We already know your opinion about preciousmetalshipping/homieshipping, but what are other ships you like.

(Also what's your opinion on NewReplacementshipping, it's my comfort ship)

hehhehe *rubs hands together* truth is: I don’t ship things very often (mind you, this is coming from an aroace that rarely finds enjoyment in romantic content... hell, I prefer relationships that look and feel more like a QPR or a found family). But, I do find enjoyment in the classics like originalshipping/namelessshipping (As long as people write it correctly... sometimes the fandom can be... yikes... and that goes for all ships- but I feel like it can affect this one and preciousmetal the most). 

But in terms of “OH MY GOD I LOVE THESE GUYS REGARDLESS IF ITS IN A ROMANTIC CONTEXT OR NOT!!” I really like scarfshipping... and I really love the stuff people make with the scarvio kids. Like, just seeing fluffy content in general just makes me so incredibly happy and I- UGHH I just love to see what people make. (Plus, I’m not the type of person to start or partake in a shipping war. I don’t have very strong opinions on anything (... except for the... you know... nasty shit that’s just... disgusting.. I shouldn’t have to elaborate... it’s in my dni)).

And as for newreplacementshipping, I can definitely see why people would like it! And I would too, but I personally hc that Lyra is aroace. And I love thinking of them having bestie moments and having fun little sleepovers where they can gossip about anything or pull silly pranks on Ethan (Which they do... a lot). I see them almost like sisters (Much like how I see Ethan and Lyra as sibs or Ethan and Kris as sibs. They’re all like siblings in my mind). But if I take away my hc for a moment, I can see a lot of empowerment between the two and honestly I think they’d thrive in a romantic relationship. I don’t get any toxic vibes!

hi! i'd love 2 be in your jjk match-up event hehe :D I'm 18 years old and I identify as queer, my big three are leo (sun) libra (moon) and virgo (rising). i'm an infp so i'm quite introverted but i'm very emotionally aware and open around my friends. i'm a psychology major and i love love LOVE psychology so so much, i'm an absolute nerd for it. i also love learning new languages. I'm very sentimental and i value things like letters or anything someone brings me out of genuine love. i love writing poetry, especially on people around me! I'm a very clingy person physically and almost always end up holding the hand of the person next to me or hooking my arm around theirs. I'm terrible at social situations and find it hard not to get anxious but once I'm comfortable it's all good

thank you so much! have a good day sweets ♡

I think your Jujutsu kaisen matchup is

Yuta Okkotsu

He likes his friends. They are like family to him. He takes their friendship very seriously and does not want to lose it. When he is finally not lonely, he never wants to go back to that state in his life. He's so much better now.

He is fully aware of his emotions. He knows when he is happy, sad or angry. He only clearly shows happiness. He always tries to somehow contain his anger, although he does not succeed. Sadness is what I want to hide the most. He does not want to sadden others with his sorrow.

He is far from a psychologist, but he influences the psyche of others. He wants to cheer them up as well as repel negative thoughts. Because such thoughts can lead to something that cannot be undone. He knows too much about it.

He hurt someone who was close to him with his negative thoughts.

He can't be someone to literally oil someone else's bad emotions. He is concerned about the very lack of a smile. He will know when something bad happened. This cannot be hidden from him. He has good intuition.

He may feel uncomfortable in certain situations at times. For example, when someone tells him to do something he doesn't want to do. Then he does not know how to react.

He really prefers to be comfortable with loved ones. Which do not order him and make him happy.

In some situations, he is unable not to worry, which makes his interactions with others temporarily strange. This is sometimes a bit of a problem as everyone would like to spend their time in peace. And also someone may want to hide their emotions. However, when Yuta is dealing with a sad person, he becomes sad himself.

Headcanon:

• He's also more of an introvert. So you'll get along. He may not speak much, but everything he says is very nice.

Sitting in silence is also fine. And how satisfied are both of you. Instead of talking to give you confidence and comfort, he can also do it physically.

He hug you up to cheer you up and warm up, or they will sit next to you with a smile on his face.

• He likes it when you are ready to meet friends. I don't want to drag you out of the room just to make friends. You make things easy for him because he knows you don't be your only loved one. And seeing you with other people when you smile makes him happy that he already knows exactly what your feelings are.

He want you to be happy. Friends can provide it. It is certainly better than sitting alone. (Although the two of you are just as well)

• The relationship with him is very delicate. There are no crazy moments. He won't force you or beg you for anything. If you prefer to just sit with him, talk or cuddle, he is always at your disposal.

• Wherever he is, he wants to feel you touching him. When he knows you like to hold and cuddle, he will do it more often than before.

• When he was on longer missions, he tried to send you a photo postcard so you could see what he did. You were on the phone. But a letter with written emotions and feelings is something he cannot give up. Then he knows you'll read it. Definitely. He knows you won't forget it. Or that you will not throw away. You smile a lot when you read this. He would not have been writing letters if he had not started to find it romantic.

You can have an entire cupboard and read those nice words written on the pages.

• He likes to look at photo albums with you. He feels a bit embarrassed when you show him the notes. He can sit next to you with a blush.

And your photos are something she can watch with you. To remember those moments. Pictures and any souvenirs. It just reminds you always of your relationships, adventures and love.

"Please do not read these letters aloud. I wrote them for you, but… But I don't know if I'm ready to hear it what I wrote to you. It was all from the bottom of my heart, but don't make me embarrassed! *smiles with a light pink on his cheeks* Do you remember that crystal heart I brought you? I carved them myself. For you."

How do you feel about endos? Just curious.

Oookay, Riku will probably never get around to this, and while Riku wants to “get all the aspects” addressed in a “diplomatic” manner because it is a “complex and multifaceted discussion”, but they are over thinking this and will literally never do it so I’ll go with the really rough outline that they started and fill it in with what I know of our system.

Sorry if I sound really inflammatory, I’m not a diplomatic person lel 

Also, for comedy sake, I am going to maintain everything Riku kept in this outline and try my best to fill it out. A lot of this I am completely lost on so, there will be moments where I am clearly confused lel

I may get some of our opinions “wrong” because I’m kind of taking a guess from my access of the brain, so I apologize if Riku looks at any asks or reblogs we might get from this and goes WHY DID ADERIS SAY THAT?! I’m trying my best

===

Overall TLDR Opinion: So as a system, we don’t like to be too involved in it publicly. Its a multilayered complex topic with too much nuance for it to be worth advocating for or against, and with how large of a cultural phenomenon it is, it isn’t going to change with us. We don’t think it is likely that DID can be formed without trauma, but we also don’t write it off fully. We strongly however do not like “intentional” systems and find it really offensive and gross. With that being said, we also recognize issues in being too forward about that, so we don’t bother with it much.

More details below the keep reading.

-Aderis (Local Discourse Alter)

Can I follow if…

Yes. We really don’t limit or care who is following us. If you identify as an endogenic, singlet, fictionkin, a roll of toothpaste, we really don’t mind or care. I mean, we’d prefer if transphobes and homophobes and all those gross things weren’t following us because honestly - G r o s s - but also like, whatever.

I guess the only people we don’t want following are people that are actively going to use our posts to hurt others or to fetishize trauma or anything? I don’t think we have much worry for that but yeah nah. If you are endogenic or whatever, you can still follow. Just know that our writing isn’t written for an endogenic crowd.

====

Stages of Understanding DID and Endogenic Spaces

I don’t FUCKING know what Riku meant this. What the FUCK is “stages of understanding DID”? I’ve been sitting here for like... five minutes trying to understand what that meant, but I *think* they were trying to get at the idea of how people come to terms with DID.

If that is the case, then one reasons we don’t want to bash or actively advocate against endogenics is that identifying as an endogenic / endogenic-parallel concepts or finding concepts put out there by endogenics is kind of a stage / easier way to accept the situation since it doesn’t carry to baggage of having to accept that you were abused / mistreated. 

It isn’t necessarily the healthiest and there is a large concern of getting misinformation and feeding the denial or learning really bad coping mechanisms through those environments, so we don’t think it is a **good** purpose or environment to be in, but the last thing we’d want is to force people who are still struggling to understand their mental state and come to terms with the past that they *have* to admit that they were really fucked up and hurt by things that had happened in the past.

We have a lot of mixed feelings and don’t have a firm stance on if that role in coming to terms with DID is good or not so we really don’t know there or have firm opinions. Since we don’t have firm opinions, we default to “we don’t want to rush / control / dictate what other people with DID are doing in their path of healing and we don’t want to rush people’s healing journey with DID” so we refrain from involving or telling people one thing or the next.

====

Intentional Systems / Tulpamancy Systems

We think they are really offensive and problematic. We instantaneously unfollow and block systems that claim to be intentional, and we tend to unfollow people who post about intentional systems. That is the part of the endogenic community we have very little patience for.

We do know there are still probably actual DID / OSDD systems out there that use those terms to write off their condition similar to endogenics mentioned above, but the amount of damage these ones do and the just straight up often horrible thoughts and opinions about DID that they have outweighs our opinion on not budding our head where it doesn’t belong.

Don’t fetishize / make our disorder a fun thing.

====

Median Systems

Uhh.... I think Riku was going to mention something about how we found out that some people have multiple people in their head through median systems and came to understand that as ourselves and learned beyond that???

I don’t really know what stands out in specific about Median Systems though. I think there might be an opinion somewhere about BPD and Median systems? But generally we also put this in the same categroy as “stages of understanding DID”. Maybe if Riku comes around they can explain if they even know.

====

Can you have a system without trauma?

Oooookaaay, this is one Riku would be 10000% better at answering because they have a lot of nerd stuff about this about science and psychology and statistics and research and shit. I’m not that savvy in those topics though? So I guess I’ll give you a quick rundown from the gist.

We don’t think that it is likely that you can have a system - a true dissociative system with dissociated parts - without trauma. That though comes with the key word “likely”. We are very much open to the possibility / idea that other methods could form dissociated parts and are actually a bit keen into maybe some day doing research on it. Science and research has backed that DID is formed due to disorganized attachment to caregivers and repeated trauma at a young age, but DID is very under researched, psychology is a soft science, and very little about the conscious, identity, and dissociation is actually firmly known.

Until the exact neurological structure / reasoning / process to how DID forms and how it differs from those that don’t have it, we really hesitate to put it in any box because that’s really not how mental health works. It might be that the majority of cases are due to trauma, but theoretically other disorders can cause pretty dissociation and if said disorders occurred at a young enough age, then theoretically maybe something like that could happen. There is somewhere in this brain a tab on ADHD or something, but I can’t go into that cause I really wouldn’t do it a service.

The really condensed version is we don’t think so with our current understanding and readings, but we don’t think it is 100% certain and there is a very reasonable possibility that there is something out there, a different path way that can cause the DID we know - or a different condition that looks and appears similar to DID but is fundamentally different.

You rarely ever *know* anything in psych, especially with something so abstract of a disorder with little research on it such as DID and how consciousness / states of consciousness work in the brain to really be claiming anything so certainly.

====

Should endogenics be considered DID?

I don’t care?? Honestly, our system is generally of the consensus that until evidence comes to show that it is possible AND the same disorder, then no. And even then, I think the question Riku meant was “should endogenics and DID be related / equated / in the same space” which is a strong no.

Even if endogenics are real and are possible, the amount of which trauma plays into what we currently know as DID is so ridiculous that there is honestly little overlap other than the “same hat” of having multiple parts in a body. So much of DID is much more about “spicy” C-PTSD with the exclusive DLC of thick dissociative barriers. A lot of our experience is centered around navigating trauma and helping parts grow beyond the trauma that seeded their existence and I really don’t know how much of that would be able to be properly understood and shared with someone who has NO trauma? I also feel as though inherently the dynamics between parts would HAVE to be extremely different without trauma because all of the “roles” in our system are fundamentally absed on how we are because of our trauma and how we cope and manage things.

====

Endogenics on Social Media / Practically Speaking?

We leave them alone for the most part. If they aren’t being toxic or spreading misinformation, its really not our deal to care about much - and even then it really isn’t. We have a lot of other things in our life to care about and we really don’t have the time or energy to get worked up, heated, stressed, or anything because we see someone claiming to have parts without trauma. 

I say let people be people and do things as people do so long as they aren’t harming anyone. We disagree and are technically “sysmeds” or whatever, but like, its not that huge of a thing.

Anyways, that’s all.

Things I Fucking LOVE About VLD S8

Katie watching freaking Defender of the Universe and marveling at how Pidge’s voice actor sounds.

Katie Holt looking adorable wearing ponytails.

Mrs. Holt totally momming Katie.

GIRL’S SHOPPING DAY GIRL’S SHOPPING DAY GIRL’S SHOPPING DAY!!! Getting together Nadia, Ina, Allura, Pidge, and Romelle?!!

Pidge and Nadia being such gaming nerds.

Pidge exploiting her fame as Pidge and dressing up as freaking Darrell Stoker / Retro Pidge. Like you have no idea how much I wanted to scream in happy seeing her with the old outfit and hairstyle, this is such a blessing. SUCH a blessing holy crow.

Allura wearing one of her old outfits from the 1980s too! So many DOTU references this season!

Coran is having way too much fun with Lance.

Lance and Keith chilling out together on top of the lion watching the sunset and having a good convo. Look how far these two’s relationship has come. Look at them. It’s so good.

Dinner with Lance’s family is so pure.

The visuals with Allura and the tree are so beautiful.

Cute photograph moment! 

There’s an entire episode dedicated to Honerva’s past, showing her struggling emotions now that she’s remembering everything that’s been, showing her internal conflict and struggle, giving us a clear and deep understanding of her hurt and hate.

Baby Lotor is fucking adorable. Like look at that kid. Look at those big eyes. Oh my gosh he’s adorable. 

Lotor’s past is painful and it’s exactly the sort of crap I expected. Received no affection from his father. Was pushed into a Galra empire that didn’t value mercy. Watched the place he cultivated destroyed. Exactly the sort of thing I was expecting from his past to lead to his current state of mind as we meet him in S3. It shows how he’s someone who wants to revolutionize the empire, but is someone whose mind and ideas have been clearly influenced by his culture and upbringing.

I like how the robeasts have been developed throughout the series. How they clearly evoke the past ideas from DOTU/BKG of turning biological creatures into mechanized weapons. How the first season starts with Voltron doing lots of single episodes one-on-one fighting the robeasts, akin to the 1980s show. How the robeasts grow into an increasingly great problem by S8, and are now piloted by brainwashed Alteans. It’s a legitimately cool progression and makes the robeasts feel like a threat even while not repeating the same episode format over and over.

So many Altean warrior ladies on the forefront of Honerva’s forces.

“The Prisoner’s Dilemma” is a fan-fucking-tastic episode all around. One of my favorites for this season for sure.

It starts with Voltron, the ATLAS, the rebels, and the MFEs working together to take down a base. This is an amazing fight moment. It’s showing how far everyone has come since the start, how much they’ve grown, and it sings. And it’s showing REALLY cool team coordination. This is like. All around epically cool I fucking love it.

Matt Holt and his ponytail <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I love how this episode focuses on trying to end the Galra Empire’s remaining power but also trying to show mercy to the Galra. I love how it shows a Galra leader who’s had help from Voltron before still being doubtful - and how more acts from Voltron bring him around. It takes time to convince someone who’s been part of the Galra Empire that Voltron is okay to ally with - and it shows how the Voltron Coalition is gaining ground.

There is some serious nice creepy tension in this episode.

KEITH BLASTING THROUGH THE DOOR WITH EPIC BIG GUN!

I love how Lance’s characterization feels like they took him and turned him more into his DOTU self over the course of the series. Honestly, as with all of them! The characters grow into those positions and selves.

“Battle Scars” is probably the episode that got me the most emotional. Olkarion is a planet and culture I loved, too. Watching it fall - watching that beautiful planet actually get destroyed along with many of its citizens - was painful. This is a good way to show Honerva’s power and the high-stakes dangers of her actions.

The idea of Pidge watching the past to learn what happened was a cool narrative effect, and also had good long-term story arc development since she learned how to track the robeasts, too.

Also amazingly good lesson / theme for that episode.

“The Grudge” is another cool episode that’s got the unique twist of the Paladins relying not on their typical weapons, but on having to be resourceful with the minimum. Another good, original premise.

Acxa and Veronica. Acxa and Veronica. Oh my gosh Acxa and Veronica. Acxa and the rest of the MFEs. Acxa and the humans. It’s so great. Acxa saying everything and it’s coming out SUPER edge-lord and everyone’s trying to figure out how to handle it. 

I fucking love Ina Leifsdottir. I love her personality so much. And I’m 99% sure the writers intended her as autistic representation and I think they did a good job with her.

Okay but this season really has a lot of fun with the MFEs. They don’t steal the show and take too much time, but we get a GREAT sense of personality from them. Rizavi and Kincade together is a delightful combo. I love her energy and love of action. I love his nerdy passions. They’re so fun. 

Let’s be real: one thing Voltron does consistently well is that, no matter how much screen time we have with a character, we get a GREAT sense of their personality, and we love them. There are so many different, lovable, often quirky personalities in Voltron. It’s so rich with its character personalities. I love how there’s a broad cast of characters and yet I can still connect to them all.

I appreciate how S8 wrapped up the story of Lotor’s generals. It would have been easy to have them die, just be casualties, and not have them or their narrative go anywhere. Instead, we get a wrap-up. They’ve been through a lot of twists, turns, and confusing life choices. Now they finally find a place. I like that Lotor’s team (who followed a man who was extremely misguided but wanted some good things) ended up being able to find a productive cause in the end. 

SPACE GALRA LESBIANS RETURN!

I honestly love the dynamic of ATLAS + Voltron. The Castle of Lions is really cool and I felt extremely sad and nostalgic when they lost it. But ATLAS + Voltron has a legitimately awesome sci-fi, mission-oriented dynamic. The Castle of Lions felt like there was always a home, whereas ATLAS gives the sense of being in space on a journey and mission. It gives me Vehicle Force Voltron vibes, ESPECIALLY with the inclusion of the MFEs.

Speaking of the 80s show and retro Voltron references, we got Merla!

This season focuses a bloody fuckton on Allura, but it shows a lot of depth and conflicted thoughts with her. It shows her as a woman of power. It shows her as someone tempted with problematic solutions or darker powers. It shows her loving, being loved, finding family, and marching ever-steady onward with her purpose. There’s a lot of complex psychology with how Allura’s handling these latest events and it’s written in a way we can understand exactly why she’s making the choices she does, good and bad.

“One... two... three... ALUMINUM!”

I love how Sam Holt overall gives Slav good respect for his more “superstitious”-esque approaches to things, and also valuing Slav for his powerful mind and abilities.

Lots of things from earlier seasons get remembered - Olkarion, Slav, Matt Holt, Shay, the Balmera, and more - and continue to play out in the final conflicts.

I legitimately love seeing Voltron team up with ATLAS in its transformed form. Shiro and Keith working completely equally. Keith’s become a fully-fledged leader. Shiro’s got hoards of respect and leadership power. Together everyone coordinates and kicks butt.

HOW have I not mentioned the visuals yet in this season? This was the most colorful and visually appealing season in Voltron YET - and we’ve been given season after season of really beautiful images. I love how, even though Voltron is set in SPACE, which is so full of voidness, we get so much color and light and appealing color pallets. Voltron is a visual delight.

“Day Forty-Seven” has got to be one of my favorite episodes of this season, if not a stand-out for the entire series to me. Some people might feel differently about this episode than me, but I honestly find it so unique and fun. It’s legitimately hard to try to write an episode following one camera for twenty minutes, while also telling a coherent story. And yet it DOES. We get a good narrative - while at the same time it feels so REAL. “Day Forty-Seven” gives us the ability to watch the entire ATLAS crew work, and allows us to watch Voltron from an outsider’s perspective as they go on dangerous missions - without the music, fanfare, camera angles, etc. And it’s so amusing getting everything from a dog carrying a camera around to Rizavi being upset that yeast is part of the documentary. And it shows so many characters and character dynamics and a sense of a full crew where everyone knows each other. And Rizavi and Kincade together are such a DELIGHT. And oh my goodness I could gush incoherently about this episode for a long time. It’s so much fun.

Keith and Hunk stuck on a musical ride. Love it. 

The bargaining Pidge and her mom do!!! The Holt family photograph!

Epic arm wrestling competition is epic. And I love how it all started because Shiro felt abashed being called “old.” Poor guy’s still in his 20s! And I love how it turned into all of Team Voltron CELEBRATING THE FUCK out of Shiro winning. Like, these guys have fought countless dangerous foes across the universe. And these dorks get over-the-top excited at Shiro’s accomplishment of winning an arm wrestling competition at a fair.

I laughed so hard at the Warden talking about how he found a purpose in arm wrestling.

The Voltron team joining up with the original Voltron team was pretty cool. I also love how it was animated where we would see the original Team branching off like apparitions out of Voltron, or how we’d see the pilots in the cockpit fading from one to the other.

Allura and Alfor reunion!!! I think this was done right. I am not a fan of stories where a character seems to lose someone, only for that person to magically be brought back. In this case, given the location of where Allura and Alfor unite, we know they’re not going to be able to resume a life of father and daughter. It’s a temporary reunion, and it happens a VERY LONG time after we’ve suffered through all of Allura’s pain in VLD about leaving Alfor behind. It doesn’t compromise the integrity of all the seasons that have come before it about their loss of Alfor and the Alteans, but it also gives us a touching moment of Allura seeing someone she’d never thought she’d see again.

VLD S8 shows that people aren’t cut-and-dry “always evil.” It shows how it’s a complex combination of your environment and your choice. Zarkon isn’t someone who is innately evil pure and simple, nor is Honerva, nor is Lotor. It also makes sure to remind us of the power of choice. Zarkon and Honerva also aren’t JUST victims of the entity - S8 reminds us that they pursued quintessence and poor choices that led to further bad consequences, too. And just because someone might not have been a villain with alternate choices, and just because someone DID become a villain... S8 reminds us that they still took this particular path. It doesn’t erase that Lotor might have wanted to make some positive differences, but turned into a villain. It looks at the complexity of people, how they have both goodness and badness within their potentials. And... it lets it be shown that just because you make a bunch of bad decisions doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to leave those choices and turn around. People aren’t “just evil.”

How have I not yet mentioned I love the uniforms that the Paladins wear when they’re not in their Lions?

THE ATLAS-VOLTRON FUSION. THE ATLAS-VOLTRON FUSION. THE ATLAS-VOLTRON FUSION. THAT IS AWESOME AS FUCK!

The S3 idea of alternate realities gets brought back in QUITE the way as Voltron chases Honerva through many realities.

I appreciate how Honerva spends so much time trying to find the perfect reality... and when she thinks she’s found it, it doesn’t do what she wants. It’s exactly what we would respect she’d reap. You can’t just tear across space and time to find happiness. At the same time, we can also feel her pain. 

Okay but Honera? I love her armor in this season too. Man I just. Love lots of what people wear this season.

I love Allura’s send-off. I love that the stakes got so high in VLD that we had to lose a main character, but not in a way that felt like a painful death. I love that Voltron was willing to give us a concrete ending where there’s no “going back” to the way things were before. I love that they still give us a sense of hope and growth even with the hurt of losing a main character. I love how it takes Allura, who always had such a strong sense of responsibility, and act on that responsibility in the most responsible and selfless choice possible. I love that she got to embrace every Paladin and say how much they mean to her. I love that they cried. I love how this was done. That’s a proper send-off, one filled with heroicism and selflessness and responsibility and power and strength and emotional pain and also a sense of HOPE.

There are some fucking powerful quotes this season.

I love how we got Altean Lance? Like honestly, when I first heard fans theorizing about it, I thought it was wishful fantasy and the typical desire for AU characters. But the way this was incorporated into VLD actually in canon was really cool.

I love seeing Pidge create Chip. DOTU REFERENCE!!!!!

I love how the Galra Empire has been shown fracturing for seasons, and how it’s finally come to a point Keith can naturally talk about needing change - and it’s believable to think that the Galra would now be open to this change happening.

I love seeing the entire team together after everything’s ended.

I love how in S2 characters talked about defeating the Galra Empire would mean that Voltron was no longer needed. I love how the writers stick with that. I love how the Paladins choose to retire from being Paladins, but intentionally go forth to make the universe a brighter place - there’s still so much to do. I love how the lions themselves choose to fly away. 

I love seeing their selfies. I love that they intentionally make sure Allura’s in their Paladin team reunion selfies. I love seeing how the characters age. 

I love how Keith’s hair just keeps growing.

I love that ENORMOUS fucking Vehicle Force Voltron reference with the Holts! Holy crap! I’m actually seeing characters like Cliff and Wolo in the background!!! And given the premise of Vehicle Force Voltron seeking out a new planet after humanity has contacted alien civilizations, it feels entirely fitting that this is how Vehicle Force Voltron gets incorporated into the VLD timeline.

I love how the Holts, such a POWERFULLY BRILLIANT family, are the people who keep exploring technology and build the next round of Legendary Defenders.

I love seeing how Hunk’s passion for cooking isn’t treated as trivial. It’s treated as a means of creating intergalactic peace and happiness. He uses it as a way to treat the Alteans with kindness when they’re prisoners on the ATLAS. He uses it to create a culinary revolution after Honerva’s defeated. Hunk is revolutionizing society and making an enormous positive difference because of his passion. That’s majorly epically awesome like fuck I LOVE it.

I love everyone’s endings, honestly. I love how Lance chooses a quieter ending. He wanted a lot of glory as a fighter pilot at the start of VLD S1. He grows into someone so much more mature. Now he’s someone who understands he’s impacted the universe. He’s willing to talk to Alteans at school and spread positive messages with the people in his life. But he’s also taking quiet time for himself. The homesick boy from the early seasons isn’t feeling that more - he has a concrete embedded home to return to, valuing family ever onward. And it’s all embedded in him surrounding himself in the memory of people like Allura he’s held dear. It’s bittersweet and one that happens when someone you love is gone, but it’s not a sad ending, and it’s one that will turn into a lot of happiness, peace, and meaning. This boy’s got a good ending.

I love that we even see where Krolia and Kolivan end up.

And dude. Keith continuing to work with the Blade of Marmora but turning it to humanitarian relief??? This guy’s amazing. So amazing.

I’m a Sheith shipper but I never expected a canon-concrete Sheith end game, so I’m totally happy seeing Shiro’s ending. They gave this guy the happiness he needed. This is someone who’s been trapped in war for so long. He’s had to work so hard without break because of the necessity of defending the universe. This is someone who can finally leave the battlefield and rest. Anyone who thinks for a second Shiro and Keith are any less close just because it’s not romantic is kidding themselves - their relationship shall be as pure and close and powerful and deep as always. And we get an on-screen gay kiss! An on-screen queer marriage!

This is a good ending in that it wraps up all the conflict... but it gives us a look at the hope of the future for everyone’s lives. 

I’m here to spread positivity and excitement for the good Voltron Season 8 did. A show doesn’t have to be “perfect” (nothing’s perfect) to be awesome, meaningful, and enjoyable. This show has been SUCH a wonderful ride, start to finish, and I can’t be more grateful to have been an audience member for this story. It’s going to last as one of my favorite animated series of all time.

final fantasy!

I wasn’t sure if I should include Bravely Default or not because ohhh man I have some fuckin Thoughts, so I’ll just do one for mainline FF and one for Bravely Default.

The first character I first fell in love with: 

Tidus left a strong impression on me as a kid due to the way FFX ended, and I still really like him, but I wouldn’t say I was ever in love with him. On the other hand, Fang from FFXIII turned me gay.

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: 

Kuja, I think? As much as I will maintain that he is the objective best FF villain until the day I die, and as much as that outfit is IC for him, it’s still, uh. Not good. It’s not even that it’s too feminine, it’s just fucking ugly, lmao. Doesn’t make for a great first impression. But god fucking damn, he is very, very good. Maybe at some point I’ll whip up a meta about him, but I’m not sure what to say that hasn’t been covered already.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: 

Sephiroth. He’s got a cool design, a great theme song (those chosen by the planet, not one winged angel), and a phenomenally intimidating presence. But the thing is, as far as FF7 itself is concerned, he’s barely a character. He’s long dead by the time of the game and exists only as an echo of the past and a manifestation of Cloud’s psychological problems. By the end, he’s more Jenova (who herself is more a force of nature than a character) than himself imo. He works because of what he represents, and the mystery surrounding him, not because of who he is. Hailing him as the “best FF villain” misses the point. I feel like Squeenix themselves don’t get what was great about Sephiroth, since we keep getting these immensely fucking bland villains like Vayne, Caius, and Ardyn that are clearly trying to recapture the Sephiroth magic by focusing on the cool factor or the relationship with the protag or whatever when none of that is why Sephiroth worked in FF7 to begin with.

The character I love that everyone else hates: 

Vanille. Yeah the English voice direction was awful, yeah the noises she makes when riding her eidolon are immensely fucking uncomfortable, but she’s actually a really interesting character who deserved more time to shine, and I maintain that she should have been the protag of FF13 rather than Pink Squall. Since she has like, y’know, a much more direct hand in the entire plot of the goddamn game.

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: 

uuuuuuuhhh I really don’t know. Maybe Kain. I used to think he was the shit but now I’m just like “haha, mr. friendzone at it again.” Or maybe Cloud, thanks to Advent Children taking a steaming dump on his personality in the name of fanservice.

The character I would totally smooch: 

FANG. SHE IS SO FUCKING HOT GOOD LORD I’M GAY. Also Rydia. Uh, adult Rydia, that is.

The character I’d want to be like: 

Fang is pretty goals, but she’s a bit more butch than I personally see myself, haha. Maybe Celes, sans heterosexuality and poor taste in dudes. She’s very cool, strong, and sexy.

The character I’d slap: 

Squall I guess? Cheer Up Emo Kid!

A pairing that I love: 

Kuja/Terra! I’d toyed with the idea before thanks to Dissidia 012, but NT sold me forever. There are a lot of reasons these two work so well, the most important being that their interactions are absolutely fucking precious. The reason he freed her from Kefka’s control in the first place, apart from wanting to stick it to the asshole clown, was because he empathized with her, but when she thanked him later he downplayed the hell out of it. Terra genuinely tries to reach out to him, and he’s receptive, but aloof, and acts so theatrical about it (”If that is what Her Highness wishes.”) It’s… cute? Like, they’re both pretty damn emotionally stunted due to their, uh, irregular upbringings, and there’s so much potential there! *slams fists on table* GIVE ME MORE

A pairing that I despise: 

Come to think of it, I don’t think I have a single genuine notp in the entire Final Fantasy franchise. Even ships I don’t really care for, like Cecil/Rosa, Locke/Celes or Wakka/Lulu, I wouldn’t say I hate them, just think they’re lame and poorly written. I guess Kuja/Zidane? Yeah, yeah, I know, rich as fuck coming from me, but I just don’t like them romantically at all. The most important reason being that they’re ugly as sin together.

and now, the bravely default hot takes nobody asked for but that I will rant about at literally any given opportunity.

The first character I first fell in love with: 

EDEA!!! I love her SO MUCH! She’s an adorable, precious ENTJ child who’s so headstrong, but naive, and so endearing. Her design (in the first game–blue is not her color) is great, and she has some of the best class outfit designs as well. She’s also the main melee bulk of the party, which I find immensely refreshing in a franchise where the girls are usually mages or rogues. 

Her character arc is pretty basic, sure, but it works. For starters, she’s the best handled rebellious princess I’ve seen, in that she just flat out turns on Eternia–everything she’s ever known–with scarcely a second thought. Not because she feels trapped by the burdens of being royalty or whatever, she’s just stubborn and willful and has an iron sense of right and wrong that she’s willing to fight for above all else. Which, I mean, yeah, evil empire, but it’s not that simple. Which is why her arc is about reconciling with the fact that it isn’t all black and white, and embracing her role as eventual queen of Eternia. 

The writing is pretty hamfisted, what with her literally calling things “black and white,” but she’s 15, so I’ll give it a pass. Yeah, I know the American version aged her up to make the fanservice shit less gross, but it doesn’t really work when her character is about overcoming her childish worldview, lol. Like, she’s a babbu. You can’t just change a number and make her less babbu. Her theme song is literally called “Baby Bird.” Maybe just don’t fucking sexualize characters who are meant to be read as childish in the first place? She deserved so much better than the writing she got in Bravely Second, which I’ll… get to later, but she was still an absolute delight. Did I mention she’s also hilarious? “Oops, my foot slipped.” “You just DROPKICKED ME!”

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: 

Yew. I mean, I don’t love him as much as Edea, but Bravely Second was kind of a hot mess, if fun, and his arc pleasantly surprised me. He kind of had a similar arc as Edea in the first game, but in the opposite direction. Over the course of the game he gradually overcame his rich, upper class nerd privilege worldview and became Woke ™, and then used his privilege to help people. By contrast, Edea still had to go through the journey of getting past her simplistic worldview, but whereas she was quick to recognize the fact that her world was wrong and had to learn not to see things in extremes, Yew had to work to claw his way outside of that box in the first place. The plot twist about his brother was obvious as hell but like, whatever, it was fun. His mask didn’t even cover that much of his face, how did he not know,

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: 

Tiz. He’s boring, not much else to say there. Except, his design in Bravely Second had me excited as hell because he looks so emo and ow the edge and I was really excited to see what they were gonna do with him, but his personality is… exactly the same as the first game? Why bring him back at all? For that matter, why kill him off in the first place? I know they were going for some meta shit, but like… why?

The character I love that everyone else hates: 

Airy, but idk if that counts because I love her for precisely the reasons everyone else hates her. Even if I think the good end should have been obtained by seeing through her ruse and blowing up the crystals rather than just going along with what she says and repeating the same fucking sequence of bosses over and over…

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: 

Ringabel. Mainly for shipping reasons and because I’m increasingly exhausted with the whole chivalrous pervert trope, especially when Edea was very much underage in the first game, lmao. He’s a good character objectively speaking, but a lot of his potential wasn’t capitalized on and I still don’t get how Alternis did a complete 180 from his brooding initial personality, to… that. Or why there were AU Ringabels in the ending sequence of the first game when I thought the whole point was that he was a spanner in the works who shouldn’t have been part of the party in the first place, and that’s how they managed to foil Airy? Or, it should have been, if they didn’t literally just go along with what she said until the end despite his very clear warnings that she was up to some shady shit. The final stretch of Bravely was a fucking trainwreck, nothing new there.

The character I would totally smooch: 

Edea. But like, a forehead smooch, because she’s a babbu. Though she is 18 for real this time in Second, isn’t she? And she’s matured considerably by then too… hrm.

The character I’d want to be like: 

Edea post-character development. She’s got her shit together, and she’s still strong-willed, outgoing, and adorable as all hecke.

The character I’d slap: 

Yulyana. Fuck the quirky pervert trope, seriously. It’s not funny, it’s never been funny, and it never will be funny.

A pairing that I love: 

Well, Agnes/Olivia is the only pairing that I straightforwardly ship, and I’ll never not be mad that they just, like. Forgot about Olivia in the final stretch of the game. Like they really just killed her off for shock value, huh? Okay Sure.

I like Edea/Alternis a lot too, but it’s complicated. Reading through D’s Journal during a blind playthrough left way more of an impact on me than Ringabel’s dumb flirting, but they definitely have a lot of shit to work through before they get together. They obviously both genuinely care about each other, though Edea’s got other shit on her plate to worry about rather than Alternis being a lovelorn, emo weirdo. But like, he’s not only so emotionally distant from her despite his feelings that she doesn’t even know what his face looks like, but he’s got a weird possessive streak towards her? It might be a translation thing but the phrasing “I would have taken you as my wife” is a bit. Iffy. Especially considering a. the age gap and b. she outranks him. Of course she’s having none of this shit, but I do like the idea of them both maturing, actually bonding like human beings, and getting together when they’re older, ie: when Edea is queen and Alternis has learned to accept his fate as a permabottom. Childhood friend loyalty kink is my passion, and like, while Edea is very much a take charge no nonsense lady, she struggles with personal relationships and emotions. They both do, and that’s why their relationship is so complicated and interesting. I’d love to read slowburn of them.

A pairing that I despise: 

Rindea. But wait, you say! Didn’t you just write a whole paragraph on how you like Altdea? Well, yes. I do stand by that, and I enjoy the ship because of its problems rather than in spite of them. Rindea is. Not that. While Altdea is  a flawed relationship that I’d love to see mature into something functional along with the characters themselves, Rindea is a disgustingly written trainwreck that shits on all that potential, as well as Edea’s entire fucking character, constantly.

I don’t hate the very idea of these two as an item. The problem is how badly said item is written. Even though Rindea has the same problematic base as Altdea, which is treated as flawed, it just completely fucking glosses over all of that, everything that actually makes their relationship interesting, in favor of generic hetero pervy slap slap kiss tsundere bullshit. Yes, Ringabel’s feelings for her run deeper than that, but that’s basically all that their dynamic, their actual interactions, amount to. And for some reason she’s into it? Like, I’m sorry, but fucking when and why did she develop feelings for him? Was it before or after she learned about his true identity? Is it because he’s Alternis or in spite of it? Hell, how did she feel about that revelation in the first place? All of that is very much worth addressing, but they LITERALLY NEVER DO.

Did she just secretly like his annoying flirting all along because no obviously means yes? Like, Ringabel still fucking carries all the baggage associated with being Alternis but the game doesn’t give a fuck! It’s overbearing and weird when Alternis comes onto Edea, but when Ringabel does it it’s peak romance! He loves her so it’s okay! And we don’t know anything about Edea’s feelings for him because the game just never fucking goes into it! It’s just assumed that she must like him back! Hey, here’s a thought! Maybe if Ringabel actually loves her so much he could respect her feelings and lay the fuck off! Oh wait, no means yes, right. And don’t even get me started on Bravely Second, jesus fucking christ. You seriously mean to tell me that, according to Yoko, my girl’s only personal damage is being tfw no bf? Nothing about the stress of ruling a nation or any of her other relationships? Nothing even about how her feelings for Ringabel might actually be more fucking complicated than dokidoki take me with you ringabel kun? Absolutely Fucking Disgusting.

Listen. I like problematic ships, but Rindea is just fucking bad, and it’s made worse by the fact that canon thinks it’s good. At this point they’ve missed so many opportunities to actually expand meaningfully on Edea’s side of the relationship that it’s a lost fucking cause and I want it to die in a fire. Good lord I hate this ship and it’s exhausting being an Edea main when it’s the entire fandom’s OTP. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I ranted more about this ship as well as the other canon Bravely ships in this post and will probably do so again when presented the opportunity.

Why I’m Actually Into Myers Briggs

I was one of those kids that took silly online quizzes just because I wanted to know what they would say about me and what that could mean. I knew rationally that the outcome didn’t have any real meaning, but it was fun analyzing the results as if they meant something anyway. It was the reason I was also attracted to astrology, fortune telling, and palm reading, even though I knew there wasn’t credible evidence behind them. See I’m an extremely evidence-based person, a scientist even, if I can live up to that claim. I like when things make logical sense and I don’t simply believe in things without some supporting evidence as free from bias as possible. So naturally I was attracted to Myers Briggs, the psychological marriage of a logical system and human cognition, but for a long time I simply regarded it as a slightly more in-depth version of other personality systems, none of which seemed to have any real evidence supporting them. That is until three years ago. I don’t remember what prompted me into another Myers Briggs rabbit hole (a not-so-infrequent occurrence at the time), but I had begun to explore the cognitive functions behind the four letters for the first time in my life. Learning about the cognitive functions actually helped me decide between two types I had thought were both fitting for me (based on description alone), but were actually complete opposites in their cognitive stack. Anyway, I started following an inspiring Myers Briggs columnist and reading a little more about the role of each function and how it manifests in each position of someone’s stack. There was one particular article she’d written about the process someone goes through when they’re under stress. The general idea is that you come across a problem that you attempt to resolve with each function in your main stack. If each function fails to solve the problem (starting with your first function and then going down the line), you eventually get stuck in your fourth function, I believe what most people call being in the “grip” of your fourth or inferior function. It was interesting stuff and it made more sense than the generic descriptions of types, but I still wasn’t convinced. I liked Myers Briggs, but there wasn’t really any compelling evidence for it being real. Until there was. So here I am, enjoying Myers Briggs with a better understanding of the cognitive functions, but still not really believing the system. Like it was a cool system, but it was just for fun. So, naturally, I go to my best friend’s house and I bring her down the rabbit hole with me. She was a beautifully willing participant, as invested in the fun of personality analysis as I was, but more focused (at least at the time) on the descriptions of types rather than the cognitive functions behind them. She was between two very similar types (ENFJ and ESFJ) and even with my knowledge of cognitive functions I wasn’t able to definitively discern which one she might be. I’d also like to note that I did not go into great detail, if any, about the cognitive functions with her at this time. Her assessment was purely based on personality descriptions. Without any conclusive feelings about her personality type, we moved on. I mean c’mon, we have other things we want to enjoy in life, and what better way to spend time with a friend than through the manifestations of ourselves in some FANTASTIC ROLE-PLAYING? (no seriously, rping is super fun).  My bestie was already well-versed in the role-playing universe. She ran her own DnD campaigns, dominated the LARP scene, ran countless other tabletop role-playing scenarios, and all-in-all was a seasoned role-playing nerd. Me? I’d only barely touched Pathfinder, but I was really into role-playing in a free form system, one where the story was negotiated by the players (without any true DM) and not by the luck of dice or a system of predetermined rules. So I wanted to introduce her to this new system and we both went into it with boundless enthusiasm. But if there’s one thing you learn from role-playing, it’s that at some point you are absolutely 100% going to run into conflict. So let’s get into the meat of things, then. We had a set up for getting her character to infiltrate NASA. Why? Because she was going to spontaneously surprise her casual lover (my character) with a visit at work, and I don’t know if you know this, but casual lovers aren’t usually on the NASA guest list. It was a fun scenario! Who doesn’t like a little unnecessarily impulsive bribery and sneakery just to flirt (”flirt”) with your sometimes boyfriend at his workplace? Needless to say, her character shows up in an outfit that is 200% not an outfit you’d wear if you worked at NASA. Now I’m playing an NPC receptionist (NASA’s gotta have at least one) and I imagine as a receptionist at NASA, managing communications between different departments and personnel, that you’re gonna be just a liiiiittle suspicious of an unabashedly sexy lady who walks through the front door in tight pants and bright red stilettos.  So I add that the receptionist looks at her character with some skepticism. And so began the single greatest observation I have made thus far in my entire evidence-based life. Immediately, my bestie became a little defensive. I wasn’t really sure why, but she asked me if this was still what I wanted to do. Y’know, were my feelings about this role-playing scenario still positive. And I told her yes, of course, I am having a great time, I’m still committed to this scenario and I am on your side, we will make sure that you character infiltrates NASA. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a satisfactory answer. The balance of our friendship being reaffirmed was not comforting to her (if you know anything about the cognitive functions, this is what it looks like when Extraverted Feeling isn’t making you feel better). There was something else about this scenario that was making her feel threatened, so she tried again. “Okay, well, I’m used to systems I’ve used in past DnD campaigns and other role-playing games and normally a response like this means that my character has already failed.” Now THIS was interesting. A verbal description of Introverted Sensing at work from someone who had no genuine understanding of the cognitive functions. I had to curb my curiosity and keep a straight face as I explained to her that her feelings made sense, but I was trying to introduce her to a new role-playing system where there were fewer predetermined rules and more player negotiations, a system that was less defined and more free form. Needless to say, this wasn’t comforting. By this point, she was visibly stressed and I felt absolutely terrible about it but I continued to observe, waiting to discover some way I could help her feel better. And then she tried again. “Okay well if I were DMing this, I would make sure that your character had multiple options available for infiltrating NASA like being able to flirt her way in or threaten her way in or maybe there’s a card key lying around she could pick up or a family picture she could talk about, get on the receptionist’s good side and persuade her way through.” I’m sure she listed more (and better) possibilities than what I did, but if that’s not a confession of Extraverted Intuition I don’t know what is.  And seriously!  She did not know what the cognitive functions were.  Here she is, this poor people-oriented soul under lots of emotional stress and all I can think of in my head is “SHE IS LITERALLY DESCRIBING HER FUNCTIONS TO ME RIGHT NOW AND SHE DOESN’T KNOW IT, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING”. Okay so the thing here was, I did actually have available options for her to test out, but we hadn’t really gotten through to any of them as we’d only really just started. So I told her not to worry, I do have available options for you and it’s okay. NOPE. It was not okay, and I could tell because she suddenly got very quiet. This was my bestie, my wonderful, talkative, extroverted, people-loving bestie. And she was silent. I could watch the cogs in her head turning for possible explanations, stuck in a logical limbo, and finally when she spoke, she apologized, not understanding why she was under stress, trying to analyze the possible reasons for why she was reacting the way she was reacting. Maybe it was the house we were in, filled with bad memories. Maybe it was some errand she ran earlier that didn’t work out or other little stressors throughout the day that were building up and up and up.  Maybe it was the curtains in the room and how she’d told her mom not to order those curtains because they let in too much light in the morning so she couldn’t sleep well or they didn’t match the room right or she told her mom what curtains to buy and then her mom bought these other curtains anyway.  I watched her search for explanations for her behavior and fail to understand why she’d reacted the way she had (that’s a shadow function talk for another post). But here she was, exhibiting all the signs of someone stuck in the grip of their inferior function, which in this case was clearly Introverted Thinking. It was like seeing a unicorn; a genuine bonafide certified unicorn. I didn’t do anything to make her say what she said, I only responded to her worries and observed. I was as unbiased and uninvolved a party as I could possibly be while still understanding the material, and she didn’t have any knowledge or understanding of the cognitive functions, which made her as unbiased a study subject as she could possibly be, and she actually described every single cognitive function as she was experiencing it under progressive stress and in the exact order of an ESFJ. I was stunned, the most fascinated and intrigued I’ve ever been in my whole life. Of course I was sure to be sympathetic and understanding on the outside. She’s my best friend after all, I wasn’t just gonna let her be stressed and not help her out of it, so we got some food downstairs and focused on some other friendship activity we could do together. But there you have it. This comes about as close to seeing god as I’ll ever get, and ever since I’ve been a lot more invested in MBTI than is probably healthfully recommended. But I haven’t lost my roots. MBTI is still a system, and the system needs to be tested and checked and is not to be misused to fit people into a category that defines them wholly as a person. All important things to keep in mind as we keep observing people and trying to understand where conflict happens, why it happens, why two people get along or don’t get along, what values are clashing or coming together in the most beautiful way.  There is so much to learn from people, so much to learn about people, and having a system that helps talk about how people function in a potentially universal way is worth understanding and investigating. And that’s why I’m actually into Myers Briggs.

Obligatory Coffee Shop AU (Sanders Sides)

As promised, maybe a little later than planned, my obligatory coffee shop au that will probably be shortened to OCSAU

Part 2

Anyways tag list: @virgilswritings and @creative-robot you sweet sweet beans

Roman was tired of monotonous days. He was tired of living the same day-to-day life that he always did. He wanted action! He wanted excitement! He wanted passion. No one could deny him these basic rights. He was going to find his next thrill, and he knew his heart would lead him right to it.

He huffed out a breath, and when the bell rang, pushed his elbows off the counter. He straightened (heh) his uniform and called out, “Welcome to Royal’s Coffee and Treats.”, then turned to shoot a dazzling smile at the customer. This customer wasn't even looking at him. Which was for the best, because Roman almost choked.

In a pristine black button-up, a man strode toward the counter, glaring at his phone through his thick-rimmed glasses. Even though he looked irritated, Roman thought he was cute. And his distraction gave the barista the opportunity to admire.

By the time the mystery male was at the counter, Roman had successfully deduced that he was definitely around the same age, and intelligent, if Newton’s Principia Mathematica poking out of his bag was any indication. He finally looked up, locking eyes with Roman for the time it took him to utter the sentence, “Give me 30 seconds.” and succinctly moving them to the menu above Roman’s head. Roman tried to hold in a smile when he noticed the other’s warm brown eyes were a few shades darker than his own and stunning.

“Of course, fire when ready.” Roman winked, even though the other couldn’t see it.

“Please, I don’t have the authority to fire you. Only your boss does.” He responded simply, not even bothering to take his eyes off the menu. Roman wasn’t sure if that was a witty remark or completely serious. Nevertheless, he was willing to try.

“You sure could boss me around, though.” he shot back without missing a beat.

Finally, the stranger’s eyes landed back on the barista’s face, “Again, I’m not sure I’m qualified to.” He spoke with such a flat tone, but Roman’s heart flipped when he detected the slightest of smiles pull at his lips. So he was playing.

Roman gave him a dazzling smile, “Are you ready to order, or are you gonna scan me like that menu?”

This time when he winked, the stranger blushed, and couldn’t help but smile as he said, “Medium caramel latte, iced please.”

“One caramel latte for you. $6.50,” he said, pulling a cup off the stack beside him and waiting for the stranger to get out his exact change, of course, “and I will need your name.”

He looked up from getting the money out of his wallet, clearly confused, “Isn’t that a Starbucks thing?”

Roman whipped his head around quickly, then bent over the counter slightly and in the most fake whisper ever, said “Shhhhhhhh, you must never name that devil company in our authentic coffee house.” he then straightened (heh) up, and laughed, “Nah, we don’t do that, but I’d just like to stop referring to you as the ‘handsome stranger’.”

Again, a small smile, still not wide enough to show teeth, and he held out his hand to give Roman the money, “Logan.”

“Logan, exotic.” They both snorted at that, and Roman took the money from Logan, resisting the urge to do a cliche hands lingering moment, “I’m Roman.”

“Like the empire?”

“Like the empire.”

Roman turned to start the drink, shooting a glance toward the other customers as he did so. A regular was typing on their laptop, not even bothering to throw away the empty cups that are slowly piling up beside them. The other man didn’t seem to be busy with anything, but scrolled through his phone with haste nonetheless.

“So Newton is your fancy? I'm more of a Whitman and Cervantes guy myself.” Roman didn't bother looking back at Logan as he talked. He didn't want to mess this drink up. For this man, he was gonna make the perfect latte.

“Newton is an excellent scientist, yes, but I'm actually more interested in psychology. Pavlov, Skinner, and more modern ones.”

“Not Freud?”

Logan snorted, “Yeah, no. Freud was a garbage person. But the scientists who use his work to improve it? They're the interesting ones with something useful to say.”

Roman nodded, sticking that in his brain to sound smart later, and finished making the coffee. He put the lid on, swirled it for effect, and stuck a straw through, “I would have written my number on it to be cheesy, but it’s iced so it’s hard to do after the coffee is in it, and I didn’t think ahead of time to do so.” He looked up to meet Logan’s eyes, glad to see the other smiling back, “So I guess I’ll just wait for you to ask.”

Logan looked down at his coffee, and took a sip. He swished it around, to make a show of it, and smiled, “I’ll consider it, if it means I get another coffee like this.”

The words made Roman’s heart flutter. Of course, he’d been in a playful flirting match before. Just not like this. Logan was obviously intelligent, and obviously willing to play along, but with the looks and the brains, he was out of Roman’s league. The barista watched the man take his seat at one of the countertops facing him. He pulled out his laptop and shot Roman one more glance before starting to type. Roman had no idea what he was doing, but he could guess schoolwork or personal passion.

After Logan pulled out his laptop, a few more customers entered. He took care of their orders, taking “subtle” glances at Logan along the way, and catching him staring a few times. Once the last in line was cared for, Roman checked the clock and then leaned on the counter, placing his elbows on the surface and his chin on his palms. He cleared his throat to get Logan’s attention, and as soon as the other looked up, he batted his eyelashes, and said, “What are you up to?”

Logan rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop a smile, “I’m writing a critical review of Principia. Ten pages in currently.”

“Ten pages?” Roman pushed off the counter, and rushed into the back and through the door connecting the back room to the customer area, slowing his pace to stride over to Logan, “Ten pages?”

Logan laughed, “You do know that the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is over 900 pages long, right?” Roman’s mouth opened, and then closed, so Logan went on, “Ten pages doesn’t even cover the major theories he had. Of course, I don’t need to go into depth about the hypotheses that are incorrect, but it doesn’t hurt to cover them. I’m guessing I can shorten down what I’ve already written after I’m finished writing, then revise and maybe shorten it some more. After that it could be anywhere from twenty to thirty pages long.”

As he was babbling, Roman was distracted. Logan’s eyes lit up when he talked, and his hands started to gesture, compact and calculated even though it was unconscious. Roman thought it was adorable. He really did try to listen, but he was so impressed and overwhelmed by the idea that someone could write a thirty page book report that he realized how thoroughly smitten and screwed he was. This man was too good for him. This man was good.

So they talked until another customer came in, and talked when the customer left. Roman learned he was a double major in mathematics and astronomy-an odd combination-at the college about 15 minutes away. Roman told him that he was a theatre arts major at an online college, and also worked/volunteered (he only sometimes got paid, they’re a small theatre group) at the theatre downtown. Roman also learned that this nerd was a fan of many of Roman’s favorite shows, even though they disagreed on some of the theories and plot points, and that the more he learned about Logan, the more time he wanted to spend with him.

At the end of Roman’s shift, he was convinced to ask Logan out. He had to. So he greeted the person coming in for next shift and packed up his stuff, going as fast as possible to get to Logan. He pushed his way through the door and walked up to him, admiring the way his eyebrows came closer together when he was focused, and his lips pursed ever so slightly. He shook his head, and said, “Hey Logan, my shift is ending, so-”

“Would you like to go out sometime?” Logan looked up from his laptop after saying it, catching Roman’s eye just in time to see the barista’s face turn bright red.

“I-uh-you, yeah!” Roman burst out, and covered his mouth, taking a deep breath and not looking Logan in the eye until he could feel the heat in his cheeks diminish, “Yes, I was actually coming to ask you that.”

Logan grinned, and pulled out a pen, writing on a sticky note. He turned to Roman and handed him the sticky note. In near perfect (of course), blocky numbers, was Logan’s number, and his name. Once again, Roman’s heart fluttered, and he squeaked out a good-bye before promising to text.

He left the shop, grinning, and didn’t stop until he was safely inside his apartment. His roommate, Patton, wanted to know what happened, but Roman couldn’t comprehend the words to explain how incredibly lucky he got, so he just looked down at the number now saved in his phone, and choked out, “Cute boy. Date. Number.” and stumbled to his room as gracefully as he uttered the sentence. That night, he probably wouldn’t sleep, and if he did, he would be dreaming of certain boys and their big dumb books. His heart had lead him to someone thrilling, all right.

So apparently there might be a part two, because i felt there wasnt enough here to really be considered a finished storyline. I suppose I’ll do it if I get some positive feedback

Izuku and Unmitigated Communion [Self Sacrifice]

Inspired by this post by @explodo-smash​, I decided to write a post about something I've been mulling over for a few days: Izuku's self-sacrificial ways in terms of something called unmitigated communion.

What is it?

Unmitigated communion (UC) is a personality trait defined by "a focus on and overinvolvement with others to the exclusion of the self". Basically, caring so much about other's problems that you neglect your own needs. Communion is a personality trait that's about focus on connection with others. Unmitigated communion is that focus to an extreme, unchecked extent.

There are three aspects to UC.

Basing your self-esteem on others' perceptions of you

Being overinvolved in other people's problems

Self-neglect

(Quite a lot more) elaboration and images under the cut. Note that this only goes up to Chapter 99, because those are the chapters that I have the VIZ books for (I am caught up with the manga though).

IZUKU’S SELF ESTEEM People with UC are overly concerned with others' views of them, which is partly why they focus on others so much in the first place. Unmitigated communion (but not regular communion) means that whatever you think of yourself is determined by what others think of you.

Izuku has a very low self-esteem, most obviously in the beginning of the series. He shrinks into himself very easily when confronted or drawn attention to, especially by people like Bakugou. When people insult or speak negatively about him, he doesn't fight back because he thinks they're right.

Why? Because people have written him off his whole life for being quirkless. From his doctor, to his classmates, to his own mother, people have consistently told him that he could never be a hero - the type of person that he clearly values and looks up to most.

He looks for validation from others, and in his formative years he doesn't find it. When All Might also tells Izuku he can't be a hero, it absolutely wrecks him. Again, he doesn't protest or fight back. He just silently agrees. And the dream he's been tenaciously holding onto for 14 years, he's ready to throw away.

When All Might changes his mind and tells Izuku he actually can be a hero, Izuku literally cries from not only happiness, but relief.

In a similar pattern, when he thinks he hasn't gotten into UA, he immediately calls himself pathetic. He sees their negative judgement of him as a reflection of his own character. But as he is accepted, he automatically goes back to thinking well of himself.

This behavior, I will note, Is completely understandable and sympathetic. I wouldn't expect anyone who's been told this their whole life to act any different, especially not a young kid. But it's not healthy.

While communion is associated with positive feelings about other people, UC is not associated with any feelings, positive or negative. People with it tend to have imbalanced and problematic relationships with others, which brings me to my next point...

IZUKU AND OTHER PEOPLE

Izuku cares a lot about saving other people. A LOT.

People high in UC take helping behavior to an extreme. They are overly nurturing, intrusive, and self-sacrificing.

Notably, in the series this is not presented as a good thing from most characters' perspectives - except All Might's (most of the time), which I'll get to later.

Another aspect of UC is imbalanced relationships in terms of receiving and giving support. While people with UC love giving support, they tend to be uncomfortable with receiving it. There are several explanations for this, one of them being that UC people can feel like burdens when others help them, which stems from a view that other people are more deserving of help and support than themselves.

This doesn't seem to apply too much to Izuku, as he always seems grateful to receive support. However...

He is determined and pushes himself forward due to support from others. This is a good thing. But, sometimes, it seems a bit off to me. Like he's holding it over himself. Just receiving help isn't ok; he feels like he needs to prove to his supporters that he deserved it in the first place. Often that leads him to drive to succeed, of course. But when he doesn't succeed, he tears himself apart over it.

When people with high UC help others, Helgeson and Fritz (the authors of the paper that I'm referencing) argue that a large motivator for them is not simply to benefit the other person, but also to benefit themselves. Basically - they help others so they can receive rewards like others' praise or personal pride, or they help others to avoid punishment like others' disapproval or personal shame.

Interestingly, people with high UC actually feel worse if the person they're trying to help finds help elsewhere. They feel rejected and useless. This is most notably seen when Izuku is trying to hurt the League of Villains at USJ to save All Might, but is interrupted from his self-sacrifice by the other Pro Heroes arriving. He should be happy that things turned out alright, and yet...

IZUKU’S SELF NEGLECT

The last key aspect of UC is that people with it help in a way that hurts them. They willfully ignore and suppress their need for selfcare because they're trying to put others first. The paper mostly talks about how this causes general psychological distress, but with Izuku, the effect is much more extreme. Again, it's not seen as a good thing, but rather as what it is: a self-destructive, unhealthy, and unsustainable behavior.

ORIGINS

Why does Izuku act this way? He appears to naturally be a helping person - a person high in communion - since he reaches out to (and later tries to defend against) Bakugou even back when they were children. But why this extreme? Well, as stated, he starts with pretty low self-esteem. People often develop high UC from a sort of feedback loop - they realize that helping people means validation, which boosts their self-esteem. When they don't help people, they don't receive validation, which drops it. So they develop the need to help people in order to feel good, worthy, and happy.

The paper also mentions that another way a person can learn UC behavior is from watching it in others. And you know who else prides himself on self-sacrifice?

One of the people that Izuku has idolizes the most for his entire life.

All Might constantly compliments and admires Izuku for UC behavior. At first this is presented as the moral of the series - self-sacrifice, intrusiveness, and caretaking being what makes a true hero.

Izuku has certainly taken this dogma to heart.

But eventually this viewpoint is seen as biased. From Recovery Girl's comments to Gran Torino's, several people disagree with All Might and chastise him for teaching Izuku this mentality.

I don’t really know how to end this but this concludes my TED talk about Izuku’s extremely high unmitigated communion.

I hope you enjoyed!

Source is mostly A Theory of Unmitigated Communion by Vicki S. Helgeson and Heidi L. Fritz. A lot of the time I took quotes from the paper or only reworded them slightly.

Yes, I’m that big of a nerd.

out of our hands

“a five part study on the effects of eye contact on perceived closeness”

Or the one where Harry is a psychology grad student who is running a study, and Adalyn is the girl who signs up for it.

a one shot i wrote for ash last summer that i didnt post on tumblr for some odd reason

read below

Harry had been in school for a long time. A very long time. Years and years and years, is what he'd say if anyone asked.

He did thirteen years of school before he started college and then six since - four years of undergraduate where he got his bachelor's degree in psychology, and for the last two years he'd been working on his master's degree.

He was supposed to be almost done. He was supposed to have seven more weeks until he was out of the collegiate atmosphere. But the forces of nature, or magnetic energies, or maybe even God himself wasn't ready for that. Because somehow, his final research article had been skewed. So much so, that if he couldn't fix it, have it sent for review, and approved before the deadline, he'd have to stay around another semester and conduct his research study all over again.

One of his peer reviewers, this asshole Brennan, noted on his article that his findings could have been altered due to "unaccounted for manipulation". When the board saw that and questioned Harry, he knew right away Brennan was correct. His results wouldn't be significant enough to grant him a well-written article, and Harry wouldn't get his master’s degree.

Thankfully, he had enough time to conduct his study one last time, on one completely new participant. All he had to do was find someone he had never once met before, someone he had no chance of knowing. He went to a friend and asked them to spread the word. After only three days, he heard back, hearing about some other psych major who was always participating in studies - it was her thing, her love.

So here he was, with six weeks to do an entire study, get together a write up, and send it off. And all he had was a name.

Adalyn.

 session one

 Adalyn was ecstatic about life as of late. She was halfway through her sixth semester of college - only having seven weeks before summer break and having just turned 21 right before spring break. That meant she didn't have to sneak in bars with a fake ID anymore, or pretend to be sneaking when in reality the people just let her stay because her hair was pink and her eyelashes fluttered. She didn't mind having guys look at her in awe, but it did make her feel dirty, slightly sleazy, for using her looks to get her what she wanted.

Other than legal alcohol consumption, age came with a sense of assuredness for Adalyn. She was finally feeling confident in declaring her major, thinking psychology was the right path for her, especially after volunteering for all those research studies over the last two years - any that she qualified for, she would readily go to. It was probably because her freshman year Research Methods class taught her the value of a good sample size and how helpful it is to the experimenter when people actually participate in their study instead of ignoring it completely. (Life tip #1: always fill out a survey honestly and carefully. People work hard at developing those, and sometimes base their whole career on responses.)

Not only did she find the studies to be fun, but they also looked good for grad school applications. Her grades were looking excellent so far, not getting anything but A's since she took English 300 her sophomore year. (Life tip #2: don't take a 300-level class until junior year - not that it's actually that much harder, but they normally suck horribly, so just save yourself the heartache for one more year.)

That's why when her best friend heard from her friend that his friend was conducting a study that called for a new participant as soon as possible, she jumped on the opportunity, figuring it could only do everyone some good.

She had to be in the research building by 10am, not too early and not too late, but still, she found herself rushing there. Her first class of the day got out at 9:30, and the buildings weren't far from each other, but of course she spilt the last little bit of her coffee on her chest when she went to put her notebook in her backpack. She had to run back to her dorm and change into something else.

Originally she was dressed nice, wearing light-wash jeans, a polka dotted blouse, and her favorite pair of oxfords - classy chic was her goal. With the quick change though, she didn't have enough time to find a non-wrinkly shirt so she picked the first folded t-shirt she had in her dresser - a grungy old Nirvana one her older brother let her have (or she stole, who knows, really?).

To say the least, she was out of breath swinging the door open to room 3068 on the third floor of the psychology department's low-tech research wing. She was shocked to find no one in, first assuming she was early. Looking at her phone, it read 10:04, so nope, it wasn't a miracle, she wasn't early. It just happened the experimenter also had bad time management skills.

All that the room held was a table and two chairs placed on either side of it - reminiscent of interrogation rooms. Adalyn could've sworn she saw an exact replica of the room on one of those A&E shows where they recount the violent crimes of various criminals.

Staring at the empty room, she didn't know what to do with herself. Like any sane person would, she plopped her butt down on one of the cold metal chairs and waited. But not for too long, because after just a few scrolls through Instagram, the door was once again swung open and a man walked through - or more so rushed in.

Adalyn first noticed his height, his tall, lanky legs and arms. Then she noticed his age. He was younger than she expected - most people who ran studies were nearly greying or at least old enough to be rocking a wedding band on their finger. This guy, though, looked to be just a few years older than Adalyn.

“Hi!” She popped out of the chair, going in for a professional, strong handshake. The man reacted accordingly, shaking hers for just a second before going about the room, dropping his books off and picking up a clipboard.

“Running a bit late.” Were the first words he breathed. Turning back to Adalyn, he held out the clipboard to her. “These are the consent forms, pretty standard stuff. Just take a look through and sign please.”

“Of course!” Adalyn responded cheerily, not letting one ounce of her day’s misfortune carry into her interaction with this man. Still, he raked his hand through his hair and turned to gather materials.

She sat down and read over the paper. She could've just skimmed and signed it, but what can she say? She's a nerd for this kind of thing. She thought maybe research procedures and release forms could totally be her future. Or maybe after she spent a decade testing the effects of ambiguity on helping behaviors.

The paper had all kinds of fun information though. Not just procedures but researcher information - hypothesis, thesis, compensation. From it, Ashlyn learned the name of the man in front of her, the one who had taken a seat on the opposite side of the table and began fiddling with a timer: Harry Styles, a graduate student looking to explore eye contact in association with perceived closeness.

She signed the form and slid it to the side, waiting further instruction, but without looking up, Harry reached for another form and slid it across the table.

“This is just a self-report survey about any feelings you may have. Please answer as truthfully as possible. My colleagues will be gathering the data so I won't know who said what.” He still didn't look up, just spoke like a machine.

Adalyn nodded, not that it mattered or anything. It was just – well, she just hadn't felt that unnoticed in a long time. Harry didn't have to bask in all her beauty or anything, but maybe a little bit of acknowledgment would've been nice.

She went along with it anyway, because the guy clearly needed it and she was already this far into it. All of the 10 questions on the survey pertained to either how she felt at the moment or how she felt in accordance to the experimenter. It was on a 5 point Likert Scale. 1 being negatively, 3 being no feelings at all, 5 being positively.

Half were 5’s. Half were 2’s.

By the time she completed the survey, Harry was finally done setting up whatever he was doing.

“Alright, thanks.” He said, adding her survey to the pile of papers. “You're Adalyn, correct?”

She nodded. “Harry?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.” He gave his first half-assed, tight-lipped smile.

It was better than nothing.

“Okay, well in this study,” Harry began reading from a sheet of paper. It was standard protocol for a research study. The conductor of the experiment would read from a sheet of paper detailing what the participant would be doing in the study. It was a way to account for variables across participants, making sure that outside factors, such as experimenter delivery, didn't have an effect on the outcome. “You, the participant, will hold eye contact to the best of your ability with the experimenter for five minutes over five sessions. After each session, you will fill out a survey containing the same questions as the one you did previously. Changes in answers will show an effect of eye contact, the dependent variable, on perceived closeness, the independent variable.”

Adalyn listened closely to the formality of it all. The obsessive compulsion of studies always delighted her in some strange way.

“You may blink, and if you need to stop at any time, feel free to tell the experimenter. Your participation is greatly appreciated.” Harry finished up the short paragraph, lifting his eyes. “Any questions?”

“Nope. Five minutes of eye contact. Got it.” Adalyn ran through.

“Okay, then we will begin when I start the clock.” Harry grabbed the small stopwatch, set it for five minutes. “Now.” He said, initiating eye contact and laying the small device on the table.

There was no way around it, it was fucking weird. Eye contact for a long period of time was just unnatural, anyone would agree. But she couldn’t really do anything about it, except for stare into the eyes of this man who would barely look at her a few moments before – not even other parts of his face, just his green eyes.

It felt like forever, like time was standing still and all she'd ever be able to see when she looked away was that shade of emerald. Or maybe they were more forest-y? Perhaps jade? Adalyn wasn't sure, though she was sure it had to have been five minutes already. The timer must not have gone off.

Right as she was about to drop her eyes, unable to do it any longer, it kind of got nice. Tension felt to have faded, and the awkwardness that is one human being staring into the eyes of a complete stranger fizzled. But before she could be sure that actually happened and she wasn't just imagining it, the timer did go off and Harry sunk back in his chair.

Quick enough, he handed her the second survey, and with just a short goodbye she was out of the door, blinking repeatedly to try to erase the one color was stuck in her mind.

---

Harry sat back in his chair for a long while after Adalyn had left the room. It was weird doing that again, after so many months of not. But even still, it never quite felt as intense with the past participants. Something about Adalyn, with the pink hair and icy blue eyes, had him shaken. Right from the start, he noted how beautiful she was, how happy she seemed, and the eye contact only added to it.

As he tried to gather himself, he couldn't help think of how Brennan would be kicking his own ass for the conclusive findings Harry was sure to get with this rarity of a girl.

That is, as long as he didn’t let the data skew.

 session two

 Adalyn saw Harry again after that, in between session one and two, when she was in the cafeteria with a group of her loud, obnoxious, lovable, freaky friends. They were quite an eclectic group, varying in race and status and major. They were breaking the rules of homogony on every front which is probably what thrilled them the most - knowing that just by being friends, they were defying societal pressures.

She was eating with them, or rather stealing celery and apple slices off of her best friend’s plate, and looked around to catch the set of eyes that shouldn’t have been as familiar as they were. She shouldn't have been able to look at a guy she spent maybe ten minutes with in total and know every variation of green his irises shifted from. But she did, so she waved, just like any normal person would, any self-respecting friendly human being would.

Harry seemed to snap out of a trance when Adalyn raised her hand, turning away without an ounce of acknowledgement, nodding to whatever his small group of friends were saying. They all kind of looked alike, but just a tiny bit. All but one had tattoos littering their arms. They all wore skinny jeans and easy smiles and joked with each other. Harry looked the most serious.

It was the cold vegetable hitting Adalyn lightly on the face that snapped her out of her examining of the table across the room. She turned towards the one person she knew as the vegetable thrower, her best friend, and gave her best death stare. As it turned out, Adalyn wasn't good at evil so her friend just ended up laughing.

She sat there for the rest of the meal wondering why the fuck she was so obviously ignored.

That was almost a week ago, and even remembering that couldn't throw her off her mood, because she had just gotten an A on a paper from one of the hardest classes she was taking that semester: Abnormal Psychology in Children. It had her bouncing with every step and cheeks aching from an unrelenting grin when she walked in room 3068.

Harry was already there this time, doing something on his phone, possibly texting those friends of his about how to properly blow off someone.

He didn't look up when Adalyn stepped in the room and the door closed behind her.

A, she thought, I got an A.

“Hello!” She chirped as she pulled her chair out. Even if he completely ignored her again, she wouldn't care, she wouldn't let it bother her. I got an A.

“Hello, are you ready to start?” Harry was nothing but business, hitting the lock button on his phone and throwing it into his open bag he had on the floor.

The thing was, he didn't look like a dick who ignored pretty girls or who never wanted to say hello. His face could be soft, in the second before he put a stern look on. The moment she saw him staring, before he realized it, he looked incredibly soft, like if she were to touch him it would be a euphoric experience. Then the fucker would open his mouth and was robotic.

“Yup!” She smiled. I got an A.

Harry nodded once, maybe let half his lips turn upward just a smidge, and then they were off. Adalyn did her survey – marking nearly all fives on this day – and then Harry got out his stopwatch.

This eye contact was like it was before, kind of awkward, mostly uncomfortable, but then about two minutes in (or what Adalyn guessed was two minutes because again, time was weird when you had no way of marking it) she remembered she was supposed to be in a good mood. She kept her eyes locked with this grumpy man and thought of how she could call her parents later and brag about how well she did, about how grad schools would want her, and those student loans would one day be paid off.

Without even realizing it, she felt her lips turning into a grin, how could they not with such positive vibes running rampant inside. It was awkward to sit in silence, stare at a guy, and smile for no apparent reason. She really tried to contain it, to tuck her lips together and keep them solid like Harry's.

It was an ongoing effort that she was certain would last the whole five minutes when suddenly, out of nowhere, it was like she stepped into an alternate universe where Harry could show emotion. Just barely, the corners of his eyes crinkled, and the green of his irises may have lightened just a little. If she were allowed to look away, Adalyn would’ve checked to see if he were actually smiling and that she wasn't just making assumptions due to her learnings in Social Psych about facial expressions.

It was pretty clear that they both were smiling though, so she didn't try to conceal hers anymore and sat – surely looking ridiculous – until the timer went off. And as soon as it did, Harry slid the second survey in her direction.

She filled it out without a problem. She had to remain objective, had to remember the survey was how she felt about the experimenter and not about life in general. Even then, for every question, the score increased by one point.

Finishing the survey, Adalyn thought what the hell and decided she might as well at least see why Harry totally ignored her the other day.

“So I saw you the other day?” It came out like a question when she could've sworn it was a statement.

Harry didn't show any indication that he actually heard her, not moving his focus from some stack of papers. What did he even have to read right in that moment that couldn't wait?

“Yeah,” she continued. “You completely ignored me even though I know you saw me so I didn't figure you'd say anything today.”

A lot can be said about Adalyn, probably just as much good as bad. But no one could never say that she didn't speak her mind. Adalyn would let people decide if that fell under the good or bad category themselves.

In that moment, it got Harry to look up even if his face was back to its cold, distant normality. She didn't falter under the heavy gaze of someone clearly unamused by her, instead sat like she had the entire time, trying her best at unamused as well.

“Listen, Adalyn,” Harry started, then shook his head back and forth, something about it made her feel like he would rather be a million places other than sitting across from her. And that's fair enough, but she wouldn't just let him make her feel invisible without an explanation. “It's best that we don't talk to each other except for the study.”

“Oh yeah?” She challenged, breathing in.

“Yes. It's best not to skew data. This is a study on human interaction at its very core. If we start chatting it up in the cafeteria, then who's to say why you fill out the surveys the way you do. I need to know it's because of the eye contact.”

“You know that's being fucked right now?”

“Then all I can do is ask you to forget about this and leave. If I see you on campus and don't go out of my way to be friendly, or if I seem cold any other time, please forget about it when you're filling out that survey.” He pointed to the paper Adalyn hadn't yet handed back.

Adalyn got the importance of validity to a research study, she took a whole damn class on the subject, so she couldn't really argue, nor did she want to. Not when Harry seemed like a good guy just trying to publish his findings.

Adalyn nodded her head, grabbed her book bag from the ground and swung it over her shoulder, leaving the survey on the table as she exited the barren study lab.

---

Harry didn't mean to be a dick, not really, not ever. Not to a nice girl he hardly knew.

He just couldn't have the study under question again. If he had to find someone else to fill in for Adalyn, then that was even more time and resources down the drain. All he really wanted was to finish his study, and the many many years he's spent learning the ins and outs of human behavior – at least from the psychological standpoint.

Though, something about Adalyn already had him questioning what was supposed to be - what he had learned years ago in Psych 330: Human and Animal Behavior. People weren't supposed to call you on your shit like she did, so upfront and uncaring. People normally don't go straight for the kill, without even properly knowing each other.

That's why, when Adalyn left session two, he went to his old Social Psychology professor and had a nonspecific talk about confrontation theories. And when his professor laughed at him due to his “clear girl trouble”, Harry snorted and cracked a joke instead.

 session three

 Harry was different at their third session – less grumpy, more easy going. And it wasn't even like he was smiling or making jokes, it just felt like he was less angry when Adalyn met him in that same room. Which was pretty fucking weird, if she did say so. Out of nowhere, he wasn't ignoring her when she showed up, or when she tripped just a tiny bit while sliding into the metal chair. He even smirked at her clumsiness, raised an eyebrow in question of how she could possibly do what she just had. Adalyn was in such shock at his acknowledgement that she couldn't make a sound.

She filled out the survey and all the while felt his eyes on her. It was beginning to make her feel like she had something on her face, or maybe she had forgotten a few buttons on her blouse, showing off her lace bralette that left little to the imagination. After subtlety feeling around her face and looking down at her own chest, she knew neither of those were the reason why.

“Okay, you ready?” Harry accepted the survey she passed to him, almost sounding happy and excited to be doing this.

The shock wasn't wearing off so a confused Adalyn nodded and pulled her seat closer to the table, getting ready.

She couldn't stop herself from watching every movement Harry made, trying to find the exact difference in him, as if it could be seen on his flesh why he was acting decent. It couldn't really, not by the way he reached over for his stopwatch then ran his hand through his long brown locks, tossing it so it fell just in place. That just seemed kind of… Well… Hot.

It was most likely due to his acknowledgement in addition to his obvious attractiveness that had Adalyn noticing how Harry did everything just slow enough to make it seem like a tease, like he was doing it so people would watch him, wait for him, to keep their attention to see what the end result would be.

“Alright.” He broke her out of her head with the word, bringing her to the task at hand. He moved his head in such a way that she knew he was going to start the timer.

Staring in the eyes of someone who could barely say hi to you was a lot different than someone who might possibly think you're alright, Adalyn learned. Because that time, it didn't take the constant reminder of a good grade, or a stroke of magic to make the situation less awkward. It just was.

The tension was still palpable, the air still thick, but it wasn't the same as before. It was easier. She just sat and stared at that same pair of green eyes - even though they might've seemed more vibrant.

Whatever was different about Harry, whatever was making him laugh at her tripping and smirking a hello, also had him bringing so much intensity into the room. Yeah, it was easy to stare at him when he was that way, and yeah, she liked it better, but also, it made her body feel stiff. Like she had to move just to shake off his gaze or else he'd figure out everything about her – every mannerism and quirk, every secret she had kept and lies she had told.

It was both a good and a bad feeling.

Her body was almost aching to move, when for the third time, she was saved by the bell in the form of four little beeps from a stopwatch.

At the sound, both fell back into their chairs, almost in complete sync with one another. A moment went by when the room stood still, and Adalyn felt like what they had just experienced was a moment, a spark in some weird way.

The sliding of a survey in her direction had her forgetting those thoughts. It was the experiment. Not a moment. Not a spark. Harry wasn't light or happy, he was angry. He was just having an off day. Maybe he had gotten a good grade back too, skewing his usual demeanor.

Adalyn stuck to answering the questions as truthfully as possible, getting out of her head about what it felt like to be looked at by Harry and instead only thinking of how she felt towards the experimenter - the random guy who held eye contact with her.

Each question raised one point.

---

Whatever was up with Adalyn that day wouldn't bother Harry, he wouldn't let it. She barely said anything, just nodded the whole time, and still, he wasn't going to let himself think about it as he put SPSS data into the program. He'd run his t-tests, check the p-value, and decide if the results were significant.

After he found out that he got that job at his Social Psychology professors research lab, the stress slid right off his shoulders, just like the bad mood he had been carrying around for weeks. And he wouldn't let some random participant in his study mess that up. No matter how much he enjoyed her hair that matched the color of her lips, or her eyes that could wear down anyone's resolve. She wouldn't ruin his good day. Not one bit.

 session four

 The weather outside was hot, people were sweaty, hair was frizzing. In psychology, you learn that crime rates go up during the summer for various reasons, one major reason being the fact that heat makes people angry. Adalyn wasn't one of those people, and apparently neither was Harry.

When Adalyn found him in the lab, he was relaxing in his chair, nearly giggling as he typed out some kind of message on his phone. The sight alone had Adalyn checking the sign outside of the door so she was sure she hadn't walked into the wrong room and found Harry's happy twin brother.

3068 the door read. She was in the right place.

Cautiously, and mainly uncertain, she stepped through the doorway, pulling Harry out of his own little world. Almost immediately she felt under pressure. Not only was it so hot outside that she had to wear a tank top and her favorite pair of jean shorts, but now Harry was gazing off at her like he liked what he saw. She could feel the sweat gather at her hairline.

Harry wasn't dressed that much different than normal – black jeans and a button up shirt. Except this time, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing a scattering of tattoos, and the first few buttons were undone, showing a bit of his collarbone and possibly more ink.

“Hi.” Adalyn greeted, because she wasn't sure what else to do, what else would get Harry to move and hand her the survey.

“Hi.” He snapped back, but not like he was angry like before, but more so like he was caught doing something and needed to distract from it.

Adalyn, of course, didn't miss his eyes move away from her body slowly, almost hesitantly.

She took a seat in the chair – her chair – and for once, she thanked God for the seats being metal due to them cooling her exponentially. She let every part of her body slouch into the cool metal, feeling no shame when Harry eyed her like she was insane.

Adalyn just wanted this to go as quick as possible so she could get back to her Arctic room and ice cream she had waiting for her. Without much thought at all, she filled out the survey as honestly as possible.

She handed it back to Harry with him asking if she were ready. Like always, she was and he set the timer.

Adalyn pretty much knew what was going to happen by the fourth time she locked eyes with the ex-grumpy man who sat across from her for five minutes. It would be slightly awkward, but with Harry's new found cheer and can do attitude, it wouldn't be so bad.

She tried not to overthink why, out of nowhere, he didn't scowl when she entered the room or why he started greeting her with a smile on his face. She didn't need to know really. It was just a better scenery she'd gladly accept.

They were halfway through the process and the chair Adalyn was sitting in wasn't so cool anymore, it wasn't hot exactly, but all that relief she got from it had worn away. Now she was getting hot again. The room was feeling stuffy, and she felt like she just had to move. So, she did. She inched forward in the chair, leaning her elbows on the table and shaking her hair off of her shoulder, being sure to keep eye contact at all times.

Even that didn't do much to make the heat feel less, causing her to question if maybe the room wasn't actually as warm as she thought it was. Maybe it was just the intent Harry had in his eyes that had her skin feeling on fire and shining from the tiniest bit of sweat.

Adalyn kind of liked that idea.

The idea of Harry looking into her eyes so hungrily that her body had a physical reaction. It had her tingling in that good way she never got enough of, so much so that she'd often egg it on.

So basically, she couldn't help that she leaned forward that little bit more, enough to make her small tank top cover even less skin.

It was like she could feel it in his green eyes – how irritating she was being to his study. Nothing else about Harry gave her any indication that he was enjoying her little show, but all it took was the eyes.

And if he let his slip down her neck for just a split second before they met hers once again, she pretended not to notice.

She pretended not to notice while she was filling out the survey, while she was grabbing her things and smiling a good bye to him.

She walked out proud of herself, thinking that the next session would be fun – the last session.

 session five

 They were staring into each other's eyes for the last time. And it finally felt completely normal, not even awkward at all. Just like two friends. Which Adalyn knew they weren't, she had no delusion of that. But now she thought maybe the next time she waved at him,he'd return a small one at the very least.

Or possibly a big one.

Because Harry was staring at her again, like he wouldn't be able to look away even if this wasn't all for a study, and Adalyn couldn't help but tease him. She couldn't help but slide off the light cardigan she wore in and move her hair to one shoulder - the weather had dropped again, just like usual for this part of the US. Now Harry had a perfect view of an expansive amount of skin, from the V-neck of her t-shirt all the way up her neck.

He was good though, not playing into her efforts, locking even more ferociously with her eyes. That was enough to get Adalyn to lose some of the upper hand, because one can't just stare at someone like that – so kind and wanting – without having the recipient feel something.

This time, Adalyn needed to shift, not because she was feeling stiff or pressure, but because she just had to. Warmth was wrapping around her again but this time it had to be because of Harry and Harry alone. It was on her neck and up her legs and she just had to.

Once she did, momentarily she was feeling a lot better, like she could contain herself and keep her eyes looking into those green fiery ones.

Harry, though, then moved himself, scooting to the edge of his chair and extending his legs under the table enough to bump into Adalyn's. She moved hers out of the way just barely, not so much that they weren’t still nearly touching.

And then the beeps went off, just four small ones. They should've been louder for the moment that it was – the end of the study. But they weren't, they were the same as all the other times.

Adalyn and Harry didn't react much to the noise, fixed on each other. Until Adalyn was moving, surging forward across the table to connect her mouth with Harry's. Harry had no problems responding to that, standing up so the effort wasn't solely left on her, and wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Whoa.” Harry backed up, breaking the kiss and all body contact they had with each other. “Fuck!” He exclaimed, wiping all the evidence of the kiss from his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What?” Adalyn wasn't sure what was so wrong with what she had just done. It was clear that Harry wanted her, he kissed her back so fully that there was no mistaking it. And she waited until the end of the sessions instead of doing it sooner even though she knew she could've. His reaction seemed a bit too much to her.

Instead of replying right away, Harry began pacing the small room, going back and forth in a single line.

“What did I do wrong?” Adalyn repeated. If she were someone different, this would've done a lot to hurt her ego – to see someone react so horribly to a kiss – and even though her ego wasn't hurt, her voice was.

Harry stopped his pacing at once, rushing to the stack of papers on the table. And that's when it hit her. She forgot the last survey – the last survey that could pretty much define his entire research study.

“Fuck!” She stomped her foot, mad at herself for letting desire do something so idiotic.

“Just fill it out truthfully and it'll be okay.” Harry spoke like he was convincing himself, like he needed to hear it so he didn't have to worry.

“Of course I will.” She grabbed the paper from his hands.

Obviously she would fill it out with as much honesty as all the others, because in all honesty, it was a no brainier. Clearly the eye contact had worked. Clearly her perceived closeness was at a five in every way – especially in the way where Harry's mouth tasted like the sweetest honey against hers and his big hand warmed her body.

It took her maybe seconds to fill out the form before handing it back to him. And somehow, in the time she looked away, Harry had appeared on her side of the table. They were closer than they had ever been before, Adalyn noted to herself.

“Good.” Harry looked at her answers for the first time, not putting them straight into an envelope like he normally did. “Where were we?” He asked in one breathe as he slammed the sheet down on the table and brought Adalyn back to his mouth, those hands back on her like they hadn't left. It was all enough to have her giggling while simultaneously trying to keep the room full of that lust.

Before she could even stop herself, she had her hands running down the buttons of his shirt, undoing them one by one. As more skin was revealed, so was more ink, and the need for her to run her tongue along every line. And she would've, too, if Harry hadn’t reconnected their lips as soon as she had disconnected them.

He was acting like he couldn't get enough of the taste of her, which she really didn't mind, not when he swung her around and had her sitting on the table that had kept them separated for the last five weeks.

It was then, with the cold against her legs, that she realized just what was going on and muttered the words, “This is so fucked.”

“What is?” Harry pulled back to look into her eyes. The two sets of eyes knew each other pretty well by then so if anything were wrong, he'd have known just by that.

Adalyn shook her head and laughed. “Your study.”

“Don't say that, it'll kill the mood.” He went back to kissing along the line of her neck.

“No seriously. I mean, you really proved something here.”

“What's that?”

“Stare at someone long enough and they'll want to have sex with you.”

“I've done this with a few other people, and Adalyn, you're the only person who I've ended the study with this way.”

“Damn, Harry. You have such a way with words.”

“Don't I?” Harry was playful it turned out, smiling against her neck. She had no way of knowing that before, but here he stood, slightly undressed and cracking a few jokes.

And his smirk? Well that was enough to drive anyone crazy, and have Adalyn undoing his belt buckle without a second thought – just knowing she wanted him so viscerally right then was enough for her.

Harry had her shirt off nearly as quick. Then, without warning, he slowed down, taking his time to touch every part of her skin, to kiss where he felt like she deserved and to slip her bottoms off gently.

Adalyn would've done well with a quick fuck, a onetime thing from a hot psych student, but she was finding the slowness pretty okay too. Because when he wrapped her legs around his hips, and slid into her like she was something special, her whole world went fuzzy.

She lulled her head back in pure ecstasy as Harry took his time with her, biting marks into her neck that were sure to show sooner rather than later. She felt herself being useless in his arms, and still she couldn't stop being completely wrecked by him – with every forward motion of his hips, pushing her closer to her end.

It was when she finally decided to look up again, to check that Harry was getting as much out of it as she was, that she met his eyes and reached her climax. It came with a mutter of Harry and then a slump of her body even closer to his. Like any respectable man, Harry followed with a little more coaxing of her mouth on his neck – she was determined to leave a few love bites of her own – and a swirl of her hips.

They were both getting dressed again when the first post-sex words were spoken. And from Harry no less.

“That was fun, huh?” He smiled lightly, testing the waters with his offhand question.

Adalyn pulled on her shirt, surveying the room to see no noticeable differences about it.

“Oh, I definitely have no complaints.” She spoke honestly and freely, living high off her orgasm.

That truth seemed to shock Harry. Probably not that she was satisfied but that she wasn't playing games about it.

“None?” He questioned.

“Nah.” She pretended to think on it, then continued. “And I'm not one for lying.”

“Good to know.”

“Yeah. I figure it might be nice for you to know something about me.” Adalyn stepped closer to Harry, who was fully dressed and grinning contentedly at her from the edge of the table he perched himself on.

“I think so too.” He nodded in agreement, checking his watch. “And so in that case, would you want to have lunch with me?”

100+ Awesome Poker Blogs

by Sammy | Updated: 14/04/2016 If you want to find out about the latest poker information including tips and strategies then poker blogs are your best bet. While being the best poker blog can be subjective, the following criteria helped decide which pages are worth checking out: Quality of contentFrequency of contentWriting clarity and ability including content diversityAesthetic appealInformation value and entertainment value. You will also like: Top 34 Best Poker Books Every Poker Addict Must Read We have divided our list 3 parts. The Top 10 Most Awesome Poker Blogs: This means they are frequently updated with quality posts.Almost As Awesome Blogs: This means they are still very good but not as good as the top 10.The Rest: These blogs are a definitely a good read butmight not be active anymore.The Top 10 Most Awesome Poker Blogs1. Daniel Negreanu Blog Daniel Negreanu's blog started in 2004. He is a professional poker player and has won six WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles. His blog posts are mostly about his experiences in his poker games. He touches upon topics such as other poker players, poker politics, poker tournament issues, and other topics. His blog is very casual and can be mostly read for entertainment or wanting to read another's thoughts on what is happening in the poker industry. There is not much in regards to strategy and game play, so novices may not find much use for the blog. 2. Jonathan Little Blog Jonathan Little started his blog in 2014. He is a professional poker player and has won two Word Poker Tours. Little's blog is a great read and resource for any poker player. On his blog, you will find poker videos that show and talk you through some of the hands he has played during a tournament. He also writes about other topics players may be interested in such as what sort of mind set you should have during a game, whether force out your opponent or keep them in and more. He also has other posts on game analysis and tournaments. You should definitely be looking forward to upcoming posts. 3. Card Player Lifestyle Cardplayerlifestyle.com is the perfect blog for lifelong lovers of poker and those poker industry followers habitually looking for poker news and updates. The blog reads much like a magazine; thoughtful, smart posts abound and are well written and fascinating. Photos accompany each post, and the blog is updated regularly. Cardplayerlifestyle.com is a name recognizable to poker fans everywhere, and is clearly a standard in the industry for news and information. Including sit-down interviews, original content, and catchy headlines, this blog is a must-read for anyone who takes poker seriously and wants to be immersed in the culture. 4. ESPN Poker Blog If you aren't subscribed to the ESPN poker blog, stop what you're doing right now and subscribe. You can't call yourself a truly invested poker player if you aren't staying up-to-date on poker news. ESPN's blog is easily the best way to do this. The sports news superpower features excellent articles written by premier journalists on topics that every poker player should be looking into. The blog covers everything from major tournaments to changes in the league with photos and thoughtful articles. The ESPN poker blog is intuitive and easy to navigate with breaking news links featured at the top of the page in a sidebar for easy access. Hands down the best blog for poker news. 5. The Poker Barrister The Poker Barrister is a blog ran by Pete P. Peters. He started the blog in 2011, and it has been going pretty strong ever since. Like most poker blogs it's not 100% about poker, but a good chunk of it is. He does detailed hand analysis, the poker industry in different states, his winnings and losses, tournaments, and of course random thoughts and more. He has a very friendly tone, and his blogs spots tend to give readers advice or lessons they can take away. Novices and more experienced player will enjoy his posts for their tone and insight. 6. Pokerlistings Blog Pokerlisting's blog is run by the editorial team, and they also feature other blog writer's blog. This blog will be useful for novice and advance players. Pokerlisting's part of the blog usually showcases live feeds of poker games, comments on tournaments, poker news, poker gadgets and more. The blogs that Pokerlistings feature are created by a variety of poker players and enthusiasts like Jason Mercier and Matt Stout. They also have the WSOP blog, Positively Nerd Street, Poker Joker and more. With all of these sites, you access to a variety of poker news, gossip, strategy, insight and more. 7. Rob's Vegas and Poker Blog Rob started his blog, Rob's Vegas and Poker Blog, on September 20, 2011. There isn't a lack of cleavage or skimpily clad women, which doesn't have to be a bad thing. Like other poker blogs, he shares his own personal experience as a poker player. He sometimes even blogs live from competitions along with his Twitter feed. Most of the blog is very detailed and story-like, and it definitely has a very laid back tone. But poker is not all he talks about. He also talks about his adventures in Vegas and at poker games and encounters he has had with women. Overall, it's entertaining, but it may not be for everyone. 8. Thinking Poker Thinking Poker is a blog and a podcast about just that--how to think about poker. Each episode is around an hour long and features guests from amateur players to coaches. There is a strategy component to most episodes, and also a nice interview element. The Thinking Poker website has everything from Trip Reports to a link where you can buy Thinking Poker swag. This is definitely a blog/podcast to look out for, there seem to be big things on the horizon and rightfully so. While podcasts aren't as easy to digest as a video or an image, they have a lot to offer if you're willing to put the time in. This podcast http://pokerace99-id.com is no different, and allows listeners a good chance to learn. 9. SplitSuit Poker SplitSuit is one of the best blogs for players to learn how to improve their game. The writer of the blog is James "SplitSuit" Sweeney, who is a poker player and coach. The blog offers poker hand reviews with video, so poker players can learn how to play certain hands. It gives you poker strategies on beating floaters, handling a flop and more. You also get some fun poker quizzes that will test your skill. Players can also learn new plays and concepts through videos and quizzes provided by the site. Poker plays new and advanced should utilize this blog. 10. PokerStars Blog On Poker Stars Blog's site, you can find the latest in poker industry news, information and insight on live and online poker, strategy and more. When they blog about tournaments, you will get frequent almost hourly updates on players and game results. As far as strategy, you will find blog posts on how to increase your winnings, which hands you should play, poker psychology and more. You will also get news about the poker industry around the world. Beginner poker players, players who are more seasoned, online and live poker players will benefit from this site. almost as awesome blogsBlackRain79 BlackRain79.com was created by an online poker player named Nathan. His posts are about his experiences in online poker, and it also has posts regarding strategies and tips when playing at the micro and small stakes level. His writing is somewhat personable but it is to the point at the same time. His posts with strategies and lessons are sectioned off for easy reading and understanding. Although he doesn't post funny, personable stories, his straight forward writing is still effective. He continues to update his blog, so there are more strategies and game play for the foreseeable future. High On Poker High on Poker is the creation of a poker player and lawyer named Jordan. He mostly writes about strategy, online poker, tournaments, news, and more. His writing style is very casual. He writes as if he's talking to a buddy, who is nice since you want the blogger you're spending some of your time on to, feel like a friend. He often draws his lessons from his own playing experiences. This blog will be great for beginner and more advanced poker hobbyists, since, as a hobbyist himself, Jordan knows what it's like to juggle work, family, and your hobby. Living the Dream Living the Dream Poker Blog is a blog that shares the live experiences of online poker players playing in live tournaments in Europe and the Caribbean. The posts are very detailed as far as gameplay, but they do provide videos. It's an interesting blog as far as seeing how online players fair in live tournaments, since it is a different atmosphere. You also so get to read about some of the players' own personal experience and thoughts. There is no strategy or detailed gameplay, so this may not be the blog for you if that's what you're looking for. Poker Guru Blog The Poker Guru Blog is a blog that can suit any player. It has a poker forum where readers can discuss poker and some off topics. There are blogs about poker strategies where readers can read about advanced poker strategy, beginner tips, poker psychology, probability, hand reviews and more. Readers can also read news about the poker industry and poker professionals, and more. Overall, the blog is very informative and players and hobbyists of all levels can gain something from it. Poker Player Poker Player is a blog where a poker player can stay up to date on the latest poker news, learn or brush up on some strategies, catch up with their favorite professional poker players, or read some miscellaneous poker topics like the history of online poker. If you're an online casino player or interested in it, you can find some insightful articles and tips. The magazine is very casual and can be useful to beginner poker players and players who are more advanced. The tone and style of the publication is very casual, and any advice or information given is easy to understand and follow. Roads to Tomorrow FlushhDraw is a full time Las Vegas poker player that started his blog on October 7, 2015, where he basically chronicles his and shares his gaming experience (mostly online games). His writing style is very story like. He displays the feelings and thought processes he had at the moment he was playing game. This is nice since it helps the reader put themselves into his shoes. It gives the reader a chance to learn from his mistakes and successes in poker playing. He even provides snap shots of some of the games he has played to give his readers more of a visual component. This blog is great for novices and more experienced poker players. Blonde Poker: Diaries and Blogs Blondepoker.com is an open forum about poker topics. It has attracted some fairly knowledgeable persons and boasts interesting threads about all facets of poker life. This forum is quite active - almost every post has moved up to a "very hot topic" (meaning it has over twenty-five replies) on the site. Threads range from personal diaries to requests for advice. Frequently open forums bring some strange, off-topic comments, but generally this one stays supportive and poker-centric. If you're looking for a sense of community and are not quite ready to jump in to starting your own poker blog, posting in a forum such as this one is a good place to start. TwoPlusTwo House Blogs The twoplustwo forum is exceedingly popular, with updates and threads coming in every couple of minutes. Threads may start out about poker, but quickly deteriorate. This forum seems to be crowded with trolls, and doesn't offer a lot in the way of community. One thing it does offer is a chance to simply post. Forums are a great opportunity to get your foot in the door of the blogging community and see what things get people talking. Twoplustwo uses this forum to promote their radio show, and takes advertisements from online poker playing websites as well. Not the best poker forum, but certainly one of the most popular. Hard Boiled Poker Blog The hardboiledpoker blog is an awesome lifestyle blog by a fantastic writer. He touches on all facets of poker playing. Posts range from how contestants bet on the show Jeopardy to how to keep the chip lead when you're ahead. In short, hardboiledpoker is an entertaining lifestyle poker blog with a great writer who knows how to write a compelling article. His posts are nuanced and interesting. There are frequent nods to current cultural phenomenon, but the author always brings the story back to poker. To make things better, the blog is kept up-to-date with posts coming in at least once or twice a week. Jared Tendler Jared Tendler is an author and psychologist specializing in the mental toughness and agility required to excel at Poker. His blog is mostly inspirational and promotional. Instead of offering poker-specific articles, Jared leans toward posts that discuss the mental requirements of the game and mental confidence in general. His posts include Ted talks, Q&As with poker superstars and clients, promotional posts for his podcast, and re-posts of interesting articles about the mind. In short, Jared is an entrepreneur seeking clients who he can help master the mental game of poker, which takes a certain level of stamina and sharpness. His posts are generally amusing and surprising. They appeal to an audience beyond that of simply poker players. Just the facts The Poker Meister, author of this lowstakeshands blog, stays firmly in the realm of posting only about poker. This makes this blog an excellent resource for any beginner. His most effective posts are the ones that detail a poker situation and then leave the outcome open-ended. Should he have checked, called, gone all-in, or folded? He receives some fairly interesting, contradicting replies from his visitors, which makes for a great learning opportunity and reveals how many different ways the game can be played. Finally, a low-stakes blog about nothing but poker! If you're looking to read up on poker, and are hoping to skip all of the personal posts about family and vacation, this is the blog for you. The Great Grind Justin Butlion is the author of the thregreatgrind blog, and comments on everything from strategy to psychology in articles that focus on the particulars of poker. He is very community-driven and encourages a conversation from his posts. He strikes a nice balance with personal posts about his own poker playing journey to more general posts about how to avoid tilt and what to do before an online poker tournament. Unfortunately, Justin doesn't post very often, usually once every couple of months. This is unfortunate because he takes a very mathematical approach to the game which is refreshing and useful to those looking to improve. Poker Practice The Poker Practice is an informational blog with articles about poker news. From article titles like "Pros have Meeting with Pokerstars - It results in Nothing" and "Phil Ivey enters Daily Fantasy Sports World," there is nothing this blog doesn't cover. Categories include, "Poker News," "Poker Tips," and "What's New," and articles are both educational and fascinating. The Poker Practice blog does well to comment on poker news with a keen eye on detail and fact. This is a great addition to anyone's blog repertoire. Sugar House Poker Blog The SugarHouse Casino blog is the official blog for SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia, PA. The blog serves as a recapping of wins and losses at tournaments hosted by SugarHouse, and features pictures, highlights, and commentary. Because it is updated regularly and with great detail, the SugarHouse blog is a great resource for anyone in the Pennsylvania area checking in on new up and coming poker players in the area. It is also a great way to be introduced to the Pennsylvania poker community if you're new in town. PokerTube Video Blogs Pokertube.com is a hub of poker news and information in the form of videos and live hands snipped down for viewing pleasure. Pokertube.com also offers a chat forum, which allows viewers to post. However, the real charm of pokertube is the ability to watch videos organized into categories like "Poker Training Videos" and "Live Poker." Videos are an intuitive way to share poker knowledge. Watching is much better than reading in the world of poker strategy, and pokertube offers viewers the opportunity to really "watch and learn." With videos being uploaded regularly, pokertube is a great way to have all of your poker news in one place at one time, cut down into bite-sized snippets that are enjoyable and exciting. Pokerati Pokerati is run by a group of poker bloggers. It features blogs about poker news, business, and politics. It also offers insight and opinion into poker and covers the poker lifestyle. There are some posts on poker strategies and tips, and the blog also features posts on live and online poker. The tone is very casual, but doesn't offer as much insight and personal experience as some bloggers do. The blog can be useful to players on all levels and platforms. Overall the blog is informative and gives you a little bit of everything. We look forward to future posts. DK LAPPIN This blog by DK Lappin started in 2008. It is very insightful about his gameplay and the poker industry. What's cool about his blog is that he talks about current events and poker, and he finds a way to weave it all together. This blog would be interesting for a novice or a more experienced player, as it is a nice and entertaining way of keeping up with the poker industry. His writing has a nice flow, and he writes in a way that keeps his readers interested. He is still making posts, so it will be interesting to see what posts he comes up with in the future. tbc's blog about grinding low stakes poker Seven Card 2003 was created by Tony Bigcharles in 2011. He writes about his experiences and game play at casinos, tournaments, and online poker. He also writes posts here and there about events happening in his life and his own personal thoughts. There is no shortage of quality content, his writing are long and in-depth. Tony also has a big community following him and the comment section of his posts are always full of opinions from his readers which makes this an awesome blog to follow. The P-Log The P-Log is by a guy named Puyan, who is an online poker player on Pokerstars. He talks about his travels, games, poker, and random thoughts or events. The blog is very casual, and it reads as if a friend or a mentor is talking to you. As far as poker, he touches upon the industry, tournaments, well known poker players, and thoughtful theories on topics such as luck. He has some interesting stuff to say about the poker industry and its players. There's not much insight on strategy and gameplay, but you can find some usefulness in this blog. The poker academy The Poker Academy is a blog written by Rep Porter, who has played poker professionally for over 10 years and have won 27 World Series of Poker bracelets and had 27 cashes at WSOP as well. He posts about travel, success, balancing poker games, and tournaments, a little bit of home life, and of course the World Series of Poker. The blog is very friendly, and he is detailed about his game play as far as significant hands, wins and losses, etc. It's a very good blog for any novice or professional to read, especially since it is written by such a professional. BankRoolBoo$t Bank Roll Boost started in 2015, and it is all about poker. Their blog posts are about the news and gossip going on in the poker industry. There is even some funny satire about poker. The blog is very laid back, and it allows the reader to stay up to date and have a little fun in reading about poker. Players new and old will get a kick out this blog, as it is one of the more entertaining ones. The blog is fairly new in the poker field, so we're looking forward to future blog posts. Vegas or Bust Johnny Kampis is back with a new blog (his previous being Poker Nation reviewed just below) on The Huffington Post. In this blog you can follow his road to Vegas and WSOP 2016. The blog can be summarized in his own words: "It's Vegas or bust, go big or go home". The blog started in April 2016 and has three posts so far. But being on a big site as The Huffington Post we can assume it will continue to be updated for a while. Furthermore you can always count in impeccable grammar and a great flow in Johnny's writing since he is a long time editor/report for many big established sites. The restPoker Nation Poker Nation is a blog created by Johnny "Tuscaloosa" Kampis. He has competed in the World Poker Open, the World Series of Poker, and other tournaments. He started the blog in October 2004s, and it covers his thought and his own personal experience in the world of poker. The tone of the blog is very informal and friendly, which is great coming from a blogger. In the beginning he was an avid poster, but currently they are few and far in between. His last post was September 25, 2015, and according to the post he has been into fantasy sports lately. He hasn't quit poker, so he may post again sometime this year. Poker Wannabe Poker Wannabe is a blog that many novice poker players will find relatable. Columbo (the username given) started the blog in 2005 as a novice player and created the blog to share his own experiences. On the blog you will find informative blog posts on what the blogger has experience in tournaments and strategies and plays they have learned. The posts vary in length; sometimes they're long and give good advice, and other times they may be short with little rambles. Sometimes they are in between. Overall the blog is good for novices or people who are becoming interested in poker. Down The Rabbit Hole With Poker Aces Down the Rabbit Hole with Pocket Aces is a blog created by a poker player named Patrick. Patrick is a very detailed blogger. He often shares his tournament experiences, where he will include every little detail life facial expressions of the other players, his thought process, and game-play. It is not as personable as other poker blogs, but a reader can learn something from his blog posts. If you're looking for something light and fun, then this blog may not be to your taste. This is mostly for readers who are only interested in game-play and strategy. Pokerama-rama! Pokerama-rama is created by a poker player with the blogger name Irritable Male Syndrome. His blog is not totally about poker. There are also posts about beer, rambling thoughts, and just rants about a life event or something that happened during a poker session. The blog is very casual and entertaining, but it does not give you as much thought processes, strategy, and a look into game play as other poker blogs do. This blog hasn't been updated since July 2010, so it's safe to say that it will no longer be updated. If you're looking for casual entertainment, it's fun to look through. Memphis MOJO Poker and Bridge is by Memphis Mojo. His blog is very casual and talks about poker, bridge, and miscellaneous stuff like vacations, sports, and life events. His poker blogs are not very detailed as far as gameplay and strategy. He mostly talks about what tournaments he attended, how many entries there were, how much the buy-ins were, the prizes, what place he took, and significant hands he played. Overall it is an okay blog. You could use it more so for entertainment or to take a glimpse of some of the poker tournaments he partakes in, if you're interested in entering into one. Poker can Change your Life This blog is by a full-time poker player Tim Stone. He started playing poker full time in 2008, and he started this blog in 2011. His blog is casual and it's mostly about his life as a full time poker player. He talks about his winnings, the places he has lived, parties and events he has attended, etc. It is not a very personable blog, and there is not much insight into strategy and game play. His blog posts are sporadic, maybe once or twice a month. His last post was on September 5, 2015, so there is a possibility he may continue the blog. TableTango Table Tango is by Linda R Geenen. She started the blog back in 1982, and it touches upon poker, family, personal events, etc. You will find entertaining screenplays and poems about poker. You will also find stories about her family and more. Recently there haven't been many posts about poker, but you may find some interesting stuff in her previous posts. She hasn't updated since January 8, 2016, but from looking at her previous post one post every once in a while is normal. There is no telling if upcoming posts, if any, will be about poker. Funny the way it is... Talon Chick was created by Adrienne Rowsome. She is an online and tournament poker player, and her blog is mostly about poker and her life. It is a very casual and personable blog. As far as poker, she likes to give her readers insight on her game play and the lessons she has learned from being a poker player. She started in 2002, so there are definitely a lot of things that readers can pick up from her. She hasn't updated the blog since October 29, 2015, but she may update it this year. You never know. Tao of Poker Tao of Poker is created by a guy named Pauly. He blogs mostly about poker, and you will find some interesting stories about encounters he has had in his home town or during his travels. His blog is very casual and amusing. He even has a disclaimer that says nothing on the site should be taken seriously. He sometimes posts about some of his poker games and significant hands that won or cost him a game. He also reported on tournaments such as the World Series of Poker. His blog is no longer running, but you can be entertained for a while going through his blog. Tommy Angelo Tommy Angelo Operations is a self-titled blog that started in 2008. He writes about poker, random thoughts, and events in his life. He blog has a very friendly tone and readers will be able to learn something from it. As far as poker posts, he talks about tournaments, things poker players say, interactions he has had with other poker players, mini updates on his poker adventures and more. Anyone can enjoy this blog for entertainment or study. He hasn't posted since December 10, 2015, but since his past postings have not been all that consistent, it's not safe to assume that his blog will be no longer updated. Up for poker Up for Poker is a blog that was created by three poker players Luckbox, Otis, and G-Rob in 2003. The blog is mostly about poker, and you will see blog posts on topics such as poker players, poker psychology, WSOP, theory, strategy and more. The blog is very friendly and upbeat, and some posts are even in the form of a story. Although the blog will probably be no longer update, players old and new can use the blog as a resource. They can also find some other insightful information on horse racing, craps, basketball, sports betting and more. Starting the Grind Starting the Grind is a blog by Pedro Goncalves, who has been a professional poker player for about 8 years. His blog touches up poker, travel, and other stuff outside of poker. Some of his posts are inspirational and upbeat. They touch upon confidence and having a better outlook in life and in poker. He does not have a lot of game play or strategy in his blogs. He more so talks about his outcomes from the games he has played. Readers may or may not find that much useful information on his blog, especially since he doesn't post very often. Because of the lack of postings in some years, it is possible he will post again sometime this year. Wickedchops poker Wicked Chops Poker started in2005. It seems the posts are written by a group of writers and freelance poker writers. It's a very casual blog and sometimes humorous. It touches upon poker news and tournaments, girls, and funny insights into poker and other topics. The blog is mostly commentary on tournaments and the poker industry. It was useful for keeping up with what was happening in the poker world. Readers today may not find it useful as there is no updated information on the poker industry or tournaments. As it hasn't been updated since July 2015, the blog may be no longer running. My husband is a "professional" poker player. Now what? Wives of Poker were created by Andrea King who, as the blog title states, the wife of a poker player. It was created in order to share her experience with other women who may be going through the same situation. There isn't much a poker player can gain from it besides, a wife's view point of poker, but then again every situation is different. Wives may enjoy it just to feel a sense of comradery or understanding, but the blog has not been updated since October 2015. According to Andrea, her husband has been focusing more on his antique business and family. James Alkin's Poker Blog James Atkin's Poker Blog is a self-titled poker blog created in 2007. The tone is very friendly, and he mostly post about his games, winnings and losses, random thoughts, etc. He writes about online poker and will even post a snap shot of his stats to give readers a better look. He sometimes writes about tournaments he has attended as well and gives detailed insight on his poker play like hand analysis, bets, poker players he has encountered, etc. He hasn't posted since 2015,but states that he has been busy studying and playing poker or spending time with his family. He may post in the future, since he stated that he would hate for his blog to go to waste. Betting for Value Betting for Value is no longer running, but it can be used as a resource for any poker player. On the blog, you will find useful strategic tips for poker tournaments, ring games, online poker, Texas Holdem, etc. The blog posts are full of examples that the reader can visualize and understand. The blogger's strategy mostly comes from learning from their own wins and losses. They are not afraid to admit the mistakes they have made, which makes the blog very realistic and personal so that the reader will feel comfortable and adequate enough to learn from the writer. Bill's Poker Blog Bill's Poker Blog is no longer running but has some useful posts for all poker players. The blog feature posts from Bill and other guest writers such as Carl "The Dean Sampson". They touch upon topics such as tournaments, poker blogging, poker strategy, the poker industry, and traveling. You will also see posts about key players in the poker industry and other poker news. The writing is very casual and informative. The writers tend to tell a story with their posts, which makes the blog more interesting and easier to see a certain point of view. Dusty Schmidt Blog Dusty Schmidt is a well-known poker player in the industry, and he started his blog on Card Player in 2010. His blog touches upon his journey and experiences in the poker industry, his family, and golf. His writing has a very casual tone as if he were talking to a fellow poker player. His thoughts on what's going on in the poker industry, online and off, is very insightful. He hasn't posted since December 16, 2015, but it does not give any indication that he has stopped blogging, since he hasn't been a consistent blogger for the past two or three years. So he may post sometime this year. Sole Survivor Blog Ian Simpson started his blog Sole Survivor on Card Player in 2012. He is a professional poker player and is well known in the industry. He blogs about various tournaments he has played in, poker styles, playing tips, game analysis and more. His writing is very casual, and he provides great details about his plays during tournaments and often offers tips to players for future reference. He blogs about any plays he has seen other poker players make, and offers his advice on what he would or wouldn't do. His blog is beneficial to any poker reader, because they could gain a lot of insight into poker tournaments and poker play. Chris Moorman Blog Chris Moorman's blog doesn't have much of an archive. He started posting on September 20, 13 and his last post was on December 12, 2014. The posts in between those dates are very few. What he mostly blog about was his traveling, tournaments, and touring. After he won the WPT in March, he gave a detailed account on his gameplay and his thought process during the tournament. It's a shame he hasn't posted in a while. From what we could gather from his blog, it would have been a good mixture of gameplay and his travels as a poker player. Rob Yong Blog This blog was created by Rob Yong, who is the owner of the Dusk till Dawn live poker club and the online poker site dtdpoker.com. The blog doesn't offer much to poker players. It's about 2 years old, and there hasn't been much posting during those two years. The blog is basically updates and information about what's going on with the poker club. If you're a member of his club or play on his poker site, then you may want to keep up to date with what's going on. Other than that, there is not much you can do with this blog. The Unlikely Guide to Poker Grundy started his blog The Unlikely Guide to Poker started in 2007. The blog is no longer running but is a very useful resource. The blog talks about poker strategy, poker game variations, his beginnings in poke and more. Just to give you an idea, you will see titles such as "Choosing the Right Virtual Table" or "The Sucker-Sucker Bet." The blog is very casual and is often written as a story to intrigue the reader and allow them to better understand the strategy or subject discussed. This blog will be useful for novice and more advance players. My Poker Thoughts My Poker Thoughts are by a variety of writers, usually Timothy or Jeremy. You don't really get any personal information about them, so we don't know much about their background in poker. This blog is all about poker. Although it is no longer running, it can be a useful resource. They cover poker strategy, online poker hand analysis, tournaments, poker industry news, poker pros and more. It is very detailed and well written, where novices can understand poker terms and know what exactly the writer is talking about. It's a shame it is no longer running, but it's worth taking the time out to go through the archive. Party Poker Blog Party Poker is one of the best sites to keep updated on the happenings in the poker industry. They keep readers informed on current and upcoming tournaments. Also, they sometimes provide gameplay and strategy tips for players. They try to make the blog more personal by introducing readers to poker players who are members of Party Poker. If you are a more experienced player and have a Party Poker membership, then you will definitely find some benefits from reading this blog. If you're a novice however, then you can use it to keep up with the poke industry and learn a couple of tips, but you may want to learn more about poker and strategies from other blogs. PocketFives User Blogs Pocket of Fives is a great blog, because it has a great variety of bloggers, from novices to professionals. Some players share their lives as poke player professional or hobbyists. Some offer gameplay strategy and tips or offer their insight on what's going on in the poker industry. Of course there are other topics being cover, which means that any poker enthusiast can find something that suits their poker fancy on this site. Not all bloggers are still running, but you can still find some valuable information in the ones that are no longer running. Pokergreed The Poker Greed blog is ran by 5 authors. They have blog posts for beginners, and they post about personal poker experiences, poker strategies, tournaments strategies, poker discussions and rants, and more. The writing is very friendly and casual. It is easy for a beginner to understand and becomes very relatable when they write in story form. What's great about this blog is that it is written by five authors, so you are able to get different perspectives and strategies. Since the blog is no longer updated, more advanced players may not find it useful, but beginner and some intermediate players can definitely use it as a resource. PokeriMania Pokerimania.com is forum of blog posts from different poker bloggers. Bloggers range from beginner poker players to advanced players. You will find blogs on strategy, game play, tournaments, poker for beginners, and more. This blog is beneficial to all players, since there will be something for poker players of all levels. You will also get different perspectives on poker play and the poker industry from poker bloggers around the world. Some people's posts aren't very recent, but you can still use them as a resource for study and future references. Like forums, you can also comment and start a discussion. Poker Junkie Blog Poker Junkie is mostly written by the site's blog writer who is under the username "compncards." The site is very well written and personable. The writer sometimes writes his blog posts based on his own personal experience or what he has learned through others. He often writes about poker news, since the world of poker is ever changing. He also writes about the poker lifestyle, professional players, skills vs. chance, poker and the law and more. The site is great for any poker player, as you are able to keep up with the poker industry and learn some new strategies and insights at the same time. Poker King Blog The Poker King Blog is ran by an anonymous writer(s) under the name Poker King. They deliver poker news, player profiles, poker bonus promotions, tournament results and more to their readers. They have other blog networks as well, including Poker-King.com and PokerBonus-King.com. Poker King Blog and Poker-King.com produce similar and different content. Poker King Blog, however, provides more commentary and insight on what's going on in poker news. They even blog about poster scams to ensure that online poker players are not being scammed. Poker Bonus King, on the other hand, covers online poker promotions. This site can benefit both online and live poker players. Ken Lennard Blog Pokerlistings.com features Swedish champion poker play and blogger, Ken Lennard. His blog on Pokerlistings showcases his insight and opinions on the poker industry, gameplay, strategy and more. He blogs about poker hands that have had significant impact on the outcome of a game. He also blogs about poker mannerisms and politics, and miscellaneous stuff about poker. The great thing about this blog is that you can get the best of the live and online poker world. There is some useful insight and advice for poker players who want to try their luck in a live tournament. The only real downside to this blog is that it hasn't been updated since December 10, 2015. Reading Poker Tells Reading Poker Tells blog is all about poker psychology. The writer of the blog is Zachary Elwood, who is a poker player and the writer of Reading Poker Tells the book. Poker Tells will coach you on how to read your opponent through bet-sizing and speech, facial expressions, behaviors and more. On his blog you will get free samples of his video training, and you can sign up for a free 5-part course. The only downside of the blog is that you only get a sample of what he teaches in his book and videos. Resipsa Poker Resipsa Poker is written by a poker player named Steven Huffman. On this site, you will find blog posts on casino games and guides, live and online casinos, online and live poker, poker news, strategy, tips and more. The blog will be useful to poker players of all levels and platforms. It's a very casual blog, and the writing is clear and understandable. One downside to it is that you don't get much advice or insight through stories and scenarios, where a reader can either relate to or visualize enough to walk in the writer's shoes. Overall it is a good blog, and we look forward to reading future posts. Rupert Elder Rupert Elder's blog hasn't been updated in a while and is likely no longer running. He mostly posted about his monthly poker game outcomes and other updates. He also gave advice to his readers, to whom he advised to take his advice like a grain of salt. Regardless of whether the advice was helpful to his readers or not, the advice given was well thought out and based on his own personal experience. As previously stated, the blog is no longer running. So there is not much poker readers can use in the archive that might be useful today, but the strategies and tips offered are worth a look. Scottish Poker ScottishPoker.net is home to Scottish Poker tournaments and events in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen.There are no strategy posts, gameplay, or miscellaneous poker articles, which is okay. The real downside to the blog is that there isn't any news about poker players of Scotland or what is going on in the Scottish poker industry outside of the tournaments. If you're visiting this blog you will be informed on what is happening during live poker tournaments only. You will have access to live blogging of poker tournaments in Scotland. You will also have access to poker podcasts hosted by Martin J. Smith and Willie Elliot. HorrilbeFlopper Horrible Flop is a new blog that started in August 2015. This blog is written by a woman who is seeking to get better at the game of poker. She writes in story form about poker and her own personal experiences. The writing is very relaxed, and she speaks to her readers in a friendly manner. This blog will be great for novices, as they can relate more to a blogger poker player who is still getting their feet wet. There is not much about strategy or tips, but the blog is still in the beginning stages so that may change. Poker Player Wannabe oker Player Wannabe is a blog by a poker player with the screen name GTheJester, who has played poker both live and online. His blog gives its readers updates on his recent tournaments and games. He often reviews tricky hands and plays to see if the hand or game could have been played any differently. Since the blog has not been updated for over a year, it is likely that it is no longer running. If that is the case, poker players may find some use in the archive of the blog, as far as game play goes. Poker Grump Rakewell moved to Las Vegas with the intention of becoming a poker dealer but soon found he could get the bills paid playing poker himself. Rakewell's blog is very much about the specifics of the game, most notably the things that he finds frustrating and/or captivating. He posts a lot of screen shots of online poker games he's participating in and writes many articles about game play. He also delves into his personal experiences with the specific hurdles one must jump over if they are a professional player, which are quite different than those of a low-stakes player. Pokergrump is a fantastic blog for the poker nerd. It reveals specific hands that Rakewell won or lost and why. Rakewell is forthcoming about his strategy with the intention it seems of simply having an outlet and forming a poker community. I would highly recommend this blog for those looking to bond over shared poker experiences. Acoimbra Andre Coimbra is a popular poker player from Portugal. Like many poker bloggers, Andre advertises his private coaching services on his blog, and also includes posts about his personal life. While not very great in number as of late, his blog posts do have length and interesting content. Andre is an advocate for pokerstars.com so expect to see a lot of comments and screenshots of online games on his blog. Overall, Andre is clearly a poker expert and has a great writing voice. He is humble and sets entertaining goals for himself (turn $10.00 into $1,000, for example) which he then reports his progress on. His blog is informative and personal, and his multiple forms of social media should be attractive to any fans looking for more. Bad Blood on Poker A good resource, but no longer being updated. Badbloodonpoker is a personal blog with a long history. His blogs date back to 2004, and he has sometimes achieved almost 200 blogs in a calendar year. Recent posts don't include much poker talk, and instead detail the author's other passion - running. While interesting, there isn't much to read about poker on this one as of late. However, previous years have some fascinating opinion posts about changes in the industry. Borgata Blog The Borgata poker blog is an extension of the promotional efforts of the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. Most posts advertise upcoming tournaments at the Borgata. There is the occasional post reporting on winners of Borgata tournaments and other player victories, but most posts stay very close to the Borgata brand. This blog is easy to navigate and would be a useful bookmark for any player trying to stay up-to-date on opportunities to play for high stakes. While you may think a promotional blog would be a bit stale, the Borgata blog actually has some multifaceted articles sprinkled in with the expected self-promotion. East coast players would be smart to keep an eye on this one. WSOP Blog The World Series of Poker blog is just that - a blog featuring posts that function as updates on, and recaps of, WSOP tournaments. The WSOP advertises upcoming events and tournaments on their website. They also post leader boards from past events. The WSOP is an institution, of course, and so don't visit this particular blog hoping for tips or strategy articles. This blog is all about the results. What is missing from the WSOP blog, of course, is the type of engaging voice one would expect from a blog. However, the blog is functional and informative, and presents results in a timely fashion and in intuitive ways. Doke's Blog Doke is a poker player from Ireland whose blog is both hilarious and smart. His posts detail his many trips abroad, playing tournaments and hanging out with his poker-playing friends. The content tends to be light-hearted and diary-style, which is appealing because he is a funny guy with amusing stories. He is clearly well known and well liked in the online poker community, perhaps because he doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks. This blog features links to all forms of social media, other blogs Doke follows, and his most popular posts. What this blog lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in humor and a feeling of camaraderie. And Doke does seem to have some interesting things to say about poker and his own game play. This is a blog to check out if you're looking for a good time. Don't expect to find any earth-shattering strategy articles. Chasing the Dream - Edgie's Poker Opus Edgie's blog is a traditional diary-style blog by a relatively low-stakes player who seems to be trying to build his career in the poker industry. His posts have tapered off in recent months (haven't seen a post by him yet in 2016), but that isn't shocking. He seems to post every two to three months with a focus on how his game is going and what he has been up to in his personal life. Edgie is a nice guy trying to make it big in the crowded world of poker. If you can relate, you will certainly appreciate this blog. He tends to be positive and use his blog as a way to encourage himself and his visitors to keep on keeping on. Felicia Lee's Poker Blog A good resource, but no longer being updated. Felicia's blog includes some smart posts about game play and strategy by a clear expert. She posts about things she admires in other players and things she finds amateurish. Although she deviates drastically from poker in some posts, she tends to stay grounded in solid poker talk. A shame she isn't updating her blog anymore, as she had a lot of interesting, original things to say about the game. From Zero to Poker Katerina is a Greek poker player blogging about her journey in the poker world. While she hasn't posted in a few months, she does have an archive that goes back to 2010. Her posts are an interesting read and she has garnered some support in the poker community; each of her posts has a fair number of comments and the overall read is very positive. Her posts are often reviews of tournaments she's played in, tournaments she is looking forward to, and personal achievements. Unfortunately, she doesn't post very often nowadays but she has indicated she will start again soon. She also translates some of her posts to greek to reach out to her fellow countrymen. Gold and Poker A good resource, but no longer being updated. Toast's blog is a warm, entertaining read. Toast is very personal and has a great sense of humor. His approach to his blog is to be forthcoming, and to talk about poker and golf as a way in to the other details of his life. Posts range from long detailed analysis to short humorous reflections. This was definitely a great blog in its heyday but is currently not being updated. Toast moved to Israel and seems to have changed gears. Jamie Flynn's Poker Blog A good resource, but no longer being updated. Jamie Flynn is a poker player living in Ireland who approaches his blog with tact and honesty about money. He, like other bloggers, includes graphs of his own personal profitability. This is the most useful thing on his blog, as it is a learning tool for newcomers to the game. He talks a bit about the poker lifestyle from his perspective, and those posts were riveting as well. 88 Keys The 88 Keys blog isn't just about poker, although most of the posts do tend to reference poker in some capacity. The blog was started by "JT88keys," a piano enthusiast and small-stakes poker player. His posts are sporadic and range anywhere from detailed accounts of his recent vacation to poker tournament play-by-plays. Unfortunately, JT88keys doesn't post often enough to make this a must-read blog. But if you're in the mood for some good poker stories told by a nice guy with a humble, good-spirited approach, definitely check this blog out. Most poker-centric posts include some musings on strategy decisions. Those posts are certainly worth reading. Katie Dozier Katie's blog is a frequently personal, sometimes funny diary-style blog. Katie certainly isn't a one-trick pony; she supplements her poker career with book writing, article writing, and entrepreneurial endeavors. This do-it-all attitude is fundamental to her blog, which discusses not only poker strategy but also the lifestyle of a professional poker player. She tells stories of specific hands, posts updates on her personal life, and offers poker advice. Unfortunately, Katie hasn't posted in awhile, but her video tutorials are an excellent resource for those still learning. In short, this blog is an awesome resource for those looking to stay positive and get inspired about stepping up their poker game. Katie's voice is engaging, and her posts are entertaining. Life With Face Cards A good resource, but no longer being updated. A hilarious, millennial-style blog complete with gifs galore about awkward poker situations. Unfortunately, the author is no longer updating to the dismay of her frequent visitors. One commenter even remarked, "I would pay for more frequent updates." This is a great blog to check out on a day when you need a good laugh and a reminder that poker players shouldn't take themselves too seriously. Lightning Strikes This is a blog by an opinionated poker player navigating his way through low-stakes tournaments. He posts about his trips to play poker, of course, but sprinkles in a little bit of everything. You get a good sense that the author of this blog loves the game, not just the money that comes along with it. He is also forthcoming about how he is doing - how much money he's making, when he's frustrated on the table, how he feels about his game at any given moment, etc. This would be a useful blog to check out for any beginner hoping to catch a glimpse of the day-to-day life of small-stakes poker player. Occasionally the posts on this blog seem like rants, but overall they are interesting and spot-on. This blog would be much improved with a different background color and platform. However, the basics for a good blog are all present - honest voice, diary-style approach, and high frequency posting. Mr Subliminal's Blog The mrsubliminal blog is operated by a currently homeless, jobless man who alternates between posts about his personal struggles and complaints about the economy. He frequently posts screenshots of twitter conversations about poker he finds amusing, but which are odd for anyone who is visiting the site for the first time. There isn't a lot to review about this blog, as there isn't much poker talk happening. Mrsubliminal seems to be blogging as a way of connecting with peers and releasing his frustrations. This is a great blog to look into if you know mrsubliminal personally, otherwise, not much poker knowledge to gain from this one. NicNicNic's Blog A good resource, but no longer being updated. Nicky Power started his blog in 2007 with the hopes of chronicling his rise to poker greatness. His posts are steady and interesting up until 2014, when they stop altogether. Nicky writes with great passion. His posts are opinionated but smart and readers can tell Nicky is a player who lives and breathes the game. Big Stax The Parx Casino "Big Stax" blog is a detailed account of the action and players at the Big Stax tournaments. The blog is very active, with sometimes more than 30 posts in a single day. Posts are complemented with photos, play-by-play storytelling, and solid reporting. Much like promotional blogs of this kind, posts do not deviate from the Big Stax tournament coverage. This is a great blog to follow if you're curious about up-and-coming players, or if you're hoping to attend a Big Stax tournament in the future. The articles are easy to read and super informative. Expect to learn a lot about how the tournament is run and how players are doing. Phil Hellmuth Anyone who knows anything about poker knows who Phil Hellmuth is, which allows him a certain amount of freedom to do what he wants with his blog. All of the posts are overflowing with personal photos, which makes for a great viewing experience for fans. This blog is sometimes self-promotional, but is mostly just a glimpse into Phil's life. There is little talk of poker strategy or gameplay. Phil seems to be posting for his fans more than for his own satisfaction. This is definitely a great blog for fans. You'll learn a lot about Phil as a person, his family, friends, and sense of humor, from visiting this page and scrolling through. Phil is a pretty likeable guy with such an enormous reputation; it would be a good idea to add this blog to your list of must-reads. Terrance Chan Terrence Chan is a poker player and MMA fighter who has found success doing both. His blog is diary-style and informative, and he uses his blog to give his opinions on new things happening in each of his specialty industries. He is clearly a professional poker player and definitely comments on poker from that angle. His recent posts tend to focus more on the MMA side of things, but he still has some pretty interesting things to say about the poker world. Terrence posts about once every other month. This is a great blog to check out if you are curious about both poker and MMA fighting. Whiskey Town A good resource, but no longer being updated. Whiskeytown's blog is a very personal, diary-style blog by a low stakes poker player from Minneapolis. His blog delves into his own mindset about poker and life. While sometimes a bit off-topic, his blog is very revealing in a positive way. Whiskeytown probably has very similar outlook as many other poker enthusiasts playing poker on the side. Unfortunately, this blog hasn't been updated in over six months. Your Poker Dealer Bloggers looking to put their articles and posts in front of a large viewership might find help in yourpokerdealer.com. As opposed to forums, which usually don't have enough restrictions, blog community websites like yourpokerdealer.com have just enough restrictions with many blog voices to make for a great poker conversation online. This blog does just that, with great articles by experienced players. Pokerdealer.com could do a bit more to make the site intuitive, but overall is a nice website with great content. Baltic Blonde Poker A good resource, but no longer being updated. Daiva Barauskaite's blog is a diary-style blog about the day-to-day life of a professional poker player hoping to become one of the greats. Her blog is very poker-centric; all of her posts are about her poker-playing adventures and are positive and inspiring. Daiva rarely goes into too many specifics though, and this paired with her lack of recent posting, keep this blog from reaching its full potential. Dad's Poker Blog Steve is a lovely guy who left his career in IT in order to pursue poker and social media. On his blog he tells stories about tournaments, but mostly he updates his readers on his personal poker goals. This is great because not only does Steve live in Las Vegas, where poker opportunities abound, but also, Steve is just a really likeable guy with goals that are achievable and realistic. Steve's blog is a great resource for anyone in a similar position as Steve, thinking about leaving a career in order to pursue poker and make friends. Steve is willing to admit to the things he's not excelling at, and where his strategy could use improvement, which makes his blog an excellent starting-point for anyone looking to connect. William Elliot A good resource, but no longer being updated. William Elliot's blog features an enlightened voice discussing important issues to any and all poker players. Although Elliot no longer updates his blog (he seems to have moved over to a twitch page), his older posts do still strike a chord and are certainly worth the read. He tackles issues like tournament fees in a forgiving, fact-based way. Poker players could use more blogs like Elliot's to help navigate current issues in educated ways. Liquid Poker Blog Liquid Poker is a community of forum-posters and blog writers discussing their personal wins, losses, and decision-making with regard to their individual poker careers. Liquid Poker has some exceptional features--poker highlights are grouped together in the top left corner, along with blog updates, sports and betting news, and low-stakes poker tournament highlights. In short, Liquid Poker does a good job of maintaining a structure that is useful for blogging newcomers and veterans alike. However, like many forums, blog posts with the most views and posts tend to be those with little or nothing to do with poker. Liquid Poker does try to combat that with a voting feature, but the effectiveness of that tool isn't necessarily definitive. Poker School Online Blogs Poker School Online is an online curriculum designed to teach poker to beginners. Their website has a blog community that features posts by many bloggers at one time. PSO organizes the blogs by an up-to-date running news feed of blogs with recent posts, and also by featuring a blog at the top of their page. Anyone can be a blogger! That is the message of PSO's community blog forum, and that kind of positive spirit permeates the blog page. The blogs on PSO are mainly newcomers to the game tracking their wins and losses and sharing experiences for feedback. Overall a really positive experience and a great way to start blogging in a way that would be constructive to your game play. My Poker Journey PokerVIP.com is an inspirational community forum for poker novices and experts alike. Thread titles range from "My Poker Journey" to "Lost Newbie!" and everywhere in between. This forum even offers a live chat option with the pokervip.com team--a bonus for anyone who just needs quick questions answered. What is most compelling about pokerVIP.com is the way the forum is organized. Users can select from talking about "Beats, Brags, and Battling" to "Lifestyle & Off Topic." This is great for keeping view and post counts high, but allowing people who want to. Apr 14, 2016Sammy Does Your Hand Suck? GET YOURFREE TOP SECRET POKER STRATEGY E-BOOK AND START WINNING ALMOST EVERY TIME! Fill in your email below and get "21 Secrets to Dominate the Poker Tables Like a Pro"within seconds and start winning today. Your email is safe with us. We won't share it with anyone.