#How to Make New Friends

[remynisce]

Love to see the evolution of their dynamic in the latest chapters

[jubileeeeee]

The joke does in fact reach Optimus, he also thinks its funny and plays into it !

unfortunately red alert is not the best bot for the bit…

[makerealconnections]

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[humming-fly]

was anyone gonna tell me shadow saved rouge's life in sa2 or was I just supposed to find that out playing the game myself

(this worked out as a rather fitting closer for the Final Day in Year of Shadow haha, hope ya'll have a fun new year! 🎉🎉🎉)

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[marzipanandminutiae]

no but genuinely I lose a little more patience for people who won't wear wool, leather, silk, or fur every day that I live in a world where plastic is increasingly the only damn kind of clothing you can find (or the only kind of fabric for sewing, even)

obviously, animal cruelty is horrible. I believe that even industries that rely on the deaths of animals should make their lives as good and their ends as humane as possible. and many of these industries need tighter environmental regulations on their production practices- some of the chemicals involved are highly toxic and ill-controlled at times

but at some point, you have to wake up to the fact that the only alternative we've found to date is destroying our planet

it's all plastic. and plastic is horrible for the world- the environment, humans, and especially animals. how cruelty-free is it to cause mass habitat loss? or climate change that disrupts food sources for those animals on a vast scale? how is that better than the deaths of a relatively small proportion of animals comparatively?

(and don't even start with "but pineapple leather! but cactus leather!" when those are still basically plastic due to heavy plastics use in their production processes. there is currently no non-plastic alternative to most animal-based textile products)

I've always tried to keep in mind that we all have to decide where our line is, that we all consume and there's no way of living in this world that doesn't take something from it. that for me, plastic clothing is to be avoided as much as possible, and for others, animal clothing products are to be avoided as much as possible. that the choice is equally valid

but I'm having a hard time seeing it as valid anymore when it just feels like trying to push the unpleasant part away from yourself so you can pretend your choice has no negative impacts. you're not wearing animal skin (or wool that an animal didn't even die to produce), so surely your way of doing things is better! no animals were harmed in the making of your outfit!

except. they were.

they and all the rest of us.

[boopjuice]

Okay, I have A Thought.

So I've seen around a few times that Danny's heart stops and freaks out people with superhearing, particularly Superman and his family. Que the freaking out because this child's heart has stopped and they haven't even seemed to notice.

But what if Danny keeping his heart beating takes effort? He has to focus on it at least a little all the time to seem more human. But if he's relaxed because he's, say, gaming over at Tucker's, he stops paying attention to if his heart is beating or not, and it stops. Sort of like how if you're walking around in a place you don't know in the middle of the night, you're tense and worried, but once you make it to a little area or a place you know better you stop being so nervous.

All that to say, having a beating heart is a stress response for halfas. And, like any other stress response, having it be constantly active can have long term negative effects. This was discovered by Frostbite shortly before Danny told his parents about being a halfa, and in fact influenced that decision. It turned out well, and Danny's heart began to stop more and more frequently while at home, to the point that it rarely ever beats at home now.

So que Phantom joining the League through some shenanigan or another, and together they're working to dismantle the Anti-Ecto Acts. The League knows he's powerful, but he's paranoid enough that he hasn't told them about the whole "half dead" thing. He's wandering around the Watchtower, chatting with Superman as they walk past a window that looks out into space. Danny's chatting about his weekend plans with Sam and Tuck, Superman's chatting about his upcoming visit to Ma and Pa's farm, and suddenly the kid's heart just stops.

And Superman freaks out. Because there is a child right next to him having a heart attack and seemingly not knowing.

He rushes Phantom to the medbay, only for his heart to be beating again? And the kid looks really freaked out and confused now. So he apologizes, explains what he heard, or rather didn't hear, and asks if it's an arrhythmia or something.

And now Danny, poor, socially awkward, barely a sophomore in high school Danny, gets to explain that sometimes, if he's really happy and content and feels safe, his heart stops and it is actually a good thing.

[notdysfunk]

A coloured Moonie doodle page!!

[inkskinned]

we were sitting on the floor and i was cutting out tiny pictures to make a collage for a friend's birthday. you were on your phone and you laughed about something, and i was still in love with you then, so i asked what had you giggling.

"sorry. i was just..." you took a moment and went back to texting. "i was telling someone about how you're afraid of the dark."

i'm afraid of the dark because something bad happened. "oh." i felt a little slinky of shame crawl down my throat.

you glanced up, and maybe it showed on my face, because you rolled your eyes and held the phone to the side casually so i could see the group chat. "what? was it a secret?"

i looked down to the scissors in my hand. "i just..." no, it's not a secret. it just felt like something private, something serious. saying why would you tell someone that just feels like an accusation. it's unfair. i honestly am not even ashamed of it, it's just a fact about my person that i don't usually share.

what a strange experience. is this a human thing or a generational thing? for our grandparents: did they need to worry about how quickly someone can just... share your personal information? again, i didn't even really have a true objection. what could i say? i want any person in my life to feel they can be honest with their friends. it's not like i said don't tell anyone this.

i cut out another letter to complete the rainbow happy birthday, started hunting for the exclamation mark. i heard you sigh dramatically.

"don't make a big deal about this," you said.

this entire conversation was a pattern for us, and this was when we got to my least favorite part of the pattern. i would get my feelings hurt in some oblique not-technically-terrible way, and then it would be making a big deal about something. you'd get frustrated for me for being soft, but i was born soft. you knew i was soft when you pierced me. it's one of the things that made controlling me so easy.

"i'm not," i felt my voice crack. the question came without my wanting. "why are you guys talking about me?" and why are you saying that thing? why not like - i'm telling them how you're generous and kind and pretty.

you let out this low, tragic groan. "oh my god." you tossed the phone away from your body. "there, see? i just won't talk to them if you don't like it."

the rest of the hour went the way it always went, between us: i said i don't actually mind if you talk to your friends but -, you found a way to call my minor expression of discomfort "being dramatic." you got upset that i had been offended. i ended up apologizing, even though i hadn't actually done anything.

afterwards, you picked up the phone again. after texting for a little bit, you snorted. "okay," you said, "but it is kind of funny you're afraid of the dark. i mean, when you think about it."

[blondeaxolotl]

"They don't bite-" BRO YES THEY DO 😭😭😭

[opikiquu]

iknow my comics are ugly please just hear me out

[makerealconnections]

How to make friends as an introvert?

Being an introvert, you are blessed enough if you enjoy your own company. Remember that humans are social animals, so you must make friends to share good and bad thoughts. That is how biology works. Read more: learn how to make friends as an introvert

[slfcare]

the most difficult thing about growing as a person socially, as in getting out of your shell and noticing that you are, is that there will still be times when it doesn’t feel like you’ve grown at all! times when you can’t really connect with anyone around you, times when you fail to enter into an existing conversation, times when you say the wrong thing (or nothing at all when in hindsight you probably should’ve). but that’s also kind of the best thing, because that’s the thing that helps you realize that sometimes, it’s not you or your lack of skills or any shortcoming. sometimes certain environments just aren’t for you and certain people aren’t your people, and that’s okay. that’s human. it’s okay to not feel the progress you have made all the time.

[ghostwritergirl]

DP x DC Prompt: Old Friends And Trust

The moment Sam and Tim saw each other at their first gala when they were seven, they were fast friends.

The two, who’d been bored and miserable, clocked each other and hid out before deciding to cause a little chaos. When the gala ended, Sam and Tim were friends and inseparable, sharing each other’s numbers. The Mansons were greatly encouraging of this, seeing an opportunity for their daughter to marry into the Drake family fortune (though Sam and Tim never felt romantic feelings for each other and only ever see each other as friends)

They continued to see each other at galas and talked over the phone, growing closer, close enough to confide in each other—Tim told Sam about his parents’ neglect and that he stalked Batman and Robin and Sam told Tim about her growing dysfunctional relationship with her parents as she grew older and wasn’t the daughter they wanted and about her friends, Danny and Tucker. Even though they seemed absolute opposites, the two just clicked.

They remained close friends for years… until they were thirteen and Sam’s parents told her that she wouldn’t join them in the galas at Gotham after the death of Jason Todd, fearing for their only daughter’s safety even though Jason didn’t die in Gotham. Sam was pissed and let Tim know, and they promised each other they would try to stay in contact.

It worked for a couple of years, but over the course of time and Tim becoming Robin and Red Robin and co-CEO of W.E, losing his parents and becoming part of the Wayne family and Sam helping Danny with ghost fighting along with Tucker and eventually Jazz and keeping his secret from literally everyone BUT the ghosts, especially his parents and the GIW, and the media blackout the GIW placed on Amity Park after the ghosts started attacking, they fell out of touch. But Sam always kept up to date with what was happening to Tim, that if the worst should happen, then she had someone who could help Danny, that she trusted Tim to help Danny, to help keep him safe. But that was only when the worst happened, when they had no other choices and no other options.

And then it did.

Tim was working in the Batcave when he had heard over the intercom someone was at the front door, asking for him. Expecting it to be his boyfriend, team or anyone else, Tim went to answer it.

Never had he expected to see his old childhood friend standing on the other side of the door, bedraggled and with dark lines of makeup running down her face, an equally roughed-up boy next to her, a practiced wince hiding an injury.

And between them was another boy, who looked to be a prime candidate for adoption, covered in blood and smears of what looked to be Lazarus water, bandaged injuries covering his arms and peeking out from beneath his clothes… and a disturbing injury in the shape of a Y on his chest shadowed underneath his shirt.

Sam had looked at him then, new tears filling her eyes, and said, “Danny’s parents… they hurt him. Bad. And now he’s being hunted and he can’t go to a hospital because he’ll be taken or… or worse. You’re the only person I know who could keep him safe, who could help. Tim, please, help us, help Danny. Please.”

In the face of his childhood friend’s pleading, at seeing the look on his face, how injured the boy was, Tim pushed back all the questions screaming at his mind and did the only thing he could.

He let them in and promised he would help, that Danny would receive medical help. That he was safe—that all of them were safe.

He promised that as he comprised a new case, to figure out what had happened to Danny and what was going on in their hometown—and to make the ones that did that to Danny face justice.

Meanwhile, Bruce’s adoption senses are tingling as the rest of the Batfam feel a disturbance in the force that could mean a new sibling, burning down a governmental organisation… or both.

[ruby-static]

Average Veronica and Arcade moment.

Came across this audio somewhere, and there was no going back. These two have been plaguing my mind constantly-

[xxplastic-cubexx]

pov: you are charles xavier and you have been invited onto asteroid m

bonus: