#New Relationship Energy

[hellyeahscarleteen]

"We’ve all heard of New Relationship Energy. It’s that intoxicating and passionate period of time toward the beginning of a relationship when, perhaps, things haven’t even been fully defined yet. It’s that thrill of exploring a new person’s body, of getting to know someone. It’s a heady high. New Relationship Energy is literally a neurochemical response. So what happens when it goes away?"

[an-honest-endeavor]

(my virgin ass)

Oh, it’s so real. So very real. Fuck, @fierce-wings-rp come here!

[wood-cock-johnson]

Why do I feel like we’ll never talk again? Why do I feel like you’re ghosting?

I’m upset.

I hope you’re ok. The last time I asked, you said you needed space. So, I’ll assume that’s the case again…

[wrabbitx]

I think it’s kinda sad how NRE has become this big mythologized boogeyman among polyamorous communities. So many comments about how it’s not love, it’s NRE, don’t trust the NRE, NRE is a drug and a liar and a wizard’s spell that lasts for at least a year.

IDK, maybe it’s love. Maybe people are just in love and it’s not a lie or a drug or anything like that. Maybe it’s just really that wonderful to find love. And if your pre-existing relationship seems shit in comparison, maybe it wasn’t that good to begin with.

[dearduende]

see you again soon

I lend him a book

of blue-covered sci-fi

see you again soon

he mentions hikes he wants

to take me and my dog on

see you again soon

I bring two pints of ice cream

and he saves one for next time

see you again soon

he leaves fireworks

blooming across my ass

see you again soon

I brew us coffee in his French press

while he flips purple ube pancakes

see you again soon

he lends me a novel I’ve been meaning

to read from his spiral staircase library

see you again soon

I dream of the next time

hoping this never ends

see you again soon

[raspberryconverse]

I laughed when I listened to a polyamory podcast and the host said that NRE and cocaine activate the same chemicals in your brain.

I can confirm I have cocaine brain from NRE.

[voidnumber9]

Despite it being coined by polyamorists, NRE isn’t exclusive to polyamory, any new relationship will experience it.

What is exclusive to polyamory though, is the head trip of feeling NRE and Stable Relationship Energy at the same time.

It’s cool though

[girlpocalypse]

Tea for you

My love is an overfilled cup of tea. It’s sticky sweet with honey, spilling from the mug I’ve picked, steaming and pooling unceremoniously on the countertop.

It is hot with the memory of being told that my feelings seem to be further along than yours. I hold myself back from saying it because I cannot put it back into its kettle once decanted. I flinch in anticipation of a burnt tongue.

My love is messy and uncontainable. My love is restorative and delicious. My love is comfortable and uncomfortable.

I wonder how long I can keep my love to myself.

While I wait, I pour myself a cup.

-AOK, 11/27/23

[submissivefeminist]

NRE is one hell of a drug 🫠🫠🫠

[agiraffesjournal]

And suddenly I have a girlfriend (Rugby) and I fell polyamorous again. I know I’m in love or at least NRE. The distance will be hard but this feels real, not just sexy flirtation. Of course this Viking Queen, but she’s an air flight away and I really am not sure what she really wants. But with my girlfriend it feels so right. I had to tell my daughter about her because I just can’t stop thinking about her and want to share all the stories.

[raspberryconverse]

TFW you’re looking at your iPad and see how strong the NRE was

[dragonpropaganda]

The Architecture of Rain World: Layers of History

A major theme in Rain World's world design that often goes overlooked is the theme of, as James Primate, the level designer, composer and writer calls it, "Layers of History." This is about how the places in the game feel lived-in, and as though they have been built over each other. Here's what he said on the matter as far back as 2014!

The best example of this is Subterranean, the final area of the base game and a climax of the theme. Subterranean is pretty cleanly slpit vertically, there's the modern subway built over the ancient ruins, which are themselves built over the primordial ruins of the depths. Piercing through these layers is Filtration System, a high tech intrusion that cuts through the ground and visibly drills through the ceiling of the depths.

Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets, the friendly local ghost, tells the player of the "bones of forgotten civilisations, heaped like so many sticks," highlighting this theme of layering as one of the first impressions the player gets of Subterranean. Barely minutes later, the player enters the room SB_H02, where the modern train lines crumble away into a cavern filled with older ruins, which themselves are invaded by the head machines seen prior in outskirts and farm arrays, some of which appear to have been installed destructively into the ruins, some breaking through floors.

These layers flow into each other, highlighting each other's decrepit state.

The filtration system, most likely the latest "layer," is always set apart from the spaces around it. At its top, the train tunnels give way to a vast chasm, where filtration system stands as a tower over the trains, while at the bottom in depths, it penetrates the ceiling of the temple, a destructive presence. (it's also a parallel to the way the leg does something similar in memory crypts, subterranean is full of callbacks like that!)

Filtration system is an interesting kind of transition, in that it is much later and more advanced than both of the areas it cuts between. This is a really interesting choice from James! It would be more "natural" to transition smoothly from the caves of upper subterranean to the depths, but by putting filtration system in between, the two are clearly demarcated as separate. The difference in era becomes palpable, the player has truly found something different and strange.

Depths itself is, obviously, the oldest layer not only of subterranean but of the game itself. The architecture of Depths has little to do with the rest of the game around it, it's a clear sign of the forgotten civilisations that our friend Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets showed us, there's not actually that much to say about it itself, it's mostly about how it interacts with the other layers of subterranean.

That said, Subterranean is far from the only case of the theme of layers of history. It's present as soon as the player starts the game!

The very first room of the game, SU_C04, is seemingly a cave. It is below the surface, the shapes of it are distinctly amorphous rather than geometric. (well. kind of, it doesn't do a very good job of hiding the tile grid with its 45 degree angles.)

But let's take a closer look, shall we?

See that ground? it's made of bricks. The entire cave area of outskirts is characterised by this, the "chaotic stone" masonry asset is mixed with brickwork, unlike the surface ruins which are mostly stone. This, seemingly, is an inversion of common sense! The caves are bricks and the buildings are stone. This is not, however, a strange and unique aspect but a recurring motif.

This occurs enough in the game for it to be clearly intentional, but why would materials such as bricks be used in otherwise natural looking terrain?

The answer lies in the "Layers of History" theme. This is in fact, something that happens in real life, and it's called a tell

To be specific, a tell is a kind of mound formed by settlements building over the ruins of previous iterations of themselves. Centuries of rubble and detritus form until a hill grows from the city. Cities such as Troy and Jericho are famous examples. The connections to the layers of history theme are pretty clear here, I think. Cities growing, then dying, then becoming the bedrock of the next city. The ground, then, is made of bricks, because the ground is the rubble of past buildings. The bones of forgotten civilisations, heaped like so many sticks!

[smallidarityfan]

humbling requesting gay panic joel propaganda long live smallidarity,, 💥💥💥💥

THANK YOU LIAU!!!!!! Waaayy overdue on this, unfortunately I'm still healing from art block 😭😭 ive been thinking about that prompt all this while tho...

vvv extra doodles vvv

[fat-fem-and-asian]

something about gregory and janine is just so fun? the way they're both absolute nerds? that their more overbearing traits are where they overlap and even enjoy each other? how greg is a realist and janine is a dreamer and they're both learning to be people outside of how they were raised, to see the world as bigger than just themselves? and for better or worse, platonic or romantic, the new lives they are building include each other? girl c'mon

[agiraffesjournal]

Sometimes (meaning all the time) I feel like I like people too much and too fast. But she’s showing me she’s sincerely interested.