#Learning to feel

[adarssuggestionbox]

Healing

@rivendellwatch

-Since our... I'll call it an agreement for now, Elrond will be visiting far more often. For the moment, he will be staying a few more days as per usual when it is inspection time.-

Adar- *Right now, I am carrying out something I often only have dreamed of. Finally, it is coming true! At the time of twilight, we lay upon the flower-covered field. With a hearty helping of coaxing, I was convinced to snuggle into Elrond's side.*

Elrond- *With a delicate hand, he moves my head to his chest.* Will you expose your neck? * He asks politely. He gently adjusts his face to kiss and lick my forehead. He carefully tucks my hair behind my ear. With the same fragile touches, he pets my hair.*

Adar- * I feel a warbling growl escape my throat. My soft inner nature peaks through, urging me to hold his hand as we gaze at the sky together. I'm not sure why, but I instead turn my face into his neck with some shakiness. My chest suddenly feels as if it is being jabbed with a rod of metal, thus my breath is being impaired.*

-The stars are only just now creeping into sight-

Elrond- *He sits up immediately pulling me into his lap* Darling, What's that matter? Please, talk to me.

Adar- *I shake my head and can only shrug, snuggling closer to him.* I'm so sorry... I don't fully understand it myself. *My voice shakes.*

Elrond- *He rocks me in his arms, tugging me closer, kissing the top of my head.* Adar, *He starts with a voice as cozy as a feather bed,* you did say it has been a very long time since anyone close to a lover's status has touched you softly in any manner. *He takes up my hand and kisses my knuckles.* I think because of all the abrasive touches you have endured, your heart needs time to adjust. You're being reminded of what brings life to your soul, my dear. Give it time. You simply need to be allowed to heal. Part of that is feeling.

Adar- *I cling to him tightly, now weeping upon his chest. I can only nod in return, while his words shatter my shell.*

Elrond-* He presses my head over his heart so that I may listen to it beat.* That's it, darling. I'm so proud of you for being brave tonight. I understand it will be difficult to regain a more talkative voice after being silent for so long. Processing this is also not easy, Adar. But I want you to know you are handling this excellently, sweetheart.

Adar- *Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined anyone would speak those words to me in this life. His kindness has me wailing loudly into his chest. All of it is something like a fairytale from one of the books he has lent me. Perhaps he is right about these tears being ones that ought to have been shed long ago... But I am sure some of them are tears of joy as well.*

Elrond- There now, very good, keep going. Let the pain flow away with the stars. *He whispered before nuzzling the top of my head.*

Adar- *After who knows how long, I was able to finally lift my head to catch my breath. I sniffled heavily, wiping my eyes* Th-thank you....

Elrond- *He lovingly brushes the hair from my face.* Of course. This is something I want to talk to you about. But it can wait till tomorrow. Perhaps we can design a routine for you to release emotions daily? Can you agree to that, darling?

Adar- *I look at him with confusion and nervousness. I hadn't required such in my previous life... What would this mean for me? A small, unsure whimper escapes my throat while I cling to him. My body shakes slightly.*

Elrond- * He curls himself protectively around me with all his limbs.* No, sweetheart, there's no need to be afraid. I just want to help you. That's all.

Adar- *A deeply vulnerable yowling trîl escapes my throat. I curl deeper into the safety of his arms. An almost animal-like repeating whimper escapes me. I can't seem to control it. Over and over, I remember who I'm with. Had I been with that "Thing," I wouldn't be as safe in this headspace.*

Elrond- Adar, honey, listen to me, please. *He speaks the command both firmly and gently. Then, with the softest hands, he caresses my stomach.*

Adar-* I stop immediately, unable to find myself disobeying his word.*

Elrond- That's it, well done, sweetheart. I'm going to lay you in the flowers. When I do, you're going to expose your neck. I know pûrring is soothing for you. I'm going to pet your neck to help you pûr. Is that something you can agree to? *He had loads of experience caring for patients with similar issues. As a physician, first, he knew explaining the process was always the best way to ease a patient's worries*

Adar- *I let out a warbling cry as I nod. This vulnerable headspace always left me unable to speak. But Elrond's responsive and prepared nature did put me at ease enough to trust him*

*I allow him to do each thing he specified, but I can't restrain from the death grip that I have on his free wrist. However, his feathered fingers, the floral scent, the gorgeous night sky, and his singing voice have soothed me in no time.*

*A loud pûr erupts from my chest, and so does my cooing call of appreciation. I let go of his wrist and crawl to his side, head bumping and licking the area. His previous actions brought this headspace out with minimal effort.*

Elrond- *Rather than be put off by my strange behavior, he smiled down at me with endearment in his eyes. Then he began petting my hair and scratching at my scalp.* That's much better, darling. I'm so happy to hear you pûrring. * He pulled me into his lap and then kissed the top of my head.*

Adar- * A long trîl rolled out of my mouth, followed by my coo in between pûring.*

Elrond- Aren't you a sweet kitten. *He continued to rub my stomach as I began to settle further into his arms*

[parad0xa]

having a crush can feel like either microdosing heaven or hell.

[prlssprfctn]

I actually need some fanfic, where Bruce and Jason are in the middle of some argument, and a casual (and a well-practiced with Dick before) sentence leaves his mouth, something along the lines "How old do you think you are?!", meaning that he is acting childishly. And because Jason is irritated, and his tongue runs loose in his anger, he screams back that he is nineteen, and Bruce just freezes, because... Oh. Jason is nineteen. He is a fucking kid - his kid - that lost years of his teenhood, and was forced back without anyone giving him a space to catch up, with everyone else already treating him like an adult... When he isn't.

[teaboot]

Things you can do as a security guard instead of acting like a dickhead: a vent post disguised as advice

Offer alternatives: IE, “Sorry, nobody’s allowed to hang out over there, but we have seats over here you’re welcome to use”. I recommend getting familiar with local parks, public seating, free food programs, outreach, mobile aid, etc., just in case those are needed.

Be polite: IE, “Excuse me, sir”, “I beg your pardon, miss”. This should go without saying but everyone deserves dignity.

Avoid phrasing requests as orders: IE, “Don’t stand in front of that” VS “Excuse me, could you move a bit to the side?”. This works best with an explanation, like, “There’s a sign behind you”, or, “you might get clipped by someone”. This helps communicate that you are asking for a reason, not just throwing your weight around. If you don’t have a reason, rethink whether or not you need to be doing anything.

Avoid directing blame or fault. Don’t say, “The owner says you gotta go” when you could say, “I’m not supposed to let people be here for X period” or “do X thing”. Again, try to have alternatives ready so people can use other resources or do something else instead of just abruptly changing plans.

Come from a place of compassion whenever you can. People are gonna tell you to get rid of the crazy screaming guy. They say that because they’re frightened and don’t know what to do. Your best approach is, “Hello sir”, followed by, “How are you today?”, “how’s it going?”, “are you doing alright?”, etc., depending on what the person is ACTUALLY doing / saying when you get there. You can offer help from there if needed, or leave them alone if they’re not in danger or a risk to anyone.

Remember you’re not a cop. This can mean whatever you need it to mean. For me personally, that means that with incredibly rare exception (like trying to sell to kids, contaminating other’s food or drink) I won’t report you for drugs. If I find you doing drugs on my site I’ll tell you a different place where you can do them instead and ask you to do them there. I have interrupted drug deals to ask the client and the salesman to both kindly move 15 feet to the left, I’m not kidding, I do not care.

Know who you can throw under the bus. Sometimes you gotta enforce rules and be the bad guy and if that’s the fault of some dipshit in a suit 200 miles away, you can say that. Sorry man, I can’t let you park your car on the lawn. I know you’re not hurting anyone and frankly I think lawn culture is stupid but there’s other parking stalls and if my boss sees you I’ll get a write-up for not doing my job. Shit sucks sometimes but if it wasn’t me telling you it’d be the new guy, and between you and me he’s an idiot and he’ll probably just report you to bylaw.

Don’t just act like you’re their friend, genuinely try to be a good friend. If you know that someone is doing something that will only result in a bystander phoning police, don’t let them go down like that. Let them know, “hey man, you seem like you’re having a shit time and I get it, I’ll do what I can, but we gotta have this conversation somewhere else ‘cause we’re freaking out the old ladies.”

Swallow your tongue. You can’t fix the world. People are gonna bitch at you about communists and 5G and gangster rap ruining the neighbourhood, that’s just part of the deal. Nod along, remain neutral, shut down any hate speech, redirect if you can, and keep a limit in mind where you’ll have to shut things down.

Accept that sometimes there are no solutions. Yes, that angry guy who blasts music will be back tomorrow. That homeless woman who asks you to help her find her dog that she hasn’t had in 30 years will ask again, and yes, you’re still going to take a description and promise to keep an eye out. That kid who smokes crack behind the building has been clean for a few weeks and still stops by to say hi, and you hope he’ll get his life together and be happy, but he also might relapse and OD before he hits 25. Sometimes you just have to do the best you can, even if nothing is guaranteed.

Be kind to teenagers. Being a kid is hard, and everyone’s on their ass all the damn time for everything.

Remember that the vast majority of bad people aren’t bad, just unhappy. The guy who keeps showing up drunk and puking on the carpet is unhappy. The lady who bitches about the service every single time and keeps coming back anyway is unhappy. The guy who leaves trash everywhere is probably unhappy. If they were happy, maybe they’d do better, but they’re not, and that’s kinda sad. You don’t have to let them get away with their shit, but they probably aren’t actually a worthless human being either.

It doesn’t matter if 12 is true or not. You need to believe it or you will become a harsh and bitter person. Look for evidence that people are not terrible and invent it if you have to

Don’t let yourself become a bastard

[gibbearish]

love when ppl defend the aggressive monetization of the internet with "what, do you just expect it to be free and them not make a profit???" like. yeah that would be really nice actually i would love that:)! thanks for asking

[doccywhomst]

[0sbrain]

alternatives for ai to design ocs

hero forge

picrew

the fucking sims 4

your local furry artist

bitmoji

shitty photoshoped collage

DeviantArt bases

zepeto

making edits of your favorite character

searching "dress up game" on the app store

learning how to draw

[ace-and-ranty]

I gotta say, one of the greatest achievements of my 20s was that I learned (mostly) to differentiate between:

"I truly do not want to go" and

"I'm just feeling the Demand Avoidance, and I will like it once I get there."

[chloesimaginationthings]

How I like to think FNAF Golden duo works,,

[bacchuschucklefuck]

couldnt draw my thang for mid-autumn so treated myself to a calne redesign instead

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

why did i do that?

[inkskinned]

i have chronic pain. i am neurodivergent. i understand - deeply - the allure of a "quick fix" like AI. i also just grew up in a different time. we have been warned about this.

15 entire years ago i heard about this. in my forensics class in high school, we watched a documentary about how AI-based "crime solving" software was inevitably biased against people of color.

my teacher stressed that AI is like a book: when someone writes it, some part of the author will remain within the result. the internet existed but not as loudly at that point - we didn't know that AI would be able to teach itself off already-biased Reddit threads. i googled it: yes, this bias is still happening. yes, it's just as bad if not worse.

i can't actually stop you. if you wanna use ChatGPT to slide through your classes, that's on you. it's your money and it's your time. you will spend none of it thinking, you will learn nothing, and, in college, you will piss away hundreds of thousands of dollars. you will stand at the podium having done nothing, accomplished nothing. a cold and bitter pyrrhic victory.

i'm not even sure students actually read the essays or summaries or emails they have ChatGPT pump out. i think it just flows over them and they use the first answer they get. my brother teaches engineering - he recently got fifty-three copies of almost-the-exact-same lab reports. no one had even changed the wording.

and yes: AI itself (as a concept and practice) isn't always evil. there's AI that can help detect cancer, for example. and yet: when i ask my students if they'd be okay with a doctor that learned from AI, many of them balk. it is one thing if they don't read their engineering textbook or if they don't write the critical-thinking essay. it's another when it starts to affect them. they know it's wrong for AI to broad-spectrum deny insurance claims, but they swear their use of AI is different.

there's a strange desire to sort of divorce real-world AI malpractice over "personal use". for example, is it moral to use AI to write your cover letters? cover letters are essentially only templates, and besides: AI is going to be reading your job app, so isn't it kind of fair?

i recently found out that people use AI as a romantic or sexual partner. it seems like teenagers particularly enjoy this connection, and this is one of those "sticky" moments as a teacher. honestly - you can roast me for this - but if it was an actually-safe AI, i think teenagers exploring their sexuality with a fake partner is amazing. it prevents them from making permanent mistakes, it can teach them about their bodies and their desires, and it can help their confidence. but the problem is that it's not safe. there isn't a well-educated, sensitive AI specifically to help teens explore their hormones. it's just internet-fed cycle. who knows what they're learning. who knows what misinformation they're getting.

the most common pushback i get involves therapy. none of us have access to the therapist of our dreams - it's expensive, elusive, and involves an annoying amount of insurance claims. someone once asked me: are you going to be mad when AI saves someone's life?

therapists are not just trained on the book, they're trained on patient management and helping you see things you don't see yourself. part of it will involve discomfort. i don't know that AI is ever going to be able to analyze the words you feed it and answer with a mind towards the "whole person" writing those words. but also - if it keeps/kept you alive, i'm not a purist. i've done terrible things to myself when i was at rock bottom. in an emergency, we kind of forgive the seatbelt for leaving bruises. it's just that chat shouldn't be your only form of self-care and recovery.

and i worry that the influence chat has is expanding. more and more i see people use chat for the smallest, most easily-navigated situations. and i can't like, make you worry about that in your own life. i often think about how easy it was for social media to take over all my time - how i can't have a tiktok because i spend hours on it. i don't want that to happen with chat. i want to enjoy thinking. i want to enjoy writing. i want to be here. i've already really been struggling to put the phone down. this feels like another way to get you to pick the phone up.

the other day, i was frustrated by a book i was reading. it's far in the series and is about a character i resent. i googled if i had to read it, or if it was one of those "in between" books that don't actually affect the plot (you know, one of those ".5" books). someone said something that really stuck with me - theoretically you're reading this series for enjoyment, so while you don't actually have to read it, one would assume you want to read it.

i am watching a generation of people learn they don't have to read the thing in their hand. and it is kind of a strange sort of doom that comes over me: i read because it's genuinely fun. i learn because even though it's hard, it feels good. i try because it makes me happy to try. and i'm watching a generation of people all lay down and say: but i don't want to try.

[eggbem]

Post Villain-of-the-Week-Scuffle Nap.

Good morning everyone! (Welcome to my seminar!) Here's some Portal Duo snuggling to start off your day! What's the point of having the ability to draw turtles if you don't indulge in the softest of fluff once in a while?

Just ignore the fact that, with Leo's canon bed setup, there's really no room for Raph to be standing on the other side. How's he doing that? Magic ig.

(I feel like this goes without saying, but you never know: T-cest, do NOT interact; I will punt you to the moon.)

[nonebinary-leftbeef]

DEVASTATING the lyric you've been mishearing is better than the real one

[enigmaris]

Another DPXDC for ya fellas!

Pandora, the ghost, was an Amazon from Themyscira in life, losing her life to trap all of those eldritch horrors in her box. In her afterlife, she has kept in contact with the other Amazons, coming to their aid when called upon.

So when the first child of themyscira was molded out of clay, Pandora knew. She liked Diana, admired her stubbornness, strength, and sense of wonder. She knew the girl had left to go to the world of man a while ago, but hadnt heard anything else about her. She wasnt worried about her though, Diana was the strongest of all the Amazons, kind and brave. The world of man would not pose too much of a danger to her.

After the whole thing her box getting stolen and Danny returning it to her. She takes on something if a motherly role to Phantom. She doesn't really know how kids work though, she comes from a race of women where there were no children. Diana is literally the only living child she has ever known. Pandora herself was never even a child. When Danny flees from his life in Amity Park (reveal gone wrong, family dies, or something) he goes to Pandora who wants to help him, but her acropolis is no place for a half living boy. So she tells him about her niece Diana.

"She was the only child of my people, when she grew up she left to the world of man."

Literally the only child??? Danny is imagining like, someone maybe his sister Jazzs age who ran away from home because she lived on an island with all adults and no fun. It does not help his assumption that Pandora talks about Diana like shes still wet from the clay she was molded in.

Danny is given a letter written by Pandora, asking Diana to help care for him and told that last Pandora heard her little niece lived in Washington DC. Danny goes to DC and manages to find Diana based on Pandora description. She is not at all what Danny was imagining, but she takes him to her home and reads the letter describing Danny's heroics with Pandoras box.

Diana Prince takes one look at this human boy and thinks to herself: if Bruce and Clark can just show up with a teenager, then why can't i?

Queue the next Justice League meeting:

"I would like to introduce my son, Daniel of Themyscira, he will be accompanying me on all Justice League missions. No Batman i will no be accepting any criticism from you of all people."

Danny, in human form, waves at the team of heroes with his string bean arms.

"Hi."