#ALSO DON'T MIND THE QUALITY INCREASE

[allmightyscroll-swag]

ooooooo he's in trouble

Leo stop trying to deflect from your condition you just start bringing up your trauma again when you do that,,

[quietdeparturesarchive]

10 tips for a 10x better life

0 complaining

Complaining focuses your mind on problems instead of finding solutions. By shifting your energy to action and gratitude, you become more positive, productive, and resilient.

1 (cold) shower/day

Cold showers boost circulation, improve recovery, and increase mental toughness. Even warm showers help refresh your body and mind, setting the tone for a productive day.

2 liters of water/day

Proper hydration improves energy levels, brain function, and digestion. Dehydration can lead to fatigue, headaches, and poor concentration—so keep your water intake in check. Tipp: Use a large cup or bottle with 500ml or 1l. It'll help with building the habit if you don't have to get up after every glass

3 hours max screen-time

Excessive screen time can drain your mental clarity, disrupt sleep, and make you less present in real life. Setting limits helps you focus on meaningful activities and personal growth. If setting limits doesn't work: Delete the App that's distracting you the most completely off your phone. For me it was character.ai -> damn this app had me in a chokehold for some while...

4 day resistance training/workout

Regular strength training boosts metabolism, enhances physical and mental health, and increases longevity. Even a few sessions a week can improve confidence and energy. Doesn't mean you have to get a gym-membership -> just go on youtube and find a home-workout that works for you <3

5 mins daily meditation

Meditation reduces stress, enhances focus, and strengthens emotional resilience. Just five minutes a day can help you feel more present, clear-headed, and in control of your thoughts.

6 home-cooked dinners/week

Cooking at home allows you to control ingredients, save money, and eat healthier. It also builds discipline and strengthens your connection to the food you consume.

7 strangers spoken to per week

Engaging with new people improves social skills, confidence, and networking opportunities. You never know what connection, insight, or opportunity a simple conversation might bring.

8 hrs sleep/night

Quality sleep is essential for brain function, recovery, and emotional well-being. Lack of sleep leads to irritability, poor focus, and decreased productivity—prioritize a good rest at night!

9 thousand steps

Walking keeps your body active, improves cardiovascular health, and boosts creativity. It’s an easy, low-impact way to stay fit and clear your mind daily. Put on some headphones, open your favorite playlist and spend some quality time outside.

10 pages reading/day

Reading expands your knowledge, improves focus, and fuels personal growth. Just 10 pages a day can introduce you to new ideas, perspectives, and skills that elevate your life.

xoxo, sally

pic1 | pic2 | pic3

[marsprincess889]

Ketu in the houses

Doing smaller(in this case not so much, but it's still more elementary and formulaic) posts before dropping the big ones. I know you all are going to love this (my blog has become a ketu information hub for a lot of you 😅🙃)

As always, keep in mind: ketu is very internal and personal. I can give you basic descriptions and observations but to connect with your ketu, due to its essence and nature, I think you'll have to shut out a lot of the noise and just listen to yourself. That concerns everything. So, if your truth is telling you that I or someone's description is incorrect, then trust it. Be careful while examining that.

Ketu in the 1st house:

Automatic and natural possession of the physical body. Comfortable in their own skin, sometimes too comfortable. Have an appearance that suits natural adornment. Quality pieces look extra good on them, but even they wear/carry something "cheap", it still somehow works. They don't have to really think about their appearance, but if they do start to, it might have enormous impact on others. They're not really fans of trendy looks of the moment as I've observed, they have the power to set the trends themselves but I'd say most of them are not aware of that. Might be loud while talking and have a sort of unrestrained/unfazed demeanor. On ther hand, they might also be really quiet.

When all else fails, just focus on yourself. Keep coming back to yourself in times of crisis. You have good health but don't ignore it, this placement might not even give you the permission to. You have enormous privilege of having amazing power, don't waste it.

Ketu in the 2nd house:

Hoarders, collectors, but not intentionally. Possessions have meanings attached to them. Intuitively have a knowing of what should go into their body and follow it, even if others disagree. Good at measuring the worth of things or people. Relaxed face. Sort of disconnected from their family or lineage, or seem that way. Family support was convenient in childhood but might have been taken for granted. Deeper voice(?), slightly intimidating way of speaking. Great singers(?).

You can always ground yourself, no matter how strongly it seems otherwise. The support and the family can be all around you if you find it inside yourself first.

Ketu in the 3rd house:

This is my placement, so it's gonna be longer(cause I have more info, not cause I'm arrogant😭) so bear with me.

Aware and alert but ironically might not be aware of this at first. Great instincts, naturally skilled. The information field is constantly on their radar. A lot of what they observe is boring to them, and they absorb everything. Movements are natural/effortless. Might look clumsy or careless with movements or speaking sometimes but they have it together, more than others and more than it shows. Have the ability to skillfully get out of sticky situations. Survivors. They have creative ways of managing tasks. Great with details but confused with too much data, they consider it pointless. Can get to the bottom of things. Can play devil's advocate but they often don't want to. Can argue but it's mainly to increase a sense of self-possession. Their "trivial" words have more meaning than they or others assume at first. Don't say a lot of what they know. Might be surprised that things that are obvious to them elude others. More shrewd than they look, but they themselves consider a lot of "shrewd" and "cunning" strategies dumb and superficial. WILL NOT trust others before analyzing them in their head. Quick, kind of messy minds but still somehow organized and sensible. Love to dig and investigate. Trust themselves before anyone else. Know that they know stuff but can't show the whole truth of it easily. Use confusion as a weapon. Relationships with siblings, cousins and childhood friends are nuanced, interesting and kind of cimplicated. Town/neighborhood black sheep but still fit there the best.

Ehh, what can I say, you're doing amazing keep going. 😭 The truth will come, don't worry, boredom is not forever and sometimes it's better than anything. Anxiety is a warning, get that b*tch out of your system, connect to what makes you calm. Look around you and get rooted to your life, like you know how to do.

Ketu in the 4th house:

Strongly tied to their home/family, whether they want/like it or not. Private about family life. Need their space a lot. Sort of clingy to their family and home but at the same time want to break out of it. Get defensive if you get too close or vulnerable. Have a natural ability to nurture but always nurture themselves first. Familial responsibility is embedded in them. May have been spoiled with attention, especially in childhood but have hated it, or have come to hate it. On the other hand, might have felt very ignored by their family memebers. Might have a very traditional family that values culture, upholding to moralities, and appearance.

Family is not the worst thing in the world and I know the ties might hurt, but there is truth and stability there for you. Find peace there and the rest will fall in place.

Ketu in the 5th house:

Fun, creativity, art has deep meaning to them. Life is built on entertainment for them. Their life is a soap opera. Dramatic and expressive. Art is their religion. Can be ignorant of other's preferences and naturally assert dominance when the situation concerns creativity, entertainment and art, even remotely. Only know what they like and don't seek to be trendy in their preferences, it's very personal to these natives. Can be selfish and get lost in hedonism. Don't discriminate between pop and indie, or discriminate harshly. Not easily infulenced in general but easily persuaded if you know their "weak points"/preferences. Generous with their attention if others can pay even more attention to them.

Yeah, life is art, but it's not for profit and not always for show. Learn to be humble when life demands it. It IS your life, but before you get lost in the art, make sure you're rooted in the truth of it.

Ketu in the 6th house:

Resilient, distrustful but relaxed. Healthy and helpful, very practical and balanced. Might have had health struggles that have shaped them and made them stronger. Natural medicine>chemicals. Will take chemicals if they consider it correct and see no other way. Expert at making the best out of the worst situations. Not confrontational but can put people in their place. On the other hand, might not hesitate one bit and be direct in times of tension. Know how to look after themselves and hate it when others interfere. Won't take advice even from close people, have a very unique and personalised way of looking after themselves, as well as a unique/personalised routine. Obstacles might persist but they can't to much to these people. Skillful and quietly cunning but it's not much work.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and squeeze them in other people's eyes if needed. You gotta be selfish sometimes, what can you do. Every day is a gift and the routine is a privilge. Don't be mean about it.

Ketu in the 7th house:

Lovers and supporters. Recognize other people easily and connect to them deeply and effortlessly. Charming and genuine. Recogize the truth behind connections and human behavior, sensitive to one-on-one dynamics. Good listeners, excellent company, giving and humble but know how they gain from relationships and connections. Value harmony and conflict resolution. Naturally attune to others and find their sense of self through them. Know how and what to sacrifice for others but have strong and specific boundaries. Love has a deep meaning to them, any kind of love. Important relationships are full of intricacy and are laced with destiny.

We are parts of something bigger than us, and we all have stories to tell. Keep finding yourself through other people and keep helping others find themselves. "Karmic" ties are not punishment, they're the simple truth.

Ketu in the 8th house:

Complicted internally, don't make much of it. Each crisis is an opportunity to gain. Survival IS life. Never reveal too much of themselves and easily read others, but can be stubborn about seeings things in only their way. Incorrect judgement costs them a lot, correct judgement gives them enormous power. Struggle anyways. Casually intense. Se×ual and private. Privacy is a must. Go through a lot of pain and become savage if their privacy is invaded. Know that selfishness is very selfless. Quietly independent, confidently dependant, carefully engaging. Adaptible but out of necessity. Hide their intensity, along with other things, very well.

The complications are alright, don't be afraid of the unknown, or fear itself. It's okay to go deep, it's okay to not, it's ok to survive however it is possible for you.

Ketu in the 9th house:

Philosophy is natural. They find truth everywhere if only they detach. They seem "higher" than others, and seem to be enjoying it. Truth is simple and exhilirating for them. They need their freedom. They exude a sense of wander and assuredness. Don't really care about conventional morals as most people see them and have a hightly personal sense of right and wrong. Religion is very familiar to them, whatever it has been. Talk to "god" and "the divine" to feel comfort, might not realize it fully. Their faith has been tested and strengthened, and they themselves might have tested their own others' faith. Might feel like nobody will understand their exact beliefs, but understand others' beliefs. Even if they feel lonely sometimes, places of worship feel weirdly reasuring. Can become a little arrogant.

Your ideals are not too high and mighty. You know what you know, and you should know that you do. Not everyone can ground themselves in a grand and utopian place. Don't let possible arrogance blur or exaggerate it.

Ketu in the 10th house:

Legacy is inherited. The world can feel like their oyster. Even if not much is going well, they might feel supported by people in power, and usually, they are, even though they never really asked for it. Older people and those with more experience bring out their natural competence and maturity. Might come from a line of influence, usually from father's side. Easily gain aqcuaintances but feel like they have to work hard to gain and keep friends. Might feel like they have much to lose but don't worry about it. Family prince/princess, or people's prince/princess, but in a quiet way. Naturally self-possessed. Might feel chained by obligations.

There are those who will stand by you as you pull back and detach. When you go into the world, people see you, and you know how to act. You don't really care about your reputation, but it cares about you. Don't lose a good thing, embrace and enjoy it, because in that, you will find your truth and your power. That stability that is too familiar to you, it's a huge privilege.

Ketu in the 11th house:

Everyone's friend, everyone's confidante, one of the girls/boys. The gang is what they trust, but they don't look for the gang. The gang is just there. Friends flock to them and they welcome all, but friendships are private and their business. The kind of people that don't have to do anything for friends to find them. Might feel like they act like a constant chameleon to everyone but feel comfortable in that place. Can be too neutral to strangers, but become proud activists for causes that are close to their heart. Strongly unbiased and multi-faceted. Others feel relieved when they're around at gatherings. Can be very uncaring and dismissive, unless you are one of their people.

You're lucky with support. Even if friends have dissapointed you, you have gotten something valuable and worthy out if it. There are those that are your people, and those that aren't. Don't lose sight of that, but be honest with discerning who is who.

Ketu in the 12th house:

What really lights them is hidden and reserved only for them. Selfless like it's nothing. Deep and understanding, floating through life like a fish following their own current. They can gently hold your hand through harshest times but it's so subtle you'll barely realize you've been affected by them by the time it's almost done. When they get lost, they really get lost, and that's when and where find themselves. Hate to force things and know how to be humble. Private like no one else. If life gets too hollow they become a recluse. Nobody sees what depths they carry within at first, but some might suspect, by their restrained behavior, or by an innocent yet wise look in their eyes. They're not mad when they go into themselves, and no matter how much you try to get to them, if they can't, they won't hear you. But it does not matter. In their own way, they hear and see everyone, and through them, they see and hear themselves.

Oh, yes, confusion is huge and it seems overwhelming. You know how to find comfort in that. So many sides to life, so many truths. If others tell you you're deluded, do not forget that everyone is. When your sacrifice and martyrdom becomes too much, stay only with yourself once more.

[anto-pops]

Would you consider making a headcanon post about Sebastian? It could be random, or it could be smutty as hell. But just... what goes on in Anto's brilliant mind when she's writing thid version of Sebastian in her stories? I'm very, very intrigued with how exactly you see him. I know we already have a general picture of who he is through your stories. But are there any more headcanons you have that might not be that obvious? I just love your version of him in your mind. ❤️‍🔥

YEEESSS I WOULD LOVE TO !! I have some written down in my notes app already that I reference from time to time but I'll add more here LMAO

↓↓ SEBASTIAN SALLOW HEADCANONS ↓↓

SFW

Sebastian's main love languages are quality time and physical touch. He loves any excuse to be around you, offering to study with you or to accompany you to Hogsmeade for whatever the occasion calls for.

As for physical touch, this man would make you wear him as a backpack if it wouldn't crush you. Any means of touching you has his name written all over it. Hand holding ? Check. Playing with your hair ? Check. Steering you places by putting his hand on your lower back and gently urging you along ? Hell yeah (he might even cop a feel while he's that low)

He loves seeing you in his clothes. Like, an unhealthy amount. You're cold ? Suddenly you're being smothered by his coat. You're studying together in his dorm and you start to doze off ? Smack– his Quidditch jersey or some other large shirt hits you in the face.

If you tell him to turn around while you're changing, he'll do it, but he may or may not sneak a peak 👀

This one is obvious if you've read my fics, but Sebastian is possessive. BIG TIME user of the "dibs" system, and he's calling dibs on you.

He glares down any other men that think to talk to you (though always from over your shoulder so you don't catch him), but if he's not close enough to do that, he'll manipulate the situation to better suit his preferences.

E.g.: using magic to tip something over so it spills on the offensive male's lap, or jinxing their textbook so it jumps off their desk and smacks them in the face.

In rarer instances where he has the ability to exercise patience, Sebastian will wait for the chatty admirer to stand up and leave, then use his magic to yank their pants down. Embarrassment is a good teacher, right ?

If the two of you aren't already dating, Sebastian goes out of his way to secretly memorize your schedule so he can 'coincidentally' run into you more often. He thinks it increases his chances of wooing you, but Ominis just thinks he's acting like a buffoon.

He always buys an extra treat to offer to you later on. He'll claim that he's so full that he doesn't have room for it, but it's all calculated so he can watch your expression light up when you take the morsel from him (Pavloving your crush... smooth, Sebastian)

This man falls asleep reading like he's an 80 year old man. Upright in bed, light still on, book halfway covering his face or open in his lap. He also 100% isn't above writing in the margins or dog-earing the corners of pages.

If the two of you ever get into an argument that isn't immediately resolved, he BROODS. He'll haunt the Undercroft like a ghost, stare unblinkingly at the fireplace in the Slytherin common room, and glare at anyone that tries to check on him.

Eventually you'll have no choice but to go seek him out because A) you're convinced he might be dead and B) everyone is begging you to. They can't take it anymore– he's terrifying when he's upset.

Sebastian is stubborn as hell but will almost always defer to your judgement. It's 1am and he's still up reading ? "Come to bed," you order. He listens. He gets injured after a particularly difficult fight in the Forbidden Forest ? "It's just a scratch," he waves you off. "Sit down," you demand, pointing at the ground in front of you. He scrambles over like an obedient puppy, though not without pouting.

He might argue against the claim, but he's sentimental. He always saves letters from you, Ominis, and his sister. He has a box of trinkets full of items that belonged to his parents hidden away in his trunk.

He also becomes extremely quiet and reserved when the anniversary of his parents' deaths comes along and will shamelessly melt into you for comfort as though you're the only thing that can keep him from crumbling.

The man can eat. Like Ron throughout the entire movie series, Sebastian's love for food knows no bounds. Maybe it has to do with playing Quidditch or just being gifted with a fast metabolism, but he gorges himself on sausages, pastries, candies, roasts, and whatever else he can get his hands on with reckless abandon.

He also never seems to gain weight from it (which irritates you to no end).

He was never big into romantic literature until he met you. Then all of a sudden, his excursions into the Restricted Section were focused wholly on locating more and more books centered around female anatomy and love stories.

Even if he vowed to never dabble in the Dark Arts again, there's still a tiny part of him that yearns to try his hand at it again. The allure of power like that is too tempting for him to completely ignore.

His eye sight isn't exactly perfect, but he refuses to wear his reading glasses because he doesn't want to tarnish his public image. He'll wear them around you, though (especially once you tell him that they make him look charming and dashing).

NSFW

Relating to his love of physical touch, Sebastian HAS to have his hands on you the entire time you're fucking

E.g.: running them up your legs, tracing the grooves of your abdomen, squeezing your breasts, or (his favorite) intertwining his fingers with yours and pinning your hands beside your head.

It depends on his mood, but Sebastian's kisses alternate between slow and soft to desperate and needy.

He often buries his hands in your hair to pull you in and hold you where he wants you, secretly obsessed with how malleable you are with him.

Sebastian is messy, passionate, emotional, and almost impulsive with how he loves. It can be overwhelming at times, but you grow to accept it fairly quickly.

He loves dominating you in bed, but he's remarkably quick to hand the reins over to you in the event you're feeling bold. He loves that just as much– watching you ride him like your life depends on it, shamelessly turning into the neediest, whiniest bloke in existence.

He's a LOUD masturbator. Sebastian totally lacks the ability to keep his voice down when he's jerking off– brazenly moaning and panting while his fist pumps wetly up and down his cock. For those reasons, he tries to hold off on pleasuring himself until he's alone in his dorm or in the showers, because it only took Ominis commenting on it once for him to learn his lesson.

Sebastian isn't an exhibitionist by any means, but in the event he's worked up enough that he can't stop himself, well... he'll fuck you anywhere. In the Quidditch locker rooms, in an empty classroom, in the bathroom. You usually try to lead him someplace more private in those instances, but you don't always succeed.

He's so willing to try new things with you that one might think he doesn't have a favorite position, but 9 times out of 10, he's finishing with his eyes glued to yours. Sebastian loves watching you crumble beneath him, adores watching your lips part around stammered moans of his name, so missionary tends to be his go to position towards the end.

The guy is grossly obsessed with watching you stretch around his cock. I'm talking stars in his eyes, a big stupid grin on his face, and airy groans of your name pouring from his throat. He was addicted from day one and will never stop studying the way you swallow him up.

Sex with Sebastian is as versatile as his kisses; sometimes it's tender and languid, not at all rushed as the two of you take your time touching and grinding and sighing into one another's mouths.

Other times, it's rushed and desperate. He'll dig his nails into your skin and bully your legs apart so he can get to his target quicker, then tease you and edge you so aggressively that the overstimulation bring you to tears.

Always whispers praises directly into your ear while he thrusts into you, relishing in the way you tighten around his cock and flush with embarrassment when he compliments how good you feel, or how perfectly you take him.

Sebastian is so, so shamelessly flirty when he drinks. It's a rarity when the two of you are still students, but getting your hands on Firewhiskey or other alcohol is far from difficult. After his third drink, he's ridiculously clingy and even more touchy than usual, unapologetically murmuring sweet nothings in your ear regardless of whether or not there's an audience to bear witness to the scene.

Loves loves loves burying his face between your breasts. Either to suck on your nipples or to press his ear against your chest to hear your heartbeat, it doesn't matter. Just trust that his head will eventually end up against your sternum.

Sebastian 100% has a breeding kink. He might not reveal it in its entirety in the beginning, but once you're both free from the confines of Hogwarts and living with one another, it shows itself dramatically.

(See this post for more clarity on why that is)

He can never decide what he likes more: watching his cum drip out of you, or seeing you covered in it. Usually he just opts to go another round so he can see both and sate his curiosity.

Will absolutely do everything in his power to leave lasting marks on your body. Be it on your neck, your thighs, or your waist– he loves seeing evidence of himself all over you. It makes him bloom with male pride knowing that anyone that sees them will know they were left there by him.

Not-so-secretly loves when his banter with you segues into a steamy, passionate make-out session. It could be over something completely irrelevant, but he'll keep pushing your buttons just to get you riled up enough that you decide to shut him up with your lips.

[intuitively-her]

You've been through many trials and tribulations that have only made you stronger! I'm getting specifically that you don't look like the things you've been through. From the outside, you actually look perfect, or your lifestyle does. People would never know the sacrifices it took for you to get here though. Most people wouldn't have even made it through some of the obstacles that you've faced. I also get the vibe that you're very reserved with your energy. Kinda like you don't speak unless spoken to. Not in a bad way though. You could be an ambivert. ENTJ? INFJ? You don't have to do the most to get attention, it comes natural to you. You know how to stand alone. Never been a "follow the leader" type. Your balance and stability are surprising as well. It could be because of your age. Or maybe you used to live a reckless lifestyle but managed to pull yourself out of it. I feel like you have a tendency to go ghost for awhile, but then randomly pop out on some new sh*t. People can never keep up with you. You're an enigma. It kinda frustrates people tbh.😂 On the flip side, you are very loving to those closest to you. You always trust yourself and follow your heart to wherever it leads you. You are your top priority and will always make sure your cup is full before giving to someone else. If your love is not being reciprocated, then you will simply leave. Your love is intense.❤️‍🔥 You could be a gift-giver or you enjoy doing acts of kindness. You always know what to do/say at the right moment. Lastly, your star qualities are VERY attractive to others.🤩 You're so humble about it too. You could be an influencer or have an active presence on social media. You have a lot of copycats and people that try to emulate your energy. It never really sticks though.

Confirmations: Confident, Intellectual, 777, Sarcastic, Smart-ass, Mixed signals, Intimidating, 1010, Charming, Promiscuous, Friendly, Competitive, Creative

You always find a way to turn your pain into power! It doesn't matter how many hardships you face, you never let it keep you down. You're always onto the next best thing. Always looking towards the future. Someone here likes to take solo-trips often or you enjoy hiking/being in nature. You often come up creative ideas or new ways to make money. Always willing to learn something new. That trait of yours is highly admired by your bosses/higher-ups. You work very well with others. When people work with you, it quite literally increases their luck and money flow. So be mindful of who you share that energy with. You are such a kind and loving individual, even at your lowest. Give yourself more credit boo!❤️ You're very committed to your self-improvement and personal goals no matter what you go through. That's something to be proud of.

Confirmations: Famous, Sexy voice, 111, Friendly, Funny, Someone here has a cat that is very clingy, 444, Pretty skin, Hermoine from Harry Potter, Elusive, Life of the party, Genuine, Beautiful, Seeing 8's everywhere, Someone here owns an exotic animal or you want one

You know how to transmute any negative energy/situation that is sent your way. You are an alchemist. This is my witchy pile.🔮 You like to play fair and see both sides in situations. Very unbiased. However, you'll also put a b*tch in their place if needed. Cause I'm getting that people like to come into your energy to test/bully you for some reason. But you shut that sh*t down real quick.✅ You may be very introverted, or you have this innocent/naive vibe to you. A lot of people blindly trust you. They know you would never try to cross them. You're a big risk taker. You might do something unconventional for work. People love how you march to the beat of your drum always. You might spend a lot of time alone or you keep a close-knit group of friends. You're not afraid to stand alone whatsoever. Nobody can steal your happiness. That is what's most powerful about you.⭐

Confirmations: Genuine, 911, 818, Mysterious, Intoxicating, 717, Witch, Self-absorbed, Pretty eyes, 737, 777, Uptight, Predator, Intellectual, Elusive

You're more than what meets the eye. From the outside, you seem very shy or monotonous even. But you're a true gem baby.💎Your charisma and charm is one of a kind. You stand out without even realizing it. Your wit and sarcasm is very attractive. You have a very unbothered vibe to you. In your own lane, and outta the mix. It makes me think of "Daria". You might go ghost pretty often. You're very big on self-care and your alone time. On the go a lot. ✈️People feel like they can't get ahold of you anymore. You're very focused on self these days. Me vs. me kinda energy. You're a natural creator. Very artistic and out of the box. You might've been this way since childhood. You're often the topic of discussion to those around you. People really enjoy having you around, whether you know this or not. You're a sweetheart once you truly open up. People feel lucky that they took the time to get to know you. You're a true friend.🩷

Confirmations: Clingy, 111, Wife, Light skin tone, 222, One night stand, Player, 999, Mixed signals, Addict, Psychic, Lazy, Outgoing, Eccentric

💖Please do not copy, repost, or steal my work. Thanks!💖

I missed you guyss xx!!🩷🩷🩷

[cherrystaineddoll]

𝓱ow to be more eco-friendly

because caring is cool and we only have one planet!! and remember that even if you think that your small actions have no impact on the world, they DO and if everyone starts acknowledging that, then things will finally change. you matter, and so do your choices.

���︎ mindful shopping. when it comes to buying something, think about what YOU like and need, and not about what everyone else has been influenced into buying lately. don't fall for all the latest trends on social media that change every week. a lot of people mindlessly follow trends, buying a lot of unnecessary things that they get tired of the moment they're not popular anymore,and then they proceed to move on to the next micro trend and throw away the other products that end up in landfills, contributing to pollution. find your own style, and shop accordingly, this way you will have things that you actually like and will keep for longer. also remember, you don't need thousands of the same thing. when you go grocery shopping, try to choose local products that haven't been imported from the other side of the world with transportation that causes pollution, and when buying animal products try to avoid the ones raised in intensive farming. in general you should also try to eat less meat.

❥︎ avoid fast fashion as much as you can. when we go shopping nowadays, almost all the clothes are made with low quality materials and manufactured in ways that produce waste, pollution and gas emissions, not to mention the worker exploitation and child labour. and even if it is made with such low cost practices, the clothing you find in most fast-fashion stores isn't even that cheap or convenient at all. other brands such as shein or temu are definitely cheaper than most (for evident reasons such as underpaid workers and bad materials), but by shopping those brands the negative environmental impact increases because the package has to be shipped from china to whatever country you're in, requiring transportation that causes a lot of emissions. another downside of fast fashion is that the quality is so bad that after a couple of times wearing one piece of clothing you will probably have to throw it away and it will end up in landfills or the incinerator. i know that if you look for non fast fashion it can be more expensive, but that's because it is actually made with good and long lasting materials that you will be able to wear for years. buy if you can't afford that, what i recommend doing is thrifting. it's my favourite thing and i do it a lot expecially cause i like the style from the 90s-00s. you can go to any flea market or thrift store around you, you can find things for just a couple of euros. and if there isn't any of those things around you, there are apps like vinted where you can find literally anything. i love vinted so much i swear i always find some gold pieces on there, i know some people complain that it is hard to find clothing you like, but after you manage to manipulate the algorithm it will show you those things directly. even buying fast fashion from vinted is better. and anyway, it's better to spend some more time looking for things on vinted or the thrift store than buying the first things you see on shein (that also steals from small businesses and other brands, fyi) knowing that it is unethical. you don't always have to choose the easy way out if you care about things.

❥︎ don't use ai. in case you didn't know, ai is very bad for the environment due to the amount of energy and electricity that is used to train it, causing an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. what could have possibly been a good thing for research, medicine ecc. has been turned into a weapon not only against the planet, but our own brains and society. almost everyone uses chat gpt or similar things, whether it's for fun, advice, school or tips. ai is slowly overtaking humans, doing everything faster and better than them, but without any emotion. people would rather ask ai for advice rather than a human, students let chat gpt do all their homework, writers let chat gpt write for them, art has been replaced by ai images, and people talk to ai bots. by asking chat gpt to solve every little problem in our lives, we are also reducing our critical thinking abilities and letting ai take over our personalities. i mean i hate ai in general if it wasn't clear enough, i think it's just taking away the beauty of human art and creativity by replacing it with soulless things, but that isn't really what the post is about. i know that ai can be used as a tool, but please please please don't use it unless it's really necessary because its impact on the environment is really significant, and everyone is already using it so much that we really don't need someone else to use 20 chat gpt prompts a day for things they can easily do in many other ways.

❥︎ reduce, reuse and recycle. the three big r's. reduce waste as much as you can: don't waste food, only buy what you know you will eat, turn off the lights when you're not in a room, reduce your use of water, ecc. simple things, just don't use things when you don't need them. reuse items as much as you can before throwing them away, don't buy new things when the ones you already have are still perfectly functioning. and if you don't need something anymore, give it to your friends/family members or donate it to people in need, instead of throwing it away. try to minimize the use of disposable things, and instead get ones that last longer. avoid things that aren't recyclable, keep separate bins so that materials like paper and cardboard can be recycled, try to avoid plastic as much as you can and use biodegradable products.

❥︎ volunteer. if there are any projects in your area, like cleaning up parks or beaches, or planting trees, or whatever, you can always try to join. not only are you helping, but it's also a great experience where you can meet other people.

❥︎ use public transport. don't take the car every time you have to move, if it's somewhere near, you can always go by foot (which is also good for your health), and if it is longer distances, try to use public transport rather than a car. i'm not saying you should never use your car, of course, but when it isn't really necessary you can try to avoid it, though i know that public transport can be a challenge sometimes, since it's often late or too crowded.

(by the way guys i apologize for any possible grammar mistakes, but english isn't my first language!!)

[yourfaveisintersex]

asking from a place of humility and genuinely wanting to know better/more, what does better care for intersex people look like? what actionable items can those of us who aren’t as directly affected by medical intersexism push for to increase quality of life for intersex people? if i were to have a child who came out intersex, are there safety plans i could put in place with our birth care team to prevent my baby from suffering genital mutilation? i don’t want my allyship to start and stop with “ur valid uwu,” i want to really meaningfully help intersex people, and i just feel lost on where to even start. i have really mild PCOS and aside from having more masculine features and some pain from cysts i otherwise function as a perisex person, but i want to do more to help.

(i also don’t mean to act like you the operator of this blog specifically have all the answers, i’m very open to hearing the opinions of other people, you just came across as knowledgeable and i thought you might possibly have some insight.)

Hoohkay this is gonna be a long one, especially because I asked for some help from InterACT's Discord server InterSpace to make a comprehensive answer! I'm also going to tag @interactyouth and @dhddmods as recommended by 'em for you to possibly check out, the first being... well. Duh. It's THE intersex youth advocacy group in the US of A, and the latter because I was told they're really passionate about ending all forms of IGM— and doing general activism. Hope y'all don't mind!!

Here's some more InterACT specific resources before I start getting into the meat & potatoes under a cut, to fill this out a little and make sure in case I miss anything, you might find it in any of these links.

Advocating Health Equity for Intersex Individuals by the HHS (link), hosted by InterACT as Trump's administration has removed it from the HHS's website

The Fight Must Include Intersex Rights brochure (link)

Know Your Rights: A Guide For Parents (link)

InterACT Legislative Toolkit (link) — In regards to legislation, InterACT recommends you work with an organization instead of doing so independently, as they've been doing it longer knowing the right arguments, and you can get the right context and support from an organization.

Obligatory "PLEASE add onto this post if you have something you want to share" especially because anon invites others' opinions, and I do too because I'm not a monolith nor do I know everything.

Claps my hands together, alright! Now that those have been dumped, let's get into a more personal answer, what I would say.

BODILY AUTONOMY! A LOOOOOOT OF ADVOCACY FOR BODILY AUTONOMY!! Would probably be my first point. It's something that's often ignored or disrespected in intersex populations, whether that be IGM as mentioned, but also just being able to choose what treatment you do or don't get. This should not only be applied to intersex people too, as this overlaps with those who are disabled and or have chronic illnesses (or anyone else who deserves a say in their medical treatment, which might as well be everybody!), especially when less-educated people believe most if not all intersex variations are disorders, and "disorders need to be fixed".

And in lieu of that bodily autonomy bit and choosing your treatment, I have a personal note that I believe people should be able to choose their hormones— both transgender and intersex people, or hell people not of either group and just want a different hormonal profile for whatever reasons. It's depressing that people assigned female are forced on estrogenizing treatments and assigned males forced on androgenizing treatments even if it makes them feel physically miserable, with no choice unless you do some finaggling about it or you go through the rigamarole of gender-affirming HRT treatment, IF that's even possible in your locale! I vividly always recall an intersex person on here, dabwax, how she was rejected on testosterone BY A NON-BINARY DOCTOR because she identifies as a cisgender woman, and had to struggle to get postmenopausal testosterone medicine. That's not okay, and shouldn't happen to anyone!

As another point to help, DO NOT SHUT UP ABOUT INTERSEX EXISTENCE!! We are often pathologized as mentioned above, as being disordered, broken, in need of "fixing" (which just means looking as perisex as possible). Or people spreading falsehoods on what intersex is. Learn what common misconceptions and stereotypes are and challenge them! Challenge the use of the H-slur and fu-slur, challenge the "um actually intersex people prefer DSD and are still male or female" TERF brainrot! Be loud and be an asshole about your advocacy and make people aware WE EXIST! (and you exist too. you'd be welcome into the InterSpace server for your PCOS as a variation (yes, even if its mild) and they could help you more with advocacy if you'd like 🫶 I link the discord server in my FAQpost!)

The more people know about intersex existence in its truth the more people who can fight for our rights, to not have our bodily autonomy violated as patients, to challenge false assumptions about others' bodies, to have more people realize they may fall under the catagory of intersex (because a lot of intersex people don't know it, even if they have a diagnosis, due to the pathologizing of intersexuality as a "problem needing to be fixed" and the sheer erasure of it), to BELIEVE OUR VOICES AND OUR EXPERIENCES AND NOT DISMISS US!! which is honestly another point to be brought up because oh my god perisex people erase and dismiss us so fucking much it's Unreaaalll you correct someone about their intersexism and they get mad at you like YOU'RE the unreasonable one. Like stop using AGAB as progressive versions of male or female. Stop that. Annoys the shit out of me AGAB doesn't inherently imply someone's body parts or life experiences I keep correcting people on it and they get pissy at me if I keep seeing people do that I'm gonna go crazy insane PLEASE call more people out on these misconceptions and not let people brush off intersex folks as an afterthought pleaseplease please

[sharieb]

Random Thought 3: Interaction

Writer note: Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. This post may be a bit longer as there is so much that I can talk about, and I'm a little tempted to make a smaller part 2 of this post. Hope you all enjoy my rant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I came to notice that whenever I read self-aware AU fanfic on the LADS, the writers speak on how the LIs can see us through a screen and see what's behind us. I never put much thought into it at first and went with the story plot (because it still makes sense and holds its weight) until recently it came into my mind as to how the relax time feature could have worked along with the whole hand interactions with the LIs.

With that in mind, I decided to share my thoughts on the interaction with the LIs, continuing from the point where we left off at the Destiny Cafe random thought post, where the LIs saw a holographic image of non-mc (I'm going to use 2nd pov for now) appearing before their very eyes.

By right, depending on the type of activity you're doing with the LIs, whether it's Relax Time, Quality Time, or Tete-a-Tete, to the boys, you're either in holographic/ghostly mode or full-screen mode. It can also be said that how close you are to your phone determines which form of you the boys see.

Holographic for up-close; also, the reason I added the term ghostly is due to how close or far you would be to the phone screen at various times. They can only see as much as your phone camera can see your body, so on occasion, your face may be detailed, but the rest of your body is that of a cute ghost figure (the one with the cute ghost tail?).

Full-screen if you're further away from your phone screen but still within view. However, as for the full-screen mode, they don't see much of your current background due to your low affinity with them, but as it increases, they will be able to see more of your background in full-screen mode, especially during quality time activities. So, for now, in this random thought, the boys only know of the holographic version.

Back to the boys' point of view, seeing you appear out of thin air startled them but yet also intrigued them. "Who are you?" They would have probably asked if it weren't for their ability to freely speak or move being so limited to a few phrases (that randomly appear in their heads) and gestures (their bodies instinctively give you head pats and "hold" your holographic hand, that looks like mc's and not your holographic one outside of direct interaction, but no more due to a invisible barrier). However, for some odd reason, the boys don't feel uncomfortable or uneasy by their limited freedom, as they see how their words and actions seem to interest the holographic woman a lot, causing you to giggle and gush over them, causing the boys to either wanted to shyly blush and look away or simply tease the cute stranger. (We all know which reaction is for which LI. XD)

After a brief time of the boys and their "new friend" stared at each other, and the boys noticed how you raised your hand up to in front of you in the air. At first they might have thought that you're pointing at something either on him or around him... wait no, never mind, you were just poking his cheek... well not really physically but he came to that conclusion as a warm invisible force is felt every time you move your finger or hand (the hand icon for caressing).

As the poking and caressing continues so did your giggles and playful replies whenever he comments on where you're touching his body. Soon your poking became much more bolder, with some started to move more...south (we all know some of us are guilty of it XD) which made them unsure as to whether they should be either embarrassed, amused or annoyed by your antics. In the end, the LI at the time (or of your choice) decided to retaliate, playfully or not, by turning around and facing the opposite direction.

After doing that, the boys can hear you playfully whine for them to turn back around or giggle an apology all while poking or caressing their back and shoulders to pursade them to turn back around, however, they just commented that he won't which was a Big Mistake on his part as he should have listened and also have learned from your earlier bold poking that you are capable of doing mischievous things.

The moment they felt a sudden force against their butt, they internally yelp and made a comment that made them realized what you did as they reluctantly turned back around with a look of disbelief, shock, disappointment or just straight up offended... You just poked his butt (or just touch), and from the look of your cheeky smile and your gremlin like giggles, he knew you didn't regret doing that and looks as if you might even do it again if they don't turn back around.

After the whole teasing, things settled back to normal as you went back to just poking and caressing him appropriately. After awhile he you grow more tired before telling him goodbye as you fade into thin air once more. After you left, the air in the room shifted back to normal, yet he couldn't help but miss you and your antics already.

Maybe he should come by the cafe more often, and if he wanted, he could become the Cafe's newest high paying patron and have this space/room become a special VIP area.

[tan1shere]

Away With You

Billie Eilish x female reader !

A/n: so i decided to write the dream I had cuz it was honestly beautiful, and the cutest thing ever so I hope you all enjoy !!

Summary: you go on a vacation with your girlfriend and it's the nicest time you've probably ever had with one another.

Warnings: mentions of nudity- but nothing sexual. All fluff and softness !

Masterlist

Work was always a hassle, so the fact you had time to even go on this trip was amazing. You and Billie had decided last minute to go on a spontaneous trip, it was thrilling to say fuck everything else and spend pure quality time with one another. Once you arrive at the massive hotel, you desperately wanted to go in the spa. Your muscles ached terribly from the past week. It was truly stressful for the both of you, and Billie couldn't wait to relax herself. She never got to do so when she traveled so she definitely wanted to savor this moment.

You begin to unpack just a little getting out a bathing suit. "This trip is truly something we both need." You nod. "I second that." She comes over to you placing her hands on your waist, looking into your eyes, slowly darting over your face features. "Youre stunning, how'd I even get you." You smile at her, shoving her arm. Both smiling tremendously. "Hush you, if anything I should be wondering how I got you." She then laughs. "How'd we get eachother." This causes you to laugh.

"I dunnoo." She dramatically gasps. "Nooo, you goof. Ofcourse I know how." She just shakes her head. "You don't even remember. Admit it!" She playfully points at you. "It was a beautiful afternoon." You began, making her laugh. Chucking a pillow at you. You caught it, throwing it back.

It was evening, you were currently working like you did almost every day. You didn't mind your job as an interior designer. Hell it was heaps of fun. But what wasn't fun, was the people you met along the way. Some were incredibly difficult, testing your patience. You were meeting up with a new client today, you were just glad it was the last for the day. You pull up to the fairly new house and head to the door, knocking. When the door opens you're met with the prettiest eyes and features. Then your brain clicked on who it was.

Wow, she was more gorgeous in person. "You must be Y/n!" She smiles brightly, making yours increase. "That's me!" You talk for hours on end, not even at all about what you were meant to be doing, but Billie kept asking you fun questions. "I love how we've been talking about everything, except what I came for." You giggle as you sit on the only piece of furniture in her home. This makes her laugh too. "Hey, you interest me." You smile at the compliment.

And thats where it all started, not as romantic as one may think but you thought it was. It was the best night of your life, and to now say you got to be with her in that house that you both designed. You were incredibly happy. You guys got one another on a different level.

"You coming down to the spa?" She nods. "Course, gotta relax with my baby after that long plane ride." She gets up going to change also.

You both make your way onto the pool floor, heading straight for the spa. Billie following close behind you, getting in just as you were. A soft content sigh leaves your lips, feeling the warmth hit your joints. Your eyes shut, soaking up the feeling of it. Billies arms extend out on the edges behind her, watching you for a moment. Your blissed out face, made her smile. She was glad to see you finally relaxing. This was her idea after all. She knew you'd been having a really difficult time with work, everything was just too much right now.

You drop your bags on the floor, puffing out a breath as you just frustratedly sigh. Billie comes into view, knowing you had a bad day. "What happened today?" You were about to ramble and rant.

"What didn't, happen today." You huff. "Everything you can think of. New client, current client. Old client. Never. Fucking. Happy. I listen to what they want but no I still get it wrong to these stuck up snobby bitches." You sigh again, tiredly. "I love my job I do. But its not fun when people ruin it you know?" She nods sympathetically. "I know baby, im sorry." She says, bringing you in for a hug. You sink into her touch resting your head in her neck, smelling her scent. She pulls back getting you to look at her. "Why don't we take a break, you definitely could use it and I'm clearly going with you." You smile at her. "That sounds lovely, where to." - "Anywhere mama, you pick."

"This is so nice." You then look at her, both holding a loving gaze. "It's amazing. Tomorrow we should go out and see this place fully." She smiles. "Let's do it!" It made you happy to know she could relax now too. Instead of working all the time with no break, and even when she did travel she'd never have time to do all this. It was incredibly nice for her also.

It was starting to get dimmer outside, and you had both agreed on changing and getting some dinner. The food was amazing, this whole hotel was incredible. Massive, you could easily get lost in this place. After you get some food in your system your back up into the hotel room, deciding to put on a movie. Your legs are laying over her lap, her hands rubbing your feet as she progressively starts to massage them. Your eyes were about to flutter close when she speaks. "Hey, wanna do something fun." Your eyes flick to hers, a smile on your face. "What we doin."

You were all in for it, even if you didn't know what it was. "It's midnight so I doubt anyone will see, why don't we skinny dip in the spa." You laugh a little. "You're crazy! Let's do it." You finish, making her laugh. Getting up off the bed. "We only live once baby!" "Preachhh." You both stay in your clothes until you were down there. You headed for the most secret one so it's not too insane. You both quickly strip getting into the warm water again. "We're gunna be prunes." You laugh, causing her own fit of laughter. The water felt great against your bodies, mixing with the cool air of the night.

Taking in everything of this surreal moment. Everything was still, everything was quiet, you couldn't be more happy. To be here with the love of your life, to feel so purely elated. You look at her, so deeply inlove. "Thank you." She looks at you now. "For what?" You smile gently. "For everything, every single thing." A soft smile is spread across her lips. "Thank you for being mine." You smile more. "I wouldn't change it for the world."

You stayed out there for a little bit longer, going to snuggle up to her. Feeling yourself close to drifting off. "Why don't we call it a night." You then hear her say. "Sounds great."

[sonoranbumblebee]

Sydney is moving into Carmen's building (again)

Carmy's apartment as seen in 2x01 and 4x01. Carmy's apartment has parquet wood floors, and we saw there's plenty of room for two in the kitchen in 2x02. That said, Carmy's apartment is just a place he keeps stuff it's not a true home. The blue-tinted shot is Carmy's apartment probably right after he moved back to Chicago in fall 2022 based on the state of his burn scar. Because he was there almost solely for the Beef, his apartment is probably fairly close to the restaurant.

Based on what we saw of their apartments this season, I was sure that after they started (finally) hooking up and became a real couple, they would keep separate apartments for the time being, spending most of their time at her place. Syd's actually decorated apartment is much cuter than his bachelor-doom pad. I figured he'd spend nights at her place as default because she'd feel more comfortable there, and Carmy does not care where he is so long as he's with her. I assumed he'd maintain his apartment so as to not crowd her, and because I thought he'd use it as a studio for working on the cookbook I'm convinced he's writing.

Granted that they're both infinitely expandable TV show sets, I do think Carmy's apartment seems bigger than hers, with multiple rooms, and it has a respectable street view. On the other hand, Carmy's place is haunted by Vampira in her underwear, and we're going to need more sage to get that stank out. That's the big negative on his place. Luckily, Carmy's apartment has a fireplace, so I'm sure the energy can be realigned.

Sydney's apartment is, I think, objectively less good than Carmy's. Emmanuel did not seem super impressed by the quality of the construction of Syd's apartment (thin walls!). Her dad said it was small, expensive, and further away from work than his place. Also, we are meant to know her landlord is a goon. When she is showing it to her dad, there is half-finished painting and electrical work ongoing. The kitchen is small. It has linoleum-ish floors. Carmy has parquet; the floors don't officially matter but they suggest a higher quality of original construction and maintenance. But linoleum or not, wherever Sydney lives she makes it charming as hell.

Anyway, my thinking has changed. (I reserve the right to change my mind 15 more times over the next 11 months.) I no longer think they're going to keep both apartments. I think Syd is going to move in with Carmy on an emergency basis (and never leave obviously).

Because Syd is Syd, her apartment is full of life and beauty and art, even though she's had her place for less than half the time Carmy has had his

In "Sophie" a sobbing Syd has this long monologue about how her dad takes care of her and she doesn't want him to worry about her. One of the things she cites is how he lets her move in with him when her shit's fucked up. A couple of scenes later he lovingly tells her she can't move back in with him again, because he's the iceman. He's just trying to keep her from feeling guilty and like she has to be his substitute wife. (parentification!) I thought this was just a nice coming-of-age marker. But, upon closer examination it was a very specific prohibition. She's not allowed to move back in with her dad. Realistically she absolutely could if she needed to, but she's going to treat that like an edict from god himself. She's a rule-following daddy's girl. She doesn't want to worry him, and in all truth she is grown and powerful and cannot be living in her childhood bedroom anymore.

Which brings us to...rent increase! In the Ayo-directed S3 episode "Napkins," a rent increase loomed over Tina, David, and Louie. They mentioned the rent increase repeatedly as a potential ruinous change for the family if Tina couldn't find work.

Syd's landlord is a bum, the floors are shitty (maybe linoleum) as a signifier of overall building quality, and the kitchen is tiny

Fast forward to Sydney in the present timeline, if she has nothing else she does have work! However, she doesn't have free time, an emergency fund, or a good credit score. You need all three of those things to find a decent apartment near your job in River North, Chicago. She's the executive chef of a fragile but creatively thriving bistro, so she is insanely busy. No time. (The show comes back in October in the timeline and maybe Michelin stars come out in November.)

She had $900 in her bank account last time we checked. That is not enough for first and last month's rent and maybe a security deposit, which is what you usually need for a new place. And she has a garbage credit score, which means she can't even look at a lot of places because they won't clear her. The place she's in now didn't care about her credit score which may be why a bait-and-switch rent increase is kicking in. Places that don't care about her credit score are an even longer commute away maybe, and every second counts. The value of a friend letting you crash at their place ws emphasized by Stevie and Michelle letting Carmy crash with them in New York. It's outrageous hospitality, and it really helps people sometimes.

Anyway, if her apartment were to suddenly become dramatically, unaffordably more expensive, and she was already kind of stressed out, she would have occasion to complain to her boyfriend about the rent increase and in doing so perhaps reveal some of her quite-precarious financial situation to Carmy. He would immediately tell her to just move in with him but try to pitch in a way that wouldn't make her bolt and run.

"Syd, don't be crazy, just crash with me until after Christmas. It's so much closer to the restaurant anyway. Just until the new year and you get through the holidays. We're together every night anyway. Come on...Yes, of course it's just temporary, we'll definitely keep looking for a new place for you but this way you don't have to worry about scrambling and settling for someplace terrible, and since you're just crashing with me, you can save up for the deposits and first and last month's rent on the new place. It's just good sense. It's easier this way. It's no big deal. Just until the holidays are over. It doesn't mean anything. We spent every night together anyway, this is no big deal. It doesn't mean anything."

Meanwhile, since it's officially his apartment, and she's "just" crashing, he can keep paying for all the household bills that she can barely afford anyway. At some point she'll insist she's going to pay him back or they should split utilities but you know he'd laugh in her face. There will be a fight when Claire shows up unannounced one day during the holidays because Carmy has her green sweatshirt. All the old wounds get ripped open and it hurts.

And then course, since she's the light of his life and he finds her consistent presence delightful, and she is pretty thrilled with their situation herself, they start enjoying the arrangement, a lot. There is some initial awkwardness, because commitment is terrifying, but soon enough, neither one of them can remember why they ever even entertained the idea of separate living arrangements.

There have been so many shots of them being alone and sad in their separate places: Him sleeping on the couch. Her gazing sadly in the medicine-cabinet mirror. Their residences have been insignificant dwelling places compared to their real life lives at the restaurant. (I think Syd is going to be reunited with her scrunchie!)

The one issue I don't have clear in my head is how they explain this to Emmanuel but I guess since they're both adults and it's legal in the state of Illinois, they could just, you know, just invite him over to dinner and tell him.

They used to live together at the restaurant, but now that Carm has quit restaurants, I think they live together in an apartment. Eventually, one by one, all the people in their lives figure it out and accept it and if you wanted to find mom and dad, you would probably want to look for them at their apartment where they live.

[seafoamreadings]

week of may 4th, 2025

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: it's a week of earthy aspects (not always in earthy signs) leading up to a scorpionic full moon which can altogether have you feeling stifled and then ready to explode. on the bright side, venus in your sign helps you stay zesty and with any luck you won't get too bogged down.

taurus: mercury arrives in your sign at last. many will grumble - mercury in taurus is a bit slower, plodding, very deliberate and conscientious. you know the value of taking your time and thinking things through so don't let impatient people persuade you to sacrifice quality.

gemini: your ruling planet is in a position which can have you really tongue-tied or in a haze of brain fog. ego battles and power struggles are also likely. don't beat yourself up about it but remember, if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all! unless you're really, really ready to burn a bridge.

cancerians: the scorpio full moon this week is emotionally heavy, although this can also be nice in some ways! while full moons are often good for social events, though, i would say this one is a little better spent in peaceful solitude, mining one's own psyche for gems of clarity in a time when much is unclear.

leo: many important parts of your chart are activated at this time but your main focus is likely to be on a tug of war between your public and private lives. they make conflicting demands. perhaps a spouse or partner is involved. you will have to decide for yourself. let no one else choose your way.

virgo: mercury in taurus is tough for many due to it's thoughtful and plodding nature. for you, it is more cerebral and philosophical, which can suit you nicely. still, it would be a mistake to attempt to rush anything in money, communications, technology, etc.

libra: this full moon should be great for you financially. it may be in obvious ways like getting literally extra money, or it may be more subtle, like learning a crucial fact about how credit scores work.

scorpio: mercury enters your 7th house this week, spicing up (or just increasing) communications in committed partnerships and meanwhile, a full moon in your sign also occurs along your 1st-7th house axis. your connections to other people bring about profound regeneration in yourself.

sagittarius: in your daily life, like literally every day, it's good to be writing this week (and next.) that can be for work or a hobby, it can be public or private or in a journal, but have a pen in your hand or your fingers on a keyboard as much as you can. talking to the people around you is also wise, and it's a great time to get a pet if you can!

capricorn: regardless of how much work you may have to do, carve out time to socialize this week with friends or go on a date or even just take your dog for some extra walks. be outside with other souls, communing with them.

aquarius: a flurry of uranian activity is where you are at home anyway, but with additional taurus influence, it can feel strangely sticky or even like quicksand. you can struggle against it if you wish but it may be easier and more fun to relax and see what miraculous way you are guided to safety (or simple comfort... you're probably not in actual danger.)

pisces: this week's full moon is good for you to have deep thought and perhaps travel far, if you wish/can. at minimum, let your mind and spirit do the traveling. meanwhile in your local community, if you are staying, a kind deed or a little volunteering are auspicious at this time.

watch the transit posts in real time to have the best guide through your week. want a little more? have a look at my patreon or ko-fi.

check out my etsy for a private reading or fill out this form to set up a reading through venmo, cashapp, or paypal.

[wobbbiy]

The Psychological Impact of the Prison of Elders on Eramis

Many may not realize the effects the Prison of Elders had on captives like Eramis, but I think about it often. While Variks originally designed and intended the system to resemble traditional Eliksni honor duels, it quickly became something far more twisted—especially once it was used for Reef entertainment.

Eramis herself described how honor duels on Riis worked (in the Spire of the Watcher messages): the first to draw blood was the "victor"-- this could settle any size dispute that two houses/individuals had. The Prison’s matches went far beyond that as they usually fought to the death. The Prison of Elder’s “gladiatorial” style pit-fights strip away all tradition, and thus honor and autonomy that went into the fights.

Of course, Eramis excelled in combat, but at what cost? The matches weren’t chosen by her but were set and controlled by Variks. As a captive, she likely endured:

Uncertainty and unpredictability– Never knowing who or what was waiting behind the airlock doors.

Social Isolation – Minimal or abnormal social contact with others, apart from a few conversations with Praksis (which still technically, could be considered abnormal since he was from a different house)

Loss of Control and Autonomy – No say in her daily life, her battles, or even her survival.

A Unique Perspective: Captivity and Behavior

In my professional life, I am an animal behavior and welfare scientist focusing on the quality of life of dogs in shelters. My work gives me insight into how captivity impacts behavior, and there are striking parallels between shelter dogs and how Eramis might have processed her imprisonment. To me, it is no surprise how Eramis turned out once she gained her freedom. 

Why compare the two? Because across species, learning and behavioral responses to stress, trauma, and captivity are remarkably similar. Have Eramis in your mind while you read through the next part:

How do we ensure good welfare for captive animals? We ensure that the animal has things like: 

Opportunity for choice/agency

Opportunity for expression of typical species behavior

Opportunity for expression of normal social behavior

Freedom from pain/discomfort, among other things

If we don't provide for conditions that support these aspects in a captivity scenario, we risk things like the dog developing:

Loss of coping skills

Lower stress tolerance (aka quicker fuse)

Loss of social skills

Anxious/depressive behaviors

Perception changes (i.e. things that may not actually be a threat, feel like a threat)

Increased aggression 

HPA-Axis malfunctions (aka what regulates cortisol, your stress hormone), the body is unable to keep up with processing chronic stress. Can lead to an animal being “on edge”/hypervigilant/unable to relax 

In humans (or maybe aliens), most likely these behavior changes/symptoms would point towards a trauma diagnosis. We also know from human literature, trauma makes individuals hold inconsistent beliefs and actions. A lot of times these play out even when there isn’t a risk/danger present. 

The Psychological Effects of Captivity

Loss of Choice & Control = Increased Aggression

In shelters, dogs who can’t flee from stressors may react aggressively as self-defense.

Eramis had no choices in the Prison—her entire life was dictated by others. Post-imprisonment, she may lean on aggression more than before as a means of self-defense (compared to how she handled conflict on Riis). She has learned that flee doesn’t work, so her only option left is fight (consider the Drift as well, fleeing got them thrown into more conflict, so fight is what she knows).

Social Isolation & Forced Interaction

Dogs are complex socially. As a need, they require the ability to form voluntary bonds. Forced/mismanaged social interactions cause stress and behavior effects that come with that.

Eliksni are deeply social, socially complex, and their desired interactions are greatly tied to their Houses. Eramis lost the ability to interact socially in a voluntary way (with her house, friends, even wife and hatchlings) and was forced into unnatural social interactions or blatant isolating conditions. Both of which compromise her welfare. 

Unpredictability = Anxiety & Hypervigilance

Predictability creates safety (why we feel better when a doctor explains what they’re doing to us).

Prisoners likely weren’t warned who they’d fight. Most likely it was just open the airlocks and find out who you’re fighting real quick. The sound of an airlock opening may have conditioned a trauma response (fight/flight response paired with noise of an airlock). 

Headcanon: Even after escaping, Eramis might experience panic response/stress when hearing similar sounds, as trauma can create long-lasting physical reactions. This is even after many years of being out of the Prison of Elders, she may have never gotten over this automatic bodily response to the trigger. 

Stereotypic Behavior (Repetitive, Anxiety-Driven Actions)

Stereotypy- otherwise refers to the persistent repetition of an act, especially by an animal, for no obvious purpose. Aggravated by fatigue, stress, anxiety.

In captivity, animals develop behaviors like pacing or weaving as a stress response or as a means to cope with long term stress (a form of self-soothing, potentially). 

Watch Eramis in Beyond Light cutscenes—she has a weaving/pacing motion when tensions rise. This could be a leftover coping mechanism developed in the Prison.

Re-Exposure to Trauma = Retraumatization

When working with traumatized animals, reintroducing triggers must be controlled to avoid setbacks. Because I do a lot of behavioral rehab with dogs, I have to be very careful about how I re-expose them to their triggers. If we expose at too high intensity, we can retraumatize. Usually, the approach is to expose them to their trigger at a lesser intensity first and slowly build up to the intensity that was initially causing reactions (reactions usually meaning aggressive responses/flee responses-- fight/flight).

Eramis in Revenant: Though she chose surrender, it is clear to me that she’s going through a retraumatization event, panicking once captive again. She acted crabby and angry, but I think it was a facade and what was actually going on was P A N I C. That was why she was complaining about not being killed quick enough. She was intensely averse to being in a cage and having those same stress responses as when she was in the Prison of Elders. 

Post-Release Behaviors

Resource Guarding: Shelter dogs often over-protect resources when finally given access. For example, once they are finally able to have their own resources (food, toys, beds, etc.), they are often incredibly overprotective of their items. When we rehab these dogs, we often give them access to many, many resources to teach them that we are not taking things from them, but giving them. Oftentimes, they don’t know what to do with all of the options and choices as they’re not used to them. We have to monitor for stress, teach them how to play without feeling defensive, etc. It’s a process that they have to go through in order for them to be able to process even having resources again. 

Eramis in Zero Hour/Beyond Light: Desperate to seize any power or control after years of having none. Also kind of fitting that Stasis is the aspect of “control”...hmm…

Reactivity:  is another behavioral concern that I often see stem from dogs that live in captivity. This LOOKS like lunging, barking, snapping, snarling, etc., when faced with a potential trigger. It LOOKS like aggression, but it isn’t. It is fear. We often see this as a maladaptive coping mechanism. Simplified- “if I act big and scary, my scary trigger will go away from me.” They often don’t WANT conflict, but will be the one to act first. Reactivity is a defense mechanism to keep threats away.

Eramis operates similarly, striking first to ensure her own safety. Sometimes escalating her behavior far beyond what would normally be appropriate in someone who can deal with stress normally.

Final Thoughts

The Prison of Elders wasn’t just a physical ordeal—it was a psychological one. Its captives didn’t just leave with scars; they carried deep-seated trauma that likely shaped their post-imprisonment behaviors.

Eramis, once a strategic, noble, and effective leader, became more aggressive, more reactive, and more desperate for control—all traits we see in individuals who have endured long-term captivity and trauma.

Would love to hear others' thoughts—especially on how this might apply to other Prison of Elders survivors!

[thienan1s]

Yandere platonic Dark Cacao alphabet ( A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H ) :

A : 1) Authority: Do they see themselves as above their obsession?

- Yes, he is Dark Choco father, he see himself absolutely above his son and Dark Choco should do obey everything he said. His son is young, stupid and reckless (regardless of whether is the young or old version of Dark Choco. In Dark Cacao's defense, he's 100+ years old, it's hard not to see your son as a child) and he is his father, he always know and do best for him.

2) Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

- He love languages are Acts of service and Quality time. As a king he is very busy, his free time is precious and he likes to enjoy it with his son ( especially when Dark Choco returns to his arms ). He is very protective of Dark Choco and would not hesitate to risk his life to protect his son, but Dark Cacao's acts of devotion for love can become very extreme (which is not a light thing even at begin since when he became a yandere), he can go from imprisoning Dark Choco to cutting out the tongue of anyone who dares to speak ill of him no matter how true or light it is.

B : 1) Can they cook or bake? Is they children responsible for their own food?

- Can cook but normal level, he wasn't born royalty and was an explorer, of course he knows how to cook for himself but i don't think he's very good at it considering i don't think he cares too much about whether his food tastes good or not but this may change when he starts cooking for his son. He doesn't cook for Dark Choco often because he's busy managing the country and increasing Dark Choco protection measures, actually at first during the early days of Dark Choco's life he never cooked for him that was the job of a servant, but gradually he changed because he realized how distant he had been to Dark Choco and wanted to change, you know cooking is also a language of love and even later all of Dark Choco food had to be cooked by him because Dark Cacao's mental state escalated, he slowly became a severely paranoid yandere, acting as if every food Dark Choco put in his mouth wasn't made by him then there was a 99.99999% chance Dark Choco would die from poisoning.

2) Blood : How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

- War, genocide, dismemberment people ,... In short, he doesn't mind being a Beast.

C : 1) Cruentus- How do they respond to children being hurt, both slightly and severely?

- Hell, the person who did it should wish that they and their family, those related to them have a quick death. Bonus : Their bodies will not be treated well, it is a pity that even innocent people do not have the right to wish for an intact corpse and a proper burial.

And did you know that in ancient times, in Asian cultures, if you committed a crime against the royal family, your entire living family generation would be killed, including your father's, mother's, and wife's (or husband's) relatives. (In my country, this is called "tru di cửu tộc")

2) Cruelty: How would they treat their children once abducted? Would they mock them?

-No, he will never mock Dark Choco. The closest thing he got was scolding Dark Choco when he thought his son did something stupid and potentially harmful to himself like trying to escape.

- He really tries his best to give Dark Choco the best he can, he pampers him as much as he can and treats him like a diamond with the strength of glass. Those who cause even the slightest scratch to Dark Choco will pay dearly.

D: 1) Disengage : What's their response to being ignored?

- Sadness, but he did nothing. To others he may seem like the embodiment of Satan, the demon of wrath, one small mistake and you will be beheaded, even if you are innocent you can still be beheaded but for Dark Choco he has the patience of a saint.

2) Dearest : Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their children will?

- I can't think of anything specific right now but there will definitely be, right now I just have a vague idea that he can stop Dark Choco from doing things that he thinks are harmful to Dark Choco.

E: 1) Enclosure: Where do they keep children ?

- In his castle of course, but the concern here is that if his yandere level gets too bad he might even force Dark Choco stay in his bedroom ( please don't think something weird, he is just overthinking and there is not ( or don't care) concept of private space anymore ) . That would make Dark Choco's situation even more hellish, being watched by your father who is also your captor 24/7 (Dark Cacao would move his office into his bedroom if he was crazy enough to force Dark Choco to stay in his room, he would do that to monitor his son after all, he would probably even cut down on going out as much as possible to only going out for meetings or fighting to protect his country, his country is the only thing left he cares about besides Dark Choco which makes them always together for days, weeks, months) is not a comfortable thing. Remember Yandere not mean to be healthy, to make the one they love happy, even platonic yandere.

2) Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their children ? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their children ?

- All his heart, his soul, his life is for his son. You hurt Dark Choco you hurt Dark Cacao, it even worse than you directly hurt Dark Cacao exponentially and it increases proportionally to his madness.

F : 1) Facade: Are they good at hiding their true intentions?

- He doesn't usually hide his intentions, actually in this platonic yandere relationship i see Dark Cacao never hides his true intentions because he's too strong and that doesn't fit his personality, he can easily get what he wants by force so why need to be histrionic, something that makes him so tired. But if put in a situation where Dark Cacao feels he needs to hide his intentions, he can also act a little, like putting on and keeping still a serious expressionless face or acting as if nothing is happening but inside he is in turmoil or thinking about doing something sinister, well it's little but he's very good at it, years of being king require you to have some degree of control over your expressions and you'd be surprised how useful it can be in "taking care" of his child.

Fight: How would they feel if their children fought back?

- My man is gonna be going through the 5 stages of grief as badly as an overthinking yandere can do, anger will be first it will be like " How dare he attack his father AGAIN ? Still not learned a lesson ? I do everything for his sake, I do so much for him and he treat me like THIS ? " , next could be depression although this emotion can also be in other stages like 4,5 for example it like " How could he treat his father like that? Or am I really the one at fault? Haven't I done enough? I still haven't fixed my mistake? ?Doesn't he love me? " This stage is worse the further back you go can move from sadness to actual depression, denial will be 3 he will convince himself that his son didn't try to hurt him even though it was obvious, that it was just a misunderstanding just an accident, that Dark Choco still loved him, he was just a childish boy who lacked control and attacked his father (Dark Choco really still loved him, it was just that Dark Cacao thought that after what he had done to Dark Choco from childhood to adulthood, he no longer loved him and that's really why he locked Dark Choco up, he didn't want to lose him... not again) and justify himself that his actions were right, 4 bargaining after trying to justify what he did in stage 3 he will try to point out the benefits of the wrongdoing he did mainly to appease himself, 5 Acceptance no matter how things turn out in the end, he will simply accept it and then do nothing to change it, until the next time he goes through the 5 stages of grief and it all starts over again.

G : 1) Garment : Do they take control of their children clothes?

- Control like what ??? Is whether Dark Choco gets to wear clothes or not and whether his clothes are good or not (nice, warm, not torn) depends on his behavior ? if so then NO, Dark Cacao isn't that bad, no matter how bad Dark Choco behaves, he's still given the best things materially. But if it's about whether he chose Dark Choco's clothes or not, does Dark Choco have the right to choose his clothes or not, did he do anything to Dark Choco's clothes or not ? Dark Cacao does choose clothes for his son but not always, most of the time he lets Dark Choco choose his own clothes and only occasionally chooses a few outfits he thinks are nice for his son to wear but if his son doesn't like what he chooses, he won't force him wear the only times he forced his son to dress was when he saw that he was not dressed warmly enough and might catch a cold, the freedom to choose clothes is one of the few rights Dark Choco has under Dark Cacao control, the closest thing to control when it comes to Dark Choco outfit is that Dark Cacao is also very strick about poison checking (he's overthinking).

2 ) Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their children try to escape ?

- No, this absolutely not a game to him and he certainly didn't like seeing his son trying to escape.

H : 1) Hell: What would be their children worst experience with them?

I have two answers which one do you want ? 1 is sure to happen and 2 only in the worst case. If 1 then is being constantly monitored and controlled if it 2 then broken legs.

2) Handicap: How do they handle children being or becoming disabled?

- Ha ha, hell. The person responsible for this better suicide now because no matter where you run, Dark Cacao will still find you and give you a life worse than death and Dark Cacao will fall into a bottomless abyss called self-blame and he will start self-destructive behavior. Of course he still tries his best to take care of his child, he is not the kind of parent who will drown in sorrow and abandon their children 'when it needs them most'.

[bitingdrivers]

Put that guy in a situation! Specifically 4) Mind meld/telepathy/mind reading if you wanna :) - 🧚🏻

hi fairy anon!! thank you for sending me a prompt (from here) this one stumped me a little ngl! but im ok with the result!! hope you like it :)

Back in the 90s a group of scientists supported by half the world came up with a new experimental drug. 

“Help us elevate and enhance the human existence!” the taglines touted, followed by a list of places where you can “participate in the study” and an even bigger package of consent forms, non-disclosure agreements and other documents that meant to free the government of any responsibility if anything went wrong. 

“Enhancement and improvement of human life” was a very ambiguous and stupid way of saying we will give you superpowers. 

Just in the following year after the study started, around 3% of the world's population had superpowers – super speed, super strength, super agility and other human qualities you can add “super” to. 

The serum was mostly common in third world countries, but you could still find a facility or two in Europe that can provide you with an injection. 

That's what Max’s father did. Tracked a supplier, made an appointment and signed a ton of papers so his son, who hasn't even learned how to walk yet, could get a shot that gave him superpowers. 

Jos hoped for super strength or increased stamina, already making plans about how the powers are going to help his son move to Formula 1, and later, win the World Championship. But following the trajectory of Max’s life, he disappointed his father, and instead of developing super speed or agility, Max had telepathy. A power entirely useless, except for hearing Max’s father yell at him without Jos having to actually open his mouth. 

When the year 2000 came, the study was quickly closed and swept under the rug after a big violent attack happened involving superhumans who thought they were messengers of God, and not a result of a fucked up experiment set up by their government. 

Any remaining drug supplies were destroyed, but the government couldn’t do anything with the people that already had it, so a part of the population was left having powers, passing their superpower genes to their children. It's not uncommon, maybe 1 in every 30 people has some kind of power, but if people learn you have superpowers, they treat you like a circus monkey, asking you to show them your tricks. 

That's why Max prefers to keep quiet about his telepathy – it's not a cool power like flight or invisibility, and people tend to freak out when they learn that Max can read their thoughts, covering their ears (why, Max doesn't know. It's not like the thoughts come out of the ears?) and running far away – also pointless, considering Max can't read someone's mind if they are farther than a couple meters away from him (Max had the best time of his life with the social distancing during the pandemic, even with how short it was). 

Max is not the only superhuman on the paddock of course – people with super strength are always in demand, and some second or even third generation superhumans just find their way into F1, but, as far as Max is aware, he is the only driver with powers. 

Probably not all the parents are willing to inject their child with highly experimental and dangerous drug just so they can drive cars in a circle.

The topic of superpowers is very popular and their PR teams always have one or two games involving guessing or rating powers, so when Daniel gets a card with “which superpower would you want” printed on it during the recording of one of their "On the couch” videos, Max is not surprised. 

Daniel laughs and knocks the edge of the card against his chin while he thinks. “I don't know,” he says, while a list of powers runs through his head, looping on invisibility. 

“Probably not invisibility. How can I deprive the world of this beautiful face?” Daniel jokes, framing his face with his palms. “Also, I had a friend in school who was invisible, and it was always weird seeing just a set of clothes walking around. All of my hot bod work outs would go to waste!”

Max laughs, listening to Daniel's voice in his head think of more superpowers. Flight, shapeshifting, laser vision, telepathy. 

Max jerks, the word echoing in his mind.

“Maybe telepathy? So I can always know if someone has a crush on me,” Daniel laughs. Max looks down to his lap. He has a card with a question they already answered, the edges of laminated paper dig into his palms.

“Or to learn all the secret secrets of all the teams. Help with the strategy,” Daniel continues, waving his hand around, elaborate scenarios already unraveling in his head. 

“I think it's boring,” Max says, looking back at Daniel. “Reading thoughts is useless and what if people around you hate you? You would hear all of their thoughts. It's a very stupid power,” he admits, concentrating on his own voice echoing in Daniel’s head.

“Okay, then what power would you have, Maxy?” Daniel asks. His mind floods with super speed and strength and probably all the powers Max’s father hoped he would actually get. 

“I would not want one. I would want to be a normal person,” Max replies, looking down on his hands. “It's easier with no powers.” 

Awh rings in Max’s mind as Daniel coos at him. 

“Well,” Daniel takes a dramatic breath, “It's time for me to reveal my secret,” he says with a forlorn expression, pressing his palm to his chest. 

“I am– I have– I can read minds, yeah. Max’s hatred for telepathy made me come out, reveal my powers,” Daniel stumbles. “I will prove that telepathy is cool to you, Maximus,” he announces, putting his fist up. 

Max chuckles. “Okay.” 

“Good,” Daniel nods. “Now, think of a number, any number. Actually, think of a number from 1 to 10.”

Daniel’s mind floods with numbers, like he is the one meant to think of one. 

“Okay, you have your number?” Daniel asks. 

Max nods, even though he didn't think of one. 

“Cool,” Daniel says and proceeds to make a face like he's constipated. He brings his pointer finger to his temple and stretches out his other hand to touch Max’s forehead. 

Max laughs at his strained expression; tries to distract himself from the feeling of Daniel’s fingers on his skin by listening to the numbers going through Daniel’s mind. 

It keeps looping on three, so it catches Max off guard when Daniel announces, “Sixty nine! Maxy, I said 1 to 10!” He huffs in mock disappointment.

Max giggles, trying not to miss Daniel’s fingers when he brings his hand back. “Well, it's of course a nice number,” he grins. Daniel smiles back at him.

“But you are not correct, Daniel,” Max continues, digging his fingers into the edges of the card in his hands. “My number was actually three.”

Daniel groans, “Ah! I knew it was!” he cackles, pointing a finger at Max.

“I know,” Max says quietly. But Daniel doesn't hear him, already reaching for the next card.

“Assign a power to each other,” he reads from the piece of paper. “Okay, a lot of powers questions today, guys,” he says to the room and shakes his head. 

“We of course just discussed this,” Max says, looking at the camera. “I am a normal person and Daniel can read minds.”

It would probably be better this way, if Daniel had telepathy instead – he would know all the stuff that Max usually can’t say, wouldn't have to make Max admit to it. 

Sometimes Max wishes that his powers worked in reverse, so that people around him could hear his own thoughts. Max is bad with words, they don’t always come out the way he wants them to, so it would be better if people around him just knew. 

What’s the time, I’m hungry, rushes through Daniel’s head. Max looks down at the basket half full of the cards.

“We will do one more question,” Max announces to the media team and picks up the card. 

It happens rarely, but sometimes his telepathy becomes very useful.

[betterlivingindustriesss]

how not having a phone impacted my day-to-day, in case anyone's considered having a retro-style no-phone/flip phone summer:

social obligations:

less pressure to constantly respond to texts

unable to respond to texts sent on imessage

missing a lot of the cool apple features (gamepigeon, reacts, animations, stickers, etc)

need to keep several tabs open on the computer to monitor any urgent messages that might be sent over discord, Instagram, or email

can't use the Remind app or a lot of productivity apps because they're not available as a desktop version on locked Chromebooks

productivity:

I can't bring my phone to bed, I've started sleeping much earlier

my headaches have reduced since text on my laptop tends to be larger than text on my phone (and I can't read documents on my laptop in moving vehicles, which was also causing pretty bad headaches)

I don't think it's made TOO much of an impact on how I spend my time, but I have found myself scrolling on TikTok less because the swipe feature is so laggy on my Chromebook

quality of work:

as you might have noticed, the image quality on my blog tends to be very skewed. this is because I take half of my pictures through my desktop camera, and the other half through my DSLR.

a lot more intention behind everything I do (for example, when I post a picture on Tumblr, I need to pull out the DSLR, frame the picture nicely, transfer everything onto an old laptop with an SD reader, download to drive, then upload onto the app. I find myself planning my shots a lot more carefully and like to take several photos in one session)

overall state of mind

it definitely increased my personal satisfaction with my work and made me feel more accomplished

added workload for a lot of things I didn't even think about when I had a phone (again, taking pictures, transferring files, sharing things with people on the go)

I find myself unable to check the time or do tasks while walking across my school campus, which is frustrating when I need to write a note to myself

in a similar vein, I find myself thinking a lot more about how I will organize my time in the future or trying to recall concepts during short breaks where it doesn't make sense to pull out my laptop. this gets me into a productive mindset and I usually have a better time working on myself and having a positive outlook

people are constantly shocked that I don't have a phone. Many of my teachers have a "phone in the bin" policy for their classes, so they checked my bag pretty regularly in the early days because they were skeptical about the validity of my claim of not having a phone at all

i feel like I definitely had an addiction, and being able to get off of it was really helpful for my self-confidence and ability to overcome challenges

overall, I would really recommend at least trying to get off of your phone for like a week or two if you can! if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you. If it works, it works. Giving it a shot probably wouldn't hurt imo. I'm honestly planning to just get myself a flip phone for emergencies because I really like the feeling of not having a guaranteed way to pass time and instead having to come up with things to do myself :D

[mixelation]

What is inbreeding depression? It sounds like depression from inbreeding a lot but your comment has me curious cuz I've never heard of it before. When I hear most people talk about the side effects of inbreeding it's about like blood problems and birth defects?

yeah okay so the reason inbreeding can lead to genetic problems is because of inbreeding depression (here depression in the sense of "decrease," not a mood disorder), which is a decline in fitness due to increased homozygosity. so what does that all mean?

first, fitness in a biological sense has nothing to do with being the "strongest"-- it's your success at make babies that can grow up to make their own babies. a lot of different traits go into fitness, including ability to survive through reproductive maturity and then actual reproductive success. so, "depressed" fitness means you're not as good at producing those babies as _____ (your parents, others in your generation, etc). usually in humans we don't really quantify "fitness" in that it's morally iffy to reduce people down their ability to make babies, so inbreeding depression in people is usually thought about in terms of quality of life and lifespan. so basically, the appearance of various genetic disorders that impact health.

second, inbreeding means mating between two closely related individuals. i'm not sure if there's a biological standard for what makes something inbreeding or not, but there's various ways to calculated relatedness and the table of values for these usually don't go past first cousin/first cousin. the most extreme version of inbreeding is self-fertilization, which is not possible in humans but a common strategy in many plants and animals. note that a definition of inbreeding in humans is likely formed by cultural taboos and can vary. i am going to talk about human examples for most of the rest of this since the original context was the habsburgs (royal family famous for all sorts of health issues that were likely the result of cross generational inbreeding), but the same principals can apply to any sexually reproducing organism (sometimes with some modifications for genetic differences). i also want to note that i am only discussing the biological risks of inbreeding, and i'm not going to discuss any moral, ethical, or cultural issues

so! you now know what inbreeding is and that it leads to a decrease (or "depression") in fitness, or for humans, an increased risk for genetic disorders. how does that happen, exactly? first we need to review some genetics.

you likely learned in your biology class that humans have two pairs of each chromosome and therefore two copies of every gene. you also probably learned that each gene can have different versions, called alleles. My favorite example is blood groups. One gene has three alleles: A, B, or O. You probably ALSO learned that alleles can be either dominant or recessive. if an allele is dominant, then you have that trait with only one copy. if an allele is recessive, then you need TWO copies to have that trait. (this is a huge simplification of how genes control traits, but it's a useful framework to have; just keep in mind that there's lots of very real situations where it will seem like these rules are "broken.") Having two of the same allele is called homozygosity (homo = "same") and having two different alleles is called heterozygosity (hetero = "different"). Continuing the blood type example, blood type O is recessive. you therefore must be homozygous for the O allele to have blood type O. However, if you're heterozygous and have one O allele and one A allele, your blood type will be A because A is dominant to O.

the next thing i am going to tell you is that inbreeding increases homozygosity. in other words, inbreeding increases the probability (but does not GUARANTEE) that the children of related parents will have two of the same allele for any given gene. i don't really want to go through the math on why this happens, but this figure from the wikipedia page on inbreeding might help. otherwise, just trust me bro

so why is an increase in homozygosity bad? well, it's not always bad! but it can create problems. the biggest problem is that a lot of genetic disorders are caused by having two copies of one recessive allele. this is because recessive alleles are often non-functional versions of the gene. for example, sickle cell anemia is caused by a mutation in a gene that contributes to making hemoglobin, the part of your red blood cells that carry oxygen around your body. when the gene can't work properly, your body can't make hemoglobin properly, leading to severe illness. however, your body only needs one working copy of the gene! so if you are heterozygous for one functional allele and one nonfunctional allele, your body can still produce hemoglobin properly (although you might have problems at high altitudes-- but that's a different lesson.) A lot of genetic disorders work like this: heterozygous individuals are unaffected (or only marginally affected). BUT, because they still have that nonfunctional allele, they can pass it on to their child. This is called being a "carrier" of the trait and often the phenomenon behind certain things "running in the family" but "skipping a generation." The recessive allele is being carried across generations, but it only shows up as a disorder or illness in the homozygous state. That's why increasing homozygosity can cause problems-- it increases your chance of one of these disorders.

now, everyone reading this is likely carrying all sorts of recessive alleles that could cause problems if passed on to a homozygous state. The thing is, because humans are diverse creatures, it's unlikely (but not impossible) that one's future babyparent is going to have the same recessive alleles.... unless you have a child with someone genetically similar to you, such as a family member. that's why inbreeding increases homozygosity.

there's also some other problems inbreeding can cause. continual inbreeding across generations can cause a build-up of new mutations that might be harmful, for example. or sometimes it's better to be heterozygous than homozygous even for the ""good"" allele. for example, being heterozygous for the sickle cell gene can increase resistance to malaria.

of course, you can still have two people who are not closely related both be carriers for the same disorder just by chance. i am not saying homozygosity for any given trait is a mark of inbreeding, just that inbreeding increases the probability. furthermore, a child of two related parents being born with some sort of disorder doesn't automatically make the disorder the result of inbreeding. various disorders and illnesses can be completely environmental, or the result of some genetic interaction unrelated to the parents' relatedness. you can also have populations where some recessive allele is really common, without those populations being highly inbred. for example, historical presence of malaria maintains the allele for sickle cell even within diverse populations, because that heterozygous state is advantageous. finally, having two highly related parents does not automatically doom you to genetic disorders; it simply increases your risk. this whole rant was prompted by people hypothesizing about why one of the habsburgs didn't have a ton of health problems, and just being.... incorrect? inheritance is often entirely luck.