much used to being *tiched* off. People thinking he's a kid, like perma-nine, over reacting, to emo. You know what that's like. Ever kid does. It's painful. But like, Otabek? He knows words are useless here. Just the action. Sometimes that's all it takes. Yurio is very much ready to fight. When it doesn't come? Well, self reflection time. And boy can self reflection hurt. Also THE DYNAMICS, YOUR HONOR! Tinny, elegant, ethereal on the outside Yurio vs. Masculine, buff af, strong and ever enduring Otabek. One has the personality of a raging fire, uncaring of who they burn. One has the personality of untouchable covering the deepest waters you will ever find. To deep and you'll drown. Each soft for exactly ONE person. MY GAWDS YOUR HONOR!

You know Otabek follows Yuri's Angles, and that's how he found him. This man has had a whole assed 'soul mates imma marry him' crush Situation (tm) since he understood those eyes. Eyes he never forgot. There are Nobel Prize winning poets less eloquent than that. It constantly reminds me of

“they asked "do you love her to death?" i said "speak of her over my grave and watch how she brings me back to life” ― Mahmoud Darwish

I mean, this is how I think of that 'eyes of a solder' line. I will take no notes.

I mean, this is legit. And then he encourages Yurio. It may cost him a metal to do that. But he did it. And he was happy for Yurio. This man is a fucking saint. There is no suggestion box, please file your opposing opinions in the round receptacle to the right. YOUR HONOR! If you'd be so kind as to sand the ink before you hand that over to the court clerk for filing. I now have to go house hunting for these two so I can have them (Yurio) constantly annoyed by CANNON PAIRING who love the Secondary Cannon OTP, but lets be honest, Victor is gonna be a shit about it because he's not forgot what he went thrugh when he was courting Yuuri. Otabek. Silently suffering. Trying not to laugh. I bet he breaks down with the most charmingly, light up the room, dimple having, white teeth flashing smile anyone has seen, putting stars in everyone's eyes for all of three seconds when they finally break him. His laugh is music. Promptly puts on his normal blank expression and acts like it never happened. This is a thing now. Also he can sing and play/write music, and because he couldn't do ballet, took ballroom to get his dance skills. You will not change my mind.

[thecurrator]

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 @spongeofaces

Your romantic match is…Trey Clover!

A guy who fulfills your wish for someone who values comfort. He'll make sure your life is as comfortable as possible. Whether you're hanging out happily with him or having a bad day, he'll make sure you have blankets, preferred/comfort food, a warm drink, and a show you like on stand-by. In social situations, he'll stick close to you and help you talk to someone when you're feeling awkward. All he wants is for you both to life as comfortably as possible.

He's the mom friend for all of Heartslabyul, being a good listener is necessary. When he hears about any problems you're having, he provides you with a perfect blend of comfort and practical solutions (if you hadn't thought of them yet). Expect hugs and gentle caresses to your arm as he asks about what's wrong.

But he also appreciates how you're willing to listen to others as well. He's used to taking care of other people, so having you around to pamper him or remind him to take a break is like a breath of fresh air. You both can take care of each other.

On physical affection, he's the type to always be touching you in some way. When you both stand close to each other, he'll have your pinkies interlocked. When you're walking somewhere, he might guide you with a hand to your back. Touching you grounds him in a way. Doesn't mind you poking him for the same reason.

Trey's memory isn't as good as Riddle's, but it's still good. Coupled with his tendency to take care of people, he often reminds you of things you would have forgotten otherwise. Ex: You haven't drank any water in a while, or an upcoming appointment.

He stress bakes sometimes and will give a portion of it to you. Cookies, cakes, pies, you name it! If you're not a fan of sweet things, he'll focus his efforts on savory pastries. He will also make sure to remind you to brush your teeth by the end of the day.

He can't relate much to your interests, but he makes sure to support you! He might get the sudden urge to try out drawing with you one day, and ask to sit with you while he makes failing attempts at sketching you. Don't laugh at him too much.

Runner-up: Cater Diamond (Was thinking of matching you with him at first, then figured you would like someone less extroverted more.)

Your platonic match is…Silver!

A reliable and comforting presence in your life. Though you both aren't social butterflies, you likely gravitated to each other due to your matching quiet and calming demeanors. Your energies (laid back, considerate, open minded) match well too!

A great listener! He doesn't say much, and is more than willing to listen to you ramble about stuff you like or even vent. He might fall asleep (unwillingly) though. He apologizes every time so please don't blame him. The sight of you both sitting or laying down underneath a tree in the afternoon is common on campus.

Shares your love for mushrooms! Whenever he orders mushroom risotto at the school cafeteria, he'll offer some to you if you want it. Perhaps you both could pay Jade a visit at his Mountain Lovers Club and go foraging for mushrooms together.

He suits your love for frogs since small critters are attracted to him. Take him to rivers or lakes and you'll soon see little frogs peeking out from the water or nearby greenery. They're very comfortable with Silver, so you could have the opportunity to pet the frogs without them getting frightened and hopping away.

Your love for self-improvement suits him well, as he dislikes idleness. He's always striving to improve as Malleus' knight, so your support in his endeavors is greatly appreciated. He'll do the same for you and be careful not to be too pushy. Mutual support!

Since you like sharp objects, perhaps you'd be interested in examining his sword. He's more worried about you accidentally hurting yourself than you damaging the sword. Nonetheless, he watches you like a hawk while you're holding in his sword.

He spends a lot of time in forests, so expect him to come back from training with bouquets of flowering weeds or daisy flower crowns. His small smile when he hands them to you is one of the greatest gifts he could ever give you.

Runner-up: Idia Shroud (Someone who shares your love for manga and games. But I decided someone not judgmental (let's be real, he's very judgey) and more stable would be better for you.)

Your sibling match is…Deuce Spade!

Given your timid and socially awkward disposition, I believe you would get along well with a younger brother like Deuce, who would protect you with his life. The sentiment is there, though hopefully it never comes to that.

As the younger brother, he naturally looks up to you. Especially your academic talent, since he isn't so good at academics himself. After his decision to become an honor's student, he wasn't embarrassed to come asking you for help or any leftover notes you still have that you could give him. He'll plead for some tuition if you're free and willing, bringing out the puppy eyes.

Very protective of you. At social functions, he'll be your ambivert shield that you can hide behind when you don't feel like talking to anybody. If he ever sees someone causing you trouble or making you upset, he'll give them a stern talking to in private.

Finds your habit of poking and prodding as a sign of affection endearing, mostly because you're his sibling and you're the only one he knows that does it. (Ace will poke him to annoy him, that's different.) Expect to see a small smile whenever you poke him. He'll poke you back to reciprocate, but if you don't like being poked, he'll take note of that and not do it again.

Grew up noticing your liking for hoarding small trinkets, so now he'll use some of his money to buy little keychains or toys for you, especially if his friends are selling them for some personal or school project. You'll receive a small box from him for your birthday, a new addition for your collection waiting inside.

Though he's clearly attached to you, he isn't overly clingy. You've got your own life and he's got his. He won't have any problem doing most of his schoolwork and activities by himself. So don't worry about your social battery always running low around him.

Gets along well with your boyfriend Trey! (Though just about anyone can get along well with Trey, but still.) At some point, you likely told Trey to watch over Deuce in Heartslabyul for you, and Deuce told Trey to take care of you for him.

[alfgifu]

analysing my own fic: the navel, the gaze, and the wanging on about it

So.

I used to be fairly active online in fandom-adjacent spaces but almost entirely as a lurker. I was still following various tumblr accounts through a feed-reader, but had otherwise kind of switched off for a decade or two. I spent more time online in other places, discussing religion and politics mostly, and hadn’t really done much for myself or for fun.

I kept writing, both at work and in my spare time. I got better at explaining things concisely and persuasively. I spent hours over drafts of novels that I knew were shit, partly because I wanted to improve but partly because [black hole of self-sabotage due to stress of undiagnosed autism].

In the autumn of 2022 I was doing what I imagine a lot of us did that year - getting my head around life adjustments after the acute phase of the pandemic. The trauma, the impact on my spouse and kids, the impact on my job. Jobs, I should say, because I had whirled through a lot of them in the previous couple of years and ended up somewhere I couldn’t have predicted and wouldn’t necessarily have wanted to land.

It was by chance that I found and enjoyed Victoria Goddard’s writing that year, when I was unsettled and reaching around for things to try. There was a link to a fan-run discord community in the afterword of At the Feet of the Sun and I was curious enough to check it out. I had been disengaging from social media for a while - algorithmic feeds drive me up the wall - but there seemed no harm in finding a new place to lurk.

I hadn’t realised that new arrivals are actively welcomed in discord servers. I also hadn’t realised how easy it is to join a voice channel by accident while you’re trying to figure yourself out. Two interactions with friendly people - enough to lower the internal friction to posting something else. And something else after that.

And I had been thinking, hadn’t I, that I might want to write some fanfiction? Twenty years of reading and not writing… It was surely my turn. It would be good practice, a chance to test myself on sharing fiction in public.

Perhaps, I thought, one or two people will read it. Perhaps I’ll get some feedback.

Welp.

I hadn’t allowed for how welcoming and supportive the community would be. I hadn’t realised how hungry a tiny fandom is for new content. I hadn’t known how addictive any kind of validation about my writing would prove.

Anyway my fingers slipped and

So that happened.

In November it’ll be two years since I joined the fandom; in December, two years since I first posted a fic chapter to AO3. It seems like a good time to take stock.

My writing pace has dropped like a brick in the past six months due to other life stressors, which has kiboshed both fanfic and the ambition to finish another original novel this year (and with it the hope to maybe, this time, writing something less shit and more shareable).

This month I’ve mostly been drawing Inktober doodles instead of writing. I hope to recover a bit that way. The other life events continue but unlike earlier this year the stresses seem likely to end in a good place - eventually! - and when things are less full-on I have to believe that the urge and capacity to write fiction will recover.

For now, having blown the dust off this tumblr, I’m going to do some processing by taking a look here at the various things I’ve written and contributed to over the past two years. I’m planning to reflect on how and why they came about, on what worked and what didn’t, and on what I learned from writing them.

[fantasyfantasygames]

Dollars to Donuts

Dollars to Donuts, Curlicue Games, 2018

Dollars to Donuts (D2D) takes place inside a donut shop where bakers and servers rush to get donuts to patrons. It could easily have been one of those "better as a board game" setups, but there's more going on here than just a simple game mechanic and some talking.

I say "donut shop", but the way it's described the location really sounds more like a diner. The art backs that up. It's black-and-white photos of a 50s-style diner, including bakers, waitresses (and a waiter), and various folks sitting at the bar with their donuts and coffee. The photos are very nicely done. They're definitely not actual period photos. I can tell because there are multiple non-white people in them. Might be stock art, might be original. Either way, they work.

One of the rare features of D2D is "troupe"-style play. The game most people think about for troupe play is Ars Magica. It's not required, but Ars assumes that each player will have three characters: one mage, one companion (a favored, highly skilled non-mage), and one "grog" (warrior or servant). You can thus play scenarios at multiple different levels of power. Normally you all play a particular level of character at once to keep things balanced, but if everyone's ok with it you could have a mixed group.

In D2D, everyone has three characters: a baker, a server, and a patron. You're expected to switch between them fluidly as the game plays out, basically responding with the right character when someone calls their name. I can imagine this getting very chaotic and potentially stressful. However, if you have the right group of improv-friendly players, I can also imagine it really getting across the hectic feel of a busy diner.

The three character types have different game stats. Bakers have three attributes: Quality, Speed, and Efficiency. Servers have three gauges instead - you spend points from them as the game goes along. Those are Kindness, Agility, and Poise. Patrons have two negative attributes - Worry and Trouble - and one negative gauge - Hunger. They also have Issues, each of which is tied to either Worry or Trouble. If you play multiple sessions of the game, the patrons come in with a new set of Issues every time. Any continuity in their situation is entirely up to the play group. Play mostly revolves around resolving the patrons' issues without having their Hunger score go too far into the negative.

The dice mechanic is a simple d6+attribute, with two target numbers. Roll high and things go well, low and they go badly, and in the middle there's either no change or some of each. Points in gauges get spent to adjust the die roll upwards or downwards. There's also a timer involved (one per player, actually) and a few minigame-type setups for person-specific tasks.

D2D is in a weird space that's part one-shot LARP and part board game. I think that pushing it more solidly one way or the other could have resulted in Curlicue Games having a better final product. They threaded the needle, but the thread is a little bare for having gone through. My strongest suggestion, if this were to stay as an RPG, would be to make it explicitly GM-less, instead of just giving the GM practically nothing to do. Really, it just needs to lean in a particular direction.

Dollars to Donuts is available in Kindle format via Amazon's impenetrable AI-filled maze of schlock ebooks. I sent a suggestion that they might want to make it available in PDF, but they'll probably also want to fix up the book's trade dress so that certain major donut companies don't sue them.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hello again! I'm the person with dyslexia ADHD Autism and general anxiety disorder from earlier :)

Is there any articles you can link to me Or advice you can give to help me with this situation?

I feel really nervous about going back to school because I was bullied and taking advantage of a lot. I also had a really hard time keeping up with school work (Specifically math and science) Because of Neurodivergency (Sorry if that is not the right word). I ended up doing a lot of lying because I felt scared that my family and friends would think less of me and think I was less capable.

School in general just makes me feel like I'm less than all the other students and a lot of anxiety, I'm also very scared of ending up a "super special needs kid" and being treated even worse my peers.

Do you have any advice to help me with this situation?

Hi there,

I have no idea if this will help, but I found some articles listing some ways to study and succeed in school. Keep in mind that everyone is different, so some of these may not work:

* Sit in the front of class to limit distractions.

* Turn off your phone when doing homework. This limits distractions too.

* Talk with your teacher about your ADHD. Some students with ADHD need extra time to take tests. Some need smaller class sizes or a quiet place to complete work. Others need a tutor. Ask your teacher to help you plan and do what's right for you.

* Use tools that help you stay organized. Keep track of assignments in a planner or on a phone app. List things you need to bring home. Set phone reminders for classes and activities, or write them in a planner.

* Get plenty of exercise. Daily exercise can improve attention and school performance for people with ADHD. It also keeps your positive emotions flowing.

* Take activity breaks. If you feel restless during school, ask teachers to let you take quick breaks to get up and move. This can help you get focused again when you return to your seat. When you study or do homework, take activity breaks often.

* Learn to meditate. Mindfulness meditation can improve attention, memory, and focus. It can reduce stress too. It’s easy to learn. Take a few minutes to practice it every day.

* Pay attention to all the good things about you. Having ADHD is one part of you. And there’s so much more. Think of things others like about you. Maybe you’re creative, kind, or funny. Maybe you have a talent for sports, music, dance, or art. Maybe you’re good with tech, building things, or cooking. Make time for the things you enjoy. Grow your strengths by using them every day. Spend time with the people who see you for who you are. See yourself that way, too.

The article will be below:

Another article lists some ways to study if you have ADHD:

Review Your Notes Before Bed

Exercise Sharpens Brain Focus

Use Your Nose to Study Better

Napping, Breaks, and Memory

Sip a Sugary Drink

The article will be below:

Here’s one last article that might help:

I hope some of these help. Maybe some of my followers can give some tips and advice too.

Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ♥️