Doodles I drew of my fanfic that'll never see the light of day, probably. I've been rotating this in my mind and spewing word vomit onto my document for too long now I had to do something to get it out.

I love Lucifer to the moon and back, but holy hell do I want to see him STRUGGLE.

Morningstar!Reader my beloved

Heyo! I saw your post about RSD and tried to comment but Tumblr said "no," so I'm sending it as an ask, I guess. 😅 Not trying to be a creeper.

I took Focalin for a while (currently on a blend of Wellbutrin and Prozac, because it manages all parts of my AuDHD well). It helped with a lot of the symptoms of brain fog and executive dysfunction, but I haven't noticed much (if any) difference in my RSD. If anything, it gives you a tiny gap of space in between the painful impact and your reaction. So I get a (non-judgy) mental voice letting me know that while my feelings are real and valid, assigning extra meaning to the perceived rejection isn't helping me.

Silly example: getting a briefer text without all the required emojis and punctuation to let me know the other person isn't pissed at me.

This feels like a slap in the face OR like a hole ripped in my gut. And I can't do anything about that feeling. But what I can do is realize my brain is telling me that the other person is upset, that I've done something wrong, etc etc. My brain is telling me that, but the only objective information I have is "I got a short text." It's up to the other person to tell me that they're actually upset.

So to sum up:

1. Meds didn't make RSD feel better (for me), but it gave me some breathing space to choose some different reactions.

2. Validating the reaction for how scary or painful it is (the reaction is NOT stupid) is important.

3. Recognize the other bits that are contributing to why this particular thing feels so very bad.

4. Discard everything that is not super simply and objectively true.

I know we tend to be hyper intuitive and often right in our assumptions, but the bottom line is that that sh1t is not our business.

I'm interested to hear other people's behavioral recs!

No Problem! I don't know why you couldn't comment, sorry 😞 Maybe you are on your side blog or something (?). Anyway, that doesn't matter. Thanks for answering! I hope it's ok if I answer publicly.

What really bugs me about the whole RSD situation is, that objectively I know. My brain knows. That the person is just in a hurry, that it wasn't directed at me, that sometimes things upset people and you can't avoid negative reactions. That it is impossible to be everybody's darling. All that. But 5 minutes later I'm sitting in the corner, crying anyway. Like, bawling my eyes out. And that makes me feel incredibly immature, not being able to rationally go over my emotions and deal with them like an adult (like all the other adults) and instead cry, because a coworker told me I'm a bit loud sometimes. Which is exactly what happened today. I had to go home from work early (I'm fucking… in my mid 30s goddamn!!!! I'm a project manager!), because I was in tears and could't get a grip of myself. That coworker has never said anything remotely mean to me ever and I felt so betrayed. Why was he being all nice and stuff all the time, if he thought I was loud and obnoxious? I know that that is what adult people do. Talk about things. Make a joke or try do soften the blow of giving someone critique by wrapping it in a funny comment or a little quip. But that did not prevent me from dissolving in a complete melt down. And of course I feel so stupid for it. In hindsight, this whole situation is just hysterical. And additionally, I'm going to completely change the way I interact with that person in the future from now on. Not consciously, but yeah. Also I'm super scared to go back to work tomorrow. I feel humiliated by him saying I was obnoxiously loud sometimes and always had to comment everything, in front of all the other team members. And them agreeing, after I asked a few in private. I don't want to be seen at that place anymore. I'm so sure they've talked about me behind my back before that situation. There also is a 100% chance I'm making this up in my head and actually everyone already forgot. Except me. I'm sitting here all paranoid and puffy-eyed, sniffling like an idiot about things that can't be changed anymore.

Thanks for sharing your insights! I actually feel better now. I'm a bit sad to hear, that medication didn't help you. I don't want to self-diagnose too much, but I was reading a bit about RSD and medication and how treating the ADHD through medication can affect the RSD positively. But we'll see.

I don't want to rehash a bunch of discussions I had on Twitter the other day, but I've been thinking about something recently that I wanted to jot down. Basically, oftentimes in trpg

Rules are Scaffolding

I saw a prominent ttrpg designer post a partial blog post (that requires some kinda membership so I probably won't read it) where they asked the following question:

"[What do rules do for me that can't be achieved thru freeform rp]?"

Maybe this question is a good one on their part, answered thoughtfully. To me, it smacks of expert's bias.

For some background, I play predominantly in 2 kinds of games: a home game of half a dozen local folks where I am, and a bunch of Actual Play live shows where I'm usually a player. My home group is made up almost entirely of people who have been playing ttrpgs only in the last decade, and who are there not because they love storytelling and strive to get better at it, but because we are pals and it's a good way to have fun on a Saturday afternoon when yr in yr 30's. The AP scene- which regularly co-mingles with the design scene- is full of people who have played a lot of characters, have tons of experience telling stories, making and characterizing their PC's, and generally making me cheer and breaking my heart as they do so. My home group has a player who, bless her, doesn't really have a personality for her characters that isn't just her in a hat.

I bring this up because I have played APs of games with lots of different degrees of structure for players, and truly, I can see how someone gets to the question "what does a game do that playing pretend doesn't" when they are only in environments where people are already very accomplished pretend-players. It seems like a legitimate question when the outcome of any ruleset with the folks you play with is more or less the same, just with a different aesthetic setting.

*But the validity of the question goes out the window when I'm playing with people who don't do this shit all the time.*

Here's a short list of things that I have seen my close friends struggle with in low-structure games:

Sharing the spotlight

Creating a central conflict

Having character relationships that change

Knowing when to end a scene

Knowing when to let time pass

Doing the thing instead of meticulously planning it

Focusing on one idea rather than chasing every butterfly

Creating interesting consequences

I could go on.

I have learned that my friends enjoy themselves way more when a game meets them halfway, because they aren't all professional pretend-makers. When a game uses rules to help tell a player what their character can or can't do, when it illustrates the consequences, when it gives them numbers that change how they interact with the world, they are much more dynamic players, and they enjoy the stories they tell that much more. Not every group needs that scaffolding, and some groups need it more in one place than another. Some scaffolding (combat, most often ime) takes the place of the kinds of roleplay and pretend making that people would otherwise enjoy, and sometimes the scaffolding brings the players, rather than the characters, into conflict.

Put another way, rules shape play the same way a playground does.

Some kids are happy to have nothing but an empty lot and their imaginations.

Some kids don't know what to do with their bodies until they see the monkey bars.

Do you help small simblrs get noticed by sharing their posts? I’m smaller blog and I really wished that larger blogs would share everyone’s content. Do you only share larger simblrs posts? You seem to get much interaction with posts too.

listen min vän, I've seen this anon ask go around, and I'm certain you know what my answer is gonna be.

For a short answer, I reblog whatever I want, my intent when reblogging is to reblog content I enjoy- simple as that- but I also reblog to show my mutuals/followers content that I believe was made by someone who is passionate about their work and is proud of what they make, I don't want to reblog content that feels washed and was made for the sole purpose of like farming :/

For a long answer:

First of all, I don't consider myself a "big blog", maybe a medium sized blog, internet-logic has rotted my brain to believe that below a million followers is small so take that as you will (im healing from this mindset tho lmao), but I'm frankly not as big as some people on this platform/simblr (which doesn't matter, all our content is phenomenal regardless, 0 followers or 10k followers), I don't know what gave you that impression 😭 I only recently hit 150 followers and just recently started to get a lot of interactions, which was surprising, but moreso Im just glad more people get to see Roo 😵‍💫 So again, I say I do not feel as tho I am a big blog :P Second of all, I reblog whatever content I enjoy, sometimes it's sims, sometimes its not, and when I reblog it, yes I do have the intent of sharing it to my mootys and followers so that it can be seen, but the intent is showing off work that people are passionate about, if you blatantly care about likes or reblogs or follows, it WILL show up in your work, it will be obvious, and more often than not, your content will not be as ingestible as content from someone who literally lives and breaths on making characters and showing their lore. I also don't reblog every post I see, not because I don't think it's "good enough," but because I don't want to swarm my blog with tens of hundreds of posts, be it sims or not. I see SOO many simblr posts where I'm like damn I wanna reblog this but I don't know what to say, or I dont have anything to say (which I should specify that this does NOT lower the quality of the post by all means), at which point I feel bad for reblogging and not having anything to say- I'm also... not legally required to reblog every post I see, my mutuals make phenomenal posts, doesn't mean I need to reblog their stuff, if they are upset because I didn't reblog their work, then that's just someone who cares about likes/reblogs and I don't like those kinda ppl 🤷‍♂️ U should be on simblr to enjoy and share your work, not to get some useless internet points on a post. Lastly, which kind of ties into the last one, I don't only share larger posts, if anything, I find myself more prone to reblog smaller posts (smaller is subjective but usually anywhere from 0-20 notes) just because it means that less people have seen it, and thus I'm opening the eyes of my mutuals/followers to the beauty of this smaller blog's post.

To conclude this essay of a post, I personally recommend getting the hell outta that mindset, because I used to have that mindset when I started and, at least to me, I could see that mindset show through my work. I've recycled this mindset into "I don't wanna post because I want likes and reblogs, I wanna post because I want people to perceive my brainrot in real time", what I mean by that is that I just want to post just to share my stupid characters, which usually is Roo. The likes/reblogs mindset is and can be super unhealthy for you, and again, I recommend getting out of it, recycle it into something less taxing on the mind.

also I just wanna say that if I reblogged EVERY post I liked/saw, I would have over 20,000 posts and I just KNOW everybody would be annoyed as piss if I reblogged stuff at that frequency (since in order for me to achieve that number, I'd have to reblog like, 100-500 posts every 12 hours 💀)

In regards to my modern AU verse. I have a rather heavy headcanon that I've been mulling over, and I think I'm going to go with it, because while this is an AU... by now you guys have probably noticed that I am incredibly uncreative and like to take influence or give nods to canon elements, even in AUs.

This headcanon's going to involve domestic abuse/domestic violence and threat of murder or attempted murder, and will be tagged appropriately for these topics. Still, reader discretion is advised, and I do want to note that anyone who interacts with this verse is absolutely not required to adhere to this headcanon. I know it's an incredibly heavy, touchy, sensitive, uncomfortable topic, and while I will aim to remain respectful, it's inevitably not going to be suitable for everyone.

If it isn't comfortable for you, just let me know, and the reason for the divorce in our specific threads will be left as a general case of "irreconcilable differences" or simply, "it just didn't work out."

In my modern AU verse for this blog, Elwin and Anabella are divorced, with Elwin having been the one to leave and file for it.

The reason for this is because Anabella pulled a knife on him in a fit of anger. Whether she simply threatened him or tried to attack him is never clarified, mostly because Elwin doesn't want to talk about it. Why am I taking this route with their relationship, despite how extreme it is? Because of the fact that Anabella in XVI's canon story had no qualms with having him murdered, and she revealed at the end of her life just how much she had resented Elwin and all of the reasons why. Even in a modern setting, I don't personally feel that these feelings and this reaction would be out of the realm of possibility for her character, given that in spite of this being an AU, she is still her. She is still the same core character, as is my Elwin.

This verse isn't written specifically to be a "happy AU", though if that's something you're interested in setting up, especially if you're playing Anabella, Clive, Joshua, or even Byron, I'm more than happy to do that with you!

But yes. Elwin doesn't discuss the true reason behind the divorce, or rather likely will not do so in RP threads. He doesn't even like to discuss the fact that they are divorced -- which, while he usually hides the depths of his feelings on the matter with a silly sort of reply of "It's complicated", the truth is that it really IS complicated.

Prior to that event, their relationship had become increasingly more strained due to disagreements between them, but there had never been violence. To him, the attack seemed unprompted, though in hindsight it's clear that his wife had been harboring quite a bit of resentment and anger towards him, and misery regarding their marriage, that she had simply never revealed to him.

He does still love her, regardless of how she feels towards him. He will not, however, go back to her. He does try to get full custody of the boys, or at the very least of Clive -- though whether or not it works is going to be left up to a case by case basis.

ISOLA PATCH NOTES (02/01/24)

Hey everyone!

We've got a new policy update to present to you that includes the results from the member survey that we ran last month as well as some more general changes / reminders. Let's get started!

GROUP MINIMUM AGE

One of the questions we asked within the survey was whether or not the members felt like we should make the group 18+ finally. The results were overwhelmingly in favour of this with 75% of the votes in favour of this change and 25% against. As a result we've decided to enact the following changes:

As of the posting of this update on 02/01/24 the group is officially 18+ only. You'll only be able to join if you are 18 years of age or older. We have a zero tolerance policy if it turns out anyone lies about being over 18, and they will be banned immediately if found out.

If you are currently in the group and are under 18, please contact the masterlist so that we can discuss next steps!

We'll be removing the application field about interacting with minors and it will no longer be mandatory for an application to be accepted.

It will no longer be required to add "18+" to your blog title if you write NSFW. However we still recommend doing so if you believe you'll be writing a lot of NSFW on your blog.

As a reminder our other NSFW policies remain unchanged. Please continue to readmore and tag sensitive content for the comfort of members who prefer not to see it or may find it unsettling.

EVENT FREQUENCY

Regarding the results of the event frequency poll, over the past few weeks the leading results of 3 weeks and one month have been neck and neck. There has been a one vote margin between them this whole time, and they've been going back and forth on which one is in the lead. As a result we've decided on a compromise:

There will be a four week break between events going forward.

While this doesn't sound much different from the one month option, it actually prevents an "every other month" scenario since not all months have the same number of days and weeks.

As a result we can run roughly 7 events per year instead of 6 with the month break, meaning we can guarantee 2-3 reruns per year still depending on the circumstances!

GENERAL UPDATES / REMINDERS

We will be altering the wording on the masterlist for when characters are eligible to be reserved / apped from new media. They specify "12:00:01" and it was worded this way so people better understood that which day we were talking about, but we'll just be correcting it to "12:00:00" to align with similarly worded rules that just specify the day.

The previous events list has been updated to include the remaining 2023 events and is now current!

Just a general reminder that we will be posting an activity check for January in the next few days, but there will not be an activity check for February because it's a short month. This does not mean you cannot be sniped, so please keep this in mind.

If you're sending in a request for personal housing make sure you send it into the Galaxy blog instead of the masterlist blog!

We've noticed that there have been a lot of new minis added to the '#isola mini' tag but at times a lot of these minis are going unreplied to. If you're thinking of posting a mini we encourage you to browse the tag to make sure there isn't something you could reply to first! Likewise this is a more general reminder that the mini tag exists for those who don't use it!

NEW ASSISTANT!

For the past few months we've had a new assistant on the team. We're sure plenty of you are familiar with them but here's a few words straight from the horse's mouth! Or the mouth of assistant Andromeda we should say!

hey everyone! my name's bee! i've been rping on tumblr specifically since 2011, and i've been a member of isola since 2019! i'm a fulltime napper and an avid CLAMP enjoyer– if you get me started talking about those noodles i will not be able to stop, apologies in advance. currently i write lloyd irving from tales of symphonia and link from breath of the wild/tears of the kingdom, but you might see some other blorbos of mine pop up in the group from time to time. though my twitter is locked, you are more than welcome to follow me over at @/SHSLNOODLE! i'd be happy to chat anytime!

-- the island stars.

THIS CELEBRATION IS CLOSED.

well, hello there, my little crumb cakes. the rumors are true: your local feral malewife enthusiast will indeed be 20 soon, if you can believe it. i thought it'd be fun to do something special to celebrate my two decades on mother earth, so…

𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝟚𝟘𝕥𝕙 𝕓𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕙!

this celebration will run from march 3rd (mar. 4 is my actual birthday!) — march 10th. anyone 18+ can participate!

feel free to send stuff in now :)

are you excited?! here are the festivities i've planned:

🎁 — presents! can't have a party without presents, silly. but i wanna give you something! (mutuals only) send this and i'll write a little love letter to you, 'cause I love you all so so much. 🥰 

🎵 — hey, are we gonna dance, or what?! okay, fine, i'll pick the song. send me 3-5 of your favorite things and i'll give you a song rec based on those vibes.

there are party games too...

💏 — send one of these for a kiss, marry, exile (because I'm a benevolent, pacifist girlblogger who doesn't believe in killing. mostly.) send three characters (18+ of course) for me to decide fates for. can be outside of ST and mcu!

🪄 — send me this for a CYM (cast your mutuals) along with something to cast my mooties as! fruits, characters from a show, queen albums, anything! (**mutuals, if you don't want to be tagged for this, please lmk. no hard feelings 🫶)

📖 — send me one of these for a rec! this can be a rec for me or i can give you some recs. a fic, a movie, a song, anything! 

📝 — did you know i'm a writer? 👉👈 yeah, little known fact. send me a prompt from one of these lists (don't forget to tell me which one!) and a character and i'll write a little somethin'.

List 1 | List 2 | List 3 | List 4

i will write for steve harrington, eddie munson, and robin buckley. i'll also write steddie! NO SMUT. 

there's cake and refreshments, but make sure everybody gets a slice! 

🍰 — do YOU have a talented creative blogger you want to kiss on the mouth every time they post something? send me a username or usernames of writers, artists, gif makers, basically anyone who makes stuff, and i'll post it and let them know they're appreciated ❤️ and you know what? i would be none the wiser if you put yourself, so…

☕— this is an anti-capitalist blog, so i don't require an exchange of goods and services for us to interact. treat this like a week-long sleepover! tell me about your day, send me pictures of your pets, ask me advice (20 year olds are known for their wisdom btw), tell me your starbucks order (I'm a pink drink truther), anything! this event is, above all, a time to interact. so ask/send me stuff, psychoanalyze me, declare your undying love for me, etc. 😎

tagging some peeps i think might be interested under the cut

@cryinthecar @thesoftestpunk @thornsnvultures @itistimeforusalltodecidewhoweare @starchildbucky @stevebabey @stevestummy @spideystevie @joellkeeny @starrystevie @cable-knit-sweater @real-jane

Okay okay I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS. But I’ll only give you a few.

First, this could be Spencer x Male Reader or Spencer and Ethan, pick your poison. Basically, my idea was that Spencer and whoever grew up in a highly Catholic (and toxic) environment, where he was basically required to go to church everyday. Ethan or The Male Reader is very similar, these two meet — Spencer likes them for their intellect, the willingness to question the religion, their quick wit, etc.

And eventually, Spencer and his dumb heart ends up falling in love with them. And the Reader or Ethan falls in love with him too — but, they’re both boys, so they have to keep this a secret since it’s forbidden.

And one of the ways they would flirt would be reading the most worst, sensual, carnal bible verses they could find and they would read it out loud, while making eye contact with the other. FLIRTING IN FRONT OF SO MANY PEOPLE. They created their own language, annotated the bibles they had to know which verse would mean what, etc.

Unfortunately, these two end up getting caught when Spencer let his tongue slip, and the love of his life ended up having to move away. LIKE HEAR ME OUT.

okay so I'm not gonna write this for a couple main reasons:

1, i don't feel comfortable writing abt something this religious as im atheist and have never even been to church. And in my opinion, this was basically bordering on smut and it makes me uncomfortable to write that as a minor. Aswell I just personally think that this is very unfitting for Spencer as a character, he wouldn't believe in any of it, and with no father and a schizophrenic mother who's bringing him to church everyday and to Sunday school?? It just doesn't make sense to me

2, before sending this ask, you left me an ask, which I responded to in which you said you loved my blog and asked to see some of the ideas in my inbox. I misunderstood what you meant and shared the requests I have in my inbox rn, and which you left a comment telling me what you meant. Am then you went to my inbox and left a very specific, and long request. My main issue is that you don't follow me, and I can't remember seeing you interact with my blog much if at all, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

in conclusion I feel disrespected, uncomfortable, and I will not be writing this.

{{ these are some notes for myself mostly dont mind them fjdjfj

that said, i am still alive! blogs not dead i am just throttled irl but i am out here. i am out here. im just very overwhelmed. i am thinking about belphie but have bumbled my goofy ass into some writing issues i want to put down somewhere that wont get lost fjdj so. so. }}

point one;

belphie is one of the most socially involved characters i've ever had in my hands wherein his relationships are so close and impactful on him, and that's considerable! he doesnt know or deal with a billion people all at the same time, but he DOES live with six brothers and a human, and has to worry about others (two angels, one other human, two other Very Big Deal demons) at least occasionally. i have an understanding why the writing team sometimes feels really very rushed the further they go on with obey me im going to be real with you NGJSJF

again, it isn't just the number or proximity; belphies brothers are really very impactful on him, not just in past tense but in the ways they interact with each other, the ways they bicker or support each other or even the human, how belphie perceives these things. he's a more introverted character, but just as he's notorious for his introversion (sometimes levi calls him a fellow shut-in, and hes declined outings several times unless they suited his own needs and interests specifically [before being forced anyway usually]) he's also notorious for watching and listening to the ways the others talk about what's going on, each other, TO each other, how their bonds strengthen or weaken. he's very sensitive to being replaced or forgotten about, or treated as though he's dangerous or like someone doesn't know how to interact with him anymore after the attic incident.

all this to say, to write a rich and satisfying belphie, takes shaking off a lot more rust and getting used to writing several characters in a situation all at the sams time, which i've for some reason been very squirrely to do??? like i'm not allowed or something???? up to the challenge, if only for breaking this very strange sensation of 'oh thats not allowed ):' ON WHAT PLANET. WHEN AND WHY DID THAT HAPPEN

point two;

winter.... oh winter. precious MC stand in. what am i going to do with you.

obviously the mc in a romancey otome game is supposed to move the story along in a way that's as generic and projectable as possible. there's still some personality there; a character that drives an entire family of fallen angels who've had repeated fallings out and coming together again moments and unites them is going to be a sort that's strong in mind and in heart, sure. this is a protagonist in a mushy gushy love game with some edge paint slapped over the top; something i love quite a bit, mind you, but... there's so much blank slate, and so much freedom.

what. am i going to do with you. somehow i did not anticipate The Main Character being something so potentially useful, but also requiring their own good bit of attention. so i should think about where they've been yoinked from and how that helps them adapt to the environment they're in. the mc also has quite the unique relationship with belphie, given the whole murder thing, and subsequent "oh btw the entire reason you did that? built on a lie. yeah everything you justified that with wasn't real. yeah now you both have to cope with that. and each other. yeah."

so winter being a big deal is sort of a big deal in itself. they both have made huge impacts on each other, and belphie's forfeited to them some of his JUST-FOUND FREEDOM to START his apology and that's. i mean god damn. winter knows he'd been trapped a long time, winter knows he'd been lied to, but that his feelings of neglect and betrayal aren't gone... but that also doesn't mean they're just fine now, either. he murdered their ass and he tried to do it again until he was told the truth and broke down as it sunk in fjdj not even immediately.

they have a lot of questions for one another, but also a lot of tension. delicious mix. how much i would love to really do something with that.

very good to get this out of my brain and somewhere i'll find it again fjdjgj

maybe ill noodle around with this??? try to practice some things and lean into that early canon feel i liked so much and base some things off canon events. augh please understand how much this sleepy freak lives rent free in my brain space even though i am so so quiet. trying to get unfrozen in so many ways

Hello, actual aegosexual person here, to give a bit of insight on my specific opinions on the jokes regarding Uni, and compare them to my experiences in real life.

A few things to say right off the bat-- I don't identify with the label "aegosexual" (I much prefer "asexual", as it requires much less explanation and gets across what I am anyways), but I do fit the definition of aegosexual. I won't get into what I am attracted to, as that's a major tmi and this is not the place for it (plus I know some criticism blogs are minors and I am NOT taking any chances), but I will express my views regarding actual intimacy. Finally, I do NOT speak for all aegosexual people, that is not my intention. I speak for only myself.

I am a sex-repulsed asexual, full stop. The idea of seeing anything or actually experiencing anything makes my stomach turn. I find myself straight-up walking out of movies if something goes even a little beyond PG-13, and take great pains to avoid ever seeing anything like that. This does not extend to fiction (art, writing), but anything "real" is met with the highest amount of disgust on my part. I have no intention of ever doing anything, ever.

Still, there are jokes. I get fictional crushes, which become a point of "poking fun" at me in my friend group (always harmless fun, mind you). They use terms like "top" and "dom" and other things for me because of my interactions with them. They joke about me doing things that I would never actually do. But, they are just that-- jokes. If they ever say something that makes me feel uncomfortable, I tell them to stop, and they do. If their own jokes between themselves ever go too far and they notice I am uncomfortable, they stop for my sake. Though they all have a very crass nature, there's a full distinction between what is real and what is not. That is to say, they would never cross my boundaries.

All this to say that Uni doesn't really feel aegosexual to me-- at least, not to my experience. The jokes about her having sex with others and being horny are... fine, I guess, but-- to put it this way-- there doesn't feel like a difference between Carrie and Uni. To me, they both feel like they have some sort of amount of sexual attraction towards others. The only difference I can tell is that Carrie is actively stated to be promiscuous-- otherwise, there's fundamentally no difference that I can tell.

Aces can enjoy sex-- I heartily disagree with anyone who says otherwise-- but there's a difference between being able to enjoy sex and actively seeking it out. And with the sheer amount of sex jokes regarding Uni in this fandom and the comic itself, it doesn't feel like Uni's ace-ness is being paid attention to at any capacity whatsoever. It just feels like they treat her like any other allosexual character and then scream "SOME ACES HAVE SEX!!1!11!!!" when anyone dares to be even a little bit uncomfortable by how she's presented.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak, I am sorry for the essay in your inbox.

--Faerie Anon

Don´t worry Faerie Anon. I believe your points are valid.

RULE + Mods introductions

Hello students welcome to our blog! This blog was made mainly for fun and is currently being run by 2 Mods. It is targeted towards writing for Self-inserts requests only, so we won't be taking any requests under the pretence of it being: CharacterxCharacter or OCxCharacter. Thank you for your understanding and enjoy your stay!

⚠️ PLEASE READ RULES BEFORE BEFORE REQUESTING ⚠️

General Rules: -We have every right to refuse certain requests that do not meet the following for rules, or it makes us uncomfortable. -Character limit for HCs: 1-5 -Character limit for Prompts/Alphabets: 1-2 -Genre of writing that is okay: Fluff, Angst -Things that are not okay to mention, send, or request: Pedophilia, Incest, Trauma dumps (Please seek professional help, we aren't and will not be your therapists), Rude/Demanding asks or requests (Be nice and wait patiently).

Optional Rules: -Specifying which Mod you'd prefer to write your request. It isn't a requirement but it'll most definitely help! [If the request doesn't mention a mod, we'll just go with the content of the requests or decide for ourselves.] -Leaving an emoji at the end of your request or asks will help us know if you're a regular or not! Again, it isn't a requirement for you to do this, but it helps us know either way! [With every emoji anon we get, we'll slowly start making tags for them. We can't guaranteed there'll be a tag instantly made for them, depending if there's already an emoji anon using the emoji or if we're too busy to add it, but it'll show up eventually!] -If there's ever something you're wondering we'll write for, please come and ask us, before or in your requests! We promise we don't bite yet -Our asks are always open for discussions, not just requesting! So please hop by and talk with one of us, or both!!

Tags: - #Discussions - #Spoiler-Discussions Anons: No ghosts here yet!

⚠️ MODS INTRODUCTIONS BELOW ⚠️

"It's just... Whenever I look at that rock, I feel like I could go anywhere. But... I've made up my mind now, I'm not going anywhere."

Name(s): Mod Hanako, Hana chan, Hakujoudai, 👻 Pronouns: Any Birthday: October 12th

What I'll write for: - Female or GN readers only - Mostly HCs - Angst, Hurt/Comfort - Interactions (with a specified character or it'll be as Hanako)

What I won't write for: - Smut - Some spoilers

My personal tags: - #👻 (Mod Hanako's writing) - #👻-Talks (Conversation with Mod Hanako) Something about myself: - Faves: I love everyone equally, including (Looks at smudged handwriting) t...uh...un..nat...Natsuhiko. - I'm, unfortunately, caught up on the manga. - Hasn't slept for 100 years! Let's go!

"I'm a supernatural. For the right price, I will grant the wish of whoever summons me."

Name(s): Mod Tsukasa, Tsu chan, Kokujoudai, ☠️ Pronouns: Any but usually uses She/They Birthday: July 5th

What I'll write for: - Female or GN readers only - Mostly HCs - Fluff, Crack, Hurt/Comfort - Interactions (with a specified character or it'll be as Tsukasa) - Yandere-ish themes - Suggestive themes that aren't borderline Smut

What I won't write for: - Smut - Manga Spoilers (List will be added more later on)

My personal tags: - #☠️ (Mod Tsukasa's writing) - #☠️-Talks (Conversation with Mod Tsukasa) Something about myself: - Faves: Yugi Twins, Minamoto brothers, Nene, Aoi (girl), Yokoo........... and that one guy (forgot) - Watched the TBHK Anime, but hadn't read the manga but is fine with spoilers (Even though I'm fine with seeing spoilers, I'm not sure I'll be able to incorporate it to my writing, so go ask Hana Chan instead!) - Flirts too much, must be sedated (/J)

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSES SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

Tagged by: Stolen ;3

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

At the moment I don't since my blog is fairly new, right out the womb, so I've yet to have developed an OTP for my muses at the moment. But I do find delight in the romance between my muses that's involved in my cowboy bebop fic, and based on that I can say they are my OTP of this blog. It's also encouraging to hear when friends/mutuals say they also ship them together since oc x canon are usually treated in a negative way.

But I really really love opposite attract and pred x prey dynamics; I'm drawn those tropes like a moth to a flame.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

I won't ship with a muse who's younger than twenty-five, bare minimum. I also prefer not to go over a twelve-year gap. Both of my muses are in their late 20's ( 27-29).

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFW?

When things start to get extremely heavy with petting and there's grinding involved. It veers into NSFW territory for me so I'd just fade into black. But I'd probably go to dm's for details >\\>

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

Honestly. I've very selective and chemistry based. Particularly for Spike because he's like a cat, I can't force him to ship with anybody if he's not feeling it. Niah also requires chemistry but she's easier to ship with.

Usually, I don't think too much about shipping nowadays, and when I meet new people, it doesn't really cross my mind, except if I see a muse that my own might potentially like. . . which is a bit rare.

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

At the moment, I got something going with @straye with their Kogami and my Niah (ShinNiah) which has been fun. It's such a good slow burn between them as I watch how their relationship progresses into something more. I feel like Ko really tries to relate to her on different levels and understand her at a lower depth where he sees more than what's on the surface. She wears a mask, but he seems to have no problem with wanting to lift it up to see all of what she tries to hide. They're lonely people who found each other to be alone with together.

I've yet to find someone for Spike ;3; he's soo difficult, but it would help if someone was patient with him. However, me and @junksatellites are in talks to do something! I But Spike also does have a dream sequence thing with their Faye as well if that counts, and other interactions they may find themselves in ;3

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

Yeah, it's okay. But I can't guarantee if my muses may feel the same way for a particular muse.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

I'm moreso ship more-or-less, mainly because I don't expect for people to be interested in my muses, especially Niah due to how most female oc's are treated. Shipping is also never the first reason for me to interact with a muse since I greatly value platonic/familial/antagonist relationships first. I don't auto-ship either with canon x canon since I like for things to develop naturally (usually through ic interactions or plotting ideas).

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?

Of course!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

I'm a huge sucker for Spike x Electra. It's my all-time favorite in the series ;3;

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

It's important to me for muses to have chemistry with one another, but it's also equally important for there to be chemistry between muns. After that first step, see how our muses interact with one another, whether through ic or dms. If both muses are feeling something then that's a good sign, but if not :( although I am fine with unreceptive feelings to occur in a relationship.

tagging: @gumpistol @erthlyheavn @straye @perceptualephemera @junksatellites @alaikhadal @xissp @liesandalibis @dynamoprotocol @pzfr @thrillrs @kaizokugaris @dandelicn @batinstincts & whoever want to do it :3

What is Digital Humanities? [Week 1/Introduction]

Writing from:

September 2023

The first week of my MA program (Philosophy, specialization in Digital Humanities)

A particular interest in digital storytelling and the role it plays in our understanding of life's meaning

As an introduction post, it is worthwhile to clarify what the purpose of this is: to fulfill a requirement for a course I have to take for the completion of my degree. That said, I also aim for this to be a resource for myself (and potentially others who might stumble across it) to reflect and recall the way my understanding of Digital Humanities and the issues contained within it has changed, developed, and become more complicated as my familiarity with the discipline and my interaction with others within it increases.

This - like all of the other blog posts for this course - is being posted at the end of my term. As someone who tends to be more tactile than technical, which is perhaps a not ideal tendency for someone interested in Digital Humanities. Nonetheless, that tendency led me to write these reflections in a physical journal and the business of school and the several jobs I have to pay for it led to me putting off actually typing up these posts. But, here we are! Several of my other courses have ended, and I am writing between work hours.

The first week of this course, called 'Issues in Digital Humanities' introduced us to Digital Humanities as a whole as well as to a specific question to help centre the course (and one that I carry with me beyond this single course): What is Digital Humanities?

Through discussion and referral to other sources and ideas of individuals beyond those in the class, it became very clear that even a technical definition of the discipline is hard to achieve in a way that seems faithful to Digital Humanities' aims and methods (which are in themselves hard to define or even determine). This was especially evident in a website that the instructor introduced us to, aptly called What Is Digital Humanities? This site generates responses to that question provided by participants in 'Day of DH' events (a date dedicated to examining the state of digital humanities as relayed by those who do work within the discipline) from 2009 to 2014. These responses range from paragraphs to short sentences, illuminating the expansiveness of just DH's definition, without saying anything about the expansiveness of DH itself. One answer I appreciated that came up in the random generation that I did when encountering the site was one from Daniel Hooper: "The stuff humanities people do when they get a computer."

In the syllabus for the course I am writing this post for, we are encouraged to specifically engage with what we find weird, wonderful, and worrying in each post. In future reflections, I imagine it might be easiest to split the post into three sections, each dedicated to one of these 'W's, but this week I think this central question 'What is Digital Humanities?' is all three in a way that would be diminished by my dividing it into three sections. So, instead, I think I'll highlight one main takeaway I have from this question which is weird, wonderful, and worrying: Digital Humanities seems to be relatively boundless. This is weird, especially from the context of Academia from which I write, as even the shape it takes as a quasi-department in which students can specialize is made up entirely of cross-appointed faculty. DH doesn't (and perhaps can't) stand on its own, which is something I think is wonderful and aptly counters the siloing which occurs in discussions of academic disciplines or expertise, if DH is based on its relation to other topics, whether humanities or technology, then it is interdisciplinary in a way that cannot be ignored like other disciplines might. My worry from this is perhaps much more pragmatic than it is theory/conceptually based, but the problem of legitimacy is one that DH faces off against in a multitude of ways. In DH's tendency to admit its own interdisciplinary expansiveness, I wonder if it risks delegitimizing itself. This is not something I think is inherently concerning, but I do think it is concerning in the context of academia, where things like individual grants and departmental funding pay great mind to the legitimacy of what is being funded, and that funding is essential to the survival of research and disciplines in academic spaces.

important psa if we are mutuals but never started writing threads/wrote once with no ooc communication, because it's been months now and eventually I may go for a mass blocking:

If I sent you a message and asked you one of the following things: -hey, would you like to plot/wing it? -have you read her About Page for that fandom, are you okay with it? -you are a multi, are you okay with me interacting with X and Y characters of yours?

-and you haven't answered yet, I will not initiate ic interactions, because I don't know if you WANT to write with me or if you read her about page yet. So even if it's been months since I tried to interact, if you want to rp then answer to the question, it's okay, I don't mind if you took long or forgot! You can even say we'll wing it and that you know who she is!

-and if you answered that you hadn't read her about yet and we never spoke again, I will be waiting for you to come back and tell me we are good to go. It feels impolite to just keep asking if you have, maybe your silence means you did and changed your mind about writing!

This happens all the time and then we never rp, so especially now that I have less time in my hands, I'd suggest to NEW FOLLOWERS to send me an im/ic meme when you are ready to write too, even if I'm the one who followed first and should start the interactions, because it's disheartening to always be the one asking and more often than not not get answers.

The alternative is to follow people and start immediately sending memes or responding to things ic when they follow back, but if I do that and you answer as if she's Emma Swan or never answer, I'll just have to block you because it's too awkward for me. I'm honestly considering it, just assuming that you are ready to rp as if she's a canon character, because I don't know how much more clear I can make it, I wrote that you should read rules and about and that she's an oc/au LITERALLY everywhere in the blog.

But your pages are too long: don't follow me. They are that long because this way she can immediately be part of your fandom without you having to ask a thousand questions. It's meant to help you too. I'm too shy: so am I, and I reached out anyway, so you not answering means we'll never write because I'm not going to keep trying with no answer. I have anxiety, it's been too long since we last spoke: I'm saying here and pretty much everywhere in my blog that it's okay! Better late than never!!! I don't like talking ooc: I'm not requiring daily chats, just that you give me a sign you are not just automatically following back and that you know who she is; after that we are good. Of course when we are first starting I may still have questions so I don't assume things wrong but seriously, if you can't answer something like 'hey is it okay to answer that meme as if it's a week later?' just unfollow.

Emma is an oc. Reading the about page for your muse's fandom is as non-negotiable as reading my rules is. If in your replies it becomes clear you are thinking of Emma Swan, it's going to be awkward as hell. This is also a roleplaying blog, which means SOME cooperation and human interaction is to be expected.

Sorry for not sugarcoating this but it's a bit of a last resort before blocking starts. Regular unfollowing doesn't work with my bad memories, I'll just eventually follow you again.

I think you have some great theories but some require so much explanation to make it work and are buried in references and outside sources, we almost get away from what we know - SJM makes whatever lore she pulls from her own. Some are so complex and very specific to the way you analyze, we can't possibly expect SJM to have been on the same wavelength as you. Considering how often SJM retcons and contradicts herself in interviews, I just don't think she's putting in as much work as some fans do with some theories. Yes, she has plot twists and turns, but they aren't overly layered and she's not the best as creating two demensional villains either. She's also made some questionable writing decisions that so many fans never could've predicted. Like, I remember all the wild theories for KOA & ACOSF and none were remotely close to what she planned in terms of plot development aside from the obvious, Nessian as endgame. I think at best, the theories that do come to fruition are the simple ones even causal readers can pick up. I think you have some creative ideas, but I think we are expecting too much from SJM.I think she's a simple gal, who loves writing romance. Will you be disappointed if none of your theories come to be true? If none come true, I hope it doesn't stop you from expressing your thought and blogging, there's so many other fandoms who would appreciate you in their corner.

This is a valid point, so thank you for bringing it up!

I think first and foremost, it goes without saying that most SJM fan theories will (likely) be wrong in some capacity - my own included. I am definitely aware of this, which is why I am intentional with my wording (ie. I will never say "I figured it out!", or try and present my theories as canon facts). For me personally, theorising isn't about trying to be "right" (as that's pretty much impossible); instead, it's about pondering all the different possibilities that SJM could take in future books, and then sharing these possibilities within a community.

As for expecting too much from SJM - I am undecided. I do see where you are coming from, and I especially agree with KOA; a perfect example of this was Elide's character - SJM hinted several times that Elide had Blackbeak blood (which spurred on the creation of many incredible theories), but then it ultimately lead to nothing...? However, I also know that Merrill's hypothesis in ACOSF (about the 11 different dimensions, or as many as 26) is a direct reference to String Theory - and then the Harp, with the 26 strings, represents this. To me, this does indeed suggest that SJM is thinking about her worlds (and how they interact) beyond the surface level.

This is also why I often reference outside sources in my theories (such as mythology or folklore), because to me it is clear that SJM derives so much inspiration from these same sources. For example, Helion appears to be named after "Helios" (Greek god of the sun), and Thesan appears to be named after "Thesan" (Etruscan goddess of dawn). Knowing that SJM is connecting her characters in this way lends itself to questioning the other remaining characters - for example, why is Hunt named after Orion; a famous hunter in Greek mythology? Why is Mor named after The Morrigan; a famous war goddess/shapeshifter/banshee in Celtic mythology? Does it mean something? (Or, are you right, and SJM is just choosing names at random?)

So, I guess I can admit that I do have high expectations of SJM going forward, and that my theories reflect that. However, if SJM does indeed opt for more "basic" storylines in her future books (ie. much less of a crossover than we are anticipating), then it wouldn't be the first time that my theories have failed to account for that. In the past, I have actually posted theories for two well known TV/book series, and both went "viral" within those respective fandoms (I still remember when Reese Witherspoon posted a news article about my theory to her instagram story lmao). However, both times, the author went for a much more "obvious" ending, and as a result, I was on the receiving end of fandom backlash (that my thoughts were too "outlandish," or that my expectations were too high).

But, that's still part of the fun. Honestly, my one true goal is to write my own fantasy series - that way, I am free to include as many "outlandish" twists, turns, and ideas as I wish !! :)

taro and sage for the ask game :)

taro - if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

probably my exams! or my birthday which is very soon (four days omg gasping sounds). or my plans for after college if they asked, in which i would then go in detail about my plan which spans roughly the next ~7 years of my life of courses and universities i want to go to.

sage - what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

poetry, music and fiction. definitely. anything word based. out of those, probably fiction because it's the meatiest one and i adore character-driven stories and being able to relate to people and experiences.

i've always loved language and words and the impact they can have on us, hence i plan to go on to study linguistics. i planned to study english literature for many years but something about the scientific aspect of language just drew me in entirely, and it's easier to analyse books i love as a hobby than to investigate language as one.

i love all mediums like art or statues and would happily spend hours in a museum but reading something, speaking it and getting to analyse it feels so interactive. i've always been a big literature kid, and one of the ways i found it easiest to express my opinion was via writing. i'm a horrible artist so i never found much joy in that (i know you don't have to be good at something to just enjoy doing it, but i take a lot of pride in the end result so it just doesn't work for me). but it means that words always had the greatest impact on me in return. i understood them easiest and spent hours analysing pieces of work (i once wrote a 6 page essay for my poetry teacher when i was 14. we were only required to write 1-2. we were her favourite student).

probably a bit expected from the kid that has a dead poets society blog to favour poetry or fiction. but i really do love them