#tumblr does social science experiments

[edenfalling]

Interesting!

I suspect people may be seeing 1 or 10 and thinking it's a default rather than their actual result, and therefore rolling again -- that's what I did at first before I came back to the poll and clicked the link again to double-check my initial reaction.

[treesah]

My mom is in a science writing course and needs responses to a questionnaire about experiences with acne and acne treatments. If you could comment, reblog, or send me your responses in an ask, I would appreciate it very much!

First Name: (Feel free to make up a first name; I just need something other than your Tumblr username so I don’t have to explain to my mom how I got in touch with someone named ghostpenis or whatever)

Occupation:

1. What changes to your lifestyle and/or routine have you made due to acne, if any?

2. Does acne negatively impact your life, and in what way(s)? What would you gain if your acne were improved or eliminated (eg in terms of time, money, health, social, professional, or other considerations)?

3. What skincare products, medications, or other remedies do you currently use for acne? Where do you get these remedies from (brick-and-mortar store, online, prescription, etc)?

4. What skincare products, medications, or other remedies for acne have you tried in the past? Why did you stop using them? Are there any skincare products, medications, or other remedies that you know of that you’d like to try in the future?

5. Are you satisfied with the remedies you are currently using to manage your acne? If so, what do you like about the products you are using? If not, what improvements or changes would you like to see in those products?

6. What kind of promises about results, safety, ease of use, etc would get you to try a new acne product or treatment?

[mariodreemurr]

Intro / Pinned Post!

“They laugh at me because I’m different. I laugh at them because they’re all the same.” –Kurt Cobain

Greetings, fellow humans! …Er, hey, everyone! Welcome to my all-purpose blog! Here, you’ll find all my Tumblr posts, including various art pieces, reblogs, and selfshipping stuff! So, without further ado, allow me to introduce myself. (This post may change over time!!)

Mario / Marma / Marm

22 y/o (there’s no NSFW/suggestive stuff here, but please be mindful before interacting)

AMAB Paraboy (He/They)

Bi-xenosexual (meaning, I am a bisexual who is exclusively attracted to sapient nonhumans)

Furry / alienkin (The last 2 names I gave for myself are names for my aliensona! I might post him someday.)

Selfshipper / fictolover (I do NOT use my aliensona for selfshipping. I consider him a separate character.)

INFP 4w5 so/sx 469 (4w5-6w5-9w8)

Hobbies / Interests (including media)

NOTE: Me having an interest in or having F/Os from a certain media DOES NOT MEAN THAT I CONDONE THE CREATOR’S ACTIONS, IF APPLICABLE!! Also, I don’t consider myself to be in these fandoms, if applicable. I’m just a fan!

90s alternative / grunge music

The Amazing Digital Circus

Beastars

Chikn Nuggit

Drawing & writing

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

Hazbin Hotel / Helluva Boss

Heavy metal, especially alternative metal (which includes funk metal, nu metal and rap metal)

Invader Zim

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (especially Part 3)

Kitty Is Not a Cat (please please PLEASE interact if you are also a fan of this!!! I want to meet more people who enjoy the show)

Nintendo, especially Super Mario, Kirby & Pokémon (up to and including Gen 7)

Personality types, most notably MBTI & Enneagrams

Pizza Tower

Statistics & data science

Trivia Crack / Triviatopia

Undertale / Deltarune / Undertale Yellow

BYF

I am autistic, which makes it very hard for me to interact with people sometimes. At times, I say things that I don’t truly mean, so please be patient with me. In addition, please say what you mean whenever you talk to me, as I often take things very literally.

I have very bad social anxiety, and I often delay responses simply because I’m shy and/or I don’t know what to say that won’t offend other people.

DNI (may change over time)

Anti-selfship, anti-furry

Proshippers/comshippers/darkshippers (including neutrals, anti-antis, and “proship safe” blogs)

MAPs & adjacent, adults who selfship with minors, incest shippers, zoos

Selfshippers who ship themselves with real people (fictional characters played by irl people/actors are fine)

Biphobes / those that engage in bisexual erasure

Homophobes, LGBTphobes, TERFs & other bigots

If none of these apply to you, go under the cut for more!

Now that you’re still here, it’s time for the fun stuff!

(NOTE: As long as you truly respect them, I am 100% comfortable with sharing ANY AND ALL of my romantic & platonic F/Os!!!)

My F/O lists may change over time.

💖 (One and Only) Romantic F/O 💖

My one and only romantic F/O is Petal, one of the 16 (!) main characters of Kitty Is Not a Cat, an obscure Australian cartoon that aired from 2018 to 2020.

The show centers around the adventures and experiences of a human orphan girl named Kitty, who really wants to be a cat. One day, she encounters a mansion where 15 talking, musical cats live. Initially reluctant, the cats eventually agree to take care of her and accept her as one of their own. It is a very wholesome and underrated show, and I highly recommend thar you check it out!

But enough about the show, let’s talk about Petal!

Petal is a cat (of no specific breed) with purplish gray fur, including dark “chest fur.” She also wears a black collar.

Petal is considered the “mother” of the cats; she is protective of them and loves looking after everyone, especially Kitty. Petal is also very kind, caring, and enthusiastic to a fault…so much so that the other cats have gotten annoyed at her sometimes. Despite her kind and gentle nature, she knows when enough is enough, and is willing to put her foot down if it means justice.

Petal’s motherly nature makes her quite intelligent for a cat. But she still has done some pretty derpy things at times. For example, there was one episode in which she confused a play Kitty put on as fact instead of fiction, and she joined the other cats in searching for buried treasure outside the mansion. In another episode (and one of my personal favorite ones), Kitty built a big plastic playhouse outside the mansion, and Petal and the other cats got the idea that she was moving out. This made her and the other cats very sad, and they in turn “visited” her in an absolutely hilarious sequence of events.

And yet, despite not fully understanding things sometimes (in particular, human culture and behavior), she does her absolute best to be as kind and respectful about them as possible. This kind of support is exactly what I need in life.

And this is our ship!

(This commission was done by @/sheepie-self-ships!)

Our ship name is AltMetal! Every post about this ship, whether it is an art or writing piece, will be tagged with this.

There’s not really much more to say here, other than the fact that I love her so goddamn much. If you want more content of this selfship, follow this blog, which includes gushes and whatnot!

Queerplatonic F/Os

Petal is my only romantic F/O, but I also have a handful of queerplatonic F/Os. Even though they’re not romantic, I still very much care for them. They are:

Amyllia-Gotanka (OC)

Casey (OC)

Maria (OC)

Wendy (OC)

Familial F/Os

I also have 6 familial F/Os. They are:

Kirby (Kirby series) - Son

Tito (Trivia Crack / Triviatopia, but esp. the latter) - Son

Haru (Beastars) - Daughter

Mandy (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy) - Daughter

Toriel (Undertale) - Mother

Asriel Dreemurr (Undertale) - Brother

Platonic F/Os

Lastly, I have several platonic F/Os. They are:

Adam (Hazbin Hotel)

Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)

Ankha (Animal Crossing)

Barbie Wire (Helluva Boss)

Cheeta (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

Foghorn Leghorn (Looney Tunes)

Ginsburg (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

Grim (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)

Happy (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

All of I.M.P. (Helluva Boss)

Jean Pierre Polnareff (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Johnny Cage (Mortal Kombat, esp. his MK1 incarnation)

Part 3 Joseph Joestar (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Legoshi (Beastars)

Meow Skulls (Fortnite)

Miley (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

Ming (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

The Nazz (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

Noriaki Kakyoin (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Sallie May (Helluva Boss)

Schnitzel (Chowder)

Sidon (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

Sir Pentious (Hazbin Hotel)

Spook (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

Starlo (Undertale Yellow)

Thorn (Kitty Is Not a Cat)

And that’s pretty much it for this post! Hope to see y’all around in the future!

(NOTE: I will use this image below instead of DNI tags from now on as a way to not clutter the tags. Since this is my first DNI list, this probably won’t be a permanent image, as it may change over time. To keep myself safe from proshitters, I will put “proshippers DNI” at the end of my posts.)

Proship/comship DNI.

[the-s1lly-corner]

JONATHAN AND GN!READER AND THEIR ANTICS !!!!!!!

Antics w/ Jonathan and Reader!

I did a similar post yesterday!! (Linked at the end, hopefully, I'm mobile and sometimes tumblr can be weird)

I'm so so sorry it took my so long to get this request <\\3 I was trying to come up with new ideas so it could be different than the other ask <\3, which I highly recommend checking out! Imma be real I'm not totally confident in how this one turned out so that second post can be like an extra/make up <\3

I wasnt sure if you wanted this to be platonic or have them dating so!! It's mostly written as vague in that department!!

Jonathan doesn't strike me as the person who goes out and does things a lot

Just. Wake up, work, home, sleep, repeat.. he'll sometimes send texts to friends and family to schedule a lunch here and there but

That's about it, hes not very social

So a lot of these antics are really going to be made through you making the plans; with the shenanigans really being unplanned byproducts

Honestly I can totally see Jonathan starting shit with someone, be it accident or on purpose, prompting both of yall having to hightail it out of the area

Reminds me of that part from one of the diary of a wimpy kid movies, where greg n rodrick do that fake puke prank on the guy and have to make a run for it

Actually I can totally see yall subtly being menaces and fucking with people

Maybe not a fake puke prank persay but

Yk?

No crime stuff; I only really see that becoming a thing after he becomes Spot! Both from how he worded his whole "turning to a life of crime" thing and the fact he just

Lacks the experience and confidence

Moving on

Maybe it's just my "let's get silly with the writing" part of me, or it's my need for chaos (arguably the same thing), but

I feel like

Somehow, you guys would accidentally probably maybe kinda sorta

Wreak havoc in ways spot could only dream of (before doing the whole. Bouncing across the multiverse thing)

Yall could probably start the day wanting to go to some food truck and

End it by spending a night in jail

Neither of you are allowed anywhere near food trucks after that /j

No but serious note, Jonathan is basically a hermit, he doesnt like leaving his apartment unless he has to; people are just, so

Eeuuughchk!

So when you two hang out it's either his place or yours

But that's not to say it isnt fun!

Hes got normal stuff people have in their homes, like board games and consoles

And also science doohickies

Yeah people have that in their houses, that's a normal thing

Ngl if you give him any ideas for machines or whatnot hes totally going to give it a try

See previous post with a trans s/o, he would make the transgenderinator if you asked him to

Well now hes just turning into doof

Ykw

I feel like he'd take you to alchemax to show off stuff but like

If you asked nicely

How can he say no to that face?

And also he has no backbone

That's not to say you would pressure him, though! Because that's not cool, dont pressure people. But like, he would cave in the way of "I know it's not that serious and I know they'll probably understand if I say no, but I don't want to ever risk disappointing them ever in my life, so I'm gonna say yes!" Kind of way

He just like me frfr

And this is assuming you even know about alchemax

Which personally, unless you're in some way associated with it, I'm p sure be would have a strong boundary to keep you out of it

This is really just turning into a general ramble <\3

Anyways

I dont have many ideas since I struggle with general hcs like this but!! Yeah!! Definitely recommend the linked post for a better more cohesive (?) List of ideas and hcs!! This post kinda

Made me realize I dont have many hcs for Jonathan outside of making his personality a smart pathetic science man

Gotta fix that , give him some hobbies n stuff in the future

Link to a similar post!

[edenfalling]

I have access to a fairly good bus system, as US bus systems go! However, I have not used it since I bought a car, because bluntly, the bus is not flexible and I was tired of having to either get up ridiculously early in order to catch a bus that would take me to where I could catch another bus, or get up early so I could walk a mile into town to catch that second bus. And that's a with a GOOD bus system.

I would cheerfully pay into some kind of annual "support the bus system" program though, because when I was too poor to have a car, the bus was an absolute life-saver -- especially after my neighborhood grocery store closed.

Please re-blog to widen the data sample! I might use this for my statistics project at the end of the semester, and every answer is a great help :).

Please share in the tags what you picked and why if you're so inclined.

[raleighrador]

There is no real Star Wars, it is all real Star Wars

I have never much cared for debates over what "real" Star Wars is.

I don't particularly care what George Lucas (or any author) intended or what he (or anyone else) has said in interviews.

I think this is because I got into Star Wars when I was a literal child and the thought of reading reviews or watching interviews didn't occur to me until I was in way too deep; and I was always a huge fan of the EU - I quite literally read every single published novel - and enjoyed them just as much as the movies.

So for me Star Wars always went beyond some kind of narrow "canon" and was always inclusive of basically whatever published (slop or otherwise) material I could get my hands on.

I have also always been very comfortable picking and choosing what I enjoy and care about. I have no issue with a book or move being bad/not to my taste/not in line with my preferred interpretation and just... not really caring about it.

Any long running & expansive fictional series will inevitably throw up mixed quality and contradictions. Even with a single author. The good thing is literally none of it is real so who cares.

In fact this gives readers/consumers a lot of freedom. We are under no obligation to engage with all of it or try and build some kind of perfectly synthesised "correct" interpretation that takes into account absolutely everything that has ever been portrayed.

No one (despite what it sometimes feels like) is marking your homework. There is no pass or fail. You can't enjoy something incorrectly.

How fandom - and I have in the last few weeks been far more active on Tumblr, the only social media site I post on - interacts with Star Wars does bizarrely feel like some kind of peer reviewed pseudo academic process.

However, it feels like a peer reviewed pseudo academic process which - and this sounds unbearably arrogant so please forgive me - is envisaged by people who have limited experience of how academia treats textual studies.

My majors were history and literature (and I went to Universities in the Global South that were VERY dubious of the distinction between those two). Literally none of the academics I studied under believed in some kind of single correct interpretation of any text.

Any text. Fictional or historical.

So why would the most massive science fiction IP in history that has been consumed by billions of people, which is the aggregate effort of dozens or hundreds of people lend itself to some kind of single correct interpretation?

In fact kind of a big part of academic textual studies is deliberately re interpreting texts through multiple lenses and logics. Just to see if you can. Just to see if it fits.

Historiography is a necessary element of any historical study & you could argue the same is true for fictional texts. We should definitely keep authors biases and intentions in mind when engaging with a text.

But we do not, and cannot, know the inside of their minds. The idea that even what they say in interviews is somehow a perfect articulation of their "true" intention is flawed.

To whit - if you believe an author perfectly expressed the definitive articulation of an idea in an interview (a spoken format where even if they knew the questions before hand they are giving their answer somewhat off the cuff), why do you NOT believe that a movie script or novel manuscript that they have worked and reworked and edited and proof read and reedited and redrafted for hundreds of hours is any less perfect an articulation of an idea?

So all we can do is acknowledge what we think we know of the author and decided if we care and how much weight to give it.

But the text is the text and the evidence is the evidence. We can weight it differently or dismiss it or whatever we want but ultimately we either believe the text itself has independent value or what are we doing here?

We seem committed to prioritising textual evidence over historiographical evidence otherwise we are in a self defeating exercise. We need not watch the movie, we need only watch cast interviews. We need not read books, we need only read the author's blog.

There would be no viable interpretations of Beowulf because we can't speak to the author.

It defeats the very idea of ideas - that they are independent, transmissible, intelligible, far beyond the reach or remit of the people who had them.

Some are good, some are bad, all are out there, and we can pick and choose as we wish.

So do so.

[persisting]

some things i think are really important for anyone who is running an “intellectual take” or a “factual history” or similarly flavored blog on tumblr, especially when it relates to social and/or pop culture and fandom histories, in no particular order:

-there are going to be other users around you who also know what they’re talking about, who maybe even have more experience in the topic than you do. many of these people will also be primary sources.

-you should really do your best to make clear when you’re sharing a personal opinion (“i like to think that—“ “the impression i have is—“ “i wonder if—“) if you are not interested in being corrected or having that opinion taken as you being “factually incorrect.”

-don’t assume that your readers haven’t also read what you’re referring to.

-leave space for new information, as scholarship is always changing based on it.

-if you are autistic, and this topic is one of your “special interests,” it does not mean you are correctly informed on the topic or know all there is to know about the topic. it’s fully possible that the sources you’ve learned from are also incorrect.

tumblr’s general population is a wildly mixed bag of young teens who are new to everything, aged experts with multiple doctorates and dozens of papers published, and everyone in between. i think it’s really important, if this is the kind of space you want to curate and participate in, that you purposefully allow for space for YOU to be wrong, or under-informed, or uncertain, because that’s when the space can become properly collaborative and actually bear resemblance to intellectual discussion and catalog. you will never know, and can never learn, everything about a specific topic, especially when it is to do with social sciences and/how people relate to pop culture, especially if you were not old enough or not present to participate in the particular zeitgeist you’re trying to explore.

if the space you are trying to create is one that shares perspectives and information about how other people have engaged in a topic, you need to try to be receptive to those other people when they tell you how they truly experienced the topic. otherwise you’re just running your own personal historiography based only on you and your interpretations, which will never be accurate.

[whump-on-a-string]

△ Elliott, how did you get turned?

3/10 - It's not a fond memory and still quite fresh but, it is what it is I suppose.

"My original plan that evening was to attend a dinner party at my friend Frederick's home. He'd invited me to his last two get togethers, and my invitation was likely...misplaced.

When I arrived no one answered the door. Likely too occupied by the festivities of the evening which is understandable.

I waited a bit at the door, and even saw Frederick through the window in the middle of what was likely a highly interesting conversation, but it was getting late so I left to have a drink elsewhere and not be tempted by the wine I had brought for the party.

I had a few drinks and left for home, though it was a bit later in the evening than I had realized and the call of that particular wine bottle was too strong for me not to have a little bit on my way home."

TW: Whump, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Vampire Bite wounds.

Please be safe about your Tumblr and online experience! :D

"I never did get another invitation for any social gatherings from Frederick again, unfortunately. It's been tough trying to find a new crowd when you can't go out in broad daylight."

It was entirely an accident, that hungry vampire thought he'd drained them dead and left a corpse behind. Elliot does not know this. I only added that last comment in the 3rd page to help the reader.

Does Elliot know they were accidentally turned into a vampire? - NOPE. As far as they're aware: "I got bit by a vampire and that's why I am one now." But that is not the case.

Their corpse just laid there undisturbed with enough of a trickle of vampire blood in their body to keep it up long enough to regenerate a bunch of new vampire blood. So they woke up a few hours later as a brand new very confused vampire with no mentor to tell them how ANY of this works so they have NO idea how this shit happened. Just that it did. :) Also what little tiny bits of their original blood left on their shirt collar from that vampire drinking it smelled AWFUL tasty when they woke up.

Did I bullshit vampire lore into existence just for this ask? Hell yes.

Did I intend to draw a 3 page comic? No.

Have I been working on it since the day I got this ask about Elliot? Absolutely.

Being bitten by a vampire and surviving is not enough to be turned.

Generally one of the most common/main methods is to transfuse or ingest the blood of a vampire and hope it takes (extremely rare) it has like a 1% success rate to be turned JUST by ingesting the blood of a vampire.

For a much more successful turning, do the above process but ALSO be bitten by the vampire that was the source of the blood, and that is the most common and effective way to turn someone. This knowledge is kept quite secret even among vampires. A majority of those turned may not even know how it worked or were made to forget it.

The blood reproduces quickly to replace the victims original blood type. It's extremely rare to survive a vampire attack like Elliot did. They're very lucky. It also contributes to how vampires can heal and regenerate much faster than a human.

~ Being bitten by a vampire and surviving would make a LOT of vampires and what if the vampire is nice and doesn't want to kill a human or end up with a competitor for food? Bam. funky vampire lore to solve the problem. Don't ask me the science behind it. I don't know. Maybe you know more than I do frankly. (Although Remus would LOVE to.)

[edenfalling]

I want to note that my answer is valid ONLY if I am interlacing my fingers. If I'm keeping all fingers together as a unit, then my left thumb will be on top (and I am still right handed).

[gingerylangylang1979]

Can we not be so hostile about how people write their fics?

This is partly a love letter to A03 which is being maliciously attacked.

Constructive criticism is good. But I have to say one of the things I love most about A03 is that it is such a supportive space for writers to write and share without pressure. I was a bit taken aback that there generally isn’t negative feedback. At first, I thought the glowing praise was maybe coddling and not helpful in pushing people to be better. But I was thinking from my perspective as someone who does professional writing in another capacity and is in an information science field.

But then, I realized fanfic isn’t that type of environment and A03 is the warm embrace of safety and encouragement for people to create at whatever level they are at and readers will meet them there. No, I’m not going to get the structured critique of an editor or a writing workshop instructor. But it isn’t the platform for that. And now I appreciate that. I do writing workshops when I want to fine tune a skill or learn a new approach and want the insights of other writers. But I like that my writing in social media spaces doesn’t have to be polished and perfect. I misspell things. My grammar is bad. Sometimes my flow and continuity is off. But it also yields great work because my mind is free to play without rules.

But one thing I’m noticing not on A03, but on Tumblr, is criticism of how people are writing fic for The Bear. Whether it be who are the main characters in the fic, how aligned characterizations are to canon, how people choose to describe characters emotionally or physically, what perspective someone expresses desire from, fantasizing about a character, living through a character, etc., etc.

Now, I’m not going to say some writers may not know things that are sensitive to others. Correction may be ok, but can the knowledge sharing please be less hostile? If someone is trying to write for your fave from an earnest, positive place, it’s a bit unkind to then scold about them not getting something right. Teach but don’t reprimand. Show examples of alternatives. Or hey, write from your perspective, your lived experience. That’s the best example.

For example, I got tired of never reading Sydney give a blowjob (she’s not too precious), and her never teasing Carmy about being white, and no other characters ever bringing up race aside from a side comment. I also wanted to explore Carmy’s faith tradition since we share it. But, instead of chastising other writers for not doing that, I fucking wrote it.

A03 is pretty low stakes. So there is a lot of material to read. Not all of it is going to be high quality, TO YOU. But guess what, you can read something else, you can write something else. Just try to be kind. Kindness builds community.

[reisolate]

100Kano autism headcanons

I initially wrote this post on Reddit a few months back, but I thought it we could fit better on Tumblr instead, so that's what I will do.

Introduction

We all know that Rentaro's girlfriends are all pretty eccentric in some manner, with all sorts of unique traits, so naturally (heh) some of them might exhibit characteristics associated with autism. So I thought I'd make one post discussing them. Full disclaimer, these are observations I make based on personal experience (I'm autistic and know a bunch of autistic people), and you may have differing opinions.

I'm going to go through the girlfriends that I think demonstrate autistic traits. I'll give my first impression, discuss traits that I've observed, and state whether I think they're autistic. So, let's begin!

Shizuka

Our cute book-loving cinnamon roll. Not sure about her without thinking about it, because her cuteness is so distracting.

Autistic traits

Special interest in books and literature, to the point she's memorized the locations and pages of particular phrases in her favourite books

Selective mutism, as she doesn't speak unless it's absolutely necessary or if she's singing karaoke

Is she autistic?

Maybe. While she does show some traits of autism, I find it hard to make a judgement. You could see her as autistic if you wanted to, but you could also see her as someone who only has social anxiety (though being able to memorize locations of certain phrases in books tilts things towards the former too).

Nano

The intelligent and efficient paragon of beauty. She seems pretty obvious because of everything about her.

Autistic traits

High level of intelligence

High degree of skill in various tasks

Memorization of various pieces of knowledge

Monotone speaking voice

Stimming (reciting the digits of pi whenever faced with uncertainty)

Focus on efficiency can be seen as rigidity

Social difficulties, partially due to her limited regard of social conventions and initially not seeing the purpose of friendship

Compared to an alien, which is a thing that happens with some autistic people

Is she autistic?

Definitely. Her traits definitely fit the classic image of being the straightforward autistic genius that we often see in media. I'd be more surprised if she wasn't.

Kusuri

Our age-shifting drug addict. A bit hard to tell at first glance because of how chaotic she is. Then again...

Autistic traits

Intense special interest in chemistry and making drugs

A prodigy in chemistry, to the point where she has been courted by at least 2 drug labs over the course of the story

Verbal tic of saying "nanoda" could count as a stim, potentially

Intense focus when developing drugs or doing anything related to them.

Infodumping about various drugs during the shopping trip chapter

Is she autistic?

Definitely. Her infodumping was what solidified it for me. In fact, I'd go farther and say she has ADHD too, given how she focuses on developing drugs so much she doesn't even go to the bathroom, as well as seeing how energetic she gets. Probably doesn't help that she has to switch between a child and teenager form too.

Meme

Our shy beauty. She just seems socially anxious, but...

Autistic traits

Shown to be very skilled at knitting, could be a special interest

Incredibly shy (this needs no explanation)

Is she autistic?

Maybe. She definitely has severe social anxiety, which I personally lean towards, but she also can be interpreted as autistic, particularly with her knitting skills, which is why I mention her. I will make no comment on her disappearing abilities as they are far beyond the bounds of neuroscience (or physical science, for that matter).

Chiyo

The order-obsessed younger cousin. She seems like she could be.

Autistic traits

An extremely strong desire for things to be orderly

Has that "rrrgh" grumble when she sees something out of order, which could be a stim

Has rigid moral principles

Melts down when she doesn't have her glasses

Is she autistic?

Likely. Given how much she focuses on things being orderly, as well as her personal sense of justice, it does seem like it. However, there's also the argument that her personality is partially like this due to losing her mother so young. However, given her other personal quirks, my judgement leads me to believe she's on the spectrum. OCD is also likely for her, though to what extent I'm not sure.

Momiji

Our masseuse and soft things enthusiast. I didn't think of her at first, honestly.

Autistic traits

Special interest in massaging and soft things

Able to assess the body muscles of a person on sight

Near-perpetual flat expression on her face, with her lips curled up

Has a more subdued style of talking, and the way she starts her phrases with a mumble makes it seem like it's a stim

Enjoys the sensation of soft things in general, women's bodies in particular, which is an attraction to certain textures

Has a certain disregard for normal social expectations as she regularly gropes others with no concept of boundaries, and doesn't realize how others feel about it

Is she autistic?

Definitely. Now that I think about it, that would explain a lot of Momiji's eccentricity, particularly her enjoyment of soft things and her disregard for personal boundaries. It just makes sense. I really wish she would get more development and story focus.

Suu

The foremost fan of numbers. The fan reaction when she was introduced speaks for itself.

Autistic traits

Has a highly intense special interest in numbers, to the point where her personality dramatically changes when they come up

Socially isolated because no one understands her love for numbers, and she finds it hard to communicate

Usually has a flat expression until numbers come up, at which point her face can be the most adorable thing ever

Is she autistic?

Obviously. Given that she was called "the autism GF" by many when she was introduced, it's quite a no-brainer. She really emphasizes the social struggles autistic people have when others can't comprehend their interests the way they do. In fact, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that if you disagree with this, you’re just plain wrong.

A concluding note on Rentaro

Doing this list and noting these things down just further made me appreciate how devoted, caring, and understanding of a character Rentaro really is. Finding a partner who gets you is hard enough, and it's even harder if you're autistic. The way Rentaro is in tune with the emotions of all his girlfriends, even those harder to understand, just goes to show what an absolutely overpowered character he is.

And that's all. I spent way too much time on this.

[chrisairgames]

A Year in Retrospect

The social media diaspora began a year ago, and I've been neglecting Tumblr. Trying to come back, slowly, so here's what I've been up to since November 2022.

Bio-Drones & Cryo-Clones

From November to February 1st, 2022, I worked on my Zine Month campaign, a Kickstarter for my first ttrpg zine, a Sleeper Crew Adventure for Mothership RPG called Bio-Drones & Cryo-Clones.

I was blown away by the immense show of support. The crowd-funding allowed me to pay for even more art, better and bigger maps, development and editing, and professional layout. I got to make the zine into the amazing package I'd dreamed up.

The zines were sent off to the fulfillment center last Friday! A ton of my ttrpg work time was spent on what's in these boxes, and it's pretty scary to see it go off into a truck. That does mean the zines will be available at retailers soon, though, which just feels nuts to me.

The Unseen City

I also wrote The Unseen City, the first 3pp setting and adventure for Cloud Empress, the ecological science fantasy RPG, the successful Mothership hack from Worlds by Watt.

I go into depth about how this 20pg zine turned evolved from the "Pamphlet Duet" I originally conceived in my most recent newsletter. A lot of struggles, gained some killer art from HodagRPG, and all for a game I'm really quite happy with. I do plan to return to writing more adventures for The Unseen City as well!

Mitosis, Escape from STAR Station

Last year, RV Games published my Mothership pamphlet series The Cerdo Cycle (that was my last Tumblr post!). Shortly after the campaign, Violet asked me to write a giant 8x16 inch pamphlet adventure for RV Games' upcoming in-universe Mothership board game, Mitosis.

I wrote Escape from STAR Station, a gonzo adventure about a Prison Break amidst two warring factions: Cyberviral Pirate Goons & STARS Staff Brainiacs. Both sides are infected by experiments with the Mitosis board game microorganisms. It's a crazy lil adventure with awesome art by Sigmacastell. You can pick up an abridged print-at-home version for free on my itch page, even.

5 Million Worlds RPG

For the One-Page Game Jam this past summer, I submitted a pocketzine Space Adventure hack of Mothership, called 5MW RPG: Avatar Basics.

In this little A4/US Letter space, I've designed two main pulls away from sci-fi horror to space adventure. The first are Push Tables. Similar to the end of act in a Star Trek episode, these tables push the conflict in new and unexpected directions.

The second is a switch from Stress into Limit. Limit is your PC's XP, used to improve Stats/Saves, build towards projects, etc. Notably, instead of a Panic Table, 5MW has two tables: a Break Down table (similar to Panic), and a Limit Break table (like in FF).

When characters are in the shit, and they have to roll a Limit Check, the players can decide whether to spend their XP and do some cool shit to overcome the circumstances, or accept the Break Down. Good ol' @christiansorrell even did a TikTok video discussing the game, if you wanna check that out.

I'm very excited to continue to pursue creating a player's handbook, 5MW RPG: Avatar Primer. If you download the game on itch, I'll keep y'all apprised of substantial updates. Next up is developing the chargen, and reconfiguring the pocketzine as an A6 booklet: 5MW RPG: Avatar Basics+.

Outer Rim Uprising

I was extremely honored to join 11 other designers to create pieces of the Outer Rim Uprising Megabundle, spearheaded by our intrepid leader, Iko of The Lost Bay Studio.

Several months of brainstorming and collaboration went into this 20+ piece bundle. I contributed two pieces for this bundle. The first is a 12pg adventure module Rusted to the Core. Androids aboard an aerostat station floating in a gas giant's clouds have gone on strike. Can the PCs resolve the issues before the Rust overtakes the station?

The second is the more "experimental" Bones on the Ground. Bones is a bifold adventure into an android museum-prison, paired with three diegetic fliers supporting the ARA, the Android Rights Association (or Android Rebel Alliance, depending on who you ask!). Pieces of the three flyers contain clues for PCs who join the ARA to better succeed when they begin their museum infiltration.

A Buncha Spaceship Deckplans

So I have ADHD, and experience bouts of summer mania. Spaceshiptember rolled around, and I thought, "Hey it'd be no problemo to write 30 deckplans and release them this month, while I'm also trying to print BioCryo, promote ORU, starting a newsletter, and finishing up The Unseen City." Totally sane decision, right?

Well, I got through half the month. And I sketched out a third week's worth of ships on paper too. One of those sketches caught Adam STATION's eye, even, and he asked me to join An Infinity of Ships to turn it into a micro-adventure!

As long as this quick-n-dirty zine remains unfinished, it'll be free on itch.io. Again, if you'd like, follow along and I'll send out dev updates when new pages are added!

the dying tides

Another Jam entry, this time for The Lost Bay Studio's system agnostic fantasy setting + coloring book, SKYREALMS.

I made the dying tides as a short, lightweight fantasy adventure to venture among wavebros and squidillies. The art is based on my 4 yo daughter's paintings. Since she loved coloring the SKYREALMS books so much, I figured it was a poetic homage to the kind and mysterious heart of this game.

An Interactive Terminal Network

Last but not least, I smashed my skull against Twine on and off for six months to create a unified Interactive Terminal Network for my Mothership adventure, Bio-Drones & Cryo Clones.

The terminal is absolutely free to play on itch.io. Though passwords that can be found in the zine lock off a few areas. That said, I'm sure many folk could dig out the passwords without the zine. I don't know how to do that stuff. The fact that I even MADE this thing is a miracle to me, hahaha.

Goal for 2023

Talk about this stuff as it's happening so I don't infodump on people like this, haha.

What I'm working on now:

Twisting Unseen

Untitled Liminal Horror adventure

Provisional sketches, for the artist/layout designer.

Also, if you made it this far, thanks.

-Chris Air

[firefly-fez]

I remember once reading an analyis of Jesus’ ‘turn the other cheeck’ command on tumblr, providing lots of information about the historial context of Roman society and how actually, every example Jesus mentioned was a way of subverting cruel or unjust authority, not tolerating it as most people assume.

Being a tumblr post, I was like, ‘that’s an interesting perspective, but I generally distrust social media as a source of information and I will not incorporate it into my personal belief or understanding of theology.’

...Then I saw a sermon at my church where the pastor speaking - who is very well-versed in biblicak knowlege and hostorical context of the bible - made the exact same case in his exegesis of that very passage.

We joke about tumblr being a ‘net zero information’ site given how unreliable the unreliablility of information is here, but I think the various pieces of information I learn on here generally hold up to be true. Even if they were shared through the supernatural meme.

Sorry, Elon, but I think tumblr’s got you beat.

The accuracy

[christopherleesgloriousasshole]

so i’m trying to cultivate my dash because i’ve been away for a whole ass decade almost, and so far the only content i actually enjoy that i see is neil gain content, which is great, but i’m just scrolling through liking all of neil gaiman’s stuff.

how do i get more lotr? how do i get back to the science side of tumblr? how about maths, or doctor who?

is superwholock even a thing anymore? the president’s shoe laces? cole sprouse’s social experiment? does anyone even remember the social experiment?

[geonppangi]

zb1 as ontario universities + programs

yes this is an incredibly niche topic but this has now become my chosen coping mechanism for uni decisions

sung hanbin - queens health science

such a pretty campus

a lot of historic buildings and freshly manicured lawns that i think would fit hanbin perfectly

and like imagine him with soft academia

it’s just a really nice school and its health sci program is one of the best in ontario

like it’s very neutral good

and he feels like he would make a really good doctor, like pov sung hanbin is your family doctor LMFAO

and like i think he’d do a great job, probably has the prettiest notes and always does his part during group projects

zhang hao - queens commerce

ofc i had to keep haobin together

but dw neither is sacrificing their education for the other person (remember kids the only person who can get you your degree is you)

queens commerce is also one of the best business schools in ontario

ik that zhang hao is a music kid but that felt like cheating so this is an alternative!

out of all of zb1 he feels like the most business type person?

like he’s so smart and always plans ahead

so i feel like he could be successful in anything he tried but especially business because it’s so lucrative and opens the door to so many paths

like hanbin i think he suits the clean and historic school vibes

they both have a very curated?? for lack of better word image and i think they’d look like they were in a photoshoot every time they step out on campus

park gunwook - uoft criminology, law and society

university of toronto!!

i’m just saying, debate is literally the gateway to law

and i’d be willing to bet that he has done or considered mock trial so i think this would fit super well

he knows a lot about history and philosophy, so i can see him being interested in studying a humanity

in canada, you need to get a bachelors before going to law school, so a lot of people do something related

this is basically as good as you can get

i also think gunwook would do well in uoft

it can be a kind of isolating experience because the school is so big and a lot of people commute so there isn’t much of a social scene

but as the resident social butterfly, i feel like gunwook would be able to establish a good circle

and also i think he would like the energy of the city

there’s always something to do and both city hall and parliament are literally right next to the campus

alternatively, i considered university of ottawa, which is good for its social science since you know, it’s literally in the capital city of canada so its law program is really good

but honestly there’s not much undergrad wise

i could see him going for graduate school though

i don’t know lawyer gunwook just feels right

he’s good at making decisions, works well under pressure, has the fundamentals down, and is a hard worker so i can definitely see him making it into law school

kim taerae - waterloo computer science

listen

listen

i know that taerae isn’t that genre of nerd

but the glasses

him being losercore

like you can’t tell me he wouldn’t go to the most loser of all loser schools in ontario

(btw waterloo is not bad, it’s actually really good for engineering and comp sci but also everybody there has no life hence the loser allegations)

(also because if you do eng or comp sci you are inherently a loser i’m so sorry pls continue to run tumblr though)

but yeah i can definitely see him doing comp sci maybe like ui ux stuff

actually the more i think about it the more it makes sense for me

he’s also the only thinking (mbti) in zb1 and his fashion sense would fit in perfectly with the rest of the department

seok matthew - mcmaster nursing

like hanbin, i really do see him doing something healthcare related

mcmaster is second for nursing, after uoft, but i don’t think matthew would like toronto as much

from what i’ve heard, vancouver is a lot greener, more laid back, and hiking culture is big there

toronto kind of offers none of that, with the addition of pretty bad air quality comparatively (still pretty good though because canada’s pretty sparsely populated)

mcmaster though is in a smaller town that’s essentially just a university town and also has a trail literally right on campus

it’s a smaller, more tight knit community and nursing is a pretty small program so it’d be even closer

i think he would have a really good time with mcmaster’s social scene

it’s also right by lake ontario and has pretty decent weather

ricky shen - uoft rotman

another business student, are we surprised?

i also considered art but our only really good art school is ocad and as far as i know it doesn’t focus on traditional art as much

so anyways mr young and rich tall and handsome is going to go the business route

uoft is really international student friendly, mostly because they accept a lot of international students and because toronto is also pretty diverse

like you can truly get any type of cuisine here and we have a really big asian population too

so as a person who also immigrated here, i’d say it’s not a terrible transition

definitely the most diverse of any of the ontario schools

once again, the social life at uoft is not great but usually the business schools are better

han yujin - still in high school

han yujin - university of guelph kinesiology

since yujin’s currently studying dance at his school, i thought that kinesiology would be a good fit

for those who don’t know, it’s essentially like sports science?? or studying the way people move and so forth

he also plays soccer and just gives off like sporty vibes?

like the quiet kid who is surprisingly the fastest on the team

once again, uoft is technically the best for this, but it’s kind of a scary place to go into alone so i can see yujin choosing a quieter school

i’d say guelph is even more closely knit than mcmaster by virtue of it being a smaller city and a smaller school

they have a solid health science program though and good student support too, which i think he’d benefit from

kim jiwoong - uoft english literature

so

i know that he is an actor

and i considered having him go the performing arts route

however, i know nothing about those schools and once again i think it’d be too easy

so to make my life harder, instead of having jiwoong perform shakespeare plays, i’m making him read and analyze them instead

he gives off like that one english teacher you had who changed your life and helped you rekindle your love of reading after your gifted burnout yknow

but yeah i see him going into english lit to go be a teacher

and uoft would be perfect for that because it not only has i believe one of the largest libraries in north america, but also a really big teachers college once he’s done getting his bachelors

he also seems like he would be able to fit in in any environment, so i don’t see uoft’s size or atmosphere being a problem for him

kim gyuvin - toronto metropolitan university performance: acting

i saved the best for last

ik i literally just said that i wasn’t going to do performing arts for jiwoong but this is different

something about his performance during the musical segment of boys planet changed the way i viewed him forever

like??????? how is he that good for like the most random challenge ever

i think he’d be really good at acting seriously so anyways!

also tmu (formerly known as ryerson) is just a very fun vibe

it’s in the more downtown area of toronto compared to uoft and right by the entertainment district

the nightlife is so good and gyuvin would probably be the life of the party

tmu’s also like uoft’s funkier younger cousin so i think that fits his vibe well

[yourbutcboyfriend]

Exploring Xeno-Identity and Neo-Identity: Expanding the Horizons of Personal Identity

In our rapidly evolving world, identity is one of the most complex and personal aspects of human experience. Our understanding of it is ever-expanding, especially with the rise of digital platforms and new terminologies. Two such concepts that have emerged within this expansive realm are xeno-identity and neo-identity. These concepts push the boundaries of traditional identity categories, introducing us to deeper, more fluid interpretations of self.

This Tumblr post will explore xeno-identity and neo-identity, discuss their differences and overlaps, and examine how they can deepen our understanding of personal identity, inviting us to think beyond the binaries and conventional markers that have often constrained identity discourse.

Xeno-Identity: Alien and Otherworldly Self-Expression

Xeno-identities represent an entirely different paradigm of identity exploration. The term “xeno” stems from the Greek word for “stranger” or “foreigner.” As applied to identity, it references the experience of aligning oneself with something that feels alien, otherworldly, or entirely outside the scope of conventional human experiences.

What Is Xeno-Identity?

Xeno-identities emerge from the idea that certain individuals might not feel aligned with traditional human categories such as gender, species, or even planetary origin. Instead, they identify with concepts, energies, or entities that are alien or unfamiliar to human frameworks. These identities often draw from mythological, science fiction, or speculative worldviews.

For example, a person who identifies as a starseed may feel a deep connection to the idea that their soul or essence originates from an extraterrestrial race, while others may feel connected to supernatural beings, such as dragons, elves, or spirits from alternate dimensions.

Xeno-identities can extend beyond physical or fantastical beings to more abstract experiences, such as feeling connected to a specific emotion, element, or energy. Someone may identify as an emotion-being, experiencing their identity primarily through specific emotional states or energies, such as love, rage, or serenity, rather than through material or biological markers.

Why Does Xeno-Identity Matter?

Xeno-identities challenge the deeply ingrained assumption that identity must be tethered to physical reality or existing societal categories. These identities allow people to embrace the unknown and the other as valid expressions of self.

Xeno-identities often emerge from a deep sense of alienation or otherness that people feel within the frameworks of human society. For some, mainstream identity categories like gender or species simply do not resonate. Xeno-identity offers a path of self-expression for those who might otherwise feel lost or invisible.

In terms of its cultural and psychological relevance, xeno-identity expands our conception of self to include realms we previously thought of as purely fictional or symbolic. It can offer a sense of belonging to individuals who feel disconnected from the typical frameworks of identity, helping them find or create community in places that once seemed impossible.

Neo-Identity: Reinventing and Reinterpreting Identity

On the other hand, neo-identity focuses on newly created identities that reinterpret existing frameworks or arise from modern cultural and social changes. “Neo” derives from the Greek word for “new,” and within the context of identity, it signifies the creation of novel categories or hybrids that reflect contemporary understanding and experiences of identity.

What Is Neo-Identity?

Neo-identities often evolve from traditional identity labels but break away from historical or normative expectations. For example, while traditional gender categories were once limited to male and female, neo-identities introduce terms like nonbinary, genderfluid, demigender, and agender, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of gender that goes beyond binary definitions.

Neo-identities also include those identities that are created in response to modern experiences of intersectionality, which is the understanding that multiple aspects of identity—such as race, gender, class, and sexuality—overlap and interact. For example, a Black queer person may identify with a neo-identity label that reflects the distinct combination of their cultural, racial, and sexual experiences.

Moreover, neo-identities can emerge in response to technological advancements and digital environments. Terms such as digisexual or technogender represent identities shaped by relationships with technology, virtual worlds, or artificial intelligence. As the internet increasingly becomes a primary arena for social interaction, these identities signal the ongoing evolution of the human self in response to changing environments.

The Importance of Neo-Identities

Neo-identities are essential for several reasons. Firstly, they reflect the growing need for more precise labels to describe the complex ways people experience the world. As society progresses and becomes more inclusive of diverse experiences, language itself must evolve to match that inclusivity. Neo-identities offer more precise articulation for individuals whose experiences were previously misunderstood or left out of traditional frameworks.

Secondly, neo-identities challenge the idea that identity is fixed or stable. Instead, they invite us to consider identity as dynamic, fluid, and adaptable to changes in both individual self-understanding and societal context. They ask us to be open to the idea that our language and categories of identity will continue to expand, reflecting the continuous evolution of humanity.

Finally, neo-identities affirm the importance of self-determination and self-naming. In a world where oppressive structures have historically imposed categories on individuals based on race, gender, or class, neo-identities represent a reclaiming of power. They offer a way for people to assert control over how they are seen and understood.

Expanding Our Understanding of Personal Identity

Both xeno-identities and neo-identities invite us to think about identity as far more complex and multifaceted than we might have previously considered. They challenge the assumption that identity must always be rooted in physical, societal, or biological realities, opening up space for abstract, fictional, and emergent forms of self-understanding.

At their core, both identity types broaden our view of what it means to be human, or perhaps even what it means to exist as a conscious being. They also reveal that identity is not just about fitting into predefined categories but can be a process of creation, exploration, and imagination.

Xeno and Neo: Common Ground and Differences

While xeno-identities and neo-identities share the common goal of expanding the boundaries of self-expression, they differ in their origins. Xeno-identities often involve aligning oneself with external or unfamiliar concepts, such as otherworldly beings or energies. In contrast, neo-identities typically arise from reinterpreting existing frameworks and building new categories based on modern cultural experiences.

Nevertheless, both concepts emphasize the fluidity of identity and the importance of self-determination. They empower individuals to define themselves on their own terms, outside of society’s traditional expectations.

Conclusion

Xeno-identity and neo-identity represent crucial developments in the ongoing conversation about what it means to have an identity. They push the limits of traditional categories, opening up new avenues for self-expression, self-discovery, and community-building. By embracing these identities, we allow ourselves to imagine a more inclusive world where people are free to explore and define themselves beyond the limitations of biological, cultural, or societal norms.

In many ways, xeno-identities and neo-identities remind us that identity is not only about fitting into boxes but about creating spaces where we feel truly seen and understood. As our world continues to change, so too will our understanding of identity, and these new forms of self-expression are essential in helping us navigate that evolution.