#also i think a lot of people are english majors because they have money to fall back on after undergrad and this is perhaps their adolescen

[paralellograms]

sometimesi hate poetry workshop i wish sometimes that my feedback could be "I think you should change your Major"

#im not trying to be mean it just seems some people genuinely arent passionate about it #esp poetry like i wonder if some of these people couldn't get into a fiction workshop #i just think you have to really care about poetry to write it and you're just putting words on paper #also i think a lot of people are english majors because they have money to fall back on after undergrad and this is perhaps their adolescen #rebellion you know what i mean #not methough im tortured and the oonly thing i know how to do is write

[sapphixxx]

there's a lot of reasons more people aren't into yuri that are troubling to consider, but equally, I genuinely think it cannot be understated how much of it comes down to most yuri being boring as hell. Like truly. I've been reading the front page of Dynasty Scans like it was the newspaper for 15 years I am not exaggerating I can show you the download file data 15 years.

You know what the complaint about yuri by yuri readers was back in 2009?

"wow that really was just 5 volumes of them blushing at each other and then they don't even kiss"

You know what the complaint about yuri by yuri readers is today in 2023?

"wow that really was just 5 volumes of them blushing at each other and then they don't even kiss"

Don't get me wrong, Yuri has grown a LOT in that time, to the point that most people today wouldn't even understand a Maria-sama reference if it were dropped in front of them (thank God). It's expanded and evolved to encompass more stories about adult women, wider varieties of scenarios, a greater acknowledgement of real life lesbianism, and is more comfortable showing girls kissing with tongue and having sex.

Yuri Manga is maybe the best is it's ever been, and it's also getting the widest readership it's ever had in the English speaking world. The titles we carry at work are always on back order with long queues, and, when I've asked them, most weebs of all gender or sexualities report keeping up with at least a few Yuri series.

At large though? Most of it is still really boring. That's not a bad thing necessarily. I like it because it goes down easy. For the most part any series you pick is gonna be pretty chill. Even shit from Sal Jiang which is PRETTY EDGY for yuri is a pretty breezy read. More serious ones like How Do We Relationship? cover some pretty real subjects about how intimacy is actually quite difficult even when both of you love each other, but it's not like... Exciting. Yuri isn't where you go to pump your fist or get perched on the edge of your seat.

So when the comparison is made to yaoi, well, I mean, have you READ any yaoi? Even in some of the more restrained titles those boys are likely to be sucking and fucking balls and all within the first volume or two. There's gonna be drama, intrigue, shit is gonna get messy, passions are gonna get heated, clothes are gonna be ripped off, people are gonna get sold to One Direction, it's stuff you can sit down with a bowl of popcorn with you know? Stuff you can message your friend and gush Hey Can You BELIEVE? A lot of it is pretty trashy, but that's the appeal. The generic state of yaoi is torrid and exciting and sexy. Ultimately, as a species many of us like to see pretty people fuck. In yaoi you'll get that. In yuri you won't. Nothing wrong with that, but it is gonna be a major contributing factor to their relative popularity.

It's also worth making the comparison to hetero romance manga, which has undergone a renaissance of it's own in recent years. There's now a whole meta around crafting a handful of mean shitty grouchy dysfunctional bully women and flinging them at the protagonist of the day who, unlike in years past, may actually have a face and personality. Most of these are also very trashy and truly scrape the bottom of the bucket in terms of writing.

AND YET?

I would bet money on the fact that you'll have heard of these women and probably even have a good idea what they're like without ever having touched a page of their manga.

I'm sorry but the straights are whipping donuts around the yuri girls in terms of delivering a wide variety of weird compelling fucked up women. How many yuri leading ladies by comparison can you point to as standout recognizable characters even divorced from their story? There's definitely a few, but not many. I'm not talking quality or depth of writing, I'm talking straight up pure recognizability. There are many beautifully written women in yuri, now more than ever. I can't think of many who'd like, get a figure made or have their face splashed on merch, though.

I don't really have a conclusion here. I love Yuri a lot, but at the end of the day this is just kinda the state of things right now.

[avelera]

So this is a bit random but:

Dream as the hero in a Greek tragedy and Hob as an Arthurian knight.

Thoughts?

(You obviously don’t have to answer if this is stupid or you don't want to)

If I may riff a bit on this, since I don't exactly have a pre-made answer (it's not a line of inquiry I've really considered), I'd say this:

Dream is absolutely a Greek tragedy protagonist. He thinks of himself that way, he's written that way. A major, indeed central, characteristic of Greek tragic heroes is that their virtues in some situations become their ultimate downfall. No one is dying in a Greek tragedy because they're inherently bad or failed people. It is the essence of that Picard line, "It's possible to do everything right and still lose. That's not failure, that's life."

Dream's dedication to his duty is an incredibly familiar virtue for a Greek tragic figure. It is also the virtue that will lead to his eventual end (in this incarnation). At least, in the comic. We'll see in the show if that's the case, and I have my suspicions based on the story's structure that we'll be seeing some deviation or, at the very least, a more optimistic spin on Dream's end.

Neil certainly wrote Dream to be a figure from a Greek Tragedy too, ironic considering he's also the "deus ex machina" in other situations, being literally a creature of godlike (or superior) power.

As for Hob as an Arthurian figure.... I'm less convinced. And I have a lot of reasons why because I think a lot about Hob's relationship, or lack thereof, with the tropes of knighthood as explored in both canon and fanon.

Let me quickly say that for fanon, sure, absolutely. I've seen incredible, complex, lovely takes on Hob as a Questing Knight or suffering the throes of textbook courtly love (more on that in a second, because I do find that part at least plausible) or otherwise being a gallant and heroic figure.

However, this is fanon. Canon Hob is certainly made more romantic, and I mean much more romantic by the show with the whole missed 1989 meeting and Ferdie's inherent and overwhelming charm. But comic Hob is... hmm, let's say he also has his charm but he's deliberately quite rough, quite crass, more than a bit dim at times, and the furthest thing from protagonist let alone romantic hero material. I think comic Hob would laugh, perhaps a bit wistfully, at the very idea of being an Arthurian figure. Certainly the Hob of "Sunday Mournings" (the Ren Faire comic issue) would be outright derisive of the notion of himself as a romantic figure or a questing knight.

Hob bought his knighthood. I think it's something that bears remembering: he bought it.

(Let me very briefly aside say, as a grubby Yankee myself, I actually find his audacity and sort of "Ha! I got away with it!" humor in that moment incredibly charming. Fuck yeah, stick it to the nobility! Fuck aristocracy, fuck nobility, and fuck aristocratic mythology like Arthuriana that reinforces those power structures. Good for Hob being a peasant who bought his knighthood, something that would be all but unthinkable in the grand sweep of Arthuriana, which for all its romanticism is still pretty definitive about everyone belonging in their social place.)

Anyway, Hob bought his knighthood with money he made getting into early English shipping and with money made from being on the right side of Henry VIII dissolving the monasteries (which were corrupt but were also one of the only forms of social services available to common people at the time, it's an incredibly complex issue) and Hob is as unbothered by the moral quandaries of this as he was the moral quandaries of being a soldier or a bandit. Hob is the furthest thing from being a Galahad. I'm not sure he could even aspire to Lancelot at his lowest on Hob's very best of days. He's just not built like that that we see.

At least, until 1989.

Now, as I've noted elsewhere, Hob's story is fundamentally altered by this ever so minor change in the show of making him still in England in 2022, still presumably waiting for Dream about a block away from the White Horse! Now, this is some courtly love shit right there! My jaw dropped when I began to map out the implications, not just of his waiting but of his becoming a history teacher.

Comic Hob never became a history teacher. Comic Hob seems all but allergic to romanticism and nostalgia. Comic Hob's highest moment of romanticism is wondering what exists in the depths of the ocean and thinking that maybe reincarnation possibly exists.

1989 changes everything. Actually, we even have evidence that in the comic timeline, Hob wasn't even in England by, what, 1992 when Dream passes away? He's in America with Gwen and they've been dating for a bit when she takes him to the Ren Faire, which is the day after Dream died. This implies that Hob doesn't usually stick around England like he does in the show timeline. If that wasn't already clear from the fact that most of his professions throughout the glimpses we see seem to involve maritime trade (sometimes of the very worst sort). The guy is constantly on the move but he stayed in England for Dream for over 30 years.

So there, at least, I think we have the first tendrils of something for fandom to grip onto that Hob does have the potential within him to go on a 30 year quest for his lost love, which is very Arthurian. I think even Hob would be perhaps shocked at himself for this, perhaps alongside becoming a history professor, finally coming to grips perhaps with the history he's seen, learning to care about it, learning that there's more to himself than he thought.

Because Hob is a weird immortal. He doesn't do the things we expect immortals to do, like learn from his mistakes and become some sort of avenging superhero, or even accumulate enough money to not need to have a day job any more, to just utterly detached from normal human life. Instead, he seems to stay grounded in a normal middle class life for whatever era he's in (barring disaster or windfall) and just happen to stick at it longer than anyone else by virtue of his immortality. It's so bizarre in the most fascinating way, it's why I'm obsessed with him, because he stays so grounded in his time period and not in any sort of special superhero way.

But 1989 really brings into sharp relief that there is an element of courtly love to how he interacts with Dream, the Beatrice to his Dante, this figure who inspires him, whom he waits for, whom he changes for (even when Dream himself perhaps doesn't believe himself capable of change?).

There I think there's something to the notion of Hob as, perhaps, a budding figure of courtly love, if not full Arthuriana knighthood.

But more intriguing and, if I may presume, what I think you're perhaps getting at with all of this is: could Hob's Questing Knight perhaps in some way disrupt Dream's Greek Tragic fate?

Well, it's not really possible in either of those genres played straight but, in the original canon, Hob didn't wait 33 years for Dream to come home to him.

So really, in the most optimistic way I'd say, anything is possible.

#dreamling #the sandman #a couple of glasses of sake in I have no idea if this is anything but I hope y'all enjoy #hob gadling #sandman meta

[deadpoolsoci3ty]

so you're the a (alastor x reader) ch 1

(a/n: so i've been posting this on ao3 for about a week and just decided to post on here too now. also i do not have a posting schedule im busy lol sorry)

summary: finding the radio at that thrift store may have completely changed the course of my life, but really i'm not complaining at all.

word count: 1,789

warnings: none i think (let me know if should add some!)

ao3 link

masterlist

Chapter One: thing of beauty

The cold wind of Chicgo bit at my face as I walked the short walk from my apartment to the thrift store. I’m not totally sure what I was going there to look for, but I just needed to get out of my apartment. The walk was pleasant because I’m a college student home at one o’clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday, so the sidewalks are barren. The store finally comes into view, and then I’m walking in. I greet the woman at the register, and immediately book it towards the trinkets in the back. I look through their selection of shot glasses and mugs, not seeing anything that I just had to have. I pace around the back of the store until I see this gorgeous antique radio. A radio would be great for background noise when I’m reading, and plus this was a thing of beauty. I may not have a lot of money, but I knew in my heart whatever price this radio was, it was coming home with me. I rushed over to pick it up so I could find the price, but before my eyes could land on the price tag they first saw a small ‘A’ carved into wood in the corner. Maybe it was like an Andy Toy Story situation, a cute little memory from a previous owner. Then I found the price, a solid $60 which I am truly willing to part with for this beautiful radio.

With an extra pep in my step, I made my way to the register to pay for my lovely new friend. I greeted the employee at the register once again, and she looked somewhat excited that I put the radio on the conveyor belt. “Has this been here long?” I asked because I was confused how someone would pass up this piece of art.

“Longer than me, pretty sure,” she shrugged, “all the employees here have made up our little stories about the history behind it.” She rang me up and the screen prompted me to put my card in, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a sweet treat for a week or two but the radio was worth it. “It has been bought before though,” I furrowed my brow because what was wrong with this damn clock? But, to be honest I didn’t care if the radio even worked or not (I was hoping it did though) it was just beautiful. “The people always come back in basically begging us to buy it back, don’t even care for how much. One guy sold it to us for fifty cents one time.”

Now, normally I would not be caught dead with an object that people had been begging to return, and with the way the employee had been describing the situation the radio was definitely scaring the shit out of everybody that purchased it. But, for some reason I needed this radio. A little about me, I’m a textbook snobby english major. I love all things vintage, I think the classics are the greatest works in English literature, and hold a deep detestment for many aspects of modern culture. Yes, I am annoying.

“Mmm, something tells me I’ll be keeping it for the long haul.” I don’t know what possessed me to say something like this, but I’m just gonna go with it. I thank the employee and make my way out of the shop.

The walk home was much less brisk now that I was carrying this heavy radio, but I didn’t think about it much. I was just so excited. My roommate was out filming for some school project so I could fiddle with it when I got home.

After what feels like forever, I see the fence in front of my apartment. I whip out my keys, and put them in the lock of the first door and lock it behind me, while putting the key into the next door which leads to my apartment. I take off my shoes and lock the door. I walk over to the dining room table and put my purse down along with the radio so I can take my coat off. Once coatless, I grab the radio and set it down on the coffee table in front of the couch. I mess with the knobs and dials until I hear a crackle. “Yes!” I yelled, as I began switching through the stations, most of the stations I knew from the radio in my car were entirely static. After a couple of minutes I heard someone speaking, the voice was filtered through what sounded like a microphone from the early days of audio.

“Hello dearie!~” the strange voice spoke, I assumed it was a prerecorded file a station was playing. Like a radio version of the history channel. So, of course I didn’t speak back to the radio. Then, the voice came back, “I said…” a loud static started to emanate from the speaker, “Hello!”

My first thought was ‘fuck me, if this is a demon in here, I’m definitely going to fall for one of his traps’ I had just though about this a couple days ago, I want things! Sue me! And I’m not fucking with you two days ago I had been thinking about this shit and now here I am. Welp, I’m fucked, but still I carry on. And now I was sure I had completely lost my mind, so since that had already happened and I was obviously in the middle of an episode of psychosis, I decided to reply, “Oh! Umm I didn’t think you were speaking to me. My apologies!” Whoever this person who was speaking was, I definitely did NOT want him to be upset with me.

“Oh dear, oh dear! Far in the past now! You’ve got my radio!” I could tell whoever was speaking was smiling, I could hear in their voice.

“This is yours? It’s gorgeous, I can assume you’re the ‘A’ on the bottom of it.” I could have asked so many questions, but I went with this one. I’m not totally sure why, but I really want to know more about the strange voice.

“Alastor! That’s my name, sweetheart!” He seemed excited to introduce himself, and honestly I was just as excited as him.

“Hello Alastor! My name is Y/N! It’s nice to meet you! Where do you live, Alastor? I found the radio in Chicago!” Why was I telling this strange voice over a creepy radio where I live.

“Oh when I was alive, my home was New Orleans. Absolutely fantastic! It made it all the way to the Windy City!” My heart froze after his fifth word, hair standing up, goose pimples all over my skin, and a shock through my spine. When he was alive??? What the fuck does that mean? He’s definitely a demon, yep fuck me.

“Just to clarify, you did just say ‘when you were alive’ right? That wasn’t me hearing things, right?” I was hyperventilating out of my damn mind. I absolutely understood now why people had returned this freaky fucking radio

“Oh yes, of course, dear! I’m coming to you straight from Hell.” The way he said it like it was the most casual thing ever, had me feeling like I was overreacting to what he was saying.

“And you’re not messing with me?” After it came out of my mouth I heard him clench his teeth.

“Oh, now what is your impression of me that says I would do that to you?” He seems frustrated with my question, and that did not sit right with me. I was quick to appease him.

“No, no, no, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant by that, I promise!” I try to stop myself from spilling my guts to this man who I believe might be a demon, because the voice in my head was telling me giving personal information to a demon was probably not the best decision I could make, but I just couldn’t stop myself. “It’s just I never believed in an afterlife or a religion, so it’s just that you have just told me that hell is real and that is absolutely insane to me because now I’m terrified hell is horrible. Is it horrible? I mean I guess that’s the point?” I took a deep breath before I continued my word vomiting, but before I got the chance, Alastor began speaking again.

“Sweet girl~ please stop with the yammering…” His voice seemed like nectar to me, I could listen to him speak all day, “before we continue with our little back and forth, I am going to need to know what I’m getting out of this?” I immediately started thinking about the things I could offer him, not my soul. Wasn’t there just yet.

“What could you possibly want from me?” This was the most genuine question I had asked in a long time, I had absolutely nothing to offer him. I had money for groceries, rent, and utilities. Most of my possessions were books, he was in hell what use could he have for anything I could give him.

“I just adore your voice, little deer!” He was back to being his chirpy self, and it rubbed off on me making me feel a little calmer. “I’m sure you would love to continue our little chats, and in return I’d just like for you to read to me, from a book of your choosing of course.” I was trying not to let off how excited I was, I wanted him to feel like he was getting more out of this than he was. “I’m trusting you have immaculate taste, but give a couple of your favorites just so I can tell.”

After a few quick beats I respond with, “My favorite book of all time is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, I’m a big fan of the classics, nineteenth century literature.”

“Oh how swell!” he seemed like he was buzzing with glee, “A beautiful voice with even better taste!” He seemed to chuckle to himself and as his laugh faded out his voice came back, “Well, dearest, I’m afraid I must be going for now! I’ll excuse your payment for today, but be ready for next time, my dear,” I took a deep breath at the thought of a next time, “When you want to contact me again, just tune back into this station, I’ll be able to tell. I won’t always be able to talk, but when I can I’ll be there in a jiffy!”

Before I could respond to him the static that accompanied his voice faded and it eventually became silent in my apartment once again. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, and leaned back into my couch.

(a/n: i've written five chapters so far i'll be posting the other four asap)

#alastor #alastor the radio demon #hazbin hotel #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor x reader #alastor x you #alastor imagine #hazbin imagine #hazbin x reader #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel imagine #alastor fic #hazbin fic #hazbin hotel fic

[joesalw]

I spent $3k on eras tour tickets and like god knows how much on my stupid costume. I've made so many bracelets and I have a permanent tattoo on my leg of a line from august. as much as I haven't ever really liked it, I'm known for being a swiftie. I didn't like matty healy at all and was kind of part of the speakupnow movement without knowing it (lol), and I was really excited for this album as an english major. for that to be what I got? I've never really gotten along with other swifties, and I've said on multiple occasions that my experience as a swiftie has been incredibly isolating (even despite spending $3k on tickets and collecting most vinyls) but god, I don't think that I'm crazy when I say that some of these people are wild if they think that this album was a #girlboss move.

you guys have talked a lot about the other songs so I won't go over it again, as entertaining as it is, but one of the songs I haven't seen a whole lot of negative discussion about is but I can do it with a broken heart. babe. how are you going to promote that song (with awful lyrics btw) with videos of the eras tour and flashing to the crowd during the line "but the crowd was chanting MORE!" like I'm sorry I expected you to do your job at a concert I spent $3k trying to attend? how does making your audience feel guilty for trying to support you help you in any way, shape, or form? obviously I think she's allowed to feel poked and prodded at and overexposed bc I'm sure it was difficult, but also I can't feel sorry for her after shit like guilty as sin?.

anyways I pre-ordered a vinyl bc I thought "old habits die screaming" and I have to print out a return label for it now, haha. I haven't even opened the box yet, that album was so bad.

This is so valid because why are you crying that your fans expect you to do your job properly for the money they spent on your show???? Most of her fans even go feral with the bare minimum she does. And it's not the fans fault that she decided to do a 3 hours long show for 3 days per week. It was her own idea and own decision. Even though I agree that her fans are spoilt sometimes because they keep asking for more content the more she gives them, but again who made them like this in the first place? She! Nobody asked for an album in the middle of her tour with 16 wait 31 songs but she's dropping it it's like she can't stop feeding her fans. But at the same time she's complaining that they want more from her. And she's also complaining that the fans ruined her relationship like "sorry if you decide to have a moral compass that goes against me and my racist pretty baby boyfriend you are not my well wisher!" That's pretty much what she said and I think she did her fans so bad with this album. But they're still defending her with their lives, idk both swifties and taylor deserve each other at this point!

#anti taylor swift #anti swifties

[gaelicwordofthesometimes]

So you want to learn Scottish Gaelic

These are just some resources and organisations I have found/used in my learning so far

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - The Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a Gaelic school on the Isle of Skye. They offer both in person and long distance courses in a variety of Gaelic related subjects and a variety of levels. Obviously I wouldn't recommend taking on a full university degree unless you're really interested in that as it's a lot of time, money, commitment etc, but I've listed them because they're a major contributor to the Gaelic learning world. They also have online summer courses for learners of various levels

Duolingo - This is a great starting place. Their Gaelic course was created in partnership with the the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. The full grammar notes for the course can be found here. From what I've found, this course is estimated to get you to roughly A1 going on A2

LearnGaelic - This website has a mixture of basic grammar intro lessons as well as a dictionary. I find that the dictionary sometimes has trouble filtering relevance of vocab, but overall I find it quite helpful

Gaelic Books Council - The Gaelic Books Council supports Gaelic writers and publishers, promoting and selling Gaelic books in a range of genres. They have both original works, and popular works which have been translated into Gaelic

Acair Books - A Stornoway based publisher of Gaelic, Scots and English books. They have a large selection of children's books which are great for beginner learners, but also have adult books

The Scottish Book Trust - A charity dedicated to reading and writing in all of English, Scots and Gaelic. You can browse their website for a range of poetry, prose, learning resources, writers' awards and fellowships

Am Faclair Beag - The Little Dictionary. I find this dictionary is slightly better at filtering by relevance than the LearnGaelic dictionary, so I often use it to cross reference. LearnGaelic has a tendency to give you the most obscure translation first, whereas Am Faclair Beag will usually prioritise more common translations

Speak Gaelic - Speak Gaelic is a series created by BBC ALBA. There is a YouTube series with Joy Dunlop, a podcast with John Urquhart, and a website with quizzes to test your learning. The initial series is roughly A1, with some of the later episodes aiming for A2. A good intro, though the website is known to be a bit glitchy

Beag air Bheag - Little by Little. Also by the BBC, this is a slightly more advanced series than Speak Gaelic, but hosted by the familiar John Urquhart. I can't find the exact CEFR level, but I seem to remember it being advertised as B1-2

BBC ALBA - The BBC's Scottish Gaelic programs. I occasionally scroll through their iPlayer. Some of the shows have captions which I find helpful, although not all do. Children's TV is always a great way to learn a new language as it is designed with children learning the language in mind. I think I saw they had some Moomin Valley last time I looked

Faclair nan Gèidheal - The Dictionary for Gayls (gay/queer Gaels). This is a great resource filled with a tonne of terminology relating to the LGBTQ+ community. This is where I get vocab like tar-ghnèitheach and neò-bhìnearaidh from

Open Book Reading - An organisation who run Gaelic speaking, reading and writing sessions both in person and online. I'd recommend looking at their Eventbrite page

The Mega Folder - I'm sure people have seen me talk about this before. I'd personally recommend Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks

Editing this to specify that Gaelic means the Scottish variety. If people keep tagging this as Irish I swear to God

#gaidhlig #scottish gaelic #celtic languages #gaelic #resources

[diorysuss]

dio’s big list of murder drone theories

so hi. it’s me dio. i’ve been cookin a bunch of theories i think you guys will like so I’m gonna masterlist em here. these range from “serious” to “crack” so be warned (nothing extreme dw)

Nori will be french (Semi-Serious)

Evidence gathered -

1. In episode 2, Khan holds up a manual that has 3 languages; Russian, English, and French. These can be linked to Yeva, Alice, and by proxy, Nori.

2. The colors of the French flag, red, blue and white, make what? Purple.

3. As seen in the 7&8 teasers, there is a secret underground cathedral. Cathedrals are French architecture. Perfect to experiment on a FRENCH drone, don’t you think?

4. The French love pissing off the English. Like how Nori pissed off Alice. Coincidence? I think not.

5. Russia, France and the USA happen to be world superpowers. Hm.. powers.. like the solver.

Foreign Accent Syndrome & The Solver (Not expecting it to be canon)

Evidence gathered/Reasoning -

Alice could suffer from foreign accent syndrome (shortened to FAS) , a condition where it makes the afflicted person speak in a completely different accent in their native language. Linked to brain damage and strokes, the disease is thought to sever connects to the part of the brain that controls your lip movements, thus giving you a different accent.

67% percent of people who suffer from FAS are women, like a majority of the solver users, and we know the solver is notorious for messing with people’s brain. A lot of Russian viewers have pointed out Doll’s bad accent (which I’m well aware is just the VA not natively speaking Russian, but hear me out!) Doll has an American accent due to FAS and the solver messing with her brain.

Thad being the solver’s “spy” (Semi-Serious)

Evidence gathered/Reasoning

1. Consistent purple headlights in episode 4

2. Lack of vocal interactions

3. Eldritch J afflicting him (cannot be good)

With Doll and Uzi down deep under the surface, the solver has no one of the surface in order to do.. whatever. Not sure yet, but it seems like it choose Thad, possibly due to a closeness with N and Uzi. Whatever he has, it cannot result in him being normal in any way whatsoever. I just refuse to believe it. Interestingly, he also happens to be named after a disciple of Jesus who warns of heretics and is literally the patron symbol of hope.

The cross (Serious)

Evidence gathered/Reasoning-

The cross in the episode 7 teaser everyone is going crazy for, I know! But it being upside down will not necessarily represent an evil. Instead-

- A cross upside down is representative of St. Peter, who requested to be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy of dying the same way as Jesus.

- An upside down crucifix, however does actually represent the devil, and would represent the solver in this case. The key difference is that a crucifix has Jesus’s body on the cross.

Uzi is clearly holding a cross due to the lack of Jesus. This makes me believe that she herself doesn’t feel worthy of something; my top pick is she doesn’t feel worthy of sacrificing herself for the better of Copper-9 and the universe, and gives into the solver as a result.

JCJenson is cover-up business for a cult (Serious)

Evidence gathered/reasoning -

1. Humans are not too concerned with events surrounding the solver- in fact, they seem content being around it. Tessa seems to be the only one to care.

2. JCJenson products and products of Cyn/Solver share a lot of characteristics

3. A very cult like area sitting under JCJenson labs is very suspicious

My best guess here is that JCJenson summoned the solver for money/power in exchange for giving the solver test subjects and sacrifices such as Nori and Yeva so that they can grow. However, the cult slowly began to corrupt the company until they became just a cover up- quickly switching to space travel to help spread the solver while still advancing their robotics. The Elliot’s were possibly a family who disliked this idea and made special leaps to make sure the solver didn’t infect their house; which failed, just look at episode 5.

Final Destination & an actual true important death (Serious)

Evidence Gather/Reasoning -

Final destination is a movie trilogy that is notoriously famous for having gruesome deaths and how attempt to escape death is futile. Since other episodes have been based off other horror flicks/tropes (I.E, episode 2 was based off Alien, episode 3 Carrie, episode 4 any slasher flick ever, etc) I believe someone important will “die” this episode and in a gruesome manner. J? Doll? Uzi? N? Fucking Khan? Who knows!

Teacher affiliated with the solver (Crack)

1. Orange eyes, like Alice had, suggests he was affected by the solver at one point

2. Wayy different from other worker drones, who are at most optimistic about death and at their worst having a panic attack. He simply does not care. About anything.

3. Knew something was up with Uzi before her solver was even revealed

4. Only worker drone who’s seen on screen drinking. Even if it’s just an alcoholic drink, we know drones can’t drink anything other than oil and batteries, so what’s in there?

5. No where to be seen during episode 4, considering he would have been an easy target for Uzi

Completely crack, I just like this theory cause it seems so out of place and different. I reviewed some cursive on the clipboard and apparently, his name might be Lu/Lou or some variant, maybe even Liam? Who knows it’s fucking funny lol

fish khan

fish fish/ fish

fish khan fish fish khan khan fish fish khan fish fish fishhhhhhhh fish fish fish fish figshhhhhh fish fish

#murder drones #murder drones theory #dio speaks #i wrote this at like 1 am #in a crazed panic #tell me if you have anything to add !! #i would love to hear your thoughts #:3 #if you think I’m tagging every character you’re insane

[olderthannetfic]

I feel like people won't like this question but not knowing the answer bothers me, so here goes. I'm part of a small writing community and in my category (original m/m) I'm a really small author, getting one comment per chapter, while others have 100+ comments for the same amount of chapters. These are usually the type of stories that are darker with elements of rape and seme/uke dynamics and feature maffia bosses, sex slaves, hybrids, A/B/O and the like. These are not my cup of tea but I understand the id explanation and fully support it, I just don't understand how my id can be so different from the majority's.

My favourite dynamic is bad boy with a golden heart/fairly normal guy, so that's what I write most often and I thought this was a popular dynamic. Within that dynamic, my stories are pretty eclectic, I've got old butler/young groom, prince/court painter, ghost hunter youtuber/ghost, PE teacher/math teacher, I write about adults, teenagers, boys, girls, etc. What is it that's so appealing in maffia stories but not in mine?

Obviously I'm motivated by jealousy in asking this, but I hope I don't come off as too unpleasant or pretentious. I just don't understand what the barrier is that I can't step over, what it is that makes these other authors so popular. It's disheartening to realise I will never be as popular as them, and not knowing why. (Of course I know the obvious answer is to just write whatever makes me happy and don't think about popularity and numbers, find friends with similar tastes, etc., but I do that most of the time and in asking this, I'm just interested in how other people see the issue, what might be the reason behind the majority's taste.)

I think all of the writers in question can tell a story fairly well, me included, so I can only think the difference is in the topics we choose. (Also in sappy declarations of love and the characters constantly calling each other "sweetheart" and "my love" that sounds kind of cringey in my native language but I can't imagine people are not interested in my stories because they don't contain tearful love confessions. There's plenty of romance there, though less and less explicit sex.) So can anybody tell me what makes these darker topics so much more appealing? Maybe if I understood, I would be less bothered by it.

(You're also free to tell me I'm a wanker and to come off it, of course.)

--

Haha. Well... I think a certain amount of professional jealousy or at least insecurity is common, especially if you're hoping to pay your rent or gain clout or something and it isn't happening for you (yet). (I'm unclear if your original m/m niche is one where people are seeking money or not.)

I don't feel bad when other people are more popular because I know my shit is good. If it hasn't found an audience, it's partly because my marketing isn't good (or existent) or because it just takes time to find an audience. But a lot of it has to do with my native personality. I'm just not a jealous person, and I find jealousy odd and confusing most of the time. (Cue a bunch of fiction exploring jealous characters. Haha.)

There are some interesting side topics to discuss here, but your question, taken exactly as phrased, is basically about your own emotions and not about external reality.

--

It sounds to me from what you wrote here like maybe you're writing in your native language?

But if you are writing in English, watch out for little pitfalls like "heart of gold" vs. "golden heart".

--

Second... what do you mean "majority"? Do you honestly think that everyone, everywhere likes runny assholes and mafia rape?

If the community you hang out in all prefers a/b/o to what you like to write, your answer is right there: You have chosen to hang out with the wrong people, courting the wrong audience.

That says nothing about whether somebody somewhere else prefers lighthearted bad boy stories.

In the professional m/m novelist circles I've seen (the type where people only publish complete books, not serialized things), contemporary romance is one of the categories that sells best. I'm not an authority since I loathe contemporary, but it's so very, very popular, probably much more so than any given dark kink trope.

--

Third, Wattpad-style mafia stories, a/b/o, hybrids, and suchlike are easy to market.

They have very specific keywords that make it easy for aficionados to find that exact subgenre in order to consume five thousand more of the exact same thing.

Look at conventional romance novels: The most popular and enduring individual books are by Names and are often a little harder to tag, but a lot of what sells at the lower tiers is that "The Greek Billionaire's Virgin Bride" stuff where you figure the actual prose is terrible but it will deliver exactly the tropes you expect and want with no wasting time on shit you don't care about.

'Bad boy with a heart of gold' is fairly easy to tag too, but if that's the only keyword-y bit of your stories, that could be an issue.

If you're writing the sorts of things that live or die by tropes and you don't write explicit sex, that can also be a hindrance.

It's not that everyone wants explicit sex in their books, but if I'm looking for a high volume of average-quality stuff by kink or trope, I probably do.

--

This one's more idiosyncratic, but for me personally, if I'm picking up something that's less about delivering specific sex scenes or kink experiences, I probably care more about quality of prose and plot.

I absolutely have a double standard here, and that does extend to iddy-but-not-porny stories in many cases because something like really intense hurt/comfort just won't hit home well enough for me if it isn't up to a certain writing standard.

I also do not tolerate serialization for this type of thing very well where I probably would for a story that has a different fucked up kinky sex scene in every chapter.

Yes, I believe you that you can write a decent story. Can you write a great one?

Lots of the most popular books of all time have some romance without having a lot of soppy pet names or explicit sex, but they're also often a hell of a lot better at mystery or action or sweeping historical epic or charming sense of place or some other thing than I'm guessing these circles you run in are.

I could be wrong. You could be a brilliant writer. But I do wonder if you're hanging out in the right place or comparing yourself to the right authors to achieve whatever your goals actually are.

--

A related thing that occurs to me here is that writing about all categories of person is terrible branding.

It works if your selling point is your brilliant plots and prose, especially if you are traditionally published.

It works a hell of a lot less well if your selling point is tropey original m/m with easy keywords in an online context. Why would that audience suddenly want a f/f version of the same thing? They might, but they very well might not. If they like young protagonists, maybe they don't also like old ones. etc.

When people are filtering down and down and down by keywords, having a diverse oeuvre is not an asset unless you are head and shoulders above all the other writers around.

--

We can also talk about why people like darker tropes over lighter ones, but I think you have some assumptions and some marketing!fail to unpack here.

But the short version of my answer is that some of the darker tropes still have a lot of zing and inherent drama even in the hands of a mediocre writer, while a fairly banal contemporary romance setup needs a higher degree of skill to inject life into it.

--

Anyone else have thoughts?

[uptoolateart]

Education Systems

I'm updating this because a French fan has now added to the conversation, for accuracy.

I think a lot of people have misunderstood the French education system, after watching Confrontation. I did a bunch of research into this for one of my fics - I have lived in the UK since I was 16 and have children in the British education system - and I originally grew up in the US. With all that in mind...

When you finish the first major stage of education:

France - Age 15

UK - Age 16

US - Age 18

Picking your focus / specialism(s):

France - Age 15, you can pick a stream, focusing on subjects relevant to what you want to do in life.

UK - Age 16, you can pick a stream, focusing on subjects relevant to what you want to do in life - there are also vocational courses, if you’re not remotely academic, and I bet there is something like this in France.

US - You are required to take all general mandatory subjects, even if you suck at them, until age 18, at which point you can finally specialise.

Speaking personally, when I lived in the US I was only given one elective in high school, and for my junior year (age 16) I realised I would have no time to fit that elective into my schedule because of all the science and maths requirements...subjects I was all but failing, because I knew I was artistic / literary-minded from a very young age. I was forced to suffer falling self-esteem, feeling like I was stupid and not good enough, simply because I didn’t have the ‘right’ brain type to fit with what the school wanted. There were other schools in the area that had slightly different requirements, but they all did some form of the same thing.

If you don’t know what you want to focus on yet:

France - There are generalist academic options where you do the usual variety of subjects, with the proviso that you get to choose if it’s more heavily weighted towards maths / science or towards liberal arts (see my personal anecdote above).

UK - Does something similar to France.

US - I was seriously considering dropping out of high school as soon as legally able (age 16) because I couldn’t cope with the pressures of the school system and my shattered confidence, despite previously being a straight-A student. However, if you drop out, you bear that stigma for life, no matter how much else you do - even though there are countries like France and the UK that legally release you from that education system at the same age or even younger. I’ve seen this happen to a lot of extremely intelligent American friends.

At university:

UK - You ONLY do classes directly related to your degree.

France - I'm told it's the same but that you don't get to choose unrelated electives for fun (you can do that in the UK - not lots, but a few over the years).

US - You are forced to take a lot of mandated subjects that have nothing to do with your course, e.g. local government or trigonometry even though you’re doing a writing degree, and you pay an absolute fortune for these / the required textbooks. (The most I ever spent on a book for my UK English degree course was £15, whereas textbooks in the US cost in the hundreds.)

What if you change your mind?

UK - Most jobs don’t care what degree you did, just that you did a degree. If you decide to do something that does need special qualifications, you can always go back and undertake them, at any age...with the proviso that you need to find the time and money.

France - I have been told it can be difficult, although in ways similar to the UK (and probably the US), where it depends on the job. Some jobs will always require retraining. It's always easier to do that training when you're younger and have fewer obligations

US - I can’t specifically comment, as I emigrated, but see above. Also, I have American friends who have gone through a LOT of hoops to try to change career paths in later life. This is probably an area where all countries could improve.

In conclusion:

The French (and UK) system is not necessarily forcing teenagers to lock into a fixed career path with no looking back, at the age of 15. Nothing is perfect, but in many ways, I think the French system actually offers options for greater flexibility by allowing greater choice at a younger age, instead of being forced to take all these other classes they may never use again in life, possibly at the detriment of their mental health.

Don’t get me wrong - there are a lot of things I prefer about the US vs the UK system in the lead up to high school (I can’t comment on the French system during those years, as I have no experience). But I’m a big believer that we need to allow kids greater choice at a younger age, with the option to stay in generalist education if that’s really what they want.

#ml analysis #mlb analysis #education systems #ml confrontation #mlb confrontation #ml spoilers #ml s5 spoilers #ml s5 #mlb spoilers #mlb s5 spoilers #mlb s5

[bettsfic]

Desolately need a teacher’s perspective. If you feel comfortable can you way in on this:

I’m thinking of switching to English with a writing concentration because I love reading and learning about writing. However, I’m worried about a few things:

1. People keep saying there are no jobs for English majors

2. I’m worried that reading and writing in my academic life, may either crush my love for it in my personal life(e.g. bad professors or students who rip you to shreds(so not constructive criticism really))or cause me to be too burnt out to read or write on my own time.

Sorry just to add (in regards to my question about being an English major): I’m terribly afraid that my writing voice may change into something inauthentic when takings certain writing courses in this major.

these are all good and difficult questions.

to start, there are as many jobs for english majors as there are for anyone else. except maybe, idk, engineering or nursing or something. and if engineering or nursing are things you enjoy *almost* as much as english, then that might be a good option. but an english degree will qualify you for any basic office job and also jobs in publishing, copywriting, copyediting, media and communications, and a whooole lot of other things. publishing is a nightmare, yes, but not more so than most other industries. and with the right amount of hustle, freelance copywriting can be an extremely lucrative profession. if you're willing to move to LA or NYC, there will be many, many opportunities available to you. they might not be good opportunities, and you might not succeed all the time, but you'll make do. personally i think it's better to spend 4 years (and a lot of money) learning something intrinsically valuable to you and risk a more unstable job market than it is to slog through 4 years in a subject you're less passionate about but that has a clearer career trajectory.

more importantly, your major doesn't matter nearly as much as it might seem. what matters is completing the degree to the best of your ability and learning to apply the knowledge you obtain to multiple fields. as much as some people would have you believe, you can't predict or plan for your entire future. you can only honor yourself and your interests in the present.

but that's english. creative writing is a different beast. i don't recommend majoring in creative writing unless you need the motivation of a hard deadline. it doesn't open more doors for you than an english degree does, and very very few cw professors get adequate training in creative pedagogy. a good professor is great, but a bad professor can ruin writing for you for a long time. unlike an english degree which is a medium risk for a big reward, a cw focus is a high risk for a medium reward. if you're already writing on your own time for your own fulfillment, that's more important than writing for a class.

you're right about a cw degree changing your voice into something inauthentic, and you're right about it damaging your creative motivation. both of those things have some benefits, though: when you adapt your voice into something it's not, later it'll snap back into an even stronger version of what you're doing now; and being forced to write for certain assignments will offer discipline so that you learn to write well even when you're uninspired and unmotivated.

regardless, all of that is better suited for an MFA. 4 years reading, 2-3 years writing. that will get you the education you're looking for and you'll be spending that time doing work you enjoy. i don't recommend going straight to the MFA after the BA, but people do that all the time anyway. the MFA will pay you so you won't go into any additional debt, and you'll gain teaching experience to boot (i do not recommend any programs you have to pay a single cent for unless you're filthy rich and bored). you'll write a thesis and go on to begin a life of words, be it reading the words of other people or writing your own.

so spend this time reading stuff and thinking about the stuff you read, writing some original work for a writing sample, and maybe sending that work out to some magazines. go meet with the creative writing faculty at your university and ask these questions to them as well. they'll give it to you straight about what your specific university's program is like and what it can offer you. even if you don't focus in cw, there are probably a ton of other extracurricular cw opportunities available to you, like working at the undergrad lit mag or attending readings.

#writing advice #job advice

[starcrossedyanderes]

Okay idea that you totally don’t have to do anything with:

Xavier’s darling is (like me) a history nut and knows about a lot of history from all over the world from reading books and watching documentaries

So when Xavier decides to start a long lecture about Colvakia’s history because his future wife needs to know these things, darling finishes his sentences and eventually takes over the lecture as Xavier sits there stunned with major heart eyes

I just know he’d be so happy and think that it was so cute that his darling already knew all about his homeland, he might even think it’s fate

This is so long, but I couldn’t help it! Inspiration struck, ya know? Also I assure you, I am working on that Tom fic!

Xavier taps a baton onto a large map that hung up on the wall.

“Ok, dahling, listen up. It is absolutely vital that you learn and remember the history of Colvakia, if you want to rule it one day with me.”

You were sat down at a table, notebook and pencil at the ready. You nodded your head eagerly, being the little nerd you are.

“Alright then. Colvakia for quite a while was part of Österreich-Ungarn, or as you may know it, the Austro-Hungarian empire. But in 1918 the Great War, or World War 1, ended and the empire was dissolved. Colvakia was one of the countries that were formed.”

Your eyes shined with excitement, the eager learner you were.

“But in 1922 the Soviet Union was formed. And a few years before that the Romanovs were assassinated. This is where the history of Colvakia really starts to begin.”

You eagerly raise your hand, practically bouncing on your toes. Xavier sees this and raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, dahling?”

“But aren’t the Devorskýs related to the Romanovs?”

Xavier nods his head, content with the question.

“Very good, dahling! We in fact are related to the Romanovs! We were cousins that managed to evade the slaughter. And this is important why..?”

Xavier lead me on with that question.

“So it makes your claim to the throne legitimate!”

Xavier chuckles at your eagerness.

“Correct, once again (Y/n)! 100 points to you!” Xavier snaps his fingers, instantly summoning a servant. “You there, get the future tsarina some ptichye moloko! I think she’s earned it after such a-“ Xavier goes in to caress her cheeks “-wonderful answer” Xavier steps back and the servant scuttles off, probably to the kitchen.

“Now, with the Soviet Union now formed, you can imagine some people did not want any part in it, or wished for refuge. So that is how Colvakia got such a surge in Russian citizens. But, around World War 2 we were conquered by Germany, then the Soviets. You can understand how this was an awful time for us.”

You solemnly nod your head, thinking to all the suffering that must have occurred.

“We mostly kept to ourselves, primarily farming. And by some miracle, we were relinquished to our own devices! The Soviets were too busy on other fronts, that we were able to be relinquished from their grip!”

You raise your hand again.

“Wasn’t that called the Day of Miracles?”

Xavier eagerly nodded his head, so happy with your answer.

“Yes, it most certainly is! It got its name because of how many miracles seemingly occurred that day. For one, the fact we got our independence back so quickly. The second being forces from other countries thinking we were still occupied by Germany, and the fact most of the Soviet forces that were present were redirected. Many say it took an act of God for all to happen, hence the name.”

“Now, we were in an interesting state. We needed to rebuild, and most of our citizens were immigrants from Russia or other countries. But we were also heavily Austrian-Hungarian still, hence where we get our 3 main languages or German, Russian, and English.

Now, here’s where the Devorskýs come in. My great grandfather, Dominik, was a rather wealthy man as he came from rather high ranking Russian nobility. But they also used that money to build varying companies, along with farms. He had a specialty with breeding peacocks, hence the prevalence of them here. Either way, Dominik was also known as a rather kind man, who essentially spearheaded the rebuilding efforts. In fact, many buildings here are named after him because of his funding of philanthropy.”

You oohed, at this fact, as it finally answered why you’ve seen so many buildings with the name Dominik.

“Now, Colvakia was in need of a government, and we played around with regular democracy for a bit there. But it was terribly, terribly corrupt in our case. It was how we ended up under the thumb of the Germans, then Soviets. Also, it was completely and utterly rigged. So still reeling from that, we thought it was best to stay away from that form.

But we also saw how badly communism affected us, and knew it wasn’t a viable option. So that mostly left a monarchy as the only option.

Oddly enough, Dominik had-“

You couldn’t help it anymore, you had to blurt out what you knew!

“Dominik was volunteered for the role because of his philanthropy and him being a leader already! Also people liked him being descended from Russian royalty so they eventually declared him King! Then Colvakia slowly gained more land from either purchases, or some countries volunteering to join them! That’s how Colvakia got to where it is today!”

You panted, trying to catch your breath after blurting out so much. Meanwhile, Xavier just stared at you, in awe.

“Y-yes. Absolutely correct!”

Before you knew it, you were being absolutely bombarded with kisses.

“Correct! All of it! Wunderbar dahling! Wunderbar!”

Xavier let out a chuckle

“You cheeky little thing, I bet you were just trying to put me under your spell even more!”

You chuckled as well

“Well did it work? But in all seriousness, I just really love history.”

“Well, it’s certainly clear you are meant to be queen one day. And here I thought I couldn’t fall in love even more~”

#starcrossedyanderes #yandere #romance #original character #yandere romance #yandere male #yandere oc #xavier devorsky #yandere prince #xavier

[qqueenofhades]

So l applied for a job as an English teacher (where I live it's taught as a second language) and my experience teaching is for like kids 10 and older, and this is for preschool, kids aged 2-5. So I never thought the would call me, because I was honest and told them l've never taught children that age, but they did and the problem is they gave me less than 24hrs to prepare for a class (they didn’t even give me the topics). And they're asking for pp presentation, didactic material ... And I just had to say no, they knew I didn’t have experience with children that young and I obviously don't have adequate didactic materials to bring for the children.

Yet I kinda feel bad and guilty for not having a job, and I can't help but think that maybe I'm the problem, I've been looking for a job for months and this isn’t even my university major. In my area they ask for like 3-5 years of experience, and this is for “people that just graduated” the salaries are minimum or barely above the minimum, they just don’t match the years of experience they’re asking for.

People they just don’t want to hire you to gain experience, I know you’re supposed to gain some with internships but I had at least half of my university time online because of the pandemic, some of my classmates even had online internships. And some jobs they outright tell you that they’re asking for “real experience” so those don’t count. Then if someone hires you they hold it over you, they expect you to leave everything behind and give 100% to the job, as in working and insane amount hours, at crazy times, if they’re generous they pay you the minimum but most of the time they have you there as an unofficial intern that it’s extremely lucky to receive some financial compensation; I mean who would’ve thought that we have to eat and try to survive week after week.

Honestly most days have become this despairing experience and this feeling in my chest and stomach just doesn’t go away.

Im sorry for this very long and sad anon message, it’s just that I’ve seen some anons leaving you similar comments. And you sound like a very mature wise person, I love that you talk about a lot of things 💖

First off, I'm flattered that I am seen as a good place for the younguns to come ask for sympathy and/or advice (I am a good internet grandma, etc). So yes, I shall give you hot cocoa and a nice spot to sit down and chat, metaphorically speaking.

I'm sure you've heard this before, but just so you know and/or hear it again: you're not alone, tons of young people are in the same boat, and it isn't your fault that we live in late-stage capitalism and the job market simultaneously wants 3-5 years of experience for an entry level job and pays you literal shit (but also wants you to somehow spend enough money all the time to keep the economy afloat, NO WAGE ONLY SPEND). Especially when Covid upended everything and now people want to discount online learning/work experience when there was literally no other option. It is a big bucket of crap all around, and while it can absolutely feel like a negative reflection on you personally, or that you're not good enough or not trying hard enough or not open enough to doing things completely out of your comfort zone because you have no other choice, it's not. There are tons of people who really WANT to be employed and have a steady job and at least enough to cover their basic necessities, but due to late-stage capitalism, it's just very hard. You are not the only one and this is not a personal character flaw or failing on your part.

You should not have to take a job you are completely uncomfortable with, especially when they give you literally zero chance to prepare adequately and don't give you any resources or time to support that transition (they'll begin as they mean to go on, etc). And likewise, I want to note that your university major/degree is not a binding contract that you can only work in that field, that you're a failure if you don't get a job in that field, and you have to look in that field first and foremost. Plenty of people do one thing in college and something totally different in their career, and it's okay if that happens, or if you have to work outside your college major for a while or even for the rest of your professional life. So as far as that part goes, I definitely don't think you need to feel any guilt about looking wherever you can, since as you note, the competition is hard for everybody and there's just not enough to go around (by design, since capitalism runs on manufactured scarcity). Once again: not your fault, you're not a failure, and you're doing your best. That is worth a lot.

I know that it sounds trite to say keep your chin up, but keep your chin up. When it comes to teaching ESL, it might be possible to freelance, to offer sessions virtually or over Zoom, advertise among your family and friends, etc., or other bit-part things to tide you over until you find a job (and take it from me, sheer bullheaded stubbornness is half the battle). There are also online tutoring sites and agencies such as Tutora (which I briefly taught for as a broke PhD student) or Study.com that can match you with remote/online work opportunities and get you some clients, rather than you having to do all the work to find and recruit them by yourself. This obviously won't take the place of an actual job, but it might help you patch some cracks and string together some income until you can find one.

Good luck! I'm rooting for you.

#anonymous #ask

[daydreamtoropova]

How do I even bring up I may be autistic with my mom 😭

Like we don't even talk with each other.

So it would be extremely weird if I came up to her and started a conversation.

I NEED TO GET CHECKED FOR AUTISM SO BADDD I CAN'T HANDLE IT BECAUSE PRACTICALLY EVERY SYMPTOM MATCHES UP AND MY AUTISTIC FRIENDS SAY I ACT VERY AUTISTIC AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

Bruh, I just do not know how to confront my mom about it because:

"You can't be autistic! It's a passing fad for autism to be cool, it's not that."

"Just because you do some things similar to your autistic friends doesn't mean you are autistic."

"And what will you gain out of knowing if you're autistic or not?"

"You are a good kid, you are smart and capable of doing anything. It is impossible for you to be autistic, that is only for those who are not capable and need major support."

"You're just looking for an excuse."

"And you said before you were thinking of suicide-"

And a lot of other negative responses to expect.

My problem is that I don't want to say directly to her, "Hey I may be autistic." But I want another person (with proper backing and experience), not involving me, to go up to her and talk to her about it for me. So that one day my mom could be like, "Okay well, you're experiencing symptoms of autism and so we want to get you checked for that." And for it to finally be over with.

A lot of the kids are just like "Why are you being/trying to be weird" and I just say "I dunno, I'm not trying to be weird, this is how I like to act. I dunno." And Like I'm not trying to act weird as I say, I just find it fun, and also apparently it can be a type of autistic masking too.

I have a lot of autistic friends, and only one of them said "No, I don't see it." And he's my best friend that I knew for a long time. And I'm worried I'm just making up excuses and that I'm not autistic and so on. It would be such a money-waster.

Because of this, I ended up taking some autism tests for fun of course, and literally pretty much all of them said "Yeah you have a lot of autistic tendencies." It said that 26 and above score autistic people at about 75%, and 32 and above for autistic females which was like 90% (I'm biologically a female), and I scored 36.

Autism test one

Autism test two

Autism test three

And I know these tests are not conclusive, but c'mon??? What are the chances? And on the internet, I have autistic friends I vent to, and we both go "YO? SERIOUSLY, EXACTLY, SAME-" And it's almost I can't believe how pin-point it is.

And I can relate to things in the DSM-5.

My mom always described me as "being different" "unusual" or "weird" or something.

I met my first autistic friend last year, I just came up to him and said "Hey! You look like an OC I have! Let's be friends!" And that's that. I'm pretty good at having friends. But I do have things.

I once had a meltdown, I cried on my first day in 6th grade until I got a nosebleed because there was too much noise, too many people, and too much everything and my mom had to send me home.

I once had a meltdown this year where a friend of a friend wiped something on my shirt. I ended up throwing a sandwich at her that I was midway through eating and then cried so hard in the corner. The teacher came up to me like, "Are you okay? It seems like it's something you did because of household problems." And I just didn't know how to respond and just said, "It's just this lunch."

I can't get jokes. My step-dad would be like "You're acting like a monkey!" or called me "Anna Banana" (back then before I became genderless with the name Alex) when I was younger and I would get so mad at him to the point I was so serious about it, it made me genuinely upset and I would always tell him to stop. Finally, it stopped but oh wow this was a big problem for me.

I can never read the room, once my English teacher was like "Interesting weather we're having." And I went on about the weather for a very long time. And he made a whole speech to the class about how "When I say 'interesting weather we're having,' I don't mean for it to turn into a whole conversation."

Sensory issues? I didn't wear socks until I was like 8 or 9 and was forced to start wearing them. I can't handle bras so I just don't wear them. And I still don't wear underwear (I wanna get boxers if anything, I can't stand underwear and it's always so uncomfortable). I am quite picky with the things I want to eat, wear, and have.

I was always weird or felt weird. Like the other kids didn't understand me or anything. I thought I was bipolar for a while (which is a common diagnosis with/misdiagnosis of autism), but recently I thought about it and was like, "Hold on I act way too autistic for my own good."

I believe I experienced autistic burnout for some weeks or even months. Where I just feel physically ill, like I wanna throw up, digestive issues, everything seems overbearing and I want to cry. I practically lose the ability to speak and can barely even say "I don't want to talk right now" and I don't even want to make a hum for approval. I don't want to eat, and I feel like death. I feel tired and unmotivated to do anything. Everything just comes crashing down for no reason sometimes, and I'm just tired.

I need help with how to approach this with my mom. Everything could find an excuse. And I believe it may be an excuse because it does sound like it. But a lot of the things, so many things, practically everything lines up with what I do. And so many other things I want to get a therapist for.

My step-sister once got therapy and it wasn't received well by my parents. I learned after that "therapy is useless and bad." It's expensive and I don't want to bother with it.

I need help.

What do I do?

#autism #neurodivergent #therapy #mental health #asd #possibly autistic

[66sharkteeth]

Hello! Idk if you are still faking asks but of so thank you in advance if this gets answered!

I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit disturbing how the majority is cheering on Rex and the side he's taken. Though that side might have some points, I just can not see them as people I'd like to ever support or think they are doing it with good intentions in mind. But anyway, I apologize if I just can't understand or root for this gang. I know things aren't black or white but i just see more bad than good. And I hope that's ok.

The only think I dint understand and kind of made me not like Rex so much anymore is that when he is fighting Desmond he mentions something along the lines of "you already met my scyon" and that just raised more questions for me. One of the mane reasons Rex felt hurt and betrayed and thought it was all Desmon and Lys's fault for "betraying him" was because he couldn't under why they would turn on him (it was when he still didn't know about the other part of himself). But now he knows, he knows its the Scyon that hurt and attacked them. Hence why they had such a reaction. I've seen people stating that yes, Rex was betrayed! And I just...I don't see it at all especially when the og gang had every right to react the way they did.

This monnet kind of just made me distance myself from Rex I guess. Because he knew the scyon was the one to hurt the gang, the reason why they reacted the way they did and yet that does nothing for him. I don't think this is bad writing, nit even the slightest. Cause I know some people in real life would have such a reaction. We are flawed beings and some weren't thought or leaned how act to know their actions or way of thinking is flawed etc or self centered. It's a process everyone can go threw in different ways. So I hope maybe Rex one day can learn more as he goes.

But yeah, was there something behind the scenes we didn't see for Rex to not even question that the Scyon hurt Desmond or for him to not even care about that fact?

I still love the comic a lot and its one of 2 other webtoons I follow religiously and have given money for passes! The art and world building I feel like is really good and has made me so inspired to make a fan art and fic for this world (I'm just too afraid and shy to share I guess but I'd love to one day!).

I hope you have a good day and I apologize for any speaking or grammar mistakes I've made. English isn't my first language and I'm also dyslexic 😅

Tbh, I think the only people who are 100% wrong are the ones who think one side is 100% right.

Like you said, the situation isn't black and white (heck, it's even one of the major themes of the story), and both sides have points and flaws, some bigger than others. I know people are having fun cheering for Rex's "corruption arc" (I even love to tease about it), but that's exactly what it is- a corruption arc.

Rex has points and fair criticism, but it's important to also remember the environment he's in. He's Blan Corp's prized pig that they need to keep happy until they get that memory. Other than Bag Girl, Rex is basically surrounded in an echo chamber of yes-men. So no, you didn't really miss anything. Rex is just currently in an environment where everyone is telling him "Yeah! It WAS abusive of Desmond to make you do all those chores!! What a jerk! >:(" and Rex going "yeah, you're right!! I am the victim here! Tell me more."

He's with the villains now and there is a lot of manipulation* going on.(*Side note: Mostly from Jericho and his Scion, to be clear. You could argue Nia as well, but I kind of maintain that she is just as manipulated and in a kind of equally tough position. Remember, Blan Corp is the ticket to getting her mom back and she's kind of in just as big of an echo chamber of "human bad, blank superior" as Rex)

That said, please don't give up hope on him haha. Rex can get a really sharp tongue when he's pissed (as seen in the latest episode with his encounter with Lyss), but he's still the same Rex at heart. He could never take the steps that Jericho is willing to take, and I... Tried to make that clear in ep 133 with Desmond's criticism of Rex's changes. Desmond asked if he really has it in his (half-human) heart to follow in Jericho's foot steps, and I like to think (most of us) know he doesn't- At least not as far as Jericho. Desmond planted the seed of doubt in ep 133 and I don't intend to just...ignore that seed in my writing of what's coming up.

TLDR: Yeah! Rex is being a jerk right now after a lot of manipulation, gaslighting, and just all around anxiety. But that's what a corruption arc is. Only time will tell if he starts to realize what a jerk he's being, but I certainly didn't show him hesitating after what Desmond said because it went in one ear and out the other. That's definitely going to be living rent free in the back of his mind for now.

#some time i want to ramble about rex's anxiety #bc it's something kind of personal to me and that i've actually put a lot of thought into #i just feel awkward rambling about these things when people didn't ask haha #so ty for sending this so i could ramble about this one #bc i agree #rex is a jerk lately and it's a little sad to see how many people don't think he is #a justified jerk in many ways but not others #city of blank

[runwayrunway]

No. 9 - IndiGo

A very different type of bonus review - I'm here to stop talking about history and start talking about current events. Nobody has requested IndiGo, but IndiGo has requested that Airbus sell them a record-breaking 500 A320-family aircraft as an absolutely wild opening to this year's Paris Air Show. That is, to put it in context, the largest bulk order of jets by an airline ever, in history. While aircraft orders by companies are generally negotiated behind closed doors and thus I can't say how much money is actually changing hands, the approximate value of this deal is hypothetically 55 billion US dollars.

This will more than double IndiGo's existing 308-strong fleet, consisting of A320-family jets and ATR-72 turboprops. They are already the largest operator of the A320neo in the world, and have a truly stunning 999 aircraft on order.

Well. Assuming nothing changes, we will have a thousand more of these in the world by 2035. How do I feel about that?

Those living in the West might not be familiar with IndiGo (full name InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., not to be confused with defunct United States carrier Indigo Airlines; callsign "IFLY", not to be confused with Russian charter airline I-Fly) but even without this truly prodigious order they're pretty massive. In fact, they're the largest carrier in the world's most populous country. Currently headed by the former CEO of KLM, they are also the largest low-cost carrier in all of Asia.

It's interesting, but somehow this livery doesn't feel like it has much gravitas to it. That's fine for a low-cost carrier, it just feels a bit surreal that this is the current record-holder for largest bulk order of aircraft. Not the Delta-American-United triad, who already have 1,000+ aircraft fleets. Not Emirates and its massive A380 and 777 fleets. Not even a huge flag carrier looking to expand. They're not even a full-blown ULCC, and I could have imagined Ryanair making an order of this magnitude to try and rapidly expand way before I would have bought it from IndiGo. My guess would be that they're feeling a bit threatened by the two massive threats of the Lions Air and Airs Asia, but that's just speculation and also not what I'm here to talk about. I just cannot stop being astounded by this. I don't feel like any airline needs 500 aircraft total, but what would I know?

One neat little touch I'd like to point out is that this plane feels like it had a lot of thought put into how it's seen from the bottom. In particular, the little stick figure/airplane dot thing(?) IndiGo logo is on the bottom, and the little blue swooping line is made an active part of the design under the nose, rather than just trim, the same way as it is on the tail. The logo in particular is super recognizable. I will say, though, the way that it's just dots could probably make people mistake it for some sort of safety lighting rather than iconography, because it does resemble the sort of markers you'd see on the ground at a runway.

Seriously, what is that logo? Is that an airplane? I think it's supposed to be an airplane but it is so simplified it's no longer instantly recognizable.

The font used for the wordmark is ITC Bauhaus, which, sure, that's nice and big and striking, and its branding has not changed since 2006. The color...sure is indigo, though the actual livery on the airplanes pretty heavily skews towards general blue. (We're done with jetBlue, but blue jets will haunt me forever, it seems.) I wish it was a bit bolder on the actual fuselage, because it's a bit hard to read at times with how thin the letters are.

That said, I have to point it out: Indian carrier operating primarily domestic flights in India, which will mostly be flown on by Indian people, the majority of whom will speak Hindi (the fourth most spoken language on the planet), and yet has the airline's name and website in English but not Devanagari. (EDIT: I have been told by somebody who actually lives in India that English is probably the more broadly accessible choice for a lot of the country, so this is actually not an issue.)

I kind of wonder if ATR operators are drawn to dark swooping curves on the bottom of their planes, because Azul had the same sort of basic shape around the belly fairing. I think it looks good on the type, don't get me wrong, I'm just curious now if that does factor into the thought process.

I think this livery is exactly as busy as it needs to be. It pinches in neatly under the nose, and I like how it travels up to cover the lower half of the tail. It feels uncommon to see that sort of tail-fuselage integration. It's nice how the light blue line alternately joins and diverges from the darker main body, creating a dynamic feeling, and I like how it's used as almost a rule for the placement of the logo on the tail. (I do wonder why the little plane logo couldn't go there instead, though. Or on the nacelles. Its absence everywhere except the belly seems weird. There actually is a small one on the nose under the windows, but if you can't see it from a distance I don't think it counts.)

The airline operates a total of two freighters, but I just want to point out the commitment to the Go bit, which I like. It's a lot less of a common branding thing than you'd expect, honestly. Surprised more airlines haven't jumped on that.

I really love seeing prop covers on planes. Those are her gloves.

I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that the blue fully retreats in that little center-back fuselage section. From a few angles you get just a sliver of it visible in a way that feels awkward, but in theory I do like it. A bit of white breaking up that line isn't a bad thing.

Grade: C+

As in, we will c +500 of these in the next twenty years.

Well, this has been just a fun little extra. It's a good thing I don't totally hate this, because 500 more of these are about to be flying to an airport near you! (More airports near more people, because I think 1,200 planes for just their current 101 destinations would be serious overkill). What an exciting start to the Paris Air Show, and I live in fear that I'll be forced to rush to my keyboard again when [throws dart] Binter Canarias announces that they [spins wheel] are going to start operating a fleet of secondhand A380s.

#tarmac fashion week #grade: c+ #region: asia #region: south asia #region: india #era: 2000s #era: 2010s #era: 2020s #indigo #low cost carriers

[leuke-rants]

Some fan facts about the four heroes in my rewrite of trotsh:

Motoyasu:

- He is half Finish-half Japanese. I like the idea of Motoyasu being a natural blond so he has to get the genes from somewhere.

- He is ambidextrous, though he favours his right hand.

- He has excellent memory and can learn things very fast if he wants to. I think this is kinda canon considering he learned the Melromarc language in just one day.

- He can speak four languages: Japanese, English, Finish and French (five if you count Melromarc's language)

- He majors in linguistics

- He is really into fashion and wanted to major in fashion but his mother shut down the idea rather quickly. Too many girls in that major .....

- He knows how to sew and cook (he is an average cook)

- Although he is very flirty and doesn't mind the idea of having a girlfriend he does not want to get married. His parents marriage is proof enough that it doesn't end well for either parties.

- He is a certified himbo

- He is a people pleaser and doesn't like making others upset.

- He trusts women more that men.

Naofumi:

- He is a very relaxed and lay back guy

- He knows how to read people and acts accordingly.

- Used to take care of his younger brother when his parents were at work so he has a soft spot for children.

- Just like his brother he has anger issues. He learned to control his anger over the years and even helped his little brother with his.

- He is generally friendly but his introverted nature make him seem unapproachable.

- He is rather distant and may seem a little cold to strangers but once you get to know him he is a the sweetest guy ever.

- His parents were so busy with work so he basically raised his brother.

- Learned how to cook for himself and his brother since their parents were barely home. He is an excellent cook and always tries recipes from different cuisines

- Just like his father he has a talent for the trading business. Because of that he majors in international trade.

- H is e also very good at gambling and knows how to manage money. Thankfully he reserves his talent for card games with his friends.

- He has no idea how to talk to women his age so whenever a girl approaches him he becomes a stuttering mess . He can talk to them normally if they are close friends or talking business.

Ren:

- The most antisocial person you will ever meet.

- He is autistic.

- He noticed that people treated him differently and not in a good way. Because of this he became really closed off.

- He puts the 'Too good to talk to you" persona so that people will leave him alone.

- He found solace in video games and spends most of his times in his room.

- He doesn't know he is autistic, he just thinks that people dislike him for no reason.

- Although he loves his parents and they love him back they have no idea what is wrong with their son and they can't seem to understand his problems.

- He has a bad reputation among the students for being the "creepy-quite kid". The teachers don't mind him,he is quite and has pretty good grades.

- He has no idea he is autistic.

- He really loves cats. His parents noticed this and bought him one. He named her after his favourite video game character and has been his close companion ever since.

- He is extremely blunt and people don't like that. That's the reason he has only one friend.

- He finds it easier to talk to people through the internet. He has a lot of online friends and they even have a discord chat together.

- His only friend is a senior girl from his school. They met at a comic con and became friends after they realized they liked the same anime and video games.

- He started to have a crush on her and fell in love after she defended him from her friends who thought he was a weirdo.

- He became heartbroken after she moved away and vowed to never get close to anyone ever again.

- After that he became more cold and intolerant of people.

Itsuki:

- Lives with his mother in an apartment complex.

- His father always told him to protect his mother and stick up for the little guys and he took that advise very seriously.

- He is being bullied for being a late bloomer and for his feminine features.

- He always defends other kids from bullying and isn't afraid to throw a punch. Because of that he gets into a lot of trouble.

- He has a talent for archery. He found out during gym class and ever since he took part in competitions and tournaments to earn some money and help his mother.

- He has dyslexia and isn't aware of it. Because of this his grades are not the best. He doesn't tell his mother about his problem because he doesn't want to burden her.

- He is very flexible and pretty good at gymnastics.

- He gets frustrated rather easily and can lose his temper quickly.

- He will either think things through or act on impulse, there is no in-between.

- He really likes animals and feeds the strays very often.

Well that's all I have so far. Perhaps I "ll make a part 2 or give information about their allies,who knows?

#trotsh #rotsh #the rising of the shield hero #rising of the shield hero #trotsh naofumi #trotsh itsuki #trotsh ren #trotsh motoyasu #trotsh rewrite