#and learned I needed to use so many to accurately describe myself

[writingquestionsanswered]

Anonymous asked: I have a few questions as an aspiring writer and a current fanfic writer who publishes.

Okay! But if you write fan-fiction, you're already a writer! I'm guessing you mean an aspiring author? ♥

How would you help with distractions and writer's block? I try to dedicate myself to writing, but then I wander off to other stuff and my motivation wanes.

This is not uncommon and there can be a lot of different reasons for why it happens. Understanding the reason behind why it's happening is important for knowing how to fix it. I have a couple posts that will help with this:

5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes! Feeling Unmotivated with WIP Writer’s Block

How do you advise me outlining a huge original story plot with world-building in an organized way that isn't just scattered?

Outlining is really just any method that helps you get all the important pieces of the story out, in order, so that you can use it as a reference while writing. Some people use one big beginning to end summary. Some people like scene lists or timelines. Other people like scene cards or mind maps... Different things work for different people, so part of the work you need to do as a writer is figure out which method/methods work best for you.

I often find, though, that the struggle people have with outlining is less about what method to use and more about how to actually fill out the details, which brings me around to plot and story structure. All stories have structure. Fan-fiction is often short, character-driven fiction, which gives it a different structure from the average novel. That said, even if you're a prolific fan-fiction writer, you may still need to take some time to learn about plot and story structure. I'll link a few posts that will help, but once you understand story structure (all the specific plot points a story should go through), it becomes much easier to know how to outline it.

Guide: How to Outline a Plot Guide: Starting a New (Long Fiction) Story Basic Story Structure Beginning a New Story How to Move a Story Forward Plot Driven vs Character Driven Stories Understanding Goals and Conflict

What advice would you give for writing fictional religions and mythology?

First and foremost, it's important to understand the role religion and mythology play in your story... how do they feed into your characters' beliefs? How do they influence your characters' actions and behavior? How do they guide the forces of power in your story's world? How do they impact the story's conflict/s and plot? Ultimately, you don't want to put a lot of time into creating and fleshing out a religion or mythology that's ultimately unimportant to the story. It helps to focus most on the aspects that truly matter.

Also, you might consider using real world mythology and religions as inspiration... just be careful about cultural appropriation. It's best not to use anything that belongs to an active culture or religion unless it's yours, or unless you do intense research and consult with sensitivity readers to make sure you don't do anything harmful.

And lastly, what sources do you recommend to accurately describe buildings (especially castles and manors) battlefields, geographical locations especially when it comes to mountains and rivers, etc), dresses and clothing especially if it isn't modern, and fighting techniques that are believable (for example, how a smaller woman would fight a larger man without being unrealistic)?

1 - Find Inspiration Sources - No matter when and where your story is set, it's important to find inspiration sources for the places in your story, whether that's buildings, towns, regions, whatever. Not only will this help you imagine and describe what you're envisioning, it will help you immensely with research on specific details.

2 - Time and Place Are Important - Many descriptive details are specific to time and place, so make sure you know that about your inspiration sources and/or the elements in your story. You can do a Google search for layout, architecture, and design (along with relevant location and era information) to find the details you need. For example, "medieval European castle layout" or "Victorian era manor house architectural details." Likewise, you can look for "Tudor era menswear" or "Victorian era dress details."

3 - Fighting Techniques - This again will tie into the time and place when your story is set. However, some fighting techniques will be somewhat timeless. I would strongly suggest heading over to @howtofightwrite for the best information and resources about portraying fighting techniques in writing.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

#wqaadvice

[soaringwide]

Pick a Card readings - what I learned as a viewer/consumer

Part 02 of my vision of the use of pick a card readings. I’m someone who makes them but I also consume them as a viewer. I wanted to combine both in a post but it’s too damn long so I divided in two parts. Part 1, reader (link); and this is part 2, consumer.

Part 02 - From a viewer point of view

Link to part 01 here

I discovered pick a cards readings on YouTube back in 2017, was super into them for like a couple years before distancing myself from that whole thing due to realizing the spiritual bullshit I was getting myself into (it's a story on its own, so perhaps I'll go back to it at another time).

Found my way back to them back in December 2023, again on YouTube, then Tumblr, due to a specific love situation I needed insight on but for some reason wasn't willing or able to divine on on my own.

The Good & the Bad

I definitely think that they can bring actual insight to a situation. There were many time where I was blown-away by how accurately a pile described my situation, despite feeling like I was just ''randomly'' choosing the first one that pulled me in.

It's definitely an interesting exercise of intuition, to see if you're connected well to yourself and if you're able to grab the thread that shines with your color the most. It's quite fun to see that some days it seems really easy to find your pile from the first try, and some days you just struggle, or don't find it at all.

It's a nice way to get familiar with the feeling of your intuition ''clicking'' when you're looking at all the piles, and makes you realize that it's something that's available to a lot of people, and that's fascinating on its own.

That whole thing made me think about what was happening exactly. Like, is this internet reader I've never interacted with actually reading on my personal energy or situation? I don't think so. I went into it a bit in part 01 but yeah I think those readings target too general energies for that. I see it more like story lines floating in the air, and the reader is guided towards translating one of them (by who or why, I don't fucking know).

Don't get me wrong, it might still be accurate because we human are unique but we also are all the fucking same deep down, and history repeats itself all the time.

It's a game of resonance, as in, you're naturally drawn to the pile that holds the same note as the one you hold inside. And sometimes you do stumble upon a reading that is so crazy specific that it seems like it was made just for you. Not gonna get too into that because I found this post by @helianthus-tarot that explains it very well already.

However, something I've experienced myself and anyone has to be super careful about, is to not over do it.

I think it's very easy to end up in a toxic cycle when you keep looking at tarot spreads about the same topics. What happens is that you keep getting slightly different answers, which make you confused about the situation, so you want to find more, and confuse yourself even further in the process, thus starting an obsessive cycle of not feeling satisfied with anything.

It also removes your sense of agency. You end up trusting what you read online more than your own intuition and guidance and you abandon yourself, in a way.

I'm saying that because I went through phases where I was ob-sess-ed with those damn PAC because of a love situation that was frustrating me a lot, and my mood would actually fluctuate a ton if I got a good one or a bad one. It's like I was trapped inside my own head and was just mirroring the chaos happening within me and mistaking it for reality. It's possible that some of them were actually real but I had no way of knowing because I was seeking as many PAC in a day as I could, thus drowning any useful message and keeping myself in a state of fear that colored everything else.

So yeah that's your PSA to be more mindful about what PAC you decide to read or watch. Don't just read everything all the time. Take breaks and only do it if you actually have a clear issue in mind and feel called to a reading, and once you get the message you needed, let it rest until you or the situation develops further.

#soaringwide #pick a card #pac readings

[vizthedatum]

I don’t think using the term “narcissistic abuse” is ableist.

(addendum: if you are triggered by the usage of the term, please enforce a boundary for yourself to ignore posts like these (just like how I ignore posts that trigger me). I am not wishing harm on anyone. I am working on healing, moving on, and also forgiving people - but it does not change what happened.) Ableism is the blatant discrimination of those with disabilities - calling the abuse cycle by its term (there is no other term that accurately describes what I went through) is not ableist. Just like calling me autistic is not ableist. Just like calling out my previous codependency and people-pleasing that caused me to chronically lie to people is not ableist. The term is DESCRIPTIVE and it is indicative of a real thing that happens.

I know other people think that it is ableist.

I know people won’t believe me when I say it saved my life.

You know how no matter what you do or say, someone will find issue with it? Doesn’t matter how many degrees you have, the amount of medical validation you have received, the things you have witnessed, the insistence that I am not proposing harm to anyone (I am insisting on accountability though!), etc.

There are people who will not believe you or take it personally.

The lesson I have learned: I need to trust myself with the information I have right now. I can continue to learn more about people and the world, but I am not responsible for people thinking that my usage of a term is vilifying a whole community. I have faced this my entire life (telling white people about white supremacy and appropriation and then having them accuse me of vilifying all white people; countless other black-and-white examples).

So whatever.

Call me a monster.

After all my abuser probably calls me one.

#healing #trauma #neurodivergence #queer #cw narcissism #narcissism #narcissistic abuse #what I went through was real #I guess I’m a monster now #I don’t think it’s ableist for real #I’m autistic #I have adhd #I have been emotionally and/or physically abused my whole life #I thought my ex-spouse loved me #but they were emotionally abusing and playing me the entire time without getting help

[lutawolf]

TharnType Episode 4

My other reviews can be found here. In each of my posts, I find myself having to constantly explain why problematic art is necessary, but it's also about rights. If someone is allowed to tell you what is appropriate art, they are essentially telling you how to think and feel. It negates the ability to think for yourself, and I will fight tooth and nail for that.

As many of you have seen from my reviews, there are toxic things in what MAME writes, but there are good things too. A lot of important things that can be learned from even problematic art. History is filled with people who've grabbed artworks, from paintings to books and put them away, saying they were not appropriate or okay. Dictatorships that states that as a society we are incapable of censoring itself. It was someone else saying that they knew what was best for us, even though there was no harm.

That's the reason I don't have ownership and rights over my own body. Because someone else said they have the right to decide for me. That they would tell me what to do with my body because, I might not make the decision they deem correct. And before I hear comments of, body rights aren't the same as what these bls are doing. It's all about taking away a person's right to choose and think for themselves.

I'll get off my soap box and start this episode. Sorry! 😘 We start off the series with Type being shredded online by people who assume they have a right to. Never mind that they violated his space and his rights. And people are ganging up on Type despite only hearing one part of the narrative. There is a lot to take in and digest in this work, it's not one dimensional at all.

Tharn comes in looking at Type with pity, which is going to grind a victim/survivor's gears. We want your understanding, not your pity. I'm not going to tell you my story for sympathy, I don't fucking want it, I had enough of that to make me sick. Nothing will cause hackles to go up faster on a survivor than that look he is giving right there.

Why Type says is very valuable here. He says, do you hate me for what I said or are you using me as an excuse to diss homosexuals. Now think about it, Type didn't want to live with Tharn, but other than that we don't see talking shit about homosexuals. He doesn't want to associate, and he doesn't want them to touch him, but he doesn't say anything until Tharn because Tharn is in his space. He needs him out of his space because he's scare. Furthermore, he is fully aware that his hate is irrational, but he is unable to change it. Not necessarily because he doesn't want to, but because the block is so high and heavy. He sees this as his karma. Another indication that he is well aware that his hatred isn't right. MAME is trying to show that sometimes hatred has a deep seeded reason. Doesn't make that hatred right, but shouldn't we have compassion? Are all of us so guilt free and bias free that we have the right to not show compassion?

"Nosy and worry have two different meanings." Tharn is reacting to Type with kindness and it's making ripple effects. You can see it. Type recognizes it and puts up his angry wall to cover his weakness. Tharn sees through it though and grabs onto him. Type has been in days of regression and stress, so he immediately freaks. But Tharn only wants to be him to eat. Then they begin to talk and Tharn tells Type that he doesn't care what others think, he knows he is innocent. This is what breaks Type. Being seen. Tharn begs him to talk to him, but he wasn't expecting the reality of it. The way Type tells the story of his SA is very accurate. I don't know of another way of describing it. It's stark and direct while still carrying emotion. The book is actually much more descriptive, but accurately descriptive. In the book, it talks about sensory memory, which is not something that a nonvictim-survivor is going to think to describe. This is someone who knows exactly what they are talking about and, in my opinion, as someone very familiar with therapeutic writing. Is therapeutic writing. People don't want to hear your story, it hurts them, but it hurts us to keep it in.

Tharn stops him from telling anymore, and that's pretty normal too. When you care about someone, it is very difficult to listen to. When Type tells Tharn he hates him. He returns the comment with compassion. Not hate. Not how he shouldn't lump them all together. But with compassion. Why? Because Type is still hugging him as he says it. There are clear indicators that Type does not hate him or really gays, but he has hard limits that he can't handle.

Everything Type says is valid. Type is very uncomfortable with Tharn there. He just told him something personal and private, and he fears it getting out. Victims and Survivors rarely want their story out. I do it because you guys don't know who I am. I'm anon behind this computer, but in real life. Well, some do because I went to court, but I'm sure as shit not sharing my story. I don't want that pity. That's exactly what Type is worried about, but instead Tharn steps up. He didn't have to, this was an act of love.

Tharn tells Type that he tells them that he likes him. Tharn bites his lip and let's go of his angry death grip. He doesn't hit or yell at him. There is no act of aggression like before. What does this say. It says before we saw acts of homophobia from Type because he was scared. Not, there is a comfort level with Tharn to where he doesn't feel that fear anymore. "We almost tore each other heads off, but if you try to understand him. You know he is a good guy."

Tharn admits that he over pushed his boundaries with Type. Which is what exacerbated the situation with them. He forces them to admit that they touched him. The thing to take from this is Tharn does realize that he is some of the trigger here, and that Type wouldn't typically react like this. He knew they had touched him without having to ask Type. "When people hate someone or something, they don't want to be near them. But you touched him and forced him for photos. How is he wrong if he got mad? And you never asked him why he hates or fears gays." Exactly Tharn, exactly. I mean, the same could be said for Tharn, but he's learning. Sometimes, you learn the hard way.

Type explaining about the media. See, victims and survivors don't like pity for a reason. Honesty leads to honesty. Tharn is honest about liking Type. Then he backs off. Before he would have kept pushing, but now he is backing it off and just letting Type think. See the smile that Tharn gives when Type just lays down. It's a win. There is no anger or raging. He just lays down. No comfort blanket.

Type comes back to the dorm and is his normal aggressive self. Remember, though, that this is used to cover his emotions. Tharn has started to figure this out, hence the smile when Type asked why he came back early. There is now an open, honest communication there, while Type is still using a macho man attitude to hide his insecurities. He isn't lashing out and attacking. There is a release to talking about your trauma, and Tharn gave him that, then he protected him. There was already attraction, but now there are feelings. Type is naturally going to fight this, but Tharn, he understands Type now. Which makes him harder to fight. There is no anger, just compassion, caring, and love. Which is what a victim/survivor longs for.

In the book when Type asks Tharn to sleep with him and Tharn asks who will top. It's pretty accurate, too, and many of you who have read enough of my blog would recognize some things. Such as Type talking about vomiting at the idea. How many of you were even aware that was something at a lot of survivors still do, even years later? The reason why I bring this up, is because I have had so many people be like, "I never heard that MAME was a survivor." Well, it's all right there to see. She doesn't need to verbally tell you. She is telling you through her art, you just have to look.

Type Now, Tharn is one hundred percent aware that Type is not having sex with him due to owing. He knows the attraction is there. He's very politely not calling Type out on it. For Type's part, he's just lying to himself. Which is very human nature. We can clearly see whose experienced sexually and who isn't. Fyi in the book Tharn started having sex at a very early age and admits to being basically a man whore. While Type has had one high school gf.

Book Excerpt: Tharn took out a hand and stroked my back and my tight back muscles. Caressed me contentedly. I always wanted to get touched like that…

Type tells Tharn, "I'm a man, don't treat me as a woman." It's not meant to be a put down to women. It's mean as that macho cover up of, I am never weak. Don't treat me as weak. Then, them going to the doctors to get test together is one of my favorite parts. It's the way Tharn now talks to Type. It's a charming, begging, and canoodling type of way. And it works like a charm, in the way that anger and commands wouldn't work on Type. And Tharn's face, all huge smile when Type says sex only.

Did anybody pay attention to Tharn's sex story? Notice his face. He might be saying it was consensual, and maybe it doesn't haunt him like Type's does, but he regrets it whole heartily.

Techno inviting Tharn is to eat with them is so Techno. He is so shipping them hard. Tharn being thrilled that Type knows his favorite drink. The back and forth truly shows how they are perfect for each other. And can he preform his duty tonight. 🤣🤣🤣

Well, that it for this episode. Hope you guys found it insightful. 💜💜💜

#tharntype #thai bl series #bl series #luta talks tharntype #MAME #tharntype series

[e-s-willswriting]

The Zone of Interest (2023) Review

(Crossposted from my Letterboxd)

I have 3 films that I would describe as the most harrowing film experiences: A Serbian Film, Skinamarink, and this.

A Serbian Film was egregiously depraved and I could not finish it. However, I personally felt that its depravity didn't communicate much nor did it do it in an interesting way compared to other disturbing films I've seen. Censorship bad, yes absolutely, but I personally needed more to hook me on why I witnessed what I did. I may rewatch it through to the end, but only to certify my thoughts on the film.

Skinamarink shocked me more than I expected it would and was another I could not finish. It was simply that the events halfway through the film were filled with so much helplessness that I ended up crying. I've never cried at a horror film before or since.

And then there is Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest (arguably a horror film as well as a Holocaust film). Of those 3 films, I finished this one and I'm so glad I did because the ending is phenomenal. (Watch in cinemas if you get the chance, or with a quality sound system).

Admittedly the film is intentionally boring. There's little in terms of surface level plot (Glazer stripped away aspects of the original book's narrative embellishments in order to make the film more realistic) and a particular office meeting scene accurately depicts the mundane aspects of life that I even found myself yawning in spite of the subject matter discussed. But the mundane is all deliberate since its paired with the sound.

The sounds of real horror. Constant. Present. Past. Close. Distant. Quiet. Deafening.

Lives taken each second as the central cast (perpetrators and those complicit with the genocide) go about life and work. A notable scene occurs where Hoss and his wife Hedwig argue about moving and underlying it all is gunshots. Their worries are their comfort. People die across the wall as they speak.

The Holocaust is the periphery of the film, and this serves as a powerful and poignant way to communicate the topic to our generation. For many of us, we continue our lives as atrocities occur worldwide to this day, and there's often a helplessness with that feeling (we see more about these things than our ancestors, but what can we do to stop the war machine?)

WW2 and the Holocaust feel distant, present in textbooks and statistics but losing their immediacy (especially as those born within that generation and those that experienced it first hand pass away). But the choice to focus on the mundane allows us to identify with the Hoss family, as horrific an idea that is. We know what it's like to sit through a work meeting or to chat late into the night or to play with our family. The film forces us to ask if we want to identify fully with the Hoss family. Do we want to be complicit, or silent, or ignorant, to atrocities?

Or do we choose to listen? Like the piano sheet and the story of the little Polish girl. Do we choose instead to hear and boost the voices of those killed and those that survive. Learn their stories. Carry their light with us. Fight for better.

I don't think I could ever forget this film. It's left a deep impact on me both as a writer, a lover of film, and as a person who navigates the world. It is a harrowing film, a dark and depressing film, but it is not devoid of light.

It's one of those films everyone should experience.

#the zone of interest #film review #writeblr #writer #writing blog #writing #writers on tumblr #letterboxd #movie review #jonathan glazer

[bigfan-fanfic]

Also since you know about Percy Jackson, what do you think about Piper McLean? Every person I ask this question, they all said they hated Piper. I am the only one who actually likes her? And thinks she misunderstood? Is this how it feel to like a character everyone hates? Granted she’s not perfect I’m fully aware of her flaws but I still like her. What’s your thoughts about the daughter of Aphrodite?

Buckle up, buddy, I'm writing another essay.

First off, I'm gonna say I do like Piper. I think, however, she suffers from both a lack of research and many missed opportunities. Let's get the valid criticism out of the way, then address the hate, and finish with what I like!

So, Piper suffers from some egregious missteps when it comes to writing a Native American character. Not having grown up in Native culture myself, please take my criticism with a grain of salt and listen to actual Native fans who can more accurately explain and describe their grievances. I can only point to what I've heard, such as her being pointed out to wear an eagle feather accessory, which feels like commodifying her heritage, since that culture places a huge importance on eagle's feathers and even had Piper earned them from a tribe, they'd only be worn ceremonially. There are a number of notes about her "kaleidoscope eyes" which are rather pointedly not the brown you'd see from most people with Native heritage, along with the issues related to having her not only be in a boarding school but also be in there for kleptomania??? It's kinda stereotype city. This also includes her sexualization (which I will talk about too but this is in the Native lens of having a female Native character being sexualized) in her descriptions and her claiming. Her and her father also are written with largely ambivalent attitudes towards their Native heritage, with Tristan outright not wanting to be seen as Cherokee. Not that this can't inform her character in an interesting way, but it was mishandled, and maybe an excuse for Riordan not to have to write or research Cherokee concepts. It's not his story to really tell, if you wanna have a Native girl reconnecting with her heritage even through her father's disillusionment.

So, let's talk about the hate. People complain alternately that Piper is either OP or damsel in distress. Piper is not like the other demigods, who have been training for years to fight. In fact, Leo is similarly sidelined in combat because his skills take precedence in other ways, like hers - but nobody complains that Leo is a damsel. So yeah, Piper who's only been training with a dagger for four months or so is gonna be less useful in combat than literal Roman legionnaires. And her abilities are not OP. She has clear limitations, and people that are not effected. And I absolutely love her arc of learning to use her power creatively like Hazel does. AND she in fact does this because she's been so insecure about her lack of combat use. She actively seeks improvement and trains, so of course she gets better over the series! Piper also gets hate for what I can best describe as being pretty. My whole take on Piper as a child of Aphrodite is that she's meant to reject toxic femininity (the rite of passage, forced beauty, etc.) But like, just because she chooses to accessorize or dress more feminine, or even focus more on her hair isn't against that. She's choosing to in order to express herself. She starts off as kind of that "not like other girls" mentality and then comes to discover that inner beauty is what counts, so she doesn't have to feel like she needs to reject femininity altogether, you know? Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

I like Piper, although she has flaws in her writing and creation. She's got a vulnerability to her that I like, especially because she makes that her strength. She's willing to be emotional and help the group actually process things. She's making sure people are coming together cohesively. Which some people may say is locking her into traditional gender roles of emotional labor, but personally, I don't think so. Even if the fans don't, the rest of the team does value Piper, and in turn they try to help her realize how strong she is, and once that breaks through her insecurities, she goes from being one of the least powerful to one of the most useful of the seven. My personal gripe is that way back in the first book, they mention her powerful singing voice and how she'll learn the songs of her tribe, and then they talk about the snake song, and when she meets the Kerkopes she... doesn't sing the snake song??? Like, that could have been a moment where she asserts her identity and full power, and instead it's kind of a missed opportunity. But oh well.

[donnerpartyofone]

Yes there's a reason I'm using pictures of Chiaki Kuriyama, hold your horses.

I just finished reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I was really surprised by it. I was convinced to give it a try when I heard that Marie Kondo found her calling after suffering a cleaning-related nervous breakdown; being as attracted as I am to the relationship between vocation and pathological compulsion, this was the thing that separated me from my money. I had assumed that the book would be a focused manual on a specific activity, like so many self-help books for would-be autodidacts--and it definitely is, Kondo plays the whole thing very straight and you can almost picture her with her little TED Talk headset as she describes her foolproof "only way to" methodology, but sprinkled throughout are little morsels of psychological insight that stopped me in my tracks more than once.

She doesn't lean on the nervous breakdown component of her story, but the astute reader gets a strong sense of a lonely, isolated childhood, enduring feelings of helplessness, and the compulsive turning and returning to cleaning when other aspects of life refuse to get under control. Some of her insights have become common knowledge in the post-Hoarders era, like how clinging to objects reflects an obsession with the past or a fear of the future, and some others are really striking (to me, anyway), like the fact that chronically messy people often lack a feeling of ownership over their possessions and environments. Kondo doesn't insist on her unique mastery of human psychology the way the average culty self-help guru does; she keeps the emphasis on her technique, rather than on her personality, but then late in the game she pulls a reveal like this one:

This is a fascinating thing to unveil after having devoted a couple hundred pages to the importance of what amounts to object empathy. A big part of her process involves talking to things--your house, your stuff, and the things you're throwing away--in a sincere and emotional way that addresses how you feel about them, whether it's the pleasure of how they improve your life, or your gratitude for their past use, including a purpose as simple as helping you clarify what you don't want or need anymore (if ever). I think most everybody experiences some amount of object empathy in childhood, and I guess in adulthood it's often associated with autism, but suddenly it sounds so useful. Being able to respect objects, to the point of sympathizing with them, seems like it can lead inevitably to looking after things properly and taking your relationship to them seriously.

It's crazy how accurately your relationship to your things betrays the quality of your relationship to your very existence. Marie Kondo says that before you start the tidying process, you should ask yourself why you want to tidy to begin with, and then keep questioning your answers until you get something irreducible--which is going to be less like "I want more space" or "I want to be able to entertain at home", and more like something extremely specific about what your ideal lifestyle would look like, which in turn says something extremely specific about what kind of person you want to be. This may seem obvious when you lay it out, but it's not, really. The parent-child relationship that springs up around the latter's messy room is usually characterized along the lines of, the child needs to learn obedience and respect and more mature hygiene practices, when in reality the messy room may say something like: I feel out of control, I feel overwhelmed by life, I feel incompetent, I feel undeserving of a clean room, I feel like it doesn't really matter what happens to me so what's the point of cleaning. I don't feel like I have the authority or talent to create the kind of life I want for myself, so why try?

As a kid I felt a lot of object empathy, which could manifest as both a heartbreaking sympathy and a feeling of threat. We never had any money, and separate of that my parents were anti-materialist hippies, so I could never tell whether we just couldn't afford something, or whether I actually wasn't allowed to have something for some moral reason, or perhaps because I was bad and didn't deserve it. This has affected my lifelong relationship to money, because I developed this mentality that if I got some, then cool, but if I didn't have any, then that was just normal and I couldn't expect to change those conditions under my own power, so who cares I guess. But I digress: I became afraid of my own ability to form attachments, because I didn't have any control over having things, and also because I had a powerful sense of the ongoing degradation of everything around me. I have a shameful memory of one of my mother's friends generously offering me a Boba Fett action figure--a major prize to be sure--and even though I was like 8, I asked the guy directly whether the colored parts of the toy were solid plastic or painted, because I knew that paint would wear and chip and then I would just be left with the feeling of loss. I never really learned how to take care of anything, either; as an adult, I buy weird bullshit to entertain myself, or to build on some fantasy of what my personality supposedly is, but then I constantly lose and break things because that's just how I am, and so I can't properly form appropriate connections to anything. Sometimes I do something destructive or neglectful for no good reason, or rather it's because of some vague moralizing notion that I shouldn't be attached to things anyway. I got my ultimate hero and powercrush David Cronenberg to sign a VIDEODROME poster for me; then in a fit of spite for my own preciousness, I hung it on thumbtacks instead of framing it; now I don't even know where the hell it is, and I still feel terrible about the whole episode 20 years later.

In Takashi Miike's all-ages fantasy THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, a couple of evildoers including the great Chiaki Kuriyama build an army of monsters out of sentient trash: discarded possessions that are full of resentment about being used up and rejected. I found this concept so intense that, actually, I still choke up just trying to describe it, it's so brutal, it's like all of my most primitive fears about my toys having feelings are suddenly real and justified and I can never make up for it. Meanwhile I have had problems with other people who have an intensely dysfunctional relationship with their possessions in the opposite direction of me.

For one major but not at all isolated example, my abusive ex-boyfriend was heavily materialistic, but I don't know what he wanted from that pursuit and I don't think he knew either. He would race to buy the latest comic book collectibles, or deluxe DVDs of key film bro movies, and then almost as soon as the pleasure of buying them had passed, he would try to flip them on eBay and have frightening rages when he inevitably didn't break even. He bought a set of highly desirable designer Godzilla figures from someone I knew who was selling off his father's treasured collection, assuming they were going to a loving home, and then as soon as the initial thrill was gone, my ex was on eBay grumbling about what they were fetching. When we went to San Diego Comic Con, I used what little money I had to surprise him with a limited edition toy from a comic we both loved, and when he saw it, he sighed bitterly and stuff cash into my hand to make me go buy the other one from the set, without saying thank you. Around that time I worked somewhere where we had these big expensive 8-bit Super Mario wall decals, which he demanded for his birthday; after he got them he had some of his shitty yuppie friends over, and they made fun of him for having this kid stuff, so later he yelled at me for gifting him something "pathetic". He traded them for somebody's used flatscreen TV, and then he asked me to get him another set of decals. "I thought you said they were pathetic?" I reminded him, to which he snapped back, "Oh yeah that's right, THEY ARE," as if I were the one who had the dumb idea of offering them to him.

You can probably guess that most of his buying habits were performative, designed to impress people who weren't paying attention and who he didn't even like, but whose perceived status (economic or cultural) made him feel jealous and inferior. However, there is one more thing in play with him: The show Hoarders came out toward the end of our relationship, and I saw him watch it with an intense interest that I had never seen before. It was usually hard to tell if he really enjoyed the things he consumed, or if he was just desperately competing with the rest of his demographic at Knowing Things and Having Opinions, but he had a distinct personal investment in Hoarders. He told me that his parents were Hoarders. I couldn't tell exactly how true that was since he was extremely judgmental of his family, whose ordinariness made him deeply ashamed (as if dentists and teachers are Nothing), but it seemed that there was something to it because they were very mysterious about the fact that I wasn't allowed to visit their home. From the way that my ex poured his attention into that show, with this haunted look about him, I knew that the dysfunctional relationship to things was a part of his very DNA, and a crucial component of the whole entire pathology of his personality. One's obsession or repulsion regarding materialism is definitely not to be dismissed as an innocent quirk unrelated to the core problems of one's soul.

Anyway. Reading the Marie Kondo book was actually a really provocative and enlightening experience for me. I'm planning to do her method as soon as I have time for the sustained marathon she recommends, and I'm really looking forward to what it will reveal even though I know it's going to be a challenge. And also, oddly enough, I've been working through this kind of difficult (annoying but necessary) book about a certain esoteric strain of Virgin Mary iconography, and just this morning I set it down at the end of this particular passage:

I hadn't planned to get into all this today--I didn't even think of it until an hour or so ago--and yet it seems I picked the right day to do it.

#marie kondo #china galland #materialism #takashi miike #object empathy #overshare

[tsenvs3000w24]

Final Post

Hey everyone, can't believe we're already at the end of the road, it feels like I just posted my first post yesterday!

This post is supposed to be all about us, and everything we've learned over the course. It's about how we ourselves would conduct ourselves as nature interpreters.

As a nature interpreter, my personal ethic would be deeply rooted in respect for the environment, and at my core, I wish to promote that I have an unwavering dedication to accuracy and honesty in interpretation, in connection to science.

The role of a nature interpreter means that we have a responsibility to be accurate to the most recent information, while also maintaining the integrity of the natural environmental narrative, which is extremely important when describing and presenting natural history (Beck et al., 2018). There are a lot of responsibilities involved in making sure the interpretation is both accurate and engaging. Therefore, as a nature interpreter, my primary responsibility is to convey accurate information about the natural world in an engaging and accessible manner, helping others develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for biodiversity and ecological processes.

When trying to keep interpretation accurate, in my thoughts, that requires an understanding of, and a connection to science. However, science and interpretation have a tumultuous relationship (Wals et al., 2014). What this means, is that as both a scientist and a nature interpreter, my responsibilities are going to build up between the two, in order to provide the best experience to those I’m teaching. In my eyes, I think my role should be to not only providing information but also to encourage individuals to take meaningful action for conservation. This might involve promoting sustainable behaviors, supporting conservation initiatives, or advocating for environmental policies that protect natural resources. It can also mean encouraging individuals to participate in citizen science projects, support local conservation initiatives, in order to promote support for the environment.

Me personally as an individual, I think the best approach for myself would be a combination of science and nature interpretation. I think an approach that involves collection, sampling, and dissection, all while explaining the importance of what we’re collecting. I also think that something like learning about tracking animals is the perfect way to combine ecological science and nature interpretation.

Tracks from the class trip we took. Left is a photo of squirrel tracks, right is a possible coyote track!

Observing animal tracks is a long studied tradition, that has remained a consistent practice for a very long time. It requires a deep familiarity with the land around you, and a understanding of the species that live alongside you. I recently had the chance to learn about it a little bit in one of my classes, and one of the biggest lessons I learned was that I needed to get way more familiar with my surroundings, because you can find so many things if you just look hard enough.

In conclusion, my approach to nature interpretation would be to integrate it with science, because that’s what I know best.

References:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage :for a better world. Sagamore Venture.

Wals, A. E. J., Brody, M., Dillon, J., & Stevenson, R. B. (2014). Science education. Convergence between science and environmental education. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 344(6184), 583–584. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250515

#envs3000

[dsenvs3000w24]

Who Am I as an Interpreter?

Hey everyone, welcome to my last blog post of this course! It has been a pleasure reading all the different ways people relate to nature and interpret it to others, and I can’t wait to see how everyone describes their beliefs, responsibilities, and unique approaches for this week’s blog.  

I have multiple core beliefs that guide how I approach nature interpretation. One belief I have is that we are all a part of nature. We like to categorize ourselves and our inventions as separate from nature, but we are direct products of nature, and operate by all the same rules as any other species. We influence the environment around us and we as a species can have large impacts on nature, but we are also influenced by the environment and can be equally impacted in turn.

Another belief I have is that nature is not necessarily our “responsibility”, but we should still protect and improve it for our own benefits. There are many services provided to us by our ecosystems and we could not survive on earth without the abundance of nature around us. I think that we get our fundamental needs met by the environment, and that our mental or non-physical growth can be significantly improved by our integration with and appreciation for nature. I also think it is important for everyone to develop their own connections to nature and their own sense of appreciation for the world around them.

I view nature interpretation as a way to share knowledge or spread a certain message. We can provide narratives to a collection of facts, which lets us influence other people’s perspectives and understanding. I think that everyone has unique experiences and perspectives that they can contribute to how we interpret nature, and each person should work on fostering and spreading whatever messages they resonate with.

I think that nature interpreters have a few main responsibilities. The most obvious one to me is to provide accurate information. The point of nature interpretation is to interpret nature, so providing false or misleading information is not a great way to fulfill those responsibilities. In addition to providing accurate information, I think it is also the role of a responsible interpreter to integrate multiple viewpoints into their interpretation to avoid biases and include more diverse sources of knowledge. Providing this variety can provide a more complete picture of nature, while also providing representation for a more diverse audience (Hooykaas, 2024). Another important responsibility is to ensure accessibility. Providing interpretive activities to people with disabilities is both a legal and moral responsibility of nature interpreters and should be a significant consideration of planning and executing any activity (Beck et al., 2018). Finally, to ensure that people have positive experiences, nature interpreters are responsible for the health and safety of their activities. Planning for nature interpretation should always include assessing the risks of a given activity and avoiding or reducing any possible safety risks before beginning the interpretation (Hooykaas, 2024).

As an individual, I think I can cater to a variety of learning styles, since I utilize them myself to varying degrees. I have an auditory learning style, which includes learning by listening to things like lectures, discussions, podcasts (Hooykaas, 2024). I enjoy listening to educational content in my spare time or while I do work, and I listen to tons of different online lectures, educational podcasts, and discussions/debates about politics, philosophy, and science. I also sometimes have a visual learning style, which includes using visual aids such as diagrams or graphs (Hooykaas, 2024). Whenever I learn something new or try to work through a problem, especially with difficult concepts, I try to visualize what I can in my head to help my understanding or I will physically sketch it out to give myself a visual aid. For example, whenever I write a paper, I make sure to write out all my main points as bullets so that I can move everything around afterwards and organize my work in a way that makes sense to me while I can see all my points laid out on my screen. However, my most effective learning style is as a tactile learner, which is learning by experience (Hooykaas, 2024). My favorite and most effective way to learn anything new is to have a specific goal and then to immerse myself in an activity and figure out what I’m doing through physical experiences. For example, I will spend a lot of time learning new scales or theories for music by watching videos, listening to recorded lectures, or reading articles on the subject, but I never fully grasp the concepts until I pick up an instrument and start trying to put those theories into practice. I find that I can build a surface-level understanding and retain information, but until I work through something on my own, I can’t fully integrate the new knowledge into my understanding of the subject. Since I use a diverse set of learning styles, I can make the content I interpret reflect those styles and ensure the activities are digestible and engaging for wider varieties of people (Hooykaas, 2024).

Another approach to nature interpretation where I think I could excel is with cultural or religious approaches, especially pertaining to Judaism. I grew up as a modern-orthodox Jew, and my whole family is Jewish and quite religious, so I have a strong understanding of how Judaism can shape people’s worldviews and environmental ethics.

Here I am at my Shul in 2014 taking pictures for my Bar Mitzvah.

Since I grew up immersed in the Jewish community, I can relate to other Jewish people from both a cultural and religious standpoint and can interpret nature to others through this shared lens of Jewish perspectives. Places of worship can potentially be excellent at motivating communities to organize politically and take environmental actions, but environmentalism is not currently a significant objective for religious communities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) (Caldwell et al., 2022). However, Jewish places of worship in the Greater Toronto Area are some of the most environmentally active places of worship and are most likely to directly frame their actions as environmentally oriented compared to other faith groups (Caldwell et al., 2022). This encourages the idea that connecting to Jewish groups can potentially be a promising avenue for interpreting nature and environmentalism.

Works Cited

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Chapter 7: Serving diverse audiences. Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For a better world (pp. 127-159). Sagamore Venture.

Caldwell, C., Probstein, N., & Yoreh, T. (2022). Shades of green: environmental action in places of worship. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 12(3), 430-452.

Hooykaas, A. (2024) Unit 02: Teaching learners, ENVS*3000. University of Guelph.

Hooykaas, A. (2024) Unit 03: Risk versus reward in interpretation, ENVS*3000. University of Guelph.

[sunstranded]

INTJ: Identity Crisis

I have asked myself numerous times if I truly am an INTJ. I always sound and tend to assert myself as someone so sure; I am not, nothing ever is.

In commemoration to redoing my layout fully (along with other personal reasons), I shall disclose a curious discourse today.

A four-narrative about being an INTJ, non-INTJs, MBTI is a tool, and the self. Let's get started.

One: Being an INTJ, Rarity

I can go so far to also say I am enneagram 5w6 and an INTJ female. If we are talking statistics, that is really rare. The enneagram type is rare already; the INTJ is also rare, but even more if it is associated to a female. Anyone would want to feel special enough and claim such a title. Not me. No.

Sometimes I wish I was simpler, more relatable, not so easily ostracized. INTJs are described to not care for the norm and others but that is only because of the trickster Fe function. The norm, other people's likes and dislikes— alludes us, deceives us. That manifests in not caring enough to fit in which is a more accurate thing to say. INTJs is a personality type associated to how a person ticks. So the human person in question still has the innate need to belong.

I sometimes wonder, in my search for belongingness, must I let the world shape me? I would rather not. I like being who I am, detached from the titles, the statistics, the stereotypes. I like being a human person, even if numerous times I am not deemed so.

With all these, I feel the necessity of proof and reference, so let me just disclose that mere statistics of INTJ females and 5w6s mean nothing to me. I feel rare. I feel alone. I have been told too many times that I am rare; from how I think, present myself, all of that accumulate to justify that I am in fact alone. I am not so preposterous to say I am alone at the top; I feel as though I am on level ground with everyone else but I am alone anyway. Too frequently people had called me mature for my age or even when I was younger; it just begs the question: am I such an novel anomaly to people that it is deemed mature?

It hurts to feel lonely in supposed compliments. It makes me sound even more of a jackass for suffering in supposed success.

Do not be mistaken, I take pride in who I am but not how other people perceive me.

Two: Non-INTJs, the certain uncertainty

I fear, sometimes, that I may be wrong. That I am not at all an INTJ 5w6. Surely, I am physiologically female but whenever I hear INTJ memes, stereotypes, and numerous people asserting them as such, I then ask, why do I still feel like I do not belong?

There are people well versed in the Jungian Theory that they can tell apart the non-INTJs so adamant to be one and the real ones. I don't really have a purposeful use or need to be certain I am one but I know it would feel quite reassuring.

Especially since I have learned early on that acting in my default settings is so alien and frowned upon that I often times wear masks. I like to believe my behavior, the mask, is to be merely be appropriate and proper— it is my cognition and of my design, so I am still who I think I am. If I were to act as I think, I will be subjected to being that asshole of a person so detached from human emotion that I cannot possibly have a sliver of consideration for others. Hence, when the masks is to protect myself, the inevitability of hurt makes it all the more painful.

Enough of this dramatic masquerade of words, the point is I got lost in my masks. Who am I, in the barest reality? Who is this person I take pride in so much?

I want to answer that more than being an INTJ, paradoxically, I fear that I may not even be an INTJ— that it was one of the many masks.

Three: MBTI not AS a tool but IS a tool

The personality typing like enneagram or the MBTI to me started as a means to be a better communicator, a better person all-round. Of course, for a job you would need tools and I chose the personality system of Carl Jung's 8 Cognitive functions to help serve my purpose.

It works. It works so well that my tool became synonymous to my being. I became the hammer and nail to my own coffin. I have buried myself deep into relying the system that I sound so silly now, fearing if I am even an INTJ.

The lesson I learned in all these was behaving certain ways in certain situations is similar to wearing the appropriate attire to the occasion. It is normal— it is not deceitful. Moreover, I remember the start of this all, silly of me to forget. Knowing I am an INTJ is the tool I use to navigate the world as a person. To make my meaning known and to understand others better.

Four: The Self

This feels like a personal essay; I did try my best to keep it lesson-like and emotive but at the same time impersonal and unrecognizable. I hope this breaks stereotypes? I find the memes amusing but dangerous. I find the descriptions much the same. People need to be more weary and cautious of those descriptions that illicit the barnum effect. I am too lazy to explain it here, but let us just say there are descriptions that we all want to be and believe we are. Such as: wanting genuine friends.

This is so common that I fear people leave digital footsteps towards a misguided understanding of who they are. That really takes away the utility of having a system to comprehend yourself and make yourself comprehensible. Which, in reality, is the whole point of giving our personalities, our cognition, a name— to be known.

I am too lazy to properly tag, I don't really care. Oh, and as I have said, this is to commemorate my full layout change along with. The masterlist is on the works and yes, you may ask if you want.

I doubt, with how this app works nowadays, that people will and that people will even find me anyway... since I don't like properly tagging as well.

Also, I hate to break it to people, I don't talk like this because of the masks but this is how I think. There are cases where I forget to mask and filter how I speak and people that hear me are left confused.

#mbti #intj #intj female

[microsuedemouse]

that whole thing about people making characters in fanfiction talk and think in modern social justice terminology or identify with hyperspecific microlabels or whatever... ties in a lot with many other issues we see in discourse around fiction, in general

the relationship to 'all my media must be Morally Pure' is pretty obvious, imo - making all of our characters talk as if they are fully versed in real-world 21st century intersectional politics, and also have had eight years of deep-reaching and successful therapy

but also, there's a strong connection with the notion of how like... so many people want all of their representation - especially queer and neurodivergent rep, from what I've seen - to be not only present but also *very explicitly stated and described.* which, to a certain degree, I understand, but also... it's just not realistic, nor is it necessarily even the best way to go

lots of people get through life quite happily without the specific language to describe their experience of the world - perhaps even without the full knowledge that their experience Can be described specifically. lots of people don't feel the need to apply labels to everything, or perhaps never find labels that feel entirely accurate or useful. you will see me self-describe with as 'ace, bi, and non-binary' - but I very genuinely do not feel any need to label the ways in which I am queer. I use these as shorthand to let others know roughly where I'm at, and to relate to other people and their experiences... but I don't need them. all three are, at best, vague indicators of where I fall with regards to gender and attraction. many folks will use different words because they're coming from another time, another place, another language. many people will never learn there are words that might fit them. many people won't really care.

in both fic and original work, over the years, I've written tons of characters who are ace, or bi, or autistic, or ADHD, or chronically ill, or mixed-race, or etc. etc., but never use any especially specific terms to refer to those experiences. a lot of them don't even spend that much time thinking about it. in fact, with many of them, it's at most only implied in-fiction - gestured at, alluded to, but never expressly described. frequently it's at least in part because the story just isn't really about that. but also, it's because finding that language isn't a priority for them, or else that they exist in a setting where it wouldn't make sense for them even to stumble across it. (it is, believe it or not, a very Online thing to be as obsessed with labels and language as many of us are in fandom spaces like tumblr and AO3. I'm not saying no one outside these circles cares about labels and stuff, but a LOT of people don't care that much, either.) on top of that, especially when you're talking about original work... leaving things up to interpretation allows your audience to fill things in themselves. I want to build in the space for headcanons. I want my readers to be able to see what they'd like to see. to me personally, the character that tons of audience members can see themselves in, all in different ways, is often better representation than a character who is Very Specifically One Thing. not always! but often.

this is pretty much just a stream of consciousness rn, and I'm definitely not covering all my bases, but it's just... something I find myself reflecting on in fandom lately. you can write a character to match all your headcanons and experience all the feelings you want them to experience without needing them to say all the applicable words.

#fandom #fanfiction #Courtney thinks

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: (700026129933860864) Thank you so much for your thorough response. I believe I am INFP, just in a grip, but am open to the possibility that I am mistyped.

Background info, brief due to limited space: my mother is ISFJ (I could not get her to take the test because she thinks of MBTI as horoscopes and personality types as destiny), but the people and society she has lived with have a very strong preference for Te. She unknowingly tries to find harmony (Fe) with people (e.g. my father) by strongly and again unknowingly trying hard to talk the Te talk. So I (& my siblings; I am the only one with Te in my stack - I have always played the "parent" role in my family) was raised with emphasis on Te (raised to be in a grip?), even envy because no one actually used Te "well". Mixed in are Confucian values (being Chinese) - repeatedly told that deviation from my mother's values = not filial, = betraying her by not working towards "rich and successful" to avenge on my father for mistreating her.

At school and work - can't claim I did this very often, but whenever I did mention I like to write or show my little poems or drawings, etc., I was laughed at or just told "you have no talent". (Thinking back, what can one expect in an AP math class or a cut-throat Manhattan office?) I learned to hide my (N to a certain extent) FP and act out my best rendition of (S)TJ - the better I could build a financial model, organize a project or analyze in a transactional manner a business decision, the more external recognition I got, the more career progression I got, and the more I hid my (N)FP. All done with a price of mental distress - your guides describe what I experienced very accurately.

Analogy: though left-handed, I was told since young that only right hand is "good"; the more I got rewarded, the better I got at using it. But I had to expend a lot of extra energy using my right hand, and actually, subconsciously don't believe it and even hate myself for it. Unaware of this until ~10 years ago, I have been struggling with "shedding the baggage" (habits, reward, self-esteem, etc.) associated with using my right hand while also realizing my left hand has gotten rusty due to lack of practice. Socially, I have close to no support or understanding for “coming out” as FP because my family's culture hasn't changed, and the “identity” I have with my "friends" (almost all from work) has been constructed from the TJ they have known me as (or they don't want to hear about FP "soft feeling" stuff). I.e. I feel highly not integrated.

As you wrote: I have "immense difficulty staying true to myself." I have attempted to remove obstacles as your wrote, but keep faltering: left my formal business positions a few years ago, but keep interviewing when jobs are proposed to me and doing freelance business projects but not enjoying them; entered a formal creative writing program but constantly fighting in my head (how do I get published, what kind of competitions or social media presence could help me gain recognition, vs. writing isn't about this, I need to learn to enjoy the act of writing, etc.) and also disappointed that many of my classmates aren't that "pure and passionate" with their pursuit of writing. (These are generalizations and probably made a bit extreme to convey the points with little space.) I haven't lived with my mother since college, but every so often would stay with her for a few months to take care of her.

Follow-up questions: I agree with your 2 & 3 about my inability to distinguish values, traits, introspect/interrogate, etc. I understand their definitions, and can even explain to others. But when I read your sentence, I felt a visceral reaction, a small panic in my stomach that flashed "oh, I have absolutely no idea how to define each of these for myself."

Do you understand that you're essentially saying you don't have dominant Fi at all? While chronic inferior grip does happen, it is rare, and not what you think it looks like. Te grip does NOT accurately encapsulate your problems. It seems you are operating on some misconceptions or gaps in knowledge. I don't consider it my job to convince people about their type because it's none of my business. Purely as a courtesy, I say something whenever I believe people may be mistyped, but it's up to them to sort it out for themselves. Unless you decide to submit a thorough type assessment by carefully following the instructions on the contact page, I won't discuss tips for function development. Some people get deeply convinced of the wrong type and it does them no good in the long run. Time and time again, I've seen such individuals lock themselves into the wrong self-image and it actively prevents them from gaining the self-awareness they require for personal growth. I strongly suspect you are one of these individuals.

(I often tend to run my analytical mind on turbo on whatever problem I encounter - I have been practicing mindfulness with my therapist, to get to my feelings and body sensations before my analytical side jumps out and "takes over".)

You are correct to identify this as a significant obstacle. However, this is NOT an INFP problem and even helps rule out INFP. If you believe it is easy for INFPs to block out feelings, lose touch with body sensation, and find comfort in intellectualization, then you don't know what it means to be INFP. This problem more likely indicates that T is your tertiary function (not the inferior function). You use "analysis" as an unconscious defense mechanism against uncomfortable feelings and emotions, indicating that F is the auxiliary function that is poorly developed (not the dominant function). If you are indeed N, then logic dictates that there are only two possibilities: ENFP and INFJ. If you are perhaps not N, then you'd have to consider ESFP and ISFJ as well. Given the scattered evidence I've processed, IMO, any of these four types would fit you better than INFP at this point.

So, what can I do to start learning how to distinguish them? I couldn’t find a better way of asking this question as they all sound simplistic, rhetorical, or too close/open-ended. E.g. I know it’s not reading books that describe these concepts, so I can’t say “could you suggest a reading list.” It's also not “get CBT as opposed to general talk therapy” or “do meditation” as it’s not a simple prescription that will help me.

For your 4 - I have indeed tried to visualize my positive potential but just could not - as you said, the obstacles have not been removed yet. As mentioned, I have tried to remove what I know as obstacles, but I discovered they leave holes that I don't know with what/how to fill. E.g. Leaving my business career means I don't get the adrenaline from all the action daily and the external recognition to (unhealthily) hold up self-esteem. But without the adrenalin and movement, I feel I have lost all triggers/forces and momentum to take actions on a daily basis (depressive tendencies), only feel inertia, and also have not learned to give value to self-recognition. How do I create a break/what does one look like to overcome what seems like a chicken-and-egg relationship between removing obstacles and positive visualization, to get out of the vicious and enter a virtuous cycle?

These are problems to work on with your therapist. There's not much more I can say without your true type. The advantage of knowing your type is that it provides a roadmap to guide you. Without that roadmap, it is much more difficult to reach down to the root causes of your problems. Getting in touch with your feelings and emotions is a very important thing to do because they are generally an important source of self-knowledge (especially in cases where it would aid auxiliary F development). You should keep working on it. The deeper problem seems to be that you really don't know yourself because you basically have no identity of your own. Whatever identity you possess has been cobbled together through the process of internalizing the judgments of everyone around you. Over and over, you've chosen to give in to social pressures to put on flimsy masks or false ideals and be someone you're not. You are, in a sense, very addicted to social validation in many forms. According to what I've observed in people with this problem, they can't kick the addiction because they're unable/unwilling to face up to very deep-seated fears about what their life would look like without it - perhaps that's a place to start. In other words, they benefit too much from denying who they are to ever want to stop. You keep saying you're in pain/distress, but perhaps it's not yet painful/distressful enough for you to grasp the full cost of self-denial and finally see the benefits of stopping.

#mistyping #ask

[girlfromvulcan]

The Sandstorm : a sylou scribble

The sandstorm had caught them unexpectedly. Sybok had led them to a small shelter, one of many throughout the valley. Louise wasn't fond of confined spaces, but given the choice of the weather outside, she would just have to deal. She was relieved to see a combined bathroom/toilet area, kitchen area, and two chairs that could convert into beds. Vulcans were, if nothing else, practical. 

They sat on either side, emptying their bags for their indefinite stay.

"There is no need for alarm," Sybok smiled at her. He didn't seem concerned with the shelter being buffeted by gale-force winds and the lights occasionally dimming.

"I will check on weather conditions to see when this will pass," He said, taking his PADD out.

"I'm not alarmed, just a bit claustrophobic," She replied and began to fidget nervously with the hem of her coat.

"I see. Intriguing."

"Hardly. Intriguing would imply something pleasant. This does not feel pleasant."

"Is there anything I can do to ease your discomfort with our situation?" He didn't look up at her as he tapped away on the screen.

"Stop the sandstorm?"

"Unfortunately, I do not have jurisdiction over atmospheric circulation."

"I was trying to be funny." Louise opened her bag and sifted through the contents. A bottle of water, and some snack bars. Nothing too appealing, but it would have to do.

"As was I."

"We could tell each other something about our past? We've got 13 years to catch up on, right? It might take my mind off how small this place is."

"Agreeable. You may commence." 

He placed his PADD to the side and waited for her to begin.

"Okay, let me see. Hmmm, when I was little, I used to sleepwalk everywhere. My parents would find me in the craziest places. Sometimes I'd wake up in the bathtub. They would often find me sitting on a chair with my feet on my brother's bed. They even found me out on the back step of our house once in the middle of winter."

"Somnambulism."

"What?"

"Somnambulism. It is a sleep disorder belonging to the Parasomnia family. Quite common in children of your species."

"Oh, well, it was a little bizarre. They never knew where they would find me in the morning. I eventually grew out of it, of course. I don't do it anymore. What about you, any quirky behaviour as a child?"

"No. Vulcan children do not exhibit "quirky behaviour" and I certainly did not traverse about in a state of low consciousness." 

He gave her a look that she often described as "Vulcan Sass".

Ignoring him, she continued.

"I got lost once in a shopping facility. A sea of food replicators surrounded me. I was so short, and it seemed like they were these tall robotic giants towering above me. I remember being scared, and I might have even been crying when my father found me. I had a habit of wandering off and exploring."

"Curiosity?"

"I guess I was curious. Not always a good thing. I used to drive my parents crazy," She smiled at him.

"Curiosity is the learning path. It is an admirable quality."

"Try telling my parents that when they couldn't find me for hours!! They weren't as encouraging as you. I loved to draw and paint, too, still do. I would spend hours drawing weird aliens…ahhhhh…sorry, that was rude of me."

"There is no offence where none is taken. However, I am alien to your species as you are to mine."

"I know it just seems rude to say it like that. But, I promise you they were never as handsome….." Her face grew hot. 

Sybok didn't seem to pick up on her slip of the tongue, or he just chose to ignore it.

"The Vulcan race is, in Human terms, handsome. That would be an accurate description."

"Well, aren't you rather full of yourself as you've gotten older?"

"Louise, I did not say I found myself to be handsome. I rarely consider my physical appearance. I am unaware if it is pleasing or not."

"You've never checked yourself out in a mirror?" She gave him a sceptical look. 

There were mirrors all over the Vulcan Embassy. Maybe they just hung them up for all the Humans that drifted through the hallways.

"No," He flatly replied.

"I see. Well, I wish I had your self-confidence." She pulled out her notebook and rummaged for a pen.

"You do not believe yourself to be handsome?"

"I hope not!! I'd go for adorably cute; handsome makes me sound a little mannish." Louise looked up to find he had moved closer to her and was intent on regarding her. 

"What? Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Symmetrically, it is almost perfect. Your eyes are of a pleasing shape, neither small nor overly large. The color is unremarkable and quite common in my species. Your nose appears to have been injured at some point, but it lends character to your features. Curious, I had not noticed that before. It was not like that when we first met. Your mouth is in proportion to the frame of your eyes and nose. There is a certain balance to your face. You may be referred to as "beautiful" on some worlds," Sybok was still studying her. The weight of his stare was making Louise uncomfortable.

"You're making me self-conscious," she said softly. His eyes met hers. He didn't speak for what seemed like an eternity.

"That was not my intention," he replied quietly.

"No, I…I… know… I'm not good with compliments." She glanced out the window.

"It was not a compliment."

"Oh great, now I feel even weirder about what just happened. So let's just not talk."

It was quiet between them for a while. Then he spoke.

"Kadith."

"Huh?"

"Kadith. What is, is."

"Yes, I know what it means; why are you saying it?"

"Regarding your facial features, I was merely describing what is."

"Well, thank you," Louise smiled politely.

"I did not compliment you; therefore, your thanks are not needed."

"Okay, feeling uncomfortable again. Can we just not talk about my face, its proportions, or if it was a compliment or not?"

"If you wish." Sybok went back to his reading, and she went back to find a pen to draw with.

"Thank you," Louise immediately shot him a look as if to tell him, "Don't you dare say anything!".

Silence descended on the shelter, and neither spoke. Instead, he busied himself with correspondence, and she began to sketch her hand.

"How did you injure your nose?" Sybok asked.

Louise looked down at her notebook and let out a long sigh. She knew he wouldn't be able to resist asking about her nose. Louise just hoped he didn't see her in a different light if she opened up to him.

"I apologize. I do not wish for you to discuss something painful."

"No, it's fine. If you must know, it was gifted to me by my ex-husband. He broke it. See this imperfect nose." She pointed at the small bump on her bridge. "This is why I have never been "referred to" as beautiful back home."

More silence.

"I believe they say on Earth, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Could it be you have not met such a person who sees this quality in you?"

"My track record with men isn't excellent."

"You have a log for men?" Sybok raised both eyebrows. 

Louise laughed at his shocked expression.

"No. God, no!! That's not what I meant; it's a saying. It means I don't have the best taste in men." 

He immediately seemed less horrified.

"Perhaps you should make a more thorough assessment of your needs. A spreadsheet of sorts."

"How very Vulcan."

"Logic is useful in some instances. What do you desire in a male?"

Louise could tell she had his complete and utter attention now, and there was no getting out of compiling a verbal list for him. Nevertheless, she found it a little odd that the Vulcan Minister would be so interested in her likes and dislikes in men.

"Let's see……I would like someone kind, compassionate and faithful. Someone who doesn't consider me their punching bag. Good sense of humour. Being employed is always a plus. Supports my career."

Louise could tell he was in deep thought. Sybok always tilted his head slightly when he contemplated something. In truth, she had described him. After all these years, a small space in her heart always held onto him.

"Am I boring you?" She smiled.

"Not at all. I was calculating the percentages of finding such a person. I believe your wants and needs are a solid foundation for procuring a satisfactory mate."

"Percentages please?" She had to hear this. Hopefully, it was a high number.

"I calculate them at 98.9%."

"Well, that's hopeful; thank you, Minister. Now, what about you? Surely, some lovely young thing has snapped you up after all these years?"

"I have no bond-mate."

"But what do you look for in a woman?"

"I do not look." 

She could see his Vulcan mask of no emoting going up across his face. He'd also replied quickly to her question. A little too soon, in her opinion.

"You don't look? There must be someone?"

"Why would I disclose such information to you?" He broke eye contact. Most unusual for him.

(GOTCHA!)

"I knew it! Who is she? Does she work at the Embassy? Is she here on Vulcan?" Sybok didn't seem like a guy who would date, let alone have a crush on someone. Although to be honest, she was a little jealous that Sybok might have found someone.

"Yes."

"Wait….what…yes to the first or last parts? You're being rather evasive for a Vulcan, you know."

"I will not speak about it further." 

He went back to working on his PADD.

"Does she know?"

"You are incorrigible, Louise." 

Sybok looked out the window and then glanced back over at her.

"It looks like the storm is abating."

(Nice try, Mr. Vulcan)

If anything, the storm had picked up ferocity. It wasn't abating anywhere, anytime soon.

"Don't change the subject. I want details," 

Who was the incredible woman that has managed to capture his attention? He had never mentioned anything to her in their many conversations, and she thought they shared enough of a history where he would have told her.

"You will not be getting details."

"You're no fun. Are you dating?"

"No, I am not "dating" her. She is unaware of my intentions."

"All those lunches we've shared, and you never said anything. Just listened to me ramble on like a crazy person."

"I have always enjoyed our time together. Of course, you have a predisposition to "ramble," but it is not unpleasant."

"Is she Vulcan?"

"She is female." Sybok smiled slightly. 

Her questions were amusing him, or he enjoyed teasing her with incomplete information snippets.

"Ohhhhh, the plot thickens."

"There is not a plot." Sybok rolled his eyes.

"Hmmmmmm, well….she must be a VERY remarkable Vulcan, female what-have-you. When are you going to make your move?"

"Make my move? Unclear."

"Let your intentions be known. Tell her how you feel."

"When the time is suitable, I see no hurry to do so."

"Well, you're a cool cucumber." She stifled a yawn.

Sybok's brows knitted together. Louise knew he was trying to understand what chilled fruit from the gourd family had to do with his attraction toward a woman.

"You require rest; the hour is late."

"I guess you're right. It's been a long day. But, I'd still like to know about this mystery woman of yours."

"There is no mystery involved, Louise. Now come, you may lean against me. It will grow cold as the night progresses. Your warmth will be agreeable."

"Are you sure? What about the whole touching business?"

"I am more than capable of shielding myself from your thoughts and you from mine."

"Well, you're my Supervisor. This could be considered inappropriate back on Earth," Louise smiled sweetly at him and moved over to where he was. 

If he were a Deltan or Orion, she might have thought twice about his suggestion. However, Vulcans weren't known for their Casanova tendencies.

"Louise, I assure you I will be able to resist your Human charms."

"Hmmm, not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult!"

"It was meant as neither."

Sybok leaned against the wall with legs stretched out in front. She slid up next to him. It felt like a first date to Louise, they didn't know where to put their arms, and it was all ridiculously awkward. They eventually settled into a position that was comfortable for each other. She rested her head on his chest, and Sybok placed his arm around her without any romantic intention. He was careful to make sure his fingertips made no contact with her body by forming a loose fist with his hand. His body temperature was cooler than hers, and his offer to cozy up had been self-serving. He'd often mentioned his dislike for colder environments. Louise had become his Human electric blanket.

He continued to read his PADD and compose emails.

"I'll find out who she is," she said, barely awake.

"No doubt you will incessantly pester me over the coming weeks," he replied. 

"Please rest, Louise. We have a long walk back tomorrow morning. I will stay awake to make sure no harm comes to us throughout the night."

Louise closed her eyes at his promise. She knew he would keep her safe. He always had. The wind had a rhythmic sound, and it was lulling her to sleep. She was just in that twilight where the dream world and real-world blurred together, indistinguishable from each other. She wasn't sure if she imagined it but felt the barest of touch on her face. Cool and gentle. Calmness followed the contact, and then she heard him. He didn't speak out loud. It was as if his voice was within her.

"Vaksurik du itisha."

She needed to remember this, but she rarely recalled her dreams the next day. If it was real or imaginary, she liked how it felt or, more importantly, how he felt.

+++++

Vaksurik du itisha - "You are beautiful."

+++++

#sybok and louise #sylou #sylouscribbles #TS4 #my writings

[madam-libraaarian]

I always end up being a little late for these things, but I wanted to do something real quick for Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month. I myself am neurotypical, but as a writer, I'm making an effort to diversify my characters as much as possible, so I'd like to introduce two of my characters who are both on the autism spectrum. This is Damien and Katie. They're step siblings, and even though I'm still learning how to portray them accurately, I think they're a great example of how people with autism aren't all the same.

Damien's autism is displayed much more openly than his sister's. He was diagnosed with ASD at a young age and grew up with a strong support system because of that. He has a special interest in baseball and other sports, and he also experiences physical tics due to having comorbid Tourette's. Even though he was well-supported and received ABA therapy that helped him learn how to communicate and regulate himself in a healthy manner, Damien faced a lot of bullying as a child, and Katie often had to stand up for him. Despite this, Damien remained a very happy and lighthearted guy, and as an adult he uses his experience to connect with and help children dealing with the same things he did on the special needs baseball team he volunteers for.

Katie had a very different story. Like many young girls with autism, Katie began masking her symptoms when she was very young. She learned how to imitate reactions and emotions she saw in other people even when she didn't really understand them. Because of this, she remained undiagnosed throughout all of her adolescence, and most people simply interpreted her behavior as her being standoffish or rude. She has a bit of an RBF. She dealt with a lot of turmoil surrounding this, growing frustrated when she struggled to relate with others and manage her own emotions effectively, often describing herself as feeling like an alien trapped on earth. She found an outlet for this frustration in studying boxing which allowed her to stim in a way she had previously not allowed herself to and quickly became a special interest for her. In highschool, she also made a connection with her best friend and partner, Ronnie, who was one of the first people who took the time to connect with her in a way that no one ever had before. Katie felt that Ronnie was the first person to ever get her, and she says she was the first person who ever made her feel "human". It wasn't until her late 20's when, after a particularly revealing conversation with Damien and Ronnie ("Wait? That isn't how everyone feels?"), that Katie received a proper diagnosis and began to properly understand that there was nothing wrong with the way her mind works.

These two are both characters from one of my current WIPs, Diamond in the Rough, and again, I'm obviously still learning. I'm hoping to put a ton of research into this project so that I can give it the accuracy it deserves. I love Katie and Damien very dearly, and I hope I'll be able to do them enough justice that one day people can relate to them and feel as celebrated as they deserve to be.

Happy Autism Awareness Month!

#katie #damien #my art #traditional art #autism #autistic characters #autism acceptence month #autism awareness month

[scoups4lyfe]

Hebi Anon

(I'm just gonna say this outright, Donbrothers bounced me right off starting with and after episode 14 and I had some problems before then. I just found what I considered problems too egregious to overlook anymore at that point. Infact thinking about those episodes still makes me mildly upset. Maybe seeing your opinions later on will change my mind?)

Taro isn't perfect, but for the most part he's being displayed as perfect nonetheless. He's the best fighter, the most experienced, does most of the heavy lifting in fights, has powers the others lack, outright says he brings good fortune to others, etc. Jin outright stating that "[Taro] is the solution to learn from" is currently one of the biggest examples of others describing him as a form of perfect and you will see other examples of Taro being put on the "perfect" pedestal. Now I fully understand that deconstructing the trope of "The Ace" is the point of Taro's story, but I don't like how it's being dealt with and I'll save that for when it comes up.

Though I suppose it's more accurate to say "exceptional vs unexceptional" instead of "perfect vs imperfect".

As for the lack of understanding. At least to me and at this point in the show, it feels like Taro doesn't just not understand but is ACTIVELY REFUSING to understand others. Take the lying for example. "I don't understand why people lie", it comes off (again, to me) like "why would anybody do something so obviously and objectively wrong" when he near daily experiences a reason why lying would benefit him in a small way: Rock, Paper, Scissors. His coworkers use the game to put some of the work off themselves and onto him. If he just doesn't answer "which are you going to choose" (which would not be telling a lie), he'd win and nobody would be hurt.

Another example would be his answer to Haruka and Saruhara's questions. Yes that is the truth (not knowing what's going on but acting because it needs to be done), but the tone comes off to me as "Why are you asking pointless questions? Just do it like I do. Why don't you understand that?". Unlike lying, this isn't a moral quandary, they're just trying to make sense of things, so why say something like that when a simple "I'm sorry I don't know either. I never asked why before. This is just something I've been doing" probably wouldn't have elicited the "try to understand other people better" response

I understand neurodivergency, I have bad ADHD myself and I think that I only started to understand the social aspect of life a few years ago. But there's still a difference between being incapable of understanding and refusing to understand (Me and a lot of my friends have been burned way too many times by neurotypical people getting angry at us asking what they think are obvious questions that we don't pick up the answers to due to being ND, so this gets a strong reaction out of me)

There's A LOT more I want to say, but to avoid spoilers I'll keep it until you reach those points in the show. If this is too negative for you, say so and I'll stop.

WOOHOO!!! I love long asks <333

Esp ones with differing opinions and takes; because discussion is so much fun for me to delve into LOL

So keep 'em coming homie, this isn't too negative for me at all lmaooo. You could demean my entire character and call me stupid and I'd be like "wow!!! Great discussion point---" hahhaahahaha.

It'll be interesting to hear about your takes as we continue, I'll surely write an essay/analysis on Donbrothers at some point, but I want to wait till like at LEAST episode 10

(I only wrote analysis for Revice after episode 10 enlightened the way I looked at the prior 9 episodes LOL)

No idea if anything I'll do or say will change the way you feel or think on a subject but :33

There IS one thing I'll say rn about Momoi and 'actively refusing to understand others'

(Quoting you, so I don't gotta keep scrollin up LOL): Take the lying for example. "I don't understand why people lie", it comes off (again, to me) like "why would anybody do something so obviously and objectively wrong" when he near daily experiences a reason why lying would benefit him in a small way: Rock, Paper, Scissors. His coworkers use the game to put some of the work off themselves and onto him. If he just doesn't answer "which are you going to choose" (which would not be telling a lie), he'd win and nobody would be hurt.

Hmmmmmm.

I think it's really easy to judge things by one's own standards in life. Its the reason why people who have never experienced things like mental illness, poverty, food restrictions, etc --- have such a trouble understanding WHY someone is the way that they are, or why they do or make certain actions.

The thing with Momoi is,,,,I don't think he's had anyone to challenge him

(I don't mean in fights)

having someone who is different from you, in thoughts and opinions, is truly one of the best ways to learn and grow. Because the other person challenges the way you think, they challenge your beliefs, and this helps create introspection (and like here, discussion) which is vital in development.

It seems that ever since he was young, his neurodivergency created too hostile an environment for this kind of growth to happen.

He literally has no connections (socially) in life except Jin (who's been JACKED) and his co-workers ---who actively take advantage of Momoi on the daily.

Momoi doesn't understand lying because he's never needed to lie. He's never lied himself. And so if he doesn't need to lie, why would anyone else?

Momoi also likes helping people ---so if someone's asking for his thoughts, he tells them. He doesn't realize the nuance of these situations. He doesn't see it, doesn't recognize it in the facial expressions, or in the way something he says changes the entire mood of the room.

And it's because of these things that he doesn't understand why he keeps losing. There's a lack of connection between 'answering a question' and 'the consequences the answer has'

Quoting you again: Another example would be his answer to Haruka and Saruhara's questions. Yes that is the truth (not knowing what's going on but acting because it needs to be done), but the tone comes off to me as "Why are you asking pointless questions? Just do it like I do. Why don't you understand that?". Unlike lying, this isn't a moral quandary, they're just trying to make sense of things, so why say something like that when a simple "I'm sorry I don't know either. I never asked why before. This is just something I've been doing" probably wouldn't have elicited the "try to understand other people better" response

I get what you're saying here homie :33

But Tarou isn't socialized (LOL)

"I'm sorry, I don't know either" <-- Momoi wouldn't understand why he would need to apologize if he didn't know the answer to something.

(As why would that be his fault?)

"I never asked why before. This is just something I've been doing." <--is an exploration behind your own thoughts and behaviors.

I genuinely do not think Momoi explores his thoughts and behaviors enough to be able to explain them to someone. "I just do this."

Imagine someone fluent in english. If a foreign friend who wants to learn english, asks them, 'Hey why do you say pink elephant, and not elephant pink? Why is it that a goose becomes geese but a moose doesn't become meese??"

If the english speaker didn't take courses teaching on how to teach english to someone else (especially a second language learner) the answer they would have 99% of the time would be: "Lol you just do it? ƪ(ツ)∫"

They don't have the ability to explain why they do something. Because its intuitive -- it's not something they think about.

And Momoi ---because of lack of social and community interaction and engagement --- 100% doesn't know how to explain the why. He's never known how to explain it. All he knows is how to state facts/what to instruct on the next thing to do.

He wouldn't even know why you would *need* to explain the reason behind something. If he knows what needs to be done, then why would you want to know the reason why?

A lot of people who are talented in a particular subject, often aren't good at explaining why they do a thing, or at explaining how to do it, to someone else. Animes often make fun of this --- like in Haikyuu when Hinata describes how to do things with sounds.

"You go krrrr and then BLAM! Got it?"

Everyone else: ..................................w o t

This is why asking someone why they do something if they learned it intuitively is really quite pointless because nearly every time the answer is:

ƪ(ツ)∫

...

This is why I got so "AHHhhHHhhHHHh" When Haruka and Haiku tell Momoi he needed to understand people better, because he doesn't even know how to do that?

And because of this it makes him feel more isolated and othered. Momoi already thinks something's "not good" about him, and their responses really just confirm it. Because in him 'needing to understand people better' it just tells Momoi that he doesn't understand people ---that something about him is broken, or wrong, or Not Good and because of this he lacks this "understanding."

He lacks being a part of "people."

That's why I said the next shot was interesting because it looked like Momoi was at a confessional. Like he was a sinner confessing his sins to some omnipotent God.

Doubly interesting, seeing as the people he's "confessing" to are Haruka and Haiku who immediately condemn his lack of understanding.

Momoi isn't refusing to understand, he never learned how -- no one taught him, or told him, and he doesn't even know how to state what he doesn't know. Unlike everything else, understanding is something he can't learn intuitively. He doesn't even know how to ask: 'How do I understand people better?"

And because of this he sees himself seated in the place of a "sinner." In the place of someone who confesses what he knows. Who confesses his truth, only to be condemned for it. Everyone else are the omnipotent God ---they know what he doesn't, they understand --- something he clearly lacks, and because of this he'll always be lesser than them.

He'll always be "Not Good."

(Really funny homie as we reacted to this scene very strongly because of the same principle but on two totally separate ends LOL)

You're upset and frustrated because you read this scene as Momoi being a CHAD and condemning Haruka and Haiku for asking pointless questions instead of "just doing it."

I was upset and frustrated (taking much psychic damage) because I read this scene as Haruka and Haiku condemning Momoi for what they think are obvious questions that he should be asking, what they think/believe are obvious and socially universal things --when Momoi doesn't even pick up on the questions. When he doesn't even realize he should be asking them.

He only picks up on the facts. And his fact, is that he doesn't have all the answers, and just knows what he needs to do/what needs to be done.

That was his confession.

And he was condemned for it.

#anyways I get exactly where you're coming from #Momoi is just a simple guy #no self introspection #no social understanding whatsoever #no connection between actions in the moment and the 'effects' or consequences caused by them #He doesn't know about tone or how to monitor himself or the mood in a room #he doesn't have the foundation to ask questions or to understand #He does because that's the only thing he CAN do #my thougts #avataro sentai donbrothers #donbrothers liveblog #donbrothers #before harvesting season #6 peach falls #who let delivery boy bring a parade float to a gun fight #hebi anon 🫡🤝💋 #asks #sentaisouped

[pathos-logical]

[ID: an animated GIF that reads "Tumblr 2022 My Year In Review", and shows a variety of moving stickers including the anon profile picture, grabs, stars, hearts, the plinko horse, the reblog symbol, and the tumblr symbol. It looks like a page out of highschool sketchbook. End ID.] (ID by @thetragicallynerdy <3)

I posted 7,770 times in 2022

118 posts created (2%)

7,652 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tmoblrina

@pathos-logical

@carfuckerlynch

@generic-internet-name

@three-magpies-in-a-trenchcoat

I tagged 6,482 of my posts in 2022

Only 17% of my posts had no tags

#described - 2,771 posts

#that's my queue - 1,032 posts

#described by me - 809 posts

#storytime - 675 posts

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Longest Tag: 135 characters

#i didn't see a post like this earlier and didn't have time to say it myself but happy diwali to all who celebrate i love you 💜🪔🌟🕯💛

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

who needs IDs, how do they help and why are they used? i've always been curious, i mean no harm by asking, so sorry if this is rude

Not rude at all anon, I'm so glad you asked!! Image descriptions are accessibility aids for vision-impaired folks and anyone who may have issues parsing an image (ex: an autistic person unable to comprehend a visually busy art piece). For people who can't see an image for any reason, IDs provide a way to understand what's on screen, whether it's a meme or tweet or art. For example, a blind person using a screen reader (a device that reads text out loud) wouldn't know what an undescribed all-image post was talking about, but with an ID they could know it's a tweet and then a meme mocking it

IDs can look abstruse and intimidating when you're unfamiliar with them, but I promise they're not! The simplest step to making your blog more accessible is scanning the notes of a post to find a comment with an ID and reblogging that version of the post instead! If you're interested in learning how to write your own IDs, I really love this post as a resource, plus the amazing People's Accessibility Server if you have questions or want to request descriptions! I'd also like to plug my pinned post, which has a link to a doc with templates for a ton of memes so you can describe posts yourself!

I hope this wasn't too much text and that your question was answered clearly, anon! Please feel free to go through my "image descriptions" and "accessibility" tags for more info!

115 notes - Posted October 13, 2022

#4

Copying tags in accessible ways on mobile

(Large text: Copying tags in accessible ways on mobile)

People screenshot tags all the time, whether to share a funny joke or add important commentary, but they often don't realize that this is inaccessible to vision-impaired people and many others. This is a problem because a lot of people primarily use Tumblr on the mobile app, which doesn't let you interact with tags at all unless you screenshot them. However, accessibility is always worth the extra time and effort you can spare, so here are some ways for you to easily copy tags without spending too much of either!

Image-to-text softwares

(Large text: Image-to-text softwares)

If you simply must screenshot those tags, you can still convert them back into usable text! There are plenty of easy-to-use websites that allow you to take any downloaded image and extract the text from them. I prefer onlineocr.net, but the Google Translate app has the same feature! All you need to do is input the image and hit the button, and it'll spit out the text for you to copy. This method is fantastic for images with lots of text, not to mention it's easy to do and generally accurate, and I use it all the time to great effect!

Going to browser

(Large text: Going to browser)

If you're on mobile, it's probably a safe bet to say that your phone also has a browser app. If so, all you need to do to copy the tags from a post is copy the link of said post into a browser and then copy the tags from there. This method can mean extra formatting, since hashtags and links won't copy over, but it's relatively low-effort to do and doesn't take long at all!

Going on PC

(Large text: Going on PC)

If you're on mobile, you can also consider saving the post with desired tags to your drafts. This means you can easily access it on another device, aka a computer, and copy the tags there! Copying tags on desktop is possibly the easiest way to do it, since all you need to do is highlight the text and paste it later- it'll even save the link formatting when you do! The only extra step you might have to do is add spaces between the tags, since they'll automatically come smushed together and only separated by hashtags. This method might mean you take a little longer to reblog the tags, but it is very much worth it to make the post accessible to all!

Going forth

(Large text: Going forth)

These methods are a smidgen more effort than just screenshotting or prev tagging, but I don't think it's a bad tradeoff at all! I hope this can provide quick and easy ways for everyone to get more used to thinking more conscientiously about accessibility. And these aren't your only options- alt text helps people who use screenreaders, and you should always add an image description below screenshots if you're going to add them. Hope this helps!

TL;DR: Instead of screenshotting tags, which makes them inaccessible, other options are: using image-to-text software, copying the tags on a mobile browser, or copying them on desktop Tumblr.

290 notes - Posted January 5, 2022

#3

Gif makers will be like "how can I fit as many inaccessible font options as exist on planet earth into one three-word movie title"

413 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

#2

How to Keep Doing Descriptions (from someone who does a fuckton)

Plain text: How to Keep Doing Descriptions (from someone who does a fuckton)

This is a list aimed mostly at helping people who already write IDs; for guides at learning how to do them yourself, check my accessibility and image description tags! I write this with close to two years of experience with IDs and chronic pain :)

Get used to writing some IDs by using both your phone and your computer, if you can! I find it easier to type long-form on my laptop, so I set up videos and long comics on my phone, which I then prop up against my laptop screen so I can easily reference the post without constantly scrolling or turning my head

I will never stop plugging onlineocr.net. I use it to ID six-word tags, screenshots of posts, and even comic dialogue! On that last note, convertcase.net can convert text between all-caps, lowercase, sentence case, and title case, which is super helpful

Limit the number of drafts/posts-to-be-described you save. No, seriously. I never go above 10 undescribed drafts on any of my four blogs. It doesn’t have to be that low, but this has done wonders (italics: wonders) for my productivity and willingness to write IDs. If I ever get above that limit, even if it’s two or three more, I immediately either describe the lowest-effort post or purge some, and if I can't do that then I stop saving things to drafts no matter what. No exceptions! Sticking to this will make your life so much easier and less stressful

My pinned post has a link to a community doc of meme description templates!

Ask! For! Help! Please welcome to the stage the People’s Accessibility Server! It’s full of lovely people and organized into channels where you can request/volunteer descriptions and ask/answer questions

I make great use of voice-to-text and glide typing on my phone to save my hands some effort!

Something is always better than nothing!!! A short two-sentence or one-sentence ID is better than no ID at all. Take it easy :)

If you feel guilty about being unable to reblog amazing but undescribed art, try getting into the habit of replying to OP’s post to let them know you liked it! This makes me feel less pressured to ID absolutely everything I see

I frequently find myself looking at pieces of art which feel like they need to be considered for a bit before I can write an ID for them, and those usually get thrown into drafts, where the dread for writing a comprehensive ID just builds. Don’t do that! Instead, try just staying in the reblog field for a bit and focus on the most relevant aspects of the piece. Marinate on them for a little; don’t rush, but don’t spend more than a handful of seconds either. I find after that the art becomes way easier to describe than it initially seemed!

On that note, look for shortcuts that make IDs less taxing for you to do! For example, I only ever describe clothes in art if they're relevant to the piece; not doing that every time saves a lot of time and energy for me personally

Building off of that, consider excusing yourself from a particular kind of ID if you want to. Give yourself a free pass for 4chan posts, or fanart by an artist who does really good but really complex comics, whatever. Let it be someone else's responsibility and feel twice as proud about the work that you can now allot more energy to!

As always, make an effort to find and follow fellow describers! It’s always encouraging to get described posts on your dash, and I find that sometimes I'm happier to ID an undescribed post when the person who put it on my dash is a friend who tagged it with "no ID"

TL;DR: To make ID-writing less stressful and more low-effort, use different devices and software like onlineocr.net and voice-to-text, limit the amount of work you expect yourself to do, and reach out to artists and other describers!

442 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

[ID: A cropped screenshot of two crabs on the tumblr dashboard. They are right next to each other and both say “love <3.” End ID]

PEACE AND LOVE ON PLANET EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Plain text: Peace and love on planet earth!!!!)

821 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr Year in Review 2022 ->

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #:)))) #my posts #kay talks #described #long post